- home
- reviews
- news
- downloads
- cnet tv
HOLIDAY HELP DESK: Broadcasting live at 1:00 p.m., PT
- log in
- join CNET
- welcome,
- my profile
- log out

Train Wreck

Read all 'Howard Schultz' posts in Train Wreck

April 21, 2008 8:57 AM PDT

How important is luck in high-tech business?

by Steve Tobak

Post a comment

After describing a particularly exciting consulting opportunity, a friend called me "lucky." That got me thinking: Is he right? Is luck a component in business success, or is it all about knowledge and experience. And if luck does play a role, how important is it? Can it be influenced, or is that taboo by definition?

To answer those questions I first did a little research. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines luck as "a: a force that brings good fortune or adversity, or b: the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual."

Gee, "luck" sounds a lot like "competition" to me. ... Read more

Topics:: CEOs,; Strategy,; Careers

Tags:: Luck,; startups,; Apple,; Microsoft,; Steve Jobs,; Bill Gates,; IBM,; Starbucks,; Howard Schultz

Share:: Digg; Del.icio.us; Reddit; Facebook; Twitter

About Train Wreck

Steve Tobak is a marketing consultant and former chip industry executive. Train Wreck provides insight into dysfunctional corporate behavior, among other things. When he's not airing the industry's dirty laundry, Steve likes to hang around the house, make believe he's working, and drive his wife crazy. Find out more at www.invisor.net or email Steve at trainwreck@invisor.net. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

Add this feed to your online news reader

Train Wreck topics

Most Discussed

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right

Deep Tech
Long-awaited Bibble 5 raw photo editor arrives
Bibble 5 Pro is out, bringing higher performance and a higher price to the raw-photo editing and cataloging software. Also new: selective editing.
Gallery
NASA trains WISE eye on the sky (photos)
Apple
Apple wins appeal in earbud hearing-loss lawsuit
Judge says plaintiffs failed to prove that iPod earbuds are dangerous.
Beyond Binary
Visual Studio launch delayed by 'a few weeks'
Microsoft says it's still working to resolve some performance issues related to the Visual Studio 2010 developer tool suite, which was slated for a March release.
Video
Deep-sea volcanic explosion--part 2 (video)
Digital Media
Online holiday sales hit $27 billion
E-commerce sales grow 5 percent for the holiday season, reaching $27 billion compared with $25.8 billion last year, says new ComScore report.
Video
Deep-sea volcanic explosion--part 1 (video)
Deep Tech
'Don't-be-evil' Google spurns no-evil software
One open-source software programmer's joke--'The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil'--is a serious matter at Google.
The Space Shot
Soyuz craft docks, boosts space station crew
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked with the International Space Station Tuesday after a smooth, automated approach, boosting the lab's crew back up to five.
Gallery
A real-world test of Google Goggles visual search (photos)
Crave
Job ad suggests Xbox Live headed for WinMo phones
A job listing posted by Microsoft seeks a principle program manager who can "bring Xbox Live-enabled games to Windows Mobile."
Green Tech
Green-tech venture investing cools off in 2009
Green tech is still attracting billions of dollars a year, but the amount of money has shrunk significantly as investors began to focus on start-ups with the most potential.