How to Run Your Law Firm Like a Startup ... or Not.

Jason Calcanis heads up Mahalo, a human-powered search engine.  In this post, widely circulating around the tech/startup blogosphere, Jason gives 17 tips on saving money while running a startup that will (I didn't say should) surely resonate with some BigLaw managing partners.  Some of his "really good" ideas (since toned down a bit in an update to the post):

• Buy everyone lunch four days a week and establish a no-meetingspolicy. Going out for food or ordering in takes at least 20-60 minutesmore than walking up to the buffet and eating. If you do meetings overlunch you also save that time. So, 30 minutes a day across say fourdays a week is two hours a week... which is 100 hours a year. You getthe idea. 
  
• Don'tbuy a phone system. No one will use it. No one at Mahalo has a deskphone except the admin folks. Everyone else is on IRC, chat, and theircell phone. Everyone has a cell phone, folks would rather get calls onit, and 99% of communication is NOT on the phone. Savings? At least$500 a year per person... 50 people over three years? $75-100k
• Buyyour hardest working folks computers for home. If you have folks whoare willing to work an extra hour a day a week you should get them acomputer for home. Once you get to three hours of work a week from homeyou're at 150 hours a year and that's a no brainer. Invest in equipment*if* the person is a workaholic.
  
• Fire people who are not workaholics... come on folks, this is startup life, it's not a game.  Don't work at a startup if you're not into it.  Go work at the post office or stabucks if you're want balance in your life for realz.
• Getan expensive, automatic espresso machine at the office. Going tostarbucks twice a day cost $4 each time, but more importantly it costs20 minutes. Buy a $3-5,000 Jura industrial,get the good beans, and supply the coffee room with soy, low fat, etc.50 people making one trip a day is 20 hours of wasted time for thecompany, and $150 in coffee costs for the employees. Makes no sense.
• Stock the fridge with sodas---same drill as above.
  

Sound like BigLaw to you?  Well, except for the awesome coffee machine.  That's not a cost like copies that you can pass on to clients.