We took a quick look yesterday at the Closing Ceremony for the Winter Olympics, which was painful (Shatner, really?) but as we flipped to another channel, we ran across Undercover Boss on CBS. The premise of the series is simple: a boss from a large company works “undercover” at the frontlines of the business. The (first?) episode was one of the family owners of White Castle working shifts at several of their restaurants and at two of their supply facilities. On the downside, like all reality...

We took a quick look yesterday at the Closing Ceremony for the Winter Olympics, which was painful (Shatner, really?) but as we flipped to another channel, we ran across Undercover Boss on CBS. The premise of the series is simple: a boss from a large company works “undercover” at the frontlines of the business. The (first?) episode was one of the family owners of White Castle working shifts at several of their restaurants and at two of their supply facilities. On the downside, like all reality...

I am a huge fan of Dan Ariely’s writing because I believe it makes behavioral economics relevant to every day business decision making. I have just finished the first two chapters of his new book “The Upside of Irrationality” and can already strongly recommend it. Chapter 2 in particular is be a must read for anyone who manages people but in particular for folks who manage engineers. In it, Dan describes a series of experiments involving MIT students building with Legos that are cunningly con...

I am a huge fan of Dan Ariely’s writing because I believe it makes behavioral economics relevant to every day business decision making. I have just finished the first two chapters of his new book “The Upside of Irrationality” and can already strongly recommend it. Chapter 2 in particular is be a must read for anyone who manages people but in particular for folks who manage engineers. In it, Dan describes a series of experiments involving MIT students building with Legos that are cunningly con...

A lot of the work of a good board takes place outside of the board meetings (see Tip #1), but the meetings are critical to overall effectiveness. It is the time when the team has the (mostly) undivided attention of the board members and when important decisions will be made (or at least influenced). 1. Schedule your board meetings well in advance, ideally for the entire next year. Most VCs are on multiple boards and have hectic schedules and the longer you wait, the harder it gets to have eve...

A lot of the work of a good board takes place outside of the board meetings (see Tip #1), but the meetings are critical to overall effectiveness. It is the time when the team has the (mostly) undivided attention of the board members and when important decisions will be made (or at least influenced). 1. Schedule your board meetings well in advance, ideally for the entire next year. Most VCs are on multiple boards and have hectic schedules and the longer you wait, the harder it gets to have eve...

In 1997 I started a company with two professors from MIT in the emerging Internet healthcare field. We made a lot of mistakes, but probably the biggest mistake was made at inception. We did not have the right DNA in the company for what we were trying to accomplish. The two professors were academics and I had a consulting services background (albeit a consulting startup). Their research had been on using lightweight web based systems on bringing information on the same patient from disparate ...

In 1997 I started a company with two professors from MIT in the emerging Internet healthcare field. We made a lot of mistakes, but probably the biggest mistake was made at inception. We did not have the right DNA in the company for what we were trying to accomplish. The two professors were academics and I had a consulting services background (albeit a consulting startup). Their research had been on using lightweight web based systems on bringing information on the same patient from disparate ...