busy morning…but here’s the theme song of the day: it’s The Good, The Bad & The Queen”
I really dig the video…at least until the end w/ the silly 60’s techniques…
How about signing up for a free 1yr of Smithsonian? They want you to fill out a survey…but click here and you can skip it. If you use a funny name, it will make your postal worker laugh.
And while you’re at it…get SEED Magazine for free too. I hear that they only interview THE BEST SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD.
Like CEOs, marketers, engineers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, lawyers tell their own specialized tall tales. Most of my experience is with lawyers who do work for tech entrepreneurs; here are some whoppers I’ve heard.
1. “I’m really excited about what you are doing and will give your company my personal attention.” Once someone gets to the partner level, making it “rain” is as important as doing “work.” This is part of a stand-ard sales pitch, so don’t let it go to your head.
2.”Our firm is really excited about what you’re doing, so we’d like to invest in your company, too.” This is also part of the standard sales pitch. Most firms invest in most of their startup clients–it’s simply the law of big numbers: Invest in enough dumb ideas, and one will turn out to be a Google.
3.”We can work on the billing so that you pay us when you get financed.” Consider this the final flattery in a good sales pitch. As with the others, don’t think you’re special. This is a common offer.
4.”I’ll have that to you by the end of the day.” The important question for you to ask when you hear this is, “End of which day?”–every day has an end. And you should find out how your lawyer defines the end of the day: 6 p.m. or 11:59 p.m.
5.”Don’t worry about the date on that option grant; it’s not a big deal.” Unless you enjoy getting indicted, you should run from a lawyer who utters such stupidity.
6.”The bill would be lower if it weren’t for the lawyers on the other side.” You do realize that the lawyers on the other side are saying this about your lawyers, too, right?
7.”I thought you were more interested in getting it right rather than saving a few dollars.” In other words, the legal bill for your Series A funding may exceed the amount of capital raised.
8.”Your case is much stronger than theirs; I’m sure we can persuade them.” If your position is that strong, you don’t need lawyers. It’s when your position is weak that you need them. Also, your opponent is hearing the same thing about his case.
9.”We have relationships at the highest level in Shanghai/Munich/Mumbai/New York City/Los angeles.” In other words, someone from the firm once flew first class to Shanghai/Munich/Mumbai/New York City/Los Angeles with the vice premier’s uncle’s sister’s nephew.
10.”We’d much rather be on the company side than on the investor side.” Let me get this straight: Your lawyer would rather be on the side of two people in a garage who are raising $500,000 than a VC fund managing $500 million whose partners play golf at the same country club?
11.”We usually don’t bill the full retainer; it only happens if there are unforeseen issues that come up.” One of two things is happening: Either you’ve been sandbagged with an artificially high estimate, or your lawyer just passed the bar.
12.”Sure, we’re busy, but I’ll make sure you don’t get handed off to a green associate.” Translation: Your main contact passed the bar a year ago.
13.”I’ve done work with Google/Microsoft/Apple, so I know how to structure deals with them.” Translation: “My favorite search engine is Google, which I use on my Windows PC while I’m listening to my iPod.”
14.”We think you will have a very strong patent.” If you hear this, ask this question: “So if Microsoft infringes on it, we’d win?”
15.”We know the opposing attorneys, so we’ll be able to work out something quickly and cheaply.” This is like asking the hotel concierge what restaurant he recommends. There is usually no such thing as quickly and cheaply. There’s only “good and expensive,” “quick and lousy” and “cheap and lousy.” Pick one.
16. “I can call several venture capitalists to help you secure funding.” Actually, you should select your lawyer as much for his connections to the VC community as for his legal expertise. However, take this very literally: He “can” call–this is different from “will” call.
Guy Kawasaki’s mantra is “Empower people.” He is co-founder of Alltop.com, a managing director at Garage Technology Ventures, former chief evangelist for Apple Inc. and author of eight books–most recently The Art of the Start. Visit smallbusiness.alltop.com.
hey everyone…work is taking a ton of time… so here are just a few fun facts:
1. VW is now the largest company in the world. seriously…bigger than anything, anywhere (assuming that there are no privately held companies with a market cap greater than $370B). my car is smiling. The best part is the cause — Porsche crushed the short sellers. Rock on Piech!
2. You have to see this one: Degress of Hank Paulson — it’s an interactive graph that shows how he is connected to the banks.
3. This one just made me smile:
4. today’s song of the day is “You’ll Never Know,” by Heiroglyphics … east bay beats, yo.
you gotta love hawaii circa ‘98 and del’s horrible hat and goggles…
I’m sitting on my bearskin chair beside the woodstove, in Kotzebue, Alaska, 50 miles above the Arctic Circle, while outside the ocean begins to freeze over. Inside I have about 49 things piling up to say to you, America.
I’m an Alaskan — born in an igloo, enjoy whale muktuk, all that — and in case you aren’t sick of our state by now, I’ll start off with an apology for one of our residents: Sarah Palin.
We Alaskans are not generally so magazine-pretty like her, nor are we so confrontational and vapid. Most of us don’t have those peachy cheeks — we have sunburn, windburn and frostbite. Our fingernails are dirty from actually gutting moose, not yakking about it. Our hands are chapped from picking thousands of salmon out of nets, not holding one up for the camera.
Having said that, here in Alaska we are accustomed to getting jobs we’re not qualified to fill. In our far-flung villages and towns we have big money surrounded by big wilderness; the combination causes warped career opportunities. Sort of an Edge of Nowhere phenomenon — cousin to the Bridge to Nowhere one…..continued here
This weekend’s game was fun — even if we didn’t win.
Today’s theme song of the day is "Girl," by The Heavy. I’m really digging this band right now. I posted a link to the album in the comments section. word.
UPDATE: you knew it was coming….link to Joe and his story
The crazy part is the he owes back taxes and isn’t even a licensed plumber…
yo. i just have one question: why did mccain keep sticking his tongue out? it was creepy.
if you didn’t check the comments on yesterday’s post — you should. i posted links to the remix EP for “Paper Planes” that has 5 or 6 versions of the song– I believe it’s the Homeland Security EP. i also posted a link to an everything M.I.A. site that has all of her other albums, including the Piracy Funds Terrorism mixtape she did with Diplo– it has an ill track called POP - check it out!
Today’s song of the day is “Everything is Borrowed,” by The Streets. The song is cool and catchy, nothing spectacular — but the video is powerful and timely (at least that is my opinion). I plan to give the album a listen today - check the comments section for links.
even Jim Cramer is telling people to take 20% of their money out of the market for the next five years…
also, check out the Microsoft Small Business Summit live online — today’s the last day –it’s kinda like the home shopping network with some valid content… i was just watching two women discussing angel investors — they described them as ’sugar daddies.’ hahahaha
good morning…i must say that i am feeling a bit lazy. my spin class instructor at equinox has been in hawaii for the week to compete in the ironman, and since i have little faith in his replacement, i have been sleeping until 7 or 730. it’s quite nice. i don’t even hear the crows at 6am. i’ve even had time to post here before work…and prepare breakfast while i listen to an audio book. I just finished The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki ; and now I am listening to The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
They’ve been on my list for a long time…but I’m just getting to them. The funny thing is that both address the current market events in a direct manner (even though they were written long before things fell apart). Side note, you should definitely Chinua Achebe’s book if you haven’t. I’ll consider writing a review, or perhaps just reflections on each of the books…but for now you’ll have to settle for the reviews on Amazon. I will say that I feel much more informed after reading each book — especially the latter.
Today’s song of the day is by MIA. If you recall, I was really digging her work last winter. I even posted a link to Kala, her album. I also recall thinking that she was just too innovative for most to get their heads around. You can magine my surprise when I heard "Paper Planes," in a shopping mall. I was stoked, to say the least. So I made it the theme song of the day.
homecoming was great. the game went down to the wire….but we won!
Today’s theme song is "Night Fever," by the Bee Gees…I heard it on the radio yesterday; and I cannot for the life of me get it out of my head…sooooo catchy. I was dancing in my car. I’ll post the real song…but check out this cover:
up early again - another day of driving/meetings. it’s a good thing that i picked up an audio book. Right now, I am listening to The Wisdom of Crowds…and digging it.
Anyway, since traffic always gets bad right around the airport… i was reminded of this tribe song that i have always liked. it’s the theme song of the day again:
I know that I have said this often, but i don’t really think that it stuck with some of my friends. Please know your rights when it comes to traffic tickets. You should know what to do…and, more importantly, how to get out of them. I have used techniques from this guy:
This definitely applies to drivers in cali — but you may be able to do the same elsewhere.
The following is taken from his site:
When you receive a traffic ticket, the court will usually suggest that you must appear twice to contest it: first to appear and plead not guilty and second to stand trial with the officer present. This is not true. You can contest your ticket by mail without making a single court appearance. Contesting your citation through the mail gives you a better chance of winning your case than at a court trial. Even if you seem to be guilty of violating the law, the procedural hassles for the prosecution will often lead to a dismissal. If the prosecution does not submit its version of events in writing to the court by the deadline date, your case will be dismissed regardless of your guilt or innocence. Dismissals due to lack of prosecution are won in approximately 30% of written defenses.
The law allows you to contest any traffic infraction entirely by mail. You can appear via mail through a Written Not Guilty Plea pursuant to CVC 40519(b). In your plea you can request a Trial by Written Declaration pursuant to CVC 40902. In this way you can contest your citation without appearing at all and, for reasons already discussed, will have a better chance of winning than at trial. Further, if you lose your trial by declaration, you have 20 days to request a Trial de Novo (new trial) pursuant to CVC 40902(d). You then can appear in court for the first time for your second chance of winning.
Why doesn’t the court inform every defendant of their legal right to appear in court via mail (Written Not Guilty Plea), contest via mail (Trial by Written Declaration), and have a new trial (Trial de Novo) if they are not happy with the outcome of the first trial? Money. Most courtesy notices hardly mention or do not mention these rights at all. Many courtesy notices from California traffic courts begin, “To avoid the inconvenience and long lines associated with a court appearance… pay the bail amount listed above.” The justice system uses its own bureaucratic inefficiency to discourage you from seeking justice. Nice.
If they even mention the possibility of contesting a citation, they also mention that this generally requires two court appearances, one to plead not guilty, a second for the actual trial. If you do appear in person to plead not guilty, most courts will make you enter your plea last, inconveniencing you to the maximum. Then it will ask you to return to court for a trial. The two days’ pay lost through these two separate appearances amounts to more than the traffic fine for most people. This is why less than 1% of cited motorist ever bother to contest their citation. Ignorant of their legal rights, confused and intimidated by the courts and police, 99% of Californians ticketed simply pay up.
i don’t know how it happened , but a south and a northwest combo swell made newps unreal. nick and i surfed until we couldn’t…got some food, and did it again. had to sleep in today… can’t update until later.
i can’t remember the last time it was this good.
good day for surfing, bad day for stocks…
oh yeah, and last i checked the dow was below 10k, world markets were down, and the only bright spot on the nasdaq was a biotech — at least some venture capitalists are having a good day .
super busy today. still not sure how i feel about the debates….is it just me, or are both tickets promising all the same things (in spite of the fact that neither will be able to fund them)? i still just have a sick feeling in my stomach…i’m amazed how someone can smile while they lie to you… it’s a mad world. i think that the saddest part was listening to the town hall thing on npr after the debates…
and the propaganda machine rolls on…
btw, passed the exam! i’ll pick a song of the day a bit later.
You know, and I know, that all of these people are shady…. but $150 Billion in pork tacked on to the $700 Billion rescue plan? C’mon, man?! Whatever happened to accountability? What a sad day for democracy.
Sec. 105. Energy credit for geothermal heat pump systems.
Sec. 111. Expansion and modification of advanced coal project investment credit.
Sec. 113. Temporary increase in coal excise tax; funding of Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Sec. 115. Tax credit for carbon dioxide sequestration.
Sec. 205. Credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles.
Sec. 405. Increase and extension of Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund tax.
Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 501. $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 503 Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
* Manufacturers of kids’ wooden arrows - $6 million.
* Puerto Rican and Virgin Is- lands rum producers - $192 million.
* Wool research.
* Auto-racing tracks - $128 million.
* Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million.
* Small- to medium-budget film and television productions - $10 million.
Another measure inserted into the bill appears to be a bald-faced bid aimed at winning the support of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who voted against the original version when it went down in flames in the House on Monday.
That provision - a $223 million package of tax benefits for fishermen and others whose livelihoods suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill - has been the subject of fervent lobbying by Alaska’s congressional delegation.
headed out of town for another exam…i’ll post after.
quick points: made it to spin at 6am (yes!), met some guys who plan to get rich w/ online gaming, and spent a couple of hours with a guy who claims that he built a device that can produce hydrogen on demand in the back of his camry. he’s been driving with it for 6 months, gets over 1000 miles to a tank, and says that he can produce the units for under $300. skeptical, of course…but intrigued. i’ll post the story later.
It the spirit of my renewed relationship with caffeine, today’s theme song of the day is “Coffee,” by Aesop Rock.
Just to warn you, this is the strangest hip hop video that i have ever seen. it’s like a super over the top, incredibly graphic horror flick. def jux is pushing boundaries…
and since we’re checking out def jux vid’s — this one is fresh:
