links for 2011-05-18

• Is Microsoft trying to end the reign of mobile carriers? (MSFT+Skype+Nokia) « fox @ fury
  Is Microsoft trying to end the reign of mobile carriers? (MSFT+Skype+Nokia) « fox @ fury May 17, 2011 at 11:33PM
  (tags: via_ifttt)
• The Curve of Talent
  “The more that you manage people in your career, the more you’ll find that it is very hard to find people who can execute well on what they are asked to do. The bar of performance wasn’t innovation, but simply competently executing the expected job.

  Most people in the business world don’t have a particularly clear idea on how to do their job well.

  It is very easy for a C player to seem moderately successful when progress is largely based on inertia.

  A players don't want to be at large companies because, more often than not, corporate bureaucracy and process not only fail to reward, but actually punish A players.

  By contrast, startups have no inertia and need to create momentum from nothing.

  Most startups need a core team of A players; folks who can “write the book and not just read it.”

  One way these candidates can be identified is when they actually teach the interviewer something about how the company can win.

  
  
  (tags: career quotes management startups)