Hello Rocky,

I read that one of your competitors, Ask.com, is laying off 40 employees.  It is also reinventing itself as the place where married women and mothers go for lifestyle solutions.   How does this affect HelloRocky.com?  Is your business model up for review?

Keith Caramelli
Austin, TX


Rocky Responds:

First of all, we decided early on that having a HelloRocky "business model" was a good way to paint ourselves into a corner, so from inception we've been freewheelin' it across the vast topography of the internet. 

Second, the HelloRocky Team has never suffered through layoffs.  There are no downsizing plans.  In fact, we continue to converse with many of the applicants who want to be a part of our future growth.

Finally, Ask.com brought on their own problems when they fired Jeeves.  He was with the organization from day one, loyal and steadfast.  The Board soured on Jeeves because, in the words of one director, he "never actually did anything."  Which is untrue, of course.  Posing for portraits and photo shoots is hard work, though seldom appreciated by those who have never spent a day under the photographer's hot lights.  True, Jeeves never wrote code or debugged software, but that's what Asians are for. 

Jeeves ultimate ouster, insiders tell me, was triggered by his fondness for riding his Segway through the executive suites and challenging the suits to "ask me something."  Exasperated, they asked him to leave.