A FEW days before he testified in a sex discrimination suit that has captivated Silicon Valley, John Doerr, arguably the most famous venture capitalist in the world, was sitting at a conference room table laying out his ideas on good management.The subject was not the trial, in which a former junior partner of Doerr’s firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has claimed gender discrimination.Instead, it was BetterWorks, a company in Palo Alto that has raised about $15.5m in venture capital from investors, including Doerr. It makes office software that blends aspects of social media, fitness tracking and video games into a system meant to keep employees more engaged.With the software, employees and their bosses set long-and short-term goals, and, over time, log their progress on a digital dashboard that everyone can see and comment on.A critic might describe it as a happy, white-collar spin on an old idea — workplace efficiency — that used to be performed by punch clocks and assembly ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.