Browsed by
Month: November 2024

Thanksgiving and Things We Can Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving and Things We Can Be Thankful For

Comments 0 Comment
Photo by Megan Watson on Unsplash

Thanksgiving is upon us in the US, and personally, it’s our favorite holiday. Get together with family and/or friends and eat. What could be better!

As a result of the recent Presidential election here in this country, many people are leaving or threatening to leave the country. Which is Why the Cotswolds is bracing itself for an American invasion. “From Ellen DeGeneres to Barbra Streisand, Trump’s victory has prompted the rich and famous to threaten self-imposed exile,” The Telegraph reported.

Things to keep in mind, if you’re considering that route, or anywhere in Great Britain: taxes are considerably higher and Britain now has the highest industrial energy prices in the world. The dollar is stronger against the pound, true, although do keep in mind that power outages are not a rare occurrence there across the pond. But if it’s socialism you want, it’s socialism you will get. Nor will you have the same freedoms. Of speech, for example and “Think before you post”: The U.K. is now jailing people for social media comments. Read More...

A Flea and a Fly and a Seasonal Flu

A Flea and a Fly and a Seasonal Flu

Comments 0 Comment
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

The headline is courtesy of a little poem by Ogden Nash
“A flea and a fly in a flu
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.”

Not the usual tech-focused editorial this week, as we’ve been under the weather with a very debilitating bug that’s going around, and a particularly virulent one, according to one of the medical practitioners in my family. Two, actually.

Then again, it’s flu season, and symptoms at the onset may vary: headache, sneezing, congestion, coughing, fever, sore throat, stomach/intestinal pain, loss of appetite and then the general aches and pains that come with the malady. Read More...

The French Fries Test

The French Fries Test

Comments 0 Comment
Image by Matthias Böckel from Pixabay

From what we’ve been hearing from the investors whom we know personally, the funding purse strings are opening up again, and mergers are moving forward.

We hosted Jonathan Hakakian of SoundBoard VC at last week’s Online Insights, and part of the discussion centered around changes on how VCs vet startups. Yes, they’re still vetting decks, doing their due diligence and all that, but many meetings are still held over Zoom or some other such platform. Which means that funds have eased the requirements in terms of geolocation. Many VC/Angel firms don’t even feel the need to have a dedicated office. Some use co-working spaces to have somewhere to hold meetings from time to time, and for conference room access. Offices, for both investors and founders, are no longer necessary, at least, in some cases, not until you’ve reached a certain stage.

Jonathan has returned to taking in-person meetings, circumstances permitting, meaning, when it’s geographically possible for him and the founder/founding team. And there are times when they’ll keep it casual, meeting at a diner or restaurant. There is a different dynamic at in-person meetings, but still important to mind your Ps and Qs – and your table manners. Read More...

Who Is John Galt?

Who Is John Galt?

Comments 0 Comment
Photo by Michel Engels on Unsplash

It’s election day here in the US, with two major party candidates vying for the spot of President of the United States. So, let’s have some fun.

John Galt is the hero of Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957. Set in a dystopian world where the government, which is on the brink of collapse, has taken control of businesses, and regulatory overreach is choking innovation. Galt is a shadowy figure of almost mythic proportion – and the force behind a sweeping strike on the part of innovators, which promises to bring the government to its knees.

In this age of technology, who would be a likely John Galt candidate, Galt being a brilliant inventor who, for our purposes here, while he may not necessarily be mankind’s salvation, is at least helping to tip the scales a bit? We nominate two potential candidates, both of whom, like Rand’s Galt himself, have been both glorified and vilified: Bill Gates and Elon Musk. It being Election Day, you decide: Read More...