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Viewing all posts tagged "onething"
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introducing the “what’s your one thing” series
Work is about daily meaning as well as daily bread. For recognition as well as cash; for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying. We have a right to ask of work that it include meaning, recognition, astonishment, and life.
—Studs Terkel, Working (Pantheon Books, 1972)
I’ve always been a huge fan of Studs Terkel, particularly the book Working which is an oral history about working life in the early 1970s.
Over the years my fascination with what people do day-to-day and the idea of finding a calling has only grown. So, trying to follow in Studs Terkel’s footsteps a bit, we’ll be posting very short snapshot interviews from folks about what they do on this blog — more specifically, asking about what their “one thing” is.
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Charlie O’Donnell: my one thing is…
Charlie is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at First Round CapitalQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Charlie: I’m really good at surfacing awesome people. I feel like I’m pretty intuitive about people, even based on short interactions—and am a pretty good judge of character.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Charlie: I love thinking through solutions to difficult problems with really smart people—and really just being around smart people all the time. It’s the only way to learn.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Charlie: Yes… try to know what you don’t know.
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Adam Rifkin: my one thing is…
Adam is advising several startups while figuring out what to do next. He was previously co-founder of Renkoo.Q: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Adam: I walk through walls.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Adam: I like that walking through walls is an act of destruction that leads to acts of creation.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Adam: The next time you see a wall, ask why it’s there. Ask what would happen if it weren’t there.
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Jason Goldberg: my one thing is…
Jason is founder, CEO at FabulisQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Jason: I turn ideas into reality.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Jason: I have the best job in the world. As an entrepreneur, I get to dream up ways to help people enjoy life more and get more out of it, and then I get to go work on making it happen.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Jason: I can’t wait for onething.com to launch!
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Darren Herman: my one thing is…
Darren is head of Digital Media at The Media Kitchen and Founder & President at Varick Media ManagementQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Darren: The one specific thing I think I do well (you can judge me on it) is taking the complicated and making it easy to understand. All too often, people tend to make things much more complicated than they should be - so I try and simplify it for myself, my clients and my peers.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Darren: I love looking at the horizon and trying to figure out which way we should move. I get to meet tons of talented people, work with smart and nice people (both very important!), and see innovation at its core.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Darren: If you don’t know where you are going, then you’ll never get there.
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Dagny Prieto: my one thing is…
Dagny is a User Experience, Visual Design and Strategy ConsultantQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Dagny: My one thing is execution. There are a million brilliant ideas in this world, but the difference between a successful one and failed one is how it’s put into action. I get things done, I do them well, and I’m good at leading the charge.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Dagny: I get exhilarated by inventing new web sites, solving problems, and presenting information in ways that help people make sense of it.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Dagny: Yes, make sure you listen to your clients and customers. So often, very smart people get caught up in their own thoughts and end up missing the most important element of creating value: giving people what they need (which isn’t necessarily the same thing as giving people what they want).
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Greg Galant: my one thing is…
Greg is CEO at Sawhorse Media (ventures include Listorious, Muck Rack and Shorty Awards)Q: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Greg: Creating something out of nothing.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Greg: I get to interact with lots of different types of people on projects that impact a lot of people.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Greg: If the one thing you want to do is start a new venture, you’d better be pretty good at a lot of things or be good at finding people who are.
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Ben Lerer: my one thing is…
Ben is Co-founder, CEO at ThrillistQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Ben: Hmmm. I think I’m pretty good at getting people excited about what we’re working on.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Ben: I love when the whole team gets together to discuss/celebrate the biz. It’s rare and always a huge rush to see how many great people we have working towards a common goal.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Ben: Thrillist rocks
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Andrew Weissman: my one thing is…
Andy is Founder, COO at BetaworksQ: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Andy: Pattern recognition
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Andy: I get to apply experiences I have had to new situations, each day, every day
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Andy: If you can’t be the poet, be the poem
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Cody Simms: my one thing is…
Cody is Senior Director of Product, UED, and Developer Outreach at Yahoo!Q: There’s a saying, to pick one thing and do it well. What’s your one thing?
Cody: I convey passion in what I work on, and I help others understand why I care so much about what I do. Good leaders have confidence, believe fully in what they are working on, and help others come to believe in it too. Leadership needs to be infectious.
Q: What do you like about what you do?
Cody: I work on social platforms and developer programs at Yahoo!. My job is different every day and is in the epicenter of change when it comes to how people communicate, share, and consume information — all across the globe. Finally, I love that the services that my group delivers can change lives and help people pursue their passions and interests more effectively and efficiently — this includes the individuals using our services as consumers as well as the developers building on our platforms.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
Cody: Great leaders help get people energized about possibilities and then trust each person to deliver their individual piece of reality.
