Transparent Volatility

That's pride f*cking with you!

2010-06-07T12:58:00.001-05:00

Princeton Football Alumni Game (10th Reunion) from justfndoit on Vimeo.

Gerry Wilson forgot he was 32 years old and decided to lace up the cleats and hit Princeton Stadium one last time.

"That's pride f*cking with you."

Music:
"Light Up" - Drake featuring Jay-Z

Kyle Wilson Highlights vs. Oregon, Sept. 3, 2009

2009-09-11T01:53:00.000-05:00

CBS2 'rollin cribs': tour the Kyle Wilson RU#1 RV

2009-09-07T23:33:00.003-05:00

Kyle Wilson #1 Punt Returner in the Nation

2009-08-24T20:36:00.002-05:00

Kyle Wilson #1 Punt Returner in the Nation from justfndoit on Vimeo.

Video highlights of #1 Kyle Wilson from Boise State University during the 2008 season. KW led the nation in punt return touchdowns scoring 3 TDs in the month of November alone.

After taking over punt return duties for the last 6 games of 2008, Bronco fans are eagerly anticipating an entire season of KW returns. That's if opposing teams are daring enough to kick to him.

D.O.C. [Death of Cornerback]

2009-08-19T00:16:00.004-05:00

D.O.C. [Death of Cornerback] from justfndoit on Vimeo.

Video of #1 Kyle Wilson from Boise State University on the Bronco's Pro Day (May 2, 2009). Video includes full 40 yd dash, broad jumps, L drills, and action from the Blue White Spring Game.

Through his play on the field and verifiable statistics KW shows why he is the most complete athlete at a skill position in college football. D.O.C. is a short documentary exploring the basic requirements necessary to become the nation's top cornerback.

Video responses are welcome. Enjoy.

Boise State Broncos Cornerback Kyle Wilson: A 2010 First-Round Pick? (Vote today!)

2009-05-12T00:54:00.005-05:00

by Lace Banachek @ the Bleacher Report

It appears that Boise State senior cornerback Kyle Wilson’s stock just continues to rise and he hasn’t even begun his senior season.

Not to long ago it was reported that Wilson was sitting at No. 43 of the potential early picks for next year's draft. Thus his senior season would declare just how far he would climb up or fall on that list.

Chad Cripe, sports writer for the Boise Statesmen recently made reference to Wilson being at the 32nd place of the potential first-round picks in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Considering the dire need for safetys and corners (defensive backs) in the NFL, look for Kyle to get snatched up early in next year's NFL draft.

The 6’3", 230 lb Taylor Mays of Southern California is the only viable free safety available next year, all the rest of the secondary athletes are corner backs.

Many expect Mays to go early. As a general rule, quarterbacks are the first to go, and with Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy available, that most likely will not change.

The three senior corner backs that head the list are Kyle Wilson, Boise State (5‘10", 190lb), Trevard Lindley, Kentucky (6'0" 178lb), and Javier Arenas, Alabama (5'9" 198lb).

Lindley and Arenas, the two SEC super corners, are excellent early picks but neither truly compares (at least to date) to Wilson.

Of the two rivals, Lindley comes closest, but Wilson does so much more that he quickly separates himself from Lindley or any other corner. Wilson offers much more than “great coverage skills.”

Kyle tackles (35 tackles, 26 unassisted), break up passes, intercepts (15 defended passes, five intercepts, and 10 breakups), and is a superb special teams player—returning punts (33 punt returns, 470 yards, for an average of 14.2 yards per return).

Add the ability to score touchdowns on those returns and there is one deadly dude. In fact, Kyle Wilson scored three touchdowns last November on punt returns.

Full story here.

Kyle Wilson Pro Day

2009-05-03T02:08:00.003-05:00

I'm an MC

2009-04-13T11:38:00.009-05:00

But this is my art, (art), this is my music
I'm speaking from the heart, hit record and I'll lose it
Bite my tongue for no one, I'll put you on blast
So all the news channels, ya'll can kiss my a$$

And if I dish it, I can take it; fix it, if you break it
Could hit rock bottom and I'm still gonna make it (why?)
Cause I'm a born hustler, natural survivor
Seed of a gangster, I put that on my father

Youtube or Google me, turn it up and play it
Cause many people think it, I just had the balls to say it (what?)
And risk losing everything, I stand for the weak,
Plus I live for my freedom of speech,
Cause........

I'm a lyricist to the death, so I got what you need
Ludacris, I'm the last of a dyin' breed
And we almost extinct, so I'm saying it loud....

MC means move the crowd

Greatest Freestylist of all time?

2009-04-11T08:04:00.003-05:00

Question: Greatest FREESTYLIST of all time:

(A) Christopher Bridges
(B) Cordozar C. Broadus
(C) Dwayne M. Carter
(D) Shawn C. Carter
(E) Rashia Fisher
(F) William M. Griffin
(G) Lauryn N. Hill
(H) Brad Jordan
(I) Marshall B. Mathers
(J) Reginald Noble
(K) Christopher G. Wallace
(L) Germaine Williams
(M) Other (please supply government name)

Don't get mad if you're favorite rapper isn't on the list.
Also, please rank!

Just FN Do It

2009-03-05T16:11:00.007-05:00

The BCS is WAC

2008-12-03T06:44:00.004-05:00

Congrats, Kyle.

2008 2nd-Team All-American Returner (SI.com)
2008 1st-Team All-WAC Defensive Back
2008 2nd-Team All-WAC Special Teams

And WAC Player of the Week

The End of Wall Street

2008-11-21T16:02:00.005-05:00

Wall Street is dead! Here's an example of the subprime debacle told by one of the few hedge fund guys who made money during this collapse.

One day, his housekeeper, a South American woman, told him that she was planning to buy a townhouse in Queens. “The price was absurd, and they were giving her a low-down-payment option-ARM,” says Eisman, who talked her into taking out a conventional fixed-rate mortgage. Next, the baby nurse he’d hired back in 1997 to take care of his newborn twin daughters phoned him. “She was this lovely woman from Jamaica,” he says. “One day she calls me and says she and her sister own five townhouses in Queens. I said, ‘How did that happen?’ ” It happened because after they bought the first one and its value rose, the lenders came and suggested they refinance and take out $250,000, which they used to buy another one. Then the price of that one rose too, and they repeated the experiment. “By the time they were done,” Eisman says, “they owned five of them, the market was falling, and they couldn’t make any of the payments.”

Read this article in Portfolio ..... it's long but will certainly satisfy your curiosity.

Swagger like us

2008-11-20T23:46:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile. Enjoy for the time being.

The largest, and most intimidating

2008-08-21T16:49:00.007-05:00

But don't take our word for it. I'm just reporting the facts.

What the hell was this cop thinking?

2008-07-30T21:27:00.002-05:00

I leave NYC for 2 weeks and this is what happens. This is why I don't ride bikes in the city. Like always, parental discretion advised.

Who knew Mardi Gras would influence the election?

2008-06-28T12:42:00.002-05:00

What other presidential candidate can inspire this!

Getting fired on my first day wasn't so bad after all...

2008-06-24T08:35:00.005-05:00

at the very least it got me an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning.

A Learning Experience

Professionals urge people who have been laid off not to lose perspective, and to try to grow from the experience. That was the case for Gerry Wilson, who says getting laid off turned out to be a good thing.

Mr. Wilson graduated from Princeton in 2000 and took a job with MicroStrategy Inc., an Internet software company. After two months training at company headquarters in Virginia, he headed to New York to begin work. The first day, he was told that his consultant position was being eliminated.

Mr. Wilson parlayed his expertise with MicroStrategy's software into another consulting position, making nearly double what his salary would have been. He later started consulting on his own and saved enough money to attend business school. There, he developed a plan for his own business, yoonew inc., an online exchange that lets sports fans bet on a shot at Super Bowl or World Series tickets, long before the event. He raised funding from angel investors and now runs yoonew.

"All I have done has been because I was laid off on my first day," he says.

- From, "Turning That Layoff Into Career Catalyst", WSJ

My acting debut

2008-06-09T07:54:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry, but we're going to have to let you go. (Hiring for a startup part 1)

2008-06-05T23:36:00.009-05:00

It may seem trite, but when it boils down to letting someone go......there is no pleasant way to say it. Firing employees is not an easy thing to do, especially if you were the one to hire them in the first place. HR classes and "soft skills" were things I thought were BS in bschool, but in the real world they are very important, especially at a startup.

When you're running a team that is small, every new hire can and will dramatically affect the rest of the team. If there are 10 people, just adding one person will increase your costs by at least 10% as well as change the team dynamics. Hopefully this change is positive, but many times (especially in the early stage of a company) it can be destructive. This is why it is extremely important to do your due diligence before hiring anyone (including part-time employees). Even more important is letting someone go immediately after you realize they are not contributing to the team and/or are not the best person for the job. Allowing mediocrity is the ultimate downfall of any ambitious startup. If you're striving to be/beat the best, you must hire the best. There are NO shortcuts. This may mean that you have to pass on really good candidates.......only the best and that includes part-time employees.

Large companies have the luxury of keeping people on board and helping them find "alternative" opportunities within the firm. In the case of a startup, if an employee cannot find a way to create value in such an open and ripe environment, he/she is probably not built for working in a startup. What does that mean? Not everyone has the physical, psychological, and/or physiological capacity to work at a startup. The hours are long, the work is hard, the problems are complex/never ending, the pressure grows daily, the pay isn't wall street, and nurturing/hand holding is nonexistent. Individuals who need a lot of direction/coaching are not built for working at a startup in the early stages. I've learned that the hard way. We've a number of positions that have been open for well over a year. This is not because individuals lack competence; some candidates have tremendous backgrounds and skill sets. The reason why these candidates are not built for yoonew is because they typically lack the testes/ovaries to believe in themselves and take the road less traveled. In theory it seems cool and sexy to work at a startup, but for those who live it.....we know that the GOOG brick road is a long term goal, not the short term reality.

So why in the world would one work @ a startup? I don't think you can truly appreciate the freedom, excitement, and teamwork evolved with working at a startup unless you have some corporate work experience to compare. At my first job out of undergrad I was laid off on my first day in the office. At my next job, I was dumbfounded by the number of seasoned employees who literally spent 45 minutes out of an actual work day to do real work. That's less than 10%. I would argue that this is the norm and not an exception for many "blue chip" companies. When you subtract minesweeper and solitaire, lunch/smoke breaks, personal phones calls, web shopping, and company gossiping you're left with 45 minutes of productivity. That CANNOT happen at a startup. When the system administrator's main role is to stock the refrigerator with Snapple, you know the company is in trouble. (These are NOT hypothetical examples.)

When making early hires, you're going to make mistakes. As difficult as it may be, you must man up and handle your handle immediately. I've read a lot of literature on when to fire (day of week and time). Contrary to popular belief, the best time to fire someone is immediately, even if that falls on a Monday at 9am.

After saying all of this, here's what can happen if you don't handle a firing professionally.
(If this ever happend in our office, let's just say the monitors would have had friends who came to their defense.

From another angle (in color)

(Btw, to answer everyone's curiosity, NO we did not have to let someone go recently. I wrote this post long time ago and just saw these videos. I felt it was time to give my 2 cents.)

Fastest man of all time

2008-06-01T08:40:00.013-05:00

As a former sprinter in college, I've always loved the 100m dash. There's nothing like having the ability to say, "I''m the fastest man in the world." Yesterday, at the Carl Icahn Stadium (literally right in my backyard), Usain Bolt broke the world record and ran the fastest 100m dash time in history (9.72 seconds)! What's even more amazing is he is only 21 years old and is 6'5". Let the steroid allegations begin....thanks Marion.

I've heard of Tyson Gay (gold medal winner in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2007 World Championships) and Shawn Crawford (gold medal winner in 200m in 2004 Olympics) and Wallace Spearmon (second fastest 200m @19.65 only behind the track god) and Asafa Powell (former world record holder at 9.74). These are world class athletes and Usain made it look like a race in elementary school. He's tall, long, and has great turnover. If he develops a better start out of the blocks, he could run a sub 9.70 in the next couple of years.

He may very well be the fastest human ever to live. Michael, we know you're worried. But I guess records are meant to be broken.

How much lower can the time go? Here's the progression of the 100m over time.

Time	Athlete	Nat	Location of race	Date
9.95	Jim Hines	United States	Mexico City, Mexico	October 14, 1968
9.93	Calvin Smith	United States	Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA	July 3, 1983
	Carl Lewis	United States	Rome, Italy	August 30, 1987
	Carl Lewis	United States	Zurich, Switzerland	August 17, 1988
~~9.83~~ ^[3]	~~Ben Johnson~~	~~Canada~~	~~Rome, Italy~~	~~August 30, 1987~~
~~9.79~~ ^[3]	~~Ben Johnson~~	~~Canada~~	~~Seoul, South Korea~~	~~September 24, 1988~~
9.92	Carl Lewis	United States	Seoul, South Korea	September 24, 1988
9.90	Leroy Burrell	United States	New York, New York, USA	June 14, 1991
9.86	Carl Lewis	United States	Tokyo, Japan	August 25, 1991
9.85	Leroy Burrell	United States	Lausanne, Switzerland	July 6, 1994
9.84	Donovan Bailey	Canada	Atlanta, Georgia, USA	July 27, 1996
9.79	Maurice Greene	United States	Athens, Greece	June 16, 1999
~~9.78~~^[4]	~~Tim Montgomery~~	~~United States~~	~~Charléty, Paris, France~~	~~September 14, 2002~~
9.77	Asafa Powell	Jamaica	Athens, Greece	June 14, 2005
	~~Justin Gatlin~~	~~United States~~	~~Doha, Qatar~~	~~May 12, 2006~~
	Asafa Powell^[5]	Jamaica	Gateshead, England	June 11, 2006
	Asafa Powell	Jamaica	Zurich, Switzerland	August 18, 2006
9.74	Asafa Powell	Jamaica	Rieti, Italy	September 9, 2007
9.72	Usain Bolt^[6]	Jamaica	New York City, New York	May 31, 2008

2008 Jamaica Invitational 100m Male Usain Bolt 9.76 Sunday, 04 May 2008

2007 Jamaican National Championships 100m Male Usain Bolt 19.75 Sunday,24 June 2007

iam sterdam

2008-05-28T07:31:00.007-05:00

For those who missed me this weekend, I was out of town. By the title of this post and the shirt, you should be able to guess my destination.

Since I don't have time for an appropriate blog post, I thought I'd set the stage with an early quote.

amsterdam reminded me of firenze, but "cooler" and more diverse.

(Keep in mind that florence is one of my most favorites cities.)

We stayed at the Swissotel near the Dam Square. Yes, the hotel was very, very nice, but for some reason I don't recall our hotel looking like this.

That's all for now......Stay tuned.

I told you on Bloomberg

2008-05-07T09:26:00.005-05:00

No one believed that I "predicted" that all four number 1 seeds would reach the Final Four. Thanks MonsieurCactus for your excellent analysis.

"You know, the no. 1 seeds are probably the best pick."

Look here to read the full transcript.

(And no, that is NOT the same tie.)

We're moving on up

2008-04-24T13:07:00.006-05:00

We were recently awarded one of the top 100 private companies in the Northeast according to AlwaysOn.

Thanks everyone for all of the support. You can check out our presentation at the Venture Summit East, Boston.

Click on the image below to watch the video.

Ads and ad networks

2008-04-16T14:56:00.005-05:00

Who knew there were so many ad networks?

But that begs the question; are there that many ads?

Which leads to the biggest question of them all, who is paying for all of these ads?

I'm trying to figure it out. I'll let you know what I find.

Cramer's 2 cents minus your $2 leaves you broke

2008-03-20T21:35:00.002-05:00

The Madness Market

2008-03-20T17:06:00.002-05:00

Only in suburbia

2008-03-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

You have to love it. These kids' parents are paying for dance school..........a school that teaches them how to do the soulja boy dance. What is this world coming to? Instead of dance lessons, they should have purchased the instructional video.

Capitalism at its finest.

UPDATED*******************

I guess it goes beyond suburbia.

Who wants to be second?

2008-03-11T11:13:00.004-05:00

....when you're already first.

I don't really get into politics, but the nonsense has to stop.

Talking about change is worthless.

Just f#$%ing do it!

Obama X

2008-02-25T18:41:00.007-05:00

I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. Obama is going to #*!^ around and win the election. For all we know, it could be the biggest landslide in presidential history.

Now, I've never understood why people would talk to peers about personal issues, but don't feel comfortable discussing their voting preferences. (So I was #$%ing my wife in her @$$ last night.........you have to love Chappelle).

I digress.....so anyway, I'm voting for Obama. Yeah, I said it. I'm voting for Obama.

Will he really make a difference? I don't know. Are all of the other contenders, pretenders? I think so. Either way, nobody can stop his momentum or find any meaningful dirt.

Republican front runner, John McCain, is having problems. First, he allegedly has/had infidelity issues. Then, he basically
acknowledged losing the race. "Sen. John McCain said bluntly today that he will lose the presidential election in November if the Iraq war goes badly, then quickly tried to walk his own comment back." Good thing the Iraq war is going smoothly.

The whole Republican party is in disarray.

Hillary is running around like a chicken with her head cut off.

Ralph Nader is throwing his hat in the race. (Why waste your money. AGAIN!) Must be a Hillary conspiracy. ;)

Even the "honorable" Louis Farrakhan hearts Obama.......WHAT IS GOING ON?

I think it's called.................CHANGE.

If I ever decide to change my mind, I'm going to vote for Dave.

Kimbo slicing up the Tank

2008-02-17T17:38:00.003-05:00

I've been following Kimbo for a minute and his progression has been amazing. Here's a clip of his fight yesterday against MMA vet, Tank Abbott.

Thanks, Bas.......you've created a monster. Unleash the beast!

19-0, the Perfect Season

2008-02-04T17:13:00.000-05:00

Buy your Perfect Season Waterford Crystal XLII Super Bowl Champion Football for only $185.

On a serious note this erroneous momento is probably worth MORE after the Patriots loss. I'm going to pick one up.

I guess the trademark on 19-0 the Perfect Season isn't going to cause too much trouble after all. It's the 18-1 trademark that will be problematic.

That's why they play the game! You gotta love it.

Super Boring (My first Super Bowl experience)

2008-02-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

I'll first start by saying, this was my very first Super Bowl experience. I've gone to a number of Super Bowls, but never actually inside the game. Well this year, I could finally afford tickets (I'll post later about the ticket market crash).

The first thing that struck me as different was the "die hard fans".....or should I say.........lack thereof. The biggest game in the history of the NFL and there was dead silence. Silence all around. No tailgates, no horns blowing, no painted faces, no car flags, no yelling, no beer, no screaming.......it was all too "civilized" for the preceding hype. Then inside the game, it was more of the same. There was little cheering, no team chants, no human body "waves", no passion, just pure silence and fake clapping. I could not believe it. I was in the very same stadium one year earlier for the Boise State Fiesta Bowl, and it was a completely different experience. I should have known what to expect when everyone was sitting in their seats during the first quarter. (You don't sit for big games. That's football fan 101.)

The first 3.75 quarters of play was probably the most boring football I've ever witnessed live. After reading all the news about the record breaking numbers (97.5M viewers), I would have liked to be in bar in NYC... with beer spilling all over and high-five cacophony and boisterous yelling.......you know.....a real football crowd. It was certainly a football that I was not accustomed to watching. I felt ambivalent the majority of the big game.

I will say, however, that the best part of going to the game live was watching the faces of the incredulous fans. That goes for Pats fans and Giants fans alike. There were a number of NY Giants fans LEAVING the stadium after the Randy Moss score. #@!*ing idiots. You come all the way to AZ and pay thousands of dollars only to skip the last 4 minutes so you can save time avoiding traffic. To those fair-weather fans, I'm glad you missed history. Hope it was worth it.

While I was bored out of my mind (literally falling asleep in my seat) during the first 55 minutes of play, the last 5 minutes was absolutely ridiculous. I wish I could have taken a photo of all of the Giants fans with 4 minutes left. They were in disbelief.....some sad, some shocked, and some down right mad. The Pats fans on the other hand were laughing and smiling.....they could sense history in the making. And then:

You should have seen the Giants fans lift their heads from between their legs and start to cheer.....with 2 minutes left in the game. At the same time, the Pats fans were devastated. You just had to be there and witness the extreme spectrum of expressions.

In a matter of seconds, everything changed. The score, my opinion of Eli, my opinion of Brady, my expectations for next season, my feelings about the "boring" Super Bowl..........everything changed.

Here's to change!

And another one

2008-02-02T03:46:00.000-05:00

yoonew on Fox Business

2008-01-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

What's with the name?

2008-01-23T00:28:00.001-05:00

Whenever we tell the yoonew story, the interviewer always asks, "What's with the name?" Our response is simply, "Because........you knew!"

We were sitting in an apartment in Cambridge and wanted to come up with a clever name that was unique, easy to remember, 2 syllables (like all popular web domains), and a name that could easily be turned into a verb. After several ridiculous names such as uture.com (your future), Hagos suggested, "you knew!" Without even blinking, I thought it was brilliant.

You knew your team was going to make it. You knew the price was going to go up. You...just...knew! We consciously chose the unique spelling, Y-O-O-N-E-W. Why? BECAUSE WE ARE DIFFERENT. When developing a brand, you have to think about all of the elements. How it sounds, how it looks, how it feels, what it symbolizes. yoonew is more than just a name. It embodies the culture of the company. We don't follow the trends. We blaze our own trails and do not accept "No" or "I can't" as an answer. Anyone true entrepreneur understands that.

Having said that, there have been some domain "experts" who question the "misspelling" of our name. I find the critique somewhat laughable, especially coming from non-operators. Squatting on generic domain names and exploiting google may be a very profitable business, but in terms of creating real value, nothing is like starting from scratch.

We dreamed up the idea. Invented the name. Coined the phrase "ticket futures". Pioneered the industry. Built a futures exchange from the ground up. Put simply, we created value from thin air. The name "yoonew.com" is more than a domain. It is a brand and a lifestyle. So much so, advertisers bid on the keyword, "yoonew". That is quite a rewarding feeling!

With regards to "When the Smart do not 'Get It'", opinions not supported by facts are about as good as the stuff on the bottom of my shoe. I would never post an opinion without doing proper due diligence. That would be amateurish at best. And on another note, no need to add insult to injury.

Let's try:

www.yoonew.com

www.younew.com

www.youknew.com

www.yooknew.com

www.ticketfutures.com

No one said it was going to be easy changing the world. No one initially agrees with a maverick. If things were that easy, everyone would do it.

-gw

$15 Billion?

2008-01-11T15:09:00.002-05:00

The proof is in the pudding........and I don't see Bill Cosby anywhere in site.

Who's really your candidate?

2008-01-08T15:53:00.000-05:00

Take this quiz.

You may be shocked.....and possibly appalled......with yourself!

Below are the candidates ranked by how much you agree with their stances.

Joe Biden
Score: 61
Agree
Iraq
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Death Penalty
Gun Control
Environment
Disagree
Immigration
Social Security
Education

Dennis Kucinich
Score: 57
Agree
Immigration
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Gun Control
Environment
Education
Disagree
Iraq
Social Security
Death Penalty

Hillary Clinton
Score: 54
Agree
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Death Penalty
Gun Control
Environment
Disagree
Iraq
Immigration
Social Security
Education

Barack Obama
Score: 54
Agree
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Death Penalty
Gun Control
Environment
Disagree
Iraq
Immigration
Social Security
Education

Chris Dodd
Score: 54
Agree
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Gun Control
Environment
Education
Disagree
Iraq
Immigration
Social Security
Death Penalty

Rudy Giuliani
Score: 42
Agree
Immigration
Stem-Cell Research
Abortion
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Energy
Marriage
Death Penalty
Disagree
Iraq
Taxes
Health Care
Gun Control
Environment
Education

John Edwards
Score: 40
Agree
Immigration
Taxes
Stem-Cell Research
Health Care
Abortion
Energy
Marriage
Death Penalty
Disagree
Iraq
Social Security
Line-Item Veto
Gun Control
Environment
Education

.....

Super Deal or Super Swindle?

2008-01-07T01:30:00.000-05:00

So.....we popped our Techcrunch cherry today. To be honest, it feels better than I thought. At first glance, I was a bit perturbed by the use of the word "swindle." To me, a swindler is a thief and I certainly don't consider myself a crook. Having said that, I completely understand the point Michael is making and respect his domain expertise. In a nutshell, the ticket industry can be very shady. This I know from first, second, and third hand experience. But this is EXACTLY why I wanted to start a venture in this crazy space. If you can navigate through the minefield with rigor and common sense, there is a tremendous opportunity. One of the main reasons we started yoonew was to bring transparency, efficiency, and integrity to the ticket industry. I'm happy to say we are well on our way. I especially enjoyed the comments (good, bad, and indifferent).

On another note, I'd like to set the record straight on the 401k story once and for all. When Gos and I first started in the summer of '04 we didn't have any money, any tickets, any technology, any office, any employees, any anything. We were 2 guys with delusions of grandeur living in Cambridge.......trying to see if this yoonew thing would grow legs. Our Super Bowl experience worked out great! Made money and everything. 2005 Final Four........a completely different story.

That year was ridiculous. As soon as I got off the plane in St. Louis I got the word that a college coach was publicly arrested for reselling his tickets. The fear of imprisonment dramatically restricted the available supply of tickets. To add insult to injury, Illinois fans were buying any and every ticket available. Sometimes, even out bidding ticket brokers. (Simple ECON 101: low supply meets high demand). At that point we had two options. I could either tell our customers we didn't have their tickets and go out of business. Or, I could do what any confident, dedicated, founder would do. Man up and make $hit happen. I chose to liquidate my 401k and buy tickets for our customers. It was a no brainer.

That incident was March/April 2005. We've since raised millions, developed strategic relationships, and built some very innovative and powerful technology. Although it hurt me financially, it was the greatest crash course into the ticket industry. I literally witnessed the entire value chain of a ticket sale. The chain is soooooooooooo long and soooooooooo inefficient. At the same time, I watched (in amazement) ticket brokers, or ticket traders, buying and selling on cell phones and trading tickets/cash all weekend long. It was a frenzy that could have rivaled the most boisterous stock trading floor. That's when I knew we were on to something.

A ticket is just like any other commodity. People value tickets differently and this value can change at any time for any or no reason. The only true platform to efficiently transfer such a commodity is an exchange........the yoonew exchange.

I love firsts. Can't wait for the next one.

Chappelle in London

2007-12-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

I've been really busy the last 4 weeks but I promise I'll take the time to do a worthy blog post before the new year. In the meantime, enjoy........I love satire. Something about being a witty a$$hole puts a smile on my face.

Like always, parental advisory explicit content.

"There is absolutely not bubble in technology."

2007-12-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

LOL. Don't take my word for it. Listen with your own ears.

Moving at a glacial pace

2007-11-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

We used to fool ourselves…We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.

- Edgar Bronfman, CEO, Warner Music Group

You have to respect the brutal honesty. Well done Ed!

In Pictures: Eight Ways To Make Money Online

2007-11-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

Peter Thiel exclusive: Facebook, the classic growth vs. value story

2007-10-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

Yeah f*cking right! $15B. Wtf! I've admitted in the past that I have a love/hate relationship with fb, but I might have to just throw in the towel and retire. I haven't been blogging long, but it seems like ages ago when I first blogged about the zuckster being idiotic for not selling @ $1B. Then, it was a $2B valuation and I thought......that's just being damn greedy. A couple months back microsoft rumors resurfaced and the valuation went up to $10B. I knew that could never happen especially given Ballmer's fad comments. Low and behold msft bit the bait and so did two hedge funds. $740M for less than 5 percent of the company. I guess fb will go public and everyone will be happy.

So coincidentally, I had the pleasure of attending the MIT Sloan Club of NY's Annual Hedge Fund Dinner. One of the guest speakers happened to be the Peter Thiel. Most of the conversations that night revolved around the current climate of valuations. Peter gave us his take on the 3 bubbles (housing, credit lending, emerging markets) that we are currently facing and he believed that globalization (or the expectation of globalization) may be the root cause behind every boom, bubble, or bust.

We all listened intently....trying to glean some type of "free" tidbit from the over achieving entrepreneur turned hedge fund guru. After his 30 minute talk, we had about 5 minutes of Q&A. The first 3 questions were basic questions that could be answered reading any macro textbook...............then came the final question from the wild gunslinger. My question to Peter:

"Peter, given the context of tonight's discussions, where do you see the recent facebook investment by microsoft and 2 hedge funds at a $15B valuation?" - whooknew

Before he could start to answer the question, Peter began with a diatribe of disclosures starting with he's on fb board, was an early investor, believes in the company's long term plan, blah blah blah blah.

He went on to say that Facebook is "the classic growth vs. value story." He contends the $15B was absolutely justifiable in the current climate. Now........I'm not mad at Peter. Why would he ever say anything different? It would be suicide (and stupid) for him to to question the valuation. He is on the board and has a lot riding on his own farabuttos.

The funny thing is........after listening to Peter recount the history of markets, mobs and mayhem (and I mean history), he had the nerve to look us in the face (a room full of pretty smart people) and say NO, we are not in a tech bubble. GTFOH. Here are his three reasons.

1. Prospect Theory. (I don't recall him using the term, but I've taken the liberty to interpret what he was trying to say.) Basically, people value gains and losses differently. He recalled some study that says we feel loss much more than gain......almost 3 to 1. Peter contends that the 2000 bubble is still fresh on the brain and people have not forgotten the pain. Since investors lost so much money with the last tech bubble, they would need to make 3 times the money they lost in order to get to a new irrational state. (These are not his exact words, but my understanding of his words.)

2. No tech ipos. During the late 1990's, the way to monetize a tech investment was through an IPO. There were a number of entrepreneurs who made their fortune after going public. Peter contends the absence of tech IPOs is an indicator that we are not in a speculative tech bubble.

3. HBS grads are not in tech. In the late 1990's HBS grads were going into startups. From 2005 to date, HBS grads have been flocking to private equity and hedge funds. Since HBS grads have not gone into startups yet, we are not in a tech bubble. (This was somewhat of a joke, but I believe the metaphor is plausible.)

After this third point........I sat patiently.......waiting, hoping, praying for some insight........ I would still be sitting at the Tribeca Grand Hotel right now if I continued to wait for some reasonable explanation.

IMHO, #1 is purely wishful thinking. I could counter his application of Prospect Theory with Sunk Cost Fallacy. We can't say that because people lost money in 2000 and haven't made 3x the amount lost, we are not in a bubble. Read #1 again. Seriously, this just sounds asinine. I could argue that given the current level of capital raises, people are placing more bets on tech companies now. Granted it takes less money to start a company, but startups are raising more money at higher valuations. Sounds like doubling down to me.

#2 just sounds good. I can't really agree or disagree. People have been waiting for the tech ipo window for awhile. Here's a current status check. Here is some research on IPOs (from April 2007). Wall Street fiascos and Sarbanes-Oxley have to be addressed as well. Why would you want to IPO when you could be acquired, get paid in cash, and not have to deal with all the extra reporting/disclosures. Let's not forget going across the pond.

# 3 is probably the most palpable. If you replace "HBS grads" with "seemingly informed herds," one could agree with Peter. By the time people realize something is good, it's time to get out. Next time we go to MIT to recruit, I'll stop by HBS and take a poll on where people are going after graduation. Hopefully it's still PE and hedge funds.

Honestly, the most disconcerting thing for me was not Peter's response. That's his story and he's sticking to it. I'm not mad at him. For me the problem is the 30 minutes prior to my question. He cautioned the audience to move out of investments that are levered and suggested not investing in popular, crowded ideas. I guess fb is an anomaly and social networking is not a popular, crowed space. I guess fb is profitable and not leveraging current growth with future cash flows. I'll just stop here and let the numbers speak for themselves.

So is fb worth $15B? It doesn't matter what I think. msft paid that much.........so it has to be worth $15B. The real question was...........are we in a bubble?

------------------ Extra

What was Peter's take on yoonew?

Why did it take you so long to build a futures market for tickets?
Why would you try to build a startup in nyc?

I'll respond in a future post.

Is Facebook worth $15B?

2007-10-27T15:14:00.000-05:00

Here are the BBC's 15 reasons why Microsoft may think Fb is worth $15B.

Good try. I think JohnM hit the nail on the head! Thanks John for your honesty.

#16 JohnM

October 25th, 2007 at 9:32 am

Microsoft is LEASING Facebook for the next 4 years. Facebook is not worth $15B, Microsoft is leasing an advertising distribution system. The equity ownership is so small as to become almost immaterial.

Of course, Facebook will now attempt an IPO northwards of $15B, saying that Microsoft already set the valuation floor. Of course this assumes all the lawsuits regarding ownership are settled.

If the company does go public, what the myopic public should realize is that they are not buying the advertising deal, along with shares. Only Microsoft gets that. Don’t be fooled, Ballmer cut a better deal than the public will ever get. Microsoft is NOT valuing Facebook at $15B. No, no, no. Microsoft is valuing a potentially lucrative advertising distribution deal and a small percentage of Facebook at $240MM.

The public are sheep though, so I imagine Facebook will line-up the investment banking sheperds to take them out at $20B+. Baaaahhhhh.

Now why might hedge funds get involved? Because the bump-up in valuation will go from 15B to $20B on an IPO. Nice % increase for a holding period of likely only a few quarters.

But keep in mind, it’s the investing public (proxied through mutual fund managers, etc.) who will pay the price for all of this. Feels like 2000 all over again. Great move for Facebook, probably a smart move for Microsoft, and probably a smart move for the hedge funds. But remember, this is a game of musical chairs. And as usual it is often the naive public investor left standing.

Did you hear that? Musical chairs! John, holla at me.

Coming to a city near you!

2007-10-23T15:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all of your support! I had a great time. Can't wait to do it again.

It's alive!

2007-10-22T03:25:00.000-05:00

I'd like to be the first one to welcome everyone to the new yoonew!

We are officially the world's first futures exchange for event tickets.

Thank you all for making it possible. Who's ready for shots of Patron?

Francois ?
Frederic ?
John ?
Kaveh ?
Pratap ?
Sriram ?
Stan ?
Victor ?
Will ?

To the first of many celebrations! WGTCT!

It's coming

2007-10-15T21:11:00.001-05:00

Full Circle.....

2007-09-28T01:42:00.000-05:00

Are you ready? It's coming.

For the last year or so, I've been doing some research to get a better understanding of how the online ticket industry has evolved. I stumbled upon an old article describing Ticketmaster's entrance into the industry. They were a puny David with $1M in annual sales up against the colossal Ticketron, which did $100M in annual sales.

Ticketmaster, founded by two Arizona State University computer students in 1978, got its first big break in 1981, when it was a struggling $1 million-per-year upstart trying to take on $100-million-per-year giant Ticketron. Ticketmaster needed a major client to give it credibility, and to prove that the company could handle a large account and a complicated set of ticketing problems efficiently. They also wanted a client with a national profile. It settled on a major-league baseball franchise whose new owner was appalled to find that his team did not have computerized ticketing. At the beginning of each baseball season, tickets to every seat for every game were printed, stored somewhere in its stadium, then delivered to box offices and ticket outlets as game dates approached. The system was horribly inefficient, and wasteful as well, as most of the tickets printed up were never sold.

-Fred Moody Seattle Weekly 11/2/94

Wow! Talk about coming full circle. Back in the day, Ticketmaster found a way to make the process of buying tickets more efficient and more enjoyable to the customer. Fred goes on to point out three keys to Ticketmaster's success:

1-Ticketron stopped innovating
It is also forgotten that Ticketmaster rose to dominance at the expense of an established, competing company -- Ticketron -- that operated a virtual monopoly in the early 1980s, and that was notorious both for insensitivity to customer complaints and for its refusal to innovate or create efficiency. Ticketron was so bad that many venues opted for noncomputerized ticketing rather than Ticketron's computerized service. Even Curtis says Ticketmaster succeeded because "they are good, smart businessmen. They were way better than everyone else -- Ticketron just wasn't as good."
2-Ticketmaster built a portfolio of exclusive venue contracts
These exclusive contracts contain two interesting provisions -- one of which helps explain the variety and high levels of Ticketmaster service charges. Arenas or promoters who sign them are prohibited from allowing anyone else to sell their tickets; and Ticketmaster "rebates" or, in the words of its critics, "kicks back" some of the service charges to its contractors. Venues that have entered into such agreements with Ticketmaster are reported to have taken in as much as $500,000 per year from the ticketer as a result -- payment, essentially, for freezing competitors out of the market.
3-Ticketmaster established "promoter incentive programs"

In addition to locking up those venues, Ticketmaster also signs contracts directly with promoters. So even a venue that refuses to contract with Ticketmaster finds it impossible to stage a non-Ticketmaster concert, as any viable promoter in a given market will also have an exclusive contract with Ticketmaster.

A better product, some nice barriers to entry, and the legal muscle to enforce the binding contracts helped shape the environment for a super monopoly. So much so, that it was almost impossible for artists to go on tour without using Ticketmaster. The exclusive contracts with suppliers and more efficient distribution channels (phones and thousands of kiosks) helped catapult Ticketmaster over Ticketron.

Because of Ticketmaster's avowed determination to enforce its contracts by suing promoters who cooperated with Pearl Jam, says Kelly Curtis, "We realized that we couldn't put together a safe, efficient tour without using existing venues. In order to do that, we would have to use non-Ticketmaster venues, which means open fields where we install fences, security, amenities... It was a logistics thing. It's possible to do a tour without Ticketmaster, but it's an incredible pain in the ass."

In the early 80's, 2 computer scientists from Arizona State (Albert Leffler?, Jerry Nelson?) built a better mouse trap. Their technology made it possible to service a larger number of consumers in a smaller period of time. Ticketmaster's ability to sell out a show in less than 10 minutes was revolutionary. In addition to speed of transactions, one often overlooked asset is the information Ticketmaster produced through the market.

While the convenience factor Ticketmaster affords cannot be overemphasized, neither can the value of the information it provides. One of the prime justifications for the company's high service charges is the fact that only one out of eight callers actually buys a ticket; the rest call for information, and pay nothing. The company is an information source for nearly every live event in the region. "Seventy to eighty percent of our calls," says Ticketmaster Northwest general manager Brian Kabatznick, "are for information only, and generate no revenue."

Fast forward to 2001 and Stubhub steps on the scene. Doesn't Stubhub's story sound strikingly similar? In the later 90's Ticketmaster's fees were getting a bit too annoying. Marquee events would sellout too fast (I guess there is a such thing as too much efficiency) leaving customers highly upset. Additionally, customers not only wanted to buy tickets, but also SELL their tickets. Ticketmaster had fumbled the ball. How did Stubhub scoop and score?

1-Built a better platform for sellers

Stubhub attracted sellers which in turn attracted more buyers. An introductory systems dynamics course will help you see the positive reinforcing feedback loop.

2-Established "secondary market" contracts

Once Stubhub got a foot in the door, it would be easier to become the primary ticket supplier of a venue, artist, or team. (Stubhub recently inked the MLB deal.)

3-Developed ticket broker relationships

Stubhub aggregated inventory from the fragmented ticket broker community across the United States. "Fans" could [buy/sell] tickets [from/to] other "fans" or ticket brokers.

By getting supply from venues as well as "regular fans" Stubhub was able to build great brand awareness at the end customer level (they "owned" the customer) as well as offer a wider variety of tickets at competitive, market driven prices.

2 Stanford MBA students (Eric Baker, Jeff Fluhr) established a $310M company in 6 years. Their technology was not rocket science, but as enterprising economists, the founders built a more relevant, efficient way to both buy and sell tickets.

Here's the kicker. Fred Moody actually predicted the fate of Ticketmaster in 1994. Almost 13 years before eBay bought Stubhub. At that time Ticketmaster had unimaginable power. Here's Fred's warning:

Ticketmaster, like IBM before it, is more likely to falter or decline because of changing market conditions than because of federal intervention. Knowledgeable sources claim that the availability and ease of use of current computing technology has so lowered the barriers of entry into the ticketing market that competitors inevitably will find a way to break Ticketmaster's stranglehold. And if Pearl Jam pulls off its concert tour next year, a template of sorts will be in place for other acts to follow. The history of monopoly in this country, after all, is more a history of disgruntled competitors and customers finding an alternative to the services of a monopolist than it is a history of the government regulating monopolies out of existence.
Ultimately, the question of whether a monopoly can survive its own abuses of power boils down to how much consumers will tolerate. Companies that are morally monopolistic -- even if not monopolists in the tangled and technical legal sense of the word -- grow so cynical in the process of accumulating and keeping market power that they lose touch with reality, become incapable of decent public relations, and overstep some boundary in the consumer's mind. Monopoly, in this sense, is like pornography -- consumers can't define it, but they know it when they see it. And ultimately they turn away from the monopolist in disgust.

It's now 2007 and according to Moore's law, things are coming full circle once again.

2 (I guess two is the magic number) engineers from Princeton who graduated from Sloan (me, Gos) have combined technology and creativity with the most efficient market clearing mechanism known to man, not an online store, not a message board, not an auction...............................but a continuous, electronic exchange. I wonder what Fred would say about trading tickets and ticket derivatives. Innovative? Efficient? Fun? Transparent?

It's about to get really interesting. WGTCT

MIT Career Fair 2007

2007-09-21T00:09:00.000-05:00

To be the best and beat the best; you have to compete head to head.
It was great going back to campus. (Life was so much easier then.)

Booth #294
Thanks everyone who stopped by our booth!

Here's the Who's Who list of the career fair:

Microsoft

eBay

Susquehanna

Oracle

Adobe

Google

Yahoo: (sorry....i couldn't find their booth.)

South of Philly

2007-09-11T12:06:00.000-05:00

I guess there are some places worse than the South.
(Parental advisory recommended. Graphic torture in Logan County, West Virginia.)

What's the first word that comes to mind when you see this picture?
(Please place your comment below.)

Happy Birthday Kyle

2007-09-08T06:46:00.000-05:00

Good luck today. We're all watching.

GO BOISE!

The video that made it all possible

2007-09-07T01:18:00.000-05:00

You asked for it. Here you go.

This is why I live in the Northeast

2007-09-04T18:29:00.001-05:00

First, I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog. The readership is growing every month and I welcome all feedback as well as comments (I hide from no one.) Now I usually don't post on political issues, but the recent events have left me no choice.

As crazy as the story of the Jena 6 sounds, many still have no idea. To be honest, I only heard about the story sometime last month. (I know, I know....I should be ashamed of myself.) But seriously, why is there no US media coverage of the case? Not CNN, ABC, NBC....I won't even mention Fox. Why do I have to read articles from publications overseas discussing racism in the US? Before you hear me go off, watch this quick video.

See, this is why I can't live in the South. I was born, raised, and schooled in NJ, but my mom's side of the family is from Mississippi. Every summer my brothers and I would go visit my family in MS. Every summer I would get scolded by my cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends. Why might you ask? Because I didn't know my role.

They were absolutely right. I didn't know my role (and still don't.) I don't care where you are from or who you are or how much money you make, there are some things that I will not tolerate. #1, please do not try to speak to me in a condescending manner. That's only going to bring out the beast. #2, my name is Gerry, not boy, not kid, not (I won't even type it.)

So, you can imagine what happens when you mix a literate, intelligent, slick talking, young man from NJ with some of that down south nonsense you've just witnessed in the video. It's not a good look. Needless to say, I'm banned from Mississippi or anywhere south of Philly for that matter.

Now this brings me to Jena, Louisiana, population 2,971. What the f*ck is going on down there? Can someone please help me answer these questions:

Why would some child have to ask if they could sit under a tree on school grounds? At a public school! (I don't know if this is true, but if it is, I'd have to pack my bags and leave Jena, LA asap.)

If a grown man pulls a shotgun out on you and you "wrestle" the gun away from him, how could you be charged with theft of a firearm? (I don't know if this is true, but if this happened to me, I'd have to pack my bags and leave Jena, LA asap.)

Since when did hanging nooses with school colors become a popular, juvenile prank? (I don't know if this is true, but if it is, I'd take it as a warning, pack my bags and leave Jena, LA asap.)

I've heard of out-of-school suspension for fighting, but when did getting into a school yard fight become a crime punishable by 22 years in prison. (I don't know if this is true, but if it is, I'd pack my bags and leave Jena, LA asap.)

Without getting into all of the he said, she said politics, I still find this case quite troubling. With all of this controversy, why is there minimal media coverage on the Jena 6? No one wants to touch this case except the obvious Rev. and Rev. All I want are the facts. Just the facts.

Since I don't have the facts and I can only get second hand facts from across the Atlantic Ocean, my only real advice to the people of Jena, LA is to follow that North Star.

One last Boise post for the week

2007-09-03T22:11:00.000-05:00

For those who missed the Fiesta Bowl, here's the best catchup in less than 10 minutes.

Out of the Blue

2007-09-03T20:14:00.000-05:00

How could you not love Boise? When Vince and I put together Kyle's highlight film, all we knew at the time was that Boise was in the Top 25. We knew Kyle could play anywhere, but it was late in the recruiting season and most schools had already made their offers. With little options and time ticking away, I made a highlight tape over Thanksgiving break and fedex'd 25 copies to the top 25 programs in the country. Boise was the first to respond and the rest was history. Little did I know, our little video would have such a profound effect on the Boise community.

For those of you who watched the Fiesta Bowl on TV, all I can say was the live game was the most exciting game I've ever witnessed. Not only was the whole family there, but our seats were in the corner of the endzone where all of the magic took place. We couldn't have asked for a better view.

Now I'll be the first to admit. After the interception I thought it was over. I recall an Oklahoma fan who had never said a word during the entire game, came over to our seats after the pick and say, "Win or lose, this was a hell of a game." I sat there thinking to myself, if you don't get your sorry, chicken-$hit ass out of my face I'm going to throw you down the stairs. A real sportsman would not have waited until his team was on the verge of winning to start gloating. Anyway, instead of leaving the stadium, my girlfriend reminded us the game was not over and we just needed faith. And after all was said and done, she was absolutely right (as usual).

How could you not love Boise? Boise State is much more than a football team. Much more than Blue Turf. Much more than a some university in the middle of Idaho. Boise is all about faith.

Faith; if you're a great prospect and no one has found you yet, Boise State will. Faith; if you're an underdog and nobody believes you can do it, Boise State will show you how. At some point in life, we all need a little faith in whatever we do in order to make things happen. Like I said, Boise State is much more than a football team.

I'm so proud of the school. So proud of the team. So proud of the coaches. So proud that I had a small role in history.

Now.....I'm not in the movie, nor am I receiving any royalties.....but I would like to invite all of my readers to check out Out of the Blue. You can't see it in the theaters unless you live in Boise. Everyone else, we'll have to get the DVD. Why am I recommending this movie without ever seeing it? Because I feel like I lived it. I've followed the school ever since the day we sent the highlight tape and I want to share my experience with everyone I know.

I know it will be difficult, if not impossible to top last season. But if I had to think of one team that could find a way to make it happen, it would be Boise State.

B-O-I-S-E!! S-T-A-T-E!!

I get money!

2007-09-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my new little toy (thanks gos), I am now making my foray into cinema. Watch out Guy.

Please let the video load before playing.

The Left Hand Man on the Right

2007-08-31T19:03:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's me, but when did it become against the law to tap your foot while sitting on the toilet? I mean, how do we know that Larry wasn't listening to Kanye's new album on his Ipod? And how do you get arrested for putting your left hand under the stall while reaching for toilet paper? What's criminal about that?

This whole case is ridiculous. Here are some things I want to know.

#1, why is the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport such a hotbed for "lewd" behavior? What ever happened to simply getting a hotel room?

#2, why is the Senator using a public bathroom in the first place? You would think he would have some Frequent Flyer card and could use a bathroom in a one of those plush airline club rooms.

#3, what kind of police officer are you, if your job is to solicit men in an airport bathroom in Minnesota all day. Talk about hating your job.

#4, I'm going to assume that senators must have some minimal level of intelligence. Having said that, why would Larry start the conversation saying, "You solicited me?" What ever happened to "I plead the fifth" or "It wasn't me."

#5, Since when did presidential candidate Arizona Sen. John McCain and Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman become the bastion of morality? (John, deflection won't work. Maybe Newt was right.)

At any rate, listen to this fool and make your own conclusion.

Boise St. 65 - Weber St. 7

2007-08-31T01:25:00.000-05:00

"First of all, this was a joke. I was surprised with the way we played. It's not all [the players'] fault. It goes to the coaching staff, too. That was as bad a football game I've been a part of. When you don't come to play, that's what happens." - Weber State coach Ron McBride

Blowout from beginning to end. Granted Weber St. is a I-AA team, Boise still executed very well. Much better than I thought. QB, check; RB, check; DLine check; WRs, check; Secondary, no need to ask.

The streak is still alive.

Kyle, good work on that return. Not sure if you could have stayed inside or bounced out, but I was jumping up and down in the office!

Yeah, this hit was real too. Not sure about the final count, but it was pretty high. That slam on the sideline was the truth. It should be on youtube (update: here you go)!

Stay up.

Go Boise!

2007-08-30T19:38:00.001-05:00

Good luck Kyle #1!

The Power of Facebook (I can't believe I'm saying this)

2007-08-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

I'll be the first to admit, I'm a self-proclaimed Mark Zuckerberg hater. I'm not sure how we've gotten to where we are today, but Facebook is all over the place. The more I try to run from it, the more difficult it becomes to avoid the revolution. I think I came to this realization sometime last week. While connecting with an old classmate, I saw that he joined a group called "Don't Name Princeton's Mascot."

Prior to logging in Facebook, I had no idea that this "contest" existed. Some genius at the university thought it would be a good idea to name the Princeton mascot. How idiotic (for a plethora of reasons)! I immediately joined the group and proceeded to invite every single Princeton friend. 20 minutes later I had 20 friends join me. The wall posts on the group page confirmed that my outrage was not alone. As of right now, there are 500+ members. Now I can't say that we've won the battle, but the link to the asinine contest has been removed from the varsity sports homepage.

Is our group that powerful? Is Facebook the next Google? Did Mark just punk Shirley? I won't go so far as to say yes, but something happened. Something potentially powerful.

Mark...c'mon bro. Make me like you. Just admit it. You didn't plan this revolution. You got a lot of help. I would respect you a lot more if you just admit that luck has a lot to do with Facebook's success.

If my dad ever...

2007-08-26T01:41:00.000-05:00

When it rains, it pours. I've refrained from posting on the Mike Vick situation because there really isn't too much to say. I'm sure never in his wildest dreams would Vick ever believe his career would come to an abrupt end because of his dog fighting. I can't even begin to imagine what is going on in Mike's head right now. I mean seriously.....it was all good just a week ago.

Just a couple of months ago I posted a joke on the Facebook wall of a friend/classmate, Chris (son of Gerald Poindexter), saying that his dad was going to ruin the Falcons season with these trumped up charges. I warned him to tell his pops to chill before the entire city of Atlanta comes to Surry County and beats his a$$. Little did I know, his dad, Surry County Commonwealth's Attorney, was not going to be Vick's achilles' heel. Who would have thought that Vick's own father would rat him out?

I guess I could understand why Vick's Co-d's would cop pleas and leave their "friend" out to dry, but his FATHER. If my dad ever......................................I would have to do more damage than Randy Couture did to Gonzaga's nose.

I know father-son relationships can be hard. I'm thankful everyday for the relationship I have with my father. Sure he constantly reminds me of danger and opportunity or tells the same jokes or at times can be overbearing, but what father who is proud of his three sons wouldn't be supportive? It's because of him that I work so hard at what I do (and why I'm so aggressive/overbearing/dedicated). Failure is not an option......especially when we only have a limited number of opportunities in life.

I still can't understand this. What would drive a father to go on national tv and sell out his son? His own flesh and blood. Basically, Michael Boddie put the last nail in the coffin. At least Abraham could say God told him to do it. I'm thoroughly disgusted!

I'm sure I've done some things in my 29 years that my dad didn't like. I'm sure there are some things that he down right hated. But in the end, we talked about it and worked things out. I think that's what makes a relationship stronger. I can't think of a single thing I could ever do that would give my father the impetus to arrange from my sodomization in a Federal penitentiary.

It's things like this that make me wish Father's Day was once a month, not once a year. I don't think we take the time to really thank the dads that not only shield their children from prison, but actually act as role models. I'm glad I have my role model. I'm glad my father has been in my corner every day for 29 years straight.

Thanks Dad for having my back.

My House of Stairs

2007-08-22T19:47:00.001-05:00

Why all the tattoos?

A lot of people ask me that question and the answer varies every time. I got my first tattoo in high school right before graduation. It wasn't about rebellion, it was more about permanent self expression. Since that time, I've gotten a tattoo at every major juncture in my life. Each one represents something particular to me and is a biography/historical timeline of sorts.

Why that latest tattoo? As many of you know, we've been working really hard for the last 4 years getting yOOnew off the ground. When we started, we had no idea how difficult it would be to create an electronic exchange. Imagine building the NASDAQ or Euronext.liffe from scratch. After several prototypes, several years, several iterations, several long days and even longer nights, we are now getting ready to come out of stealth mode.

Having said that, my latest tattoo, M.C. Eschers's House of Stairs, was my most ambitious undertaking.

I always say that each successive tattoo has to be "better" and more complex than the former. Boy did I underestimate the complexity of Escher's work.

I arrived at The G-Spot Tattoos around 11:15am. (Don't be fooled by the outdated website. The shop founder, George Moore, is probably the most talented tattoo artist on the east coast.) For those who know how anal I am, it takes a lot to convince me to put something permanent on my body. On top of that, I would never want to bastardize the work of Dali or Escher. George is the only person that I would ever trust with the task. No disrespect to Chris, Arni, and the rest of the Miami Ink crew or Kat for that matter, but George is on another level.

Anyway, G started at about 12:45pm and finished around 5pm. When I say finish, I mean just with the OUTLINE.

After all the shading was said and done, it was about midnight!

Now...I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this was a bit ridiculous. The last hour was the absolute worst. However, when it was all said and done....George had created a masterpiece. (I'll post the final product when things have completely healed).

What's the point of this post? These last four years of my life have been like the 11 hours I spent sitting in the cold, dark room bleeding profusely. I had a great idea of what I wanted when we started......the adrenaline was pumping and I was juiced. After the first year or 2 hours, things were a breeze. I felt good and my heart was filled with fervor. Then things changed. The soreness kicked in and it became uncomfortable. The lack of comfort then transformed to pain, then annoyance and then all I could do was just pray for it to be over.

What is most frustrating? You start with a clear vision and begin to see the beautiful picture come to life before your very eyes. As things develop you start to realize this is going to be a long, hard, and painful process. After awhile, things don't seem to look right and the only thing you can think about is.......when will the madness stop?

Why all the masochism you ask? Because when the wounds heal and the bugs have been worked out.....the end product is so gratifying. It's the final masterpiece that keeps you enthralled, keeps you focused, and keeps you prepared to do it all over again...........

WGTCT

Age and the entrepreneur

2007-08-20T00:56:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of debate about the optimal or ideal age to start/run a startup. From Marc Andreessen to Fred Wilson to other celebrity tech bloggers.....everyone has an opinion. I don't have anything major to contribute on the topic other than my gut leads me towards the younger end of the spectrum (and my brain is swayed by pretty charts).

During my bschool days when I jumped on the bandwagon and tried my hat at "strategy" consulting, I remember interviewing with some partners from BCG. I recall them stressing the high level of involvement that new hires (fresh college grads or MBA grads) have on important engagements. 2 points stuck with me.

First, they contended that younger people with little "domain" expertise tend to develop expertise from a completely different perspective. When tasked with solving difficult problems, they are not clouded (consciously or subconsciously) with preconceived notions of how things work or should work. They may also use seemingly irrelevant experiences to answer a question.
The second point was that if you look at geniuses and their greatest accomplishments or contributions to society, "greatness" tends to take place at an early age (Einstein, Mozart, etc.).

While we may accept these observations as truth, many have asked for quantifiable data. While reading Marc's post tonight, I remembered an overhead projection slide from a class on tech entrepreneurship. I would like to direct everyone to Professor Edward Roberts at MIT Sloan. In his book "Entrepreneurs in High Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond" (especially Chapter 3) Roberts addresses "The Makings of an Entrepreneur."

The data is compelling.

NBA Information Arbitrage

2007-08-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

"By having this non-public information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games. Some of my picks included games I had been assigned to referee." - Tim Donaghy

Really Tim? You were able to "predict" the outcome of NBA games because you had non-public information? No $hit! How else can anyone make money in any "market"? Either you're lucky or you have more relative information than other market participants. This "edge" may help your predictions, but nothing is more powerful then simply blowing your whistle when a play is not in your favor. Tim you didn't just have inside information, you CREATED information (allegedly........sometimes I have to cma).

I've always contended that sports markets are more efficient than the equity markets. There is a lot more transparency. You don't have to worry about funny accounting or corporate scandal. Every major media outlet publishes sports scores, odds, and injuries daily. Most people are more informed with regards to sports than stocks. If you don't believe me, try this simple experiment. Ask someone.....where is GOOG trading, then ask.....who is leading the National League. More people would say the Mets than $487.18.

I'm not so much concerned with Tim's inside information. As a somewhat believer in APT, eventually this information gap will be arbed away.....usually quicker than one can realize any gains.

As repulsive as it is, I could potentially grow to forgive Tim for using his edge. However, having a ref purposefully affect the outcome of a game is the ultimate disgrace. Players gambling on/against themselves is horrible. But a REF! A REF? A supposed, independent, neutral arbiter. I'm disgusted!

And to think......none of this would have come to fruition if the Feds were not investigating the Gambino crime family in Brooklyn. They stumbled upon Tim and contacted the NBA. All for what?

Let's look at the numbers:

Gamblers at first agreed to pay Donaghy $2,000 for each correct game pick and later boosted the payment to $5,000
Investigators believed Donaghy made at least $30,000 from December to April
Donaghy was free on an unsecured $250,000 bond
He also faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years, $500,000 in fines and might have to pay a still undetermined amount of restitution to the NBA

Some reports claim that Tim was providing "tips" since 2003. How much money is that? If one team plays ~80 games a season and Tim refs every game, we could estimate 5 seasons or 400 possible games. Let's say that he has some "edge" on 1/2 the games and is correct 90% of the time (i know that's impossible, but we are making an assumption about his edge). This would mean that Tim could supplement his $200k+ annual salary with $900,000* over 5 years. That brings his total annual compensation to $380,000 a year. What a f*cking idiot!**

* 400 games * 1/2 edge * 90% accuracy * $5,000 per game = ~$900,000.00
** $380k - (25 years * annual prison salary) - (costs associated with running from the mob) = ~ $0.00

Who knew the electric violin could sound like this?

2007-08-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

I was passing through Grand Central Station today and heard one of most amazing instruments....the electric violin. The music was so moving that I had to take off my headphones......and I was listening to the new Common album.

After standing in the hot subway station for over 20 minutes listening to Lorenzo LaRoc, I decided to take some video on my treo and post a quick blog. You can download a the full single on Lorenzo's myspace page.

I recommend buying the album (I bought my CD at the station). I usually don't stop to listen to street performers, but this was an extraordinary case. Apparently Lorenzo has been playing the subways for over 15 years. He's a well trained, well accomplished musician, composer, and arranger. He doesn't "work" the subways full-time, but knows other musicians who make over $200k a year doing what the love. (And I thought they were poor bums wasting their time in the subways. Damn I was wrong!)

Don't just take my word for it! Watch the video (Sorry for the poor sound quality.....it's Palm's fault.)

Lorenzos' Bio:

Lorenzo La Roc is a native New York electric violinist, composer, and arranger. He began playing the violin at the age of eight, and though he was classically trained, he now plays a diverse gamut of styles, including jazz, rock and Latin music. He studied at the Julliard School of Music under the tutelage of Mary Jane Metcalf, the Guitar Study Center in New York City and at the Creative Music Studios in Woodstock.

Very soon after graduating college, he was hired as a solo electric violinist to perform with Warner Brothers recording artist, Sheila E. It was then that he embraced Latin jazz.

After several years working with Sheila E., Lorenzo formed his own group of New York City musicians called Masterpiece. Masterpiece is now comprised of cutting edge musicians who have worked with many grammy-award winning artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Whitney Houston.

Lorenzo uses his signature trademark, a custom made five-string plexiglass electric violin. The intensity and passion with which Lorenzo plays his instrument expresses not only his musical versatility, but also his deep love and commitment for what he does. He hopes to bring the electric violin to a popular audience and to touch the hearts of listeners worldwide.

And I thought the X-Games was boring

2007-08-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

I'd be the first to admit that I didn't really like skateboarding. I though it was for geeks who couldn't play a real sport......I take it ALL back. I watched my first X Games this past week and have a new found respect for these modern day Evil Knievels. On my JetBlue flight from Vegas (yes, I'm up), I had nothing better to do than watch 5 straight hours of skateboarders, bikers, and other crazy, young guys/girls defying gravity and performing some of the most amazing tricks I've ever seen. I never knew this sport (I'm officially recognizing it as a sport) required ridiculous skills, tremendous body control, strength, creativity, grace, and most importantly reckless abandon that one would have difficulty finding from the toughest in the NFL..........I mean they hang low. Very low.

Here's a sample:

Adam Jones bustin a Shaolin flip! (I'm even learning the lingo!)

Todd Potter rocks his kamikaze flip - Kiss of Death Backflip!

Kyle Loza's Gold medal trick.

These guys make it look so easy. Makes me want to go out there and pick up a skateboard and start flippin.....SIKE!!

Now let's talk about Jake Brown and his fall from grace. If you don't know who/what I'm talking about, just scroll down below. Before you do that, here is a video of Jake Brown performing some sick tricks. Please watch this video before you go any further. It will give you a good idea how skilled Jake is.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. If you haven't seen this on ESPN and refuse to live in the 21st century and watch TV, please prepare yourself.

I was fooled into thinking this stuff was fun and games. This fall reminded me never to ride a skateboard. I saw this clip on the plane without my headphones on.....good thing I didn't hear the SMACK! Take a deep breath.

Let's take a look from another angle (homemade film).

One more time for good measure (on the jumbotron).

Jake, I wish you a speedy recovery. Thanks for introducing me to the sport.

First you take my home, then you take my phone!

2007-07-22T21:48:00.000-05:00

We've all heard the noise about the subprime housing debacle. Everyone is to blame........the deadbeat customers, the suspect lenders and even the hedge funds that trade this risky debt. Well, it doesn't just stop with homes. Risky lending has finally hit the cellular industry. Amp'd Mobile is done!

What can you say? When you target customers that NO OTHER CARRIER would touch with a 10 foot pole, you're asking for trouble. When young, fickle customers with little or no credit make up the majority of your user base, you're asking for trouble. When you allow people to pay as they go, you add to the volatility and unpredictableness of your revenues.........say it with me...........YOU'RE ASKING FOR TROUBLE!

You raise $360M in VC funding, but you can't pay your Verizon bill ($41M)? How do you rack up $370,000 a day in charges? And that's just with Verizon! Who is watching the finances?

To add insult to injury, you still advertise the phone service and sell the equipment in Best Buy and Circuit City! Down right despicable!

Now here is the ultimate slap in the face. Your current paying customers are greeted with the following explanation:

Is this a sign of things to come? I'm not the only one concerned for all the other MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). On paper, it seems like a great idea.

You don't need to pay billions to create the infrastructure.
You don't need to hassle with subscriptions or customer service.
You can charge ridiculous premiums to customers who have no other options.
It's prepaid, so you earn interest on the float.

Here's the rub. If you own a MVNO, you are in the risk management business! If I was a partner at a PE firm, I'd buy Amp'd for 5 cents on the dollar. I'd hire some guys from Capital One or Wall Street and apply the appropriate risk management systems. Then, I'd ride the wave back up (during the next bubble).

$8M dollars....before the 68, in front of the money!

2007-07-17T11:46:00.001-05:00

How to raise money from a VC?

Before I comment on this video, I'd like to provide the appropriate contextual background. I read a lot of blogs. When I say a lot, I mean several blogs from a wide spectrum of bloggers. Entrepreneurs, VCs, marketing gurus, scientists, economists, sports fans, gossipers, etc........Like I said, I read a lot of blogs. However, I am still looking for a compelling reason to accept VC money.

Shpigler's video is quite amusing. I don't speak Hebrew, but the subtitles (good work 5min) are quite helpful. Throw in the mannerisms of a cocky angel, the cigar waving, the glass of scotch and you have all the makings of a great comedy. However, the most compelling part of the video is the content.

Many may dismiss the "content" as typical, amateurish, angel rhetoric. I beg to differ. It's really quite simple. If you're managing a venture fund in which 9 out of 10 of your investments fail, how do you maintain abnormal returns? How do you satisfy your LPs? The 1 shining star must makeup for the 9 dogs. If you're a dog, you don't care. But, if you are the star.....there is an inherent conflict of interest. You are essentially responsible for making up for the dogs.

Riddle me this:

If one could raise the same amount of money at the same valuation and the same deal terms from the following options, how would one evaluate the choices?

A. the best VC in the world with the best track record and connections out the wazoo

B. an angel investor who is a successful, serial entrepreneur

C. a strategic partner who has been in the industry for 50 years

D. the venture arm of a multi billion dollar public corporation

Any takers?

Pimpin' all over the world.....even Mexico

2007-07-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

Listening to hip hop, one may hear several references to the legendary character, Iceberg Slim. Robert Beck's legendary "career" reached its height in the '70s as Iceberg "pioneered" the Pimp Game. When the pimping was done and Iceberg "squared up", Robert went on to sell over 6 millions copies of his books depicting his life and ascension in the Pimp Game.

Now, let's talk about the real Pimp. Iceberg Slim's Pimp Game pales in comparison to that of Carlos Slim. Carlos' pimp stick is so strong, he recently pimp smacked Bill Gates right off the pedestal as the world's richest man.

Following a surge in America Movil's shares over the second quarter, Slim's fortune has mushroomed to an estimated $67.8B (£33.6B) - equivalent to 8% of Mexico's gross domestic product - compared with $59.2B for the Microsoft mogul, putting him in the lead by a decisive $8.6B.

Now, I've always contended that behind every extraordinary fortune, there is a extraordinary crime. Whether we're talking about cotton, railroads, alcohol, diamonds, or corporate productivity software......it doesn't matter. White collar or blue collar crime ......it doesn't matter. To make multi-millions, you need a lot of luck. To make billions, you need more than luck. You need a controlled capitalistic playing field, a.k.a. a perfect monopoly.

What does Carlos Slim own?

Five insurance companies (valued at $1.5 billion)
Mexican retail chain (pretax annual profit, $500 million), a mining company, an auto parts manufacturing company, a bank, a tobacco company, oh, and another mining company. All told, Slim's companies account for almost one-half of the value of the Mexican stock exchange
4 out of every 5 cell lines and 9 out of every 10 land lines are owned and operated by him
a budget airline, Volaris
a cigarette company, Cigatam
a music retailer, MixUp
an internet service provider, Prodigy
piece of Comp USA
piece of Saks Fifth Avenue
America Movil group
Telmex
Telcel

"If you're a Mexican citizen, Carlos Slim is Microsoft, Apple, Coke, Pepsi and GM all rolled into one. In spite of all of Slim's charitable contributions, Mexico's working class just doesn't trust him."

What's the secret of his success? Carlos started at age 26 with $400,000 and all the ambition in the world. With his family's business relationships and government connections, Carlos was able to buy companies....early.....often and at rock bottom prices. We all know what happens when the privatization process is not so transparent. These deals alone would assist anyone with amassing tremendous wealth in a short period of time. When coupled with remittances, even Bill Gates has to throw in the towel!

I'm not a macro economist, nor do I profess to know the Slim's life story. However, getting income from tax-free US dollars, does add to the leverage. And leverage can give anyone an advantage. Like I said.....you need more than luck to make billions.

Will Carlos be as philanthropic as Gates or Buffett? I have no ideas. I just know that Carlos was quoted saying:

"Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees."

For all you conspiracy theorists, here's a YouTube video on Mr. Slim (sorry, it's one of the few videos in English.)

Blackstone, the real Aphrodisiac

2007-06-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

It has been common folklore that oysters are a great aphrodisiac. Well, I've found something 95,000 times more potent ($38B/$400k) . The Black Stone!

Blackstone recently floated 12.3% of its management partnership shares that resulted in the sixth richest initial public offering in US history. Initially priced @ $31.00, BX shares closed up $4.06 or 13.1 per cent to $35.06. (If you're even thinking about investing in BX or the like, I advise you to read Marc's blog here.) That's a $38B market cap OVERNIGHT!

Now if this stone doesn't get you rock hard, I don't know what will! Having Caribbean roots, I've heard all the rumors about the Black Stone. Rub on a little Black Stone on your head and BAM! ..........................you're the energizer bunny!!! No need for the little blue pills.

Scientists attribute the stone's prolonged stimulation to the bufotenine, bufadienolides resibufogenin, bufalin and.........a bunch of other "stuff" found in the potent stone.

I think the scientists have gotten it all wrong. You don't have to rub your head with any black stones to get excited. All you need to do rub elbows with some Blackstones. Here is one Blackstone I'd like to meet: Stephen Schwarzman.

His Stats:

2006 Net worth - $3.5B (73rd richest American in '06)
2006 Salary - $398M
Initial $400k investment (1/2 his own money) now worth ~$38B (That's a 95,000 bagger!)
Could collect ~$677M from the IPO proceeds alone
After IPO, still owns 24% of Blackstone (valued at ~$7.7B)
Owns a $30M Manhattan co-op at 740 Park
Personal chef often spends $3,000 for a weekend of food for him and the wife, including stone crabs that cost $400, or $40 per claw.
Birthday party and guestlist that Diddy could only dream of (maybe next time P.D.)

(Get all the Stats on "The Golden Ass" from Daniel Gross at Slate.)

As you can tell, I'm aroused. Matter of fact, I'm going to have to cut this post short and get back to work. Any more research on the Black Stone and I'm liable to burst a vein. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! (WGCT!)

If anyone has any suggestions for battling my Priapism, please send some remedies or gift me some BX shares for my future children's trusts.

Requiem for a Pistol (to shoot MSFT in the helmet)

2007-06-22T09:32:00.000-05:00

"Why did Live have to f*ck with my Halo?"

Is it any wonder why MSFT is losing the gaming battle? Why would you alienate your lead users? The people who test your product before the general public gets upset with bugs. The people who push your technology to the limit and help you build a better product? The people who spread the gospel to the world (FREE of CHARGE)?

I can understand employing the regimented approach with their bread and butter corporate community....you know....word, excel, power point, and all the other tools "required" for corporate productivity. But an XBOX? How the hell can Microsoft beat Sony with superb business decisions like this?

Joe Gamer: "You are RUINING THE LITTLE RESPECT YOU HAVE LEFT!"

Rule number 1: The gaming market is not the corporate productivity software market. Don't fight the gamer!

Like most diehard gamers I was one of the first guys on the original Xbox band wagon. I opened the box and played the only game that came with my console, Halo. At that exact moment, I was a true Xbox believer. I never bought another game for the first 2 years and played Halo until my eyes were bloodshot red. It was a problem...(or so my therapist said). If you've never played the original Halo, you've not a gamer..matter of fact....you've never played a video game.

Halo completely revolutionized the gaming market!
(Microsoft even bought Bungie because of this one game's success!)

The game was so enthralling.....we had to play more often, we had to play better people, we had to play online. However, MSFT did not support playing online. So what did we do.....we modded our xbox with chameleon chips and connected our boxes manually. This was before Gamespy or any other peer to peer gaming site. No slick user interface, not maps, not chat, you had to connect your xbox to your pc and use a linux boot-up disc to find other IPs that wanted to join your game. To "chat" you had to use another PC to find gamers/hosts on ICQ before you booted up the game. (Shout out to the Motley's, J and X! First on the block to make it happen.)

Now that I think about it, it was quite archaic, but it worked. We were playing Hang 'em High with people from all over the world. Even with the lag and hosting advantage (early Halo players know what I'm talking about) it was a revolutionary experience. I was playing a game at home...on a console...connected to the internet...talking $hit to some guys in Canada!

The community that evolved was ridiculous. Clans were forming, challenges were made, and LAN parties were popping up all over. People were doing ridiculous things in the games....things the game designers never even knew were possible. It was a great time for Xbox's penetration into the PlayStation market share. People were not buying Xbox for Xbox, we all wanted to play Halo!

All of the early Xbox innovations came from gamers taking the Xbox to the limit. Adding a hard drive, adding software to manage files, creating a multi media player, making it wireless.....all this stuff was out before MSFT even thought about building it. How could that be? You can't fight the gamer! Instead of fighting, MSFT should embrace innovation and let people build the product/games they want.

So what does MSFT do. They "steal" all of the innovation from "hackers" and incorporate it into the new and improved Xbox 360. The 360 launch was combined with the release of Halo 2. Boy was I was ready! I had my eBay auction ready (no time to stand in line) and paid ~$750 to be the first to play Halo 2. What a disappointment!

Not only did they kill the game with the bs maps and weapons (no more pistol shots); they completely bastardized the Live experience by commercializing some functionality and removing others. On top of that, MSFT was telling me that I had to PAY to play with other people. GTFOH! I just paid 2x retail for the game and console, I pay $150/month for high-speed internet and MSFT wants me to pay for Live! That's like AOL trying to get me to pay for a inferior browser. Ha!

I have not played my Xbox 360 since.

Why all this background info? It's simple. MSFT had the best thing going for them. Huge penetration into Sony's market, great staple game in Halo, avid die-hard gamers, and a great user generated road map for success. By abandoning the early adopters, MSFT managed to destroy most of the value that was was created......in record time.

Don't take my word for it. Ask any "former" Halo player what they think of MSFT and Xbox Live now?

Microsoft may have dropped the ball in gaming.....good thing they are dominating Google and others on the search front, the ad front, the web application front, the recruiting front, the video front, the social networking front, the it's cool to be a geek front, the wall street growth story front.........help! I'm running out of fronts....Ha!

Just watch this video and Halo-Union will rap to you why Xbox Live is dead. (Lyrics!)

MySpace for $12B: The 21st century Farabuttos

2007-06-20T02:35:00.000-05:00

Seriously, these numbers are starting to get really ridiculous. Is Yahoo! really contemplating a deal to buy MySpace for $12B? All this mis/disinformation has the market confused. I mean.....even the talks about MSFT buying Yahoo! are resurfacing. Anything to stay in the news........amazing!

You even have some analysts going in the completely opposite direction expecting Yahoo! to divest its valuable web properties. In one day's time, Jerry's little headache has mushroomed into a full blow migraine.

"He didn't function as chief Yahoo, so why would you think he will succeed as CEO?" said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry. "They already missed the boat and, in the Internet space, there are no second chances."

The doubters have already started swinging the axe. Honestly, this is a great bschool case study in the making. I'm sure there are some HBS professors licking their chops with versions A, B, C, and D already written. What are Yahoo!'s options when going against Google?

Hirer smarter people.....KO, GOOG.
Spend more money....KO, GOOG.
Develop better applications.....TKO, GOOG.
Focus on search.....Arm Bar, Yahoo! taps out.
Execute better acquisitions......(I guess you have to buy someone first)....No Contest.
Re-evaluate the entire business strategy......(Now McKinsey is licking their chops. I can see the fees already!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

Jerry, if I were you, I would lobby for some serious stock options. You can't ask for a big salary...that was Semel's downfall. Get those options, get that stock price up to $50 like the street wants/needs and get the hell out of Dodge. The Street.....that's the real problem. In order to fix the mess, you have to be content with letting the stock hang for at least a year. Is the world that patient? I doubt it. Look what happened on your first day in the office. I'd hate/love to be in your shoes.

Now back to the $12B MySpace quagmire. Even if the number was real, does Jerry have those two things that are required to pull the trigger? Who does? No deal, then you've missed the boat yet again. Deal, then you've substantially over paid. It's a no win situation.

My 2 cents.........If the internet was invented in the 1830's, then the Farabuttos would have been PHP programmers, not tailors. As such, they would be peddling beautiful social networks with the "wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid."

If my memory servers me correctly, a Stanford degree wasn't required to figure this one out?

Do you Semel what the rock is cooking?

2007-06-18T19:45:00.000-05:00

What ever it is, I'm not touching it. If the stock pops after this announcement (ooops too late), that's a sucker's bet (shorts, they are making this too easy).

Is Terry the problem? I don't think so. Blame it on the CEO if that makes you feel better. There is a laundry list of reasons why this should have happened, however we all knew this was inevitable. And as a semi strong market efficiency guy, the stock trading at $29+ is a mirage to me. Does Yahoo fundamentally change? No.

Same people. Same ideas. Same execution. Only difference.......they are now missing the scapegoat. So the next deal Yahoo passes on or the next hiccup ..........and the stock is going to get hit hard.

And now Jerry is coming out of retirement. I can't say that's a surprise. Again, how does the stock pop $2.00 (on a $27 close) with this news? Who else would be interim CEO? Shouldn't you factor in the risk associated with a former founder repeating the improbable? What are those odds?

Can't wait to see the next Roody Poo blamed for Yahoo's poor performance. Then again, you never know. I mean if money can facilitate this transformation, Yahoo may be in great shape!

BLOCKSAVVY: Attack of the Clones

2007-06-16T21:34:00.001-05:00

He's back at it! Humbled hip hop mogul, Damon Dash, is trying his arm as a tech entrepreneur with his MySpace clone, BlockSavvy. Now..........I'm somewhat conflicted. On one hand, I love Dame's attitude. He's a go getter for real! Super Super-ego, extraordinary creativity, mega street smarts, and the corporate swagger to make things happen.

However, "you're only as good as your last trade". Let's take a look down memory lane and review his track record.

Roc-A-Fella Records (Dec. 04): Sells for $10M (plus $22M contract reup) to Island Def Jam Records. Good money! Although, Dame only gets 1/3 or ~$10M.

RocaWear (Sept. 05): Sells to Jay-Z for $30M. Good money, but it's gotta hurt to sell your shares to your ex-partner! Especially when Jay turns around in March 07 and sells RocaWear for $204M. I'd be pi$$ed!!

Pro-Keds: Did a respectable ~$22M last year.

(This is where is starts to get ugly.)

Damon Dash Music Group: Done! (At least the website still works.) Why is it done? Because the "music business isn't so profitable". It took Dame 10+ years to figure that out?

Dash's C.E.O. clothing line: Hasn't launched yet. Apparently, the logo is too big and even a buyer for Dr. Jay's sent Dame back to the drawing board. Done!

State Property clothing line: Beanie Sigel's line. Nuff said. Done!

Wife Rachel Roy's clothing line: Less than Dash-ing! Not profitable, done!

Dash-DiBella Promotions: I told you before, boxing is dead....with or without Dame. Done!

Reality TV show, The Ultimate Hustler: I can't hate. I personally hand delivered my audition tape to Dame outside of 105.1's radio station, but that's another story. Anyway, his loss. Good thing I didn't make it. Poor ratings, horrible reviews, little creativity, low value......done!

Dash Films: No website.......you don't exist. I don't care if you did The Woodsman starring Kevin Bacon and Mos Def. That was 2004 and I'm not sure how many people have seen or heard of the movie. Done.

America Magazine: It's here, but takes me to The National Catholic Weekly. Maybe Dame has a new religious hustle. Say it with me........DONE!

Tiret watch: Well, at least Michael Jackson is forking over $87k for a watch. If only everyone was like Mike.

Armadale Vodka: Well, I've never seen anyone pop a bottle of Aramdale in the club. Having said that, it did get a good review. Jury is still out.

So that brings me to BlockSavvy. Even after all the failures, this has some hope. Now, I HATE clones. Especially clones that have not one iota of originality. Blocksavvy is different. It has a specific niche audience (young, "urban") and has applications that cater to their specific needs.

I signed up and was pleasantly surprised with the richness of the graphics (3D rendered) as well as as slick interface and ease of use. It's based on the .Net platform, but it's Dame's first tech startup. He doesn't know any better.

Anyway, I really like the fact that users earn SavvyDollars for interacting with the site and with the community. These SavvyDollars can be used to purchase actual items.....items that reflect the niche audience's interests and needs. To me, this is the key to Web 2.0 (I hate myself for using that term).

Is Blocksavvy going to sell for $580M like MySpace.....absolutely not. But Dame only has ~$1M into the project and hopes to make 10x. In the current capital market climate, that shouldn't be hard at all.

"I'll be validated in technology. People will have to notice me." - Damon Dash

Slow your roll. Damon, even if you do sell for $20M....that does not make you a tech genius. Good start, but a Mark Zuckerberg you are not. (Damn, it hurts me to say that).

No laughing matter, Johnnie Morton knocked out by a standup comedian

2007-06-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

What would happen if an ex-NFL star fought a stand-up comedian in Mixed Martial Arts?

He would get...........knocked, the f*ck out!

Former NFL receiver Johnnie Morton was knocked out less than a minute into his first professional mixed martial arts bout, then was suspended from the sport for refusing to take a drug test.

Wait just a damn minute. You mean to tell me the Johnnie Morton who played 13 years in the NFL. Not that Johnnie Morton. But he's really cut and looks like he's in great shape. I thought he was model too. He's a fighter? I'll be damned if I let a comedian beat my ass.....in my home town....in my own stadium! Johnnie....after getting aired out you then refused to take a drug test? Is it that bad? You should have just closed your eyes and pretended he was Matt Millen.

You know what......I would have refused a drug test too. How stupid would you look if you used some clear and some cream and still got pummeled.......BY A STANDUP COMEDIAN. HA! This $hit IS too funny!
And his name is BERNARD! Ha!
And he's a STANDUP COMEDIAN.......................LMAO!!!

I thought you were friends with "Rampage"......Quinton c'mon.....help your boy out. Get him some proper training. This looked horrible. I don't think we're going to see Johnnie in the ring again. Johnnie was even trying to get Priest Holmes to jump on the MMA bandwagon. Priest, JUST SAY NO! I guess the rumors are true.....Johnnie is going to have to go back to playing for the Lions.

For all those thinking it....STOP! Please do NOT compare bush league MMA fights to the UFC! I don't care how many touchdowns you've scored. Or how much you can bench. Or what your 40 time may be.

If you don't know what you're doing, get the f*ck out of the ring.

# 84 Johnnie Morton
	Position: WR Height: 6-0 Weight: 193 Born: 10/07/1971 College: Southern California NFL Experience: 13

Yes, Rampage has lost (BADLY)

2007-06-03T12:01:00.000-05:00

For everyone who has been constantly emailing me about "Rampage", I decided to post three fights in which "Rampage" lost...........BADLY!

This was earlier in his career. Here are his last 3 losses. He lost to Wanderlei "the Axe Murderer" Silva in the same tournament where he beat Chuck (the first time) and in a subsequent title fight (the rematch). Rampage took several knees to the head......OUCH! You can see that Rampage kept getting up too fast and could not defend himself (signs of an amateur fighter). In the rematch, it was a battle. Rampage showed great improvement, but got tired and dropped his hands. Silva hit him on the chin, then followed up with those ridiculous knees.....knocked him out cold.

You heard it here first! Let him fight Wanderlei again and see what happens.

Then he fought Murilo Rua and won the fight by decision (even though he admitted in the ring that he really should have lost and didn't want the trophy). The next fight was against Murilo's little brother, Mauricio. Watch the clip.....he's not that little. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua beat Rampage down. No excuses here. Let's see what Shogun does in 2008 if/when they meet again.

Loss	Mauricio Rua	TKO	PRIDE Total Elimination 2005	4/23/2005	1	4:47
Win	Murilo Rua	Decision	PRIDE 29-Fists of Fire 2005	2/20/2005	3	5:00
Loss	Wanderlei Silva	KO	PRIDE 28-High Octane	10/31/2004	2	3:26	Middleweight Title Match

The good news.......Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is now in the UFC. And it is rumored that Wanderlei Silva is coming to the UFC too. This makes the potential hype for the 205lb. weight class ridiculous. Along with D. Henderson the current Pride champion, the UFC is poised to have the most exciting light heavy weight fights EVER!

Fight with W. Silva (#1):

Fight with W. Silva (#2) REMATCH:

Fight with "Shogun":

Explain this to your boss

2007-06-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

At 4:40 a.m. in the morning Gilberto Cantu, a truck driver from Texas, approached the New Jersey entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel and drove his 13 feet 6 inches high big rig (loaded with bathtubs, toilets and plumbing fixtures) into the tunnel that has a height limit of 13 feet. Do I really need to tell you what happened next? (Obviously I don't because you can see the leftover remains above).

Gilberto, you really have some explaining to do. You've been driving a truck for a while, but let's suppose you were a first time driver. You drove from Texas to NJ, so you had at least 1,762 miles (about 1 day 4 hours) to practice. I'm sure you have a CDL and at one point in time have read the entire handbook.................but let's suppose you forgot tunnel safety procedures. Let's try and come up with a plausible explanation for your boss and how such a seemingly ridiculous "accident" is even possible. I'm under the assumption you're a rookie driver and here are some points that may aid your case:

Let's suppose you were tired from the long hall and just wanted to go to bed ASAP.

Let's suppose you had an EZ-PASS and didn't have to stop at the tunnel entrance
Let's suppose that none of the many camouflaged, AK-47 carrying patrollers stopped you.

Let's say it was really dark in the tunnel and some of the lights were not working.
Let's suppose you're dyslecic and had trouble reading the height limit signs.

Let's suppose you're deaf and didn't hear the initial scrapings on the rig's roof or the police sirens.
Let's suppose you suffer from Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome and didn't feel the roof of your tractor-trailer peeling off like a can of sardines.

Most people wouldn't give you the benefit of the doubt. Most people would be quick to judge this case........

But you know what, it's not really your fault. I completely blame the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the tunnel. Their spokesman, Steve Coleman, shared with me the "minor" precautions the tunnel makes to avoid such accidents.

First, according to Steve, when one enters the toll plaza, an electronic sensor is tripped, several stoplights are activated and police officers at the plaza use a loudspeaker to order the driver to stop. Port Authority was responsible for stopping your right there! Perhaps.......the sensors were broken or faulty.

Getting past that, there are flashing signs and a loudspeaker in New Jersey that continues go off. Duh............it was dark, you couldn't see AND you're deaf. How was that suppose to prevent this accident from occurring? Again, Port Authority is responsible for making the tunnel handicap friendly.

According to Steve, at least once a week a truck is stopped. And on the rare occasions when trucks have entered and scraped the tunnel’s ceiling, drivers have invariably stopped, and the police employ a "height-reducing technique" of letting air out of the trucks’ tires so they could be backed out. (Since when did common sense become a "technique".) Again, not your fault. Where were the police when you needed to let the air out of your tires?

Now you're faced with nine misdemeanor moving violations, including reckless driving, failure to obey a traffic signal and failure to obey an officer’s command. I'm not a lawyer, but we've just proven you're innocent and you now have all the ammunition you need to beat the case.

I wish you the best of luck explaining this to your boss (and then the judge). If there are any readers out there that my be able to provide more explanations to help Gilberto's case, please post your thoughts below.

In the interim, Gilberto is currently applying for his Private Pilot's License and NEEDS SOME SUPPORT!

You Make Me Better

2007-06-02T20:35:00.001-05:00

Make Me Better Lyrics

Rampage the Boxing Slayer........UFC's Muhammad Ali

2007-05-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

"That's the way I rumble. I do my thang!"

On Seis de Mayo, day after the thrilling Mayweather/De La Hoya bout, I had the inkling that boxing was dead. After watching UFC 71, I now know who killed it......Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Point blank.......He's a beast.

I've watched Rampage long before the UFC was on the scene. I had a friend in Japan send me videos of this crazy, barking wrestler that was destroying veterans of the PrideFC. In the most technical of sports, Rampage was freestyling with little formal training. I mean reversing arm bars with sheer brute force and WWF slams (on GP, I can't call it WWE). From the first time I saw him fight, I knew it was only a matter of time before world domination. (I called the fight.....but never posted my blog beforehand. No seriously......I picked the "underdog".)

I knew he was working on his boxing, grappling, wrestling, jujitsu, speed, and conditioning, but I didn't know about the charisma. This is why Rampage is going to take the UFC to the next level. As fans of the sport, we need an icon. We need someone to standout as a symbolize of our hopes and dreams. We need a modern-day Ali. We need Quinton Jackson.

Give credit to where it is due. Dana White has cleaned up the sport. Chuck Liddell has made the brutal, savage sport more humane and more intelligent (80% of the fighters have college degrees). Ticket prices are up and celebrities fill the front row. The sport is practically tamper proof. There is no amount of $ that would get me in the cage. I'd rather fight Tyson in his prime. Fixing a UFC fight is suicide.

Talk about protecting the fighters. There is a mandatory suspension for UFC 71 fighters until 6/17. Dana's even changed the rules to make it safer and more exciting. They even bought the competition....the whole damn league......Ballin'. Now, UFC and PrideFC are going to be a world wide sport. It could rival soccer (more so than any other sport). This isn't a sport for violent, crazy idiots. It is the ultimate kinetic chess. More complex than boxing with so many other skills required. Mayweather said the "UFC ain't $hit". Dana asked him to make the fight happen and the greatest boxer of all time apologized for even uttering such foolishness. Don't take my word for it, lets look at the numbers:

1M PPV buys (UFC 71)
$4.4M gate proceeds (UFC 71)
UFC's 2006 PPV revenues were almost $223M
2006 - $177M for boxing on HBO
2006 - $200M for WWE

The fight could have been bigger. Even more hyped. If Rampage had more fights, the build up would have been ridiculous. Even Rampage thought he should have had more UFC fights. He apologized for making Chuck look bad. The crowd didn't know any better and never stopped booing. Even after the devastating chin check. 2007.....year of the upset. It wasn't an upset to me. It just got some people upset.....Chuck...Dana. Dana and Chuck are like Diddy and Biggie. They need each other. When Chuck lost the first time to Rampage, Dana had bet PrideFC $250,000 that Chuck would win the entire tournament.

When will fighters stay out of the lime light before the fight? Tarver does Rocky, Liddell does Entourage.....when are they going to learn? Chuck admitted to begging Dana to hookup the deal to be on his favorite show. I love Ari too, but Ari isn't giving away any of that fuck you money.

Chuck, you were the best that's ever done it. You are a very respectable and gracious champion, but please...no re-rematch.

Rampage, you're a celebrity. Please don't fall into the trap. Turn down any and all pre-fight movies/guest appearances. And I know you want that Bentley, but don't buy it. You want those grillz for your family and your shoes. No bling please. At least don't buy it. Have your agent get it for free. You're a celebrity, you don't have to pay anymore.

For those who don't know. Watch this clip. He's a beast!

For those who think he's an a$$. Watch this ultimate display of sportsmanship and humility.

Better CEO: Einstein or Bartleby?

2007-05-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

I just read an old post by Jonah Keegan on NYCE (New York City Entrepreneurs). He posed the question, "When should I start blogging my new business?"

Jonah's answer:

My experience (very tech heavy) is that ideas do not make or break 99% of the companies in the world, people do.

I completely agree. As a new entrepreneur with limited resources you have to get your name/idea out to the world, as soon as you are ready. How does one define ready?

You don't. Because you can't. You will never be ready so there is no reason to postpone. Just FN Do It! (I'm not saying be foolish. Make sure you are in position to make the competition irrelevant before you open your big mouth).

How valuable is an idea?.......no really.....tell me! Every "idea" has already been identified. Someone has already thought about it and done it. It might suck, but somehow it's getting done right now. Your "idea" isn't scared and anyone who thinks so.......kick rocks! Your "idea" is simply to do something better than everyone else (perhaps in a different way).

It's all about the execution. Einstein had brilliant ideas. I'm sure Bartleby the Scrivener had a plethora of great ideas too.......like go on a vacation for example. Now........who would I bet the farm on? Neither! Einstein doesn't have enough stamina to do a full day. And Bartley.....he could have been a rock star CEO, but...........well.........we all have different preferences.

Yeah I hate on Facebook..........because they don't have a revolutionary idea. But in terms of implementation, Mr. CEO Bitch is killing the game.

Bull$hit until proven true......Vitaminwater = 50 Cent's 40 bagger

2007-05-30T00:28:00.000-05:00

They say the proof is in the pudding. Well...I want to hear the words straight out the Cosby's mouth. I've scoured the internet and talked to several alternative information sources to substantiate the RUMOR that "50 Cent banks $400 million on sale of Vitaminwater."

Now you know I'm a hater....but are you telling me that 50 is the hip hop Warren Buffet? Who gave him the sound business advice to invest $10M for a 10% equity stake in 2004? C'mon 50, who is your broker?

Somebody....Anybody....say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!!!! Because if it's true, I'm about to shoot myself 360 times (40 x 9) and start working on my album ASAP! Howard, how did you miss this?

WTF! I'm really in the wrong business. First Facebook (needs a separate post), now this. I just got off vacation. My therapist advised me to slowly ease back into the hate. F*ck him!

Thai Ping Pong

2007-05-21T14:03:00.000-05:00

So on Sunday we decided to check out the local mall. We went to Siam Paragon which is one of the largest malls in Bangkok. Now don't get it f*ucked up. I wasn't forced to go to the mall. I do my fair share of shopping and challenge anyone (male or female) to a shopping endurance test.

Anyway, we proceeded to shop at the usual suspects (gucci, zegna, ferragamo, etc.) looking for bargains. No deals to be had! You're better off going to 5th ave. for a better selection and cheaper prices. After the 10% service charge AND the VAT, it's just not worth the price (even with a strong USD).

As we stepped out of the mall onto Rama Road several men kept approaching me......wanting to "show me Ping Pong". Now, I played football in college and only watch/participate in real sports (football, soccer, basketball, etc.). You know......sports where one actually sweats. I save the recreational games (ping pong, golf, billiards, etc.) to the old and out of shape.

Anyway, these guys kept harassing me for the rest of the night about some damn ping pong show. So now its like midnight, we've eaten dinner, and we go to a bar for some drinks. After 4 hours, I'm starting to get really f*cking annoyed with all this ping pong pestering. I mean......who wants to play ping pong at 1 am in the damn morning.

Finally, a guy pulls out a card with a menu full of prices for a variety of karma sutra positions. He was inviting me to a Patpong Show. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Talk about not reading the context clues. These guys were trying to sell me some a$$........all while I'm with my girl. Needless to say, we found the entire experience quite amusing and laughed all the way back to the hotel.

On a final note, during our night excursion we did notice a reoccurring theme...........this will however require a dedicated post! (I may even have to recruit a guest author!) Here is a sneak peak! (key words: old men and lady boys)

$1.50 Put-Put taxi and Thai Negotiations 101

2007-05-21T11:12:00.000-05:00

Where are these in NYC when you need a quick ride? I know we have the rickshaw pedal cabs, but who needs a guy riding a bike when you can ride in the middle of the street in a golf cart? I want my Put-Put taxi! Not only can they zip through traffic, but $1.50 USD can take you a long ass way. You can't even get into a NY cab with the meter reading less than $2.50.........I don't think I'm going to make it back to the states.

These put-put taxis are so common, they are part of Thailand's arts and crafts. Now at the Suan-Lum Night Bazaar you can pick up a Heineken model put-put for 350 ฿ (Baht). Don't do it! We've mastered the art of Thai bargaining. First, cut the price in half! It doesn't matter what you are trying to buy, if you look gullible (a.k.a. American) you will pay more. Once you've established a reserve price, test if the seller will go lower. If not, slowly work your way up to a "fair" price.

If the seller is not offended and will go lower, ask "what is the price for 2"....then 3...etc. Once you get the wholesale price for 3 or 4, use that as your new base reserve price for a quantity of 1! When employing this technique you can buy your very own Heineken put-put model for a mere 170 ฿. This also works for negotiating your put-put taxi fares. Good luck!

Happy Birthday to me! (Now......who told Dick?)

2007-05-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

Dear whooknew,

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Gerry,
Happy Birthday to you.

Now F*ck you, pay me!

Yours truly,

Your friends at Time Warner

NYC to Bangkok.......in only 24 hours!

2007-05-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

I had no idea! I've traveled a lot, but never to southeast asia. Now I know why. We boarded the plane at JFK 10am on Friday morning. Couple hours layover in Tokyo and then straight to Bangkok. Long ass flights, but I was able to do a lot of reading. I think I've found my new favorite magazine, Trader Daily. I've recently subscribed, but didn't feel like waiting 6-8 weeks for my first issue to arrive. Although, I have selective A.D.D. (self-diagnosed), I actually read the whole thing cover to cover. And I NEVER have the time or patience to do that. (My findings will need a separate post.)

So we're staying at a new hotel, Dream. Seems cool. I like the vibe and the in-room dining menu seems quite tasty. (I'll have to give a more detailed report on my stay at Dream).

We are off to our first taste of Bangkok nightlife. First we're headed to bed supperclub. (Again, a more detailed report will follow).

I'm out!

I want to Tivo my radio (freebie idea)

2007-05-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

So I was driving home in the yOOnew mobile after Mother's Day and decided to listen to the radio. As I flipped through stations, I heard two songs that I liked. Papoose - "Victory" and Raekwon - "Fly Poetry".

After each song, I hit the "Back" button on the cd changer expecting it to replay. I'm so used to rewinding tv with my DVR, I subconsciously tried to do the same thing with the radio. The more I thought about, the more pissed I became. Why can't I rewind radio. There is certainly less data in a song than there is in a video. WTF?

+ + + =

So here is my freebie idea. I want a Tivo for my radio. I want to schedule recordings ahead of time, just like Tivo. I want the ability to rewind, fast forward, etc. like my dvr. Now if you can throw in satellite programming that would be super. To top it all off, I would appreciate suggested audio files based upon my listening habits....You know, similar to last.fm functionality. GO TO LAST.FM !

Is this too much to ask for?

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T10:13:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom. She's just mastered text messaging and email and will soon start blogging (ok that may be a bit ambitious). The hate will have to be postponed until tomorrow.

Love you mom!

It Ain't No Fun (If The Homies Can't Have None)

2007-05-11T01:19:00.000-05:00

The New Enron = Fuqua Cheating Scandal

Is it just me or is this absolutely ridiculous. 34 Duke bschool students face disciplinary action for cheating on an open book take home exam. Let me get this straight. Cheating on a bschool open book take home exam. What an f*cking oxymoron! (remember my original disclaimer)

I didn't attend Fuqua, but I can say that I've graduated from probably the most rigorous bschool program in the world. (Yes I'm proud to be a Sloanie!) Having spoken with peers from other top bschools, I believe team work and task delegation are the most important skills that one learns from bschool. Bschool is unlike any other masters program. The focus is not on depth, but rather breath of knowledge. No matter what bschool you attend, it is IMPOSSIBLE to do all of the reading and all of the work alone. If you manage to do so, then you've completely missed the whole purpose of bschool and just flushed 100k+ down the $hitter. Why you may ask? Bschool is about breath of business knowledge and learning to work with differnt types of people. Rote memory is best left to the bookworms. (Yes, this is an MIT graduate talking.)

Now, I don't know all of the details so I can't really comment. What I can say is collaborative effort and group thought is paramount at most bschools. These precepts coupled with effective time management dogma teach bschool students (the corporate leaders of tomorrow) to work together for a common goal. Does this mean cheat? Absolutely not. I am too much of a competitor to ever condone cheating. At the same time, institutions of higher learning cannot preach teamwork out one side of the mouth and then at the 11th hour except students to study and perform in a completely different manner.

Is Fuqua getting a bad rap for what happens everywhere? Absolutely. At the end of the day, bschool is about having fun and making life long connections with friends. Even Snoop can tell you, it Ain't No Fun (If The Homies Can't Have None) and he didn’t need to go to Sloan or Fuqua.

Ballin.............NOT really

2007-05-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

It must be nice! Sitting ringside with your millionaire buddies while Mayweather stings De La Hoya for 12 rounds. What a life! Being part of PPV history (2.15M buys) and then heading to the after party at Tao to pop bottles of Krug Rose (jay doesn't do Cris anymore). Now that's what I call ballin..............NOT.

Here are the facts (according to Wikipedia):

Hip Hop Moguls Net Worth
1. P. Diddy, $346 Million
2. Jay-Z, $340 Million
3. Russell Simmons, $325 Million
4. Damon Dash, $200 Million
10. Nelly, $60 Million

Don't be fooled. These are not salaries. This is net worth. To me that means if any of these "ballers" cashed out right now, they would get no more than 1/3 of a billion. They may have fuck you money, but that's nothing when compared to "fuck anybody money". Let's talk about the latter.

sergey and larry, 14.1B, 14.0B; (ages 33, 34)
jerry and dave, 2.2B, 2.5B; (ages 37, 40)
pierre, 7.7B, (age 39)
jeff bezos, 3.6B, (age 42)
j russell and ruth, 1.8B, 1.8B; (ages 40, 39)
a dikshit, 1.6B, (age 35)
calvin arye, 1.0B, (age 44)
m dell, 15.5B, (age 41)
cuban; (i hate to admit it) 2.3B, (age 48)
chad and steve; ($1.6B for YouTube)
chris and tom; ($580M for MySpace)

These guys and gals will $hit on any Hip Hop mogul. And I don't want to hear any excuses about age, because these are not old farts. Talking about the old "new money" ballers is a completely different conversation. (I won't even get into bill, warren, sheldon, or larry.)

(insert "hate" here)

Contrary to popular believe, NOT ONE of Hip Hop's moguls are ballin. If they were really ballin, they should go buy a sports franchise like a real mogul that's bored with success. And I'm not talking about sharing an insignificant equity stake just to get your name in the papers. I mean buy the whole damn team. But they can't do that. Why? Because they are NOT ballin. Only a fool would think about talking $hit when others draw annual salaries greater than his/her net worth.

I do give jay some credit. He's maturing:

I'm, young enough to know the right car to buy yet grown enough not to put rims on it
I got that six-duce with curtains so you can't see me and I didn't even have to put tints on it
I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch
I don't buy out the bar, I bought the night spot
I got the right stock
I ... got ... stockbrokers that's movin' it like white tops
I know you like fuck, this is child abuse
call D.Y.F.S., I might just be gettin' nicer
them young boys ain't ready for real
30's the new 20 n**** I'm so hot still

Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

2007-05-08T02:04:00.000-05:00

After years of procrastination; I’ve finally decided to stop talking trash and just blog (ok, I lied...the trash talking will never stop). At first, I wasn’t really sure what I would blog about……then, I started reading a sample of random blogs and the “hate” started to fester. Hate you ask? Absolutely! I couldn’t understand how many random a$$ people could drive so much traffic to their random a$$ blogs.

(Disclaimer: Although I have full command of the English language, at times the use of profanity is mandatory to underscore the specific feeling I would
like to emphasize. You’ve been warned.)

For those who don’t know me, I’m a self-proclaimed “hater”. Not in a malicious way, but I'm a competitive realist. Those who do know me, they know that “I only say true $hit.” I have no problem saying the things that others either don’t know or are too afraid to say. This is usually a character flaw for most, but I try to temper “hate” with tact and emotion with logical reasoning.

What do I “’hate”? Here are few examples:

I’m sorry, I'm a hater. What 22 year old of sound mind and body would turn down $250M in cash (1/2 of $1B minus taxes)?

I’m a hater (and a fan). Do you know any 33 year olds that made $1B+…….LAST YEAR?

He’s a hater. I’m a hater. The hate is mutual. I only aspire to be half as lucky.

And so I bring you Transparent Volatility; a clear, open discussion on the topics that tend to piss me off the most.

Please read and enjoy........................

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!"