05/28/19

Tariffs Fallout

Everybody is an expert on tariffs, right? We talked about them when we discussed the Canadian Softwoods Lumber Tariffs and how it worked to American advantage. I’ll put a link at the bottom of this blog post.

Here’s some good news — Fiat Chrysler is going to build one of the largest automobile production facilities in the US joining other foreign manufacturers who are making huge investments in the Carolinas (talking to you, BMW and Mercedes).

This new plant has a price tag of $1.6B and will be accompanied by a $0.9B expansion of an adjoining facility.

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05/28/19

CEO Shoptalk — Perspective

Rains are coming because it’s the end of May and it’s Austin By God Texas. Like a bit of rain.

So, two CEOs are talking and we get into a chat about the difference between young/first time CEOs and experienced/serial CEOs.

I hazard the following, “Think it’s perspective.” There are a few other thoughts, but we keep circling back to perspective.

Serial CEOs know what is important — and they are better at it — because they have done it before. They made the mistakes, paid full tuition for the education.

On the heels of the Memorial Day post yesterday, I got a few emails from CEOs (former clients) who said the same thing, essentially, paraphrasing: “You were doing very different things than we were doing at the same age — early to mid-twenties. I assume it gave you a different perspective on things.”

Old lions and new lions are lions, but they have a different perspective on things.

Please note this is a nuclear lion family. They live in Llano, Texas. What is each of the lions thinking about.

Daddy lion is thinking about the checklist for the board meeting (he read the Checkist Manifesto as a cub and knows it works) and making sure the meeting docs are in the DropBox. He’s also thinking he needs to talk to those tigers in marketing to make damn sure they are following the agreed to process.

Momma lion is pondering whether Insta or FB is the way to go on marketing. She’s thinking about whether to have another cub, but is worried about the dilution if she has to raise capital.

Cub lion is thinking — “Wow, that looks cool. Maybe I should re-do my logo? Or become a B Corporation, cause that’s way cool. A blog — maybe start writing a blog.”

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05/27/19

Memorial Day — The View From Another Direction

Having been an Army brat, having grown up on Army posts, having a mother and father who served in World War II, having a father who was a career soldier, having been educated at Virginia Military Institute, and having served in the Army for five years — I have a view of Memorial Day from a different point of the compass.

Both of my parents are buried in a military cemetery. This is the Central Texas military cemetery next to Fort Hood with the Hill Country in the background. It is hallowed ground.

Just a few years ago, it was a pasture. Now, it is filled as shown because a lot of soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

I went to school with men who are buried in places like this. Fifteen VMI graduates have been killed in the War on Terror.

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05/24/19

Tethered to Reality v Untethered

Of late, I am convinced that there are multiple parallel worlds in which we and others exist. These worlds being “parallel” never intersect. When they do, the laws of physics create sparks, sparks create fire, and the fire burns bright until it is extinguished by reality. In the end, reality trumps all.

Case in point is the relentless pursuit of President Donald J Trump by the Jabba the Hutt figure, Congressman Jerry Lewis Nadler, Chairman House Judiciary Committee.

Jerry, 71, has been a Congressman since 1992, that’s 27 years. Before that he was in the NY Assembly for 15 years. All told, he has been a politician for 42 years.

[Historical quirk — Jerry was elected Stuyvesant High School 1964-65 student government president wherein his campaign was managed by Dick Morris. Yes, that Dick Morris.]

Jerry sees himself as a tranformational figure in both life and politics. Here he is after his own substantial transformation. Bravo!

Image result for jerry nadler images

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05/23/19

Hot Tech Times in Austin By God Texas

Austin. When you hear that word, you want to be here. You want Barton Springs, the music scene, the Texas Longhorns, the food scene, the local beers, breakfast tacos, and you want the high tech scene.

Here it is. Barton Springs, at 68F, is natural air conditioning on the hottest day in Austin.

Main Barton Spring (“Parthhena, the “mother spring”) — the 4th largest spring in Texas — and its sisters generate more than 32MM cubic feet per day of Edwards Aquifer water. Highest flow rate ever recorded was 85MM CFS during the infamous 1991 floods. In times of drought, the flow rate may be lower. All water from the Edwards is rain water.

Image result for images barton springs austin

While Barton Springs is cold and refreshing, while the Austin tech scene is hot and exciting. The following chart is the work of crunchbase news and its Austin author, Mary Ann Azevedo. She writes about Austin and lives in Austin.

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05/23/19

Tesla Dips

I am a huge fan of the Tesla story — brash entrepreneur starts electric car company.

The story is four fold:

 1. Car — great car

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 2. Elon Musk — irrepressible entrepreneur

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 3. Disruption of, perhaps, the most well-organized and entrenched industry

 4. The stock, TSLA

Today, we talk about the stock. You will recall some time ago Elon Musk got in trouble for whispering he had backing to take the company private at $420/share. Several million dollars later, a few US Securities and Exchange Commission scoldings, a bit of public humiliation, the story came to be — well maybe Elon Musk didn’t have the requisite backing.

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05/21/19

The Energy Source v The Energy Sink Theory of Life

Big Red Car here on a wet Austin By God Texas day. It is May, y’all, and it is time to contemplate the Memorial Day floods.

Here is a pic from the 1981 Memorial Day floods, my first personal intro to the phenomenon. This pic is taken at the bridge in front of Hut’s Hamburgers, home of some of the best burgers on the planet. There were car lots next to Shoal Creek and hundreds of cars ended up in the creek.

Image result for images austin texas memorial day floods

When you come to Austin, you are going to want to get a Hut’s Hamburger. Trust me on this. Get the hickory burger.

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