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I wrote an op-ed for The Verge on Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer and double standards for women at the top: 

Just look at Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Her recent book, Lean In, has provoked hostile criticism by many people who haven’t read the book, but find it offensive because the advice it offers doesn’t work for all women everywhere — and worse, think that Sandberg herself must represent all women to offer such advice…

Has anyone ever anyone ever analyzed a business book made by a male CEO using the same criteria? When’s the last time someone picked up a Jack Welch (or Warren Buffett, or even Donald Trump) bestseller and complained that it was unsympathetic to working class men who had to work multiple jobs to support their families? When’s the last time anyone called Welch an elitist jerk for suggesting that his relationship with his family was not incompatible with work? And who reads a book by Jack Welch and defensively feels that they’re being told that they have to adopt Jack Welch’s lifestyle and professional choices or they are lesser human beings?

With zero scientific evidence, I think I can answer that. No one.

Beware of Broken Glass: the Double Standard for Women at the Top [TheVerge]

I’m sending out the March edition of my personal newsletter on Wednesday. Per earlier editions, if you have job postings, send them to me at Espiers AT gmail and I’ll include them. And you can subscribe here. 

As an obsessive Bond fan, I found this post that combined 007 references with cute bunnies emotionally confusing. And I arrived at it via a Lifehacker post linking to a Japanese study suggesting that looking at photos of cute things during the day boosts focus and productivity. 

There’s a meme in here somewhere; I just can’t quite parse it. 

I was working on a feature for Fast Company on Groupon and was minutes away from filing it yesterday when Andrew Mason got fired.

Mason and I had breakfast four weeks ago in Palo Alto and here’s what happened: 

“Mason never could convince Wall Street … and he seemed disillusioned with what his experience dealing with it. “What’s just depressing to me is how—and it’s not just for us, let me generalize it—the moment a company goes public the conversation shifts from how they’re trying to change the world and the product they’re building to how they’re making money.”

“All the coverage around Facebook’s new search tool was, a little bit about the feature and then it gets immediately into how the market is reacting to it. Like, who the fuck cares?”

Andrew Mason’s Last Interview As Groupon CEO

So I’m doing this column on Medium that’s sort of about personal development but I’ve been thinking of it more in the vein of Letters to a Young Technologist because I think much of Medium’s audience works in the tech/startup world. The post I wrote this week came out of listening to 20somethings I know justify a lifestyle that consists entirely of work and casual sex on the basis that they don’t have time for real relationships because they’re busy building an awesome product/company/internet meme involving cats, Kim Jong Un and screen shots of 30 Rock. In some cases, “I don’t have time” is just shorthand for “I’d rather just screw around right now”, which is fine, but most of them really mean it. They think the payoff from living in the office will outweigh the payoff of working hard and still making time for other people. I think this is short-sighted, and honestly, it makes me sad. A lot of these people are lonely and they rely too heavily on their colleagues and workplace for emotional fulfillment because they haven’t nurtured their personal relationships (even the platonic ones) enough. 

So I wrote a post on Why Developing Relationships in Your 20s Matters and why it’s actually a practical thing to do. (I realize that some people envision themselves lifelong bachelors and bachelorettes and it may not apply, but I think it does to most people who anticipate having a spouse and children at some point.) 

I’m doing a weekly column on Medium about personal development. Here’s the first one: The Art of George W. Bush and the Importance of Play

Per my posting last month, I’m sending out my monthly newsletter and if anyone’s hiring and wants to post a job listing, send it to me and I’ll include it. Email me at espiers AT gmail.