Business 2.0 & Fast Company

From the recesses of recollection, this essay is about my perception.

I became interested in the New Economy in the mid 90's.  I was captivated by a fresh perspective on business from Fast Company and Business 2.0, much as Cindy Crawford captivated young teenage boys in Pepsi commercials.    Fast Company and Business 2.0 were beasts* in those days...content on innovative people and companies surrounded by reams of advertising.  It was some good advertising too, although sadly, a good portion of it came at the expense of shallow product and service. 

Business 2.0 sold out to the company that owns Fortune (remember, perception here - which might not correspond to facts).  I stopped reading the likes of Fortune and Forbes because I thought they were about ivory tower dwelling, stuffy-suited old men who scoffed at the New Economy just like once stuffy-suited old men scoffed at electricity.  Remember when these same cigar smoking cool-cats hooked their companies to the Internet?  They'd shut down at five o'clock Friday and reopen on Monday mornings.  I cancelled my subscription to Business 2.0 when they started coming out with the lists.  I thought that was a sure sign of Fortune-mortis setting in. 

Business 2.0 hired on Thomas Stewart as editor and I thought they might have a chance.  Stewart is the author of The Wealth of Knowledge , one of my all time favorite books.  I seem to remember some direction of change about this time - but it's not clear.  Then about a year ago, I picked up a copy and noticed a substantial change.  I wasn't feeling the ivory tower dweller's presence.  There seemed to be change, innovation and a look to the future buzzing back about the magazine.  I subscribed once again and enjoy the perspective of their leading edge point of view. 

Somewhere over the last year or two, Fast Company's gas tank developed a slow leak and now their coolness factor is leaking onto the road of a different direction.  Understand, I was and still am a Fast Company junkie.  How could one ever turn their back on the Babe?  Even when he encountered off-field problems.  Without going back and pulling out the copies that I've saved since the late 90's and analyzing what is different, I can't say for sure.  It's just my perception.  And isn't that what most folks consider when purchasing a product or service?

*Real Simple is the beast of magazines today.  Although it's tough to admit publically, I like this magazine.

Comments

[Chris Brown]

Thanks for the insights. You sure do read a lot of books... I'm still trying to find the time to finish the one I picked up last week! Thank you!

[Dave]

You're welcome Chris. I am sure there are a lot of other things I should be doing, but I love reading!