06/22/21

Spouting Rock Beach Association

The Spouting Rock Beach Association  — ahhhh, can’t you just smell the sea air, the exclusivity, the elitism — is a lovely, private beach club located at 34 Ocean Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Founded in the 1890s it has only 500 member families who own equity in the club.

 

Idyllic, no? Exclusive? All white? Yes to all three.

Tell me you would not love to be a member of this traditional and chi chi beach club just like Sheldon Whitehouse who is also a member of another prestigious club, the United States Senate.

Continue reading →

06/21/21

COVID Unequal Burdens

COVID has killed 600,000 people in the United States and devastated the economy.

In spite of these facts, there are some who have suffered more/less and there are those who have prospered, as unlikely as that seems.

This graph shows an interesting impact on wages of different segments of the population.

Continue reading →

06/18/21

The Texas Cryptocurrency Love Affair Blossoms

The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, a truly great governor, has signed into law something called the Virtual Currency Bill which began life as House Bill 4474 as sponsored by Representative Tan Parker a huge supporter and proponent of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

The bill was considered by the Texas House of Representatives’ Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services Committee which revised the bill after extensive hearings and public input into a Committee Substitute Bill which they passed with bipartisan support in the middle of April.

Continue reading →

06/17/21

2020 Big IPOs — How Did They Do?

How did the biggest IPOs of 2020 fare as they rounded the corner into 2021, the change of administrations, the diminishment of COVID, and the burn off of any lock out periods for the original investors?

This “post lock out expiration” period is always an interesting bellwether.

Here are the 2020 IPO biggies:

Continue reading →

06/17/21

Thoughts On Voting

Chap sent me a thought provoking article on the state of voting in the United States. Thanks, GW. Here are the thoughts it provoked in the engine of your Big Red Car:

 1. One person. One vote. Verify the person. Authenticate the vote.

This line above is what honest people want as it relates to American elections.

If someone argues that any of those four tenets are erroneous, be suspicious. It is basic stuff like cornbread.

Continue reading →

06/16/21

Faught Service Company

Yesterday I had important folks over to the house. The prior night, the AC went out.

Faught Service Company, in the person of Mrs. Bonnie Faught, was booked, but found a tech to come fix my problem.

It wasn’t cheap, but damn it was quick. That is customer service. Same day AC customer service. Four hours from call to cold air. Most impressive.

Faught Service Company, Austin By God Texas: – 512-402-8886, Bonnie Faught. Tell them a Big Red Car sent you.

06/16/21

The Return to Eating Out

COVID knocked the snot out of the restaurant business and folks have been holding their breath to see the pace at which the industry returns now that places like Texas are fully open. I have some good news:

 1. Texas is seeing some “make up” or “revenge” dining out with the rate of Yelp related reservations showing a 2X increase versus pre-COVID.

This is a stock photo. Notice the watermark. I stole it from the Internet. It is owned by Depositphotos. Please do not report me.

That is so high it is hard to believe, but call a restaurant in Austin and good luck getting a reservation.

 2. California is reporting a full recovery to pre-COVID rates of eating out. Again, my source is a report from Yelp.

Continue reading →

06/13/21

Saints, Sinners, Losers, and Winners

In the venture capital world, there is always a lot of information about the big wins of VC firms, but what of the losers? Or the deals they passed on they came to regret?

One firm recently put out a public announcement of the deals they passed on that turned out to be truly missed opportunities.

Here they are:

AirBnB — back in 2010, the venture partners looking at the deal thought it was a crazy valuation at $40,000,000. The last time AirBnB raised VC money they raised at 500X that original number.

Apple — Venture partner, “Outrageously expensive” at $60,000,000 valuation.

Atlassian — the largest Australian tech IPO is that nation’s history was a “bit rich” at $400,000,000.

ebay — “Stamps? Coins? Comic books? You’ve GOT to be kidding. No-brainer pass.” Haha. Sorry.

Continue reading →