kazabyte

Maybe You Should Hire an "A" Manager

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:54:42 -0800

Among startups, it's easy to say (and brag), "We only hire A-players (engineers)." Maybe it's true, maybe it's not -- but you probably need to say it. Many articles have been written why "Good Isn't Good Enough." Certainly, your first few hires should be great. But what about beyond that? And in particular, what do you do in an tight labor market and your company has 10 to 30 people? At this size, a company is beyond "startup," but sometimes, companies of this size continue to believe that they can and must hire only "A" engineers.

This is potentially a recipe for disaster.

In a tight market, there are not enough "A" players to go around. (Unless of course your definition of an "A" player is different than mine -- then perhaps you are just looking to hire "B" players.) Second, your ability to offer enough quality compensation at this stage might be limited. Stock option grants, for example, have probably decrease exponentially with each hire at this stage.

This is where many are at today. Despite a general unemployment rate of around 10%, there is a huge shortage of "A" players. And, if you are like many Internet companies that have been around for a few years and are relatively successful (maybe even profitable), you have dozen or so engineers. (Looking around my immediate circle, maybe this includes companies such as MerchantCircle, Topix, and Rapleaf)

So, are you stuck because you can't hire "A" players?

Quite the contrary -- perhaps you are doomed because you cling to the value that you must only hire "A" players. First, you won't be able to meet this goal -- there are not enough "A" players to go around, and you don't have the incentives to bring them on board. So, you'll fail to meet your hiring goals. Second, as with cooking, "Too many chefs will spoil the broth." Egos, turf wars, not enough "charter," inter-personal dynamics all present issues. And, while we believe that "A" players can be "self-managing" and work without management, this does not scale as an organization grows.

What to do?

Maybe you need to give up on the false believe that you must only hire "A" engineers. Instead, you should focus on hiring "A" managers. The "A" manager will be able to get "B" players to rise to the best of their abilities. They might not operate at the "A" level, but at least their productivity won't be negative. (It should be largely positive.) Second, an "A" manager will be able to get still more out of the "A" players. But, more importantly, the stellar manager will be able to manage the "Clash of the Titans (the "A" players)." Appropriate management allows the "A" players an environment for them all to succeed.

Unfortunately, companies often undervalue and do not respect the "A" manager. In a startup, the CEO oftentimes does not recognize (the need for) a good manager. Consequently, the "B" manager gets hired. This is a disaster. First, the "B" players won't rise to a higher level. The "B" manager still can't hire "A" players. And, the "A" players will disrespect and possibly sabotage the "B" manager -- a bad situation for everyone.

If your company is in that awkward "teen age" years, give up on the belief that you can and must only hire A players. Hire an "A" manager instead. Then, ironically, your "A" manager might be able to able to successfully hire and manage A and B players.

Afternotes:

Those desiring to hire only "A" players often misquote or mis-understand a key concept of the "Mythical Man Month." Specifically, a team of A players probably does not make a good surgical team.
Props to David Boyer. David was perhaps the best manager I've every hired. Certainly he was great manager for running a mid-sized organization.

How the Cold War Was Won

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 23:37:31 -0800

My father has been battling metastatic cancer for over 3 years. 41 months ago, his doctor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance told him the median life expectancy at this stage is 9 months. Today, he is still alive but his fight is over. His days are numbered. While the statistics are somewhat meaningless, I'm told he's lived 3 sigma longer than the mean. (Okay, I botched the statistical terminology, but you know what I mean.) It was a great fight and a valiant one. He lived a good life during these three plus years. And, for me, the silver lining is that I immensely enjoyed this time with him and my family...We spent good times together. It was time and enjoyment that were "carved out" unexpectedly due to this unfortunate circumstance. It was an unexpected bonus in life.

I remember my dad as a great father, husband, and friend. He is loved by many. And, beyond that, he was a great scientist, though perhaps unrecognized. Today, I reflect on his life. Here is my tribute to him, that I made on my birthday in 2008. (Note: Wayne Fest is my annual self-serving celebration of my birthday.) Dad, I will miss you.

How the Cold War Was Won

View more presentations from wayneyamamoto.

Wayne Fest 2008
July 18, 2008

Thank you all for coming tonight. It means a lot to me that you are all here on my birthday. Unlike Wayne Fests of past, I wanted to celebrate my birthday only with the people I am closest and love very much -- Margaret, my family, and my best of friends. I wanted to remind my parents that when I am not in Seattle with family there are really great people in my life.

And, second, because it is my birthday and you are a captive audience, I will subject you to one story -- a lesson -- that I want to share.

It is a lesson in 20th Century History.

This is John Hennessy. He is a famous computer scientist and now president at Stanford University. John said around the time of his inauguration as president, "The 1900's was the age of physics." Physics is what defined the 20th century.

Let us, for the moment, accept that this is true.

And if the 20th century is the age of physics, who were the people -- the physicists -- that made this so?

Albert Einstein was one. He was certainly a great theoretical physicist. Maybe the greatest theoretical physicist of all time.

However, I don't think Hennessy was talking about theoretical physics but rather applied physics. After all, he was an engineer by training. He built stuff. At the time, the United States was engaged in a geopolitical and military struggle with the Soviet Union. The Cold War. The winner and loser would be defined by physics -- the ability to deploy the bomb. Theory was certainly important, but winning the war would depend on applied physics. The winner of the cold war would shape history moving forward.

So, who were these applied physicists?

This is Wernher von Braun. As a German, he was responsible for the V2. He figured out how to apply Newtonian mechanics to launch objects really long distances. After World War II, he came to the United States and he figured out how to build rockets -- the delivery vehicles -- that would become our ICBMs. Certainly, he was a great applied physicist.

This is Robert Oppenheimer. He was the director of the Manhattan Project and father of the atomic bomb. Clearly, another great applied physicist.

So we had the rockets -- the thrust -- to deliver the payload -- the atomic bomb -- anywhere in the world. But, there was still a problem, a missing piece of the equation. If you aimed your rocket at Moscow -- sorry Tanya - would you be able to hit it? Or will your rocket just as likely fly off into the Black Sea?

So in addition to THRUST and PAYLOAD, we needed a third component -- GUIDANCE.

Before I answer the question of who provided the guidance, my story takes a short detour. When I was growing up, I never engaged in a typical argument among boys -- "my dad is smarter than your dad." Somehow, I KNEW, perhaps, smugly, that my dad WAS smarter than anyone else's dad. I don't know how I knew this, I just knew.

And, today, I've realized why. It's because my dad provided GUIDANCE. Guidance to me and guidance in general. And, this is how this story ends.

von Braun delivered the THRUST. Oppenheimer delivered the PAYLOAD. My dad delivered the GUIDANCE. I'm not going to go into the complex math of what this all about, but he built guidance systems for our ICBMs, the B52, and other missiles. Without him, along with von Braun and Oppenheimer, we would not have won the cold war.

I believe my father, George, stands among the greatest physicists of the 20th century. Indeed, he must be pretty smart.

So, I must now come clean -- this is not a 20th century history lesson. That was a "head fake." ("Head Fake"-- I borrowed this from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.) This is a story about my father that I want to share with you.

Thank you all for coming and celebrating my birthday with me.

I would like to raise a glass in honor of my father:

In addition to being my father that I respect and love, this is how I, and I hope you, will remember him. Dad, thank you for your guidance.

I love you.

Wayne

What Is Media?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:31:54 -0800

"The Internet Changes Everything."

This was the overhyped mantra from the Web 1.0 daze. Okay, maybe not everything. But certainly "journalism," "media", "news", and First Amendment rights as it applies to "...freedom of speech, or of the press..."

At Sakura Media, Inc, the parent company of Charity Blossom, we seem to have found ourselves grappling with this issue. We are a news media company. At Charity Blossom in particular, we blog, publish two subscription newsletters, operate a community forum, and (will) run a large network of bloggers. Part of our charter is to dessiminate information, news, and opinions about the nonprofit sector and charitable giving. We are a (news) media outlet.

Internet publishers have been at logger heads with various entities ("traditional" media and the government, in particular) throughout the past decade. Today, wikileaks and Julian Assange are at the forefront of this.

We're surprised that Sakura Media is also engaged in this debate. We'd rather stay out of it but we're working with the IRS to come to some understanding about this. The particulars are mundane but, in case you are interested, I'll share them here.

At Charity Blossom, we disseminate information about nonprofits -- who they are, what they do, and what they've accomplished. We publish information about the charitable giving industry in general, as well as about specific nonprofits. We've found that the Internal Revenue Service is a source of a lot of good information. So, we've requested it. The information is free if you are a "member of the media" but pretty expensive if you are not. As a start up media company, we are pretty conscious about the money we spend, so of course, free is better than expensive.

Hence, we are now in discussion with the whether or not Sakura Media is indeed media. Our perspective is that we produce content -- news, information, opinions. We run a network of writers also producing news, information, and opinion. Hence, we are news media. We have hundreds of thousands of readers with a growing subscription base. We are (partially) advertising supported.

We really don't want to be at the forefront of this debate -- "What Is Media?" We're not so interested in engaging the Federal Government at this level. But, surprisingly, we have. Stay tuned.

I Live On (the) IPhone

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:30:35 -0800

I got my first IPhone on June 29, 2007, the first day it was available. Has it changed my life? It certainly occupies most of my time. Consider:

I Spend More (Personal) Time on My IPhone Than All Most Anything Else

Time on IPhone > Time on laptop/PC
Time on IPhone > Time watching TV
Page views on IPhone > Pageviews on Laptop/PC
Tweets from IPhone > Tweets from Laptop/PC
Minutes using "data" (Internet/SMS) on IPhone > Phone call minutes on phone
SMS messages > Phone calls
Time listening to music on IPhone > Time listening to music all other channels
Time on IPhone > Time sleeping (?!)

Other Tidbits

I'm within arms reach of my IPhone at least 90% of the time
My IPhone is not a phone. I primarily use it for stuff other than phone calls.
I've never redeemed a paper Borders' coupon. I always redeem an electronic Borders' coupon from my IPhone
Heavy transactions stuff (like buying airplane tickets) are still more likely to be done using my laptop. But, this is changing.

But,

I still author more content on my laptop (code, blog posts, word/ppt/excel docs) than on my IPhone. This is almost exclusively work related stuff.
I watch more video (movies) in the theater or on TV. This is one area where the IPhone experience is massively inferior. The physical viewing experience sucks (screen is too small, bandwidth sucks). And, every time I click through to a web page that has video that can't be played (usually because it's Flash or some other non-supported format/player), I feel like I've been Rick-Rolled. It's hugely disappointing and frustrating.

If You Know My IPhone, You Know Me
Apple and AT&T know all. Now that's kinda scary.

Blippy for IPhone usage -- that would be revealing!

If: Advice for Entrepreneurs from Rudyard Kipling?

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:16:45 -0800

If you can keep your head all about you
When others are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Commentary

There is a wealth of information for entrepreneurs on the web. Just a decade ago, much of this information was generally not available to first time entrepreneurs doing high tech (software/Internet/hardware) startups. In particular, the lack of information regarding financing and working with venture capitalist made it very difficult for these entrepreurs. They were oftentimes "working in the dark." Those that had this knowledge had advantage over those that did not. And, those that did not were severely disadvantaged when negotiating financial terms with venture capitalists. The asymmetry of knowledge gave VCs a lot of power and, ultimately better terms and more control.

Fast forward ten years. The playing field has been largely leveled. The Internet -- mostly blogs and tweets -- (and sometimes conference talks) provides the channel to access knowledge. And, people like Fred Wilson, Dave McClure, Allen Morgan, David Hornik, Jeremy Liew, and Mark Suster (I've singled out a few VC's -- but there are many others, including those on the "other side of the table") have shared their wisdom for all. And to the benefit of the first time entrepreneur. I think, ultimately, this access to information results in better deals and increases the likelihood of success for a company. Sure, maybe the entrepreneur might get terms that are more "fair" but, in the end, we all -- entrepreneurs, investors, and customers alike -- win from the greater availability and commoditization of information. To all those that have shared their wisdom, thank you.

That said, Kipling's "If" is sound advice and complements the well heeded advice of our contemporaries. Perhaps I've applied this poem far away from the original context. But, in the context of the high tech entrepreneur, it works well. Read. Enjoy. Learn.

(Special thanks to Bob Ebert for bringing "If" to my attention.)

Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:48:40 -0800

Apparently, an uncommon side effect of Taxol is turning brown eyes blue!

Hear the sound track on blip.fm.

Apple and Beautiful Packaging

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:40:53 -0800

In the past I've most always favored function over form. Perhaps it's the practical engineer within me. Aesthetics? An added bonus only if it is on top of superior performance.

But, I think Apple has gotten to me. Make no doubt, I like Apple products, current backlash non-withstanding. I'm no fan boi but there's something about Apple's design aesthetic. Granted, the products are pretty good (but there have been bombs along the way too -- Mighty Mouse I, Time Capsule, Newton...) but I truly appreciate the aesthetic. The products are beautiful. However, beyond the products themselves, the packaging in its own right has an aesthetic and beauty that is unmatched. It's a joy getting and opening a package from Apple.

This is the box my MacBook came in:

It speaks to me and I can't wait to open it. It screams Fun. Sexy. Cool.

Compare this to:

From a utilitarian perspective, this is a great product. A terabyte disk for less than $130! (Moore's law and increasing disk densities -- that's a blog post for another day). It clearly says (in a boring kind of way), "Here's that big disk that you wanted." But it doesn't generate the excitement of the joy of opening that box of the MacBook.

And this:

This is the Roku device that let's me play movies from Netflix on my TV from the Internet. It's wireless (and wired) and makes on-demand movie viewing at home easy, fun, and awesome. It's $100. It's truly an amazing device! And, yet, when it showed up on my doorstep, I was nonplussed, disappointed and bored. The aesthetic of the packaging (never mind any potential coolness is hidden behind the FedEx labeling) is a huge yawn. For such a great device and awesome experience it will be, initial disappointment is not the first impression Roku should want to create.

The Apple experience is end-to-end. From the announcement at MacWorld (potentially preceded by leaked rumors), the branding and advertising, the in-store experience, and the packaging, a frenzy of excitement is created. It's like Christmas morning as a kid every time you get something new from Apple. The packaging is a huge differentiator.

Never mind if the product is any good.

Footnotes:

This goes beyond product. Check out how an Apple offer letter is packaged. I hope the job is just as good.

And, here's how Microsoft might approach packaging:

Finally, I can't wait for the the Tablet, iState, or whatever is being rumored.

The Size of Charitable Giving

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:13:15 -0800

As the holidays approach, charities/non-profits nervously wait; Will you be giving this year and how much? The economic down turn, not surprisingly, has impacted our ability to donate to our favorite charitable causes. Perhaps because it is the "season to be giving" and perhaps because we contemplate our tax deductions, December accounts for ~30% of our charitable giving (most of it on December 31!). December is the make-or-break month for many non-profits.

Which got me thinking: How much do we give? I've been digging around for some numbers. Here's some rough estimates. They are huge! Or in some cases surprisingly small. (Someone, please correct me if I am wrong)

We give $300 billion a year (That's B as in BILLION). Of this, approximately $100B come from big donations (say over $500K). $100B goes to religious organizations. And $100B are made in the amounts of a few dollars to a few thousand. So, there are a lot of small donors out there.

Donations are only 23% "efficient." Only 23 cents on every dollar donated actually make it to program services. Give a buck, only 23 cents make it to your cause. Wow. This seems pretty inefficient.

Only 7% of donations are made on line. Seems to me charitable giving is going to go the way of airline ticket sales, consumer banking, and searches for local businesses -- it will be mostly online. We have a way to go. This, I think will address some of the efficiency issues.

Causes.org raised $10 million in the past two years. Causes is a great organization and forward thinking. It's a superb example of how facebook and social networks can be used. But, on execution -- $10MM seems just to be the tip of the iceberg.

My favorite charity is Operation Nightwatch. (Disclousure: My cousin is an employee there) It is a small organization doing lots of good to help the homeless in Seattle. How do organizations such as Operation efficiently raise contributions and "compete" with the big charities with "large" marketing budgets?

My interest in charitable giving on the small has been piqued. How can we give more, maybe in small amounts, but at large efficiency? If you are interested in helping me figure this out, leave me a comment.

iPhone Lowers Your Phone Bill!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:49:37 -0800

I've had an iPhone for just over two years and just upgraded to the 3GS. Over those two years, I've noticed an interesting trend -- my phone utilization for voice calls is down. And, more importantly, the number of peak hour minutes (day time minutes that I get with my plan) that I use is WAY down. What's up with this?

I hypothesize that SMS, email, Twitter, and Facebook are supplanting the voice calls for my choice of a communication medium. Further, the iPhone, in comparison to my previous phone, a Razr, makes it much easier to message, email, tweet, and (update) Facebook. So, I use these media channels a lot more. And, consequently, I'm talking on the phone less. I'm not sure if this is a particularly novel insight.

More interesting, I think the lower (day time) phone utilization is the (unintentional?) consequence of AT&T's exclusive relationship with Apple with respect to the iPhone. This consequence is quite round-a-bout: It turns out, that many of my friends bought iPhones and were forced to become AT&T Wireless customers. Certainly, many more of the people I talk to regularly are iPhone users, and, hence AT&T Wireless subscribers. Second, in my plan, I have free "mobile to mobile" minutes." So, for any call with someone who is also on the AT&T wireless network (e.g. iPhone users) does not result in a charge against my day time minutes. Maybe this hasn't decreased the total amount of time I spend on the phone (maybe I talk even more) but it decreases the number of day time minutes that I use.

The accumulative effect of all of this: The decrease in day time minutes was significant enough that it made sense for me to go to a cheaper plan. Okay, it's only $20/month less, but for the ~~cheapskate~~ frugal nature in me, this makes me quite happy!

Now, when the exclusive arrangement between AT&T Wireless and Apple ends, this will probably change. I'll enjoy it while I can...

Wow. Buying an iPhone saves me money. Never thought I'd say that!

Rest in Peace Seattle P-I

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:36:51 -0800

I'm not sure if there is much more to be said, but indeed, it is sad day in Seattle, regardless of how inevitable this day was. After 146 years, the Seattle P-I is no more. Emmett Watson and "The Sporting Green" are just faded memories, and I reflect nostalgically on those Sunday mornings when I couldn't wait for the P-I to show up so I could read about the Huskies' routing of their oppenent the previous day.

I'm Giving up on Yahoo!Mail

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:49:43 -0800

I've been a loyal Yahoo!Mail user since the 1990's. Regardless of how passe Yahoo!Mail had become, I've remained faithful. Then, I started to have a few problems. Occasionally. Now with increasing frequency. Like daily. The final straw? Search in Yahoo!Mail is fundamentally broken for me.

I've developed a (perhaps non-standard) usage pattern for mail. Namely, I delete nothing, folder nothing, and rely on search to find and organize all of my email. My disk space utilization is in the multi-gigabytes. So, if I want to find anything, SEARCH MUST WORK. I'm consistently getting two errors:

- A system error from Yahoo!Mail. Not good.
- The search doesn't return a result that I know exists. For example, I search for emails by sender email address. I know a given message exists from a given sender, but Yahoo! won't cough it up. Equally bad.

I'm panicked because I can't find old email messages. What to do?

Solution: I'm getting off of Yahoo!Mail. I'm moving to gmail. I'm currently forwarding all of my Yahoo! email to gmail. So, sending me email to me at my Yahoo address should still work. (Hopefully, this feature won't break too!)

I wonder how many other Yahoo users are having problems with Yahoo apps and are abandoning ship? Yahoo might not be doomed because it lost the search wars. However, it is doomed if existing apps fail and its huge user base leaves for greener (working) pastures....

Now, if I can only get used to gmail's threaded email interface...

Blip.fm

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:40:47 -0800

Playing around with blip.fm. I'm not a big music person. In fact, I'm kinda stuck in the 1970's music-wise, except for maybe opera. Jeff is a good guy. I hope he can make this work.

Monster Acquires Trovix

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:55:28 -0800

Congratulations to Jeff Benrey, Earl Rennison, and the Trovix team. Today, they announced the sale of Trovix to Monster for $72.5MM. I met Jeff back in '04 when Ben and I were cooking the MerchantCircle idea. I introduced them to Tim at USVP and they led the A. It's great seeing a smart team with great technology evolve into a successful VC backed business.

Google Day Care Fiasco: New York Times Scooped by Valleywag

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:28:58 -0800

Today, the New York Times reports on a "rare fumble" made by Google with respect to on site daycare. An interesting read, but equally interesting is a story behind the story:

Valleywag reported this story over two weeks ago on June 16. Second, Owen certainly deserves some props/attribution -- a hat tip at least -- for breaking this story. Yet, there is no mention. Where's the love? Lastly, this is just further evidence of the demise of newspaper industry and the growing relevance and importance of the blogosphere -- where's the "new" in newspapers?

Visa on Facebook: Bringing Local Businesses online

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:00:46 -0800

Visa has launched a Facebook application for small businesses.

The first 20,000 US businesses that download the app get $100 of advertising credits. I'm not sure what that means.... At .2CPM, a business would get 500,000 impressions That would be a lot of page views for a small business.

With the relationships that Visa has with local businesses, it is a giant entering the online local space. I'm surprised this isn't huge news all over the online local blogosphere.