Shareholder Representative Services is hiring a head of Northeast Business Development. Also, a director level corporate M&A lawyer.

Great company, great guys and a great idea. Here are the postings.

Recently, I posted about how I believed VRBO’s online reviews were worthless in that they allowed landlords to manipulate renter feedback.  My article was picked up and expanded upon in a column by Maureen Farrell in Forbes.

There were literally hundreds and hundreds of link backs, retweets and comments regarding my blog.   What came to light was that I was not alone.  There were many people who shared similar stories about dissatisfaction about the transparency of the reviews.  I found interesting that many landlords commented saying they agreed with my assessment of the problem.  (Reason: Quality landlords want quality reviews).

Today, I was sent an email today from a friend informing me that VRBO / Home Away is changing its review policies.  From a VRBO / Yahoo Group forum:

“After considerable thought, we changed our policy in December 2010.  We no longer offer members the option to “opt out” and there is no longer an “opt out” button on your administration page. New members can no longer choose to opt out of the Reviews system either. We understand that some of our members have their own view as to the value of Reviews. We realize that this decision, which will be announced within the coming weeks, may disappoint some of our members. While we can no longer opt your listing out of the Reviews system, we will do what we can to satisfy you.”

(After this statement, there was a fair amount of chatter from landlords threatening to take down their listings, just proving the point that the ability to hide from transparent feedback was indeed a selling point).

I declare victory.

I tried my best to get VRBO to pay attention to the issue, but the best that I got directly from them was a Twitter mention telling me that if I had issues with their reviews, to check out their FAQ page.  (er… Thanks)

But clearly they heard me and more importantly YOU – the folks who took the time to read, share and comment on the earlier post.  A special thanks go out to Maureen Farrell and Erika Napoletano who helped amplify my original message.

Congrats everyone. Social media works.  Sometimes the little guy can influence policy at a large company.  Thank you.

This post is probably more for me than readers of this blog, but today I lost one of my best friends.  She was my cat Sammie.

We met each other while she was a stray that hung around the neighborhood. One day, she was injured in a fight (presumably a raccoon) and had one door step to choose in order to get emergency medical help.

Imagine my surprise when I left one day for the law firm to find a bleeding cat on my doorstep.  I had been working hellish hours and was only a junior associate, but decided to take the cat to the vet and call in sick.  (Sorry Uncle Cooley, I guess that I still owe you a vacation day).

The vet told me that the cat needed major surgery to survive and that they would put the cat to sleep as they didn’t expect a perfect stranger to spend $2000 on a cat whom he didn’t know.  (In fact, I didn’t even know the sex of the cat, thus the name “Sam” that I called her on the way to the vet figuring I’d be good either way).

Something hit me when the vet told me that a financial issue would likely be the demise of this soul.  At the time, I had no money.  It was before the Gunderson salary wars and I was struggling to pay a mortgage.  But something told me that in the grand scheme of things I’d never remember the money, but always remember my decision.

And I did remember my decision.  Every day.  Until today, she greeted me at the door every time I came home.  She went to sleep in one of my arm pits most nights and certainly every weekend nap.  She made herself the host of the house and welcomed in pets and people where she could entertain (and get some rubs in as well).  She converted many a cat-hater to cat admirer.  She managed to find that perfect spot of sunlight to lie in no matter how many homes we’ve had since.

Through all the good and bad days, she was always concerned more about me than herself.  I have never seen an animal behave so selfless that way.  In fact, I think she secretly liked when I had surgeries so that she would have me to tend to.  She took care of me much more than I did of her.

And even today, after she had a clot that paralyzed her back legs and caused her tremendous pain, she waited for me to wake up until she meowed for me to help.  Once again, she was thinking of me.

I’ll miss you dear Sammie.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of her.

Today, I was called for jury duty.  Upon arrival, we sat for 30 minutes, then we watched a 12 minute video for juror orientation. The voiceover kept cracking me up, however, as they were unable to pronounce “voir dire” correctly.  (Think “vor dire” as in Dire Straits).  If you don’t believe me, watch the video.

Anyways,we kept moving rooms, filling out forms, being segregated into different piles of humanity and I thought “couldn’t this be simpler?” and made some snide comment under my breath about the efficiency of government.

While I was sitting there being frustrated, I realized that over complicated things, maybe more than anything, really ruin my day.  Then I realized that I was an arrogant ass, because I’m not sure my ecosystem is all that more simple or efficient most of the time, either. 

I could write tomes on all of the efficiencies that I see every day – the same ones that I’m sure you don’t like either.  I think all this artificial complexity probably plays back into our lives in that we start to overcomplicate things that don’t need the added brain damage.  This includes both professional and personal contexts and the sad thing is that we have so little control on most of these situations.

But we should rethink about how we do things when we do have control. 

Thinking back over my career – and specifically even if I just think deeply about the last few  weeks of meetings that I’ve had -I think the number one piece of advice that I’ve given is “keep it simple.” Whether it’s a business model, financing plan, product user interface, or a plan to deal with human conflict, simple is best the vast majority of the time. 

And likewise, when I think back to those seminal moments of mentorship that I’ve been fortunate to receive, there has usually been a component to simply what I was trying to accomplish.

So, there’s my fortune cookie advice for the day: “keep it simple.”  Likely you and those around you will be happier for it. 

One of our friendly neighbors – Webroot – is hiring a CIO.  Description is below.  If you are interested, the email contact is below.  And if you move to Boulder and take this job, you might owe me a beer. 

Chief Information Officer and SVP, IT – Boulder

The CIO / SVP of IT will be responsible for defining, implementing and maintaining the vision and strategic direction of Webroot’s business-critical enterprise-wide IT infrastructure and applications. Working collaboratively across the organization, the CIO will partner with R&D, Data Center Operations, Sales, Professional Services, and other teams to support the IT needs of these respective business groups. The successful candidate will have proven expertise with Enterprise Applications, including selection, implementation, and integration. We seek a seasoned technology leader who has a proven track record of delivering highly visible, customer-facing projects on time and within budget.

Responsibilities

· Provide executive-level guidance and counsel to senior management on Information Technology matters.

· Provide the technology roadmap for future growth.

· Analyze the Corporation’s needs with regard to information access, storage & control, and the appropriate-to-the-business use of the latest computer and telecommunications technologies.

· Develop, communicate, and implement an overall integrated IT strategy, framework and philosophy that includes a uniform Systems Development Methodology that is responsive to the needs of the company’s growth and evolving objectives.

· Proactively work with the Webroot user communities to ensure timely identification and correction of application system deficiencies

· Oversee the design, development, and implementation of new enterprise applications as well as changes to existing computer systems and software packages.

· Develop and establish relevant IT-specific operating policies, programs and procedures.

· Ensure that all projects are implemented on time and within budget and that they provide the appropriate solution to the user’s needs.

· Identify and assess emerging information technologies to be assimilated, integrated, and introduced determining their potential value for the company.

Requirements

· An innovative, results-driven technologist with 15+years of leadership experience in a senior- level IT executive role with a demonstrated track record of implementing and managing information technologies in a growth business.

· Proven ability to motivate teams with experience providing quality deliverables within tight timelines, simultaneously managing multiple projects.

· Experience in strategic planning, contracting, negotiating and change management.

· Knowledge of information technology life cycle, including budget and resource allocation; experience with implementation of information technology application integrations in a large division/company.

· Must be analytical with strong business acumen and problem solving skills.

· Demonstrated ability to identify, establish and track key performance metrics and key indicators providing reports and analysis for executive management review and action. .

· Prior experience in a fast-paced, growth environment highly desirable.

· An undergraduate degree in a technical or business-oriented discipline with an MBA from a top tier business school highly desired.

If you would like an opportunity to work with this widely recognized worldwide leader in technology security, send your resume to rcirulli@webroot.com for consideration.

I wouldn’t consider myself a movie expert, but I’m excited about a new movie company – The American Film Company.  They have a really unique philosophy:  to create engaging, commercial, historically accurate feature films culled from America’s storied past.

When I first heard the idea, I thought “neat” but can Hollywood make a movie that is both exciting and historically accurate?  Then I thought of Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon (some historical liberties).  I think there is a market here. 

The American Film Company will take this further using prominent historians, to assure that each production remains true to the history from which it is drawn.

Their first movie, The Conspirator, is directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn and Kevin Kline.  The film tells the story of Mary Surratt (Penn), the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, inexperienced lawyer Frederick Aiken (McAvoy) reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal hastily arranged by War Secretary Edwin Stanton (Kline).

Sounds great and I’m really excited to see this and their upcoming films.  They also just launched a site based on the theme of “Hollywood-History Showdown,” where experts and members debate the “10 Best American History Movies” and the “The Best American History Movies NEVER Made”, as well as the accuracy of films like “Seabiscuit” and “Black Hawk Down”. 

HHS 3-1-2010 from The American Film Company on Vimeo.

I’m happy to report that Slice of Lime’s redesign of my blog is complete.  I’m very pleased with their efforts and invite y’all to comment.  Let me know what you think.

While the site has been redesigned, I am sorry to report that the writer’s brain (mine) has not.  So this is all style over substance, but if it works for Hollywood….

(Thanks for your continued support)

I find numbers fascinating and even better when they are put into context with digestible displays.  Data visualization is key and people with these skills will be in demand for my lifetime and well beyond.

Two recent experiences with large data sets has been satisfying to me.  Unfortunately, both are showing the continual deterioration of the U.S. economy, but from a consumption standpoint, they are very interesting.

1.  Heatmap over time of U.S. Unemployment.  This is outstanding work, if not completely depressing;

2. If you are interested in the major law firm layoffs, which measure an incredible 14,457 people since January 2008 (5,677 lawyers, 8,780 staff), then Law Shucks is the place to go.  Their layoff trackers are great for digesting exactly what is going on and I’ve been told that even better displays are on their way.

Enjoy.  Or at least respect the work behind the bad news.

As I had posted earlier, the editors of the ABA Journal today announced Mendelson’s Musings as one of the top 100 best websites by lawyers, for lawyers.

I thought that was cool, especially given that my time dedicated to legal issues is only a part-time job on this blog.

Today, I learned that I won my category.  I’m very pleased and sincerely thank all of you who voted for me.  I promise to do my best to earn your recognition in 2010, as well.

Thanks again.

Thanks to all of you who support my musings, ramblings and bad grammar here on the blog.  It’s been a great year for myself and Foundry Group and I’m excited to see what 2010 bring us.

We’ve been fortunate to invest in a lot of great companies, meet and reconnect with many wonderful entrepreneurs and I’ve learned a ton along the way.  We have some exciting stories happening within our portfolio investments and hopefully 2010 will be a year that we can share some of what is going on.

I’m proud that your support has helped me get my blog noticed in several national press outlets including the WSJ, the NYTimes Online and PEHub.  Also, it’s nice to see some recognition (humbly, of course) from sites like Grow Think and being picked as a top blog by the ABA on the subject of the business of law.

So long friends.  Be well, safe and happy during the holiday season and I hope that everyone has a wonderful 2010.

And as a teaser: I already know what my first blog post of 2010 will be and it will be a doozy.  Stay tuned…