A few days ago, the news came out that an airline (ATA) had just randomly one morning woken up and canceled all their flights, released all their employees and pretty much vanished from existence.

Let’s make a list of all the people the CEO screwed over because he was too much of a “wussey” to step and do this the right way…

1. Left THOUSANDS of passengers stranded.
2. All the people who were expecting those passengers (whether for a birthday party or a critical business meeting - thanks ATA).
3. Their OWN employees - no notice, no income - nothing.
4. Their partners - Southwest is a route sharing partner and had no idea, they were left blind-sided and had to scramble to cover the slack.
5. Airport officials - Can you imagine what the stranded passengers did to these people?
…the list goes on.

I know that I’m probably making it sound easier than it is, but I don’t care if you lose your pants (literally) - for a company this big, you see it coming. A fear of investors and your “reputation” can NEVER lead you to “screw over” those very people who are loyal to you and depend on you.

I want to apologize for my tone here, but I’m fuming upset since I read this…how can anyone be so irresponsible and selfish?

Some of the employees didn’t even find out from their bosses, they heard it on the NEWS or from a family friend who heard it on the news.

Well, This DID Present An Opportunity For Southwest…

As tough as this was on Southwest, it presented a serious opportunity for the airline. Southwest scrambled last minute and did everything they could to pick up the slack of their ex-partner. You think those stranded passengers may fly Southwest next time? You bet your 2 cheeks they will.

Hats off to you Southwest - stepping up to solve a problem that truly isn’t even yours, it’s admirable and it’s how a customer should be treated.

ATA - I never flew you, I never cared and never knew what you were and now I’m da** glad of it. Going out of business is fine, it happens - doing it overnight and flicking off everyone around you is just jaw-dropping. 

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Since everyone else seems to be awarding companies the “Best Company of The Year” Awards, I figured I’d do it too.

What gives me the credibility do do this? I don’t know, who really cares? I spend a lot of time reading about companies and admiring their work - these are my favorites for the reasons below:

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#1. Zappos

I’ve actually met their CEO and this company is beyond amazing. Having gone from nothing to near $1 BILLION in sales in just 10 years is quite a task and all that SELLING PRIMARILY SHOES!

Zappos has two things that really stick out to me (I’ve been to their office, had the full tour and all).

A) Corporate Culture - It’s like being in a playground there, everyone is happy and enjoying what they do. I’ve learned a lot from this.

B) Customer Support - UNHEARD of support, these people turn into your best friends in 3 minutes on the phone. Zappos has a tag line called “Powered By Service” - just amazing.

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#2. Apple

Apple continues to shock and awe me with their neat “inventions.” They keep innovating and last year they get #2 because the finally released the iPhone. I don’t own one (because I don’t have AT&T), but have seen it.

If nothing else, it’s different and the one feature that allows you to scroll through your voicemail like you would with e-mail is amazing enough to help them win in my book. Keep it going over there Steve!

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#3. Flip Video

Have you heard of this company? I’m fast becoming a HUGE fan…They launched in May of 2007 with a $40M venture raise and already have multiple product lines in the market and being distributed by MAJOR retailers (impressive).

Basically this is a video camera that is smaller than a small digital camera. The nicest thing…no nifty features, just a big red button, a play button and a “trash” button to delete and yes you can zoom in and out. The quality is not the highest but this has been ridiculously helpful.

You ever seen how teens are running around with digital cameras all the time now? Well, move over, cuz Flip Video is coming next - this thing is going to take over like the iPhone.

For 2007, I think Flip Video takes my award for “innovation” - I’d give it to Apple, but innovation is easier when you have thousands of employees (well some may argue otherwise).

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#4. Bill Me Later

This company takes the award for REDCIULOUS growth, since they launched just a few years ago, they’ve experienced 8,600% growth. It’s just a brilliant concept that allows consumers to speed up their transactions and get ALL their bills on one …bill…

The consumer does not have to go through the “credit card” process, this makes it easier for them and also helps increase the merchant’s conversions.

The company achieved $53.6M in revenue and was #6 on the Inc 5000 List.

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#5. Berkshire Hathaway

I know I just recently posted blasting Warren Buffet for being cheap, but that does not change the fact that this man is a genius. I’ve also had a chance to visit the office of Berkshire Hathaway and let me just say that I was shocked to see a Fortune 50 company running with 12 employees!

Granted, if you count ALL the employees of the companies he owns, that’s a different story.

But he can make all these investments and control his BILLIONS in market cap with 12 employees - that wins my “efficiency” award!

There you go - Mystery CEO’s 2007 Top Companies (I do reserve the right to change these as the year goes on and I learn about new companies).

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Businessweek announce the best performing top 5 companies in the world - but the only competitors have to be S&P 500 companies.

Nope, last year’s #1 company, Google did not make the list, it was actually #34!

Here are the 2008 winners:

1. Coach - Yeah, seriously they make handbags.

* They were awarded for being the best at adapting to the shifting economy. Basically people are poorer, so they released cheaper handbags.

2. Gilead Sciences - A biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes therapies for viral diseases, infectious diseases and cancer.

* They are being rewarded for innovating in medications for HIV patients. They’ve made a treatment that allows just ONE pill a day, rather than 20 that many patients have to take.

3. Allegheny Technologies - One of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenues of $5.5 billion during 2007.

4. Verizon Communications - We all know Verizon, phone, cell phone and high speed interenet.

5. Questar - Questar Corporation is a natural gas-focused energy company.

Too bad for our friends at Apple, they were in at #6 - I guess if they had partnered with Verizon rather than AT&T, maybe they could have made the top 5?

So there you go enterprising CEOs - a list of companies to aspire to.

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The more we get into corporate sales the more shocked I get about how SLLLOOOOWWW these big companies are! Even the smallest decision has multiple layers of approval. Even after the leading manager/director approves the project, then there is an entire new approval process through the financial department for the actual invoice!

I definitely understand the need for structure and organization, the larger you get, the more people you have to watch and the more systems you need. Obviously, the more systems you put into place, the more “red-tape” there is…etc…etc…that all makes everything slower.

I get it.

But, is there seriously no better way?

I see this as one of the biggest advantages that smaller businesses or start-ups have over big companies - they are nimble; only a few people need to make the decision and they need to get it done fast (they’re busy doing 10 other things too).

The more I experience this, the more I believe that keeping our organization nimble and allowing the right managers the RIGHTS to make quick decisions is critical. Some ideas I have to put this into place…

1. Every department head and sub-manager should have a “no question” budget or range within which they can approve.
2. There should be a central system for proposals and approvals that all department heads check at least weekly (rather than a string of emails that get lost).
3. Just say “no.” I’ve noticed that the bigger they are, the harder it is for them to just say no - but, stop wasting everyone’s time - if you don’t want it, just say no!

My Personal Experience With Microsoft… 

For example, I was dealing with Microsoft on a deal once. After wasting weeks of my time in trying to set-up a call (btw, THEY were hunting ME down), we finally got on a call. We were on that call for 1 hour with me explaining what we could do for them (btw, this is over a year ago). Finally, the Microsoft rep basically tells me in his own words…

“Well, we want you to do this and that for us - all customized just for Microsoft, but we’re not going to pay you for it. No, you can’t co-brand it and no, you can’t even tell people that Microsoft is your client.”

I’m sorry, what the hell do “I” get then? He went on to tell me that they had no “budget” for what we were offering.

My question … why did YOU hunt ME down?

So, basically, they were not able to just say “no, we don’t want this service” but instead they wanted the highest version of our service for free, just because they were Microsoft - no thanks.

The best example of a nimble big company I have seen…

Google - I think the main reason they are continuing to grow so fast and are destroying Microsoft and Yahoo is that no matter how big they get, they remain nimble.

They are constantly launching new services, new products, hiring new people, going into new international markets - yet, they make decisions and they trust their employees and managers with a certain “room” for self-monitoring and decision-making.

I have personally had an experience with Google as well and the entire process lasted only one week. We had an “offer” for them, we wrote it to the right person in a department. He was interested, set-up a call a week later - we did a 1 hour call where we went through a lot of Q&A. A few days later he wrote to us saying he was not interested…a NO! Or better yet, a FAST NO!

Sure, I didn’t sell them - but I still love them for respecting my time and just going one way or the other.

Moral of the story? I don’t care how big you get, you should monitor how long it’s taking people to make decisions in your company. Make sure you remain nimble.

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This is such a fitting post considering that I’ve been chatting about board of directors and what not. As we all know, Microsoft recently made a bid to buy Yahoo! which Yahoo! rejected.

Well, instead of raising the bid, Microsoft has decided to go after a HOSTILE takeover. As TechCrunch reports:

“Microsoft is preparing to try to unseat Yahoo’s board members in a proxy battle that could cost as much as $30 million (which is still cheaper than raising its bid).”

Now I heard that and thought: “Damn, that’s smart…what’s Yahoo! going to do?” Well the good ol’ boys at Yahoo! had a response and one that just made me laugh and think “Ha Ha Microsoft!” (think in the voice of Nelson from The Simpsons).

Yahoo, for its part, amended its severance plan to cover all employees in case of a change in control of ownership. It includes accelerated vesting of options, continued severance pay of between four to 24 months of each employee’s base salary, plus $3,000 to $15,000 in outplacement services per laid-off employee. And there are going to be a lot of those after the merger.

The part about “accelerating the vesting of options” is just PURE genius. What better way to scare off someone from acquiring you than to tell them: “Sure, go ahead, but once you do, everyone gets their money and everyone (the employees) leave and you’re left with nothing!”

My hats off to you Yahoo - you brought a smirk to my face.

But I guess this is one of the problems with becoming a HUGE company - you get a few MBAs involved and this crap starts to happen. Can’t we all just get along, make money and hug?

Source: I first learned of this at TechCrunch…

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