GeekMBA360

We’re experiencing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The rapid deterioration of banking and housing sectors are trickling down to retail, high tech and other industries. Nobody will be immune from this economic downturn. We’ll see more layoffs, and bankruptcies. As the job market gets tighter and growing number of people get laid [...]

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A reader just asked me this question in response to my "Adbrite Layoff — is this the beginning of more ad network layoffs"? post. Affiliate Marketing is a topic dear to my heart. I worked for one of the largest affiliate programs in the world for a couple of years. I’ve always been amazed and [...]

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Lisa Cullen had an interesting article about "Getting ready to be sandwiched", talking about her recently windowed Dad moves into her house. To quote her, "We’re prepared. But I’m not prepared. I’m not prepared." Well, we have two young kids, and our parents are aging. I’m the only child, while my wife has a brother. [...]

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TechCrunch reported that ad network Adbrite laid off 40% of its workforce. After layoff, Adbrite will have about 60 employees. Assuming $175K annual expense per employee, their run rate will be around $10,500,000 per year. Based on their $32million gross revenue, assuming their margin is about 30%, their net revenue (i.e. the revenue after paying [...]

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Each year several large employers in Seattle extend offers to hundreds of out-of-town job candidates. Those firms offer very attractive relocation packages to lure these candidates to move to the emerald city. Lately, the economy is tanking, layoffs are mounting, and it should become easier for companies to hire. However, it hasn’t been the case. [...]

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The book title has nothing to do with job, interview, resume, career, etc. But, in my opinion, it is one of the most useful, powerful, and practical books about how to get yourself a job. When you’re looking for a job, you’re selling. And you’re the product. Therefore, you need to know how to sell. [...]

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Several of my colleagues at work have parked their savings in Money Market funds and bank CDs. This morning, we heard from NPR that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was urging consumers to purchase California bonds. They even set up a web site to sell California bonds. As part of our water cooler discussion, we wondered [...]

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How can I transition to be a product manager? This is a question I got asked quite frequently. It’s hard to make the career transition to product management. In most companies, there are no clear path to become a product manager. The job title "product manager" is defined differently at different companies. In some companies,product [...]

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First, let’s talk about who probably shouldn’t be putting money into 401K. Assuming you’ll be laid off tomorrow, and your household won’t have income for 6 months, do you have enough cash to sustain your current level of expenses (e.g. mortgage, car payment, other monthly bills, etc.)? If you don’t have enough cash reserve to [...]

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I have received a lot of visits to my 401K related posts on this blog. At work, the topic of 401K and economic downturn dominated water cooler discussions. Everyone is deeply concerned about the economic downturn, what to do with our 401K money, and how to prepare for retirements. I don’t think anyone has a [...]

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