The Premise / Goal / Timing of This Weekly Feature

Premise.  If you like the content in this blog, you may like the type of content I regularly read and study on the Web.

Goal.  On a weekly basis, I'm going to publish links to three (3) articles I find interesting.  I'll include a brief summary with some bullet points explaining why I think the content is worth consuming.  

Timing.  I'll publish this content every Wednesday / Thursday. 

This Week's Three Evernoted Articles 

1. The Real Way to Build a Social Network (Fortune / CNN Money):  This article is absolute gold. This book excerpt from Reid Hoffman's upcoming book, The Startup of You, provides insights into the networking philosophy of LinkedIn's founder.   I've wish-listed his book in Amazon so I can download the Kindle version immediately upon it's February 14th release.  

Hoffman bases his networking philosophy two (2) basic principles: 

* See the world from the other person's perspective — putting yourself in another person's shoes is the first step to developing an honest connection

* Think about how you can collaborate with and help the other person versus thinking about what you can get out of the relationship — your first move should always be "how can I help."

2. The $1.6 Billion Woman, Staying on Message (The New York Times):  I'm a huge fan of Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg.  In my opinion, she deserves just as much credit (or more) as Mark Zuckerberg in transforming Facebook into an advertising revenue juggernaut.  

I find this article interesting because it emphasizes her multi-faceted role at Facebook:

* Sandberg is the public face of of Facebook.  She's Facebook's corporate amabassador to Wall Street analysts, thought leaders at global forums such as Davos, global government leaders, and global brands (i.e., she's one of the few global corporate leaders who's been to Bentonville, Arkansas twice).

* She's the driving force in recruiting and mentoring top talent at Facebook (especially women).

* She's publicly stated her views about furthering the professional interests of women in Corporate America (particularly Silicon Valley and the technology industry).

The last point is especially intriguing because Sandberg's recently received criticism for expressing her views on the success of women in the workplace.  And, the critics are women.

3. Zuckerberg Remains the Undisputed Boss at Facebook (The New York Times):  The corporate governance structure Facebook currently has in place gives Facebook's CEO and Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, extraordinary control over his company (even though it will soon become publicly traded):

* He holds more than 25% of the company's stock.

* His voting power with those shares (due to various agreements with other investors) grants him voting control of 60% of the company's shares.

* The article gives context to how Zuckerberg's control of company stock compares with Microsoft's Bill Gates and Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, when their respective companies went public:

• Microsoft: Bill Gates controlled 49% of company shares
• Google: Brin and Page controlled 16% each of the company shares (for a total of 32%)

Your Feedback Please!

I'd like to experiment with this type of post for the next two to three months.  Let me know what you think (especially if this idea sucks):

• How can I improve the value of these weekly posts?
• Is my initial timing choice for publication okay with you (e.g., middle of the week versus the end of it)?  If not, please tell me.
• What content are you reading?  Please share your links with our community in the comments section!

Link to Photo Credit by Andreas Cappell via flickr