With This SF Delivery Service Flowchart, You’ll Never Go Anywhere To Get Anything Again: SFist.
Category: Startups
Last year, Melissa Mayer made many people question their corporate decisions to allow employees to telecommute, just as the virtual workplace was becoming somewhat common. It seems the University of Illinois began a study at about that time, to prove that in fact there are many benefits to telecommuting. “The University of Illinois found that telecommuters make more of an effort to help out their coworkers so-called “corporate citizenship”, and in some cases they can also be more productive.” Article is from VentureBeat.
via New study shows some benefits to telecommuting | VentureBeat | Business | by Gregory Ferenstein.
I’m always in awe when I use Uber. Though many think of it as a service that disrupts cabs, I think the majority of people use it instead of alternatives – not cabs. When I speak to Uber drivers they tell me stories of picking up teens to take them from school, making deliveries, being the “designated driver” so nobody else has to, and of course driving people from here to there. People USE Uber, not as a default (oh, I’ll take a cab) but as an integrated part of their life. The CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, recently spoke at the Techcrunch Disrupt conference, told the audience that “Driver jobs” are an Uber-created metric used to quantify new drivers on its platforms. These jobs are global — Uber is available in 45 countries — and while they aren’t jobs in the traditional sense, they do signify opportunities for people to make money by picking up passengers through the app.”
via Uber Adding 50,000 New “Driver Jobs” a Month, Up From 20,000 in May | Re/code.
When HarvardX set up new offices, they didn’t get landlines. Not sure why any of us need landlines anymore…. “Nothing says “dragging education into the 21st century” quite like abandoning technologies of old. And, like it or not, your landline is quickly becoming about as pragmatic as the Pony Express.”
via Harvard Phases Out Office Landlines. Is Your Workplace Next? | Big Think | IdeaFeed.
For entrepreneurs, these are probably the most common questions and concerns as they start to talk about their idea, put a team together, and begin to make it happen. Should they be protecting their ideas? “For a startup, intellectual property is often the most valuable asset. Yet, IP isn’t just about patents and inventions. It can also include your brand assets — everything from the company name to the logo and product tagline.” From Mashable.
We measure and assess so many things – seems employee engagement would be necessary. Employers, especially of early stage companies, are often too busy to notice things….until the job doesn’t get done. These ideas about how to measure employee engagement, from TNW, are helpful. “There are many facets to being engaged at work, these are a few sentiments commonly measured by teams looking to make sense of their people data. Your employee engagement level is simply a yardstick for how emotionally motivated, committed, and connected people are to their work.”
Connecting and networking are, without a doubt, critical to success in a startup business. They are critical in any business. With some people it is a knack, and with others it is a plan. For those who need a plan, Mashable presents one. “As most professionals and job seekers know, networking plays a huge role in helping you achieve your career goals. But strong industry connections can be beneficial to entrepreneurs, too: According to a recent survey by Dell and small business community Manta, one in five small business owners made networking their top priority when they first launched their startups.”
Workplace Learning in the Digital Age 