Friday, April 22, 2005
Mark Jen Speaks
April 21, 2005Another news sighting… BusinessWeek :)Filed under: work, technology — markjen @ 4:37 pmLooks like I’m in the BusinessWeek cover story article about blogging.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Two weeks later, Google fired Jen. And that’s when the 22-year-old became a big story. Google was blogbusted for overreacting and for sending an all-too-clear warning to the dozens of bloggers still at the company. A Google official says the company has lots of bloggers and just expects them to use common sense. For example, if it’s something you wouldn’t e-mail to a long list of strangers, don’t blog it.
Not to beat the point to death, but how do you define common sense? A bunch of people are saying how their companies have “blog smart” policies; but my question to them is: how do you define common sense or being smart? Without any clear definitions, what do you do when someone violates your subjective definitions?
On that note, here’s a draft of the public communications policy we’re putting together at Plaxo. Please leave feedback and help us improve it. Oh, and if you’re also putting together a policy for your company, feel free to take what we have and repurpose it.
By the way, if anyone from BW is reading this post, send me a copy please! (You can find my address in my Plaxo profile )
Comments (0)April 20, 2005I’ll be back? Maybe, but not anytime soon…Filed under: work, technology — markjen @ 11:00 amI’ve been reading the Mini-Microsoft blog for a while now and the author makes some very good points. I don’t think any of the suggestions will ever get implemented, but hey, someone’s gotta point out the emperor’s new clothes.
The latest post includes this little tidbit:
As folks left for start-ups, Microsofties would give them a cheery goodbye and (if they were good) say (once they were out of earshot), “They’ll be back.”
Now folks are leaving to relish the passion of creating and shipping great software. And I haven’t heard anyone mutter, “They’ll be back.” I’ve seen far more moments of wistful envy.
When I left Microsoft, quite a few people told me straight up to my face that I’d be back - they didn’t even wait until I was out of earshot . Indeed, one day, I might be. But in the meantime, I’m loving the experience of working at a fast paced, nimble start-up.
On a related note, quite a few Microsofties claimed that although start-ups seemed to ship software faster, the Microsoft way is the most effective, having been refined over almost 30 years. They may be right on that note as well, but I’m not the type that just takes someone else’s word for it.
I do see a lot of promising stuff coming out of MSN though; I’m an avid watcher of the MSN/Google/Y! war, may the best solution - or at least best marketed one - win!
Comments (0)April 15, 2005Plaxo == PrivacyFiled under: work, technology — markjen @ 9:41 am My pubsub picked up this semi-recent post on Plaxo by The 463. All I have to say is: Amen!
I know many people get the heebee jeebees when they find out that Plaxo helps them keep their contacts up to date. It’s easy to see why. Tons of services out there ask for your contact information and promptly add you to spam lists. Everyone’s been burned by a shady e-tailer, online offer or some cool new service.
Plaxo is legit. We are not in the business of spamming, identity theft or selling information. We have an address. Contact me if you’d like to visit.
It’s upsetting to see all the naysayers who didn’t get all the facts first. By the way, for the conspiracy theororists out there:
Here’s how Plaxo makes moneyHere’s how we protect your dataand, we even have a contingency plan for if we get acquired or go underWant to see how Plaxo stacks up? Check out our privacy matrix and judge for yourself.
By the way Judith, David Coursey changed his mind about Plaxo
UPDATE: Apparently, Judith changed her mind too, I only found the negative post in my Google search. Sorry Judith, my bad
Comments (1)April 10, 2005Meeting yet another legend, Doc SearlsFiled under: work, technology — markjen @ 2:57 pmThis past Wednesday, I met Doc Searls at a small seminar hosted by BitePR that we were both speaking at - needless to say, his chat blew mine away.
Doc imparted quite a few nuggets during his talk, here are the ones that caught my attention:
Companies have identities - they have souls. The founders and leaders instill values that become the core of the company. Doc asserts that this is why acquisitions oftentimes fail. “The head is chopped off, the body can’t survive.” He also points to Carly Fiorina’s recent outing as HP’s CEO. In that case, she didn’t embody the core values that Helwitt and Packard instilled decades ago. Take a look at Apple, Steve Jobs had to come back to “reinvent” the company. In reality, he didn’t reinvent, he simply reverted the company back to the values he instilled at the begining.Companies can’t speak, their people need to speak. This is so true and one of the big reasons why most companies should get their employees blogging. Look at Microsoft. As little as two years ago, people everywhere in the tech community regarded Microsoft as “the evil empire”. Enter Scoble and the other 3000 bloggers there. Since Microsoft has embraced the community, there has been a seachange in the way the company is perceived. Only Linux zealots still truly believe that Microsoft is an evil empire. Most rational people now have a window into the people at the company and realize that Microsoft is nothing more than 50,000 people under a corporate flag trying to serve customers and make money.Relationship, conversation, transaction. Doc pointed out that in the US, markets are defined by transactions. When you think about “the market”, you think about Wall Street and eBay. It’s all about the transactions. Contrast that with how commerce works in the rest of the world. Markets are places where vendors and customers build relationships; and to build the relationship, they engage in conversation. Only after the relationship and conversation have been established do they think about the transaction.How does this all tie together? Well, for one, blogging is one tool by which companies can display their identities and create relationships. At the end of the day, company XYZ can spend $50 million on an branding campaign and not have much to show for it. Meanwhile, a buzz in the blogosphere and across the Internet can be started for free and will carry orders of magnitude more weight in customers’ minds. Hey CMOs, chew on that before you splurge on your next superbowl ad!
Quote of the talk: “With [blogging], I’m not pushing big rocks uphill, I’m rolling snowballs downhill.”
Well said Doc.
Comments (0)Want to blast your employer? Here’s how to do it and not get caught! ;)Filed under: general, work, technology — markjen @ 2:15 pmI’m still very much of the opinion that personal blogs and corporations can learn to live together, but if you must have an anonymous blog, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a guide for blogging anonymously. They’ve got quite a few good tips in there, especially things like whistle blowing and sharing political opinions. I thought the following excerpt was especially interesting:
Some states have laws that may protect an employee or applicant’s legal off-duty blogging, especially if the employer has no policy or an unreasonably restrictive policy with regard to off-duty speech activities. For example, California has a law protecting employees from “demotion, suspension, or discharge from employment for lawful conduct occurring during nonworking hours away from the employer’s premises.” These laws have not been tested in a blogging context. If you are terminated for blogging while off-duty, you should contact an employment attorney to see what rights you may have.
Obviously, blogging during personal time is lawful conduct (assuming that you don’t violate confidentiality agreements and the such). Sharing your opinions and experiences is also lawful conduct. Thus, can a company demote, suspend or discharge an employee for blogging during non-work hours? Hmm… I wonder if/when this stuff will get challenged in court.
I mean, think about Niall Kennedy’s recent episode. Technically, he was blogging during non-work hours and sharing the content he did is completely legal. Would it be unlawful for Technorati to have reprimanded Niall?
As for me, I was content to just let it pass. I’m not one for getting involved in long, drawn out, legal battles. And besides, my incident put me in touch with a lot of cool people, I was quickly educated about the up and coming world of blogging, and to top it all off, I found an awesome job in short time.
Comments (5)March 29, 2005Plaxo’s Communication (Blogging) PolicyFiled under: general, work, technology — markjen @ 5:32 pmSince joining Plaxo, I’ve been on a team that’s working to define our policy regarding employees that want to participate in public communication. We wanted to include blogging, message boards, e-mail groups and any other media by which people are able to share ideas nowadays. Here’s what we came up with; have a gander at it and feel free to give feedback through the comments or e-mail me: mark @t plaxo.com.
Plaxo Public Internet Communication PolicyThe following policy applies to all employees and contractors of Plaxo, and covers all publicly accessible communications via the Internet relating to Plaxo. This includes, but is not limited to: blogs, discussion forums, newsgroups, and e-mail distribution lists.
OVERVIEWThis company depends upon not only the strong formal competencies of its workers (programming abilities, writing skills, etc.), but their “soft skills” as well. Specifically, the fabric of this company is sustained by a sense of camaraderie and trust.
While we encourage open communication both internally and externally in all forms, we expect and insist that such communication does not substantively demean our environment. This means that constructive criticism — both privately and publicly — is welcome, but harsh or continuous disparagement is frowned upon.
Externally communicating about aspects of the company that are part of your non-disclosure agreement (partnership deals, earnings, upcoming unannounced features, etc.) is ALWAYS forbidden, however, and grounds for immediate termination and legal action.
In a nutshell, be prudent. Ask yourself: “Would this public expression regarding Plaxo impair my ability to work with my colleagues on a friendly basis? Would it give a leg up to our competition? Would it make our current or upcoming partners uncomfortable?” If you could answer yes to any of those questions, please avoid this communication.
Additionally, you should first express with your management and co-workers any Plaxo concerns you may have. Voicing concerns about Plaxo publicly without first communicating such concerns to your management and co-workers is counterproductive and inadvisable.
SPECIFIC POLICIESYour public communications concerning Plaxo must not violate any guidelines set forth in your employee handbook, whether or not you specifically mention your employee or contractor status.You may participate in Plaxo-related public communications on company time. However, if doing so interferes with any of your work duties and/or responsibilities, Plaxo reserves the right to disallow such participation.You must include the following disclaimer on published public communications if you identify yourself as a Plaxo employee or if you regularly or substantively discuss Plaxo publicly: “The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of [your name]. Content published here is not read or approved by Plaxo before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Plaxo.”You may not communicate any material that violates the privacy or publicity rights of another.You may not attack personally fellow employees, authors, customers, vendors, or shareholders. You may respectfully disagree with company actions, policies, or management.You may not disclose any sensitive, proprietary, confidential, or financial information about the company. This includes revenues, profits, forecasts, and other financial information, any information related to specific authors, brands, products, product lines, customers, operating units, etc. You may not disclose any information about any specific customer. Further detail is provided in the “Security and Confidentiality” section of your employee handbook.You may not post any material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to another person or any other person or entity. This includes, but is not limited to, comments regarding Plaxo, Plaxo employees, Plaxo’s partners and Plaxo’s competitors.Failure to follow these policies may result in disciplinary action, up to and including discharge. Only a written document signed by the President of Plaxo can approve an exception of any of the above policies.
Additionally, here are some guidelines you may wish to follow for your own protection. This is not a comprehensive list and Plaxo will not indemnify you from legal action if you follow these guidelines.
If you think you will get in trouble directly or indirectly because of any communication you are about to make, please discuss it with your manager first.Remember that you are not anonymous. Even if you write anonymously or under a pseudonym, your identity can still be revealed. You should communicate as if you are doing so under your own name. Indeed, it is recommended that you do communicate using your real name.You will probably be read or heard by people who know you. Post as if everyone you know reads or hears every word.You are personally legally responsible for any content you publish. Be aware of applicable laws regarding publishing your content or regarding the content itself before you post. This includes adhering to applicable copyright laws.Comments (38)March 10, 2005work is crazy and i’m liking itFiled under: work — markjen @ 10:30 pmwith the exception of yesterday, i’ve been staying quite late at work. there’s just so much to do! i’ve got tons of stuff to ramp up on, we’re actively developing new stuff and i’m trying to get to know everyone as soon as possible. between all that, i’ve been putting in 10-12 hour days - not counting the time i spend checking e-mails before i head to work and when i work remote after i get home. hey, working at a high-intensity start-up isn’t for everyone - but it sure fits me just fine
why am i so jazzed? first off, everything in the system at plaxo is subject to change. if something’s not working, we’ll see how we can fix it; if things are working well, we’ll try to make it work better. none of this “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” crap. think we’re crazy? go see what’s made toyota a leader in the global auto industry. in a recent interview with fortune magazine, toyota’s ceo likened the growth of the company to pushing a cart uphill - he felt that if the company stopped for even a moment, the cart would come flying back down the hill, taking them along with it.
secondly, at plaxo, everyone is in it together. i’m not the only one who’s got the drive and motivation to stay late and get stuff done. at microsoft, forget about it. most people pretty much do 9 to 5 nowadays, unless there is a major deadline coming soon. at google, a few people would stay late, but the “campus feel” of pulling late nights and getting stuff done was missing. during the two short weeks i was at google, i’d leave around 8 or 9 and i’d see maybe a few people on my way out. sure, there were a few diehards at the googolplex, but i got the feeling that most people were just staying for the free dinner and checking out.
lastly, we’re actually listening to customers and using feedback and metrics to enhance their experiences. we don’t hail from a grand vision at the top and plan out features that won’t get shipped until 2008. we take real customer feedback and implement it into the system as soon as we can get the bits out the door. we try different things and empirically figure out what works and what doesn’t. it’s almost like a large scale science experiment, where the outcome is a better product and happy users.
for those who are wondering what’s in the works, check out this article on SFGate. for those too lazy to click through, here are the interesting parts:
… “Ten years ago, people were afraid of buying anything on the Internet,” said Golub, who knows a thing or two about Internet security from his days at VeriSign. “Largely, Plaxo has a perception problem. Plaxo is far safer than most of what is done online.”
So, how you gonna make money? “We’ve started to introduce ways to make money,” said Golub, who added the firm has plenty of seed money left but wouldn’t specify how much. “We’re creating premium services. Cell-phone synching. Address book optimizers that eliminate all duplicates in your system. And premium support. But there will always be a free service.”
anyways, needless to say, some people’s wishes will be answered soon. for those who had other requests, give us some time, we’re getting to it as fast as we can
Comments (3)March 8, 2005what is plaxo?Filed under: work — markjen @ 8:47 pma lot of people have been wondering what plaxo does. by now, most people have, at some time or another, gotten a request to update their contact information from a friend through plaxo. oftentimes, as plaxo spreads through a social group, those who join plaxo last end up getting sent a large number of these contact info update requests. these people naturally - and unfortunately - mistake plaxo for a spam company
what plaxo actually does is harness the power of social networking to keep your contacts up to date. if you and all of your friends are signed up for plaxo, when someone moves, they only need to update their info in plaxo. plaxo then automatically sends the updated info to everyone in the group - to make it even smoother, the people in the group don’t need to do anything; their address books are just always up to date. for me, the only contact info i have left for most of my college friends is an e-mail address. fortunately, with just an e-mail address, i can quickly reconnect with all of my friends and keep in touch effortlessly.
the best part is, if you use outlook or outlook express, plaxo has a client plug-in. this plug-in will automatically keep your outlook contacts up to date too. there are also cool features that help you keep your calendar, tasks and notes synced up. if you have multiple computers, you can install plaxo on all of them and your information can be synced automatically.
they also have a really cool web interface and an IE toolbar in the works - it’s got integrated yahoo search too, so you don’t need a search toolbar anymore (don’t worry, they haven’t put in an autolink feature… yet ;P).
what about privacy concerns? well, plaxo, unlike other social networks, is very concerned about privacy. first of all, you choose what information other people can see and get updated from you. also, no one ever knows who is in your address book unless you tell them they are. plaxo isn’t a spamhouse so they aren’t interested in selling your information; plus, even though you only get e-mailed by plaxo when one of your friends requests it, you can still opt-out and you won’t receive any more e-mails from plaxo.
hope that answers most questions. if you want to keep in touch with me, just add my e-mail to your plaxo account (it’s 99zeros at gmail).
for the doubters out there, don’t worry, i haven’t drunk too much corporate kool-aid; check out the product and i think you’ll see why i am so excited to be working here
Comments (22)March 7, 2005hello plaxo!Filed under: work — markjen @ 5:38 pmtoday is my first day of work at plaxo.
as many people have guessed, i’ve been interviewing for the past month. when i accepted the job at google, i thought i’d be able to escape the hectic interviewing process for a while - at least 2 or 3 years. but as life would have it, i only escaped for 2 weeks
after i was let go, i went around networking with a lot of people. along the way, i met jeremy zawodny, robert scoble, david sifry, joyce park, russell beattieand many others. they were all extremely supportive of helping me find a new job - thanks for all your support. they’ve also been responsible for helping me find and explore a bunch of awesome opportunities.
additionally, as the news broke of what had happened to me, recruiters started contacting me. this was a very unique experience; while most job seekers have to go to great lengths to get a foot in the door, i was being aggressively pursued. in this regard, i would have to say that i was extremely - and unexpectedly - blessed. God really does provide in difficult times.
then came the interviews! while interviewing these past few weeks, i’ve learned a lot about different corporate cultures. i used to evaluate the job environment just by gut feel; now i know to ask very specific questions regarding how open the company is, how it likes to communicate and what the corporate dynamics are like. i’ve always thought of interviewing as a two way street, both the employer and potential employee checking for the optimal fit. now, i realize that interviewing can serve as a deep thin-slice of a company. in other words, checking a company’s website gives you a broad overview while going through an interview loop with a company gives you an opportunity to get in-depth knowledge.
anyways, enough commentary and on to the results! as most people expected, i interviewed with the big tech companies: microsoft, yahoo and amazon. i also interviewed or chatted with a ton of start-ups (including places like technorati, filangy, etc.). in the end, i was looking for a very specific mix of attributes that would constitute the perfect job for me. the company had to have:
commitment and transparency to customersa passion for revolutionizing the end-user experiencean open environment where people are free to be different and fosters creative expressionthe ability to be nimble, ship solutions quickly, and adjust to market changesextremely talented people and cohesive, productive teamsawesome mentorship opportunitiesafter getting quite a few offers, i sat down to consider my options. in the end, plaxo had everything i was looking for and more. as a bonus, they fully support my blogging activities as well - they recognize the power of keeping the door open to the community through blogs.
i’m super excited to be at plaxo. for those who are wondering, the HR orientation presentation was approximately 5 minutes. now that’s efficiency
Comments (35)March 5, 200599 zeroes but my job ain’t one - hit me!Filed under: work — markjen @ 9:18 ama microsoftie was inspired to write a remix of jay-z’s song “99 problems” in light of events that have happened to me. not all of the song is completely accurate, but i would say it’s definitely entertaining
Comments (6)
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Two weeks later, Google fired Jen. And that’s when the 22-year-old became a big story. Google was blogbusted for overreacting and for sending an all-too-clear warning to the dozens of bloggers still at the company. A Google official says the company has lots of bloggers and just expects them to use common sense. For example, if it’s something you wouldn’t e-mail to a long list of strangers, don’t blog it.
Not to beat the point to death, but how do you define common sense? A bunch of people are saying how their companies have “blog smart” policies; but my question to them is: how do you define common sense or being smart? Without any clear definitions, what do you do when someone violates your subjective definitions?
On that note, here’s a draft of the public communications policy we’re putting together at Plaxo. Please leave feedback and help us improve it. Oh, and if you’re also putting together a policy for your company, feel free to take what we have and repurpose it.
By the way, if anyone from BW is reading this post, send me a copy please! (You can find my address in my Plaxo profile )
Comments (0)April 20, 2005I’ll be back? Maybe, but not anytime soon…Filed under: work, technology — markjen @ 11:00 amI’ve been reading the Mini-Microsoft blog for a while now and the author makes some very good points. I don’t think any of the suggestions will ever get implemented, but hey, someone’s gotta point out the emperor’s new clothes.
The latest post includes this little tidbit:
As folks left for start-ups, Microsofties would give them a cheery goodbye and (if they were good) say (once they were out of earshot), “They’ll be back.”
Now folks are leaving to relish the passion of creating and shipping great software. And I haven’t heard anyone mutter, “They’ll be back.” I’ve seen far more moments of wistful envy.
When I left Microsoft, quite a few people told me straight up to my face that I’d be back - they didn’t even wait until I was out of earshot . Indeed, one day, I might be. But in the meantime, I’m loving the experience of working at a fast paced, nimble start-up.
On a related note, quite a few Microsofties claimed that although start-ups seemed to ship software faster, the Microsoft way is the most effective, having been refined over almost 30 years. They may be right on that note as well, but I’m not the type that just takes someone else’s word for it.
I do see a lot of promising stuff coming out of MSN though; I’m an avid watcher of the MSN/Google/Y! war, may the best solution - or at least best marketed one - win!
Comments (0)April 15, 2005Plaxo == PrivacyFiled under: work, technology — markjen @ 9:41 am My pubsub picked up this semi-recent post on Plaxo by The 463. All I have to say is: Amen!
I know many people get the heebee jeebees when they find out that Plaxo helps them keep their contacts up to date. It’s easy to see why. Tons of services out there ask for your contact information and promptly add you to spam lists. Everyone’s been burned by a shady e-tailer, online offer or some cool new service.
Plaxo is legit. We are not in the business of spamming, identity theft or selling information. We have an address. Contact me if you’d like to visit.
It’s upsetting to see all the naysayers who didn’t get all the facts first. By the way, for the conspiracy theororists out there:
Here’s how Plaxo makes moneyHere’s how we protect your dataand, we even have a contingency plan for if we get acquired or go underWant to see how Plaxo stacks up? Check out our privacy matrix and judge for yourself.
By the way Judith, David Coursey changed his mind about Plaxo
UPDATE: Apparently, Judith changed her mind too, I only found the negative post in my Google search. Sorry Judith, my bad
Comments (1)April 10, 2005Meeting yet another legend, Doc SearlsFiled under: work, technology — markjen @ 2:57 pmThis past Wednesday, I met Doc Searls at a small seminar hosted by BitePR that we were both speaking at - needless to say, his chat blew mine away.
Doc imparted quite a few nuggets during his talk, here are the ones that caught my attention:
Companies have identities - they have souls. The founders and leaders instill values that become the core of the company. Doc asserts that this is why acquisitions oftentimes fail. “The head is chopped off, the body can’t survive.” He also points to Carly Fiorina’s recent outing as HP’s CEO. In that case, she didn’t embody the core values that Helwitt and Packard instilled decades ago. Take a look at Apple, Steve Jobs had to come back to “reinvent” the company. In reality, he didn’t reinvent, he simply reverted the company back to the values he instilled at the begining.Companies can’t speak, their people need to speak. This is so true and one of the big reasons why most companies should get their employees blogging. Look at Microsoft. As little as two years ago, people everywhere in the tech community regarded Microsoft as “the evil empire”. Enter Scoble and the other 3000 bloggers there. Since Microsoft has embraced the community, there has been a seachange in the way the company is perceived. Only Linux zealots still truly believe that Microsoft is an evil empire. Most rational people now have a window into the people at the company and realize that Microsoft is nothing more than 50,000 people under a corporate flag trying to serve customers and make money.Relationship, conversation, transaction. Doc pointed out that in the US, markets are defined by transactions. When you think about “the market”, you think about Wall Street and eBay. It’s all about the transactions. Contrast that with how commerce works in the rest of the world. Markets are places where vendors and customers build relationships; and to build the relationship, they engage in conversation. Only after the relationship and conversation have been established do they think about the transaction.How does this all tie together? Well, for one, blogging is one tool by which companies can display their identities and create relationships. At the end of the day, company XYZ can spend $50 million on an branding campaign and not have much to show for it. Meanwhile, a buzz in the blogosphere and across the Internet can be started for free and will carry orders of magnitude more weight in customers’ minds. Hey CMOs, chew on that before you splurge on your next superbowl ad!
Quote of the talk: “With [blogging], I’m not pushing big rocks uphill, I’m rolling snowballs downhill.”
Well said Doc.
Comments (0)Want to blast your employer? Here’s how to do it and not get caught! ;)Filed under: general, work, technology — markjen @ 2:15 pmI’m still very much of the opinion that personal blogs and corporations can learn to live together, but if you must have an anonymous blog, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a guide for blogging anonymously. They’ve got quite a few good tips in there, especially things like whistle blowing and sharing political opinions. I thought the following excerpt was especially interesting:
Some states have laws that may protect an employee or applicant’s legal off-duty blogging, especially if the employer has no policy or an unreasonably restrictive policy with regard to off-duty speech activities. For example, California has a law protecting employees from “demotion, suspension, or discharge from employment for lawful conduct occurring during nonworking hours away from the employer’s premises.” These laws have not been tested in a blogging context. If you are terminated for blogging while off-duty, you should contact an employment attorney to see what rights you may have.
Obviously, blogging during personal time is lawful conduct (assuming that you don’t violate confidentiality agreements and the such). Sharing your opinions and experiences is also lawful conduct. Thus, can a company demote, suspend or discharge an employee for blogging during non-work hours? Hmm… I wonder if/when this stuff will get challenged in court.
I mean, think about Niall Kennedy’s recent episode. Technically, he was blogging during non-work hours and sharing the content he did is completely legal. Would it be unlawful for Technorati to have reprimanded Niall?
As for me, I was content to just let it pass. I’m not one for getting involved in long, drawn out, legal battles. And besides, my incident put me in touch with a lot of cool people, I was quickly educated about the up and coming world of blogging, and to top it all off, I found an awesome job in short time.
Comments (5)March 29, 2005Plaxo’s Communication (Blogging) PolicyFiled under: general, work, technology — markjen @ 5:32 pmSince joining Plaxo, I’ve been on a team that’s working to define our policy regarding employees that want to participate in public communication. We wanted to include blogging, message boards, e-mail groups and any other media by which people are able to share ideas nowadays. Here’s what we came up with; have a gander at it and feel free to give feedback through the comments or e-mail me: mark @t plaxo.com.
Plaxo Public Internet Communication PolicyThe following policy applies to all employees and contractors of Plaxo, and covers all publicly accessible communications via the Internet relating to Plaxo. This includes, but is not limited to: blogs, discussion forums, newsgroups, and e-mail distribution lists.
OVERVIEWThis company depends upon not only the strong formal competencies of its workers (programming abilities, writing skills, etc.), but their “soft skills” as well. Specifically, the fabric of this company is sustained by a sense of camaraderie and trust.
While we encourage open communication both internally and externally in all forms, we expect and insist that such communication does not substantively demean our environment. This means that constructive criticism — both privately and publicly — is welcome, but harsh or continuous disparagement is frowned upon.
Externally communicating about aspects of the company that are part of your non-disclosure agreement (partnership deals, earnings, upcoming unannounced features, etc.) is ALWAYS forbidden, however, and grounds for immediate termination and legal action.
In a nutshell, be prudent. Ask yourself: “Would this public expression regarding Plaxo impair my ability to work with my colleagues on a friendly basis? Would it give a leg up to our competition? Would it make our current or upcoming partners uncomfortable?” If you could answer yes to any of those questions, please avoid this communication.
Additionally, you should first express with your management and co-workers any Plaxo concerns you may have. Voicing concerns about Plaxo publicly without first communicating such concerns to your management and co-workers is counterproductive and inadvisable.
SPECIFIC POLICIESYour public communications concerning Plaxo must not violate any guidelines set forth in your employee handbook, whether or not you specifically mention your employee or contractor status.You may participate in Plaxo-related public communications on company time. However, if doing so interferes with any of your work duties and/or responsibilities, Plaxo reserves the right to disallow such participation.You must include the following disclaimer on published public communications if you identify yourself as a Plaxo employee or if you regularly or substantively discuss Plaxo publicly: “The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of [your name]. Content published here is not read or approved by Plaxo before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Plaxo.”You may not communicate any material that violates the privacy or publicity rights of another.You may not attack personally fellow employees, authors, customers, vendors, or shareholders. You may respectfully disagree with company actions, policies, or management.You may not disclose any sensitive, proprietary, confidential, or financial information about the company. This includes revenues, profits, forecasts, and other financial information, any information related to specific authors, brands, products, product lines, customers, operating units, etc. You may not disclose any information about any specific customer. Further detail is provided in the “Security and Confidentiality” section of your employee handbook.You may not post any material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to another person or any other person or entity. This includes, but is not limited to, comments regarding Plaxo, Plaxo employees, Plaxo’s partners and Plaxo’s competitors.Failure to follow these policies may result in disciplinary action, up to and including discharge. Only a written document signed by the President of Plaxo can approve an exception of any of the above policies.
Additionally, here are some guidelines you may wish to follow for your own protection. This is not a comprehensive list and Plaxo will not indemnify you from legal action if you follow these guidelines.
If you think you will get in trouble directly or indirectly because of any communication you are about to make, please discuss it with your manager first.Remember that you are not anonymous. Even if you write anonymously or under a pseudonym, your identity can still be revealed. You should communicate as if you are doing so under your own name. Indeed, it is recommended that you do communicate using your real name.You will probably be read or heard by people who know you. Post as if everyone you know reads or hears every word.You are personally legally responsible for any content you publish. Be aware of applicable laws regarding publishing your content or regarding the content itself before you post. This includes adhering to applicable copyright laws.Comments (38)March 10, 2005work is crazy and i’m liking itFiled under: work — markjen @ 10:30 pmwith the exception of yesterday, i’ve been staying quite late at work. there’s just so much to do! i’ve got tons of stuff to ramp up on, we’re actively developing new stuff and i’m trying to get to know everyone as soon as possible. between all that, i’ve been putting in 10-12 hour days - not counting the time i spend checking e-mails before i head to work and when i work remote after i get home. hey, working at a high-intensity start-up isn’t for everyone - but it sure fits me just fine
why am i so jazzed? first off, everything in the system at plaxo is subject to change. if something’s not working, we’ll see how we can fix it; if things are working well, we’ll try to make it work better. none of this “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” crap. think we’re crazy? go see what’s made toyota a leader in the global auto industry. in a recent interview with fortune magazine, toyota’s ceo likened the growth of the company to pushing a cart uphill - he felt that if the company stopped for even a moment, the cart would come flying back down the hill, taking them along with it.
secondly, at plaxo, everyone is in it together. i’m not the only one who’s got the drive and motivation to stay late and get stuff done. at microsoft, forget about it. most people pretty much do 9 to 5 nowadays, unless there is a major deadline coming soon. at google, a few people would stay late, but the “campus feel” of pulling late nights and getting stuff done was missing. during the two short weeks i was at google, i’d leave around 8 or 9 and i’d see maybe a few people on my way out. sure, there were a few diehards at the googolplex, but i got the feeling that most people were just staying for the free dinner and checking out.
lastly, we’re actually listening to customers and using feedback and metrics to enhance their experiences. we don’t hail from a grand vision at the top and plan out features that won’t get shipped until 2008. we take real customer feedback and implement it into the system as soon as we can get the bits out the door. we try different things and empirically figure out what works and what doesn’t. it’s almost like a large scale science experiment, where the outcome is a better product and happy users.
for those who are wondering what’s in the works, check out this article on SFGate. for those too lazy to click through, here are the interesting parts:
… “Ten years ago, people were afraid of buying anything on the Internet,” said Golub, who knows a thing or two about Internet security from his days at VeriSign. “Largely, Plaxo has a perception problem. Plaxo is far safer than most of what is done online.”
So, how you gonna make money? “We’ve started to introduce ways to make money,” said Golub, who added the firm has plenty of seed money left but wouldn’t specify how much. “We’re creating premium services. Cell-phone synching. Address book optimizers that eliminate all duplicates in your system. And premium support. But there will always be a free service.”
anyways, needless to say, some people’s wishes will be answered soon. for those who had other requests, give us some time, we’re getting to it as fast as we can
Comments (3)March 8, 2005what is plaxo?Filed under: work — markjen @ 8:47 pma lot of people have been wondering what plaxo does. by now, most people have, at some time or another, gotten a request to update their contact information from a friend through plaxo. oftentimes, as plaxo spreads through a social group, those who join plaxo last end up getting sent a large number of these contact info update requests. these people naturally - and unfortunately - mistake plaxo for a spam company
what plaxo actually does is harness the power of social networking to keep your contacts up to date. if you and all of your friends are signed up for plaxo, when someone moves, they only need to update their info in plaxo. plaxo then automatically sends the updated info to everyone in the group - to make it even smoother, the people in the group don’t need to do anything; their address books are just always up to date. for me, the only contact info i have left for most of my college friends is an e-mail address. fortunately, with just an e-mail address, i can quickly reconnect with all of my friends and keep in touch effortlessly.
the best part is, if you use outlook or outlook express, plaxo has a client plug-in. this plug-in will automatically keep your outlook contacts up to date too. there are also cool features that help you keep your calendar, tasks and notes synced up. if you have multiple computers, you can install plaxo on all of them and your information can be synced automatically.
they also have a really cool web interface and an IE toolbar in the works - it’s got integrated yahoo search too, so you don’t need a search toolbar anymore (don’t worry, they haven’t put in an autolink feature… yet ;P).
what about privacy concerns? well, plaxo, unlike other social networks, is very concerned about privacy. first of all, you choose what information other people can see and get updated from you. also, no one ever knows who is in your address book unless you tell them they are. plaxo isn’t a spamhouse so they aren’t interested in selling your information; plus, even though you only get e-mailed by plaxo when one of your friends requests it, you can still opt-out and you won’t receive any more e-mails from plaxo.
hope that answers most questions. if you want to keep in touch with me, just add my e-mail to your plaxo account (it’s 99zeros at gmail).
for the doubters out there, don’t worry, i haven’t drunk too much corporate kool-aid; check out the product and i think you’ll see why i am so excited to be working here
Comments (22)March 7, 2005hello plaxo!Filed under: work — markjen @ 5:38 pmtoday is my first day of work at plaxo.
as many people have guessed, i’ve been interviewing for the past month. when i accepted the job at google, i thought i’d be able to escape the hectic interviewing process for a while - at least 2 or 3 years. but as life would have it, i only escaped for 2 weeks
after i was let go, i went around networking with a lot of people. along the way, i met jeremy zawodny, robert scoble, david sifry, joyce park, russell beattieand many others. they were all extremely supportive of helping me find a new job - thanks for all your support. they’ve also been responsible for helping me find and explore a bunch of awesome opportunities.
additionally, as the news broke of what had happened to me, recruiters started contacting me. this was a very unique experience; while most job seekers have to go to great lengths to get a foot in the door, i was being aggressively pursued. in this regard, i would have to say that i was extremely - and unexpectedly - blessed. God really does provide in difficult times.
then came the interviews! while interviewing these past few weeks, i’ve learned a lot about different corporate cultures. i used to evaluate the job environment just by gut feel; now i know to ask very specific questions regarding how open the company is, how it likes to communicate and what the corporate dynamics are like. i’ve always thought of interviewing as a two way street, both the employer and potential employee checking for the optimal fit. now, i realize that interviewing can serve as a deep thin-slice of a company. in other words, checking a company’s website gives you a broad overview while going through an interview loop with a company gives you an opportunity to get in-depth knowledge.
anyways, enough commentary and on to the results! as most people expected, i interviewed with the big tech companies: microsoft, yahoo and amazon. i also interviewed or chatted with a ton of start-ups (including places like technorati, filangy, etc.). in the end, i was looking for a very specific mix of attributes that would constitute the perfect job for me. the company had to have:
commitment and transparency to customersa passion for revolutionizing the end-user experiencean open environment where people are free to be different and fosters creative expressionthe ability to be nimble, ship solutions quickly, and adjust to market changesextremely talented people and cohesive, productive teamsawesome mentorship opportunitiesafter getting quite a few offers, i sat down to consider my options. in the end, plaxo had everything i was looking for and more. as a bonus, they fully support my blogging activities as well - they recognize the power of keeping the door open to the community through blogs.
i’m super excited to be at plaxo. for those who are wondering, the HR orientation presentation was approximately 5 minutes. now that’s efficiency
Comments (35)March 5, 200599 zeroes but my job ain’t one - hit me!Filed under: work — markjen @ 9:18 ama microsoftie was inspired to write a remix of jay-z’s song “99 problems” in light of events that have happened to me. not all of the song is completely accurate, but i would say it’s definitely entertaining
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# posted by J.C. : 9:07 AM
