How Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, Works
lifehacker.com
lifehacker.com
One nugget from the interview is the "Todo" questions, which makes me really think that Phil knows his product well:
"Q: What's your favorite to-do list manager?
A: You know, I don't actually have one. I use Evernote, which isn't particularly great for to-dos yet. Yet."
I've started moving more and more of my thing into Evernote, and I think the biggest thing it does wrong is: it doesn't do any one thing very well. One of those One Things I'd love it to get right is TODO management, and Phil is here hinting that it's in the works.
All in all, I came out of this interview with a smile on my face, and some more hope for the future of a product that I use a lot, and really really want to love.
I am all for humor, but reply the interviewer questions! Don't act like a politician!
Like pretty much everyone else in that space, I use all
the iOS devices and a mac osx desktop. And my company's app.
My nugget of wisdom: nerds don't get laid."That's what we aspire to build at Evernote. Something fundamentally tool."
Via browser or phone, Evernote is multiple panes, functions and I don't how many buttons where every action seems to come with an extra dialog, step or three.
That doesn't say tool to me, more like a borrowed toolbox. Sure, I can accomplish a lot with the assortment found inside, but I'd get things done a lot faster and easier with purpose-built tools.
Also, I find the inclusion of both a mini-bat and sledge on the on the desk shot a bit odd.
Uber Taxi charges a fixed 20% tip and $1 booking fee.
Sources:
- Improved safety. You know the name of your driver and your trip is logged. Many of my wife's friends like this aspect a _lot_.
- Cleaner. At least in Chicago, many cabs are a stinky filthy mess. In Uber, with the ratings, such cabs would be out of the rotation pretty quickly.
- No standing in the sleet.
- No fumbling with cash or the argument over "broken credit card reader". Cabbies in Chicago make less on credit cards, so on most of my non-Uber trips where I want to use credit, the driver and I basically come down to a lying competition about me not carrying cash (lie) versus his machine being broken (also a lie).
Then again, I guess I'm not super rich.
There are other companies in the same general space as Uber ("hail a cab with your smartphone") that focus more on the lower end of the market.
You know how you have a budget for your car loan/repairs/title/gas/insurance/parking? I have one for Taxis/Public Transit, and it's a lot less than what I used to pay for my car.
"I think it's important to have an identity mug."
No, it isn't.
I think it's important to have an identity mug.
> No it isn't.
??
That sounds a bit too personality cult to be true, to be honest. He's some companies CEO, not Kim Jong-un.
My assumption was simply that he's on the move a lot, and doesn't spend that much time at his desk to make it work good for him. Some of us need a perfect working spot, some others just don't care enough.
I’m here to talk about entrepreneurship. I travel around quite a bit, and I’m lucky enough to be able to coach and mentor lots of entrepreneurs worldwide, and the common question I get asked is what advice I have for someone who is thinking of being an entrepreneur.
I’ve narrowed it down, really boiled it down, to one core piece of advice. If I can only say one thing, and I don’t know you any better, it’s: don’t. Don’t do it. Seriously.
http://thenextweb.com/video/2012/04/27/evernote-ceo-phil-lib...
> That's the real magic of the human brain; how quickly it rewires itself around a fundamental new tool as soon as you really grok it. Think about it: at some point in your life you didn't understand the concept of "hammer", and then you understood it and the whole world changed in front of your eyes. Now, when you look at the world, you do it with the understanding that hammers exist. Same thing for Skype. One day you're worrying about how you'll pay for that call and the next day you just know that you can talk to anyone at any time. That's what we aspire to build at Evernote. Something fundamentally tool.
That left me pretty sour, and makes the article feel a lot more artificial/fake.
I happily consider myself a lifelong stereotypical geek but my wife is not. While she accepts and loves me for who I am, I need to have more in my life than just math and Internet spaceships and hacking or we wouldn't relate to each other well.
Hopefully his friend really does have more going on in his life than carefully-organized Star Trek VHS tapes for the sole reason that only having one dimension to his life means he's missing out on a lot.
That's the stuff you pull out after you get married. Then it eventually ends up in a small closet about 5 years later. Ultimately, it ends up being what you have around you as you get old again. Life's funny that way.
I mean, a paragraph later he talks about getting an "identity mug" and earlier about wanting to get Shire wallpaper and how he listens to dwarf music. I can't tell if he's being ironic or dense or if he doesn't like Star Trek.
Judging by a lot of replies in this thread I think the below statement might be well on the money:
> it seems like some people are grasping for reasons to dislike this guy
Is a lack of desk phones unique to Evernote, or is this becoming more common in the Bay area? It's not a bad idea. Sitting next to someone saying "Thank you for calling Initech, please hold..." all day can be distracting. As can a phone which rings every fifteen minutes with someone who wants some minor thing.
I don't know why but I find hearing half of a phone conversation infinitely more distracting then having two coworkers discussing something in person nearby.
His brain seems pretty unusual regarding sleep. I never heard something like this. We need to study his brain asap!
Fall asleep anywhere, any time. Wake up at random hours and do work.
I think it's a product of having your life be your work, or the other way around.
My first thought was "He must be a truly terrible player". By the time the first Konami code game showed up he would have been 14.
OK, I'll admit it: I had to Google it.
This was a cute read, but there isn't much of a takeaway.
I've got a few ideas. What is your email address?