Popular Guy (San Jose Mercury News)
German software giant SAP AG is paying $3.4 billion to buy the Silicon Valley cloud-software company SuccessFactors. That's 16.5 times SuccessFactors' revenue, and double its market value before the acquisition was announced. Put another way, SAP is paying about $2.34 million for each of SuccessFactors' 1,450 employees.
But there's one employee that makes the deal worth it. That's Lars Dalgaard, the six-foot-four-inch tall, polylingual chief executive of SuccessFactors. Dalgaard's colorful personality puts him in good company among the enterprise software industry's other big brand names like Oracle's Larry Ellison and Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff. He's known for big boasts about the prowess of his company's software and his intolerance of phony and devious employees. That's a principle enshrined in the company's "No Jerks" hiring policy, although the company uses an unprintable pejorative in place of "jerks." Dalgaard made $4.3 million in compensation last year, and owns about $4.5 million in SuccessFactors stock, according to the Mercury News.
"We've got our man," SAP AG Chief Executive Bill McDermott tells the San Jose Mercury News of Dalgaard, whose new position and title at the company is undetermined.
Dalgaard, 44, was in his early 30s when he graduated from Stanford Business School in 2001 and started SuccessFactors, growing it into a company with 3,500 customers across 168 countries.
Ungrateful (FINS)
Holiday parties are on the decline with the sagging economy, but some employees prefer it that way. Save the eggnog and give me a bump in salary or bonus, they say.
Layoffs (Reuters via Baltimore Sun)
Intel subsidiary McAfee has laid off about 250 workers or 3% of its of global workforce. The security software company also announced the promotion of Senior Vice President Stuart McClure to its worldwide chief technology office. McClure is an expert on hacking.
Born to Be Wild (Fortune)
Tech chief executives are playing things too safe out of fears about the European debt crisis and political dysfunction in Washington. That's why the industry's most ambitious, capable leaders will choose this as an opportunity to act recklessly and stomp competitors.
Make the Trains Run (FINS)
U.K.-based Masabi will hire 20 new employees over the next three months after raising $4 million from M8 Capital. The company allows customers in the U.K. to purchase train tickets with their cell phones.
Efficiency (WSJ)
Multitasking at work often leaves us feeling like we've accomplished nothing despite working hard all day. Here are some tips from a Harvard professor to see the forest through the trees.
Take it From Sean (Forbes)
Sean Parker is handing out entrepreneurial advice for free. The early Facebook president says that you've got to build a complete team early on, protect your ownership and figure out the market opportunity.
Strange Tweetfellows (AllThingsD)
Alec Baldwin was kicked off of a plane yesterday. But the most bizarre thing about the episode is the three-way Twitter conversation between the TV actor, IPO-bound Zynga and bankrupted American Airlines.
Labor Shortage (East Valley Tribune)
If you're looking to relocate, tech and science jobs are blooming in the deserts of Arizona. Employers can't find enough candidates with two years of practical experience and specific expertise.
Rebuke (WSJ)
The corporate culture at Olympus was "rotten" to the core, a new report says. For over 20 years executives at the company hid losses.
Buzz Around the Office
Wow, look at that mullet! Oh yeah, his whistling is pretty impressive too.
List of the Day: Connecting with Important People
There's an art to LinkedIn stalking you should know about if you want to connect with someone who has the power to hire you.
1. Find the person who can get you your job dream job through the company's online group.
2. Join some other groups your target has joined.
3. Contact the person without mentioning you're looking for a job.
(Source: Forbes)
