BuzzBites: Inside Sales; Genetic Start-ups

INSIDE SALES

Sure, even the most honest among us has "borrowed" company time or resources for personal use (fess up--how long has it been since you bought your own sticky notes or paper clips?). But some people turn those infractions into major crimes. Internet-filtering company 8e6 Technologies ran a contest for its customers to find the most unusual misuse of the network. First-place winner was an employee who was not only operating an online business from work, but using it to sell stuff he'd stolen from the company's warehouse.

Second place went to a company that knocked itself offline because so many of its employees tuned in to a Victoria's Secret Web cast. Third place went to a woman running an online escort service from her cubicle. But on the plus side, she never once took home office supplies. --Andrew Conry-Murray

Genetic Start-ups

A propensity for entrepreneurship may be in the blood-or specifically, in the genes. British and American researchers speculate that genetics may play as strong a role in someone becoming an entrepreneur as upbringing or environment.

The scientists studied the rate of self-employment among identical and fraternal twins. The results: While twins overall choose self-employment at about the same rate as the rest of the population, if one identical twin started his or her own business, the other twin was more likely to do the same. Because identical twins share the same genes, the researchers suggest genetics may be an important factor

Makes you wonder if genes might predispose people to particular professions, like IT support, and if there's any way to stop that. --Andrew Conry-Murray