Creative Reaction

I mentioned this post, though from a very different perspective back on March 9th - (Fire the Workaholics). Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com offers some excellent tips on how to save money running a startup, which could be applied to any frugal business.  It is full of practical advice about spending money what really matters; for example, not spending money on desks/tables, but happily paying $600 for a good office chair.

What I appreciate most is that it takes into consideration the often unmeasured and therefore under-accounted benefits of productivity. Few businesses calculate productivity gains (and losses), and without dollar signs attached to these measurements, they often go unnoticed. A business’ largest expenditure is talent (labor), yet without an emphasis on training, and without providing employees the proper tools and an environment conducive to getting work done, we might as well be grabbing fistfuls of petty cash and throwing them into a bonfire every few minutes!

I’ll just highlight a few items, then go into detail on each of them in later posts:

• Buying Macs (Apple hardware, Mac OS, Apple software)

• Second or larger Monitors for everyone!

• Providing Meals, snacks, espresso

(Keep in mind, we already touched upon hiring workaholics and why that’s actually a bad idea)

Something for us all to think about!