Category Archives: Blog

Hats off to Janet

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Janet is not a scientists or a doctor. She doesn’t work on a cure for cancer or nano technologies. She is an optician. She does my glasses. For 17 years. At the same place. This is what makes her precious to me. For those who don’t wear them, the glasses break quite often (or get lost, or get abused etc.) and it is nice to know that Janet is there for you.  Janet will not make millions people happy. She makes few people happy, but what if we would have millions like Janet?  Millions would be happy then. While it is not uncommon for people to stick to their jobs in the Midwest, it is a horrible situation here in California. People change jobs every 3-4 months in pursuit of only they know what. It seems that everyone is trying to reach the level of their incompetency. We all suffer as a result. For example I was trying to get an advise in a fragrance store the other day. I asked the girl how long she is doing it so that I evaluate her advice. Two weeks, was the answer. Then get me someone else with longer experience – I said. She asked around and it appeared that the longest tenure was 3 mo for the five girls in the store. While it is funny for a fragrance store it becomes scary when we talk nurses, doctors, builders, attorneys, engineers etc. That’s why I say “hats off to Janet”.

Good effort bad effort

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The effort of the 6 years old trying to write first letters and words on paper with the tongue out is amazing. The effort of the soldiers  trying to pull a wounded fellow from the battlefield under enemy’s fire is heroic. The effort of a mom sitting at her sick child’s bed for days and nights without sleep is phenomenal. The effort of a President to make health care affordable is historic. I am sure that anyone can continue with the list of what I call “good effort”. I am always exited and humbled when I encounter the “good effort”.

There is another effort, which I call “bad” effort. I hate it when I see it. I try to shut any relation to it and get as far as possible. For example, I walk out of the movie theater when I see the artists making an effort to play their roles in a movie.  I walk out of Subway restaurant when I see the genuine effort by a high school drop out to make a sandwich. I hang up the phone when I feel the effort on the other side to help me with technical issues they don’t know nothing about.  I despise the “bad effort” in any form and shape. I fight it whenever I can.

We all apply efforts in our lives. Some good and some bad. Think of yours. Are they good efforts or bad efforts. It might be time for a carrier change if you catch yourself applying bad efforts more often than good efforts.

On golfing

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I am not a golfer. I find it a very boring sport. Don’t take me wrong. I love outdoors. I am a skier, and surfer that by dynamics is the opposite of golfing. It is funny to see an adult person carrying that bulky golf sticks at airports and hotels. Riding a golf cart on man made turf smoking and drinking along the way just to take a swing at the ball is not my definition of sports either. They say it is good for business. Well it might be, but are we talking sports or business here. Don’t call it a sport than. Judge Tiger Woods by how many business deals he closes. Of course it’s a free country and everyone is entitled to enjoy himself as they please.

If you ask me the golf was invented by the real estate business. There is so much land on the waterfronts and on the ski slopes. Yet the real estate business still wants to enjoy the high property prices. It is hard to make a lake or a ski hill, but golf course one can build. If you go to Poipu beach in Hawaii for example the waterfront parcels are long gone but they have golf course frontage parcels now selling at the same price. Same in the ski resorts – no ski slope parcels anymore, but they will offer you a golf frontage parcel. It is funny how seriously they take themselves when talking about it. Surprisingly many people fall for this trick. My word to those who have not – it is not the same. Be prepared for the noise from the mowing machines and the irrigation. You need to build shields to protect from flying balls. Of course there are significant expenses which you have to pay, if you want to set foot on the golf course. In the worst-case scenario there maybe some methane gas coming out of the golf course sine they build them on top of landfills sometimes. Bottom line. Buy a property NOT on the golf course for half the price and laugh all the way to the bank. Pick a real sport, if you want to stay fit and enjoy the outdoors.

Stories that repeat – part 6

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The story

This is a story from a movie about Russian tycoons. Plato and his friends are standing by a statue of Lomonosov in Moscow. Plato is telling this story. “Say I owe $1 to Mark and Mark owes $1 to Larry and Larry owes $1 to Moussa and Moussa owes $1 to Volodja and Volodja owes $1 to me. Than along comes Lomonosov and gives me $1 for one of my gloves. With this $1 I pay Mark and Mark pays Larry and Larry pays Moussa and Moussa pays Volodja and Volodja pays me. Lomonosov however cahnges his mind and returns the glove and gets his $1 back. Where we stand now? Lomonosv has his $1, I have my glove and the debt is gone. Nice isn’t it.”

The repetition

Replace $1 with $100 Billion and Lomonosov with the Fed and you’ll get the US Financial system in summer/fall of 2008.

Stories that repeat – part 5

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The story

I was in 9-th grade, when the students of my class were sent to help farmers pick tomatoes. We would pick roma tomatoes and put them in cases. We would get a ticket for every case full of tomatoes delivered to the warehouse. Needless to say that the more tickets the better for the bearer.  Some boys noticed that the farmers do not have sophisticated printing technology and the tickets are easy to counterfeit. Boys at that age are not known as big thinkers. The idea was implemented quickly, almost as quick as it took for them to get caught.

The repetition

A public Company engaged in software development and implementation decided that writing software and implementing it is a daunting task and frankly not that profitable. Like picking tomatoes. So they decided to invest in the stock market their free cash instead of investing in the software. It worked until they got caught in market’s downturn, causing them to lose not only the cash invested but also the profits made on the software side. As a result their stock is at record low. Hopefully they will return to their core software business with the little cash left or they go pick tomatoes.

Stories that repeat – part 4

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The story

One of my favorite children’s books is “The adventures of Dunno”.  Yes, you can find it on the Internet, just Google the title. One of the stories there was about two artists. They would both do portraits of girls. First will do very realistic portraits and wouldn’t listen to girls demands. The other one would listen to what girls are asking for. She noticed that they pretty much wanted the same “the eyes bigger and the mouth smaller”. She got smart and created rubber stamps with the portraits in demand. Not only her job became easier but she became very popular and wealthy too. Well I may have made up the part about the wealth.

The repetition

Well this story repeats quite often look at Hollywood for example where they rubber stamp popular movies. The reason I am writing though is the housing in California in late 90’s and until now in 2007. They have built more Tuscany houses in California for the last 10 years than in Tuscany for the last 100 years. Come here folks the rubber stamps are out and we are churning them houses hot from the press. Unlike the old Tuscany homes everything is fake in our California homes – the stone, the wood, the fireplaces, but who cares. The business is good.

Stories that repeat – part 3

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The story.

I was a teenager in the late 60-ties with plenty of time on my hands and very little money. Beatles were hot and vinyl was expensive. Couldn’t afford tape recorder either. One day I noticed an article in one magazine explaining how the tape recorder works. It was showing a simple diagram with 3 parts – magnetic head, amplifier and speaker. Wow, I said to myself it, why don’t I buy those 3 parts and build a tape recorder. In the process I have learned that there are thousands of other parts going into the tape recorder and I gave up on the idea as quick as I have embraced it. Hey don’t judge me I was in my very early teens.

The repetition.

I have noticed that many venture capitalists look at businesses the same way I looked at the tape recorder diagram. They look at revenues, expenses and profits and do not see the many parts a business is made of. That’s why the role of the people who know is extremely important as it is for the venture capitalists to put the right management team in place.

Stories that repeat – part 2

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The story.
It happened sometimes in the middle centuries. A Spanish ship got damaged and thrown by the winds at the shores of an unknown island. Fortunately for the sailors the islanders turned to be friendly and would even provide water and food in exchange for whatever the sailors got. Sailors would have few golden coins with very high value and many copper coins with little value back home. They were not home though. So the sailors decided that they will get more if they pretend to praise the copper coins more than the golden ones.

The repetition.
Mister X of a big law firm has worked hard for long years and has built a strong reputation. He and a colleague of his Mr. Y decide to start their own law firm. First thing they realize is that no reputable attorney is willing to work for them unless as a partner. They do not want to take too many partners so they proceed and hire second and third level attorneys and junior attorneys. Here you have your two expensive golden coins and many inexpensive copper coins. Our friends X and Y reach the wisdom of the Spanish sailors quickly. Sell the golden coins cheap and charge solid for the copper coins. They would approach new customers with their own resumes and skills plus attractive discounted rates. Naive first time customers would be impressed and hire them in an eye blink. What happens thereafter is a fast switch to your copper coin attorney at a rate which is anything but discounted for what you get. Mrs. X and Y love the model for administrative cases and discovery phase of litigation. There is little or no responsibility there and the model flourishes. Mrs. X and Y will advise you to quit when things get tough. The work in advanced litigation stage becomes too complex and too difficult for a junior to do. The model is not working anymore. Mrs. X and Y understand that their participation is needed and this is not want they want. This is against their model. So they would advise you that you have no chances in said litigation and it is your best interest to quit.