Give a Hoot, Don’t Recruit!
The DOJ has reached a tentative settlement agreement between six companies — Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar — that prohibit each tech titan from soliciting one another’s employees. According to sources, the proposed agreements cover the practice of company recruiters “cold-calling” employees of other companies. While Apple had reached such an agreement in 2006 with Google and had a policy in place with Adobe and Pixar and Google had agreements with Intel, among others, the new accord codifies a more formal “no poaching” policy among the Silicon Valley set, but leaves out the major talent magnet known as Facebook.
The covenants come too late for Microsoft who has lost three key engineers and marketers in recent weeks. Chris Wilson and Douglas Purdy were Microsoft architects who have left Microsoft to head to Google and Facebook, respectively. And Anand Iyer, a former senior product manager at Microsoft whose primary job seemed to be to serve as a liaison between Microsoft and startups in Silicon Valley, said he is leaving Microsoft to likely join a gaming company.
Wilson was a platform architect of the Internet Explorer platform team at Microsoft, and ex-group program manager. He represented Microsoft on several Web-related standards bodies. Wilson will not be traveling far. He has left Microsoft to join Google at its Seattle offices in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.
Why Not to Start It Up!
SuperAngel investor and incubator Dave McClure had a contrarian keynote message for the 400 entrepreneurs gathered for the second edition of StartUp Day this weekend in Bellevue. McClure’s speech, entitled “Why NOT to Do a Startup,” enumerated the “wrong reasons” to launch your new venture including the perils and pitfalls along the gauntlet that affords safe passage to only the rarest of new companies and new champions.
The Wrong reasons to launch a startup include: because it’s it’s cool, you want to make money, you have an awesome technology solution and they can never take away your freeeeedom!” The Right reasons are that you live in fear, you can’t get laid, or something has been pissing you off forever!” Translation: You are PASSIONATE about solving a customer PROBLEM! Diagnosis: If you’d rather change the cable TV channel than change the world you are in trouble. But if you’re willing to be sued and know people with supreme technical talent who are WILLING to eat that last slice of pizza, you could be in biz-ness! [24×7]
The presentation can be found on Slideshare,net
Microsoft has recently lost a few key engineers and marketers to newer search, social networking and gaming companies. Chris Wilson and Douglas Purdy were Microsoft architects who have left Microsoft to head to Google and Facebook, respectively. And Anand Iyer, a former senior product manager at Microsoft whose primary job seemed to be to serve as a liaison between Microsoft and startups in Silicon Valley, said he is leaving Microsoft to likely join a gaming company.
Wilson was a platform architect of the Internet Explorer platform team at Microsoft, and ex-group program manager. He represented Microsoft on several Web-related standards bodies. He has left Microsoft to join Google at its Seattle offices in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.
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