There's a book that tries to explain why Seattle is Seattle, and ABQ is ABQ: The New Geography of Jobs
The author makes a good point that well educated or highly motivated tech workers have a lot of mobility. And if those workers want to work in a specific technology area, they tend to move to where the notable clusters of that work are. (Software in Seattle or Boston, Space in CA or CO, et cetera.)
Plus in NM's case, we see that when a company shuts its doors here or if there is a recession, people looking for tech work (since SNL and KAFB can't hire everyone) end up having to leave. There's just not a whole lot here compared to Austin, Phoenix or Denver. (I am an engineer who moved here, BTW.)
Then again, maybe that's a selling point to certain people (like me): "Albuquerque: It's not Austin or Phoenix or Denver."
Just read this book, which I'd strongly recommend:
168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think.
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It helps you take a critical look at your week, and reframe how you think about the time you have.
> I don't even get why a company would locate themselves there
One explanation I've gleaned from this book: because the majority of the tech industry operates there, so does the majority of its labor force, including those looking for work (where better to expose yourself to all those tech firms?). By situating in the Bay Area, new firms as well as existing ones looking to scale up are in the best position to a.) find best possible hires and b.) continue finding best possible hires. The internet has not countered this dynamic to the degree we would have expected.
I’m a fan of the E-Myth book. There’s a good bit of fluff and the writing style is a bit odd, but the underlying principle is sound.
Also The Outsiders (https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Rational-Blueprint-ebook/dp/B009G1T74O/ref=nodl_)
You might think it’s not relevant since it’s talking about CEOs of publicly traded companies but the lessons are broadly applicable. I also like the study-like approach the book takes, versus the “I’m a business guru” approach.
Ah yes, part of the reason I'm out on the town is that I recently wrote a book that has thought experiments any entrepreneur can run to help them prepare for an eventual exit. This is the book I wish I would have read before our sale (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J/?__s=wigzaf6zfpg4zsyskigz) I can delete this if it's poor form to link.
We will have print on demand + Kindle. It will be free for the maximum days Amazon allows us (I think 5) starting Thursday.
For the same reason many other genres of games have. Or even software in general.
Most software is built by companies with a growth and profit motive. And building habit-forming products is now a well-established industry standard for maximizing customer lifetime value. Unfortunately, given their current incentive alignment, it is simply the most efficient path forward for most companies.
I ultimately decided to sell my business but before I did that, I hired some senior leadership so I could semi-retire. It was a great decision. Try checking out this short bit insightful book about selling vs holding your business with a CEO. You could even just read the chapter about hiring a CEO if you wanted.
Before The Exit: Thought Experiments For Entrepreneurs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J
Jobs get outsourced to lower-cost countries, but only those jobs that make sense.
The more that jobs require strong social capital and access to near-the-edge technology, the harder it is to simply outsource that away.
Things like IT/Operations, network administration, tech support, and some level of web and mobile development, sure they can be outsourced.
Work that is related to R&D, high-value products/services or mission-critical development, that is extremely difficult to outsource.
In fact, if you look at remote jobs of that type, you'll see that they'll let you work from anywhere, as long as you work at the HQ's office hours (because of the need for tightly coupled collaboration and research.)
This is a very complex topic, and yet it is one superbly discussed Enrico Moretti's "The New Geography of Jobs." It is a book I strongly recommend people of all professions to read.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008035HQQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?\_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Get advice from an attorney who specializes in sales of companies of this size - and has done a lot of them. BEFORE you share anything with this person that is not already on your website. It's a tricky situation and what you don't know that you don't know can hurt you.
Since you weren't planning to sell, you have nothing to lose by saying no. Check out https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J
As for having too much to handle, if the deal doesn't go thru, raise your prices. You may sell less, but at a higher price and better profits.
Your business should serve your life. Sometimes the money you could get for selling or the time you could free up serves your life better.
Here's an interesting book for people contemplating selling - it's by a guy who sold his company and what he learned (and regretted) in doing so. https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J
The rude troll actually has a point. The marginal cost of a digital good is zero, so if the buzz from people stealing your content results in more sales it actually increases your profits. Chris Anderson's Free (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DYJR4G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_PMAF1HMRESQGZH4M8KSH) is a good read on the subject.
I know this isn't the answer you want but read: <em>Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms</em>
Then read it again.
Digital Marketing MBA: Guiding Principles for Researching, Planning, and Managing a Marketing Strategy to Transform Your Business
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081LJZXKR
FREE until September 5th
> Marketing & Sales best-selling author of Getting Digital Marketing Right, David Bradley, introduces a strategy process and guiding principles along the way to enable quick and effective decision-making.
>This book is a tool to help you transform your business, whether it be a smarter marketing plan or as a way to provide a new customer experience.The Digital Marketing MBA provides a proven solution to business leaders, executives, marketing consultants and marketing professionals alike.
Moving Away: The Emotional Side of Leaving
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FZGLDYM
FREE until September 2nd
> Honest insights about the joys and struggles of leaving.
>In Moving Away, Brooke Baum candidly pours out all of the lessons she’s learned through her various cross-country and cross-the-world moves. She shares why you aren’t alone in your struggles, you aren’t selfish for wanting to leave, and that you have so much to look forward to.
>Whether moving out of state or to a completely different country, moving away from home takes bravery and even more emotional preparation than practical planning – especially if dealing with unsupportive loved ones.
The book "Before the Exit" was very useful to me last year when I seriously considered selling my business. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8VvoFbC0Q012T
Only takes about an hour to read but can help clarify your thinking on what you want to achieve. The "lifestyle ladder" was my favorite thought experiment from the book.
> (“Perfect is the enemy of good.”)
I have nothing to add, but it's interesting that this saying (with minor tweaks) can be used in both directions i.e., Good to Great
> Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.
The Outsiders - By William Thorndike is an excellent book on this topic.
Covers 8 unconventional CEOs and the strategies they used to generate extraordinary returns (Compared to the market and compared to their peers)
The central idea being that Managing/Operating and Investing go hand in hand, and great CEOs are also excellent capital allocators (i.e. Investors)
Thought I would post this video here as I found it pretty interesting. The interview is with James Ratcliffe, founder of INEOS. Ratcliffe worked in the Chemical industrty for Esso before getting into private equity/venture capitalism.
I found a lot of similarities between Ratcliffes approach and the CEO's in Outsiders (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009G1T74O/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1), a book recommended by Buffett. One of his key skills is capital allocation/investing, a skill that seems to separate average CEO's from great CEO's (he interestingly brings up the statistic that 80% of mergers and acquisitions destroy value). His take on corporate culture and management structure is also strikingly different to that of many other companies (another element that seems to be a great differentiator between average businesses and great businesses). Well worth a watch and I'm tempted to pick up his book if I have the time.
While its not exactly a singular person in the story, the book "From Good to Great" by Jim Collins analyzes companies over a span of 20-30 years that were considered the underdog in their field to becoming the flagship for their market.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others-ebook/dp/B0058DRUV6
Sorry, just have a minute and have not read the whole thread. I suggest this book that was just released about a situation looking similar to yours (and mine too actually). https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J
Quick read.
Hooked is an excellent book describing all the tactics behind making addicting technology. It doesn't talk about games specifically but all of these concepts can be applied to any app from social media to gaming.
Seemed a little dated for design strategy. I would check out Hooked if you are into design theory. May or may not be out of scope.
I haven't read the book but the concept sounds similar to 168 hours:
...and based on this book - I find it to be a gimmick. A good gimmick but still a gimmick.
It doesn't produce more time - it just tricks you into thinking in the Now and hustle, hustle, relax, hustle, hustle, relax.
Only unlike normal relaxing you are tasked to do things in full such as family time and outdoor walks. In terms of hustle, it works through hyperfocusing and hyperplanning your vision and narrowing it down to the most important tasks.
The problem here is, tasks aren't works in a vacuum. There's a reason you need more time if you are an author or an artist or a designer. Not every first finished product is an ideal product.
Time lends itself to reviewing, reframing, adjusting ...and overall it comes down to how much time you are wasting. That's what makes the gimmick good. It motivates you into tricking your mind into thinking time is the issue when you are the issue: You don't pay enough attention to your actions and focus too much on the numerical value of time. Now the gimmick turns things around. You have to pay attention to how they frame time and you have to buy into the book's calculations of time and now the book authors can convince you to change your actions.
With that said, you can't go wrong with reading the book if only because there's a difference between a book that wastes your time from a book that makes you think and these neo-time management frameworks helps you think a lot thanks to the gimmicks they use.
As for the actual book, I bought it before but am only reading it now and so my opinion might change a couple of hours from now so I'll update you if my opinion changes.
Nah, we're "small time", but we're still doing great. The company has been around for over a decade and it's been slowly expanding. When I joined a few years ago there were maybe 20 people, now there's double that. Management has purposefully implemented strategies that would grow the company slowly, so we can handle new demand. They spent considerable time studying this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others-ebook/dp/B0058DRUV6
Where it basically takes a look at companies who got ahead of themselves by taking in too many customers when they weren't ready for it. So far so good. :)
I had a whole thing written out and I did something and it was gone, so I am going to try and remember what I had written.
I think one of the most important things is not to be a boss, or a manager, but be a leader. Work side by side with them. Don't get caught up in titles. Show them that just because you may have a more senior title than they do, that you don't think you are any more important than they are.
Take time to have one on one meetings with the team. Just to tell them they are doing a great job, and you really appreciate them and the hard work they are doing. Try and have a team meeting once a week, with the whole team. Talk about the previous week and what they accomplished and the week ahead. Encourage people to bring ideas to the meeting, or just to talk about whatever is on their mind. Make it open forum.
Have an open door policy. Let them know if they ever want to talk about anything, that your door is always open, whether it's work related or not.
Your team should be your #1 priority. Everything else is secondary. Show them you care and appreciate everything they do.
Push to get additional staff hired. It's not acceptable to make your team work 60 hours a week for months at a time. Overtime should be a voluntary thing, especially when we are talking about that much of it, for that extended of a period. People should not have to work that much OT, unless they want to.
Read this book - http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0058DRUV6
I have been reading Good to Great. It's a really interesting book about what common traits companies have that made the leap from being historically good, to some of the best businesses in the US. I really like this book because unlike Malcolm Gladwell books, it seems to be much less sensationalist and doesn't seem to be trying to prove a point. It just takes in all the facts and talks about them.