Brought to you by the letter B

March 23, 2006 @ 12:36 am · Filed under Web/Net

Sometimes the “B” in “Blogger” stands for ballsy. Jeremy pushes for change from within when he can, but is willing to call out issues in public too.

33 Comments »

  1. David[de] Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 12:54 am

    >Hey, I finished my posts before midnight this time!

    up again?
    at least you tried ...

  2. Chris_D Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 2:46 am

    Wow. that’s serious heart on sleeve stuff.

  3. Jason Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 6:06 am

    You guys should offer him a job Matt, he doesn’t sound happy at Yahoo ;) j/k It’s cool that he is willing to post his feelings on the situation without fear of retribution from his management.

  4. What a Maroon Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 7:10 am

    This shows why competition is good. I know many who are still loyal to Yahoo only because of Finance. If Yahoo recognizes that, they’ll listen to Jeremy and improve. Then Google will come back over the top again.

    Dontcha just love how capitalism drives innovation?

  5. ogletree Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 8:03 am

    You should link to the actual article so that people who read this post later can find what you are talking about. He blogs a lot that will go off the front page quickly.

  6. Matt Cutts Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 8:50 am

    I agree, What a Maroon. That’s how it should work to keep everybody working hard, and users benefit.

    Thanks, ogletree. I updated the link.

    David[de], I tried. :) I’ll try again tonight.

  7. Aaron Pratt Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 9:06 am

    I really like Jeremy the man, he is a honest guy with a sharp edge.

    You can’t help but feel bad for people who have been eaten for lunch, as long as their is room for everyone to play without fear of Google ruining the day things will be ok.

  8. NevDull Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 11:00 am

    The challenge that Google will soon face is the same as the one that Yahoo has been going through for a while. After a certain level of corporate maturity, people stop believing they can change the world, and stop trying.

  9. randfish Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 3:59 pm

    That did take guts - I’m impressed.

    Any chance we’d see a similiar post from you about one of Google’s products, Matt? Or is this type of thing outside your goals with the blog?

  10. Adam Senour Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 4:34 pm

    I don’t think Matt has to do it himself. The rest of us will bitch enough so that all Matt has to do is forward the individual blog links on to the rest of the Big G team.

  11. Joe Small Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 5:16 pm

    Matt,

    Why do you use WordPress? Your company owns and runs Blogger. If your answer is that Blogger just isn’t good enough, or that you like WordPress better. Than why don’t you suggest to someone within your own company to improve Blogger? I use Blogger and would love to see some improvements, something to bring it up to par with the industry.

    Sorry, but you mentioned the B in Blogger and I finally ahd to comment (with a fake name of course, I don’t want you hand coding results for my Blogger blog or anything like that... LOL Yes, I know you can look up my IP... but really who cares).

  12. Matt Cutts Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 8:46 pm

    randfish, Adam, I’m in a slightly different situation. I joined Google early enough that I usually know who to talk to, and have an idea of how to make a solid appeal to them. And I’ve had good luck by gently asking people about something over and over again until they tackle it. There are a few persistent issues that frustrate me at Google, but I have a lot more pushing to do internally first before I’d vent externally.

    This would be a good question for the WMW blogger session in Boston. :)

  13. dan gaul Said,

    March 23, 2006 @ 9:44 pm

    I’d be worried about how management will reacte to his post. People have been fired over less in a blog. Even though most of us wouldnt think it, there could be some people who could get defensive over his post.

    It’s a great read though. Reminds me of a place I used to work.

  14. Shoemoney Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 7:08 am

    I feel his pain. This is one of the reasons I have never been able to work for corporate america. I get so obsessed and into my work and then others could care... I hope Yahoo! understands what a valuable employee Zawodny is.

  15. Valentine Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 8:09 am

    Yahoo! should feel privileged to have an employee who is passionate enough about the company he works for and his work to be outspoken. Too often the bigger a company gets the more off the ball they go and it’s only when the competition steps up that they start to realise.

    That is why so many niche companies succeed knocking off what seems to be the invisible.

    The same goes for websites. They won’t run on autopilot forever. They need constant nurturing and development to stand against the competition. There is a lesson here to be learnt for everyone.

  16. Adam Senour Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 8:25 am

    Valentine and Shoemoney are bang-on. That’s why I’m a gun for hire. I’m never physically in a company’s offices long enough to see the apathy within.

  17. Russell Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 11:43 am

    I admire Jeremy for that post. Yes, Yahoo has stagnated and Google is totally dynamic.

    Congratulation to Google for making the S&P 500 in less that 2 years. That must be a record from an initial IPO?

    Curious about SVG Documents and when they will be a recognized format. Search: filetype:svg +the

  18. Jay W Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 11:58 am

    Hi Matt,

    Your mention of Jeremy’s post / article in WebProNews highlights a sensitive topic - employees who blog and what they can/can’t say or at least shouldn’t say. I comment here because I’m giving a workshop on this topic, and as one of the most prominent, your thoughts are most appreciated.

    For example, has there even been a conflict between the growth of your personal brand and others in the company? I could envision a case where a company feels uncomfortable with a person becoming too well-known and not wanting them to talk about things work related that haven’t been officially cleared.

    You seem to do a good job of mixing business and pleasure (talking about industry and completely personal things). Are there topics you won’t cover or recommend others not to cover? Lastly, should employees who blog be allowed to make money from their site and content contributions?

    Ideally, I not only want to become better myself but give advice to the employee bloggers and companies that will soon be making decisions about their bloggers.

    And if any reading would like to contribute, that would be great - especially employees who blog and can discuss success / failures of being a full-employed blogger as well as best practices.

    Thank you Matt and to anyone else for your time and input.

    Jay

    AIM sandtraby

  19. Joseph Hunkins Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 1:34 pm

    Nice compliment for Jeremy who is one of the most honest and best voices in blogging. I’m really looking forward to seeing you, Scoble, and Jeremy together for the (first time on stage together?) in Boston.

  20. Matt Cutts Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 2:11 pm

    “This is one of the reasons I have never been able to work for corporate america. I get so obsessed and into my work” No good Shoemoney. I read your interview and saw how you parted ways with your previous employers. ;)

    Joseph, we were on a panel at SES NYC together, but everybody asked easy questions. I’m sure that wouldn’t happen at Pubcon. :)

  21. alek Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 3:49 pm

    Jeremy blogged a followup regarding comments on the “ballsy” link Matt posted above that is relevant here - see http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006529.html

  22. ShoeMoney Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 7:36 pm

    Matt-

    I can’t get anything by you huh =(

  23. Aaron Pratt Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 9:37 pm

    No good Shoemoney. I read your interview and saw how you parted ways with your previous employers. ;)

    Matt - Once you have been kicked to the curb by corporate america you become aware. Shoemoney was smart to focus on his own thing at his next couple of jobs before getting fired. I know, I did this exact same thing. =p

  24. Joseph Hunkins Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 10:19 pm

    Cool Matt - I know you “Three Amigos” will get some hard questions from the rowdy PubCon crowd ...maybe even “How many bloggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

  25. Adam Senour Said,

    March 24, 2006 @ 10:31 pm

    Aaron, you and Shoemoney are half-right.

    It’s best to focus on your own thing within the confines of Corporate North America (let’s not forget Canada, eh?) and then have all your ducks in a row before quitting on your own terms. That way, you don’t have employment gaps or money issues.

    Two of the greatest days of my life were the days I quit my last two jobs.

    In the one case, I didn’t tell the owner of the store I had quit (I didn’t have to give two weeks’ notice because he took me off the books and tried paying me cash under the table to “keep me quiet” on stuff, which I never did.) I also picked a weekend when no other employees were going to physically be able to come in since they were at an autoshow, and the owner had to open the store himself. Since he couldn’t work the register and wasn’t smart enough to have anyone around him that did, it cost him over $10,000 that weekend.

    In the other case, I gave my two weeks’ notice and then spent the last two weeks creating tension among the other employees by revealing who hated who and who said what about who, then watching the infighting. There’s nothing quite as funny as watching two corporate whore office women go at it because each one heard the other had some negative things to say.

    Then I took the fat lazy employee who kept screwing everyone by doing all the easy stuff and called him out publicly on it. He ended up taking short-term disability because I yelled at him so badly that apparently it gave him a heart condition (to this day, I STILL haven’t figured out how calling someone lazy and self-centered in a loud voice can lead to heart conditions...anyone got proof on this?)

    And on the last day, I worked the whole day with my middle finger in the air. Literally. Just sat in my chair, typing with my left hand while my right hand served as the corporate flagpole (put it down every so often when it hurt to keep it up, though.) That is the coolest thing to do...just sitting there, knowing that even if they fired you it would have no effect.

    Or when they ask you to clean your desk out. I took the drawers out one by one and just shook them over the recycle bin. Wasn’t anything of use to me in all that paper.

    And then there’s the feeling of walking out the door, knowing those losers will never have control over you again. That feeling is just too sweet for words. Everyone should be able to do that at least once in their lifetimes.

  26. Brendan O'Connell Said,

    March 25, 2006 @ 6:09 am

    Respect to Jeremy for calling like he sees it and respect to Yahoo for letting him state his opinion.

  27. Alan Perkins Said,

    March 25, 2006 @ 7:43 am

    Ballsy Lambasting Outspoken Go-Getting Erudite Rant

  28. Aaron Pratt Said,

    March 25, 2006 @ 9:16 am

    Adam - Leave the place in flames in that second example eh? LOL, live and learn.

  29. Sally Said,

    March 25, 2006 @ 10:44 am

    Is there an issue with Google’s Adwords server after yesterday’s maintainance? I notice that even though I updated my the system with a new credit card to cover the old balances, it still tells me that it needs to update my credit card. Usually this message goes away after an hour due to server delay but today its been 7 hours since 3:00 AM and it still gives this message. My balance is 0 too

  30. Ron Wilson Said,

    August 10, 2006 @ 6:44 am

    I love blogger!

  31. Scented Candles Said,

    November 30, 2006 @ 10:55 am

    Matt, you definitely like to do creative work and stay away regular office job, hahaha.....

  32. Sterling Silver Jewelry Said,

    November 30, 2006 @ 10:56 am

    Some competition is always good, that means it has a high demand....

  33. Throw Pillows Said,

    March 2, 2007 @ 11:39 am

    I love to blog; reading, commenting and more.

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