lbr

"Never show anyone. They'll beg you and they'll flatter you for the secret, but as soon as you give it up... you'll be nothing to them..." Quote from the prestige about magic.

Agree - I consider myself a social hacker... and I'm constantly tempted to show off my methods... but I try not to. A trick is more impressive if someone doesn't know they are being tricked.

And if everyone does it... it looses its magic.

Not only that, but RG has also gotten a ton of positive feedback from artists.

The question is this: Do the founders wish to be provocative and make a point about the music industry, or do they want to avoid friction? After watching a few interviews with the founding team, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the former.

Agree. Silly and not a huge deal. Beyond that, buying the rights wouldn't be expensive.

"obtaining a blanket license to “re-publish” lyrics online from someone like musiXmatch starts around $20k/year."

Doesn't sound too bad for a company that raised 17M.

Beyond that RG still has a ton of room to expand into other areas.

Awesome way to steer culture. Awesome recruiting tool. But seem pretty pricey. Certainly an investment.

Attempts at startup courses are being made at schools across the country. Like example above.

I think the more interesting question is are they worthwhile? In other words, can you actually learn startup skills in a classroom? Or do you need to be running a startup to get them?

Quick Results: Wasn't to sell cars to employees.

Employee turnover per year shifted from 470% to 16%. Absenteeism dropped from 10% to 2.5%. Productivity per worker increased by btwn 40% and 70% (depending on measures). Profits increased by 20%.

I agree. This logic isn't perfect, but at the same time... I think there is no greater drive than that for sex, food, self preservation etc. I have to imagine that this drive forces you to focus and work.

When you are full... sure you can devote your attention to something else. But the body also has a "rest and digest" mode.

Blood flows to the core to allow digestion. Pupils constrict. The body sends less blood to the lungs, and decreases O2 exchange. Hear rate slows.

These are all responses that make people want to curl up and sleep. Not create, work or work together.

I wonder the same thing. For me, I become far more productive and focused when I'm slightly hungry. Great for late night work by myself, reading, emailing.

But being hungry also makes me a bit less social... I try not to be hungry when I'm working with people.

What I wonder is if I'm more creative when I'm slightly hungry. And I think I am. Hard to quantify.

I notice this all the time - focus better hungry. Just did some research and dug up the article.

Awesome. Wish you the best of luck, regardless of what happens. Wasn't trying to be cynical - apologies if my comment was interpreted that way.

uninformed speculation: this is the hope of the author of this post. and intention behind this post.

But too hard to say if this is realistic, without nothing about the product or founders.

ninjas and robots?

When people say "I need a job in X, to learn Y, before starting Z," do you think they actually mean it?

I understand that sometimes it's necessary. But most of the time, I think people ask use this excuse to take the less risky path.

what is your project

I found a killer internship last year. Here is what did and didn't work:

Didn't work: reading techcrunch and HN waiting for a great startup to drift by. I reached out to a few of the companies that were big on HN and TC, but at that time (because they were on TC and HN) they were swamped with emails and usually at a critical stage in the companies growth. Thus, wasn't a great time to try and chat.

Beyond that, I couldn't get a great feel for the companies (the people)from their sites alone. And this is just as important as the idea, if not more.

Worked: Talking to people who you know in SF and in the startup world. I spoke with a friend of mine at a startup - he introduced me to other friends. who introduced me to other friends. and before you know it I had a dozen phone calls lined up. I think I was able to get passed along for a few reasons: -I had a good short blurb on myself that folks could forward along. It showed that I was hungry. -I had a personal website so that people could read about what I was up to. -I knew what size company I wanted and was flexible with pay.

Also worked: talking to recruiters at VC firms and incubators. They have tons of contacts and know great places to look.

If you have ones in mind, then sure. reach out. I found that people are surprisingly friendly to young folks who want to learn.

Awesome idea. I tried the Evernote/Moleskin notebook (http://evernote.com/getting_started/moleskine/) for 3 months. Wanted to like it but couldn't - photographing my pages was a pain. Wanted to like Penultimate (by Evernote) as well - but writing on an ipad was way to far from paper.

Certainly some issues with this - going without your notes during processing. not getting back notebook. etc. - but nothing major.

Wonder how a service would do that made the rounds and scanned notebooks at your office or house.

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

See my comment. Figured this was this case. It's obvious - but it's empirically proven that this structure, tournament structure, rads it cheating and sabotage.

I agree. This product is mislabeled. It doesn't help you avoid micromanaging - it allows you to do so efficiently.

I think we can agree that this would be useful in low skill jobs. But would be perceived as insulting at most respectable companies who respect their employees.

Interesting concept. Aesthetically pleasing. Certainly looks like this information would get the attention of managers.

That said, this is comparable to creating a "tournament structure" within the company. Where top and bottom performers are more visible.

There are some really interesting findings on this structure in labor economics lit. One finding is that it leads to higher rates of sabotage and cheating.

I would also worry that this structure could alienate those who work in... Different ways. I worry that this would encourage people to work in ways that helped their metrics.

Certainly a cool product. But I hope it's not used in an office I ever work in.