"Two months ago, I was doing what I had to do. Now I'm doing what I want to do. And looking back, it was a change I'd always wanted to make, but as long as I was drawing a steady paycheck, I didn't see it as a change that I could afford to make-for me or for my family. Looking long term, I'm not sure it was a decision I could afford not to make. Getting laid off forced me to make the change that I'd always wanted to make anyways. And it may work out or it may not. But the point is that I've made that change now. I'm doing what I'm passionate about."

--Fellow ex-Yahoo! Ryan Kuder, who's started blogging, started a company and is seeing the brave new world, post Yahoo!.

Susan sez: It's hard to let go of complacency and choose risk, but well-thought out risk is one of the biggest adrenalin highs, and a place where both opportunity and productivity can flourish.

"In fact, if I were Microsoft, I'd be using a good part of that $40-odd billion to hire a SWAT team to help Windows Vista. I'm not talking about hiring more developers; I'm talking about finding folks who could creatively find a way to market downgrades to XP as a selling point. Microsoft should be far more worried about its Vista image problem than about outsmarting Yahoo, at this point."
--Mary Joe Foley, Microsoft Watch, writing about MSofties resistence to the proposed Yahoo-Microsoft merger

Susan sez: Nice to hear about it from the Seattle side; viewpoints at Y! seem so mixed, with lots of fear among staff about all the options (and  their sense Y! is getting itself together in terms of project focus, regardless)

" I think anyone currently developing sites using XHTML-MP markup, no Javascript, geared towards cellular connections and two inch screens are simply wasting their time, and I'm tired of wasting my time."

--Russell Beattie, announcing the end of his start-up, Mowser, and his general disgust with where mobile's gone--or not gone--in the US.

Susan sez: This is depressing, but it's true..mobile development is leaping past what is happening in the US with our standard formats.However, when Russell says "Users recognize this, and have made it very clear they won't be using the "Mobile Web" as a substitute for better browsers, rather they'll just stay away completely," I completely disagree--use cases and platforms are two different things and the phone is an established--if new--delivery system for web based data.

" When's the last time you worked until tomorrow and had a great time? How many meetings have you had in the last week with more than four people that went nowhere and accomplished nothing? More than five people? Eight? Have you ever heard your boss say, "Well, if we run low on cash, I'll just take a salary cut, eat less, and tap my savings a little more?" Are you passionate about what your company does? Do you have enough skin in the game where you start to think, "Wow, if we really kick ass, I could buy that car/house/island" or are you kissing all the ass you can to make sure your boss and coworkers give you good reviews during bonus time so you can just pay off your credit card bill?
(snip)
When you talk about what you do, do you get so infectiously excited about it that, all of the sudden, everyone around you is talking about it, too?"

--Charles Odonnell, This is Going to Be Big, expressing the start-up fever so many ex-Yahoo friends are in the grip of these days.