January 2012
1 post
How to help new employees be rockstars, a new...
We all have our quirks. I know I do.
Typically it takes months and years sometimes to learn all of our bosses quirks. What they like, what annoys them and ( most importantly ) how they uniquely define a rockstar top performer.
We stumble our way towards discovering what our bosses value through trial and error which can be slow and painful.
How inefficient!
Around here our motto is...
December 2011
1 post
How to evaluate performance with one simple...
Every once in a while you stumble onto a question that cuts to the core of an issue. A question that is so surgically precise that by answering it, you cut directly through any cloud of doubt and get to the point very quickly.
I found this one question so powerful that I ask myself it on a regular basis.
When you’re evaluating your team, it’s sometimes hard to get perspective on...
November 2011
1 post
How to sniff out Rockstar SEO talent
As you can imagine, we do some pretty heavy search engine optimization (SEO) at TravelPod & TripAdvisor.
Recently, I was asked to help find a rockstar Senior Director of SEO to run our SEO at TripAdvisor. Apply here if you think you’ve got what it takes.
So, what does it take to lead SEO for what many consider to be one of the best ranked sites in the world?
Sure, you need to know...
October 2011
1 post
How to sniff out rockstar talent
TravelPod’s hiring.
I’m looking for a UI Designer, 2 x Web Engineers (developers) and a Product Manager.
I’ve heard the old saying many times that you can always expect to have a mix of “A” players and “B” players in any team… I get it that in medium and large companies, to grow to scale, you inevitably have to accept this to some degree.
Luckily,...
November 2010
1 post
The competitive advantage of being social
I’ve always been a strong believer in the value networking. I’ve experienced the value of listening to different points of views & ideas from other entrepreneurs / developers / business people / taxi drivers, just about anyone … many times.
I just watched this excellent TED talk called “When ideas have sex“… I found that the video really drove home the...
September 2010
2 posts
Game theory in product design
Game theory is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Especially considering an upcoming app we recently launched ( tripwow ).
Here is a great video about the topic and some take aways:
- Good game design keep the users in the “Flow’, hovering between boredom and anxiety.
- The most powerful reenforcement schedule is to reward users without them knowing 100% how they got the reward (...
WatchIt’s always been a personal goal of mine to visit Iran.
Why? I get that question a lot. Mostly, it’s because I love a good challenge and getting into Iran is no small feat. I also love history and Iran is a country with one of the richest and deepest historical stories… it also has some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met.
It’s funny how it goes… in my...