Business Advice Fiction/Humor

Scam Artists I Have Known

Scam Artists I Have Known Yesterday the Geek Squad came and with much wrangling (mostly “not my job” kinda stuff), I managed to get my TV’s switched over from Direct TV satellite service to streaming (I have the Cox Cable Gigablast 1 Gbps service). I have Apple TV ($149.95 and already obsolete from what I can tell) on the Office and Guest Room TV’s. I have FireTV from Amazon ($29.95… what a deal) for the…

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Business Advice Memoir Retirement

Trust as a Four Letter Word

Trust as a Four Letter Word We have a convention in this country that only partially or barely exists in many other countries. We buy life insurance. Initially, it is sold to us (note that I say sold TO us as opposed to bought BY us or sought out BY us) as a responsible way for us breadwinners to ease our guilt with the dependence we have created for our families on our income earning…

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Business Advice Politics

The Savior of the Western World

The Savior of the Western World A few days ago I wrote about my startling realization about ESG as both a corporate policy and investment philosophy driver. That realization was that the corporate world is very quickly coming around to the view that ESG is no longer a “nice to do” and has turned convincingly into a “need to do”. And that tectonic shift in investment approach is forcing boards to take ESG and all…

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Business Advice Politics

The ESG Canary

The ESG Canary On this Delta flight to Atlanta we are in the new first class configuration. There are things to commend it and things not to like. On the plus side, everyone has their own cubicle with a big-screen TV. I cannot see anyone in total, just a small slice here and there, except for Kim, who is across from me in the center section. If she was not with me, there would be…

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Business Advice Memoir Politics

Ethical Dilemma

Ethical Dilemma As I prepare for my ethics course starting in a month, I am spending time thinking about the root issues of business ethics and how best to present and then teach that material to best effect. I’m fairly clear that the best method will be to force debates that engage the students and make them think through the issues I define for them. Obviously, I want to provide a framework and guidance on…

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Business Advice Memoir

Jumping Jimmy

Jumping Jimmy I am starting this story today because yesterday the news shot around the world that Jimmy Cayne, the controversial long-time CEO of Bear Stearns died at age 87, probably with a cigar in his mouth. I want to tell my story about Jimmy Cayne, but I probably need to take my time and not rush it to print since it brings up many mixed emotions, some of which are not particularly attractive. Therefore,…

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Business Advice Memoir

The Ethical Dimension

The Ethical Dimension Next semester I will be teaching a course a course at the University of San Diego that is a required course for all MBA students. It is called Law, Policy and Ethics, but the course is really about the ethics of business. It has long been my objective to teach such a course, so I am working very hard to make it a good one and not just a collection of stories…

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Business Advice Politics

Paying Your Share

Paying Your Share I have been lately using what I will call a Donald Trump tax trick. I lost a bundle a few years ago on a perfectly valid attempt to launch a business with my son. Many of my friends attended Winter Wonderland on Staten Island so they know I spent a lot of money making that extravaganza work in one sense (the attraction was well-attended) and not work in another (for various reasons…

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