Headline FeedsE-Commerce Times Talkback
|
|
See Full StoryAs tenures at companies go, Steve Case's trajectory at AOL was similar to that of a bullet fired straight up -- it ascends at a fast rate but eventually plummets. Last week, Case resigned his AOL chairmanship under pressure from stockholders who have lost tens of billions of dollars since the AOL Time Warner merger two years ago. Is his departure an isolated event, or does it reflect a general failure of new-media executives at old-economy companies?
I'm not necessarily a Steve Case or AOL fan, but I do think that consultants like Gaw and Efstathiou need to check out their facts before they start spouting off about entrepreneurs like Case. The notion that entrepreneurs don't have the management skills to successfully nurture their companies from startup through old age is a bunch of poppycock, a factually unsupported mindset that continues to shape the business community's negative attitudes towards entrepreneurs.
Gaw, Efstathiou and other consultants who are still hanging onto their boxed-in views about entrepreneurs need to wake up and come to terms with what's been happening in the business world over the past twenty-five years. If they'd take time to check, they'll see that 7 out of 10 of Fortune's "Most Respected Companies," including aging companies Intel, FedEx, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft and even behemoth Wal-Mart, are all run by their founders or by the direct decedents of their founders. And look who's back running Apple again. It sure isn't John Scully. Jim Pflaum - Raleigh, NC
Gaw, Efstathiou and other consultants who are still hanging onto their boxed-in views about entrepreneurs need to wake up and come to terms with what's been happening in the business world over the past twenty-five years. If they'd take time to check, they'll see that 7 out of 10 of Fortune's "Most Respected Companies," including aging companies Intel, FedEx, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft and even behemoth Wal-Mart, are all run by their founders or by the direct decedents of their founders. And look who's back running Apple again. It sure isn't John Scully. Jim Pflaum - Raleigh, NC
Sounds like Monday-AM soothsaying, asking tea leaves why the warlord led his army to the slaughter. The answer: failure to understand consumers. AOL serves up mindless drivel. It's no Hitchhiker's Guide to the Web Galaxy. Broadband AOL at $2500 a year is just streaming mindless drivel.
