For the last 5 years, SEOmoz has lived by a set of core values collectively referred to as TAGFEE. The acronym represents the values we hold to be more important than any particular business goal (such as revenue, growth, margins, etc). And, though we believe that these values will help us be more successful in
Having My COO Constantly Challenge Me Makes Me a Better CEO
By Many folks who know me know my close friend, partner in crime (OK, technically she’s my attorney), and COO, Ms. Sarah Bird. Sarah’s been with Moz since 2007, just after our first funding round with Ignition & Curious Office closed, and in that time, has been as responsible as any single individual for the company’s
Why You Can’t Trust Comscore’s Search Market Share Numbers
By Nearly every media source in the United States uses Comscore’s data to report on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, AOL and other engines. Even the US government, when analyzing Google’s potential monopoly status used these figures. Yet, this data is completely misleading. Here’s what Comscore says Google’s current market share looks like: Yet, many folks who run
Google’s Weather Results are Infuriating
By I have high expectations from Google, particularly on very popular searches in niches where information is easy to come by, reliable, and factual. Yet in the area of weather, probably one of highest demand keyword sectors they’ve got, the results just plain suck. Have a look:
An Impossible-to-Live-up-to Hero: Chuck Feeney
By When people ask me what I want to do with my life or what I’m trying to do with SEOmoz, I often mentioned Chuck Feeney, founder of Duty Free shops and the study of the book, The Billionaire Who Wasn’t. The New York Times recently wrote about Mr. Feeney’s efforts to rid himself of his
Exceptional Upgrade Path UX from WPEngine
By I’m fascinated by the mechanics of startup marketing, customer acquisition, and revenue generation. So when I received this email for my WPEngine WordPress Hosting account (on which Dharmesh and I host inbound.org), I couldn’t help but get curious: It’s hard to list all the ways this email is a work of marketing art, but I’ll start
What’s the Right Team Structure?
By As I often note on this blog, I’m a rookie CEO who’s gotten very lucky. Much of the time, I wish I had more experience in other corporate and startup environments, so I’d better know what works and what doesn’t. I rely on other team members and a lot of outside advice for that, and
Keeping Amazing People on the Team
By Many of my posts on this blog are intended to be broad in scope and provide an opinion, data or experience about startup/marketing paths. This one might not fit that pattern as well. Rather than describing my thoughts or collected advice from experience on startup talent retention, I’m going to instead channel feedback from our
Why Cash Bonuses Make No Sense in Startups
By It’s tough competing for candidates with the likes of Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. In the past 6 months, we’ve lost bids for half a dozen or so engineers to these companies, and more than a few mentioned the additional cash bonuses as one of the reasons they were motivated to choose these companies over
My Favorite Board Meetings
By When we first raised an investment round in 2007, SEOmoz’s board of directors (consisting of Michelle Goldberg from Ignition, Gillian & myself from Moz, Kelly Smith from Curious Office and Sarah Bird as secretary/counsel) would meet nearly every month. Over time, that became every 2-3 months and now it’s quarterly. Unlike some CEOs, I’ve (almost)