2 min read · 12 February 2010
During a late afternoon meeting today at MySpace, chief executive Owen Van Natta, formerly the chief operating officer of Facebook, was nudged out the door. Just nine months after joining the company, he’s being replaced by Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, executives who were brought in alongside Van Natta last April and who will now report as co-presidents to News Corp.’s digital chief, Jon Miller. What happened? A News Corp. insider tells me tonight that the departure is a shock to no one for a variety of reasons, beginning with the near simultaneous way that Van Natta, Jones, and Hirschhorn were brought in. “Owen had little to no influence over that decision,” says this person, who adds that among Miller, Jones and Hirschhorn, Van Natta was “the odd man out” from nearly the outset. Friction grew more extreme over time. “While Owen was off giving speeches around the world, Mike and Jason were doing the hard work,” say this person. “After a while, no one was sure what they needed for.”
2 min read · 11 February 2010
Earlier today, Google unveiled Buzz, a Facebook-like platform built into Gmail that allows users to see their contacts' status updates, media, and favorite links -- including via popular applications like Twitter, Picasa, and Flickr -- as well as to "like" them. The social media tool also allows users to let friends know where they are, a la the popular application Foursquare. The announcement, which came at 10 a.m., was eagerly awaited. Reactions to it since have been downright ugly.
1 min read · 09 February 2010
2 min read · 09 February 2010
2 min read · 09 February 2010
A study released earlier today shines a bit more light on why most people are afraid to gamble, while others are willing to roll the dice despite sometimes poor odds of a higher return. Published by scientists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and at University College of London, the research centered on two women with Urbach-Wiethe, a disease that damages the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the brain linked to feelings of fear and aggression. While it’s generally the case that
1 min read · 09 February 2010
Two weeks ago, President Obama told the nation that he was proposing a new small-business tax credit, “one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages.” While we're at it, the president added, “let's also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment; and provide a tax incentive for all businesses, large and small, to invest in new plants and equipment." Many of our readers wondered what those words meant, exactly. So we looked for answers from Steven Franklin, head of the tax and venture capital and private equity funds practice at Gunderson Dettmer in Silicon Valley:
3 min read · 08 February 2010
Most professionals would likely agree that 99 percent of meetings are hopeless time sucks. The last meeting I joined took more than an hour and involved 30 people, and what do I remember? The moment when an East Coast colleague asked if his group was moving closer to the office cafeteria. To help my managers and yours, earlier today, I called Boston-based communications consultant Nick Morgan -- author of “Running Meetings: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges” -- for constructive ways on how to structure a meeting, as well as how to politely escape one.
3 min read · 06 February 2010
3 min read · 04 February 2010
1 min read · 04 February 2010
