Sequoia Capital on startups and the economic downturn

Good perspective on what the VCs are thinking and what does it mean for VC funded companies. Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Sequoia Capital on startups and the economic downturn

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: depression recession)

Mockery of a Central Bank

Why does a Central Bank even exist?

Look at the figures below – on the official website:

And according to the Economic Times, being in Zimbabwe might be the easiest way to become a Trillionaire – just carry $33 (USD) into the country when you land there. Can the economics of a country become more bleak than this?

Being the Best – A Surgeon’s Perspective

I want to share in interesting perspective that I came across a surgeon's blog here.

The lines that struck a chord are:

"i try to refer away whatever i feel is not in my scope but once the knife goes through the skin you become suddenly very alone. it is too late to think there is someone else who can do the job better than you. you must be the best for that patient at that moment. this becomes more acutely true when something goes wrong and you have to dig yourself out of a difficult situation. the thing about difficult situations in my line of work is if you handle them not too well someone may just end up dead. somehow to believe you are the best does seem to give just that little more of an edge."

Leaders are like surgeons – they have areas of strengths and then there are peripheral areas that are just outside their comfort zones. They can try to surround themselves with team members with complementary strengths to cover as much ground as possible. But in most situations it is not practical to have everything covered. They will most certainly face situations, where despite their personal discomfort or lack of complete mastery over the context, they will need to take charge of the situation, be responsible for actions and decisions that will make or break their organizations. In doing this, they need to have the conviction in themselves - that they are the best given the situation and they will be able to navigate through the complexities and achieve success at the end.

We all face such leadership moments and situations in our lives. The lesson here is that we need to take charge and drive through them with a surgeon's conviction – of being the best in the situation, and that anything less than the best can have disastrous consequences.