Are the 40 Hour Workweek and Workplace Still Relevant?

I don’t know about you all but I am all about a non standard workweek, as well as a non standard workplace.  Times have changed, yet companies have yet to catch up.  Some companies that is.  I was reading an interesting post the other day over on the 37 Signals blog referencing an article written recently in the AZCentral.com all about the new rules that we should be applying to our traditional workplace.

I think many of you would agree times, as well as the upcoming workforce, has undergone a pretty big shift.  Technology has afforded us great flexibility and opportunity to expand our thinking a bit.  So here are a few of my thoughts on the subject.  Honestly, I am lucky in a way, in that I have a little bit of flexibility to be able to work outside the confines of my office.  Tools like Remote Desktop, place me virtually in front of the computer in my office from anywhere in the world that I can grab an internet connection.  And you want to know what, I get a lot more work done when I am away from my office versus when I am physically there.  But that is only because my immediate leadership supports this, not the organization as a whole.

The organization, as many others that I see, are stuck on “core hours”, no jeans, outdated equipment.  If they only knew how nice it would be for us to have a computer that actually allowed us to do our work properly, how nice it would be if they gave us the benefit of the doubt in knowing when we are most productive, and that we are mature enough to realize that we can decipher when it is not a good time to wear more casual clothes.  I am not naive enough to not understand that in some customer facing workplaces this would all be different, but in a development environment where many of us spend hours in front of servers on cold computer labs it may be nice to be comfortable.  And I also understand that there are obviously times when we need to interface with others and our hours need to mesh, but there are other times when it should not matter “when” I work, rather just the fact that I get my work done.  There has been a recent shift at some companies, like Best Buy Corporate HQ’s, utilizing a results-oriented work environment (ROWE).

Best Buy, relatively new to campus recruiting, has hired between 50 and 60 MBAs for corporate roles in the last two years. As work/life balance becomes increasingly important in the workplace, Wesley and his colleagues are trying to offer more flexibility. The company is experimenting with the results-oriented work environment, or ROWE, which allows employees to work when and where they like, just so long as long as they get their assignments done.

It is awesome to watch companies like 37Signals utilizing 4 day work weeks and other tools to make there workplace a much better environment.  And look, even and old brick and mortar like Best Buy can try it out with great results.

So when is the shift going ot occur when the traditional companies start to shift to meet the needs of the new workforce?  Is it going to take an entire shift in the workforceas the oder generation retires and the the new younger workforce starts to be the majority ?

Clearspring to buy AddThis a Web Sharing Firm

According to this Washington Post article, local widget and widget platform  development firm Clearspring is buying a AddThis, a content and web sharing service out of Princeton, NJ.

AddThis offers a one buttong solution to share your content and bookmark and share other items you find of interest.  They also have some great anlaytics that allow you to see how your shared content is shared and spread by users.

It will be very interesting to see how Clearspring will work to integrate the new service.  I defeinitely can see some good “synergy” (hate this word but its early and cant hink of another :)) between the two products.  Clearspring obviously works hard to get their widgets the widest possible spread around the interwebs.  Maybe they can use some of the analytics from AddThis to help see the scope and breadth of just how viral or popluar it has become.  Add in the possibility to save items directly from a widget could be interesting as well.  As Clearspring Chairman Ted Leonsis states in the Post article

“What we are building is the next-generation universal-sharing platform,”

We will be watching closely to track the progress.  Congrats Clearspring and good luck.

The Current Financial Crisis and the Tech Sector

The current financial crisis has had, and will continue to have far reaching consequences inside and outside of the financial sector.  What will be interesting to follow s the impact that it has on the technology sector, east coast and west.

As the foundations that underpin our financial sector crumble before our eyes what we dont see is the flow of tech workers that are about to flood the job market.  To be honest it is ont something I had thought much about until I came across this article over on ZDnet, titled “Go West young IT worker!“  In the article, Tom Foremski questioned wether or not the flood of recently unemployed tech workers would make their way out west to Silicon Valley.  He concludes that he does not think they will for a couple of reasons

- East Coast IT people chose the safe confines of a large organization, the relative job security and a regular work week. There isn’t much of that around here. Startup life is your life and that’s it.

- Companies here want skill sets that include PHP, Ruby, Flash, MySQL etc. There’s not that many overlapping skills within financial services.

So if his conclusions are to be considered, how will this influx of technology workers into the job market affect the east coast, should thy choose to stay.  In the DC area, we are generally insulated against large fluctuations in the job market since most industry around here supports the government, either directly or indirectly.  In any case I don’t see a large populace of that newly unemployed workforce making its way down here.  So what is left ?  Is there enough left in other sectors and the blooming startup cultures in new York, and Boston to support all these tech workers ?  I doubt it.  Are they gonna go west ?  I am not sure.

What I do know is that in these times we are facing, huge shifts seem to occur in some natural order and an equilibrium is established somehow.  So some will head west, some will stay here in the east.

One thing that Tom  also mentioned was the decreasing dependence of outsourcing as a rule in companies these days.  Those prices have steadily been on the rise, making it not such a bright alternative.  With these workers back on the market, as Tom put it, this could drive the market for salaries down and make outsourcing less attractive.  I have read this in some other columns as well, and to be honest it, while the circumstances are not the greatest, it may be a good step to get us back on track to being more reliant on us versus depending on someone else to do our work for us.  This could have a tremendous affect in the long term to returning us to a more solid foundation.

What do you think ?  How will all of these workers be absorbed into out ecosystem, east or west ?  Any thoughts ?

A New Twist on Startup Recruiting

So while much of the economy and traditional companies have hit the skids on hiring an spending, some startups have some cash and some positions to fill.  In an interesting twist on recruiting, as noted in this recent Techcrunch post, some 20 startups in the Boulder, Colorado area are looking to turn the hiring process a little more fun.

It’s hard for one startup to get noticed above the crowd, but what if twenty of them pool their resources, hold a competition and throw a five day party for top recruits? That’s the goal of Gnip and 19 other Boulder, Colorado based startups who are pitching in $5,000 each to host a multi-day job fair at the end of October.

So here is the deal, if you are looking for a job wth a cool new startup, head over to HERE and upload your resume.  The companies are then going to get together and pick the top 100 and invite you out to Boulder for an all expenses paid three day trip.  Each day of five, 20 applicants will be rotated in for interviews during the day followed by dinner and parties … hmm doesn’t sound like too bad a deal.

Tips for Building Your Personal Brand

One of the great things about todays internet and technology culture is the way in which each of us has the ability to build something, anything, and compete on a global level.  One lesson I have learned over the past year or so of being involved in social media is the importance of building a brand.  It could be a web site, a company, or even yourself.  There are some great examples out there of people building themselves into a great brand and taking advantage of their “brand” to create jobs and other opportunities for themselves.  For instance we all know the Chris Brogan’s and the Gary Vaynerchuk’s right ? And a big reason we know them is they have worked hard to build their personal brands.  So how does one go about doing this ?  Peter Corbett over at iStrategyLabs has put together the following video, one of a series in his Wired Ones Network, of a montage of fellow DC tech’ers and their advice on how to go about creating a personal brand.  The video includes appearances by Hooman Radfar, CEO, ClearSpring, Leslie Brandshaw, President, JESS3 and CM/PM at New Media Strategies, Nick O’Neill, Founder, Social Times, Mae Coughlan, Designer, Bates Creative Group, Jesse Thomas, CEO, JESS3, and Matt Goddard, CEO, R2i.

Startups: And Some More Accouting Tips

I remember when I first started working on my web service and consulting company, my head was spinning with all the questions like what kind of company, accounting practices, etc.  I eventually made an appointment with a local CPA and got some of those questions answered.  But many dont have the resources for this.

So here is another video from the recent monthly meeting of the NYSIA up in New York, courtesy of Allen Stern of Centernetworks again.  In the video

Mike Lopez, from Amper Politziner, and Mattia begins by explaining the importance of looking at the eventual exit and making sure that the transactions throughout the business are completed correctly.

Mike looks at the tax implications of the different business entity types and a variety of accounting issues including revenue recognition, software development costs and stock-based compensation. As a former accountant myself, I agree with Mike’s comments about keeping a good set of books. It will help you throughout your business and will keep the overall accounting costs down.

Startups: Some More Legal Tips

You know I am more and more impressed every day by the growing tech community up in New York and hope that someday we can more emulate them and some of the things that they are doing.  Allen Stern of Centernetworks always has some great content from some of their monthly meetings.  His most recent batch was from the monthly meeting of the New York Software Industry Association, who hosted a kind of boot camp for startups.

This video is from Allen and is of Paul S. Ellis, from Scarola Ellis LLP and some of his advice and legal tips for startups.  As we all know it can be quite a maze trying to figure out all the ins and outs of what type of company to start (LLC, S Corp, C Corp and so on).  Check out the video and pick up a few tips.

Event: Social Media Club, September Meeting

Well its that time again.  The Social Media Club DC is back at it and holding what looks to be a great event.

They are kicking off their new round of sessions with a doosey.

Our topic to kick off September will be “Social Technologies in Associations and Non-Profits: Understanding the Present, Exploring the Future.” As associations and non-profit organizations begin to implement social technologies in their work, we are learning valuable lessons. Drawing on research findings, strategic insights and the actual case examples of two leading organizations, this session will explore the current state of social technology use in associations and non-profits. It will also examine future applications of these tools.

I have been to several of their events and have enjoyed all of them.  This is a bit different in that is a panel, but should be very informative with a great set of panelists

• Jeff De Cagna, Chief Strategist and Founder, Principled Innovation LLC (Moderator)
• Qui Diaz, Director of Strategy, Livingston Communications
• Peter Hutchins, Vice President of Knowledge Initiatives, ASAE & The Center for Association

Here are the details

DATE: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
TIME: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
TOPIC: Social Technologies in Associations and Non-Profits: Understanding the Present, Exploring the Future

LOCATION:
Fleishman-Hillard
1615 L Street, N.W., Suite 1000
Washington, DC, 20036

And finally a LINK to the Facebook event page.  Hope everyone has a great time.

5 Things That Make Your City Better Than the Valley

I am obviously a huge proponent of the DC area as a technology center and a great place to start and build a web startup for a variety of reasons.  I, like many others, are always looking for that magic in a bottle that makes Silicon Valley the standard bearer for web startups and technology.
However, some would say that the Valley is not the idea place to move your startup to or try to start one there.  Howard Anderson over at Gigaom has his list of why not move your startup to the Valley.

Founders can sometimes get too fixed to the idea that they must be in a certain incubating environment to succeed, when really, getting out of the startup fishbowl is sometimes the best thing they could do. I often encourage startups I invest in or founders I counsel to be contrarian and start their firms outside of the Valley, or failing that, to move East while they still can.

Howard went on to note some of his picks for places to start companies in: Boston; Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Austin; Research Triangle, N.C.; Minneapolis; Tallahassee; Toronto; and Basking Ridge, N.J.  Of course I was a little disapointed to see DC not on the list, but lets take a look at Howard’s reasoning behind his picks and lets see if DC fits in.

1. The weather sucks in some of these towns (not Tallahassee) so your people will actually work instead of bugging out at 5:15 to train for a marathon, triathlon or Ultimate Frisbee.

2. You can recruit better outside the fishbowl. Every technology company hits the wall — some multiple times. In the Valley your employees will bail at the first sign of trouble and jump to a better job in the next parking lot. That means you will have to spike salaries to rebuild your team. Other places in the world aren’t quite so spoiled - or they come to you already cynical and stay through the rough times.

3. You won’t get lost in the startup maze. In the Valley, every VC has a portfolio company in each flavor - their own LP’s can’t tell them apart.

4. In my experience, other startup communities aren’t as pre-occupied with the “exit” as Da Valley. SV VC’s have attention spans measured in picoseconds and will sell/merge your company at the first sign of trouble. I can say that in Boston, at least, we are used to gutting out long “winters.”

5. Academics make great board members. Each of these cities has a rich educational environment and are great places to recruit sartorial advisors. And unlike at Stanford, you wont have to give up 1 percent of your equity just to put the provost’s name on your board!

OK, lets see ..

The weather sucks, did anyone go outside last weekend … nuff said

You can recruit better outside the fishbow, true there is a lot of talent here in the area but many may not have the “spirit” to venture outside the box

You wont get lost in the startup maze.  I think this is absolutley valid here in the DC area.  I think we have a great ecosystem that is not overcrowded and people defeinitely stand out for all to see.

Preoccupied with the exit.  I would say that snce we have had no exits we are much more concerned with the funding and getting  few up over the hump

Academics, the University of MD has a top 5 Engineering and CS school and produces a insane amount of talented and smart people every year.  We just need to work a bit harder to tap that talent before they get out and leave the area.

So what do you think, is the DC area ripe for startup building?

Once Again, A Startup is Defined As ….

A few months back I wanted to start a wiki for the local DC startups so we could have one place for everyone to add and see some of the great companies that are taking root here in the area.  At the time it sparked a bit of a talk between a few in the community as to who should be on the list.  What would the criteria be for a company to be out on the list and labeled a startup.

So I was very interested when I came across this post from Allen Stern on Centernetworks.  He was recently in attendence at Techcrunch50 where some 50 startups pitched there wares to various panels to try to win the coveted prize.  In any case, this question about what defines a startup copped up again.  Allen noted that

Over my days at the Techcrunch50 conference, several people noted to me that the startups on stage had major funding and the demo pit companies were the real startups.

Interestingly enough, Jeff Wang decided to take a look and see just how much money was behind the Techcrunch finalists.  Here is a look at what he found

• 4 companies over $5 million
• 16 companies over $1 million
• 10 companies didn’t report their funding
• Techcrunch50 winner Yammer has funding for parent company Geni over $10 million including $1.5 million from TC50 sponsor Founders Fund (they have spun Yammer into a separate company but it was built under the Geni umbrella)
• the total funding amount of the 42 reporting companies is over $62 million

So after looking at these figures I am a bit confused.  First of all, confused even more as to what can be considered a “startup” and secondly, is Techcrunch50 really a showing and competition between true startups ?  At this point it seems as though it is simply a dog and pony show for well financed companies who use the platform as a PR tool.

So what do you think, what is a startup and is Techcrunch50 a true startup competition ?

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