tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post8512448362138647467..comments2024-03-15T03:27:27.783-04:00Comments on Adventures in VCland: Lessons for a new age startup I - Subverting the OrderPunit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-60919360931814192142013-01-31T11:46:39.740-05:002013-01-31T11:46:39.740-05:00top [url=http://www.001casino.com/]free casino[/ur...top [url=http://www.001casino.com/]free casino[/url] check the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]free casino bonus[/url] unshackled no deposit perk at the best [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]baywatchcasino <br />[/url].Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-90389562499845091862007-11-04T23:34:00.000-05:002007-11-04T23:34:00.000-05:00Bipin said it well.... it is very easy to look at ...Bipin said it well.... it is very easy to look at a company like google, with acres of excess cash and praise how they operate managerially. That doesn't hold as well in the remaining 99% of companies that operate in a real world and have to be concerned about operating margins.<BR/><BR/>There is only one Google, mostly due to circumstances and some early smart decisions. Be careful not to assume that this model can and should apply everywhere.<BR/><BR/>One of the important things you learn in Bschool is contingency theories. Where there is no panacea and it really depends on lots and lots of different parameters.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02692588472341602954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-81578659134014228502007-08-15T13:52:00.000-04:002007-08-15T13:52:00.000-04:00That is very true. But is culture the freebies?I c...That is very true. But is culture the freebies?<BR/>I contend that culture is giving people the freedom to choose their projects, letting employees move between divisions, and encouraging creativity and transparency, by dismantling the hierarchy that plagues most large companies.<BR/>Google's biggest selling point should not be its free food. It is the way it minimizes hierarchy, encourages transparency, and cuts through the mind-numbing bureaucracy that was the hitch in most companies I previously worked with.<BR/>Finally, about the freebies (and even these characterstics are in some ways freebies!), you are right. The true test is when the downturn happens for Google.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-70178426161503095812007-08-15T13:29:00.000-04:002007-08-15T13:29:00.000-04:00NVIDIA is one company I can speak of with first ha...NVIDIA is one company I can speak of with first hand experience. At the height of its popularity, before the bust that is, it was the "Google" of semiconductor space. Free food, biz class, fancy car deals, regular gifts etc etc. Culture wise also it was pretty similar. The bust changed things. The extended downturn reduced all the freebies and the open-ness of culture as difficult decisions were taken. Right now, Google is at the top. The true test of culture will come in difficult times. After all , businesses survive on cash, not on sentiments.Bipin Preet Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14411376399536705999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-84313673993206809122007-08-14T15:21:00.000-04:002007-08-14T15:21:00.000-04:00Would love to hear other people's opinions on this...Would love to hear other people's opinions on this? Do you think Google has reinvented the wheel and made it much more zanier, or is this kind of culture nothing new?<BR/>Am curious because I worked in typical Semi/software companies in Silicon Valley with relatively more rigid hierarchies and structure. (Relatively, it was still MUCH better than other locations/industries)Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-5466082275620151852007-08-14T12:15:00.000-04:002007-08-14T12:15:00.000-04:00:) If you have worked here in the more typical tec...:) If you have worked here in the more typical tech firms of Silicon Valley, you would know what I mean. My comments were relative to my time spent in various big and small Silicon Valley firms before going to Bschool. Silicon Valley has always been more meritocratic and egalitarian than most industries/locations, I think Google has upped the ante though. The kind of egalitarianism and opportunity I have seen is definitely a new way of operating.<BR/>I agree about the last comment though. I am not sure how sustainable is the free lunch.<BR/>And I do think that your remark about yuppie MBAs was uncalled for. Most of us "yuppies" have been engineers, floor workers, managers "before" we were yuppized:) So just because we go to Bschools does not mean we forget our careers/lives before we went. The world is not new, our perspective is new. And that is a good thing.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-55368415407116914222007-08-14T04:02:00.000-04:002007-08-14T04:02:00.000-04:00Not that there is anything wrong with that; but th...Not that there is anything wrong with that; but this is the problem with yuppie MBA types - the world seems new to their eyes. Google did not invent egalitarian work culture in the valley in the last 6-8 years. It furthered a hedonistic work culture that was started by the 90s .bombs. <BR/><BR/>The valley culture started with companies such as Fairchild Semiconductor and was famously popularized by Intel and companies that took flight in its wake. <BR/><BR/>Any New Age company can boast of a flat organizational structure. But only time will tell, how long that is sustainable as is the free lunch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com