Sydney Finkelstein comments on how Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates recently broke rank with the company he created as well as most of Silicon Valley on a major digital privacy issue. “It’s not that he’s a founder that’s an issue. It’s that the founder is still an integral part of the company that’s so unusual.”
Sydney Finkelstein discusses how the best bosses hire differently and in what way their unconventional hiring practices could make all the difference.
Paul Argenti comments on how the tech industry ranks highest among its peers in the Edelman Trust Barometer, a global survey of consumer opinion. As a result, in response to Bill Gates weighing in on the debate that's erupted between Apple and the FBI over user privacy, he said they have more to protect by speaking out.
Highlights Dana Ehrlich T'05, founder and CEO of the grass-fed beef company Verde Farms. Ehrlich launched Verde more than a decade ago during his days at Tuck, where he met his Verde Farms partner Pablo Garbarino T'04, as well as an important future customer: Boloco CEO John Pepper T'97. Verde Farms' revenue last year exceeded the $50 million mark, more than double 2013 levels.
Highlights an edtech partnership between Tuck and Ashwin Damera, founder of Travelguru, which will help bring content further into the digital realm for better online learning. “A big difference is that we have a cohort-based approach. It’s not self-paced (learning). They (students) begin and finish together,” says Damera.
Vijay Govindarajan argues that India’s 2016 Union Budget will be a make or break budget for its government. “The time for India to find its rightful place in the world economic order has come. Failure to achieve this could turn India’s demographic dividend into a demographic disaster.”
Paul Argenti discusses how a company's reputation going into a crisis is very important for how easily they can emerge from it.
Sydney Finkelstein says, "If there is a CEO who creates value for shareholders and wealth for the economy, the value they create is so much greater than their compensation."
Vijay Govindarajan comments on dilemmas that Arun Jaitley, the finance minister of India, may face as he presents the 2016 Union Budget on February 29. “This is a very important budget. The Modi government should get the resource allocation and execution right. It is almost two years into this government and it cannot be talk, talk and talk. You cannot blame the opposition for all the challenges.”
Sydney Finkelstein discusses the most common mistakes companies make during mergers and acquisitions, and what they can do to get it right.
As a guest speaker at the Makers 2016 conference, Ella Bell Smith challenged the audience to create a personal action plan for gender equality using what they learned from the conference.
Cites a new research paper co-authored by B. Espen Eckbo and Karin Thorburn on the impact of corporate bankruptcy on a CEO's personal career and wealth.
Vijay Govindarajan says manufacturing companies should take advantage of the opportunity to make products in India, for India. In other words, “an opportunity to convert non-consumers to consumers.”
John Vogel’s latest commentary for VPR focuses on homelessness and housing issues that Presidential candidates seem to be ignoring. Vogel says, “In my experience, issues like homelessness come in and out of fashion, and this year, it seems, the candidates would rather talk about immigration and healthcare.”
An opinion piece by Sydney Finkelstein focusing on five factors that distinguish the most effective leaders.
Quotes Paul Wolfson, author of "What Does the Minimum Wage Do?," on the relationship between minimum wage jobs and the unemployment rate. “Any time you get under 4 percent, employers will have problems finding people,” says Wolfson.
Cites research by Richard Townsend, which showed that successful support of entrepreneurship in a city is directly related to the availability of direct flights which allow VCs to connect with startups more frequently.
Vijay Govindarajan comments on how Google's Alphabet revenues and the profits from Internet search can easily fuel its moonshots. “They’ve created teams around virtual reality, self-driving cars and so on, which are separate from box one, allowing box three [activities] to take root.”
Five ways “superbosses” distinguish themselves and their ability to find and nurture talent.
Quotes Jonathan Masland in an article about MBA graduates seeking jobs at companies in the sharing economy—such as Uber and AirBNB, and how technology is allowing the industry to grow at a rapid pace.
In his latest opinion piece for "Syd Weighs In," Sydney Finkelstein discusses how CEOs are built up to be “unfeeling technocrats,” but the reality is that they are humans too—with all the emotions and biases that come along with it.
Continued coverage highlighting the elite consultancy trio—McKinsey, Bain, and BCG—hired 18% of the Tuck class of 2015.
Continued coverage on a research paper, The Impact of Venture Capital Monitoring, co-authored by Richard Townsend that shows in cities that offer direct flights, venture capitalists are able to oversee operations of their startups more frequently—directly leading to greater success.
An opinion piece by Sydney Finkelstein on his new book Superbosses: How exceptional leaders manage the flow of talent, focusing on how to hire and vet new employees. Finkelstein writes, “If the old methods are not working, maybe it is time to be more innovative and start hiring like a superboss.”
Quotes Paul Argenti in an article on why it is difficult for the American public to differentiate between Martin Shkreli and other pharma companies. “Most people don’t differentiate between Shkreli and other companies. It’s not enough to say that he’s worse when your own prices and profits are going up. That argument isn’t working. Most people lump them together.”
Continued coverage of Superbosses: How exceptional leaders manage the flow of talent written by Sydney Finkelstein highlighting three counter-intuitive ideas on what sets “superbosses” apart from others. The book is available today.
Quotes Thad Hill T’95, CEO of Calpine, in an article on renewable power companies in Texas moving toward the use of lithium-ion battery systems. Hill says that he doesn’t see an immediate threat.
As a guest on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," former New Hampshire Governor Judd Gregg discusses GOP candidates ahead of the NH primary.
Sydney Finkelstein writes that both Super Bowl coaches—the Broncos' Gary Kubiak and the Panthers' Ron Rivera—indirectly owe their careers to Bill Walsh, the former head coach of the San Francisco '49ers.
Highlights a group of Tuck students who participated in the annual Left Bank Bordeaux Cup at the French Consulate in New York along with Yale, Wharton, and Cornell. All teams were judged on performance in multiple choice questionnaires, presentations and blind tastings.
Showtime executive Tom Christie T’85 was promoted to chief operating officer. The Los Angeles Times writes, “Christie will continue to lead Showtime Networks’ distribution, sales, affiliate marketing, network operations and new business development teams, as well as the network’s streaming service product group. Christie will also continue to have oversight of future strategies and new business ventures.”
Announces that Jim Esposito T'95, co-head of the Wall Street firm’s financing group, was named chief strategy officer of the securities division. The Wall Street Journal writes, “The role is a new one for Goldman, whose trading business has been beset by a slew of new rules designed to rein in risks at the world’s biggest banks.”
Continued coverage of Superbosses: How exceptional leaders manage the flow of talent written by Sydney Finkelstein highlighting a handful of "glorious bastard" CEOs referenced in the book.
Cites a research paper, The Impact of Venture Capital Monitoring, co-authored by Richard Townsend that showed venture capitalists do help startup firms by closely monitoring their development, and that the availability of direct airplane flights between the two parties helps improve that oversight.
Sydney Finkelstein writes that Gene Roberts nurtured a generation of prominent journalists while reviving the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Quotes Philip DeGisi T'09, chief marketing officer at the student loan refinancing company CommonBond, regarding how it's important for accepted students to speak with financial aid experts about their options for paying for school as they make plans for where to attend.