One of these things is not like the other… but all of them are being discussed in today’s email.
The Hustle
Mon, Nov 7
Why are CEOs getting fired more these days?
In 1960, General Electric — the world’s biggest company at the time — was involved in a massive price-fixing scheme known as the Great Electrical Price Conspiracy (secret hotel meetings, conversations in code, all that good, sketchy stuff).
Intent on sending a message, the DOJ convicted 16 G.E. executives of violating antitrust laws. Yet somehow, CEO Ralph Cordiner not only avoided prosecution, he kept his job!
Fast forward to today…
Things don’t work like that anymore. CEOs have much shorter leashes.
Take the recent Wells Fargo scandal, for example. Not only was former CEO John Stumpf forced out, but he was also eviscerated by Elizabeth Warren in front of Congress (and the entire country).
Here are the facts on CEOs these days:
The percentage of “forced turnovers” tripled between 1970 and 2006.
In 1984, 35% of CEOs had been on the job for 10+ years. In 2000, it was just 15%.
In 2009, the average tenure at the world’s biggest companies had fallen to around 6 years (slight increase since then).
Why is this?
According to NYU law professor, Marcel Kahan, we have transitioned from the era of “the imperial CEO” to “the embattled CEO.”
And a big reason is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (passed in 2002), which forced companies to provide greater disclosure to investors and increased the independence of corporate boards.
As a result, boards became less loyal to the CEO (and more loyal to the company) and we saw a rise in “activist investors” who push aggressively for change when they’re not happy with performance.
2 more reasons: social media and higher salaries
Damaging stories travel quickly in the social-media age, meaning PR nightmares can seal a CEO’s fate in a matter of hours.
Then there’s rising CEO pay, which makes them a lot more vulnerable. Why? Because the more you’re paid when things go right, the more accountable you are when they go wrong.
What to make of this
Some of you might think this trend is unfair. Others might love it. As for James Surowiecki, the guy who wrote the article that inspired this post, it's poetic justice:
“In the past 30 years, CEOs have remade American companies as lean, mean machines that put shareholder value above all else. To do that, they’ve insisted on greater accountability for performance and have broken implicit social contracts, such as the promise of lifetime employment. It’s only fitting that they’re victims of the same logic.”
Sounds about right.
#whitecollarproblems
Harnessing the power of poop
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a way to turn poop into crude oil.
Now, before you start visualizing that process… don’t. Just stop. We got you covered.
How it works
The “sewage sludge” is put inside a tube, heated to approximately 650 degrees Fahrenheit, and squeezed at pressures of 3,000 pounds per square inch.
What comes out is a watery liquid referred to as “biocrude,” which is so similar to petroleum that it can be refined the exact same way.
Who knew sewage had so much potential?
A lot of people, actually. Did you know that multiple cities across the US have been utilizing “advanced poop-to-power plants” (most turn it into methane) for years? It’s true.
And back in 2013, a group of Stanford scientists created a “microbial battery powered by poop” that was capable of generating electricity at the same rate at which solar cells harvest energy from the sun.
(Fun fact: A single American’s daily “output” can generate enough electricity to light a 60-watt bulb for more than 9 hours.)
But unlike past attempts to derive energy from feces…
The PNNL’s process is actually efficient (nearly 60% of the carbon in the sludge winds up in the biocrude). So don’t be surprised if your local wastewater plant adopts this technique.
In fact, a company called Genifuel Corporation has already licensed the technology and plans on opening a test facility in Vancouver by 2018.
And just in case you were wondering: Yes, fossil fuels produced from feces still generate carbon emissions. So this isn’t some “Oh my god, poop’s gonna save the planet!” moment.
Just a little extra something to help keep the lights on.
BRB, saving the world
Netflix for Nana
Starting next week, Comcast’s Xfinity customers will see Netflix shows and movies on their cable boxes.
Why? Because Comcast’s CEO, Brian Roberts, is a massive Gilmore Girls fan, duh. Just kidding (although he might be, who knows. Anybody friends with B-Rob?).
This is the result of a deal between the two giants signed back in July that should help bridge the gap between streaming content and live, on demand, and DVR programming.
HUGE win for the ‘Flix
First and foremost, a partnership with a cable provider is the perfect way for Netflix to combat its sluggish domestic subscriber growth.
Sure, they added more US customers than Wall Street expected last quarter, but according to UBS, older people and those living in Middle America — two groups that are, by and large, still cable subscribers — have yet to flock to the service. This could change that.
Plus, since it’s no longer necessary to screencast or change inputs (which typically requires that “TV-only” remote that you don’t use for anything else and is, therefore, never within arm’s reach), existing customers win here, as well.
Here’s the bottomline, folks
There are plenty of people out there (usually on the older side) who watch TV and movies exclusively through their cable box, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.
And there are even more people (again, usually on the older side) that would have zero idea how to sign up for Netflix, let alone download the app, even if they tried.
So, by integrating into the X1 platform, Netflix’s content becomes more accessible and, thus, more valuable. Now all they need to do is bring back M*A*S*H or Lawrence Welk and Pop pop and Nana will be hooked.
Good job, B-Rob
monday morning review
Good news! No more Con Con ads for at least another 8-10 months.
We held our first “Content Conference” last Friday and, trying to remain objective here, it was freakin’ awesome. Attendees flew in from all over the place, Kendall killed it on the mic in front of a packed house, and the energy was amazing.
Big ups to Kera for organizing.
Rather than going into details about each speaker (we’ll put the videos on YouTube over the next couple weeks), I thought it’d be helpful to give a little backstory on why we’re doing stuff like Con Con.
Con Con was an experiment
Essentially, we wanted to see if an “industry conference” would work as opposed to our annual flagship bonanza, Hustle Con, that covers everything from manufacturing to mindfulness.
Since content creation and marketing is pretty much our game these days, we figured that’d be a good place to start.
So, did the experiment work? You better believe it.
Over 400 people showed up to watch the 10 speakers throughout the day and everything ran like a Swiss watch. Already looking forward to doing it again.
What’s next for events?
First, gotta catch up on sleep. After that, we’re going to start planning the next Hustle Con and possibly another industry-specific shindig.
Something that hopefully has an equally stupid name but packs an equally awesome punch.
Stay tuned to find out and, if you have any feedback on Con Con or ideas for any other events, hit reply and let us know. Mr. Baker is literally sitting at his computer with an iced frappa-whatever waiting to talk to you. No joke.
Oh yeah, and PS…
Anyone catch Last Week Tonight? The main story was about Herbalife and multi-level marketing pyramid schemes which, if that sounds familiar, was in last Thursday’s email.
We could do a “who wore it better” comparison but 300 words doesn’t hold much of a candle to 30 minutes on HBO with a loud, likeable British gentleman yelling at the screen.
Happy Monday.
– John (Havel, not Oliver)
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