Unbelievable.

Too much VC money sloshing around.

I know that there's a lot of groupthink in the VC community, and so CEOs aren't always selected strictly on merit. But even I, with no executive experience whatsoever, would know not to OK something like that.

As Saint Steven once put it:

   I'm actually as proud of the things
   we haven't done as the things I have done.
   Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.

Why didn't this dialog take place in a board meeting?

   CEO: thanks for the hundreds of millions of
   dollars you've invested in us. Here's something
   new we've done. We're putting your money
   to good use.

        WE HAVE SOCKS FOR SALE!!!

   non-spineless Board of Directors:
   That's great.
   Let's all just go back to your office and help you
   clean out your desk. Then we'll escort you out of
   the building and the rest of us will reconvene to
   discuss finding a better steward for the hundreds
   of millions of dollars we've given you.

Edit: just to emphasize, the quote above was from Jobs discussing focus: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/629613-people-think-focus-me...

IMO startups that aren't making money and that keep having to do rounds of financing need to, most of all, FOCUS. Evernote board should be chanting: FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!

I'm pretty sure it came from branching out into workspace inventory, like monitor stands, and then jumped into business accessories, like laptop bags and (yes) socks.

The margins are already so thick that they probably only had to sell a few to break even.

But I do think, this is precisely the point they are trying to fix. They all seem like logical moves in themselves, but when you look at them in combination, it's clear an overarching strategy is lacking. From Socks to Evernote Business to Recepie capture..

Oh my god, this has to be a joke. The lines "We've got you covered" and "It's your business" are too bad to be real.