Archive for September, 2008

BusinessWeek today announced their top 25 most influential people on the web for 2008.  Now I consider myself to be fairly savvy when it comes to this industry, so I figured of course I will know everyone on the list.  Oh, how I was mistaken.  With that being said, there were only a handful that I had not heard of at all, but I was at the very least aware of their company.  These lists always give me a good laugh, it is our way of puffing our collective chest and showing how important our industry and its movers and shakers really is.  But is it?  Below are a few that I was not familiar with at all:

• Mitchell Baker - head of the Mozilla Foundation.  Now I know the Mozilla Foundation quite well (in fact I am writing this blog post in their flagship product) but I could not have told you for the life of me who was at the helm.
• Joi Ito - I have heard the name a time or two, but until I read this article, I had no idea what he was famous for (internet famous that is).  Now I know, thanks Joi.
• Jonathan Kaplan - Not only have I never heard of him, but I am not familiar with his company either.  Oh wait, they make the FlipCam, I have used one of those before.

Then there are some crossover names, from the entertainment industry like Jon Stewart or seasoned business names like Rupert Murdoch.  Even these two examples may not be names that everyone is familiar with, but I would venture a bet that they stand a better chance of main stream recognition than the other names I mentioned previously.

The whole point here is that I think the Web, like almost every other industry for that matter, has created this whole separate world that we think is much bigger than it really is.  We place such importance and relevance on who is who, what companies did they found / fund, what conferences did they speak out, what “type” of expert they are, that we forget that it is a small world.  I mean, take a minute and ask any of your friends or family members that are not in the industry who Gabe Rivera, Matt Mullenweg or Peter Theil (all on the list by the way) are and I bet you get blank stares.  Now ask the same person who Brad Pitt or Bill Clinton or Tom Brady is and I bet you get a much different response.

So at the end of the day, how important are these lists afterall?  Well for those on it, it at least lends a little more credence to why they are so important .

We have all been there at some point in our lives, where we really want that expensive item (insert whatever that may have been here, for me it could have been a car all the way down to a really nice pair of shoes) but our financial situation at the time was limiting us (or least it should have been, if not, that is another story).  This example, my friends, is called having a champagne taste on a beer budget.

For those that have or are currently working for a startup, understand how that same concept plays out in the work place.  Startups are scrappy, they typically (although there are exceptions to every rule) start from humble beginnings and do not have a lot of money in the bank.  If they are lucky, they raised a decent angel round to get them going and got a good series A, but that money does not last forever, especially if you are pre-revenue or just starting to generate some revenue but are a far way from being profitable.  So, as a company, you cannot affortd to pay every employeee outragous wages, otherwise what money you did raise would be gone quicker than you can say series B anyone?  Faced with that dilema, you want to be able to provide your employees that champagne taste on a beer budget.  You want to be able to maximize the benefits that you offer them while minimizing the cut into the bottom line.  This can be accomplished in several ways, from paying a substantial portion of their healthcare coverage (or in some cases covering it all) to providing food and drinks in the office (does not have to be catered lunches per se, but perhaps coffee and snacks, they go a long way) to games for your employees to blow off a little steam.  You could even do a quarterly event, does not have to be extravagant, but simply getting everyone out of the office for some fun.

At the end of the day, everyone has their reasons for going to work for a startup, but whatever that is, they all have certain needs.  By providing that champagne taste on a beer budget, you are going a far way in making sure your employees’ thirsts are quenched.