Monthly Archives: July 2019

07/25/19

CEO Shoptalk — Knowing WHY

Long time ago, I got a call from a CEO, says, “Wow, that worked like a champ. Thanks.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, so we chatted. Apparently, he had had a problem and I had told him to look at something on The Musings of the Big Red Car website, he did, he applied it, and it worked. Problem solved. Bravo!

Then, I asked him the money question, “Do you know WHY that worked?” 

Image result for success images

Painful, awkward, ask-Dad-to-marry-his-daughter-style silence ensued.

“CEO, do you know WHY that worked?”

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07/24/19

William Painter Sunglasses

William Painter Sunglasses

Your Big Red Car does not do product endorsements. That is mostly because nobody has offered the Big Red Car any meaningful baksheesh for his endorsement. Trust me. I can be bought. [I’m easy.]

I love William Painter Sunglasses. I do not own any William Painter Sunglasses because I wear bifocal sunreaders that cost $10. I am going to buy some. Any day now.

WP Sunglasses cost $185, but in the rarefied Land of Cool wherein pricey Raybans are de rigeur, I dig William Painter Sunglasses.

Go see for yourself. Here is their website.

William Painter Sunglasses

Why, Big Red Car?

Because, “your face is your moneymaker.”

That’s it. Oh, yeah, they’re made from titanium. Have unbreakable lenses. Lots of cool color combos. One of them doubles as a beer bottle opener. They are inspired by NASA. If you wear them, it looks like you may have to get a piercing and a tattoo, but I may be wrong about that.

Very. Cool. Sunglasses.

William Painter Sunglasses. No, William is not my nephew.

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.

 

07/24/19

Chipotle Redemption

Americans are a forgiving people. In the case of Chipotle (CMG stock symbol), they forgive them for years of food-borne-illnesses such as an E Coli outbreak or two or three or four.

Image result for images of chipotle

How do I know this? Because their stock price — after weathering a huge hit based on food-borne-illness scandals — hit an all time high yesterday.

In the midst of their troubles, the stock hit a low price of $255.46/share in February of 2018. Pre-market price indicators today, you ask? $762. You do the math. Wow!

Did you buy on the bad news, dear reader? NO, you did not because you, like everyone else, just said, “Gross!”

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07/23/19

Iran And The F-35 Stealth Fighter

Last year, there was an important report that went unnoticed by the US media for more than a year. There is some confusion on this matter.

Israel was reported to have flown its IAF (Israeli Air Force) F-35I Adir planes (flight of three) over Iran and conducted photo recon over Tehran, Karajrak, isfahan, Shiraz, and Bandar Abbas.

This plane is the American F-35 adapted to specific Israeli requirements, hence the designation F-35I. It is a stealth warplane.

The question has been — how stealthy is the F-35? How would it perform v the Russian S-300 missile system and its supposedly cutting edge radar array?

Point of order: Greece, NATO ally, had purchased the Russian S-300 after their mid-1990s spat with Turkey over the Kardak islets sovereignty. The Greeks later gave the US one of the S-300s which the Americans tore apart to develop measures that overcame the Russian capabilities. Who says having NATO friends is all bad?

Iranian air defense systems — which includes cutting edge Russian radars, including the S-300 — failed to detect the entry, the exit, or the presence of these Israeli  stealth planes that stayed on station for an extended period of time over the most sensitive Iranian facilities including underground nuke manufacturing facilities. In other words, they were circling where they might have to bomb in the future.

It was a very real test of capabilities — the planes and the defenses. Scores as follows: IAF 100 v Iran 0 v Russian radar 0.

When the Iranians learned about this, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei fired the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force commander, Brigadier General Farzad Ismaili, who had been in office since 2010.

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07/23/19

Mandatory Arbitration

I have always been a fan of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution in business contracts as opposed to using the legal system. Arbitration — yes! Lawsuits — no!

Recently, companies have been requiring new employees to agree to a basis of employment that includes a dispute resolution technique based solely on binding arbitration. [Note: This is different, though similar, than binding arbitration in business contracts. Similar.]

The employees are being asked to give up their right to sue the company, their employer, as a condition of employment.

Good idea or nefarious overreach by the employer?

These are not contract employees, but “at will” employees. A contract employee has an Employment Agreement and the at will employee has an “understanding” or a “basis of employment” while still being subject to termination for no reason or good reason or any reason.

It is perfectly normal for an Employment Agreement to have some form of dispute resolution spelled out as part of the deal. This falls under the umbrella of “you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”

Today, it is reported that more than 60,000,000 US employees are working under a mandatory arbitration arrangement for employment disputes. So, it is not uncommon.

[Note: Unions have their own dispute resolution procedures as part of their collective bargaining agreement. It often is based on arbitration or a form similar.]

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07/22/19

Beating the Apple Tax

The Apple Store (since 2008) and the Google Play Store (a few months later) exact a thirty percent tax on all transactions. That’s 30%! This is called the Apple Tax.

Image result for logo apple store

Folks who sell through the Apple and Google Play stores believe that is an obscenely high fee. Color your Big Red Car amongst those who hold that opinion. [Note: In this blog post, I will consider the interests and behavior of Apple/Google as one and the same for simplicity.]

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07/20/19

The Money Divide

Love may make the world go around, but it is money that pays for the trip. The world is divided between those who consume money (my tribe) and those who provide the money.

Amongst competing tribal loyalties are the classic American entrepreneur (consumer) and the venture capitalist (provider).

Image result for images of men shaking hands on a deal

Entrepreneurs propose an idea that requires a good slapping with a checkbook — a checkbook that, alas, they do not possess — to bring it to reality. The venture capitalist shows up with a checkbook and offers to assist.

This assistance may take many forms, but the most important thing to understand is that the two parties — the consumer of capital and the provider of capital — have, at times, different interests.

[I am being charitable as I believe the interests are not just different, they are many times divergent. When I consult with CEOs, when I coach CEOs, I always ensure they understand this simple fact. There is a money divide.]

In life, in business, one doesn’t get what one deserves, one gets what they negotiate. This is not a hard truth; it is a simple truth that many choose to avoid because it requires a bit of rigor or discipline to employ.

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07/18/19

Manhole v Personhole v Maintenance Hole

I have been on a journey of discovery. For a year I have struggled — admittedly unsuccessfully — with how to confront an increasingly more troubling, harsher, complex world.

This week, the Berkeley, California, City Council showed me the light when they renamed MANHOLES as MAINTENANCE HOLES, thereby driving off the offensive stank and horrific gender-biased nomenclature of such things. Hurrah!

Image result for images of manholes

It is with a light heart I now face life, secure in the knowledge that I and millions of others will no longer have to confront the indignity of improperly identified, gender-shamed public facilities.

MANHOLES are dead.

Long live MAINTENANCE HOLES.

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