Wednesday, December 22, 2010

JP Rangaswami: Chief Scientist: Salesforce.com

Image representing Salesforce as depicted in C...Image via CrunchBase
ZDNet: JP Rangaswami and the future of Salesforce.com: The appointment of JP Rangaswami as Salesforce.com’s first chief scientist could push the company in an even more radical direction than we’ve already seen if he’s given any say in product strategy.
This is the first I am learning of JP's move from British Telecom to Salesforce.com. JP, of course, is the guy who introduced me to Twitter. According to WeFollow.com, I am number 52 in NYC on Twitter.

Congrats JP. Keep making bold moves.

Whining Is Not The Word

Chamillionaire and Michael Arrington. (CC) Bri...Image via Wikipedia
ZDNet: 2010: The Year of Whining About Women In Tech: Whining about the inequality of women in tech has been big for page views this year..... Arrington said women in tech have more “equal opportunity” advantages handed to them than men. He delivered cracked-out lines about “the nurturing and risk tolerance needs of women,” and in closing he called us “you people.” ...... Arrington framed his argument with the opening set-up that the tech arena is a meritocracy. ..... And every person in tech knows that nothing could be further from the truth. ..... Kara Swisher .... blasted Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Foursquare for not having any women as directors ..... the top quarter of Fortune 500 companies with gender diversity outperformed those in the bottom quarter with a 53% higher return on equity. And that firm outperformance seems to happen once there are at least three female directors in the boardroom ..... Tech is not a meritocracy, and it does not run on the right thing to do.
What you are saying is so absolutely ridiculous. So you think the best way to make progress on gender is by NOT talking about gender? How come you don’t apply that same logic to rocket science and software and what have you? The best way to make progress on a software project is by NOT talking about the software project. How about that? How do you like them apples?