The inside story of MySpace’s fall

What is the cause of MySpace’s decline? Many have ruminated on the fall of the once social media behemoth, but now the man who until August was CEO has spoken out.

Not very encouragingly for the site’s future, Mike Jones does a nice bit of back peddling by using the justification of moving to his hometown of Los Angeles for taking the job.

He does, however, give a fairly honest appraisal of his time there, coming up with five lessons he learned on the front line.

Perhaps Jones should’ve read this rather good analysis of the internet trends of 2011.

That said, everyone can be a smartarse with the benefit of hindsight. As this now-hilarious article from 2001 shows, many experts were happy to pour scorn on the prospects for the newly-launched iPod.

So how can you ensure that a good idea like MySpace doesn’t turn into, well, MySpace?

You could follow Apple’s simple marketing manifesto.

Or you could get your hiring strategy spot on. Or you could look at how nifty design can be turned into an actual business, as the founder of Instapaper explains.

Alternatively, take these tips on how to pitch to a venture capitalist.

Ever wondered what the 10 worst stereotypes about powerful women are? Well, wonder no longer.

Finally, confidence is a good thing. Right?