Sunday Shuffle v.15
Jim Somers
Chief Marketing Officer | 4xCMO | SaaS Marketeer | Pipeline & Brand-builder | AI Junkie | Coach, Mentor @ Advisor | Climate Newbie | Guitarist in OKBoomer
Let's go inside the "turkey-shoot clusterfuck," salute the "abominable no-man" and detangle this crazy tech job market
What a merry-go-round the last 2 weeks has been! Sam Altman was ousted by his Board and then reinstated 5-days later; Elon went totally off the rails on stage; and sadly, we lost a few of our generation's most prominent leaders, artists and politicians. One of such loss was the American diplomat, Henry Kissinger, who knew a good crisis better than virtually anyone. He once famously said:
"There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." - Henry Kissinger
Is your head spinning? Mine is. Let's Shuffle forth!
Inside this week's Shuffle:
The Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI published this letter last Wednesday trying to put minds at ease once he was back at the helm as CEO. In what Microsoft executives referred to internally as the Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck, his note feels more like a victory lap than any real explanation.
Still the Question Remains: Why did the Board move secretly and swiftly to oust him? Possible reasons have varied from:
Why it Matters:
Reasons 1 and 2 likely set the stage, but #3 is probably was what broke the camel's back. If Q* is in fact true, and its impact is as significant as many say, the Board's actions seem a bit justified. But will we ever really know? An investigation is underway, but in a recent interview with The Verge, Altman all but confirmed Q* by calling it an "unfortunate leak."
Highly recommend this piece from the New Yorker that gave the blow-by-blow better than any other summary I've read.
The Passing of the "Abominable No-Man"
Warren Buffet's right-hand man, Charlie Munger died last Tuesday at the ripe old age of 99. He earned his nickname because of the frequency he turned down investment ideas he thought were unworthy. He once said:
"Crazy is way more common than you think. It’s easy to slip into crazy. Just avoid it, avoid it, avoid it."
Why it Matters: I fell in love with Charlie when I watched the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting 7 months ago, which I wrote about here. When he was asked for his thoughts on AI, his response was priceless:
"I am personally skeptical of some of the hype that has gone into AI. I think old fashioned intelligence works pretty well." [see his response]
Why We Should Care: Charlie saw a lot of innovation, change and market disruption in his 99 years, but despite all that, much of his success has been credited to his pragmatism, patience and focus on the fundamentals. I predict that as we all settle in to AI in 2024, we'll start to see a return to the basics in marketing -- and renewed emphasis on the core principles of a strong brand, clear positioning, sharp messaging and smart investments in people, process and technology that yields a profitable customer.
Back to the Brand
It feels like there has been more chatter lately about (re) branding lately. Despite comments from Scott Galloway last summer at Cannes, where he declared that the "Era of Brand is Over," there have been several big rebrands from Reddit, SiriusXM, Chili's and (er) "X" in recent months that may suggest otherwise. And the trend seems to be going back to the roots of what made these brands great.
In this tech climate, calling yourself a "brand marketer" could be career suicide, especially when every marketing dollar is so carefully scrutinized. Few dispute the importance of a strong brand to build confidence, trust and credibility, which are the essential for any salesperson to be successful (just ask the salespeople who fleeing X after their boss went off the rails). But how do you prove the ROI of branding efforts, which seems so squishy to so many CEOs, CFOs and the Board?
The Crazy Tech Job Market
As we close out the year, Crunchbase reported last week that US tech layoffs are still accumulating and will likely continue going into early 2024. Although there has been a slowdown in mass job cuts from large-caps, layoffs at smaller start-ups continue to happen and frequently not disclosed. Making matters worse, the hiring market has also slowed down according to HR consultancy, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The Good News! According to a study just released by the European Central Bank, AI creates more jobs than it replaces. Two key findings:
The Career Corner
If you're one of the many reevaluating your next career move, below are some resources for you.
Farewell to a Fine First Lady
This past week we also lost Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady and nation's foremost pioneer for mental health for the past 50 years. Mental illness has never been as urgent a public health crisis as it is today. So as we all move into the holiday season and end of a crazy year, let's remember what she is probably best know for saying:
"Do what you can to show you care about others, and you will make our world a better place."
Have a great week, Shufflers! It's probably going to be another busy one as we ease closer to the holiday season and end of year crunch!
I am very thankful for everyone's interest in this newsletter. Thank you for all the likes, comments and reposts.
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12 个月It's sad but true that brand marketers are at the bottom of the pile