Internet Execs Like Mental Challenges

Dot-com executives aren’t all the twenty-something, equity-driven, job-hoppers they’re often thought to be, according to research by International Data Corp. (IDC).

“The stereotype of Internet executives jumping around from job to job is not true in the aggregate,” sadi John Gantz, Chief Research Officer for IDC. At its fifth annual IDC Executive Forum in San Francisco September 28, Gantz ticked off a blitz of figures based on interviews with 500 Internet execs the research firm conducted earlier this year.

Those interviewed were a mix of execs from Dot-com firms and those in charge of Internet strategy at more established brick-and-mortar companies. Among the findings, (which allowed multiple answers):

• 94 percent say they expect to stay at their current company for at least two years
• On average they receive six job offers a year to join other companies
• 26 percent took a pay cut to join their current firm
• Asked about their main motivation for staying in their current job, the top response of 80% was intellectual stimulation. 59 percent registered the ability to “make a difference;” 48 percent said salary and bonuses; and 42 percent named getting equity.
• 60 percent of the respondents were between the ages of 31 to 49 (a mere 12 percent were under 30 years of age).

Other interesting nuggets: The second favorite sport of these execs is … biking? Yes, biking got a 28 percent response, just a tire skid behind golf which came in at 29 percent. Running, tennis, and basketball (another surprise at 10 percent) rounded out the list, with 4 percent listing “Nothing.”

Dot Com Politics: And the Winner is ….

Sixty-five percent of those at Dotcom companies said they were Democrats, 31 percent Republicans, and 17 percent “Other.” But those figures largely flip among the Internet execs at brick-and mortar-companies, with 40 percent identifying themselves as Republican, 35 percent Democrat and 25 percent Other.

When the entire group was asked to name the winner of the upcoming Presidential election, VP Al Gore eked out a winning margin over Governor George W. Bush, 52 percent to 48 percent.

Reprinted from siliconvalley.internet.com.