The Evolution Of “Geek”

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

I was watching An Evening With Kevin Smith (The full 2 hours of it free) the other night and a guy named “Geek” asked Kevin a question — and Kevin had a throw-away comment about the word “Geek” originating from someone biting chicken heads off. That got me thinking about the origin of the word… Read more »

google hangouts

Google+ “Hangouts” Is Cool For Free 3-Way Video Call

Posted by & filed under Technology.

We here at Ongig (job description platform) tried using Google+’s Hangouts feature for our Ongig daily huddle call this morning and it was super-easy and fun. You just go to

The Top 25 Most Efficient Tech Companies Based On Profit Per Employee

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I was curious who the most profitable tech companies were based on net income per employee; so I asked the kind folks at MANDASOFT (a cool mergers and acquisitions data provider) for the data. Top 25 Tech Companies By Profit-Per-Employee I think of the highest profit-per-employee companies as the most efficient companies, since they generate… Read more »

A Hacker’s Journey To Find A Co-Founder

Posted by & filed under Entrepreneurship.

Prologue, Apr 2011 It started on a rainy evening. I was working for a company that made widgets. (Really, they make customized social widgets for clients). I had spent the entire day poring over a jumble of hideous Java code that could have been written by a thousand monkeys on typewriters. Any mention of using… Read more »

What Steve Jobs Said When I Asked Him For Entrepreneurial Advice

Posted by & filed under Entrepreneurship.

A friend just sent me this nice quality version of me nervously asking Steve Jobs a question at All Things Digital (D5) a few years back. I asked him for his advice for entrepreneurs like me…on how to try to build an awesome company like Apple.

Randi Zuckerberg Can Really Sing And Other Interesting Things I Learned About The Tech Industry At SVRocks

Posted by & filed under Community.

I didn’t know what to expect when I ponied up the $45 dollar per ticket admission for my wife and I to attend the Silicon Valley Rocks charity concert benefiting Music in Schools Today(MUST).  MUST, which provides music education programs for underserved schools, is a worthy cause in and of itself, and I was truly impressed with… Read more »

How To Make A Video Job Posting In 15 Minutes

Posted by & filed under Hiring, Networking, Technology.

I believe that video will be standard in job postings within the next 5 years. Call me crazy, but technology is easy to use and video gives you such a tremendous advantage. Active and passive job seekers network through referrals first. What do they do after that? Most people in San Francisco tell me Linkedin,… Read more »

An Irish Blog: Hunting For A Tech Job In Silicon Valley, Part II

Posted by & filed under Career Advice.

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one” — Oscar Wilde. At no other point in the past has this quotation reverberated more truly for myself. Unfortunately for me, Wilde’s musing is a lot less imaginary and far more real. Since I published my last blog, which documented, “Hunting For… Read more »

3 Easy Steps To Write A Purpose Statement For Your (Next) Job

Posted by & filed under Career Development.

One of the “5 C’s” I mentioned in past posts here at Ongig (job description software) is getting from Point A to Point B in your  Career development. To do so, you need to be purposeful about your job. Here’s an easy exercise for figuring out the purpose statement of your current or next job. 1) List… Read more »

Is The Résumé Dead?

Posted by & filed under Career Advice.

Throughout the 20th Century and now into the 21st, job search pundits have eulogized the résumé as it gives way to technology and time. Through each era, age, fad and phase, the resilient document changes and continues to lead the way for job seekers. Like the Phoenix, the résumé is dynamic,  dying thousands of fiery deaths only to rise from… Read more »

Technology Companies Spend $4,339 To Recruit You & They Find You Here

Posted by & filed under Hiring.

The kind folks at Bersin Associates in Oakland, CA gave us permission to share some awesome data from their $999 Talent Acquisition Factbook 2011 authored by Karen O’Leonard. A Recruiter Makes 21% Of Your First Year’s Salary (E.g. $21K Here In SF)

What Do Steve Martin, Facebook, Google & A Rock Have In Common?

Posted by & filed under Career Advice.

Here are some more creative business cards/calling cards we discovered after posting A Creative Business Card Showing Twitter, Web & Email All On One Line. Thanks to Neatorama for posting this calling card from comedian Steve Martin: Here’s a simple & cool business card from Ji Lee (formerly Creative Director at Google)

A Simple Way To Keep Your Email Inbox Clean?

Posted by & filed under Technology.

Keeping up to date with your email inbox can be one of the most challenging aspects in your work. Think of how much time you spend to keep your inbox clean, or the messages that get shuffled or missed. A clean inbox takes consistency, time, and effort. In late September, we noticed an email application… Read more »

I Keep A List Of “Must-Haves For My Next Job”

Posted by & filed under Career Development.

I’ve been lucky to have some awesome jobs in my life, including CEO (4 times), VP of Sales, Director of Business Development, Senior Editor and Assistant (Gopher) a couple of times. At each business I’ve been at I’ve learned that I run into awesome qualities (ones I’d like to have at every job I ever… Read more »

Leave The Cheese At Home, But Don’t Forget To Smile!

Posted by & filed under Networking.

My wife watches a show called “The X-Factor” that some of you may have heard of. One of the remaining contestants is a young teen going by the name of Astro. Although he seemed to be a talented contestant, my wife was not sold on him “because of his attitude”. I asked my wife exactly… Read more »