I just read through a very interesting article by Marc Andreessen entitled “The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 1: Why not to do a startup“.   This is a guy who knows what he’s talking about:

My specific experience is from three companies I have co-founded: Netscape, sold to America Online in 1998 for $4.2 billion; Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), a public software company with an approximately $1 billion market cap; and now Ning, a new, private consumer Internet company.

But more generally, I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in and exposed to a broad range of other startups — maybe 40 or 50 in enough detail to know what I’m talking about — since arriving in Silicon Valley in 1994: as a board member, as an angel investor, as an advisor, as a friend of various founders, and as a participant in various venture capital funds.

You can hop over to his site to read the full article which is very detailed or check out my summary below.

PROS To a Startup

• The opportunity to be in control of your own destiny
• The opportunity to create something new
• The opportunity to have an impact on the world
• The ability to create your ideal culture and work with a dream team of people you get to assemble yourself
• Money

CONS To a Startup

• Emotional rollercoaster
• Absolutely nothing happens unless you make it happen
• You get told no — a lot
• Hiring is a huge pain in the ass
• At some point you’re going to have to hire executives
• The hours
• It’s really easy for the culture of a startup to go sideways

If Guy Kawasaki’s blog isn’t in your subscription list, you’re missing out.  He consistently has great material.  Today’s post
was “Ten Questions with Penelope Trunk: Career Guidance for this Century“.  It’s a really good read and I agree with all of Penelope’s points.  Here’s a breakdown:

Question: How much money does it take to be happy?
Answer: “….. So as long as you have enough money for food and shelter, your optimism level kicks in to dictate how happy you are.”

Absolutely true.  You can be making $200K a year, but if you work in a negative and stiffling environment, it will be pretty difficult to be consistently happy considering you’ll be at the office for at last 8 to 10 hours a day.  And thinking about work when you’re not there.  Our jobs consume us.  And a negative environment can spread like a disease and stay with us even when we’re not in the office.

Question: Is it more important to be competent or likable?
Answer: People would actually rather work with someone who is incompetent and likeable than competent and unlikable. At work, if you are unlikable, people start thinking you are less competent.

I love this point and it is 110% true.   Co-workers that are negative, arrogant, bullish, have poor social skills, poor political skills, etc, will be avoided.

It isn’t enough to be book smart or tech savvy.  You need to know how to interact with co-workers and work the system.

Question: Should I sue a boss who is sexually harassing me?
Answer: In most cases, you will destroy your career if you report sexual harassment. So unless you are in physical danger, you should not report harassment.

Question: When should I ask for a promotion?
Answer:  “…never”

I had an employee come into my office one day, plop down his resume, and ask for a promotion.   It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts and give the correct managerial response.  It was difficult for me to fathom why this person thought they would get a promotion that they didn’t deserve or earn.  They had been with the company for less than 6 months and had yet to achieve any of the goals set forth for them or the team they were a part of.

It’s difficult for me to envision walking into the CEO’s office and asking for a promotion.  I’m a believer that you have to earn your way in business and the world.  If you bust your ass, hit your goals, and excel in all that you do, you’ll be rewarded professionally and financially.  If you do all of these things and nothing happens then there may be a problem with the company and/or boss you’re working for.

Question: Is being a generalist or a specialist the path to the executive suite?
Answer: “…. To move up you need to be great at something, and you have to let people know what you don’t do.”

As a specialist in the SEO field it is reassuring to hear this.  I had actually recently been thinking about it.

Question: What do I do about the gaps in my resume when I traveled or couldn’t find a job?
Answer: “Talk about them well….”

Question: Will getting an MBA or any other type of advanced degree be a good use of time and money since I can’t find a job?
Answer: “No….”

I covered this briefly in the “Top 10 Reasons I didn’t Hire You” post.  Work experience in the SEO field, and most other Internet fields, is far more imporant.

Question: What’s the ideal length of a resume in a world where every resume is electronic and not viewed printed out on paper?
Answer: “A page….”

Question: How should I prepare for an interview?
Answer: “…memorize answers to the fifty most common questions…Another way to prepare is to go to the gym right before the interview….You should go right before an interview because people judge you first on your appearance, and if do heavy lifting with your back and stomach muscles you will stand up much straighter in the interview. This will make you look more confident, which is half the battle in being judged by appearance.”

Question: What’s the right strategy for the search for a first job out of college?
Answer: “So give yourself the latitude to try a lot. And don’t get hung up on a big soul search. To land a great job, you don’t need to know the meaning of life, just the meaning of hard work.”

Question: What should I do if I work for a jerk?
Answer: “Leave…”

Yes and no.  Try to answer this question first and answer it honestly.  Is the boss a jerk to everyone or just you?   If it’s just you, then maybe you and/or your work performance is the problem and it is affecting their attitude towards you.

Valleywag has a really interesting post documenting the ages of some of the web’s most successful businesses and their founders.

Of the 18 founders listed in the comparison, only 4 of them were 30 years old or above when they started their company.

Is it shocking? No.  But I also wasn’t aware that some of these guys like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were barely past their 20th birthday when they founded Microsoft and Apple.

So, are the young guys coming up with all of the good ideas online?   Is it still true in the web 2.0 world?

PS: Another interesting thing to note?  They’re all men. 

I look forward to seeing Valleywag.com’s next round of data: “Our next project: to track the distribution of outcomes for entrepreneurs in a particular age cohort. “

In November of 2005, the majority of Automotive.com was acquired by Primedia for $72.5 million. Just today it was announced that Source Interlink has purchased the Enthusiast Media division, of which I’m a part, for $1.2 billion.

Here’s a roundup of the articles:

• Reuters
• Adage
• Yahoo
• Thestreet.com

From thestreet.com: “Our review of strategic alternatives is complete and our direction is clear,” said Source Interlink Chairman Michael Duckworth in a statement. “Over the last several years Source has driven the consolidation of a fragmented and inefficient channel for the distribution and merchandising of home entertainment content at retail and the newsstand. This acquisition is a first step to leverage what we have built by transforming Source into a fully integrated media company with both print and digital content.”

It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out over the next few months.