This post is for anyone who has spent time trying to troubleshoot a router or modem connection. It's about the only situation where I covet those with tech support on speed dial. Turns out I bought that without even knowing it, thanks to a great recommendation from...
If you're like me, you attend a lot of networking events. Which means you've probably seen some people with great skills, and a few whose tactics and approach are all wrong. I know you've encountered them--that guy (or gal), the one you smile at politely and then make...
We all know the U.S. economy is entering a jobless recovery, which is really a sanitized way of saying that if you're unemployed you can expect more of the same. We clearly need a jobs creation strategy, and fast. So where will the jobs come from? If history is a...
As a business owner, I know that understanding your clients, customers, and other stakeholders is critical. To do this right, you have to ask the right questions and pay attention to the details. Companies ignore this at their peril. Take, as an example, these two...
At least once a month someone asks me if I have expertise in their industry, whether they're building widgets for tow trucks or rockets for NASA. And it has always struck me as the wrong question. I can learn about you; don't you want to know if I understand what a...
TIME Magazine has a terrific article about how Twitter is changing us. It's well-written, and author Steven Johnson looks at Twitter not just as a fad tool for celebrities, but also as a platform that is changing how we are interconnected. A sample: But watch a live...
Have you ever beaten out a bigger competitor to win business? How did you succeed? Succeeding in business is all about understanding your competitive advantages and playing to them. For entrepreneurs and many small business owners, that can also mean leveraging...
Great interview with Wal-Mart Vice Chair Eduardo Castro-Wright about leadership and what they don't teach you in business school. The crux of leadership: trust. Leadership is "about being able to get people to go to places they never thought they could go," he said in...
Am I missing something? I really don't get all the handwringing among insurers and the pharmaceutical industry about a public health plan component to reform. One of the latest naysayers is Eli Lilly's CEO, John Lechleiter, who said that a public plan is "a slippery...
Insightful interview with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in which he talks about his background and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Here's a sampling: "This is one of the things I love about entrepreneurship. You're encountering new challenges, and you have to...