I wrote the following on Hacker News and thought it fit here. Last week I self-published my first book. My visit to North Korea last year amazed me at how much we base our impressions of North Korea on pre-conceived notions. I already blogged daily, but the experience affected me so much I started posting twice daily, one post on North Korea. Then Kim Jong Il died and tons of[…] Keep reading →
Reading the spate of articles on Kim Jong Il and North Korea, I’ve seen what look from my perspective misinterpretations. Reporters repeatedly succumb to ascribing to the leader what I consider properties of the system. I think they adopt a great-man model that says if something is working, someone must be making it happen. With only Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung around, it must be them. Misallocating causes[…] Keep reading →
Following up last week’s interview on sales lessons from a great failure, this week’s interview covers the result of sticking with it after that failure: Submedia’s first sale, which came with Coca-Cola signing as Submedia’s début advertiser, as documented in the New York Times, for example, and elsewhere. I doubt Submedia could have achieved such a great success without first having gone through a spectacular failure at first. Small interface:[audio:https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/life_lesson_first_sale.mp3][…] Keep reading →
Spectacular failures teach us our most valuable lessons. In this interview, I talk about my first, and most painful, sales failure growth experience. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die, but the meeting crept on. Afterward I didn’t want to continue in business, let alone do any sales. The word I was looking for at 2:38 was condescension, by the way. My business partner’s perspective — that you[…] Keep reading →
One last behavioral trend to round out a few recent posts on behaviors that correlate with importance. The others were on leaders having the least stuff, being the least hurried, and the most common route to becoming CEO. People know this one, though they don’t always act consistently with it. Look throughout an organization. The higher you move in the organization chart, the more responsibility people have. Having responsibility because[…] Keep reading →
“What is the best route to become CEO of a corporation?“ For people driven to reach the top it’s a common question. A classmate asked it of Ralph Biggadike, professor of Top Management Processes, which, when I was at Columbia Business School, was the class in highest demand. Ralph is an excellent teacher, as knowledgeable about top management as you’d expect one of the top professors at one of the[…] Keep reading →
Important people do things differently than unimportant people — that is, behavior correlates with importance. If you want people to consider you more important — to trust and defer to you — you should pick up on how behavior correlates with importance. And with unimportance if you want to avoid being lumped in with unimportant people. The more important you are, the less you carry. The following corporate examples are[…] Keep reading →
This week’s New Yorker has an article on test tube meat — that is, meat produced outside a body. I’ve been talking about it for a while, as someone who doesn’t eat meat and as an entrepreneur. I’m looking forward to reading the article. I first read about the idea on a nerdy site called Slashdot a couple years ago. Technology recently made it possible. I think most people’s reaction[…] Keep reading →
For those who appreciated my series on entrepreneurial myths and productive behaviors, my friend and business school classmate, Ian Sigalow, posted on myths in venture capital, in particular “The Myth of the Board Seat.” Ian is an all-too-rare person who is successful at both entrepreneurship and venture capital. In school he got one of the most desired positions, working with Alan Patricof (also Columbia MBA) to found Greycroft Partners, where[…] Keep reading →
