Disqus - Latest Comments for GeekMBA360

Re: The PPC Experiment You Never Dare Run

GeekMBA360 — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:38:38 -0000

Great article. Just to make sure I understand observation #1 -- the keyword conversion graph includes both organic search and paid search correct?

Re: I’m not impressed

GeekMBA360 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:11:17 -0000

Completely agree. I was thinking about your comments -- what you and I experienced are very different from what are portrayed in the media and business books! Most business book authors or business school academics have no real world experience of working with and working for these ego-centric executives!

Re: E-commerce startups

GeekMBA360 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:17:04 -0000

I would argue that Warby Parker's key differentiation is their ability to build a brand in prescription Rx eyewear category. There are several competitors in the space (e.g. Coastal Contacts, EyeBuyDirect, eyeglassUSA, etc), but Warby Parker built a brand.

This also brings up my second point -- I agree with most of your points. However, I think brand plays an important role in e-commerce. In the case of Warby Parker, it's a key differentiator. In the case of traditional retailers such as William Sonoma. it allows them to continue to charge a high premium price, and not discounting in online channels as much as mass online merchant.

Re: Is it a tech bubble?

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:25:11 -0000

The one company you didn't mention is amazon.com -- I admire amazon for its innovation and long-term thinking. But, it is growing its top line at very high cost. It's trading at 169 P/E ratio. As much as I respect and like amazon as a company, I don't see how we can justify 169 P/E ration. It's one of the biggest bubble in high tech.

Re: Newsmakers 2011: Lockerz CEO Kathy Savitt

GeekMBA360 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:05:12 -0000

you must be an insider or knows someone there. this company is in serious trouble. this shows how clueless technology journalist sometimes are -- they can easily be fooled by the PR/marketing machine of start-ups companies/entrepreneurs/venture capitalists.

Re: I’m tired and sick of management consultants

GeekMBA360 — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:00:38 -0000

You nailed it -- these guys are very insecure inside but are trained to hide their true feelings. Right after our company was acquired by this large company, I noticed several of those ex-consultants updated their linkedIn profile -- they all removed what year they graduated from colleges because that'll make them look too inexperienced. Unbelievable!

Re: A challenge to Seattle entrepreneurs: Generate 100 investment-worthy startups in 24 months

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:22:19 -0000

Completely agree.

I think Marcelo has done some good things to organize conferences and create a web site for local entrepreneurs. But, as a bay area transplant, I have to say these accomplishments would not have gotten this much attention and fame in the bay area. In fact, this is an example of how much behind Seattle is comparing to the silicon valley.

Re: GeekMBA360.com publishes How to get a job at amazon.com: A definitive Guide

GeekMBA360 — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:04:17 -0000

I have to take the forum down due to a technical issue we are having right. But, I'm more than happy to answer any question you have. Please email me at geekmba360@gmail.com

thanks.

Re: GeekMBA360.com publishes How to get a job at amazon.com: A definitive Guide

GeekMBA360 — Wed, 11 May 2011 12:41:39 -0000

You'll receivie a link to download the document. Are you looking for
guidance on care questions for MBA candidates? The answer is yes -- I cover
the approach and have one an example on case questions.

Bill

Re: What’s your secret sauce? A guide to measuring startup success

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:45:15 -0000

I'm not sure some of the examples in this article are good ones. Andrew Chen has NOT accomplished anything from entrepreneur stand point besides writing and bragging about it. And Wetpaint is not exactly a success story.

Ultimately, start-up metrics need to tie to financial objectives (i.e. revenue, contribution margin, GM, EBITA, etc.) as well as customer acquisition metrics such as cost per new customer.

Re: Growth spurt continues at DataSphere; hyperlocal blog platform to hire 220 in Ariz.

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:14:58 -0000

Satbir is one of the sharpest minds in online advertising/e-commerce you will met. He ran IMDB as well as the traffic organization at Amazon.com. This company will have a great future.

Re: 360 Reviews

GeekMBA360 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:52:08 -0000

Thanks. I agree that there needs to be a balance.

One thing I notice is that people tend to have short-term memory, and they tend to bring up issues from the 3-6 months prior to the review time. Conversely they will forget the great things you did 9-12 months ago. :-)

However, if a CEO can establish an open culture that is conducive for providing and receiving feedback, even without the formal 360 review, he/she will still be able to get some timely and honest feedback.

Re: 360 Reviews

GeekMBA360 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:21:18 -0000

How often do you think a company should have 360 Reviews? I don't like the once-a-year, traditional review model. It's too late and too little. In a start-up environment, things move so quickly, it's important to get near real-time or real-time feedback to make the corrections/adjustments.

I think it's much better to have quarterly reviews (probably with a smaller set of people), and then an annual review with a broader review group.

Re: Lockerz taps former Amazon exec, plans deeper Facebook integration

GeekMBA360 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:15:02 -0000

This company has the making of a huge disaster waiting to happen. It has very little revenue traction, and the company is run by a group of smart executives from large companies who don't really understand the age group they serve. Having a group of really smart people with a lot of money from a top tier VC firm will NOT make a successful start-up -- this is something too many people don't understand.

Re: Dan Shapiro launches Sparkbuy, a search engine for laptops and TVs

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:12:58 -0000

I tried the site. Not impressed at all. I actually think the UI design is quite confusing and not convenient at all. Plus, why raised $1 million for something like this? It's basically an affiliate site. A reasonably skilled developer should be able to make the site himself/herself. Why makes such a big deal about it? Is this what Seattle's start-up community have to offer?

Re: SEO is no longer a viable marketing strategy for startups

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:03:12 -0000

Chris,

I don't know if you heard about this -- Conductor just sold its link building business to iAcquire. It's getting out of link building -- it'll be focusing on selling their search light product, which is a SEOMOZ-like offering for larger enterprises.

I think to some extend this indicates that black hat SEO firms are concerned about crack down by Google.

Re: Washington State B&O Tax on Director Fees

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:12:12 -0000

I found your blog from Google. Great information! Very helpful to start-up entrepreneurs.

I'm a Bellevue based entrepreneur. I plan to set up a LLC for a web-based business (e.g. affiliate marketing revenue, e-book selling, advertising revenue). I'm a WA resident, but I don't plan to have any employees in the near future.

If I register the company as a Delaware or Nevada LLC, do I need to apply "foreign company doing business in Washington"?

Re: Tableau Software plans to hire 150, open new Kirkland office

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:09:06 -0000

I'm not sure if this is a good news. Hiring 150 additional employees would cost them $20 million+. Are they getting more funding? Or how profitable are they? It's always concerning when a company is bullish about hiring upfront. Disaster could be in the horizon ...

Re: Learning Python

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:56:48 -0000

I love this post. It brought back so much memory. When I was a CS student at Cal Berkeley, we also used Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programming as the textbook for the first CS intro course. I absolutely fell in love with the elegance of the Scheme/Lisp programming language.

It's interesting that now MIT is switching to use Python to teach the class. I wonder if the text book will be updated with Python as well ...

Re: Turning 45

GeekMBA360 — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 20:52:54 -0000

Hi Brad,

Have you read anything on Evolutionary Fitness (http://www.scribd.com/doc/3... or the book The Primal Blueprint? Both authors were quite concerned about the Marathon and other endurance trainings' impact on people's health. I highly recommend you to read both -- we definitely want a vibrant and energetic Brad for another 45 years! :-)

Re: Ex-Amazon executive Jeff Holden joins board of Become.com

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:48:34 -0000

"But it will be interesting to see whether Holden's appointment to the board is a possible way for Become.com to test the waters as possible acquisition bait for Amazon."

Why would amazon wants to buy become.com?? Holden used to preside over the traffic organization at amazon. He has tons of experience in search, affiliates, etc. However, it's hard for me to find a logic reasoning that this is a bait to get Amazon acquire become.com.

The shopping comparison space is facing a lot of pressure from Google. In fact, I think the glory days for CSEs are gone.

Re: Where is the Seattle area's next e-commerce superstar?

GeekMBA360 — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:55:39 -0000

What about LockerZ?

Re: Online deal hounds on the hunt as Bing Cashback nears the end

GeekMBA360 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:58:14 -0000

VisionDirect.com, a subsidiary of Drugstore.com, is offering 35% cash back on contact lenses and other eye care accessories.

Re: Prediction: The display advertising network bubble is about to burst

GeekMBA360 — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:32:41 -0000

Interesting! I didn't know about MSNBC's plan at all, but I think it's about time for both publishers and advertisers to realize the bubble/hype associated with display ads. I applaud MSNBC's bold move.

Re: The Yin and Yang of Product and Engineering

GeekMBA360 — Sat, 22 May 2010 17:45:26 -0000

The problem with having a separate VP of product role is that in a star-up, there are usually very few product managers. The # of engineers are going to outnumber the number of PMs. And it's likely that the engineering VP has a lot more power than the VP of product. This happens a lot in start-up unless the CEO really understand the role of product management, and stand fully behind the VP of product. Otherwise, I'd prefer to have a strong VP of engineering with good business background, and having a Director of Product reports to the VP of engineering.