Because of continued troubles at Sprint (NYSE: S), the company's CEO, Gary Forsee, essentially got the boot. In fact, over the years, the CEO spot has been pretty tough – as seen with companies like Disney (NYSE: DIS), Boeing (NYSE: BA), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

So if big companies have trouble, what about small ones? Unfortunately, hiring a CEO is extremely difficult for any company.

"For an early stage company, the wrong CEO can be costly," said Gordon Gould, the founder and CEO of ThisNext. "Divorcing the executive can mean wasted time, money, momentum and possibly the company itself."

So, if you have doubts about a candidate, it's probably better to wait. "To get the right CEO, it takes time," said Dipanshu Sharma, the founder and CTO of V-ENABLE. "So allocate at least three to four months for the process." Actually, his company recently hired a new CEO.

Sharma believes it is critical to hire a recruiter. "A top-tier venture capital firm recommended a recruiter for us," he said.

And the process was strenuous: "We set up a weekly call with the recruiter and the board/management. Every week we would prioritize the candidate list. After a few weeks, we got candidates that we had initial conversations with. Of those we found that matched our selection criteria, we held several rounds of interviews. In the final process, we flew them to our offices and introduced them to a broader team before finalizing the candidate."

It was also important to spend time on creating a candidate profile. As for V-ENABLE, the company focused on a CEO with:

• Demonstrated success in previous CEO roles
• Team player
• Growth oriented
• Raised capital and has experience in M&A
• Worked in wireless and has relationships with wireless service providers

"Our board and management went through several iterations to make sure we were covering the short term as well as long term needs for the company," said Sharma.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

The Associated Press is asking a question that is practically blasphemous -- the outcome of which could change the face of the music industry: Are record labels really necessary, especially for established artists?

With acts including Madonna and Radiohead forgoing traditional record deals, and international superstar Robbie Williams signing a complicated deal guaranteeing him 80 million pounds over four albums, including some revenue from live events, it's clear that the the traditional concept of labels signing artists and paying them royalties is changing. Radiohead has decided to make its album available online only and let fans decide how much to pay.

Some argue that these are exceptions -- traditional record labels are still a must for all but the most established acts. Yet even lesser-known acts can promote their music on sites like MySpace and Facebook, which allow users to feature the songs they like on their pages. A lot of young people get introduced to music this way, forgoing outlets like MTV and the radio, which are seen as too commercial and passe.

The shift probably will be gradual, with better-known acts making the leap first. But as the methods of music distribution and hit-making change, so too will the role of the record label. Long term, I think that role will become a lot less relevant.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently trading up $15.29 to $609.20.

GOOG is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) on October 18th. GOOG October at the money 580 straddle is priced at $32.10. GOOG October option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) CEO Glenn Murphy hosted a meeting with analysts on October 5th.

Smith Barney says "Mr. Murphy is focused on making the company gets an adequate return on its investments. This includes a focus on the expense of the business. We suspect there will be continued focus on moderating the cost structure and assessing various cost components, including marketing. We think the real estate portfolio is under review." GPS over all option implied volatility of 31 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting flat price risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

It's been three weeks since our Money Face-Off feature ran here at BloggingStocks and on AOL, offering you the opportunity to share who you though had the financial edge in a series of twenty head-to-head match-ups. So I thought I'd take another look and see how things have worked out.

It's hard to pick just one big winner. In terms of the largest lead over a rival, Ivanka Trump easily beats Paris Hilton with 89% of the vote. Others holding big leads over their opponents include Tiger Woods, Warren Buffett, Steven Spielberg, and Rupert Murdoch.

In terms of receiving the most votes, the clear leader is the Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart match-up, with just short of 150,000 votes. Other big vote getters were Tiger Woods vs. David Beckham, Rudy Giuliani vs. Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs. In terms of the liveliest discussions in the comments, the winners are Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart, Erin Burnett vs. Maria Bartiromo, and Bono vs. Angelina Jolie. Also check out the comments for the J.K. Rowling vs. J.R.R Tolkien, Tiger Woods vs. David Beckham, and Ivanka Trump vs. Paris Hilton posts.

As for the face-off posts here that got the most attention, the clear winner is Erin Burnett vs. Maria Bartiromo, with more than 13,000 hits. Lindsay Lohan vs. Britney Spears and Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart also attracted lots of readers.

Results for all the face-offs follow below, but keep in mind that the voting is still open. It's not too late to add your vote or let us know what you think.

Whether it is called crowdsourcing or wikis or social networking, there is a wealth of collaborative experience and expertise available online to help improve decision making, increase profitability, drive product innovation and expand into new markets.

Authors Barry Libert and Jon Spector have collated the contributions of hundreds of collaborators into an easy-to-read, information-filled guide book, We Are Smarter Than Me, to help entrepreneurs as well as those in established businesses harness the collaborative possibilities on the Web. The guide book includes case studies from well-established firms in addition to highlighting newly emerging collaborative possibilities. The authors include many helpful "what to do" suggestions to allow mass collaborative efforts to work for all types of busines-related situations.

The authors provide numerous examples of how mass collaboration can help raise capital for start-ups, provide wide-ranging but low-cost expertise, solicit customer input on product design features prior to production, and form communities of customer support for products already purchased. Lots of graphics and bulleted sections make the guide quite user-friendly.

We Are Smarter is already at work on its second collaborative volume, this one dealing with mass collaborative efforts to increase and enhance marketing and sales efforts. Contributions are currently being solicited, so you can still be part of the WE.

My wife and I met at USC where we both went to architecture school. She is a licensed architect and accredited in LEED (TM) sustainable design. We both worked for others for a while and then started our own practice. Before we had children that was the natural progression of things.

When our first child was born she reduced her hours from about 35 hours a week to about 30. When the second was born she further reduced her hours and by the time the third was born she was working about 18 hours a week. Eventually she decided to stay at home and manage the household full time. She also works in the community, reads avidly and has time to expand her religious interests. She prefers that to the trials and tribulations of the business world.

She enjoyed being an architect, but she hated business. I thrive in both, although there is much to do in business that is not rewarding. Our youngest is eleven, and my wife may return to work when it pleases her. There was a time when her contribution to the family income made a difference, but that time has long since past.

The new book "The Feminine Mistake" weighs in by trying to make the case that mothers assume too much of a financial and career risk if they stay at home to raise the kids. I think this is ridiculous!

Burt's Bees - the North Carolina-based manufacturer of environmentally conscious personal-care products including sunscreen, lip balm, shampoo, and the Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream in my shower stall right now - is looking to make a deal.

AEA Investors, which acquired Burt's for $180 million four years ago, has reportedly tapped Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to sell its Burt's Bees unit for up to $1 billion. According to TheDeal.com, Goldman began accepting first-round bids early this month.

Interested parties could include French cosmetic firm L'Oreal (and I'm worth it!), which ponied up $1.15 billion for the Body Shop International chain last year. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) is another name rumored to possibly have an eye on Burt's Bees as it works to expand its footing in the natural and organic-goods market. Last year, CL scooped up Tom's of Maine for $100 million.

Private equity firms are also potential suitors, but the credit crunch makes this a less likely outcome.

Burt's Bees was started in 1989 as a roadside stand that sold products made from bee's wax. In the past four years - as part of AEA -- Burt's began peddling its wares at Walgreen's (NYSE: WAG), Target (NYSE: TGT), and in various other large-scale chains. Previously, the products were available in natural-food stores and online. The company booked about $50 million in annual sales last year.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

If capitalism has an answer for reversing the damage to our environment, a new move in MBA programs across the country could play a key role. Schools such as Dominican University of California have begun offering MBA degrees in Sustainable Enterprise or similar green-oriented areas of concentration.

The programs teach students how businesses can adopt practices that are both ecologically and fiscally sound. By studying Eco-Commerce, graduates are also prepared to take advantage of the business opportunities that accompany our growing commitment to safeguarding our climate and resources.

The programs seem to also emphasize the ethical concerns that drive much of the green movement, and, as such, would be a good education track for those interesting in fighting for the green crusade.

While not all MBA programs yet offer specific green degrees, virtually all have started down that road. The thinking seems sound; not only do we have centuries' worth of mess to clean up, but we human beings are busily making more. Cleaning up after the world is about as sustainable business as I can imagine.

Our "Duh of the Week" award goes to the web site Hot or Not, which discontinued its free dating service when it was overrun by spam and fake profiles. Apparently, they thought the idea that people would present themselves honestly on the internet was hot. It was not.
via Mashable

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) and Warnaco Group's (NASDAQ: WRNC) Speedo received some free publicity that will test the axiom that there is no such thing as bad publicity when it was revealed that a couple of detainees at the government's Club for Terrorists in Guantanamo were discovered to be wearing Under Armor briefs and/or Speedo bathing suits. Officials at Gitmo, according to a letter leaked to Boing Boing, are investigating the prisoner's attorneys/ fashion consultants as possible culprits.
via Boing Boing

Several items from Reg Dunlap's Small Print column in Metropolis Tokyo caught our attention this week.

• The Omachi Digger Wasp Lovers Group has convinced a local company to market a rice cracker using their favorite insect as the main ingredient. But is it trans-fat free?
• Apparently, the all-night net cafes in Tokyo have become favorite overnight haunts for an estimated 5,400 homeless web junkies.
• The first McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) McCafe to open in Toyko had a line of over 1,000 waiting to get in.

Finally, remembering that there are companies in the business of finding good names for companies and products, I have to take my hat off to the geniuses that named the Stiff Nipples Air Conditioning Service.

The New York Times [registration required] reports that Pudding Media is offering a Web phone service that will listen to your phone calls and display advertisements on your computer screen on the topic of your conversation. In exchange, your calls will be "free."

A conversation about movies, for example, will display movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person's cellphone screen.

The government currently can spy on your phone calls, your Internet activity, and your e-mail. So would you really mind Pudding Media spying on you so it can send you spam while you talk on the phone? While I can see the appeal of this strategy to advertisers, I am confident that people looking for free calls without the spying and spam will be able to do just fine using eBay's (NASDAQ: EBAY) Skype.

Why not visit Pudding Media's site and give their spymasters a piece of your mind?

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates,. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

It's been a week since our Money Face-Off posts ran here on BloggingStocks and less than a week since the Money Face-Offs were featured on the AOL welcome page, and the response has been terrific. Many of the face-off polls have more than 50,000 votes thus far, and some of the match-ups are very close.

The closest of all is the face-off of CNBC anchors Erin Burnett and Maria Bartiromo: 50/50 with more than 61,000 votes so far. And the post has garnered 39 comments so far. The commenters have strong opinions, whether defending Bartiromo or Burnett, wishing other anchors had been included, complaining about the photos, or even questioning the Money Face-Off feature itself. Be sure to check it out.

The face-off between the former and current New York City mayors, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, garnered more than 67,000 votes. While Bloomberg has his defenders, presidential candidate Giuliani currently has a small lead in this match-up, with a little over half the votes. Can he hold on to that lead, though?

The match-up of supermodels turned businesswomen, Tyra Banks vs. Heidi Klum, also has more than 50,000 votes so far. In this case, it's Klum in the lead with about 55 percent of the vote. Only one reader, a Tyra Banks fan, has commented so far. Feel free to add your thoughts about which former supermodel you think is more successful.

According to The Wall Street Journal, New York real estate mogul Harry Macklowe's real estate empire is in serious trouble. After purchasing seven New York buildings from Equity Office Properties Trust for $6.8 billion, Macklowe's company, Macklowe Properties, has $5.1 billion in debt that must be paid off by February.

The state of the credit markets is making refinancing very difficult, and because of the tiny down payment ($50 million), the properties are not generating positive cash flow.

Macklowe's people are, of course, expressing confidence, and many observers believe that Macklowe will pull through. But maybe Macklowe has nothing to worry about, even if it does end badly. After all, wiped out real estate moguls don't disappear, they just ...

Get their own reality shows, have epic feuds with Rose O'Donnell, sell real estate seminars through late-night infomercials, and have their own brands of water.

It's been a week since our Money Face-Off posts ran here on BloggingStocks, and less than that since the Money Face-Offs were featured on the AOL welcome page, and the response has been terrific. Many of the face-off polls have had more than 50,000 votes, a couple of them approaching 100,000.

The biggest response came to the Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart match-up. So far, about 75 percent of respondents feel that Oprah is the more successful media magnate. Not that much surprise there, as Oprah's fans are legion. Interestingly, though, of the twenty-some comments the post has received, most of them are pro-Martha.

Another clear leader is Bill Gates over rival Steve Jobs. About three quarters of poll votes have gone his way, despite all the buzz recently about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and the popularity of its products. Maybe readers are just happy that Gates is stepping down. Let us know what you think.

Alan Greenspan seems to be everywhere these days, promoting his new book, including Comedy Central's The Daily Show and NPR's Fresh Air. In our match-up of the current and former Fed chairs, Ben Bernanke vs. Alan Greenspan, more than 70 percent of respondents have voted for Greenspan. Comments to the post are mixed, but seem to me to focus on Greenspan, whether pro or con.

She's done cookware, linens, a magazine ... time ... but Martha Stewart, domestic goddess, is now foraying into the world of adult beverages. Early next year, wine connoisseurs willing to plop down $15 a pop will be able to ease open a bottle of what's currently being called Martha Stewart Vintage. The vintage, produced and distributed by E&J Gallo Winery, will use grapes grown primarily in Sonoma County, California, and will come in three varietals -- chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot. Still on the drawing board is a possible rose version.

In its first year, the Martha Stewart Vintage will be in limited release, with just 15,000 cases being shipped to a small number of cities. Boston, Phoenix, Charlotte, and other cities where Ms. Stewart is especially popular will be among the locations lucky enough to stock the new wine.

While time will tell how successful this new vintage will be, Ms. Stewart is definitely hopping aboard the vino bandwagon at the right time. The availability of low-priced wine such as Charles Shaw (aka "Two Buck Chuck") has cultivated interest in the wine business in general, introducing the practice of wine appreciation to a broader demographic. While the $15 Martha Stewart Vintage doesn't exactly cater to the Two-Buck-Chuck crowd, it may benefit from the expected volume growth rate of 11% over the next 5 years.

But Martha's massive empire overall may not see a noticeable benefit from this new undertaking, no matter how successful. The wine venture is not expected to have a material impact on the fortunes of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's (NYSE: MSO).

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?

The shrewd, cantankerous veteran vs. the trash-talking but talented kid -- who would you put your money on?

The veteran would be George Steinbrenner, head of the New York Yankees since 1973. Steinbrenner made his nut in the family shipbuilding business when he bought out the American Ship Building Co. He was always an avid sports fan, even serving as a football coach at Northwestern and Purdue before returning to the business world. His first acquisition, however, the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball Association, left him broke. But his taste for the big leagues remained.