No it's not a typo. I'm just really hip and in the know.
To begin, here's the definition of pwn3d from the "Urban Dictionary:"
pwn3d
1: Losing badly at something
2: l337 (online) slang for 'owned'
3: The mis-spelling of 'owned'
4: Getting showed up/embarrassed in a public event by someone/something
If you want to know what's going on inside a company, from the employees or past-employees, check out Glassdoor.com. Today the company plans to announce that it has raised $6.5 million from the venture capital firms Sutter Hill Ventures and Benchmark Capital, which spearheaded an earlier round of fund raising last year.
Benchmark's involvement may be entirely coincidental, but it's still interesting that Bob Kagle, a General Partner at Benchmark, sat on eBay's Board of Directors until June, 2008. He left for "personal reasons." But - let's connect the dots anyway.
Glassdoor is only four months old, and it seems to be doing quite well. They have information from insiders in over 14,000 companies already. eBay is one of the most talked about. This is where you can see John Donahoe's rating by the employees (it currently stands at around 23% positive - or 77% negative). The tidbits are quite juicy, and pretty much describe a company in chaos. (Insert sarcastic gasp of surprise here.)
I have been meaning to mention to my dear readers that I just recently remembered one of the very first things John Donahoe did when he first took over as President of eBay. The employees were all annoyed that his first "shakeup" was to have everyone's cubical moved. Incredible numbers of people were shuffled around, for no obvious reason to them. "Disruptive innovation" in its incubatory stages!
Okay, back to the story...
So, Bob Kagle, who is an extremely nice guy, helped bring Meg to eBay. He sat on the board for years as eBay grew. Now that eBay has been handed over to "the Disrupter," Bob is gone, and is now helping fund a company that is making its mark by exposing the idiocy that goes on within eBay. Brilliant!
One more point...
Glassdoor says it may allow companies a way for companies to contribute material to their pages on the site and to “manage their brand.” Though Glassdoor is ad-supported, CEO, Robert Hohman, does not rule out charging companies for some aspects of the service. “There are always two sides to a story,” he said. “What we want to do is give employers the tools to let them tell their side of the story, although we have a responsibility to remain committed to the truth.”
I think it's pretty funny that eBay has to sit by and get "feedback" from current and former employees, without having the mechanism to return it, or defend it. Sound familiar eBay? After all, we wouldn't want the people leaving comments on Glassdoor.com to feel intimidated about being honest. Hopefully, Glassdoor will not allow the "brand managers" in.
In any case, if you want some fodder for your blog, or you just enjoy reading eBay gossip, get a cup of coffee and visit www.Glassdoor.com. I'm tellin' ya - eBay gets pwn3d!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Pros: Bagel Weds and Free Drinks. Seems to be the most common Pro listed for eBay.
Cons: No sense of direction.
Okay, the following groups now see that eBay has no sense of direction: sellers, buyers, employees, investors, media and past employees.
The following groups still don’t see this:
Senior executives and the Board of Directors and Pierre Omidyar
Randy, your comment is priceless, LOL!