A co-founder of Flickr argues that hard work often doesn’t amount to much–and neuroscience offers some backing for the claim.
Caterina Fake, who, with her husband Stewart Butterfield, founded Flickr, knows a thing or two about bliztkreig work schedules. But she points out that late nights are seldom very useful in the grand scheme of things. Hard work?
When Christine Saun
ders saw her Southern California floral design company’s revenue dip last fall as the economy sputtered, she realized that creating products for do-it-yourself brides might spur sales. But the owner of The Spiraled Stem Floral Design didn’t want to carry the expense and burden of treading into this unfamiliar market alone.
“You need a brand makeover when the marketplace tells you so directly: Sales are slowing and market share is shrinking,” Adamson says. “But it’s often too late to change things when they are really off. You have to catch it just at the tipping point when things are going great, but the increases are diminishing and momentum is giving out.”
Detroit, long depressed by the collapse of the auto industry, is beginning to reinvent itself.
Dispatches From The Front 