Become The CEO Of Your Own Destiny: LiveOps CEO And Former eBay COO Maynard Webb, Santa Clara, California (Part 6)

Sramana: There is a trend towards concentrating hubs. An Economist article a month ago projected that Shanghai was going to have 45 million people living in one city by 2025. This is a completely dysfunctional environment. That is more than the population of Argentina.

Maynard Webb: That is interesting. We don’t do anybody any favors when we tell them that they do not have to be competitive. Our job should be to make our talent base and educated and capable as they can be.

The biggest fear I have is that we will lose our edge. We are a very special country and a very special world. How do we keep the innovation going? How do we let people create safety for their families? We do that by being better than other answers.

Sramana: I brought up the Shanghai example because I think the two models that you have discussed illustrate that you do not need to be in a big city to do these things.

Maynard Webb: Absolutely not. With social networking and the way technology has evolved you can stay in touch regardless of wherever you are.

Sramana: It will also let you have a much better quality of life. Bozeman, Montana may offer a much higher quality of life than Sunnyvale, California if you can’t afford the house you want in California.

Maynard Webb: For sure. Why can’t people have that choice?

Sramana: That is my point exactly. The two models you talk about create opportunities for people to do things outside of these hubs where real estate prices are too expensive or are too congested.

Maynard Webb: This is why I am so interested in talking about the future of work. We don’t need to do things the way we did 100 years ago anymore. People were wired to have a command and control structure and a boss. We have changed a lot and we don’t even know how capable we are of doing this.

Our virtual workforce loves it. They are making their own choices and they are driving. They decide what hours they want to work and which customers to support. Some of the stories we get back from serviceman and people who had to take care of sick parents make me tear up. Our technology is only a piece of the story. It has enabled them to make these choices and to work in this fashion. However, the reality is that we have great, high quality people who work on their terms and the results are very impressive.

This segment is part 6 in the series : Become The CEO Of Your Own Destiny: LiveOps CEO And Former eBay COO Maynard Webb, Santa Clara, California
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