^ Don't we wish there was an E/M ratio! But, lots of garbage does well because of good marketing and vice versa. That metric would take a lot of interpretation. And since most companies hate hiring generalists these days it would be hard to find someone that could interpret that ratio on a company-by-company basis. A lot of people understand quantitative stuff and a lot understand marketing. And a lot of people understand the quantitative side of marketing (especially in Cincinnati). Buuut not that many people understand companies and especially a lot of companies. I used to tell people that when I was in the financial sector (because I'm good with companies) but they didn't care. The financial media is full of people who understand companies, but the regular work world isn't.

This is why young people don't want to work in the suburbs. You can't have a proper party lifestyle in Silicon Valley. There are big social reasons why so much A-team tech is choosing San Francisco over other places in America. San Francisco's socially liberal culture and loose office standards are big selling points for millennials. It's much harder to hire young talent in the suburbs. It's also why I'm banking on New York City/Silicon Alley being a hub of tech bubble 3.0 after the tech bubble 2.0 lets off some steam in San Francisco and Oakland. Zenefits is one of the golden child unicorns, and I think I have one or two exes working there. It set the bar high for SF office culture...

 

*Stairwell sex is trashy, but it's what the kids are doing these days, especially since a lot of them are now forced to share bedrooms in their insanely priced flats in SF. People are hooking up at work a lot more since it's one of the only places you can get privacy in San Francisco as anything but a millionaire. I'm seeing it on rooftops more too. I at least had the dignity to go to the elevator like a grown a$$ man...

 

Unicorn startup Zenefits banned sex on the stairs, report says

 

Never let it be said that Silicon Valley types don't work hard.

 

But never let it be said that while they're working hard they don't have time for fun.

 

After all, Silicon Valley exists to make work seem like fun. It's a place where you can skateboard all over the office. It's also a place where you can have sex in the stairwells.

 

This, at least, is what the Wall Street Journal suggested was the case at San Francisco-based Zenefits.

 

This slightly controversial HR software unicorn has had its troubles of late. It was accused of getting its employees approved as licensed insurance brokers a little too quickly than the law might be happy with.

 

Its co-founder and CEO, Parker Conrad, was forced to resign.

 

...Condoms were reportedly found on the stairs, leading to sex on the stairs being banned. The Journal says a company memo read in part: "Do not use the stairwells to smoke, drink, eat, or have sex. Please respect building and company policy and use common sense."

 

FULL ARTICLE

http://www.cnet.com/news/unicorn-startup-zenefits-banned-sex-on-the-stairs-report-says/

Some backstory..."break laws first, ask for forgiveness later or change the laws to suit your needs" has become the mantra of the Bay.

 

How Zenefits Crashed Back Down To Earth

Zenefits seemed to have everything that makes a Silicon Valley investor drool. But the reality was a whole lot messier.

posted on Feb. 18, 2016, at 6:01 p.m.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/how-high-flying-zenefits-fell-to-earth#.mbZ81ekVW

 

 

On 1/19/2016 at 2:35 AM, Guest said:

^San Francisco is much less diverse than San Jose/Silicon Valley. That's what he's talking about. San Francisco and Oakland have become theme parks for the wealthiest millennials. There is virtually no diversity among young people in the Inner Bay Area anymore. Almost everyone is rich, White/Asian/Indian, single, and "well-educated" (spent a lot of money on education and/or studied abroad in fancy locations). A huge number also have trust funds. I'm one of the few people I know of in the Bay who came from poverty and didn't end up homeless. There just aren't many people left with grit or real world perspective. This is what happens when cities don't build enough housing and don't build enough mass transit. There is very little cultural diversity left in SF/OAK other than bro versus hipster. San Francisco is bro. Oakland is hipster. This culture is likely starting to suffocate innovation, and it makes people tone-deaf to real world problems. To give you an idea of how crazy this economy has gotten:

 

1. The only working class people I meet are homeless.

2. I haven't seen a baby in over nine months.

3. I haven't met a new married person in three years.

4. I never see children or families except for tourists.

5. I watch neighbors get evicted and end up homeless across the street.

6. I see trust fund kids riot in the street to protect their power positions.

7. I know people sleeping 6 to a 2-bedroom apartment.

8. I know people paying $1000 a month to sleep on a floor in a living room.

8. I know people who retired because they have rent control and can live solely off Airbnb income.

9. I know people who have retired at 25 from stock options.

10. I date girls at "non-profits" who make $150k a year.

11. I date 22-year-old marketing reps who make $200k a year.

12. I date girls who make six figure incomes who don't even know what their job actually is.

13. I constantly meet people who believe tech will solve all of the world's problems.

14. I know people making six figure incomes who are homeless chasing the dream of getting rich in tech.

15. We have a dating app called "The League" that is the most discriminatory dating app in history.

 

These extreme living conditions that only the wealthiest people on earth can afford have greatly altered the Bay Area's culture. Many of the new apps today are ridiculous and don't have a chance in the real world. Washio? C'mon, how can that scale? Five years ago that app never would have been funded. This is a culture that is starting to breed idiocy. Twitter? Is Twitter even going to be around in three years? Do they have any realistic plan to make a profit? It's likely the next MySpace. A lot of new companies here are operating at insane P/E ratios and burning cash at rates never seen before. People who should know better constantly say things like "this time is different" or "who gives a S**t about P/E ratios?" or "We'll worry about sales and profits five years from now."

 

A lot of these unicorns are going to turn into unicorpses as people say in the Bay. San Francisco will be fine, but Oakland is going to get hit incredibly hard. Most of its new companies are artisanal smoke and hipster mirrors.

 

San Jose is where the last of the middle class is at. Suburbia is where the diversity is in the Bay. The vast majority of Latinos and other minorities live there among the remnants of the middle class. Luckily, San Jose and the original Silicon Valley have more institutional tech companies that are now ancient by Bay Area standards. They've lasted this long for a reason. Except for maybe Hewlett-Packard, most of them will be around in the future too. You're not going to get as rich working at Apple, Intel, or Adobe, but they've got real business models and have proven themselves.

 

*New York City is starting to land more start-ups. So is Los Angeles. So is Seattle. The exodus has begun...

 

The difference this time is that NYC/LA/SEA used to be back offices for San Francisco. That's not the case anymore. Some of the most influential apps have come out of LA recently. Tinder is the most important dating app in history, and is from West Los Angeles. Snapchat is from Venice Beach. Venice has become a growing cluster of A team tech.

 

NYC launched Buzzfeed, Elite Daily, Refinery 29, Bustle, Gawker, and many other slow-pitch new media sites that wiped out traditional journalism. While blogs don't make anywhere near the money of an Uber or Airbnb, they do influence broader culture.

 

**What the author clearly missed was that San Francisco is the center of start-up culture because it's the center of wealth. It has the highest per capita number of millionaires and billionaires in the world by a huge margin. When people have this much disposable wealth, they are far more likely to make risky investments. When you're rich, you can take bigger risks with your career and investments. When you're rich in your 20's, your options really open up. New York City lacks the venture capitalists of San Francisco. While there is no infrastructure needed for these start-ups, the VC's, advisors, business developers, and marketing minds are critical. San Francisco still beats New York City in these areas, but it's losing its edge. The majority of the world is not one-percenters. That's how apps like Washio end up getting big in the Bay, but have no chance of scaling.

 

Found this looking for something else.

 

Yeah, Twitter's still around.  I think we've forgotten how bloated it was before you-know-who came in with a chainsaw.  Many said he was cutting way too hard and it wouldn't survive.   Yet "X" is still very relevant despite an 80% reduction in headcount to 1,560, which has been brought back up to about 2,900.

 

Does anyone think there might be that kind of bloat in the federal government?

 

 

If Twitter was public it would be a penny stock right now.

I mean, MySpace is still around too...