Monthly Archives: July 2019

07/29/19

Regulation — A Word of Praise

Your Big Red Car is not one to praise regulation or regulators. No surprise there, eh?

Your BRC, in fact, is guilty of railing against regulation. Fair play.

Today, I rise to praise the outcome of a regulatory action — the approval of the T-Mobile – Sprint merger that leaves the country with three wireless providers of some significant substance. This was good regulation with a good result on the eve of 5G, creating three worthy competitors for your wireless dollar. Bravo.

Image result for images logo t-mobile

The big three will serve 95% of the market as follows:

AT&T serves 100,000,000 customers.

Verizon serves 100,000,000 customers

The new T-Mobile/Sprint serves 90,000,000 customers.

Continue reading →

07/29/19

Venture Capital Data

In working with startup CEOs one of the most important discussion points is raising money. To be able to effectively understand the market for venture capital, one has to do a bit of study on the subject.

Luckily, there are a number of great sources out there. One of them is PitchBook which publishes something called the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. It is worth a read.

A couple of things caught my eye. First is that the money flow continues at record levels. More money and a consistently high level of deals. Good news.

Continue reading →

07/28/19

Pickle Juice Is Normal

So, I’m having an adult beverage with a pal and I order a Pickle Juice Martini, a lovely concoction made with vodka and pickle juice. My pal looks at me, says, “What?”

“Yes, I adore a pickle juice and vodka drink. It doesn’t have to be a martini. It can be in a whiskey glass with cracked ice or a single large round ice cube.” I dig a single large ice cube.

He looks for the lobotomy scars and says, “Nobody drinks pickle juice.” He is a confident, accomplished person whose opinion I usually respect, but this time he has wandered off the reservation. I tell him so.

Tito's Vodka Pickle Infusion Martini

Tito’s vodka is handmade in Austin By God Texas. I like mine in a whiskey glass with a sliver of dill pickle, but that’s just me.

[Three ounces Tito’s, one ounce pickle juice, one half ounce dry vermouth, shaken with cracked ice, strained into a chilled martini glass. Same approach but in a whiskey glass over ice with a few pickle chunks or spears. Your choice. Choose wisely.]

Continue reading →

07/28/19

Tech, Taxes, Tariffs, Trade — And French Wine

France has imposed/threatened a “digital services tax” on the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google — all American companies.

The tax is 3% of gross revenues from digital services earned in France, but only for companies with more than 25MM Euros in French revenue and 750MM Euros in worldwide gross revenue. The tax money goes to France.

When you work through the math it puts a bullseye on Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google while giving a pass to many European companies who collectively are just as big as these digital behemoths. This is not an accident.

This tax was discussed for some time period, but its enactment caught a lot of folks by surprise. One who was not caught by surprise was President Donald J Trump.

President Trump had spoken to the French President Emmanuel Macron cautioning him that such a tax would be met with an American response.

Image result for images macron

President Trump, in his inimitable fashion said, “Don’t do it because if you do it, I’m going to tax your wine.” Macron blew him off. French wine is a huge industry.

The French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, sniffing at the ruffian DJ Trump, suggested that taxes and tariffs were completely unrelated. Good luck with that, Bruno.

Taxes and tariffs are core elements of trade while technology, digital services are a critical element of American commerce.

Continue reading →

07/27/19

Skin In The Game

I woke up this morning to a lovely Texas day. It is a good habit to get into — waking up every morning. I am on a run that I hope to continue for a long time. Wish me well.

In my first look about at things, I was struck with awe and gratitude that the particular zip code in which I woke was in the United States of America.

I am amongst 330,000,000 persons who have the distinction of calling themselves Americans. Today, I don’t care where you came from, how you got here, whether you did it legally or not — I am just overwhelmed with our collective good fortune. Yours and mine.

Which raised another question: How did I ever come to  deserve this enormous blessing?

Continue reading →

07/26/19

Socialism At The Speed Of Light — Venezuela

OK, I don’t think The Squad or the Democrats writ large are going to plunge the United States of America into socialism, but I do think it is worthwhile investigating how fast such things can happen.

Doing singular stupid things is not the same as imposing socialism, but it is how socialism takes root.

Let’s take the case of Venezuela. Venezuela was the richest country in South America and sat upon the largest known oil reserves on the planet (still does) in 1992.

Image result for images flag of venezuela

Here is the time line:

1992

An unknown Lieutenant Colonel of paratroopers, Hugo Chavez, attempts to overthrow the duly elected government of Venezuela. The coup attempt fails. Chavez is imprisoned, but achieves name identity.

[Pro tip: As a paratrooper myself — a guy who jumped out of perfectly good airplanes — I caution the world to keep track of what the paratroopers are up to at all times.]

The country was in the midst of street protests over a gasoline price hike.

Continue reading →

07/26/19

Voices — Listen To The Voices

Pal of mine says, “You need some mindfulness training, amigo.” SOB is constantly critical of me, but that’s what pals are for, no?

I admit at the instant he said that I was a little perplexed, but I recovered quickly and Googled “mindfulness” to ensure I knew of what I spoke. I did and the confirmation was empowering. It is always useful to know exactly what words mean.

I came away with the idea that mindfulness was my focusing on the present moment while in touch with my many and varied feelings, thoughts, emotions, and other physical bodily sensations. I ran it by Mr. Mindfulness and he said, “Si, amigo. That’s mindfulness.”

I even did a little on-line course to align my mindfulness meridians and to just get woke AF. Woke is on the same side of the church, but a different pew.

“Woke” is being alert to the injustices of modern society with a particular emphasis on racism. As you know, I am white, old, conservative — so I am almost by default a racist.

So, I said to my pal, “Oh, you mean listen to The Voices in my head.”

He looked a little perplexed himself, so I described what I was saying to him. He’s a damn good listener, particularly if you buy him a CFS (chicken fried steak). This CFS is from The Monument Cafe in Georgetown, Texas. It is a noble establishment serving CFS worthy of mindful persons.

Continue reading →

07/25/19

The Congressional Mercy Rule — The Mueller Rule

If you watched the Mueller Congressional hearings — two of them — yesterday, you were treated to a spectacle — the incoherent and rambling testimony of a former giant. Robert Swan Mueller III looked remarkably docile. Embarassingly so.

What was painfully obvious was that former FBI Director Mueller had not read his own report. Ouch.

It is particularly hard for me personally to deliver this suggestion as I dig the guy’s toughness — Airborne Ranger Leatherneck, combat veteran, Bronze star/Purple Heart recipient.

Image result for images mueller hearings

So, I propose a new Congressional Rule. I call it the Mueller Rule.

Continue reading →