Thinking out loud.

Recent events (MANY recent events) have led me to wonder something… why do we set our sights low? Let me break this down a little bit.

THE BACKGROUND:

For years now I have been hearing about how sad ‘my generation’ is. “They have a poor work ethic”, “they are not loyal”, “they think they are entitled to everything”, “they have no respect for private information”, and I could go on. Yet everyone is my ‘MySpace’ generation seems frustrated too. My parents’ generation was going change things right (at least that was what they tried to tell everyone in the 60s)… no more wars, stick it to the man, etc. but they did nothing really (no offense). We still have wars, we still have preventable disease, our environment has gotten worse, we still have corporate greed, and on, and on, and on.

THE FOREGROUND:

I feel like I fight this in Corporate America now every day. Worse, I feel like I am going to have to get really aggressive before I get anywhere. In the last few years I sat and watched as Ernst & Young played “zero-sum games” with our competitors (we offered a crappy, low-value suite of services and made up for it through larger “growth” pushes and cutting prices) leading me to swear I would not engage in zero-sum games with competitors ever again. Yet, where I find myself right now in our new business trying to “make our name in the market” is doing exactly the same thing… undercutting price, really “selling”, etc.

THE POINT:

Why the hell does all of this continue to progress in this manner? Let me explain why I think it does… all the generations ahead of mine (and when I say ahead of mine, I literally mean anyone older than 25… which is funny because I am 26) aren’t ready to accelerate into the future, no offense. My generation isn’t lazy or disrespecting of company privacy or any of the rest…. We are all just ready to work TOGETHER to accelerate business and economies into the future. Instead of me at E&Y hiding things from “my competitor” at PWC; my college buddy who works at PWC and I are connected on LinkedIn and Facebook and are sharing experiences to lead to smarter conclusions and decisions thus making BOTH of our organizations better.

BUT THE OLD GUYS DON’T GET IT! Everyone older than me is just sure we have to “compete” and treat other firms like they are from some other planet. Here is the deal. I can’t help but wonder why Generation X and The Baby Boomers are often so anti-innovation. When certain kinds of services and products are becoming commoditized and starting to look like a zero-sum game, instead of increasing sales efforts and cutting prices… why don’t we innovate, grab the business/industry by the balls, and turn it on its head? And if we can’t, realize that business changed, what we do is not viable, and learn to do something else.

So, I am currently wondering why our team is fighting this crazy trend of getting a piece of commoditized work.

QUESTION: Why do we care about it? ANSWER: Not sure, guess because we have to start somewhere.

QUESTION: Are big companies actually better or more important clients than very small ones? ANSWER: Not sure again, yet we FIGHT for work at Denver’s big, public companies to really make no more money on an hourly basis than we do when we provide really great services to very small “Loveland-type” (for those that don’t know me – small, home-owned type) businesses. The reason is because we deliver a borderline commodity service to very big companies, yet we offer a borderline transformational service to very small companies.

QUESTION: When we cut prices and increase sales are we really putting the customer at the center of our business? ANSWER: I don’t think so. If a customer is really pushing to reduce prices, shouldn’t we help them get what they want? It seems like the thing to do is totally change approach and build the service specifically around cutting price… don’t just cut margin, automate, innovate, and get ahead of the market.

WHAT NEXT:

I’m going to work. Time to put the customer at the center of what we do and rethink our strategy on a few things. Time to abandon this idea of playing defense with pricing and play some serious offense. I think it is so easy to fall into thinking you can’t do certain things but you can. That’s what being an entrepreneur is all about. Instead of selling a service that used to cost $125,000 for $100,000 with a smaller margin (say $10,000) in order to meet the customer in the middle on their desire to reduce costs, why not think about how to do it smarter with software and automation, build the product to do it, and sell it for $50,000 with a $25,000 margin? The zero-sum game ends, customer and provider win, and the economy benefits from innovative thinking. BUT… you have to set your sights higher to accomplish that. Hat is the quote that comes to mind… “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars”. So come on old guys, lets set our sights higher and change business forever.

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Please watch…

After is your ability to buy that house with a theater room still seem like the top priority in life? Do you think that if there only 100 of us, the 33 Christians would be fighting with the 18 Muslims? Or could we maybe stop fighting long enough to try and help out those 53 that live on less than $2 a day.

All of this business about the business of “high-finance” lately has turned my stomach. I mean REALLY turned my stomach. Lets review the VERY short version of the events that have led to the current “credit crisis” and the ensuing pain felt by America’s financial institutions.

1. The American population develops a serious spending problem but no one seems to notice
2. “Bankers” and America’s “financial experts” develop sophisticated financial instruments to make traditional more liquid
3. America, ignorantly, buys into the “financial experts” sales pitch and begins holding securitized loans in our financial portfolios
4. Bankers begin making more and more loans to less and less qualified people
5. “Everyday Americans” begin taking on more and more ridiculous loans because the bankers and “financial experts” told them they could afford it.
6. America realizes they couldn’t afford it, no matter what the banker/expert had said.
7. America begins defaulting on the loans.
8. Bankers begin suffering because all of their loans are defaulting.
9. Banks begin going out of business (e.g. Bear Stearns).
10. Uncle Sam decides it is time to bail the whole thing out.

Of all the crap I rant about in this little corner of the internet, this is bothering me the most right now. The government… especially the supposed “small government, free market” supporting Republican Party, is all a-buzz about how can we save America from the credit crisis. There is talk of bailing out the banks, saving people’s homes, and all the rest and it is infuriating to me.

Let me see if I can remain calm long enough to explain. America was founded on an idea of freedom and personal responsibility. In a free market, each individual is free to figure out how to prosper and is not (supposed to be) protected from failing.

In 2002, as nothing but a really stupid college kid and a simple retail shop owner, my own father and I discussed how crazy all the borrowing and lending was and how the whole thing was destined to collapse. We understood it, we stayed out of it, and we are not suffering from it. Big self pat-on-the-back for us I guess.

But this is the problem… now the whole thing has collapsed. Any idiot could have seen this coming except for the “financial experts” and all those people aimlessly signing their name on the bottom line apparently. Sorry to alienate all you “normal people” out there who fell for this scam, but I’m sorry, that is what happened you. You fell for a scam, and when you fall for a scam, you get burned. For you scam artists (or “financial experts” as previously named), you deserve the crash. You suck, I’m glad you’re going out of business. Wait, did I sound like a jerk just now? Let me see if I can say it better. You totally suck, and I actually draw significant pleasure from watching your businesses come crashing down (hmmm… still sound like a jerk but so it goes I guess). Basically, I was not involved and don’t deserve to suffer in the aftermath.

And that is what the free market is all about, rewarding those who played well and punishing those who played poorly. It is a harsh reality but history irrefutably proves that it is under this system we as the human race move forward the fastest.

The problem is that in the current situation, the government supported the run-up and is now looking to help with the bail-out. That is called socialism and it is MADNESS. By bailing out the banks and bailing out people with bad mortgages, the government is effectively using my money (tax money… actually debt in my name because they have NO money) to excuse the actions of people I did better than in the free market.

At the end of the day, these government bail-out actions do exactly one thing… make it known that if a company, or industry, or individual acts poorly, the government is there to fix it for them. The saddest part is that we have a political system that is supposed to be divided by party to create descent over these actions (e.g. this should be, at a minimum, protested by the Republican Party). Problem is that the party who is supposed to be pissed is totally spineless, so there is no descent/debate on this issue. They seem to be happy when corporations profit through greed on one side, but want to turn around and bail out those same people that were greedy when the free market corrects and punishes them for their greed (which it always does). Shame on you Republicans, please consider growing a backbone sometime this millennium.

So here it is again, evidence that all I want is government to get the hell out of the way and clear indication that the only political party I could even maybe legitimately associate myself with is the Libertarian Party. I am sorry the Republican Party has been so corrupted from what it is supposed to stand for. I hope its members will wake up soon and take it back.

What I want is this… let the lenders that made stupid loans sink. Let people who took on stupid loans lose them and learn a valuable lesson. Then the market will correct this flaw and we can all move onto further prosperity. The sad alternative of government interfering to “fix” this for short term satisfaction will lead to continued suffering.

I don’t know where Glenn Beck was a few months ago when we needed him but it looks like he swinging our way (check out the video). At any rate, I am very nervous about our economic system… a shimmer of hope exists for the American monetary super power, but the outlook grim. I hope the internet generation has what it takes to save us.

This video nearly took my breathe away. EXACTLY my “real world” take on what Web 2.0 means to the world after strip off the crap that is venture capitalism, talk of “Bubble 2.0″, etc.

Web 2.0 to isn’t about new businesses… it is about changing how old businesses, people, etc. are perceived. You have to understand who Gary is and what he is done to understand his perspective fully but it is spot on. And for those who have no idea what I am talking about… you (and your business) may get left behind soon.

Excellent, succinct explanation Gary.

Once again… long time no zittiblogs. I am about to get back in the habit .

Lets get back to politics. It has been awhile. As we all know, the republican candidate is chosen and the dems are still fighting. No matter how you look at it, we are down to three and my guys is not one of them (though he will go uncontested in his race to be reelected to congress). So let me address the remaining in relation to my actual presidential vote to be cast this November.

Most importantly, there was only one candidate that I believed in. I love the Obama enthusiasm, it feels like the Ron Paul enthusiasm of a couple of months ago, but there was ONLY that one candidate that I really believed. So now, I am listening, and I am the quintessential “undecided voter”.

TO THE DEMS: If you want sure thing on my vote, there is only one thing you can do… nominate Hillary. This will ensure my vote goes to the republican, even if he does want to win in Iraq, even if it takes “a hundred years”.

TO THE REPUBS: If you want a sure thing on my vote, there is only one thing you can do… make Ron Paul McCain’s running mate. He\’ll never do it, but if he did, the candidate on the democrat is irrelevant. Give a great man that much voice and you get my vote.

I have never voted democratic in a presidential race, but it might happen. These two routes to a republican “sure thing” may be the only thing that sways me back away from the masses that Barack Obama is pulling together.

Today I played golf. I played badly, but on March 9^th I actually played the first round of the year. My score was terrible, but I remembered (as I do the first time I go every year) that I love to play golf.

The last few years, I have not played golf with any real regularity. I bought a house in Denver specifically to be near a great golf course. I then went to work at Ernst & Young, and proceeded to work all the time, travel all the time, and play golf a whopping 5-6/year for four years. 6 rounds multiplied by 18 holes/round equals a total of 108 holes. 108 holes/year multiplied by 4 years equals 432 holes. 432 holes since graduating college… NO GOOD!!!

Well I am done with Ernst & Young and done with not playing golf. There was a year in either late junior high or early high school where I played something on the line of 1710 holes IN ONE YEAR.

We are working hard to start a business and I recognize that I still won’t get to 1710 holes again, but I am going to play twice a week. That is my goal, no chance I will make it, but I’m going to try… and hopefully I will also have a new golfing buddy to go with soon!! So, when you see me, remember to ask me if I played twice that week and of course let me know when you have time to get in a round!

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.”Drinks for the ten now cost just$80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men, the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up
being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four
continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20,”declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too.

It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”

“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

This is a belated post… and all I can say is DAMN! Starting a business, in fact, is a hell of a lot of work. BUT, I am sooooo happy and excited about how things are going at this VERY early stage and about the market and the opportunities that are out there. This country totally is a wonderful place to be for a relatively young guy who is in a position where he can take risk and see what happens.

So, first of all, if you are short on blogs to read lately… once again, may I suggest the Trimtab Blog. I really like two of my recent posts to be quite honest:

• Addressing the question of our value
• A tech company’s problem

So now that I got another plug in to spread the word on my new blog (my important blog to be honest), onto the business at hand… POLITICS (just bear with me, politics season is in full swing and there really isn’t that much else in the news), haha.

I proudly went to the Republican caucus a week ago today as the Ron Paul precinct captain for my precinct. There are approximately 550 registered republicans in my precinct, 33 of which showed up to caucus (a fantastic turnout I was told… it was my first one in this precinct but I was told that 4-6 people is typical). Of those, approximately 4 or 5 had any idea what was going on at the caucus. The long and short of it is that everyone came to “vote” for their republican candidate of choice. But there is no vote meaning most thought the straw poll they took walking in the door counted for something.

Delegates to the county assembly (and, in turn, the state convention and ultimately national convention) are the only thing matter in the ACTUAL nomination process. So when the nomination of delegates was asked for, I promptly volunteered and was voted in unanimously! A victory in MY precinct for the Ron Paul R[evol]ution. As I sat there and debated over the moral issue I was facing as a delegate for my precinct (the moral issue of whether I would vote for Ron Paul at the county assembly or for Romney based on principle as that was who the majority of the district I would represent supported), we came to the end of the meeting and everyone began to realize they had cast no presidential candidate “vote”.

A long line of questions and discussion led to the group generally “figuring out” that I had been voted in as one of our two “spokesmen” for selecting a presidential candidate, which led to a discussion on who I supported, which led to me giving my 2 minute speech on my position, and ultimately a re-vote (which I agreed to as I felt it was unfair everyone voted not knowing what was going on) where both of the original unanimous “winners” got voted out for Romney supporters.

Short story... I am very happy to say that after my Ron Paul speech (even though I lost) I got four votes, despite being the only Ron Paul supporter in my precinct. BUT, I am disappointed to say I did not deliver a delegate for Ron Paul in my district. Hopefully, those two Romney delegates will switch to my team now that he is out!

Bottom line… almost 2500 people in my precinct, 1800 registered voters, 550 republicans (and another 600 independents), 33 caucus attendees, and ONE Ron Paul supporter who damn near delivered at least half of his precinct’s “representation” for Ron Paul.

Bottom, bottom line… I am happy. I put forth only a very small amount effort while at the same time quitting my job, starting a business, and everything else that was going on and almost delivered a positive results on behalf of some 550-1100 people. There are 55,000,000 registered republicans in America and therefore all it would have taken to get the nomination would have been, in theory, some (50% of 55,000,000/550=100,000) 50,000 people strategically located throughout the country no matter how the popular vote went! If you give a shit, you clearly can make a difference, since so few ACTUALLY do (at least do enough to SHOW UP).

“Ron Paul Revolution; Taking back our Constitution.”

That was the chant that kept repeating during the Ron Paul rally on Friday. And I was there for it. Dr. Paul made a campaign stop here in Denver Friday… and it turns I am not alone. For everyone out there who keeps saying he’s a fringe candidate and is not gaining traction, let me quote this Denver Post article:

The crowd for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul was so large it surprised his own organizers. They were forced to hurriedly open partitions to double the size of the ballroom space minutes before Paul’s scheduled appearance in the Four Seasons Ballroom.

The rally, here in little old Denver, drew over 3000 screaming people… below is a short video of the crowd. You all know how important this is to me by now. Tuesday is caucus day here in Colorado. I am excited to be there Tuesday night as a precinct leader for Ron Paul. I hope all of you will go… even IF you won’t support Ron. But if you still aren’t just please remember that if your key issue is…

• Ending the war… a vote for any other candidate is betraying yourself. Only one guarantees to end the war immediately
• Preventing gun control… a vote for any other candidate is betraying yourself. Only one guarantees to REDUCE the amount of gun legislation
• Ballancing the budget… a vote for any other candidate is betraying yourself. Only one candidate has a clear record of balancing the budget and reducing spending
• Taxes… a vote for any other candidate is betraying yourself. Only one not only supports the tax cuts but wants to get rid of the IRS! (and has a real plan for doing it)
• Personal liberty… a vote for any other candidate is betraying yourself. Only one of the candidates outwardly denounces the Patriot Act and the national ID card

Here is a repeat of the…
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:

• He has never voted to raise taxes.
• He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
• He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
• He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
• He has never taken a government-paid junket.
• He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
• He voted against the Patriot Act.
• He voted against regulating the Internet.
• He voted against the Iraq war.
• He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
• He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Happy SUPER TUESDAY everyone!