If you start a company, it will probably happen to you someday. Maybe it will be your VC or a board member. Maybe it will be your co-founder. Sooner or later, they'll try to fire you. I'm an investor in or advisor to dozens of startups, and at least once a quarter, I get the call: "Chris, they're trying to fire me." (The other urgent call I get is when they're negotiating a financing round, merger, or sale. I much prefer those calls!) Most entrepreneurs are surprised the first time their investors or co-founders try to fire them. They can't imagine being banished from the company that they created. Maybe they were the only employee of the company for years. Maybe they recruited and courted the very person who comes to carry out the execution. The sad fact is, founder firings are the rule, not the exception.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HaV7zVXPUGE/
Oh, 2010. It was glorious, but thank the almighty�prancing�unicorn in the sky that it's over. It was the year of the iPad, really. Steve Jobs took to the stage of Moscone Center, sat down, and proceeded to show the world how he wanted us to interact with the Internet -- several million consumers followed suite immediately. But there was so much more, too! Of course not everyone had such a good year as Apple. Or Roku. Or Amazon. Some companies and products didn't fare so well and they're probably looking to the riches that will [hopefully] be made in 2011. Look at Android tablets, netbooks, cable companies and even Windows Home server, Google TV, and the TV show Lost. All losers in the game of Life, 2010 Edition. But no worries. 2011 is tomorrow and the Internet is a kind soul who's quick to forget past blunders as long as future ventures result positively. It's just too bad that what happened in 2010 will likely happen in 2011. It's going to be more of the same. Sorry if I'm the one to tell you this; that's the way it works 'round here.
The open source community shudders with equal measures of saddening loss and anxious anticipation. Mozilla Firefox, one of the most important open source projects, has lost a very big player, and no one quite knows how extensive the repercussions will be.
