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- BNET Author Biography
Steve Tobak is a marketing and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley. He's a 20-plus year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies. He also wrote the popular blog Train Wreck for CNET. When he's not airing corporate America's dirty laundry and...- more about Steve Tobak »
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- GM Finally Gets it Right … Sort Of
- In a sweeping restructuring plan, GM said it will cut 21,000 jobs, close 13 U.S. plants, slash 2,600 dealers, and dump four brands. CEO Fritz Henderson said, "I'm a believer in dealing with reality." It's about time, but I'm just wondering: what kind of world was the previous management dealing...
- Blog posts 2009-04-28
- How to Be a Great Marketer - Part II
- Marketing is like sex: everybody thinks they're good at it. These are the lessons I learned over a long and successful career that will actually help make you good at it. They dispel some popular myths and you'll notice some common threads. It's hard work but worth every minute of...
- Blog posts 2009-04-08
- How to Be a Great Marketer
- If you're new to marketing, welcome to a function that nobody understands and everybody thinks they know better than you do. Looking back on a long career, I learned a number of lessons that I think contribute to being a successful marketer. They dispel some popular myths and you'll notice...
- Blog posts 2009-04-07
- We're Still Making Excuses for Weak Leadership
- I'm tired of people making excuses for weak leadership, mismanagement, and essentially no corporate governance. We, as managers, can't make excuses for ourselves. Instead, we have to admit our mistakes, learn from them, and move on. If we can't hold ourselves accountable, we deserve what happens to us and to free market capitalism....
- Blog posts 2009-04-06
- Don't Beat Your Competitors, Buy Them
- Want to know how to beat your competitors? Buy them … buy all of them. That's the strategy of Nuance Communications, and it's worked brilliantly. Courtesy of dozens of mergers and acquisitions over the past 14 years, Nuance now owns much of the planet's speech technology ... and it knows...
- Blog posts 2009-04-03
- Is Tech a Good Old Boy's Club for Executives?
- I always viewed the executive ranks of the tech industry - where I spent my career - as primarily a good old boy's club. But is that true? Is the technology industry lagging the nation and the world in terms of women in senior management positions? The data says yes,...
- Blog posts 2009-04-02
- 5 Classic Boardroom Mistakes
- You're relatively new to the management ranks and you're presenting to the board of directors or the executive staff. Everyone you know says, "don't screw it up," but what exactly does that mean? These are 5 classic mistakes I witnessed first-hand by folks who should have known better, including me....
- Blog posts 2009-04-01
- 15 Signs That You're Done Climbing the Corporate Ladder
- You're a successful manager or executive. You've made a few bucks, made a name for yourself. Congratulations. Now what? How do you know when you're done, ready to move on and try something different? Fortunately, like body language, your mind has a way of making its desires known. Here's how...
- Blog posts 2009-03-31
- Steve Jurvetson: Innovation in a Disruptive Environment
- Steve Jurvetson is one of the smartest and most influential investors in Silicon Valley. Here are 10 gold nuggets of wisdom on "Innovation in a Disruptive Environment" by this highly acclaimed, fast-talking managing director of leading global VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. by Steve Tobak
- Blog posts 2009-03-30
- T. Boone Pickens on Energy, Politics and Having a Plan
- In a keynote speech at an intimate, Silicon Valley conference, the legendary oil man and entrepreneur shared unique insights into America's dependence on foreign oil, Washington's lack of energy leadership, and the importance of "having a plan." by Steve Tobak
- Blog posts 2009-03-27
- Should Companies Reprice Underwater Stock Options?
- Given today's market conditions, most employee stock options are underwater and worthless. When companies repriced options after the Internet bubble burst, shareholders revolted. Times are different now but the debate's the same: should companies reprice options? The answer might be a welcome remedy for underwater option sufferers. by Steve Tobak
- Blog posts 2009-04-09
- How Failure Makes You a Better Manager
- If you haven't had a few failures in your career, or you think you're impervious to disaster, then there's a gaping hole in your experience. Failure provides balance that makes you a stronger leader and a more capable and promotable manager. Simply put, failure teaches you critical career lessons. Here...
- Blog posts 2009-04-10
- Ignore Politics and Banking at Your Peril
- As business leaders and managers, how much should we really be concerned with the world of politics and banking? Sure, we're all over it now that the chickens have come home to roost, but why weren't we paying closer attention before everything fell apart? The signs were all there. by...
- Blog posts 2009-04-13
- Business Jargon That Works
- Everybody and his brother has bemoaned the horror that is corporate speak. Likewise, I'm a big fan of being direct. Life is too short for BS. That's why it pains me to identify these 10 concepts and yes, the jargon that defines them, as surprisingly useful management tools. Check it...
- Blog posts 2009-04-27
- Five Qualities That Make You a Better Manager
- Last week's Does Management Ability Improve With Age? sparked an excellent dialog, but it also got me thinking about the qualities I've developed over the years that made me a better manager and leader. Here are five and they're not the ones that would automatically come to mind. by Steve...
- Blog posts 2009-04-24
- 10 Rules for Effective Strategic Planning
- Every company runs into trouble from time to time. No entity goes straight up and to the right and no business plan, corporate direction, or product strategy is effective in perpetuity. Things change - economy, competition, organization, technology - and when they do, you need to look at your strategy...
- Blog posts 2009-04-23
- Strategic Planning 101 for Companies in Trouble
- Every successful company or industry is at some point challenged by changes in the competitive landscape. It's a fact of business life - competitors hungry for market share and profits mark successful companies with a bulls-eye. I don't care if you're Microsoft or Cisco, Chevron or Wal-Mart; it'll happen. And...
- Blog posts 2009-04-22
- Oracle - Sun: IT Convergence on Steroids
- Oracle's move to acquire Sun for $7.4 billion surprised analysts but indicates an accelerating trend toward IT solutions convergence in the business world - enterprise, small business, and infrastructure. What's next? And what does this mean for Microsoft, SAP, HP, IBM and Dell? by Steve Tobak
- Blog posts 2009-04-21
- Is Fear Affecting Your Decision-Making?
- According to a neuroeconomist, whatever that is, fear of losing our jobs and savings is impairing our decision-making ability and making us risk averse. The thought of corporate America crippled by fear during an economic crisis scares the crap out of me. Is this really happening? And if so, what...
- Blog posts 2009-04-20
- In Management, Keep it Simple
- Occam's Razor essentially says that all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best. The principle has implications in virtually every field, including management. The most successful executives keep it simple. Here are a few examples. by Steve Tobak
- Blog posts 2009-04-16
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