For the third year in a row, I was lucky to be selected as a judge and mentor for the Kenneth A. Freirich Business Plan Competition at Skidmore College. The competition always attracts some of the brightest and most motivated
The Most Important Missing Lesson in Business
There are few things in life that I find more appealing than a well-constructed business lesson that has been developed into a system or framework. Here are a few of my favorites: David Allen’s system for personal productivity (Getting
The Most Important Business Variable
It’s not cash flow, not ROI, not COGS. It’s actually the length and depth of the human capacity to absorb details. Why do our documents have executive summaries? Why do we need to present the “50,000” foot view? Why do
The Dubious Value of “Final” Drafts
It’s a fact of life in most corporate environments that lots of documents need to be created and lots of managers need to review them. The typical rhythm goes like this: An individual contributor creates a first draft of a
Quirky Business Techniques
Over the last decade, I’ve spent a pretty good chunk of my time reading business books. I’ve covered everyone from Peter Drucker and Dale Carnegie to Steve Blank and Brené Brown. Looking back through my records – I’ve covered over
Fitness Functions
For the last couple weeks, I’ve been reading The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone. The book primarily chronicles the complete history of Amazon, and in parallel, its irascible CEO. I’m really enjoying
The Language of Business
Last week while commuting into the city, I saw an ad on the train that caught my attention. The ad was for Harvard Business School and the prominent text proclaimed: “Learn to speak the language of business.” This one really
Process Development: Decisive vs. Organic
Over the past four years, AppNexus has grown like a rocket ship – from 50 people when I joined the company in 2011 to over 1000 today. During this time of monumental growth, process development has been a key tool
The Allure of Next Time
I can barely count the number of times it has happened. I learn something new and revolutionary at work – a new team management insight, a new prioritization method, a new leadership strategy, or even just a new way to
Are You a Manager or a Leader?
I recently picked up On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis and found it pretty interesting. Originally published in 1989, the book still has many lessons that are relevant today – some perhaps more relevant than when first published. Much