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Negroponte's OLPC seeks CEO
Nicholas Negroponte is hunting for CEO who can help manage One Laptop Per Child organization "more like Microsoft."
In the wake of a nasty spat with former partner Intel, a reorganization, and mounting criticism, Nicholas Negroponte is looking for a chief executive for his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization, according to BusinessWeek.
He wants someone to help manage the organization "more like Microsoft," according to the article, rather than like the "terrorist group, doing impossible things" it's been until now.
"I am not a CEO," OLPC Chairman Negroponte said in an interview with the magazine. "Management, administration, and details are my weaknesses. I'm much better at the vision, big-picture side of the house."
Negroponte has hired a headhunter to help find a CEO and hopes to have one named by April or May.
The Cambridge, Mass., group aims to provide low-cost laptops to children in developing countries.
The group has faced its share of challenges in the three years since it was formed. Its XO laptops initially cost $188 each instead of the anticipated $100, some countries are scaling back their deployment plans and Intel recently quit, claiming OLPC was pressuring it not to compete with its own laptops.
Maybe a Bill Gates is just what's needed to get OLPC back on track and focused.
