> Myhrvold is chief executive of a company called Intellectual Ventures, which sells patents
'Sells patents' is the most polite possible way to describe their racket.
Today I learned that a Chief of Staff is basically a secretary with fewer responsibilities.
i don't think that's quite right. when i was at intel the chief of staff role was the "technical assistant" or TA (as opposed to the administrative assistant or AA/EA); some TAs were business types but many had advanced engineering degrees, even PhDs. a well-aligned TA seems like a massive multiplier for execs. the main peril with a chief of staff who is less technical than the exec is that they are gatekeeping (filtering meetings and proposals) based on a pattern-matching level of understanding about technology, as opposed to actual understanding, and that's sort of asking for leadership to drift off in their own filter bubbles.
I have very similar things to say about skilled secretaries and more. Good secretaries are master organizers and information gatherers. And yes, they're incredibly effective gatekeepers too.