Bosses Know the Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing

On September 22, 2009

Bosses Know the Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing

My boss has an incredible ability to know the cost of everything. Like Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man assessing a spillage of toothpicks cast upon the floor, he has a sixth sense when it comes to the ability to walk around the office and begrudge the cost of everything, from wages to washing up liquid. I hear it's not uncommon and is known in MBA parlance as being ‘tight as a gnat's chuff'. I'm aware there's a recession going on, don't get me wrong, but I'm also aware of the need to balance cost with something far more important -- value. The problem is, there are many people who are so clearly linear in their thinking that they are unable to see the bigger...


On September 22, 2009

The Spotify Rules of Entrepreneurship

Last week I went to a gathering of entrepreneurs, organised by incubator organisation Glasshouse, to hear wise words from 26-year-old co-founder and CEO of online music service Spotify, Daniel Ek. Ek, a veteran start-up king who began his first company at the age of 14, recounted some memories of the early days for the company which is quietly overturning the music industry, by operating on a freemium model. Although the service has no more than 10 per cent of its customer-base actually paying for the service, Ek insisted people who use his service are less likely to conduct illicit file-sharing of music, so the service has a customer loyalty that could potentially grow its subscription revenues. Whether or not Spotify...


On September 22, 2009

Why Feedback Doesn’t Work | Useful Commute Podcast

Are praise and criticism a waste of time?  In this podcast, Charles Jacobs, author of "Management Rewired," uses the latest developments in neuroscience to argue that positive and negative feedback do not improve performance, and in fact, might make it worse. Jacobs turns conventional management theory on its head and explains how relying on emotion instead of logic will lead to better business decisions and how managers can motivate employees. Click the play button to hear the podcast. If you don’t see the player window, click refresh on your browser. If it still doesn’t appear, let our customer service team know. Subscribe to BNET’s Useful Commute through iTunes.


On September 21, 2009

10 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

What do tattooing a brand name on your forehead and wrapping a car with branding materials have in common? Both are forms of guerrilla marketing, and, for an unintentional entrepreneur, guerrilla marketing could be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to marketing on a shoestring budget. In traditional marketing, budgets are spent on tv [...]


On September 21, 2009

Total Upfront Take Even Worse Than You Thought, But Not for the Reasons You Thought

Credit Suisse has gone out on a limb, maybe a pretty sturdy one actually, about where the total take in the broadcast networks' upfront ad sales market really mapped out. And it's even worse than we thought. Total volume was down 22 percent to $7.2 billion, with Credit Suisse pegging the individual drop-offs at the broadcast nets as follows: ABC and CBS each down $1.9 billion or 24 percent; NBC down 21 percent to $1.5 billion and Fox dropping 18 percent to $1.6 billion. The first tipoff that there's something more to these numbers than a simple media recession is the following: that CBS (yes, BNET's ultimate corporate overlord), was the ratings leader last season, but tied with ABC for...


On September 21, 2009

Biotech Fundraising Options for Those With No Options

Yes, the financing climate appears to be thawing, and for those with good data, it’s been positively hot. But there are still plenty of biotechs being forced to get creative with their fundraising efforts.


On September 21, 2009

CityCenter’s 12,000 Jobs For 160,000 Applications

I did the math on CityCenter's 12,000 job offers given to 160,000 applicants. The beleaguered $8.5 billion project by partners MGM Mirage and Dubai World, said it will hire 12,000 by the end of the month, which comes to around 1 in 13 applicants will be receiving a phone call. The story also says that applicants came from as far away as Ohio, but in this economy, that shouldn't be surprising. Last week, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation announced unemployment reached a record of 13.4 percent in August. Still, it's the biggest hiring push on the Las Vegas Strip in some time, which some are viewing as a step in the right economic direction. I think it's great that...
On September 21, 2009

Changes to the Baucus Health Care Bill That Impact Small Employers

The AP reports the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee was revising his health care bill today. From the story:

The changes came a day ahead of a committee session beginning Tuesday to amend and vote on the bill, which Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., hopes his panel will approve by the end of the week.

The 10-year, $856 billion package would extend coverage to about 29 million Americans who lack it now and institute insurance market reforms, such as prohibiting higher premiums for women or the denial of coverage to sick people. It would make almost everyone buy insurance or pay a fee, give subsidies to the poor to help them buy coverage and create new online exchanges where small businesses and people without government or employer-provided insurance could shop for plans and compare prices.

See John Tozzi's previous health care reform coverage here.

On September 21, 2009

Report Says Aldi Moving Into New York City, Joining Trader Joe’s in Queens

The Trader Joe’s folks won’t discuss it and the Aldi folks will get mad at you if you suggest it, but the two chains, both owned by the ALDI Group in Germany, seem to do a lot of the same things, including opening up in Queens. The Aldi location that's been reported as preparing to bow there would represent the chain's first in New York City. After making a splash by opening its first store in Manhattan, Trader Joe’s quickly developed a location in central Queens. It made sense. Queens is a largely middle class borough that suffers a relative shortage of major food retailers and even discount stores, and the Rego Park location, with surrounding working, middle and upper...
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