The Facebook IPO: A Note to Mark Zuckerberg; or, With “Friends” Like Morgan Stanley, Who Needs Enemies?

I just received this letter from a friend in the banking industry. He prefers to remain anonymous (you’ll see why soon enough).

Dear Mark,

There’s been a lot of ballyhoo recently about your IPO and your choice of investment bankers. Indeed, a war was fought by the banks to win your “deal of the decade.” As reported in the press, the competition was so intense banks slashed their fees in order to win your business. Facebook is “only” paying a 1% “commission” for its IPO rather than the 3% typically charged by the banks.

How can to be more persuasive at work?

A good idea alone has never been enough to move a listener to action.




Aristotle tells us that to be persuasive, we must connect to a listener on 3 levels: Logos, Ethos and Pathos.

Bye Bye BlackBerry. How Long Will Apple Last?

Bye Bye BlackBerry. How Long Will Apple Last?


Just five years ago, “BlackBerry” was virtually synonymous with “smartphones.” It was well on its way to becoming a generic trademark, like Kleenex or Band-Aid, that would seemingly forever be associated with its entire sector. “For many, the Blackberry is a must-have gadget, a wireless hand-held computer that can send e-mail and make phone calls,” noted a 2005 NPR story on the “CrackBerry,” as some BlackBerry addicts referred to the device. (Incidentally, the story compared the BlackBerry to the Palm Treo, an equally popular device at the time.)

Moving towards a doomsday weapon?

Moving Toward A Doomsday Weapon?

by Paul Johnson

Breaking the speed-of-light barrier can lead to the laws of physics being rewritten


BREAKTHROUGH The large hadron collider at CERN, Geneva. Breaking the speed-of-light barrier will lead to fundamental revisions in scientific theory. These in turn will produce new processes, some of which will inevitably have military applications

99 Tiny Stories to Make You Think, Smile and Cry

99 Tiny Stories to Make You Think, Smile and Cry

blogarchiveaboutrssthought questionsmakes me thinkpost written by: Marc



Sometimes the most random everyday encounters force us to stop and rethink the truths and perceptions we have ingrained in our minds. These encounters are educationally priceless. They spawn moments of deep thought and self-reflection that challenge the status quo and help us evolve as sensible individuals.

Your Friends Are Now Your Customers - thank facebook!

When Facebook announced its recent $5 billion IPO, many applauded the company's mission to connect friends and make the world a more open place. Experts described Zuckerberg as "noble," "grandiose," and "downright inspirational." Twitter CEO Dick Costolo recently presented his vision in similar terms: "To instantly connect people everywhere." Indeed, the intuitive appeal of such social networking platforms is hard to overlook and partly explains their rapid growth. But alongside the dominance of these sites has come a disturbing new trend — that social networks are altering the fabric of friendships, turning you into a business, and your friends and followers into customers of your content.

When The Customer Isn't Right

The longest line on a busy Saturday afternoon in a celebrated New York department store is at the returns desk: bad news in these troubling times when every dime counts. First in line is 18-year old Jayne, decked out in the latest Ugg boots and designer jeans. Jayne is returning the dress she bought on Thursday and wore on Friday.

The Catastrophe of Success

Something odd and interesting happens to a lot of people who become very successful. Once the initial thrill wears off, they come to perceive their success as "a catastrophe" and even as "a kind of death," as the playwright Tennessee Williams famously put it, after The Glass Menagerie became a smash hit in 1944. Athletes, scientists, generals, entrepreneurs, executives, performers, and politicians have expressed this paradox in different words. Paul Samuelson, an economist who won the Nobel Prize in 1970, later concluded that, "After winners receive the award and adulation, they wither away into vainglorious sterility."

China's Hard Landing

The People's Bank of China's surprise announcement Wednesday of a half percentage point cut in banks' required reserve ratio is an admission that the economy is facing stiff headwinds. Consumer price inflation remains relatively high at 5.5%, and the true level of inflation as reflected in the GDP deflator is probably closer to 10%.

101 Simple Truths We Often Forget

Sometimes we find ourselves running in place, struggling to get ahead simply because we forget to address some of the simple truths that govern our potential to make progress. So here’s a quick reminder:

12 Things Successful People Do Differently

I’ve always been fascinated by people who are consistently successful at what they do; especially those who experience repeated success in many areas of their life throughout their lifetime. In entertainment, I think of Clint Eastwood and Oprah Winfrey. In business, I think of Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. We all have our own examples of super successful people like these who we admire. But how do they do it?




Over the years I’ve studied the lives of numerous successful people. I’ve read their books, watched their interviews, researched them online, etc. And I’ve learned that most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential. Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.

Little History session for those who think the US is screwed!

Do you think the US glory days are over or, at a minimum, that we're on the verge of a new downturn?



In his weekly note, Raymond James' Jeff Saut offers up a great batch of history for those who think the US is facing some crisis of historic proportions.

The clock is ticking on China's Cinderella Story!

Everyone knows that when the clock strikes midnight for Cinderella, the carriage turns back into a pumpkin, the horse into mice and the jeweled gown into rags. The spell is broken and reality returns. I keep thinking of China in this context.



One of the big questions of the year is whether China blows up or not. Hard landing or soft? When will the clock strike midnight on the Chinese? Things are slowing down, and it feels like it’s getting late.

10 signs that China is in a bubble

In a recent research note Edward Chancellor of GMO gives us 10 ways to know if you’re in a bubble. He says China just so happens to fit the mold:



1. A growth story that is uncritically accepted.

Here's what your paying for in a gallon of fuel