Commentary
Virgin on Business: Tension Headache
However the Udub-Wazzu fracas over a medical school in Eastern Washington plays out, the contretemps can be credited with one achievement already: It has put to final rest the notion that the Cascade Curtain has been torn down and were all just one united and happy Evergreen State. Not that the cause was showing much…
Final Analysis: Java Jive
If a starbucks barista handed me a cup with the words Race Together written on the side, I would assume she was challenging me to a 100-yard dash. Basically, Im 12 years old, so when anyone wants to race me, its game on! Imagine my surprise to learn Race Together was supposed to get me…
Letters to the Editor
MORE ON AMAZONI appreciated your Editors Note in the February issue. As shoppers, I think it is important that we look a little deeper than the price to determine where we spend our dollars. I, too, am a very satisfied Costco shopper, except when it comes to their packaging. I understand their desire to prevent…
Editor’s Note: Housing Authority
After conference board economist Ken Goldstein gave his annual economic forecast to a packed audience at a Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce gathering earlier this year, he was asked what changes he had seen in Seattle during the past 10 years he had been making the trip from New York. Theres a lot more panhandling,…
Commentary: Angel Investors
What do Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter and Starbucks have in common? They owe their existence today to angels private investors willing to invest at the highest risk point in the companys development. All startups require money to develop products and services before they begin making the products or providing the services. The more successful these…
CEO Adviser: Giving vs. Getting
I work with a lot of leaders and one common refrain I hear in virtually every industry is this: I dont know how to get buy-in from my team. Does this remark sound familiar? Maybe its a new policy youd like to initiate, or maybe its a great new idea that you read about here…
Virgin on Business: How Will It End?
Boeing ended 2014 with a record backlog of orders for commercial jets. The housing market in King County ended the year with strong gains in pending and closing sales and median prices. The states biotech community had several companies launch initial public offerings of stock; more IPOs from Washington companies are expected in 2015. Those…
Final Analysis: Seattle’s Growing Pains
One of my favorite Yogi Berra-isms is: Nobody goes there anymore. Its too crowded. Friends who live in the suburbs often view Seattle through this foggy lens. They love the city for its beauty, its attractions, its vibrancy and they stay away because getting in and out of downtown can be about as appealing as…
Letters to the Editor
ETHAN STOWELLThank you to Ronald Holden for writing the piece about Ethan Stowell [February 2015]. I think this is one of the best articles written about Ethans success and love for the restaurant business.Angela Dunleavy StowellCo-owner and CFO Ethan Stowell RestaurantsSeattle EXECUTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDSCongratulations, Seattle Business, on an excellent event! You have developed a CEO-level…
Editor’s Note: Earning Respect
A couple of months ago, I wrote that as much as I appreciated the convenience and value of Amazons many services, I and others in the region would feel better about the company if we had the sense that Amazon was out to make the world a better place, whether through more civic engagement or…
Commentary: Encouraging Investments
Washington broke ground on the Grand Coulee Dam in 1935, paving the way for the states industrial boom across aerospace, agriculture, timber, retail and more. Eighty years later, the dam is now the nations largest hydroelectric facility, generating 21 billion kilowatt-hours annually five times the output of the Hoover Dam. Businesses and residents across the…
CEO Adviser: The Future of Work Must Be Romantic, Says Architecture Giant NBBJ’s Chief Marketing Officer
In tomorrows workplace, we should expect radical changes. While structure will matter much less, culture and intrinsic motivation will mean more than ever. Modern workplaces increasingly resemble living rooms and social clubs. We spend most of our waking hours at work, so employers want us to feel at home. These changes are caused by shifting…
Virgin on Business: In Line vs. Online
Long after every other corner of retailing has been overrun by the online shopping crowd, and all other brick-and-mortar outlets have become cobweb-and-dust repositories, grocery stores will endure. Not that the point-and-click types, led by some local players, arent trying to do those in as well. The supposed allure to consumers of swapping the experience…