Over $135 billion MORE was spent on healthcare in 2009 ($2.5 trillion) than in 2008. Let's put that number in perspective - the increase in healthcare spending in the U.S. in 2009 was greater than the revenues of Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Apple. Combined. And with over 50% of this spending coming from government - primarily from Medicaid spending (up 10%) and Medicare (up 8%) - there is no end in sight to the growth. Quite simply, there is NO recession in healthcare. You Can Cry About It or You Can Seek Opportunities In It We here at Growthink are not doomsayers. Far from it. As a…
Selected by effetti
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Growthink
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There is No Recession in...
8 Feb 2010 | 8:58 am -
How much is this shortcut worth to you?
3 Feb 2010 | 1:59 pmImagine you had been driving to and from work the same way every day for the past 4 years. And let's say that the drive each way typically took 30 minutes. And then one day, a friend told you about a shortcut that would save you 10 minutes each way. So, that's 20 minutes a day in time savings.At 250 work days each year, that's 83 hours per year. Or 332 hours over 4 years.I bet you wouldn't be too happy about having wasted 332 hours...Or would you?Because you would subsequently save 83 hours this year, and 83 hours next year, and so on and so on. That's pretty cool. The point is this -… -
The One Law That Business Owners Must Break
1 Feb 2010 | 2:22 pmLast month I reached my boiling point.My son Max was driving me absolutely crazy. And something had to be done about it.What was happening?Well, a couple of months ago, he started taking forever to get anything done. For example, if you told him to brush his teeth, it would take him 20 minutes. He just didn't have any focus. He would walk upstairs. Then get sidetracked by something on the way to the bathroom. Ten minutes later he still wouldn't have started brushing.And then the real problem started last month. That's when his fourth grade teacher started cranking up the homework. Homework… -
The One Thing You Can't Live Without
1 Feb 2010 | 12:37 pmIf you're like me, there's one thing you probably take for granted. Interestingly, this one thing is something you can't live without. At least not for long. But fortunately, there are some cutting-edge entrepreneurs working wonders on solving the challenges of this one thing. What is it?Water All around the world water shortages long ago crossed the crisis threshold. In California. Arizona. New Mexico. Georgia and Florida. The Middle East. China. Too many years of antiquated public policy, population and economic growth, climate change, and unsustainable agriculture have strained… -
New Training Program: "Ultimate Internet Marketing System"
24 Jan 2010 | 10:37 pm*** UPDATED Wednesday, January 27th at 2:01pm EST ***The "Ultimate Internet Marketing System" is Now Available.Click Here to Get All the Details*** UPDATED Monday, January 25th at 5:27pm EST *** Be sure to check out the "Special Announcement" at the bottom of the this blog entry. If you've already read the original version of this blog entry, you can click here to go straight to the special announcement. -- Dave Over the past several weeks, I have been putting the finishing touches on my new Internet Marketing training program. And I'm finally ready to reveal what's included... But…
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VentureBeat
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Mayfield & First Round Capital Host Entrepreneur Event
9 Feb 2010 | 12:37 pmMayfield Fund has partnered with First Round Capital to host a networking event with the theme Entrepreneurs Helping Entrepreneurs. The two firms have assembled a dream team of founders including Jay Adelson/Digg, Caterina Fake/Flickr, Aaron Patzer/Mint, Gina Bianchini/Ning, Max Levchin/Slide and Mark Pincus/Zynga who have donated mentoring sessions, which will be raffled off at the event. To participate in the raffle, entrepreneurs need to go to www.mayfield.com/raffle and fill out a short online application. Raj Kapoor and Emily Melton of Mayfield and Josh Kopelman and Rob Hayes of… -
Google takes another stab at location-based services with Buzz
9 Feb 2010 | 12:07 pmMany of the rumors and now the news coverage of Google Buzz, the search giant’s new social sharing tool, has focused on the web capabilities through its integration with Gmail. But the new mobile features are also an important part of the announcement, because they add a compelling location-based component to the service. Google Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra said Google Buzz is being integrated into three of Google’s mobile websiites and applications — Google.com, a new Buzz.google.com website, and the Google maps mobile application. If a user visits the main… -
iTunes music: Higher prices result in slower sales growth
9 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pmOn this morning’s earnings call for Warner Music, CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr said that the company’s $1.29 tracks — a 30 percent price boost over Apple’s standard 99 cents — have been a “net positive” for the company. Yet as media pundit Peter Kafka observed, the entire music industry’s iTunes sales growth is slower than a year ago, when consumer confidence and willingness to spend were much lower: Industrywide, year-over-year “digital track equivalent album unit growth” was at five percent in the December quarter, down sequentially from 10… -
U2 gets behind carbon trading, raises money for geothermal
9 Feb 2010 | 11:47 amKnown for its international relief efforts, rock band U2 is now raising funds in Turkey to pay for the country’s Dora-1 geothermal plant. It is also selling carbon offset credits for $1.89 a pop. The credits will go toward purchasing clean power to neutralize the 127 kilograms of greenhouse gases each of the band’s fans, on average, generates to see the band play. Incidentally, the Dora-1 project could save as many as 30,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year. A modest facility by most standards, the geothermal plant is designed to generate 7.9 megawatts of power. In Turkey, however,… -
How Sergey Brin uses Google Buzz as a business product
9 Feb 2010 | 11:29 amGoogle Buzz, the social sharing tool that Google just announced at a press event in Mountain View, isn’t just for the fun. The company said it’s going to be launching a version of Buzz as an enterprise product, as a part of its Google Apps bundle of business applications. During the presentation, Google was pretty vague about Buzz in a business context, both in terms of how it might be used and when it will launch (“soon” is all the company would say). During the question-and-answer session, Google co-founder Sergey Brin offered one example: When he was writing his New…
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Fast Company
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Hints for Better Living From Your Office Supplies (NOT Clippy!)
9 Feb 2010 | 12:17 pmWho knew that paper clips and staples could teach such smart life lessons? Everyday objects you might find at your desk are the stars in Hints for Better Living, a short film by Los Angeles-based designer Mike Afsa, who also does work for companies like Chiat\Day and Quiksilver. This is the second film by Afsa (see the first one here), who had a habit of playing with office supplies at his desk. He realized that the tools he used for graphic design could be used to spread a positive message. He created mini-PSAs inspired by the tools themselves: simple, playful and humorous. "Some of the ones… -
Google Unveils Buzz, a Social Media App for Gmail (Facebook Status: Concerned)
9 Feb 2010 | 11:53 amGoogle, like someone arriving late to a party already drunk and boisterous but with a lot of party favors, is trying to grab some of that Web2.0 social glimmer by polishing up Gmail with Google Buzz. The app, which is integrated into Gmail, includes the best features of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other well-known social media offerings in a way that only Google could pull off. Buzz began rolling out to Gmail inboxes just minutes after a presentation at Google's headquarters today. Buzz has its own user interface and leverages the data about you that's already inside Gmail--for example,… -
The Ford Transit Connect: NYC Taxi Cab of the Future?
9 Feb 2010 | 11:52 amThe auto industry is fixated on Toyota's recall woes, but Ford snuck in this week with some interesting news of its own: the release of the compressed natural gas-powered Transit Connect. It might just be the NYC taxi cab of the future. The vehicle, released this week along with an all-electric version of the car, looks like a standard Transit Connect--except with three more inches of leg room, an information and entertainment system in the back for passengers, and a fare-tracking system. Citygoers will also notice the fuel tank behind the passenger seat for either CNG (Compressed Natural… -
More Content Shared on Facebook Than Ever, but User Activity Is Falling
9 Feb 2010 | 10:38 amThere's a surprise buried deep within the statistics Facebook has revealed about its user base's activities on the social network: Sure, more content is being shared than ever before. But the percentage of sharers has shrunk. The statistic that captured much of the media's attention was that Facebook now has over 400 million active users. But VentureBeat points out another: Five billion pieces of content (photos, Weblinks, notes, and such) are being shared among the userbase every single week. As well as being a phenomenal figure all by itself, this represents an astonishing growth in just… -
Infographic: Lack of Health Care vs. Terrorism, Which Kills More?
9 Feb 2010 | 10:32 amYou'd be surprised at just how the numbers stack up. We all know that globally, terrorism kills several hundred people every year. We also know that tens of thousands of people die each year in the U.S., due to lack of health care. But this poster connects the two issues in a pretty sobering way. You'll notice that the poster is actually a stealthy infographic--there are 58 skulls (count 'em) in the illustration up top: Visually stunning, this also raises some fundamental questions, no matter your politics. First, the health-care study cited in the graphic is concerned mainly with people who…
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The BIG Kahuna
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Two Unhonorable Marines And A Truck?
27 Jan 2010 | 5:27 amIt stinks to be ripped off but when someone rips you off and does so promoting honor and trust it makes it even worse. Meet Two Marines And A Truck: www.twomarinesandatruck.com. When you think Marines you envision strength but more importantly honor. Honor is everything to a Marine. Here’s the Marines pledge to honor: Honor requires each Marine to exemplify the ultimate standard in ethical and moral conduct. Honor is many things; honor requires many things. A U.S. Marine must never lie, never cheat, never steal, but that is not enough. Much more is required. Each Marine must… -
The BIG Kahuna Tells It Like It Is With Ai
12 Jan 2010 | 6:03 amCheck out my interview in the Art Institutes newest article “Great Design Key To Building Brands“. Here’s a snippet: Today’s marketplace makes building brands more challenging for companies because the Internet has removed most buying limitations and exponentially increased consumer choices. Brand Identity Guru All that competition makes it more important than ever to shore up a brand’s identity. In the best cases, brand identity corresponds to the soul of a company, says Scott White, a branding expert who goes by the title Big Kahuna at When building brands,… -
The Bachelor and Bachelorette Brands Can’t Be More Racist
4 Jan 2010 | 5:46 pmMy wife loves both the Bachelor and Bachelorette and she MAKES me watch them. As I’ve watched these reality shows I’ve come to notice there are no minorities to speak of. None. Well maybe a token here and there. Why? Why so white? Here is the cast for this years new Bachelor: And the lucky guy: And last years Bachelorette and cast: That’s a lot of white. So why the obvious discrimination? In 17 total seasons, neither show’s main role has ever been filled with a person of color. ABC representatives say they are “exploring” the issue for upcoming seasons. How… -
President Patrick Doyle Of Domino’s Pizza Says Their Pizza Stunk
28 Dec 2009 | 5:46 pmAccording to Domino’s Pizza’s latest TV commercial they think their pizza is pretty bad. The commercial features some feedback from clients stating “the crust tastes like cardboard” and “the sauce tastes like ketchup”. Ouch. Click here to view the embedded video. I have to agree, but does their target market really expect more for the money? After all they’ll give you two medium pizzas for like $5. They’ve been the low cost provider for decades. Do people really buy it for the quality? Or was it because Domino’s built their brand identity… -
And that’s what people really want—affordable, safe air transport from A to B. It’s a commodity. It’s not some life-changing sexual experience, which is what the other high-fare airlines have tried to convince you that it is.
21 Dec 2009 | 7:50 pmSays Irish budget carrier Ryanair and their CEO Michael O’Leary who have cultivated a reputation for controversial innovations and colorful language. O’Leary says branding is dead. Good for him. Here are my thoughts. We all need the Walmart’s of the world which is exactly the brand you get in Ryanair. Their brand identity is cheap, no nonsense flights. Believe it or not O’Leary has done the thing he so openly despises, or does he? Walmart has been brilliant at being creative in cutting costs and delivering price value to the customer. And their niche to middle…
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The Big Picture
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The Superbowl Team of Online Finance
9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 amGlad to see I made “New Rules of Investing” squad: Superbowl team: online finance’s best: click for full blog list > -
Bulls & Bears Make Money; Corporations Get Free Speech?
9 Feb 2010 | 9:40 amGood Morning: I will briefly dispense with yesterday’s muted market activity before tackling a recent Supreme Court decision that could vastly extend corporate influence in political campaigns. I think we can use the very logic offered in the majority opinion to hoist those five Justices by the own petard. Compared to the harrowing decline and sizzling rally after the unemployment figures were released on Friday, Monday’s market action was almost boring. With no economic data scheduled for release, and with stock markets overseas mixed (Asia down; Europe up), U.S. stock index… -
Blogonomics: Morningstar Acquires Footnoted
9 Feb 2010 | 8:32 am> Congrats to my friend Michelle Leder, who just sold her site Footnoted.org to Morningstar. I don’t have the details on the transaction, but my guess is they bought the site for $XX dollars, and they retained Michelle for a salaried post for YY years. This will give Michelle a sales team and an infrastructure, and allows Morningstar to leverage her name and expertise. Its probably a good transaction — win-win all around. Here’s Michelle’s comments: “One final note about today’s news: While I negotiated mightily for the keys to the Gulfstream, the corporate… -
Cashin’s Comments from NYSE
9 Feb 2010 | 8:08 amArt Cashin, head of floor operations at UBS, has the buzz from the NYSE. Airtime: Tues. Feb. 9 2010 | 8:50 AM ET -
5 Most Expensive Pieces of Art
9 Feb 2010 | 7:30 amAlberto Giacometti: L’Homme qui marche I $104.3 million (sculpture) Pablo Picasso’s Parisian boy smoking a pipe (painting) 1994 for $104.1 million PicassoDora Maar au chat $95.2 million in 2006 auction Gustav Klimt Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II $87.9 million Francis Bacon’s Triptych $86.3 million in 2008. Hat tip CNN/Money.com
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The Personal Branding Blog
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Are you Planning Your Job Change Carefully? C-Level Executives Makes Mistakes When Changing Roles
9 Feb 2010 | 9:24 amThis week, I posted an article on my blog, Are you Planning Your Job Change Carefully? C-Level Executives Makes Mistakes When Changing Roles, about the mistakes C-level executives make when looking to leave their company and change jobs. The original HBR article that I cited talks about research that was done with C-level executivesin job search. C-level executives make the following mistakes in job search:1. They do not do their homework.2. They leave for money.3. They run from the pain.4. They have unrealistic expectations and self-awareness.5. They think… -
Wherever. Whatever.
8 Feb 2010 | 7:30 amFor years, it’s been said that the only constant is change, an idea that goes way back to Greek philosopher Heraclitus. And while it may be true that change is always with us, there is a truer idea that has even more relevance to our lives and careers: “No matter where you go, there you are.” The title of a mediation book by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and variously used and attributed as a quote, this idea came to mind, today, as I watched this great video, by William Arruda at personalbranding.TV. Why Personal Branding? from William Arruda on Vimeo. Sure, the opening seconds… -
Start Being Visible and Valuable in One Minute
6 Feb 2010 | 9:25 amTime is a scarcity. We’re moving, receiving, listening, answering and engaging at speeds faster than ever before. Have you ever watched a video longer than one minute and become impatient? Proof positive that we must accelerate to even participate!The Value of One MinuteTo realizeThe value of one minute:Ask a personWho has missed the train, bus or plane.In less than one minute, we make a lasting first impression. The AICI (Association of Image Consultants International) publishes that it happens in the first 7 to 15 seconds. We make judgments on… -
Strong Brands Are So Resilient
28 Jan 2010 | 9:41 amWhen I was enrolled in numerous Reach certification training courses, Kirsten Dixon and William Arruda always would emphasize how strong brands would be able to charge more for their products and services and also survive economic downturns. During the past 18 months, as the economy has tanked, I have repeatedly watched Apple Computer not only thrive but soar in revenues and profits. This week, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Demand for Macs, iPhones Fuels Apple: Quarterly Profit and Revenue Surge: Steve Jobs Touts Upcoming Device a Major New Product.”How is that… -
Credibility and Profitability Start with Visibility
23 Jan 2010 | 6:26 amClassy. Conan O’Brien’s final evening with NBC he spoke directly to the audience sharing with them that on this last night he could speak in whatever manner he wanted to about the network with no ramifications. After the last show, he was then in a legal agreement to not say any disparaging remarks about the network. He literally had a “get out of jail free” card to say whatever nasty, anger felt, ugly remark he wanted to say about the network and this huge debacle they created.Instead, he shared how he had spent most of his adult working life with the network. From…
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Brandweek - News and Features
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DeBeers Spreads Love in Valentine's Day Promo
9 Feb 2010 | 9:56 amDiamond retailer debuts site asking consumers to 'drop everything for love.' -
Dove Super Bowl Spot Scores Initial Points With Men
9 Feb 2010 | 5:31 amIndustry experts say Unilever's effort to extend the beauty brand to male consumers was the right move. -
Doritos Wins Super Bowl Web Buzz Battle
8 Feb 2010 | 9:42 amFrom tweets to texts, consumers weighed in on which ads were the best. -
Display Ads Aim for a Banner Year
8 Feb 2010 | 9:37 amCan new developments in real-time bidding give search a run for its money? -
New Hormel Campaign Beefs Up Portfolio Strength
8 Feb 2010 | 6:01 amThe effort, tagged 'Life Better Served,' introduces consumers to a variety of meal options.
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Twitter: The Economist
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TheEconomist: New blog: Let’s scream at each other about health reform http://bit.ly/crTgl1 #economist
9 Feb 2010 | 1:35 pmTheEconomist: New blog: Let’s scream at each other about health reform http://bit.ly/crTgl1 #economist -
TheEconomist: New article: Sri Lanka’s clumsy government cracks down anew on its opponentsNOT co.. http://bit.ly/cO1gpG #economist
9 Feb 2010 | 10:12 amTheEconomist: New article: Sri Lanka’s clumsy government cracks down anew on its opponentsNOT co.. http://bit.ly/cO1gpG #economist -
TheEconomist: Trouble at the top http://bit.ly/dANJ32 #economist
9 Feb 2010 | 9:21 amTheEconomist: Trouble at the top http://bit.ly/dANJ32 #economist -
TheEconomist: New article: More recalls deliver further blows to Toyota’s battered reputationANN.. http://bit.ly/9BcGI4 #economist
9 Feb 2010 | 7:13 amTheEconomist: New article: More recalls deliver further blows to Toyota’s battered reputationANN.. http://bit.ly/9BcGI4 #economist -
TheEconomist: New article: More recalls deliver further blows to Toyota’s battered reputation http://bit.ly/9mcw2V #economist #toyota #Prius
9 Feb 2010 | 5:56 amTheEconomist: New article: More recalls deliver further blows to Toyota’s battered reputation http://bit.ly/9mcw2V #economist #toyota #Prius
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NYT > Business
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Square Feet: Learning to Live Without Walls
9 Feb 2010 | 12:25 pmGrey dispensed with almost all private offices and hired a workplace psychologist to help employees adjust. -
Opel’s Strategy Has Fewer Jobs and Less Capacity
9 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pmOpel, G.M.’s European unit, says it plan to become profitable by 2012 by cutting its work force by 8,300 while introducing many new models. -
Square Feet: New Jersey, Home of the Servers
9 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pmCommercial real estate is experiencing a boom in data center construction, especially in New Jersey, thanks to its proximity to New York’s financial companies. -
Stocks Rally on Hopes of Greek Bailout
9 Feb 2010 | 12:05 pmStocks climbed on hopes that European officials would move to rescue Greece from its debt troubles. -
China Overtakes Germany as Top Exporter
9 Feb 2010 | 11:58 amChinese exports amounted to $1.2 trillion in 2009, while German exports totaled $1.1 trillion, or 797 billion, the German Federal Statistical Office said.
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Economy Watch
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What you need to know about Toyota, Lexus recalls
9 Feb 2010 | 11:29 amIt may seem like every Toyota ever made is under some form of recall or investigation, but that's not quite the case. Here is what you need to know if you are a Toyota or Lexus owner. -- The first thing: If you have any doubt about your Toyota or Lexus vehicle, contact your dealer. -- Also, and this should go without saying: If you receive a recall notice, take your car to your dealer as soon as possible. -- In September of last year, Toyota recalled the following vehicles for potential floor mat entrapment of the gas pedal (Total of 3.8 million vehicles.): 2005-2010 Avalon 2007-2010 Camry… -
U.S. govt. looks at Toyota Corolla steering complaints
9 Feb 2010 | 9:16 amThe Transportation Department now says that it is looking into more than 80 complaints it has received from owners of the 2009-2010 Toyota Corolla about the vehicle's steering. The latest image hit to the Japanese auto giant comes on the same day that the company said it will recall some 400,000 hybrids -- including its high-profile Prius -- to fix driving complaints about squishy-feeling brakes. According to the complaints filed at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Corollas can veer left or right at highway speeds. "I purchased [a] 2010 Toyota Corolla in November of… -
U.S. government reaction to third Toyota recall
9 Feb 2010 | 8:22 amToyota issued a global recall of its 2010 Prius this morning during a marathon, emotional news conference featuring company President Akio Toyoda, the company founder's grandson. The recall ropes in 223,000 hybrids sold in Japan, along with 133,000 Priuses and 14,500 Lexus HS250h vehicles in the United States. The problem with the hybrids is communication between their electronic and hydraulic braking systems. Sometimes when one switches over to the other, the brakes can feel squishy. However, Toyota is also recalling some 2010 Camrys with an altogether different braking problem: leaking… -
Stocks rebound at opening
9 Feb 2010 | 7:03 amWall Street rebounded at opening today on speculation that debt-troubled Greece will get some help from its neighbors and some strong reports from U.S. economic stalwarts McDonald's and Coke. In the first 20 minutes of trading, the Dow is up 1.2 percent. The broader S&P 500 is up 1.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 1 percent. In other news this morning, Toyota finally pulled the trigger on its global Prius recall, saying it wold call back some 400,000 of the high-profile hybrids to fix driver concerns about squishy-feeling brakes. Follow me on Twitter at @theticker -
Toyota will recall hybrids in Japan for braking problems
8 Feb 2010 | 9:05 pmUPDATED at 12:05 a.m. Struggling Japanese auto giant Toyota is recalling the 2010 Priuses in Japan because of braking problems, following a government-ordered investigation of the brakes. No word yet on a recall for Priuses sold in the United States, where owners have filed more than than 100 complaints that the high-profile hybrid's brakes can feel squishy when braking is applied on bumpy roads, the company said moments ago. Toyotal also is recalling the Lexus HS 250h sedan, the upscale version of the Prius, and the Sai, which is sold only in Japan. Toyota president Akio Toyoda will hold a…
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Economic Policy Institute
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Number of job seekers per job opening remains high in December
9 Feb 2010 | 8:34 am -
Unemployment drops to 9.7% despite more job losses
5 Feb 2010 | 9:35 am -
Unemployment rate drops to 9.7% despite more job losses
5 Feb 2010 | 6:24 am -
Jobs and Wages Tax Cut Should be Part of a New Jobs Package
4 Feb 2010 | 8:28 am -
Immigration helps boost relative wages of U.S.-born workers at all levels of education
4 Feb 2010 | 6:13 am
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Vox (EU)
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Effects of unemployment insurance savings accounts: New insights from Chile
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmGonzalo Reyes, Jan van Ours, Milan Vodopivec, 9 February 2010How can policymakers provide unemployment insurance while minimising adverse incentives? This column presents new evidence from Chile suggesting unemployment insurance savings accounts can increase job-finding rates. This provides a strong endorsement of the savings account component to reform traditional unemployment insurance programmes.Full Article: Effects of unemployment insurance savings accounts: New insights from Chile -
The Eurozone debt crisis: Facts and myths
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmCharles Wyplosz, 9 February 2010The latest turn in the global financial crisis has ensnared the debt of some European nations. The fact that these nations are members of a monetary union has generated much confused comment. Here one the world’s leading experts on Eurozone monetary and financial matters sets the record straight, debunking 10 myths and setting forth 10 frequently overlooked facts. Full Article: The Eurozone debt crisis: Facts and myths -
How disciplining China could save the WTO
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmSusan Ariel Aaronson, 9 February 2010Is the WTO doomed? This column argues that the WTO’s credibility is waning and that to get it back it needs to reign in China’s erratic governance. China’s failure to enforce trade laws threatens the concept of mutual benefit that underpins the WTO. China is broken, and a broken China could break the WTO.Full Article: How disciplining China could save the WTO -
Anatomy of distress: New insight on the probability of bank turmoil
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmMartin Cihák, Tigran Poghosyan, 8 February 2010How safe are the banks? This column provides new evidence on what determines the likelihood of an EU bank experiencing distress, suggesting that bank risks have converged across EU members, and that a more tightly integrated financial regulation should reflect this. The results also call for a greater role for market discipline. Full Article: Anatomy of distress: New insight on the probability of bank turmoil -
Tax banks to discourage systemic-risk creation, not to fund bailouts
6 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmEnrico Perotti, 7 February 2010Obama’s plans for bank taxation took markets, policymakers, and academics by surprise, leaving all parties now debating its merits. This column suggests an alternative. By raising a Pigouvian tax based on banks’ individual contribution to systemic-risk creation, the policy would target the externality caused by funding fragility while raising the cost of opportunistic risk creation in good times.Full Article: Tax banks to discourage systemic-risk creation, not to fund bailouts
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Financial Times: Undercover Economist
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Paying kids for performance works after all
9 Feb 2010 | 6:59 amSome psychologists argue that it is damaging to pay children for academic performance: Barry Schwartz once attacked a New York schools pilot scheme designed by Roland Fryer with that aim in mind. (If you read to the end of Schwartz’s piece, in which he cites a couple of experiments and hammers economists for their “assumptions”, [...] -
A marginal victory for the well-meaning environmentalist
5 Feb 2010 | 5:06 pmAt the risk of turning this column into “The Undercover Environmentalist”, I need to return to that vexed question of carbon dioxide emissions. In my first column of the year, I vowed to reduce my carbon footprint from air travel – easy enough, given that it was 50 tonnes of CO2 last year. A kind [...] -
Dear Economist: How can we stop our child buying sweets?
5 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pmWhen my daughter reached the age of six, my wife and I decided to give her a small amount of pocket money. However, access to money of her own would allow her to buy herself large quantities of sweeties. So instead of giving her cash in hand we keep track of the money she’s accumulated, [...] -
No yolking matter
2 Feb 2010 | 4:37 amIt’s always the little problems that create the biggest fuss, but in this case the Today programme’s debate on the chances of a carton of eggs all containing double yolks was unexpectedly illuminating. Here’s the story. At about half past six, Sarah Montague and John Humphrys were debating the merits of a Daily Mail story which [...] -
Opportunity costs, a continuing series
1 Feb 2010 | 11:35 pmI have been reading The Fourth Star by David Cloud and Greg Jaffe, two Pentagon correspondents. It’s a biography of four four-star generals, which then morphs into a history of the war in Iraq. An excellent read and a good companion to Tom Ricks’s books about Iraq, with less recent detail but a longer and [...]
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Statistical Modeling
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If I had known it was harmless I would've killed it myself
9 Feb 2010 | 11:30 amA coauthor and I just recently submitted a revision of our manuscript to a journal. If we'd known it was going to be so much work, we probably never would've written the paper in the first place. . . . It's a surprising amount of work between idea and execution (even forgetting about issues such as writing the letter in response to the referee reports). And, actually, this particular review process was very easy, as such things go. Still a lot of effort, though. It reminds me that being able to something once is a lot less than describing a method clearly and in appropriate generality. -
Get off that goddam cell phone!
9 Feb 2010 | 8:03 amMark Glaser writes an interesting but confusing article about a journalism class at NYU where students aren't allowed to blog or twitter about the class content: After New York University journalism student Alana Taylor wrote her first embed report for MediaShift on September 5, it didn't take long for her scathing criticism of NYU to spread around the web and stir conversations. . . . By Taylor's account, [journalism professor Mary] Quigley had a one-on-one meeting with Taylor to discuss the article, and Quigley made it clear that Taylor was not to blog, Twitter or write about the class… -
When the log scale meets the linear scale
8 Feb 2010 | 11:54 amAfter writing this, I scrolled down Ben Casnocha's blog and read a few more entries and came to this discussion of Nassim Taleb. Casnocha writes: At the bottom of Taleb's homepage he posts his email address and invites readers to contact him. With some qualifications: Concise messages are much preferable (say a maximum < 40 words) as I will not be able to read long letters. Please do not 1) send me your papers or other "interesting material" to read, 2) ask finance questions (not my specialty, 3) make me to rewrite sections of my books (I write books, not emails), 4) ask for a list of "other… -
Krzysztof Burdzy replies to the reviews of Christian Robert and myself
8 Feb 2010 | 10:22 amLast week, Christian Robert and I separately reviewed Krzysztof Burdzy's book, The Search for Certainty, which I characterized as a harmless if misleading discussion of the philosophy of probability. Burdzy sent us his reply, which I will post below, followed by my comments. I am omitting some parts of Burdzy's comments that are specifc to Christian's review and not of general interest. Dear Professors Gelman and Robert, First of all, thank you for reading my book. I will refer to [your] reviews as [CR] and [AG]. I will refer to my book as [KB]. Since I referred to the foundations of… -
Blog style
7 Feb 2010 | 11:21 amI followed this link from Tyler Cowen to "Ben Casnocha on Chile" and found . . . a long blog entry that was exactly in the style of Tyler Cowen! I wonder if Cowen realized this when he linked to it. Probably not: just as we don't notice our own strong smells (or so I've been told), it's probably also hard for anyone to notice an imitation of one's own style. I do wonder whether Casnocha was imitating Cowen on purpose--not such a bad idea when blogging to imitate a master, just as short-story writers continue to imitate John Updike. Personally, I'm sick and tired of book and movie reviewers…
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Marginal Revolution
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Surrogates
9 Feb 2010 | 10:17 amSurrogates, the Bruce Willis movie, disappeared quickly but it was better than I expected, a B- (perhaps they should have called it Avatars). Worth a Netflix rental if you enjoy science fiction. Having said that, what I most liked about Surrogates was that it's clear exactly where it went wrong. What follows has no spoilers but it won't make a lot of sense unless you have seen the movie.In the final second of the climax the key choice of the hero is revealed, even though the plot in no way requires this revelation. It would have been far better to have left… -
"Economists have no clothes"
9 Feb 2010 | 7:29 amThat's the title of a new, short essay by James M. Buchanan. Excerpt: Economists do not really understand what they are doing as they seem forced to make efforts to control aggregate variables that are not controllable in any direct sense. For example, the rate of employment (or unemployment) cannot readily be shifted by governmental mandate. At best, small and peripheral changes may be made while the emergent aggregate generated by the working of the large and complex economy remains stubbornly immune, or worse, to wrongly conceived reform efforts. Hat tip goes to BookForum. -
Derivatives are often disguised debt transactions
9 Feb 2010 | 5:50 amFelix Salmon points us to this new Der Spiegel article: Now, though, it looks like the Greek figure jugglers have been even more brazen than was previously thought. "Around 2002 in particular, various investment banks offered complex financial products with which governments could push part of their liabilities into the future," one insider recalled, adding that Mediterranean countries had snapped up such products. Greece's debt managers agreed a huge deal with the savvy bankers of US investment bank Goldman Sachs at the start of 2002. The deal involved so-called cross-currency… -
The last words of Socrates (according to Plato)
9 Feb 2010 | 4:59 amShortly before dying, Socrates spoke his last words to Crito saying, "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Here is one relevant link. -
Sentence of the Day
9 Feb 2010 | 4:17 amWhy raise the cigarette tax when you can just tax breathing? So asks Andrew Samwick in an effort to explain the illogic behind replacing a tax on gas with a tax on miles driven.
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Twitter: Freakonomics
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freakonomics: Change Happens: We tend to think of recent technological change as a complex process involving huge amounts of cap... http://bit.ly/9d3yay
9 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pmfreakonomics: Change Happens: We tend to think of recent technological change as a complex process involving huge amounts of cap... http://bit.ly/9d3yay -
freakonomics: In Relationships, Are Men in the Driver's Seat?: In the past, I've written on matters of high import for the futur... http://bit.ly/atstLN
9 Feb 2010 | 10:31 amfreakonomics: In Relationships, Are Men in the Driver's Seat?: In the past, I've written on matters of high import for the futur... http://bit.ly/atstLN -
freakonomics: Freakonomics Radio: What Keeps Glenn Beck Up at Night?: A few weeks back, I was a guest on Glenn Beck's radio show... http://bit.ly/bVtvil
9 Feb 2010 | 8:32 amfreakonomics: Freakonomics Radio: What Keeps Glenn Beck Up at Night?: A few weeks back, I was a guest on Glenn Beck's radio show... http://bit.ly/bVtvil -
freakonomics: Plan Colombia: A $5 Billion Failure?: The U.S. has spent more than $5 billion on military and anti-narcotics aid f... http://bit.ly/9dVY69
9 Feb 2010 | 7:46 amfreakonomics: Plan Colombia: A $5 Billion Failure?: The U.S. has spent more than $5 billion on military and anti-narcotics aid f... http://bit.ly/9dVY69 -
freakonomics: Freakonomics Radio: a new podcast now available on iTunes ( http://is.gd/7WoLc ) and RSS ( http://is.gd/7WpAx ). Thanks for listening!
8 Feb 2010 | 1:35 pmfreakonomics: Freakonomics Radio: a new podcast now available on iTunes ( http://is.gd/7WoLc ) and RSS ( http://is.gd/7WpAx ). Thanks for listening!
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naked capitalism
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Links 2/9/10
8 Feb 2010 | 11:51 pm‘Boredom can kill you’ ANI Genes reveal ‘biological ageing’ BBC Re-Engineering the Human Immune System h+ (hat tip reader David C) Sahara Desert Greening Due to Climate Change? National Geographic (hat tip reader Diane R) Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything PhysOrg (hat tip reader Nick) Sarah Palin caught cheating, proving to the world once again she’s a colossal IDIOT! Zeitgeist Watch (hat tip reader John L) Unaccountable America Archein Traders make $8bn bet against euro Financial Times The Option of Last Resort: A Two-Currency EMU RGE… -
Head of BIS Calls for Bigger Liquidity Buffers
8 Feb 2010 | 10:43 pmRegulators have been making a concerted push for banks to hold more equity as a protection against loss and overly-optimistic valuation of trading assets. But the head of the Bank of International Settlements, Jamie Caruna, argued at a secret (not) central bankers’ conference in Sydney that banks also need to carry more in the way of liquid assets (note that this recommendation apparently came in the form of a paper, but we can find no such document at this hour at the BIS website). Caruna recommended that banks hold enough to allow them to survive a month without access to funding. -
Guest Post: “More Empires Have Fallen Because Of Reckless Finances Than Invasion”
8 Feb 2010 | 9:12 pmWhile Eric Margolis’ entire comment in the Toronto Sun is a must-read, the following two quotes really hit the nail on the head: More empires have fallen because of reckless finances than invasion… If Obama really were serious about restoring America’s economic health, he would demand military spending be slashed, quickly end the Iraq and Afghan wars and break up the nation’s giant Frankenbanks. Margolis is right. As I have repeatedly shown, war is bad for the economy. According to a Nobel prize-winning economist, the head of JP Morgan and others, the Iraq war and the war on… -
Questions about the coming wave of second mortgage writedowns
8 Feb 2010 | 11:26 amBy Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns In the lead-up to the credit crisis, I really didn’t write a considerable amount about second mortgages despite my focus on credit writedowns. At that time, I was more focused on writedowns from securitized mortgage paper (and later construction loans and commercial real estate because of the stress these loan types put on regional financials). However, second liens are a very big deal and I believe they will loom that much larger in 2010 because of the rise in strategic defaults in prime and Alt-A categories. When the crisis first developed, in… -
Links 2/8/10
8 Feb 2010 | 3:14 amGalapagos sea lions head for warm Peru waters BBC (hat tip reader Steven L) Pratap Chatterjee, Destabilizing Pakistan TomDispatch Secret summit of top bankers News.com.au Europe needs to show it has a crisis endgame Wolfgang Munchau Financial Times Employers set to keep squeezing pay Independent Irked, Wall St. Hedges Its Bet on Democrats New York Times. Some one needs to break these guys. The SWIFT Battle Heats Up FireDogLake (hat tip reader Michael T) Let’s Atomize Wall Street Martin Hutchinson, Prudent Bear Super-wealthy investors move billions out of Greece Guardian Flatlhead Matt…
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drupal.org
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The Drupal.org Redesign Progress
3 Feb 2010 | 3:12 pmJust a few years ago Drupal.org was maintained by a small team of insiders. Now, we are making major changes to the site using the community's many developers and themers. This update provides the Drupal community our implementation redesign progress, where we've run into challenges, and provide information about our future plans. The following update provides insight into: Our progress so far The present focus of the implementation and management team Where help is needed from the community 1. A Redesign Progress Report The Drupal.org redesign is an effort started in 2007 to make Drupal.org… -
DP Bestflow: The Definitive Online Guide to Digital Photography
26 Jan 2010 | 6:32 amAfter a highly successful Drupal deployment for the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) national website, the ASMP decided to again use Drupal for their next project: Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow, or dpBestflow for short. DP Bestflow is a Library of Congress-funded initiative to provide an all-encompassing resource for digital photography best practices. The ASMP once again teamed up with Chicago's Grillo Group for graphic design, and Philadelphia-based web development firm Context to perform the Drupal implementation. The most impressive part of the site,… -
Automated testing 2.1 deployed - contributed projects
22 Jan 2010 | 6:30 pmAfter a lot of work, waiting, staging, and such I am proud to announce the addition of contributed projects to the automated testing system. Contributed projects may now take advantage of the same system that Drupal core developers have been using for over a year with great success. The deployment comes quickly after the recent 2.0 launch in late November of 2009. In addition to adding support for contributed project testing a number of other features have been added, most notably: Coder and Coder Tough Love review support. General e-mail notifications - the devlist mailing list will get an… -
DrupalCon SF Session Submissions Open
21 Jan 2010 | 8:22 pmThe San Francisco DrupalCon organizing committee is happy to announce that session submissions are open! Come see the sessions that have already been proposed, and if you can't find exactly what you're looking for, suggest your own. Drupal's community is what sets it apart from the pack, so come be a part of the magic! The session submission and voting schedule is: January 15, 2010 to February 15, 2010 - Session Submissions Open February 16, 2010 - March 1, 2010 - Public Voting on Sessions March 5, 2010 - Speakers Notified March 15, 2010 - Final Schedule Posted read more -
SharkScopers
21 Jan 2010 | 8:26 amSharkScopers is a Drupal 6 site that allows online poker instructors to sell screencast tutorial videos. The first two minutes can be viewed by anyone. Users can purchase credits that unlock whole videos. Instructors then receive a cut of the profit. Jonathan Brown from Blue Droplet Media in Edinburgh, Scotland, has been helping Mike Jonas from SharkScope in New York develop the site for more than a year. It uses Jonathan's Blue Droplet Video module extensively. Mike had done a lot of research into what system should be used to build the site. His primary motivation for choosing Drupal was so…
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PHPBuilder.com New Articles
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Mitigate the Security Risks of PHP System Command Execution
Learn how the security-conscious ways to integrate your PHP-driven web sites with the underlying ope ... -
Compose a MVC Paradigm for PHP with Symfony
Learn how, using the Symfony framework, you can simulate the MVC paradigm for PHP. ... -
Build a PHP Link Scraper with cURL
Use cURL and PHP to build a robot that scrapes links from web pages and dumps them in a database. Ju ... -
PHP Module Programming with OXID eShop CE
Learn the fundamental principles of PHP module development with a working example of using a custom ... -
Create a CAPTCHA Script with PHP
Create your own simple CAPTCHA with PHP to protect your site from spammers and bots. ...
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ProBlogger Blog Tips
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Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block
9 Feb 2010 | 11:24 amAnd now for a guest post with a difference from Cartoonist Mark Anderson from Andertoons.com who created this comic to illustrate the writing techniques he uses to create his cartoons, and how they can help bloggers push through writer’s block. Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block Share This -
Have a 37 Minute Coffee Break with Me [Audio Interview]
9 Feb 2010 | 5:43 amIf you have a spare 37 minutes today to grab a coffee with me (or at least are doing something that will allow you to listen to something for 37 minutes in the background) check out this interview I did with Robb Sutton late last week. Robb’s also transcribed it for those who prefer to read. In the interview Rob asks me about a whole range of stuff including: my background in blogging my philosophy on lots of sites vs focusing upon a single (or just a few) sites the process of going full time (and my wife’s six month ultimatum) my shift in focus to e-books and membership sites a… -
What Is Your Blogging Goal for February?
8 Feb 2010 | 6:22 amA few days back I asked readers a question: What Have You Been Putting Off and What’s Holding You Back? Some of the responses to the question in comments (and via email and Twitter) revealed a lot of bloggers really wanting to step things up and get what they’ve been putting off done. So – lets set some goals – what do you want to achieve by the end of February? I’m not going to be calling you up to check up to see if you’re meeting your goals – but hopefully in putting them down publicly you’ll find yourself a little more spurred on to reach… -
9 Tricks I Used To Triple My AdSense Earnings In 30 Days
7 Feb 2010 | 6:34 amGuest post by Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips. I have been using Google AdSense to monetize my blogs and websites for as long as I remember. In fact it was the first method I ever tried (I made a whooping $15 on my first month… back in 2005). Over the years I migrated to other methods (e.g., direct sponsors and affiliate marketing), which made AdSense become merely an inventory filler. I was still making around $1,000 monthly from it, but whenever I could I would use other methods over it. Then some months ago I started noticing an upward trend on the CPC of my sites, and I figured that… -
How I Got Some Paying Sponsors Without Really Meaning To
6 Feb 2010 | 6:21 amA guest post by Josh Hanagarne. World’s Strongest Librarian was about four months old when I got interested in sponsors. I’d read the articles about how to do it, and none of them sounded that plausible for me and my situation. For one, my traffic wasn’t impressive, certainly not to the point where sponsors were approaching me. And, while my blog has become slightly more focused in its first ten months, it wasn’t targeted at any group of readers in particular, so I wasn’t sure how confident niche advertisers would be. It’s a little more focused now, but I can’t really think of a…
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Business Blogs: How to Build A Better Blog
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Business Blog Review - Chronic Illness Coach Blog
9 Feb 2010 | 8:31 amA couple of weeks ago I announced that I would pick 2-3 blogs to do quickie blog reviews - a 5-10 minute screencast video to point out a few things bloggers can do to boost the effectivness of their blogs.I got over 130 entries! As much as I would like to, I just didn't have time to look at every blog that was submitted to decide which to choose. I had my VA create a spreadsheet with all the names and blog URLs and then I used random.org to choose 3 numbers. The winners have to agree to let me post the reviews publicly, here on this blog and on video distribution sites like YouTube and Vimeo,… -
Without Traffic Your Content Doesn't Get Read
7 Feb 2010 | 1:39 pmHow to drive traffic to your blog or web site is a hot, hot, hot topic. It goes without saying that if you don't have traffic, your content, no matter how great, is invisible so whether you want organic traffic from search engine results or you want traffic from social networks, you must actively work to get it and there are many tactics you can implement. At the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing Systems workshop, I shared the stage with Willie Crawford and we did a session on tips and tricks for driving traffic. Willie is a master and shared how he repurposes his articles in numerous ways. … -
21 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog or Website
3 Feb 2010 | 9:36 amAt the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing System event, I had the honor of sharing the stage with the amazing Willie Crawford, a legend in the Internet Marketing world. We did an informal presentation about how to drive more traffic to your sites. While Willie was doing a presentation on list building, I made a quick list of 21 ways to drive traffic. We used my list as a starting point and had a great discussion that went nearly 90 minutes (you can get the audio of this session and all the other awesome speakers for only $97). After the presentation, the audience asked for my list. Since it… -
14 Mistakes Many Business Bloggers Make
29 Jan 2010 | 8:01 amWhen I do one on one business blog reviews, I almost always find the same problems. On Sunday I'll be doing blogging hot seat reviews at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System workshop. Here's a list of a few things I'll be looking for when I do the reviews. Study the list and then take a look at your blog. Are you making these mistakes?Are you making these mistakes on your business blog?Content1. Not posting frequently enough.2. Content is not focused or optimized for the search engines.3. Articles are too long. (I know I said there are no rules, and you have to take online reader behavior… -
Blogging Hot Seat - Submit Your Blog for A Quickie Blog Review
26 Jan 2010 | 9:57 amWant to sit on the blogging hot seat? I'm prepping for my business blogging presentation at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System event on Sunday. First I'm giving a presentation about blogging, then I'm conducting a one hour blogging hot seat where I will review 2-3 blogs (22 blogs were submitted for consideration by the participants!) and demonstrate how they can be improved and what makes an effective, optimized blog. You'll be able to "watch" vicariously if you follow the #NAMS twitter stream 10 am - 1 pm ET. Then I got an idea (actually it was inspired by a conversation with my colleague…
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Blog For Profit
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The Lazy Woman’s Guide to Posts
9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amI have a confession to make: I’m incredibly lazy. If you follow me around the intertubes this may surprise you: I post daily on my website, contribute robustly on three forums, and twitter all the live long day. So how do I do it? My key to action: no-one’s too lazy to do something fun. So how do you make writing posts fun? Write on a topic you’re passionate about Review a product you love Interview someone cool Run an experiment Answer a question from a commenter you like Make the abstract into concrete (I once explained how domain names work with hand puppets.) Write… -
Boomers and Social Media – Are you where your potential customers are?
3 Feb 2010 | 8:24 amFacebook took over as the leading social network for baby boomers in 2009, growing 106% to nearly 22.6 million users. MySpace saw a 40% decline in boomers during the same period, to 9.7 million, and Twitter visitors increased 714%, to 4.2 million. LinkedIn, a business site that has seen traffic rise during the economic recession, ranked third among boomer networkers at 6.8 million. Exclusive for subscribers! Download Blogging Tips To Help You Blog Copyright © 2010 Blog For Profit. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator,… -
War of the Words: The Ethics of Ghost Blogging
2 Feb 2010 | 9:27 amWhen Grant asked a week ago if I would write a post about the pros and cons of legal ghost blogging the prospect seemed a lot simpler than it does today. With heated discussions about the ethics of ghost blogging currently taking place on other blogs right now, the topic now seems heavy with significance. In actuality the ethics of ghost blogging has always been heavy with significance, and always will be; this is because “the ethics of ghost blogging” is not just about ghost blogging—and not just about blogging—but about ethics in general. It is also about the wider issue of the… -
How to stop feeling like a small fish
1 Feb 2010 | 7:07 amGuest post from Mariam Cisse: When I started blogging a few months ago, I was idealizing all the “big fishes” like Grant, Darren, Yaro or John. I wanted to become one of them, too. That’s what probably the most bloggers have in mind, when they start a blog. By being hypnotized by their success – which was my dream – I began to blog about the same things they were blogging about. So I probably had an ordinary “me too” blog. Fact is that I had no idea of what I was talking about. Fact is that as a few days had passed, I realized that I was only a small fish in the big… -
Five Ways to Recycle Your Old Blog Content
30 Jan 2010 | 6:00 amSome bloggers say the average lifespan of a blog post is 90 days. I disagree. I see the average lifespan of a blog post to be no more then 30 days. Usually, once the post is off the “front page” of your blog and buried in the archives, it stays there. What we have to do as bloggers is find a way to bring these post to the attention of our readers and potential readers. This is also why we have to write on a regular basis “evergreen” content or “pillar” content. Content which is just so damn good people keep reading it. We also need to take steps to make…
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Entrepreneur
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Dirty Jobs: the Secret to Success in 2010
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmIf you're searching for a recession-proof franchise, consider getting into the business of 'dirty jobs.' -
Don't File for that Patent Yet
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmInstead of a utility patent, a provisional patent or a trademark could be a better first step. -
Focus on 'User Experience Optimization'
4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmDriving traffic to your homepage is important, but making the destination worthwhile is vital. -
Which Features Should Your Website Have?
4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmIf you're taking things up a notch, consider these factors. -
Soup Up Your Social Sales Channels
4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmIf you make time for it and know your stuff, you can chat your way to more Web traffic.
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Bootstrapping
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Building on strengths or fixing weaknesses?
31 Jan 2010 | 4:35 pmWhen we start off in business, we often do so because we have a great strength. Whether, you’re a terrific salesperson or an intrepid designer, your strength is the vehicle to make you money. Unfortunately, it only takes about a week into your business when you realize what you do poorly. This can be customer relations, accounting, or…well, practically anything and everything that can go wrong when it comes to running a bootstrapped business. So what do you do? You only have so much time and effort, so do you build on strengths or fix weaknesses? A little perspective: Almost everybody… -
Can Diet Improve My Business?
22 Oct 2009 | 4:15 amFor many people who run businesses that are located in offices, their bodies don’t seem like vital investments. Sure, if you were a cook or a construction worker, your physical wellbeing might be something you invested in. After all, it’s the only way to make money. But office workers tend to think that they only need their thinking, which doesn’t depend on physical wellbeing, right? Wrong! How you take care of your body is vital to how well you can work; whether you crush rocks or philosophize. One place to really make this happen is with your diet. It might seem odd…can diet improve… -
10 Ways to Improve Workflow
19 Oct 2009 | 4:44 amWhatever your job is, when you sit down to do it, often the task at hand can distract you from the importance of the way you do it. If you’re a small business owner or otherwise, you’ll want to save yourself small bits of time that can otherwise add up to entire days of extra work performed. Here are 10 ways to improve workflow. Think mise en place, or everything in its place. This idea is popular among professional chefs. Basically put, make sure your work space is organized with everything in easy reach and nothing in the way. Your computer desktop is still a desktop. Clean your… -
Submission Doesn’t Always Mean Obedience
15 Oct 2009 | 5:37 amHow Article submission Can Create Business Stating that the Web has forever changed business is a massive understatement. The amount of customers available to a business like yours has exploded with people from all over the world able to access your products any time of day. However, every business is taking advantage of this new market and crowding has become a significant problem for businesses trying to stand out in search engine listings and against other competitors selling similar products. Though it may seem like spending loads of money on advertising is the only way to really get… -
Marketing Campaigns for Under $100
12 Oct 2009 | 4:21 amToday’s businesses suffer from one giant dilemma—they need to reach more customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace and they also have tight budgets that demand results. It doesn’t take much thinking to realize that this is a huge problem for many businesses. In an ideal world, you could just throw unlimited amounts of money into your marketing budget, yet this isn’t possible. When money is abundant, businesses tend to make choices that aren’t as effective or pragmatic. In this way, a tight budget may be beneficial in helping you create a concise marketing plan that…
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Start A Business with Startup Daddy: Home Based Business Development
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SD 16 | From Idea To Company In 7 Days
22 Jan 2010 | 6:00 amIn this episode of Startup Daddy I talk about my new company, Memory Deck. I hope that by talking about the process I’m going through as I start this new company, you will see that you can do it too. While my partner and I have been researching and planning this for months, when it came time to create the company and form the LLC, we got the whole process done in a week. Yes, I filled out the application at LegalZoom, and seven days later we had a company with a business checking account, and we were on our way. I’m not smarter than you. You can do this. Download the Mp3 -
I Wrote On Dad-O-Matic Today About Talking To My Daughter About Haiti
20 Jan 2010 | 12:10 pmI wrote a post for Dad-O-Matic about talking to our 6 year old about the earthquake in Haiti, and all of the horrific images she catches on TV now and then. It’s never easy to talk to your kids about death and tragedy but it’s important. It’s not the usual business fair, but you can read it here. -
I’m Taking A Mulligan For 2009
14 Jan 2010 | 8:34 amI’m taking a mulligan for 2009. In golf, a mulligan is when you hit the ball poorly, into the woods or a lake, or five feet in front of you, and you want a do over. I know a lot about mulligans. I was inspired by CC Chapman, who had a bad week, and called a mulligan. If you haven’t heard CC Chapman’s podcast Managing the Gray, you should really check it out. Anyway, I thought this was a fantastic idea. I want to take it a few steps farther though, and call a mulligan for all of 2009. Like a lot of people, 2009 was a particularly hard year for me. Now A LOT of… -
Why The Google Announcement About China Is A Really Big Deal
12 Jan 2010 | 6:50 pmGoogle made a huge announcement today. Essentially, because of an attempt by the Chinese Government to hack the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google has made a decision that will likely lead to their leaving China. In 2006, in order to make the deal in China, Google agreed to censor some search results. They announced today that they are no longer willing to continue censoring results. This is a big deal because it is not often that Corporations the size of Google, with access to the market of markets that China is, decide to give it up because it’s the right thing… -
Some New Year’s Inspiration From Steve Jobs.
4 Jan 2010 | 9:59 amAs this is the beginning of a new year, and I am starting a new venture, I find myself going through a list of inspiring reads and videos I have bookmarked. For my first post of 2010, I want to share a video of Steve Jobs giving the commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. It’s only 14 minutes so if you are not one of the 3 million that have seen it, I suggest you do. He talks about getting fired from Apple at 30, being told cancer was going to kill him within 6 months and how seemingly random things in his life had an impact on future wins when at the time, he of course had no idea…
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Startup Economy
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Thoughts on Winner-Take-All Businesses
25 Jan 2010 | 12:57 pmStartup Boy pointed out in a recent post that consumer internet is increasingly becoming winner-take-all businesses and that every bit of advantage over competitor means you own the market.Though his blog makes a case for why you need to be in Silicon Valley, that got me think about the non-compete agreement prevalent in MA. With the non-compete in place, employees can oly jump over ship to unrelated industry and are forced to forego the relevant experience built over time. This seems to be a big inefficiency in loss of productivity especially in the startup community. What if Google,… -
Can VC and entrepreneurs just get along?
11 Nov 2009 | 11:45 amI've been thinking about the discontent between entrepreneurs and VCs. The story goes like this:Entrepreneur (E), VC (V)E: The venture capital model is dead. I'm working on a hot company that's going to change the world. VCs don't understand my business.V: What's the correlation between dead VC model and your inability to raise VC money? Bring on the VC-fundable idea and team, and we'll write a check.E: We have a target market with no competition and great idea.V: No competition? If it's an attractive market, there's gotta be someone else competing against you in that market. No product? Too… -
Startup vs. Big Company - Politics
10 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.so says Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/politics)Many of us in startups talk about flat organization, no hierarchy, no politics quite often. We tend to believe that bureaucratic organizational structure in big companies is the enemy of all, and that startups are nimble and move faster to adapt to changes to customer demand and market conditions.I recently engaged in a discussion with some friends and talked about the office politics. There were entrereneurs,… -
Future VC Crisis
15 May 2009 | 7:22 amI usually don't pretend to predict the future outcome of industry. I'm often very wrong about the future like many people out there, but what the heck! There will be a VC crisis... at least in the small segment of those affected by the current trends and from pure perspective of financials .It is no secret that the cost of startup decreased dramatically. Paul Graham agrees here, and Prof (via NY Times) has an article here to reinforce the case in point. Wait, didn't I argue for rise of startup cost in the past? Not so fast here. Here's the difference:The cost of starting up a company (e.g. -
Ouch...
21 Apr 2009 | 4:16 amJohn Sculley: Don't Be Afraid to Make Tough DecisionsJohn Sculley says it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do as a CEO: stripping his friend and sponsor, Steve Jobs, of any operating role in the company Jobs had co-founded. Sculley spoke to Inc. in 1987 about what became a very public crisis at Apple Computer, explaining why working with entrepreneurs -- especially those who crave control -- can be trying. "The hardest part of dealing with entrepreneurs is getting them to recognize their own weaknesses. Sometimes they will say they are weak in certain areas, and then try to…
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Golf Digest Latest News
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Game On
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmAfter a year marked by sponsorship issues and turmoil at the top, the LPGA heads into its 60th season with 44-year-old Mike Whan representing a welcome change in style and, hopefully, substance -
Open For Discussion
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmThe tone of the debate over Ping Eye 2s may have become more civil, but the issue is far from over -
Back To Basics
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmNew USGA president Jim Hyler is leading the charge to make brown the new green -
That's The Ticket
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmSteve Stricker moves to No. 2 on the World Ranking with a two-shot win at the Northern Trust Open, a pricey, lightly attended event that competed with Mother Nature and Super Bowl XLIV -
Tips Plus: Jack Nicklaus (March 2010)
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 pmJack's lifetime swing fundamentals: Head position - How you can stay steady and behind the ball.
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Alpine Skiing News
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Ski jumpers struggle to make ends meet
9 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pmNo money, no opening ceremonies and maybe no really meaningful competition. It's not easy being a part of the U.S. Olympic Ski Jumping team. -
Actor Charlie Sheen charged with assaulting wife
9 Feb 2010 | 8:18 amAspen Police mugshot image of Charlie Sheen after he was arrested on domestic assault charges on Christmas Day Actor Charlie Sheen was charged on Tuesday with three crimes including felony menacing stemming from an assault on his wife Brooke Mueller in a heated Christmas Day argument. -
Skiing star Jimmie Heuga dies
9 Feb 2010 | 3:50 amAce skier Jimmie Heuga, a former Olympic bronze medalist and NCAA champion who helped put the U.S. ski team on the map in the 1960s, died Monday in Louisville. -
Seats at premium on planes, trains out of DC
8 Feb 2010 | 11:09 pmA $20 cab ride to the airport skyrocketed to the "snow rate" of $100 in the nation's capital, and those travelers who could get to the airport or train station still had to haggle or wait in long lines to escape the snowbound Mid-Atlantic. The most pressing matter: get out before another foot or more of the white stuff comes Tuesday. -
Olympic skiing star Jimmie Heuga dies in Boulder
8 Feb 2010 | 6:30 pmAce skier Jimmie Heuga, a former Olympic bronze medalist and NCAA champion who helped put the U.S. ski team on the map in the 1960s, died Monday at Boulder Community Hospital.
