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The USGA, the Golden Bear, and legendary clubmaker Barney Adams all think you, Mr. Amateur Golfer, should be playing from the tees that are closer to the fairway. They think you'll have more fun navigating the course the way pros do, and that it will speed up the game for everyone else. You agree with this line of thinking. But you think it applies to everyone but you. That's because you, Mr. Tough Guy with an 18 handicap and 4 penalties per round, think you are not one of those duffers playing from the wrong tees. You think YOU are liable to drive the green if you play too far forward. You are wrong. You are wrong and it's driving Barney Adams nuts. He tells Golf Digest the male eog is "the highest hurdle" to his plan. "Amateurs who think they can hit pro-type shots and want to play from back tees don't realize that with equipment advances they're farther behind where pros hit the ball than ever. What was maybe a 40-yard difference 25 years ago is now 75 yards." "Those are the guys who say, 'Gee, Barney, you have a great idea. I hope they do something about it.' I say to them, 'Who the hell is THEY? YOU'RE they.' " Confident enough in your masculinity that you're willing to play the correct tees and not be one of the jerks slowing everyone else down? Here's a guide for figuring out where you should start each hole: 
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Well, we poked fun at Michele Bachmann yesterday for saying that the founding fathers fought hard against slavery, so it's only fair that we point out a President Obama gaffe that we missed last week. While speaking to troops at Fort Drum last week, the President was describing his long relationship with the Army's 10th Mountain Division. Then he mentioned one member of the division in particular: First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.” The trouble was, Jared Monti hadn't come back. He had been killed in action two years earlier. Obama had awarded him a Medal of Honor posthumously at the White House, where his parents accepted it. The soldier Obama meant to mention last Thursday was Sal Giunta. He later apologized personally to Jared Monti's family for the mistake. Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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 PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Penguins have offered former NHL MVP Jaromir Jagr a one-year contract, and expect to hear a decision from Jagr's agent on Wednesday.
Jagr, 39, was a Pittsburgh draft pick in 1990, and helped lead the Penguins to two Stanley Cup championships. The franchise's hope is that he accept the offer, play at least one season in Pittsburgh, and then retire with the team he started with. The deal is worth a reported $2 million. Jagr, who played 17 seasons in the NHL with the Penguins, Capitals and Rangers, has played the past three years in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League. He has 1,599 career points in the NHL, to go along with the 1999 Hart Trophy for the league MVP. He was a Hart finalist five other times, and is an eight-time All-Star. Jagr's agent is former NHL player Petr Svoboda. Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, the former governor of the Afghan central bank, fled the country Monday amid a scandal over corruption at Kabul Bank, which was taken over by the government last year. Now the IMF's support of Afghanistan is said to be in jeopardy. Fitrat says he fled because his life was in danger. He says he flew to the U.S. because, "The government, and particularly the president, knew that I knew a lot of facts about how they stole public depositors money [including] the deposits of small Afghans, farmers, carpenters ... that they [had] saved in Kabul Bank ... they [the government] had used that money for political campaigns and they knew I had evidence for that." Fitrat might have found out about the allegedly fraudulent money transfers in the past few months, or he might have known about them earlier. The central bank audited Kabul Bank twice a year. Fitrat of course argues that he found out recently, after the Afghanistan central bank took over Kabul because it nearly collapsed last year (Al Jazeera says mismanagement and questionable lending practices lead to the near-collapse). After the central bank took it over, some people alleged that bank's potential insolvency was caused or aggravated by the bank's granting off-the-book loans worth a reported $900 million to prominent people like politicians, ministers, relatives of the president, a vice president, and a powerful former warlord, for example, who allegedly used the funds for various things like luxury properties in Dubai and political campaigns, for example. Fitrat, who worked for the central bank until he resigned on Tuesday, says he lead the fraud investigation from the central bank, and that his life was threatened because of the information he possessed and had been in the process of revealing. According to Al Jazeera, Fitrat named three prominent men who were allegedly involved in the scandal at the bank in April. According to Fitrat: - Mahmood Karzai, the president's brother and a former shareholder of the bank, took out $22 million
- Hassin Fahim, the vice-president's brother, took out $78 million
- Haji Khalil Ferzoi, who had been the financial adviser during Karzai's re-election campaign, took out $66.9 million
So that's one side of the story, that Fitrat's life was in danger because he had all of this alleged information about people who could afford to have him killed. Another side says that Kabul Bank was openly called a ponzi scheme by many in the country, including Western officials in Afghanistan. But claiming that his life is threatened would be to Fitrat's advantage even if no one wanted him dead. An arrest warrant has been sent to Interpol and the US embassy in Kabul, calling for Fitrat to be returned to Afghanistan for questioning, according to Al Jazeera. If he can convince leaders that his life is in danger, they might grant him safe exile. That's the other side of the story. Mahmood Karzai, the president's brother and a former shareholder of the bank, whom Fitrat said took out $22 million, told Al Jazeera that there's no reason for Fitrat to feel threatened. He said, "He has merely escaped justice in Afghanistan... A new report published by the commission accuses [Fitrat] of gross negligence ... he did not escape before the findings of the commission. He only left after the report was released and sent to the president and the attorney general... It is a shame that in Afghanistan, once accused of corruption, people can simply go overseas and claim that their life is under threat." Ramazan Bashardost, an Afghan MP and a former presidential candidate, added that allegedly, Fitrat allowed the irregularities despite the bank being audited twice every year. He said, "Surely he knew and let it happen ... I think he left Afghanistan with an understanding with others involved in the mess - that if he remained in the country, he would be forced to expose other names that he has so far resisted on." If he knew, it won't help the country's relations with the IMF. The scandal is said to have endangered the IMF's future support for Afghanistan. Afghanistan's finance minister Omar Zakhilwal called talks with the IMF a "waste of my time," last week, according to Al Jazeera. Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Want to know what industries are heating up? Industry analyst IBISWorld just released its picks for the 5 hottest startup industries for the next five years. The company analyzed revenues, growth trends and profitability levels of more than 700 industries to determine which ones are best poised to grow. Even if you are already in business, knowing which industries are in growth mode can give you ideas for new products, services or partnerships that could help your business expand. Here are IBISWorld's picks: - Testing and Educational Support: High school graduates are going on to college, college students are clinging to their college years instead of facing the tough job market, and laid-off employees are heading back to school. All this bodes well for testing and education businesses. IBISWorld reports that the industry grew at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent to $15.4 billion over the five years up to 2011, and that level of growth is projected to continue over the next five years, with revenue increasing an average of 5.5 percent per year to reach $19.1 billion in 2016. Trade and technical schools, business coaching and employment recruiting are all related industries with similarly positive outlooks.
- Internet and Technology: No surprise here, but growth in broadband access and the increasing ubiquity of technological devices in our daily lives are driving demand for technology. For entrepreneurs, IBISWorld suggests two opposite paths of opportunity: you can create a highly innovative startup that has a big idea and sufficient capital, or you can provide services to help businesses with their technology needs. Since all kinds of businesses are moving online today, the latter area is rife with opportunity. IT consulting, logistics and order fulfillment, online lead generation, data-mining consulting and online payment processing are some of the services your business can provide.
- Green: Despite the recession, green products and services continue to thrive. Consumers are paying for eco-friendly products and services from clothing to housecleaning, but some of the biggest opportunities are on the business-to-business side. Green consultants who help businesses shrink their carbon footprints are poised to grow, as new regulations will increase the need for experts to advise businesses. In fact, IBISWorld projects the environmental consulting industry will grow 9.4 percent per year to $30.0 billion by 2016. Another growth industry: providing remediation and environmental cleanup services, such as removing hazardous waste or cleaning up wastewater.
- Residential and Commercial Construction: IBISWorld says this industry is ready to bounce back from the recession; the report projects the value of residential construction will rise 12.5 percent annually in the five years to 2016 and the value of private non- residential construction will rise by about 13.0 percent annually during that time. In addition to increased demand for contractors, there will be a need for specialty subcontractors such as drywall and glass contractors or architectural and building inspection services. And over the five years to 2016, IBISWorld estimates revenues for the home building industry will grow 16 percent per year to $394.1 billion.
- Health: Alternative providers, such as acupuncturists, masseuses and yoga instructors, will be a growth industry in the coming years. These treatments were already gaining wider acceptance among the public (and health insurance companies) even before last year's health insurance reform law added provisions to increase support for alternative treatments. The industry's revenue is forecast to grow by 4.3 percent annually for the next five years, reaching $14.4 billion by 2016. Other industries that will grow thanks to healthcare reform and the aging of America include home care providers, elderly and disabled services and physical therapists.
How could your business take advantage of these trends? For more about IBISWorld and other industry reports, visit the IBISWorld website. From Small Business Trends5 Hot Industries Every Small Business Owner Should Know About Read more posts on Small Business Trends » Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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The result is Google+ is the social network that launched yesterday. It's a lot of the same stuff we're already used to with Facebook, but given a Google-fied design twist. In fact, Google+ looks and functions a lot like Facebook, almost embarrassingly so. Want to see Google+ for yourself? CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT > We've been warned that Google+ is only the first step in Google's social strategy, but at first blush, it's hard to imagine how it can win over Facebook users. There's almost nothing original with Google+: Groups, video chat, news feed, link-sharing, and group texting. And while it looks pretty, we don't think it's a big enough change for anyone to abandon Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. (Unless they really hate those networks.) We've been using Google+ for a day now. Until you get an invite, click below to see what it's like for yourself. After you receive your invite, head to plus.google.com. Once you log in with your Google account, you'll see this gray box. Fill out the information and select "Join." Note: Google gives you the option to get personalized ads based on your Google+ profile. Uncheck the box if you don't want that. 
Link to Picasa so you can store your photos online 
Now fill out your profile information. It's basically the same stuff as Facebook: Name, occupation, relationship status, interests, etc. 
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Browsing porn is only the second-most popular online activity after using social media, but it's still huge. Lots of Tumblr users are probably wishing they had better impulse control and avoided a site promising adult content in exchange for their usernames and passwords. It's a malicious type of data theft called "phishing," and people fall for it every day. Here are several tips that can keep you ahead of the game the next time you suspect an email might be a scam. Look for spelling and bad grammar.  Cybercriminals aren't exactly famous for impeccable spelling and bulletproof grammar. They work by themselves, maybe even in a hurry, so mistakes go unnoticed easily. Professional organizations have an army of staff to check for mistakes. If you notice silly, obvious errors in an email, it should be a warning sign to you.
Beware of links in email.  Always double check to make sure a link will take you where it says it will take you. If it says it will take you to your bank's website and instead you land anywhere else, say http://bank.anything.com, run away. This is clearly a phishing attempt, so keep a close eye on your URLs.
If an email contains threats, that's another bad sign.  This can take any one of a number of forms, but any time you read that an account will be closed or you will be charged an amount of money unless you reply to a suspicious email, that should tip you off again that something's afoot.
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I have two friends who would make the perfect couple, if only they would get over their differences. Try as they might, they always run into the same problems: one will think they’re more important than the other, neglect the others’ needs or say something to embarrass the other in mixed company. My friends’ names? Sales and Internet Marketing.
I just don’t get it. What should be a harmonious relationship always seems to end up in a tug-of-war. To me, the roles are simple and complementary. Sales’ job is to convince the customer to buy. Marketing’s job is to convince the customer they wanted your product all along. As a sales rep, the most comforting words I could hear from a prospect were “Yeah, I’ve heard of you guys before.” In those moments, I wanted to run to our marketing department and give each and every one of them a high five (and maybe a hug). Because as most sales people know, turning a cold call into a warm call can shave months off of the sales cycle. Let’s end this age-old battle once and for all. Sales guys and Internet marketers, it's time to learn how we can work together to achieve higher conversions and interoffice harmony. How to sync SEO with your sales cycle Internet marketers, think of SEO as the vitamin you hide in your kid’s ice cream. Although you know it’s good for them, Sales might not care too much to swallow your SEO mantra, or even have the patience to understand. But one thing that all sales people like to talk about is money, and there is money to be made by investing in SEO. The key is to not only translate SEO into ROI, but to tap into sales to inform your strategy. Carve out some time to meet with a few sales reps (remember, every moment they’re away from the phone or a meeting with a prospect is money out of their pocket, so keep the meeting short and to the point). You’ll want sales to inform you on a few key elements: Keywords Use your sales force as inspiration for keyword research, especially if you’re looking for long-tail, purchase-focused terms. Sometimes the tools we use for keyword research don’t delve into the nuances that sales reps are able to pick up on in their conversations. They’ll know which words or phrases resonate best with customers who are ready to buy. In general, you’ll want to keep your SEO copywriting and sales lyrics as in sync as possible. Sales reps, pay attention to the wording of the website. Your Internet marketing team has spent a lot of time researching popular keywords and phrases. Whenever I needed to switch up my lyrics a bit, I would use our website as a source of inspiration. Site structure Not every sales call is structured the same way, but for the most part your sales reps will have a process in place to guide the customer to closing. Ask them about the typical flow of their conversations. My sales process looks something like this: Prepare for the call -> Opening -> Assess the prospect’s needs -> Summarize their needs -> Present the product -> Summarize the benefits of the product -> Offer -> Close Your company’s site structure should allow the customer to easily follow this path, or at the very least access all the pieces of information addressed in the call. Ask your sales reps if customers have any common questions and integrate their answers into your FAQs or About Us page. Every page should have a call to action that urges the customer to either pick up the phone and contact a rep (the ideal situation), send an email or submit a contact form, which should be tracked to show which page prompted the customer to reach out. As a sales rep, I would take a quick look at the content of the referring page before the call to figure out what might have sparked the customer’s interest and to have a jumping off point for the conversation. Link building with sales in mind SEOs, let's pretend that you just landed two backlinks from a reputable blog with 7 PageRank and the potential for an ongoing monthly contributor spot. Now try asking your sales force to care. Although the sales team doesn’t need to be kept in the loop about every guest post and directory listing you secure, it makes sense to involve them in the process. Internet marketers' creepy obsession with PageRank can sometimes lead us to ignore backlinks that might be valuable from a sales standpoint. Remember to focus as much on the audience as the numbers. Less than perfect PageRank is okay from time to time as long as the link is being placed in front of a valuable group of potential customers – that's new business and you should measure your campaigns by more than just backlinks and rankings. Sales, if you’re trying to prospect within certain niches, tell your Internet marketing guys. They may be able to develop relationships with these communities and sniff out good prospects to pass along to you. Align your expectations Sorry, sales guys. I know we like to think of the marketing department as our own personal lead piggy bank, but when it comes to lead generation and Internet marketing, it’s more like a 1-year CD. You might be tired of the buzzwords, but link building, SEO audits, relationship management and social media marketing all come together to make it easier for you to sell. You just need to be patient. Internet marketers, your sales force is your front line. If they’re giving you feedback about your business based on conversations with prospects and customers, you need to listen. Sometimes we surround ourselves with a wall of data without room for the valuable anecdotal feedback our sales reps can provide. Also, be frank about the benefits of SEO. Putting everything you do in terms of lead generation capability might only come back to haunt you or force you to dive into riskier forms of SEO. Well, Sales and Marketing. I’m glad we had this talk. Hopefully this time you’ll be able to work out your differences and let your relationship blossom into the positive force it’s meant to be. Read more posts on Outspoken Media » Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook. 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“Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”
– Peter Drucker
I get asked from time to time what I believe makes someone an entrepreneur and invariably I respond by saying that an entrepreneur is someone who sees a problem and says:
I can fix that.
Peoples' definitions will vary and it obviously takes a whole lot more effort to be a successful founder. Yet, it is safe to say that this same thought is rattling around in the overly active brains of ambitious entrepreneurs around the world as I type this. Without these people willing to put aside the pursuit of security and chase a passion for solving problems, we would be without most of the things we take for granted in our lives today. I vehemently believe entrepreneurs should be cultivated as it serves society at large and I work towards the same in my own small way.
It is an interesting time to be involved in entrepreneurship. Not since the West was settled have so many people left behind the traditional methods of making a living to embark on the journey that is your own upstart. There are any number of factors to claim as the catalyst for this transition.The two biggest factors seem to be the lack of good job opportunities and an ever lower cost of entry. No longer to you need hundreds or even tens of thousands of dollars in order to get a viable company off the ground. It can be done quickly and cost effectively as long as you stay focused on the fundamentals over the fun stuff.
This brings us to the title of this article in Solution Zero. It is a theory (if something you thought up over beers with a buddy can be a theory) about where most new ventures go wrong. Not why they go wrong. That is different for everyone and as such very much subjective. I am suggesting that the moment where an entrepreneur recognizes a problem and a solution pops into his or her head. That is solution zero and ultimately the product they should put forth to the public as a proposed fix. In my opinion, most ventures are doomed from the outset as a result of being over thought and for that matter, overworked by the founder(s) to the point where the solution has been obfuscated by trying to hard to add value or more simply, “sell it.” It is no doubt human nature to get in there and work hard on something you care about. However, it is equally naive to think you have any idea what adds value to your solution. Anyone who suggests they could possibly know what their users are going to want and in what priority is fooling themselves or worse, blinded by ego.
It so happens that the same day this new buzz phrase of mine came up, I also found myself in a position to test the validity of the process I seek to promote with its use. A good friend had referred me a coffee shop near his office. Spending a good deal of time in coffee shops writing and answering email, I am always up for some new scenery. On this day I ran into the referring friend at said coffee shop and in our brief conversation, he told me of all the headaches he was experiencing trying to rent the third bedroom in his downtown Philadelphia apartment. It struck me that it wasn’t so much a shortage of applicants. In fact it was the opposite. An abundance of people had expressed interest in being his new roommate. It was their relevance or more specifically, lack thereof that was the issue. My friend had been spending his time replying to emails where he repeated the same questions and answers. Talking to people on the phone who while seemingly were decent, well mannered people, would not be a good fit to share a place with him and his remaining fellow housemate. We talked about the options he had available to him for renting his room in Craigslist, Roomates.com and alike. These were vast databases of available rooms who seem to measure relevance by the ability to match people with factors like who allows pets or has parking. This makes sense if you are searching the MLS for a new home I suppose but not so much when you consider the nuances of finding a suitable cohabitation arrangement. My friend was in the midst of expressing his frustration when it happened, solution zero: I can fix that.
My friend had to run back to show his place to yet another prospect while I opened a Google doc to outline what I was thinking. Within minutes I had sent him the basics and asked what he thought. He saw the same thing I did. A simple solution to a common problem. A start up is born.
This is typically where things start to go wrong. A perfectly good idea turns instead into a big idea that continuously needs to be fed with more and more smaller ideas just to keep everyone involved excited about it. In this case, we could have started down this path by suggesting things like: adding search, making it embeddable or discussing how many photos we should make available to be uploaded. Hypothesising about how people would use it and if they would be averse to using Facebook to log in or share the listing. Instead we did what every budding entrepreneur should do at this juncture. We asked ourselves if we ourselves would use this product. The answer was yes and so it stands to reason there are millions of others just like us. People with rooms to rent that would find utility in a lightweight product to share the availability out to their friends and thereby to the extended network they have within their reach. We were onto something and so I suggested we meet the same time tomorrow to sketch out our idea into rough wire frames. Being smack in the middle of Philly Beer Week, we did so over a couple of brews at a local pub. You may detect a pattern forming.
The next morning, I mocked up a slightly cleaner version of the wire frames in Photoshop along with a sketch of what the process would be for the programmers reference and used it to get one professionally created to be part of the home page for the users benefit. Fast forward about 72 hours, add some finishing touches, a few dozen lines of code and boom: Roomly is a reality.
Of course there is much work to be done but we do not yet know where those efforts are best focused. Only the market -- users, people like you reading this who sign up and use the platform can show us through usage data and tell us in your own words what you need to make renting your rooms that much easier.
To be continued.
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When it comes to video game characters, Mario is without question the biggest. Nintendo's popular mascot has enjoyed a 30 year career that includes over 100 video games across a variety of different systems and genres, along with a strong merchandising campaign. That said, plenty of companies have tried to knock the hero from his perch with a small army of clones. Despite the tough competition, Mario has weathered the proverbial storm and emerged victorious, even in the face of million selling (and more mature) franchises like Call of Duty and Mass Effect. On that note, here are ten reasons why gamers love Mario. He's an everyman  Coming to repair a clogged toilet near you.
In a video game industry dominated by space marines, vigilantes and meatheads, Mario has always been a refreshing change of pace, largely because he's a pudgy Italian plumber who enjoys eating pasta. What's more, Nintendo always stacks the deck against him in each new adventure. Not only do we appreciate his normalcy, but we also love an underdog. He's the perfect role model  Seriously, we'd make fun of Luigi every day.
Mario's a much better role model than most professional athletes and celebrities. He never abuses drugs and alcohol, name calls, turns on his brother Luigi, lies or steals. The guy's happy and good-natured. After several hours of dealing with annoying people every day, he's a welcome change of pace. He got off to a phenomenal start  Not even Michael Jordan had this much early success.
Gamers first met Mario in the arcade classic, Donkey Kong, when Nintendo called him Jumpman. Then he appeared in the Mario Bros. arcade game before starring in the NES title that put him on the digital map, Super Mario Bros., with Super Mario Bros. 2 and the universally beloved Super Mario Bros. 3 to follow. Now that's how you start a career. He's everywhere  We totally need one of these.
Mario never goes on hiatus while Nintendo retools the franchise. The publisher always has some sort of Mario game on the way, be it Mario Kart, Mario Party, a Mario sports game or new entry in the Super Mario series. What's more, you'll see him in magazines, toy stores and the local super market, where you can buy Mario themed fruit snacks and candy. Thankfully, the non-invasive marketing doesn't shove him down the public's throat. It's more subtle than most gamers realize. Quality over quantity  Much better than Sonic the Hedgehog's pockmarked resume.
Nintendo doesn't toss Mario into games just for the sake of abusing its biggest meal ticket. The publisher takes great pride, time and effort into making each Mario title unique. Most importantly, these games are fun to play and stay true to the character's appearance, personality and abilities. The company introduces new features, such as the water pack in Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube) and soaring through the cosmos in Super Mario Galaxy (Wii), but at the end of the day, it's still about collecting gold coins, stomping goombas and saving the princess. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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This is not yet another article that answers the question "What is marketing?". Instead, it tells you how to use Internet marketing, along with some SEO keyword research, to cleverly drive targeted traffic for your blog, startup, business or eCommerce site. The principles also apply to traditional marketing too, so read along even if you are... more traditional in your approach. Many eCommerce store owners and other business people (whether they are entrepreneurs, bloggers, SMEs, etc) often find it difficult to really capture the spirit of Internet marketing. Companies that are successful and prominent seem to have this "knack" for creating content that is just... hugely popular. This success can be hard to replicate. That is, until you know how. What is marketing... the case for SEO content Hands up anyone who has tried to create a great piece of content in the hopes that it will go viral and generate enormous amounts of buzz, hype, interest, SEO goodness, social media awareness, traditional media awareness, visibility, reputation, and anything else you can think of, only to have it fail and disappear into the sea of online content, never to return. Everyone's done it, right? If you haven't then you aren't marketing your business properly. My point is this: Creating great content is no guarantee that it will go viral and make you an overnight success. Not creating great content is almost a guarantee that you will never be a success - at least not from anything you do online. What is marketing... the case for SEO keyword research So why is the title of this article "What is marketing?". The answer is simple: Google reports that there are approximately 31 000 000, that's thirty one million, global monthly searches on that term. That's a big pie, and I want a share of it. But, the question "What is marketing?" has been answered to death a million times over in exactly the same way. So I need to think like one of those highly paid advertising creatives and come up with a way to distinguish myself from the crowd while still competing for that SEO keyphrase. What is marketing... SEO content creativity and originality My answer is to write about the essence of internet marketing (as opposed to providing yet another dry definition, like every other site out there) in order to provide an answer to the question "what is marketing" in a completely original and unique way. And here it is: Marketing, at least in the online sense, is about finding and exploiting the gaps. You'll be surprised how little real content oriented innovation there really is. Mostly, people create SEO enhanced content in the same way over and over. What appears to be marketing saturation and keyword competitiveness is effectively massive duplication. What do I mean by finding and exploiting gaps? Look at your own niche. Look for SEO keywords and keyphrases that are not saturated with millions of marketing messages. Then look at the areas that are saturated and highly competitive (like "What is marketing" and work out how to present good content in a unique and interesting way so that you are distinguished despite the competitiveness. What is marketing... the Internet marketing methodology Using these two techniques you can build up a great body of marketing content that oozes up through the otherwise iron clad wall of SEO content, to appear all over the first page SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Your tactics as an online marketer are therefore the following: - Produce SEO enhanced content for relevant niche areas that are not highly competitive
- Produce creatively distinguished SEO enhanced content for niches that are already saturated and competitive
In effect, you are going to end up looking for your own "what is marketing" niche questions to provide answers to. At all times, think laterally. Develop your creative marketing skills and think of ways to build up a body of content that will excite and interest your target audience. By revisiting SEO keywords and topics that have been traditionally sewn up by other sites and producing content that is something new, you can rattle a few cages, stir things up and start to dominate the search engines, driving traffic, recognition and business in the process. That, my friends, is my answer to the question "What is marketing?". Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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This morning, Oracle announced plans to acquire a data storage company called Pillar Data Systems for an undisclosed amount. The funny part: Pillar is mostly owned by Larry Ellison, Oracle's founder, CEO, and largest shareholder. According to the SEC filing announcing the deal, Pillar owed Ellison $544 million from loans and interest. That loan will be converted into preferred stock, which will pay dividends at the rate of 1.5% for the next three years. Ellison also already owns 55% of Pillar's common (non-preferred) stock. Ellison also has a chance to earn money under a earn-out plan if Pillar's revenues exceed its losses for the next three years. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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 I spoke recently at MIT's Sloan School of Management about how to build an insanely great founding team. This subject is a personal favorite (and a popular coaching topic here at UpStart Bootcamp) so I'd like to share my thinking…and hope you'll do the same!
First, what is a founding team and why should it be insanely great? A founding team helps you storm the castle every day. You're married to your co-founders, emotionally and financially. Chosen well, no one will work harder or care more about your company. The job of a founding team is to learn what works and to recognize when or how to change it. Founders often earn equity only—rather than a salary—until key financial goals are met. Early on, founders are one of the biggest reasons you succeed or fail. Over time, they also set your company culture, which impacts your whole business and is incredibly hard to change. No doubt, you want an insanely great team. What characteristics should you look for to build this insanely great team? 1. The right skills to go the distance: Identify the three to five primary business operations you must get right in the next three years at least. Then look for someone with the skills to lead each of those for the next three years, preferably with a proven track record. (Translation: investors will be game to fund that person, and you.) Avoid the common mistakes of outsourcing, or hiring an unqualified friend to lead the critical areas of your business. 2. A hands-on approach: A co-founder should want to be hands-on doing the work, not just leading it. It may be months before you bring on other employees. Even a co-founder who manages a team needs to be able to roll up his or her sleeves and get dirty with the details to ensure the start-up hits, and exceeds, goals. 3. Can-do problem-solvers: The best entrepreneurs I know are highly curious, and driven to solve problems in a positive way. This is what gets them going in the morning, and keeps them up all night. Rather than stop them, roadblocks inspire their creativity. These people are excited to work with other problem solvers, and get frustrated by people who don't share this trait. A team of problem solvers has an exponential effect. A dud rains on the parade. 4. Hunger is a good thing. Ego, not so much. You want co-founders who are looking to make a mark in terms of money, reputation, or other personal goals. Individual performance rarely succeeds (otherwise you'd go it alone!) and collaboration increases your chances of success. Ego can eat away at collaboration so look for people who can leave it at the door. Not sure? Ask them about a success working with others and pay attention to how many times they say "I" versus "we." You can also ask references. 5. Values, goals, and risk: How you do the work is as important as the work you do. You need to trust your co-founders and that begins by being on the same page about values, goals, and risk tolerance. For example, talk about how you're going to resolve differences because you know you're going to have them. And about how you'll handle ethical dilemmas, like honoring an agreement when not doing so would be financially beneficial. 6. Smarts and passion can trump experience (despite what I said earlier). Smarts plus passion is the start-up secret sauce. Pass on anyone without this combo as a co-founder. Period. In a perfect world, co-founders have everything listed here, and more. In the real world, if you find a candidate with all I've mentioned, as well as wicked smarts and passion for your idea—but that person lacks the exact right past work experience—don't be afraid to plunge. Smarts and passion will help him or her figure it all out. What's on the top of your list for an insanely great founding team? This post originally appeared at Inc. Read more The Best Industries to Start and Grow a Business in 2011
Jason Fried: Why I Run a Flat Company
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Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco Systems, once the darlings of Wall Street, had all fallen out of favor. Even though they have protected their turfs well, and are piling cash into their companies quarter after quarter, their stocks had languished for an entire decade and all of them are now trading at single digits forward P/E ratios. The problem of the troika was that they are no longer perceived as growth stocks anymore, as each had performed poorly to expand beyond their core businesses. However, even though the troika are no growth stocks anymore, they are now perceived by many investors as undervalued. They are very different from fallen giants such as Nokia or Research in Motion in that they had defended their core businesses very well, and suffer no great market share declines as the others did. Each has their own problem, but they still have tremendous resources, and has the potential to recapture their glories if they play their cards right. There are many articles on the web focusing on their financials to illustrate why they are undervalued, but we will examine what they can do to allow them to grow again. Microsoft Micorsoft could have dominated every aspect of today's emerging technology - search engine, cloud computing, mobile computer, etc., but it missed the chance in every single category. While PC still dominates in market share for personal computers, its growth in consumer sector has been stampeded by the rise of Apple, and its great expectation of growth in Netbook is now decimated by tablet computing. Its mishaps in mobile computing and search engine were illustrated by its scraping of Windows Mobile platform to be replaced by Windows Phone 7 (soon to be Windows Phone 8), and its MSN search getting replaced by Bing. Even though Microsoft got attacked relentlessly on the consumer front, it still remains the giant in enterprise computing with Windows and Office, allowing the company to rake in billions of profits each quarter. This has enabled Microsoft to pour its resource to keep trying at cracking the missed opportunities. While Microsoft needs to do better in search engine and clouding computing to counter Google, the biggest headache for Microsoft is in mobile computing. The size of smartphones and tablets could eclipse desktop computing, and Apple and Google are taking both market share and mind share right now, leaving a trail of road kills such as Research in Motion and Nokia in their paths. Therefore, for Microsoft to reclaim its significance, it must thrust itself into the mix and become a significant player in the market. To achieve this, it has dropped its antique Mobile Windows and developed Mobile Phone 7, which got good reviews but had not make a dent in the market. To reclaim its significance in mobile computing, Microsoft struck an alliance with Nokia and moved to acquire Skype. These are good first steps, but Microsoft would need to fortify its offering by courting developers to fill up its app store. Besides providing a well integrated platform, it will probably need a killer app, much like Halo for the XBox, to really stoke the interests for users. It may even have to give special incentives to carriers, either in carrying Windows phones and/or profit sharing in app stores. The bar is high, but we believe it's not impossible for Microsoft to overcome. With a forward P/E between 9.0 and 10.0, and a dividend yield of ~2.5%, we believe its worthwhile to take a position in Microsoft at its current price range, and wait for Microsoft to crack the growth market in mobile computing. After all, Windows did not win until its 3.0 version. This article originally appears on benzinga.com Daniel Ho is the founder of 10xreturn.com, a financial portal providing financial information and market statistics for investment professionals. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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CNBC's Darren Rovell retweeted this photo (via @ForumPrez) of a special at a London bar for Andy Murray’s match against Feliciano Lopez today. No word on what bar this is. But if you’re in London and a little light on cash, there isn’t a better way to spend an evening than to drink free wine and root for Feliciano to have a horrible serving game. Murray broke Richard Gasquet three times his in his last match, and broke Ivan Ljubicic five times in the match before. So bring your drinking shoes, Londoners. Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Remember Don Johnson, the Wyoming executive who took a trio of Atlantic City casinos for $15 million earlier this year? It turns out he likes partying just as much as he likes the blackjack tables. The businessman, who hates being called a "professional gambler," bought the world's biggest and most expensive bottle of champagne at a London club earlier this week while in town to see his pal Jon Bon Jovi perform, according to The Mirror. The bottle, a 30-liter Armand De Brignac Midas, cost around $192,000. But most of it wasn't even consumed. His lifestyle manager, Sophie Raibin, told The Mirror, “it went everywhere – every person in the room was sprayed. The crowd went ballistic. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Johnson actually prefers vodka to champagne. But he's earned a reputation as the "champagne king" for spending exorbitant amounts of money on bottles of bubbly at clubs around the world. According to Raibin, Johnson "has spent millions on champagne in his life." Now meet 10 lottery winners who lost it all > Please follow The Life on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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President Barack Obama will hold a press conference today at 11:30 a.m., his first time facing the press alone since March. Obama will face questions from reporters amid rising tensions between the administration and Congress over the debt ceiling and U.S. military intervention in Libya. It is likely Obama will also field questions on his new Afghanistan strategy, which he announced in a prime-time address last week. We'll have live updates on the press conference as it happens. Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Maybe President Obama could take a little time from his busy golf schedule and get back to helping the people of the Middle East, in particular the people of Palestine, who are starving and suffering behind a cruel, unnecessary, and vindictive military siege and naval blockade by the country of Israel. The blockade is keeping out food and medicine, and makes the Palestinians prisoners in their own country. It needs to end. That's not just me talking: that's the take of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and many human rights organizations. Hell, even the British think the blockade is a cruelty that needs to end. British prime minister David Cameron has criticized the blockade, saying "Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp." In response, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said "The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities." That's crap, and the spokesman knows it. It isn't Hamas ships that are blockading the country; it is Israeli ships. This week, it will be Israeli ships, not Hamas ships, who intercept, board, and harass peace activists who are trying to bring food and medicine to the beleaguered Palestinians. That is who will board the ships of the Freedom Flotilla II, scheduled to depart from Greece for Gaza later this week. Do you want to help but lack the desire to board a ship that might get raided and shot up, like the first Flotilla did? Here is some advice from an Associate Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University, J Kehaulani Kauanui. Read the entire article here. "People in support of those on The Audacity of Hope can act right away by serving as a 'boat watch' volunteer and calling their U.S. Senators and House Representatives, the U.S. State Department (#202-647-4000); and the U.S. Israeli Embassy to: 1) let them know you support this heroic human rights mission; and 2) that they insist that Israel take a 'hands off' attitude to the boat. The people of Gaza have the human right to receive humanitarian aid, and all Palestinian people have the right to live free from illegal occupation, settler colonialism, and violent state terrorism under Israel." The worst part of all this nonsense? We now know, thanks to WikiLeaks and other hacktivist heroes, that Israel is purposefully keeping the Palestinian people in a state of abject misery. This isn't an accidental starvation of people; this is a planned regime of torture against the Palestinian people. "As part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed to (U.S. embassy economic officers) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge," one of the leaked cables read. Israel wanted the coastal territory's economy "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis", according to the Nov. 3, 2008 cable. And now we know. This is why millions of us support hacktivism and oppose government secrecy. Expect us.
-- John Thorpe Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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The Casey Anthony murder trial continues. Wednesday morning, Roy Kronk - the meter reader who first discovered the remains of Anthony's daughter Caylee - testified in court today that ABC News paid him $15,000 to license "a photo of a snake." TVNewser has transcript of the testimony: Attorney: Did you go on “Good Morning America” show?
Kronk: Yes, sir.
Attorney: When did you do that?
Kronk: It was in January, but I don’t remember the exact date, sir.
Attorney: And did you get paid for doing that?
Kronk: I was paid for — I was paid for a licensed picture of a snake but I knew there would probably be an interview involved, so.
Attorney: Were you paid $15,000 for doing that, sir?
Kronk: I was paid $15,000 for a licensed picture of the snake, sir. Kronk is a key witness for the prosecution team who the defense is working to discredit in court today. Earlier this month NYT published a story about ABC's history of paying for photos and video, though they prefer to call it "licensing." Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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The latest upgrade to the free ETF screener allows investors to filter through the universe of nearly 1,300 exchange-traded products to identify securities that can be traded commission free in various brokerage accounts. The new functionality allows investors to focus on ETFs eligible for commission free trading on a specific platform, or to see a broader list of all funds that can be traded without incurring commissions. In an effort to appeal to cost conscious investors, a number of firms have begun offering commission free trading on popular ETFs. Schwab began the trend in late 2009 when the company launched its lineup of ETFs. Vanguard followed suite shortly thereafter, making all of its ETFs eligible for commission free trading within Vanguard accounts. Through a partnership with Fidelity, 30 iShares ETFs can be traded commission free, while the entire Global X and FactorShares lineups can be traded commission free on Interactive Brokers. The largest commission-free ETF trading platform is at TD Ameritrade; investors in those accounts can trade more than 100 ETFs across a number of asset classes and issuers without paying commissions. The 14 FocusShares equity ETFs are available commission free within Scottrade accounts. In total, more than 200 ETFs are eligible for commission free trading [see all of them here]. Now, identifying these ETFs is straightforward; the new “Commission Free” dropdown box in the ETF screener includes all platforms that offer ETFs eligible for commission free trading that meet any other criteria selected. For example, selecting the following fields: - Asset Class = Equity
- Region = China
- Commission Free = TD Ameritrade
Shows two ETFs: the SPDR S&P China ETF (GXC) and iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (FXI). Users also have the option of selecting “Yes” to see all ETFs offered commission free on any platform (making this change to the above screen shows all eight China ETFs available commission free). The platforms on which an ETF is available commission free is also now displayed on every ETF home page (for example, VWO shows up as included in the programs offered by Firstrade, TD Ameritrade, and Vanguard). Disclosure: No positions at time of writing. Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com.
Read more posts on ETF Database » Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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Economist Paul Krugman doesn't know how or when this economic downturn will end, but feels confident that we're not heading into a double-dip in 2011l Krugman, speaking at an even in Canada (according to Bloomberg), said he believed U.S. growth in 2011 would look a lot like 2010. That means the late Spring and Summer months will show weakness (what we're seeing) and things should pick back up in the Fall (what many are expecting). He says it's "hard to see" how the slump will end though. He also noted that currently, financial markets don't seem very concerned about inflation. Evidence of that can be found in current U.S. treasury yields, though some suspect that's a bad investment and that those yields may be about to spike. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Connecticut’s much-ballyhooed new law requiring some businesses to provide paid sick leave to some workers is pretty mild medicine, economically, but it still could have some unpleasant side effects. The legislation that takes effect in January is the first in the nation to mandate paid sick leave on a state level. Under the new law, employees classified as “service workers” must accrue at least five days of paid sick leave per year. Besides dealing with the worker’s own health, leave can be taken to assist with a spouse or child’s medical needs, or to address problems arising from family violence or sexual assault. Labor sees the law as a clear triumph for workers. Jon Green, Executive Director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, which campaigned for the law, told the Daily Kos blog, “Especially in difficult times like these, it’s not right to make people choose between their health and their job, or between being a good parent and a good employee.” When the law takes effect, he said, low-income workers will be able to “live a little easier.” But the law’s carefully constructed limitations indicate that even its drafters were aware of its possible downsides. The law’s definition of “service worker” contains a long list of job categories, from butchers to social workers. What these jobs have in common is that they are nearly all, at least on the surface, difficult to outsource. A crossing guard, one of the jobs on the list, can do little good unless he or she is in fact at the intersection where people are trying to cross. A dental hygienist, another such job, must be in the same place as the set of teeth he or she is cleaning. The law specifically excludes manufacturers, which can most easily relocate or outsource their work, and businesses with fewer than 50 employees, which would be most likely to be forced out of business by stricter regulations. Connecticut already has a relatively high minimum wage: $8.25 an hour, a dollar above the federal minimum. Like this higher minimum wage, the new law will increase the cost of hiring workers in Connecticut. As minimum-benefit laws go, the paid sick leave requirement will have a relatively minor impact – far less than, for example, a 50 cent increase in the minimum wage would. Still, it will have an impact nonetheless. The jobs covered by the new law may be harder to relocate than some other types of work, but that does not mean they cannot disappear or move elsewhere. A butcher who works at a supermarket meat counter must, of course, be employed in the state where the supermarket is located. But supermarkets do not need to position their butchers behind meat counters. If staffing an in-store counter becomes too expensive, stores can instead rely on pre-cut chops, brought in from an out-of-state supplier. If a store employs a human cashier, that person needs to be in the store. But if the state makes it too expensive to hire a human cashier, the store can install self-checkout lanes instead. Yes, those automated voices that tell you to “please slide your card now” can be annoying, but the machines do not have to be given days off for illness. In still other cases, employers may simply pass the costs of the new benefit on to customers in the form of higher prices, which will likely mean less business and, in turn, fewer jobs. So while Green is right that the law will make life easier for service workers who have jobs, it will make life harder for those who do not and who will now have to compete for fewer opportunities. Still, because the law’s costs are modest, its direct negative effects should be small too. However, in addition to its direct costs, the law demonstrates a meddlesome attitude that may have a chilling effect on business decisions out of proportion to those modest direct costs. I am a business owner, and I, for one, think it makes good management sense to allow people who are sick to stay home. But I don’t think it makes good management sense to designate certain time off as a paid “sick day.” It promotes neither workplace fairness nor honesty. Some people see nothing wrong with playing hooky or taking to their beds for every case of the sniffles, while others power through anything short of double pneumonia. Providing paid sick leave either forces bosses to visit every employee’s bedside, thermometer in hand, or risks rewarding those who are creative, or even downright dishonest, in their self-reported diagnoses. As I explained in October 2009, when New York City proposed a regulation similar to Connecticut’s recently-passed law, Palisades Hudson does not offer any “sick days.” Instead, employees here are given three “personal days” per year. These can be used to nurse a cold, to consult a doctor about an ongoing condition, or to be a cheerleader at a child’s soccer game. Employees can also generally use vacation days – of which everyone receives at least 10 per year – for any of these purposes. If necessary, employees can make up additional missed time over a weekend or during other scheduled time off. We also try to offer unpaid time off when appropriate. Because Connecticut will allow any paid personal or vacation days to count as “sick days” under its new laws, our policies would easily satisfy the state’s requirements, were we subject to them. But that does not mean I want the Connecticut Legislature telling me what mix of cash and benefits is best for my business or for my employees, and it does not offer me much reassurance that the next instance of state meddling in my workplace would be equally harmless. Interestingly, Daniel Schwartz, an attorney at Pullman & Comley who blogs about Connecticut employment law, wrote that the new law may allow the state to oversee the enforcement of all paid-time-off policies created by employers with 50 or more employees, whether they apply to “service workers” or not. While the majority of the law’s text uses the term “service worker,” the section on anti-retaliation instead uses the broader term “employee.” According to the law, “No employer shall take retaliatory personnel action or discriminate against an employee because the employee (1) requests or uses paid sick leave either in accordance with sections 2 and 3 of this act or in accordance with the employer’s own paid sick leave policy […]” The effect is that even employees who are not “service workers” can appeal to the Labor Commissioner if they are discriminated against for requesting or taking medical leave. Since “retaliatory action” as defined by the act includes “refusal to promote,” the law could potentially prevent a company from promoting a highly dedicated employee who schedules his or her time off to correspond to periods of lower workload over one who takes days off whenever the spirit moves him, regardless of the needs of his employer or the employer’s customers. Although Palisades Hudson does not currently have a Connecticut office, I have already told employees that I might consider relocating our Scarsdale, N.Y., headquarters to Fairfield County, Conn., when our lease is up in five years. But I will think twice about moving to a state that feels the need to interfere with policies that work well for my firm and for its employees. When New York City considered its sick leave mandate, I wrote that I was glad not to have any offices within city limits. With its new law, Connecticut has, in my eyes, decreased its advantages over suburban New York. That is a side effect that backers of Connecticut’s new sick leave law may not have fully considered. In economic terms, the legislative cure may prove more harmful in the long run than the now-compensated illnesses in the workplace. For more articles on financial, business, and other topics, view the Palisades Hudson newsletter, Sentinel, or subscribe to my daily opinion column, Current Commentary. Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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The 2011 Women's World Cup started group play just a few short days ago, and the contenders are already separating themselves from the pretenders. Brazil, Germany, Sweden, and the United States are amongst the most likely teams to end up going home with the coveted championship. But just who exactly are the players leading this teams to potential victory? It has been a long time since Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy were the biggest names in women's soccer so it's high time that a whole new crop of superstars to become the most identifiable players in the sport. This list features the five biggest established athletes in women's soccer and a few more players that are surely soon to reach great heights. Marta is the most famous women's soccer player on the planet  Country Represented: Brazil
Regular Team: Western New York Flash
Bio: Like many Brazilian soccer great, Marta is only known by one name. She is also sometimes referred to as "Pele's Cousin," and has won the last five FIFA World Player Of The Year awards.
Birgit Prinz is amongst the world's best strikers  Country Represented: Germany
Regular Team: 1. FFC Frankfurt
Bio: Prior to Marta's amazing run of five consecutive FIFA Player Of The Year awards, Prinz earned three straight herself in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Her intensely strong kick has led to her to become the Women's World Cup all-time leading scorer with 14 goals.
Kelly Smith may already be the greatest female soccer player in England's history  Country Represented: England
Regular Team: Boston Breakers
Bio: Smith can do everything well. She can score goals and make clean and crisp passes. Her 43 goals in international play are more than any other female English footballer in history.
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Google launched its much awaited and highly anticipated social networking platform today to a limited number of users. Dubbed Google+ (Plus), the service may take its cue from social networking giant Facebook, but in the end it is about the harsh reality of Google saving and enhancing its core franchise — Google Search. It is search (and, by extension, advertising) that made Google a company that has run afoul of the Federal Trade Commission because of its huge size and influence. At the time of Google’s founding, search was broadly defined as a sifting through a directory of websites. As the web grew, search became all about pages. Google, with its PageRank, came to dominate that evolution of search. Click here to continue reading at GigaOM... Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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In high tech, startups are a gamble, which is why they offer stock and options to attract talent that could go elsewhere. But a recent development in the Microsoft (MSFT) acquisition of Skype — private equity firm Silver Lake allegedly screwing employees out of compensation they had earned — has sent a shock through the industry. As engineers, marketers, and executives learn that they can no longer count on getting a strong upside in deals, especially if private equity firms are involved, expect the recruits to bring in lawyers and start looking for forms of compensation that come in green-and-black presidential portraits. Oh, guess we screwed you, huh? The recent kerfuffle started last week when Skype canned a number of executives before closing the Microsoft deal. The firings limited the compensation those executives would normally have expected from the “change in control,” which typically accelerates the vesting of stock options. Without the accelerated vesting, the execs are screwed and the company’s owners get to pocket the money they’d otherwise have paid out. When the news first hit the Web, Skype went on a PR offensive, arguing that the employees were fired for cause and that they’d get 75 percent of what they would have otherwise received, so what’s the big deal? The deal is the appearance that Skype lead investors Silver Lake has created, even if it argues that the firings were all the doing of the CEO, who is supposed to be running the company as if the acquisition wasn’t happening. Please. Even if true, it’s a way for a company to poison good will from people it will eventually need to make some deal or other work in the future. How to bury your startup rep But then Kuo-Yee Lee wrote about how he got screwed by leaving before the deal closed because, after all, his options had vested and maybe working for the Microsoft Man wasn’t his idea of a fun time. If you read his explanation, it becomes clear that he has partly done this to himself, because he didn’t understand part of the employment contract and should have hired a lawyer (which he now advises others to do): Now, I’ve seen my share of legal documents for tech companies. I’ve worked in Valley tech companies for over 15 years, have founded startups, done VC financings, and invested in companies. None of that prepared me for the kinds of legal shenanigans that the PE guys at Silver Lake pulled because I had never come across those kinds of terms before, let alone the fact that these clauses were hidden as one-liners in otherwise pretty standard-looking documents. The contract had a claw-back provision, which meant that the company could force an employee to sell back exercised options at the exercise price, so the employee made no money from them. Unfortunately, it was contained in another document that employees may not have received. (If you’re used to reading contracts, it’s a classic tactic you look for.) Michael Arrington at TechCrunch argues that there are two reasons a company might do this: The first is that the company anticipates a long period of being privately held and doesn’t want to deal with outside shareholders. The second is that they don’t want to give away too much equity in stock options. Since they can take back the options of anyone who leaves, they can give equity more freely to employees coming on board. Why make this obscure? Because then people would want a lot more cash, given that the potential upside could be nonexistent, no matter how hard you had worked to keep up your end of the bargain. It’s no surprise that many venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and the like are all now considering such language. And that’s a problem. In the quest to grab a little more value for themselves now, the folks that fund high tech are likely to find cheap employees much harder to come by. Why work for a startup earning next to nothing when the odds that you’ll actually see your options pay off have just plummeted? Large companies pay better and are more stable. Much of the discussion has devolved into whether Silver Lake was “evil.” But the bigger issue is whether investors and entrepreneurs will let greed get so far ahead of them that they poison the entire ecosystem that’s made their success possible in the first place. Maybe the issue isn’t how evil this is, but how stupid. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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First rumors abounded that the star of the Royal Wedding, Pippa Middleton, had dumped her financier boyfriend, Alex Loudon. Then stories circulated that in fact the pair were still together. It's pretty clear that Pippa and Alex are still going strong, and have made a point of it at Wimbledon today. "The couple, who have been dating for almost a year, arrived hand-in-hand at Wimbledon, looking very much a couple," the Daily Mail reported.  The couple "had their arms around one another as they headed in to the stadium to watch the matches. Once inside, the duo exchanged flirty smiles and chit-chat as they watched the game alongside her parents Carole and Michael Middleton," Us Weekly reported.
Pippa and Alex are in the stands to watch Andy Murray against Feliciano Lopez. Weeks ago media outlets reported that Pippa had split with Loudon, a cricketer-turned-businessman. The Eton graduate used to be a stockbroker, but recent reports had him working as a corporate finance and development analyst at beer brewer SABMiller. Alex isn't Pippa's first banking beau: she used to date J. J. Jar dine Patterson, the heir to a Hong Kong banking fortune. And she was also linked to Alexander Spencer Churchill, "a millionaire who deals in wealth management." Alex's father, James, was a financier and is now Chairman of Caledonia Investments in London -- in which Alex has a small stake. Now: Meet The Stockbroker Who's Dating Pippa Middleton > Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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The price action in Microsoft (MSFT) this week has been unusual, to say the least. The stock jumped 4.5% on Monday. That would be equivalent to Sina (SINA) jumping 45% in one day. That just doesn't happen for Microsoft. The stock also followed through nicely yesterday moving up another 1%. There wasn't any real news to explain the move in Microsoft, although some pointed to a Tuesday cloud-computing conference Microsoft was hosting or a report that they would move up the release date of Windows 8. That leads me to speculate on the real story behind the move, which probably a few insiders are only privy to at the moment. It could be that Steve Ballmer has said something to some close confidantes about leaving the CEO position. (And maybe he doesn't know them as well as he thinks he does, because they've now blabbed about it to some trader friends who are jumping on the news to buy anticipating a big relief rally.) David Einhorn has said previously that he hopes to see Ballmer gone as CEO, as he thinks he's a weight on the stock. I don't disagree that there would be a rally on the news, but I just don't believe Ballmer is ready to leave. Ballmer has only been there 10 years but, more importantly, he owns 5% of the company. He's essentially a co-founder with Gates and Allen. That means he gets to leave when he wants, and I just don't think he's ready to go out when some New York hedge fund manager tells him to. The other possibility is that the U.S. government will let Microsoft and other big corporations repatriate all their offshore cash back home. Many people seem to believe this will be a boon for the domestic economy as corporations will be able to invest more back home. Maybe that will happen. And maybe it will be good for the economy. And maybe that's why all stocks have been up this week. But if that is the reason behind Microsoft's jump in its stock price, why haven't we seen a similar move in Cisco (CSCO), which also has a big cash hoard outside the U.S.? There has to be something else. So, it makes me speculate that Steve is about to unload some more cash in the form of acquisitions. After some initial gulps at the price, I would say most observers have spoken positively about the Microsoft acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion a few weeks ago. Not only can Microsoft make money off of it in the enterprise and consumer spaces (which Google (GOOG) couldn't), Microsoft got to use its significant offshore cash pile to pay for the Luxembourg-based company. Not only did it use the cash, but it got back a great asset for Microsoft. What other deals might Microsoft make with that foreign money? SAP (SAP), Nokia (NOK), and Research In Motion (RIMM) all come to mind as possibilities that have all been mentioned before. There is also the possibility that Microsoft might take a look at Alibaba Group as an investment vehicle for ambitions of expanding its exposure to China. If Microsoft were to do that, it might help Alibaba close its difficult relationship with Yahoo! (YHOO). We might not know for several more weeks the answer to why this stock has moved so much this week. But I don't think it's because of a cloud-computing conference. My bet is that someone knows something about the wheels being in motion. We will just have to wait and find out. I also bet Steve Ballmer is looking at the stock price and smiling—thinking about how he can go out on top. This post originally appeared at The Street. Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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If you've stayed with friends who live in European cities, you've probably had an experience like this: You hop onto their WiFi or wired internet connection and realize it's really fast. Way faster than the one that you have at home. It might even make your own DSL or cable connection feel as sluggish as dialup.
You ask them how much they pay for broadband.
"Oh, forty Euros." That's about $56.
"A week?" you ask.
"No," they might say. "Per month. And that includes phone and TV." Click here to continue reading at Engadget... Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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The market is behaving pretty mediocre after that big Austerity vote. An early rally has mostly fizzled. Among the standouts? Some Chinese names that have been getting slammed. - DangDang, the big e-commerce company, is up 10%.
- Harbin Electric -- another one that's made enemies of short-sellers -- is up 3%.
- Ren-Ren (The Facebook of China, as it's called, and a stock that's been getting killed since its IPO) is up over 5%.
Some of it is being ascribed to a "short squeeze." Also helping: Bullish commentary from Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster on Baidu, SINA, and DangDang: Over the past month, Chinese Internet stocks have been under pressure due to a few factors including Alibaba Group's spin-out of Alipay, which contributed to an underlying theme around corporate governance. We believe concerns around governance have begun to calm and expect investors to return to high quality names in China. As a result, we reiterate our Overweight ratings on BIDU, SINA, and DANG. We continue to expect BIDU to see residual benefits from the switch to Phoenix Nest; SINA continues to introduce new improvements to Weibo, which we believe better positions it to be the leading social platform in China; insider purchases by DANG management make us feel more comfortable about corporate governance, and we believe the quarter is tracking to plan. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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Oil markets took another dose of global geopolitics this week when the International Energy Agency (IEA) unexpectedly announced that it would be releasing 60 million barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) around the globe. Thursday's surprise announcement gave oil prices a 4.5 percent hair cut and oil prices closed Friday at $91.25, down 20 percent from their April 29 peak. The IEA, a Paris-based agency comprised of developed countries around the world, said the release would take place in increments of 2 million barrels per day over 30 days beginning July 1, and is intended to make up for lost crude oil production due to the Libya crisis. The IEA estimates that the fall of Ghaddafi's regime and civil strife that's followed has cost global crude supplies 123 million barrels of oil. Sixty-million barrels of oil is a large number but represents only a small amount of the 1.6 billion barrels worth of reserves held in SPRs around the globe that are for "emergency use only," according to Barclays. The U.S. holds a little more than half of these reserves (56 percent) while Japan (24 percent), Europe (14 percent) and Korea (6 percent) hold the rest. While the short-term effect of the SPR release manifested quickly, it's difficult to gauge where the market goes from here. For starters, emergency SPR releases are rare and have only been initiated twice in history (Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and following Hurricanes Katrina & Rita in 2005). Then, the releases covered for a little less than 7 percent of global demand, according to Barclays. The current program would only cover a little greater than 2 percent of global oil demand. This chart from Barclays shows the immediate downward effect the release has on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices, but prices returned to pre-Katrina levels relatively quickly. It should also be noted that the U.S. only sold about half of its first lot and didn't even offer a second amount of its reserves during the Katrina SPR release, according to J.P. Morgan. One cannot ignore the politics in play. Prior to OPEC's June 8 meeting earlier this month, the IEA called for an OPEC production increase and tipped their hand that they were prepared to tap the SPR. The IEA said "we are prepared to consider using all tools that are at the disposal of IEA member countries," as reported by Barclays. When the highly contentious OPEC meeting broke without an increase, the IEA was all but forced to act on its threat. Essentially, the IEA is trying to buy time for Saudi Arabia to increase its production. Saudi oil production has increased in June and that's expected to continue in July. Despite the increase, Saudi production remains below peak 2008 levels despite global demand reaching new highs. As long-term investors, we're less concerned with the game of "cat and mouse" the IEA, OPEC and global politicians are playing with short-term supply and we're focused on the positive long-term structural supply/demand dynamics. BCA Research forecasts that "further downside is limited" and says that "one-time stock release should have little impact on cyclical or medium-term horizons, as the flow demand for oil from emerging countries keeps steadily growing year after year." Barclays argues that the IEA decision to implement the SPR "sends the wrong signal" to the market and will likely result in lower Saudi oil production over the long term, perhaps even by the end of 2011. "The use of SPR, particularly when Saudi Arabia has restated its commitment to supply customers with the crude they need, send the incorrect signal," says Barclays. This is partly due to the fact that Saudi oil production doesn't have much room to grow before it is maxed out. You can see from the chart that Saudi Arabia's spare capacity is down roughly 25 percent from its peak around this time last year. Forcing additional Saudi production to market means this spare capacity could dry up even further. Deutsche Bank (DB) says medium-term supply/demand fundamentals signal relatively tight markets going forward, which could easily return prices to $100 per barrel or higher. In fact, DB thinks the temporary drop in oil prices could relieve pressure on emerging market governments to reduce or eliminate fuel subsidies. Eventually, the IEA and consumers around will have to "surrender" to higher oil prices, says DB. "The ultimate effect of the IEA's decision may not just be a few months delay in market tightening, it could exacerbate that tightness, given the need for the SPR to be refilled at some stage," says Barclays. Broadly speaking, energy stocks were down 1 percent this week but the long-term appeal remains attractive. BCA cautions to not view the announcement as a reason to sell the S&P energy sector, but as a catalyst to remain bullish, especially given current "attractive" valuations. We think one of the best opportunities in the market is in the oil services sector and we've adjusted our Global Resources Fund (PSPFX) portfolio accordingly. We see sustained higher energy prices as the catalyst for producers and the large, integrated oil companies to spend large amounts of capital on additional rigs, facilities and infrastructure. One way to measure demand for new equipment is to look at the backlog of orders at construction & engineering firms. BCA said in a May 31 report that "backlog growth is still accelerating…while global leading economic indicators have declined and warn of a global soft patch." As of the beginning of June, the project backlog for C&E companies was up over 20 percent from the year before—the highest rate since late 2007. Additionally, this group has strong earnings growth potential because they haven't yet seen their margins expand to match energy's current price levels. BCA says "this group is likely to demonstrate significant earnings outperformance, especially as margins in the broad corporate sector begin to narrow." In addition, higher commodity prices will encourage additional production and give these companies pricing power. BCA has looked back at the previous 30 years of performance for oil service stocks during rising, falling and flat markets. They found that the S&P Energy Equipment & Services Index handily outperformed the S&P 500 Index during market moves upward. Performance dipped significantly when the credit crisis hit but returned when the market started to rise again. Although we expect volatility to continue, we believe that an active hurricane season, strong seasonal demand or an additional uprising in the Middle East region all have the ability to further constrain supply and keep prices at historically elevated levels. That doesn't even include some of the reasons we've outlined for you in the past (Three Reasons to Believe in $100 Oil). This and the factors laid out by BCA make a strong investment case for the oil services group. Regards, Frank Holmes,
for The Daily Reckoning P.S. Director of Research John Derrick contributed to this commentary. Also, for more updates on global investing from me and the U.S. Global Investors team, visit my investment blog, Frank Talk. Playing Cat and Mouse with Global Oil originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning provides over half a million subscribers with literary economic perspective, global market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas. The Daily Reckoning regularly features articles by Addison Wiggin author of Empire of Debt, Chris Mayer Invest Like a Dealmaker, and Bill Bonner Financial Reckoning Day. Read more posts on The Daily Reckoning » Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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With the date for government default quickly approaching, some Democratic lawmakers are trying a novel argument to circumvent congressional Republicans — that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional — The Huffington Post reports. Democrats are looking to calm the markets' nerves over the stalled deficit reduction and debt ceiling talks. They are also signaling to Republicans that they have an 11th-hour solution to the debt limit crisis, in hopes of bringing them back to the negotiating table to reach a mutually amenable agreement. "By declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional, the White House could continue to meet its financial obligations, leaving Tea Party-backed Republicans in the difficult position of arguing against the plain wording of the Constitution," HuffPo says. The Democrats' argument hinges on the 14th Amendment, which states: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." Some legal scholars like Garrett Epps have argued that this provision is absolute — and that President Barack Obama is obligated to make good on the nation's debts regardless of Congress' inaction on the debt limit. "I don't think, as of a couple weeks ago, when this was first raised, it was seen as a pressing option," Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told The Huffington Post. "But I'll tell you that it's going to get a pretty strong second look as a way of saying, 'Is there some way to save us from ourselves?'" The move would undoubtedly face legal challenges, though it is unclear how successful plaintiffs would be at proving they have standing to challenge the President's actions. Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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by Scott Weiss The NBA owners and players are pushing negotiations right up to the June 30 deadline. The two sides agreed today to hold a final negotiating session on Thursday, the day that the present collective bargaining agreement expires. Unfortunately, all indications point to a second professional sports lockout of the year. For the complete story click here. Read more posts on SportsFans.org » Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story »
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 By Christopher Maag
For people with debit cards, Wednesday is The Big Day. Finally, after a year-long, multi-million-dollar fight between big banks and big retailers, the Federal Reserve will announce its new rules for debit card swipe fees. It could be the end of the debit card as we know it. “This will be a game changer,” says Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com’s consumer credit expert. “Depending on what comes out, it could make a major difference for what our debit cards look like in the future.” Every time you buy something with a debit card, the bank that issued the card gets a swipe fee, known as an “interchange fee” in bank-ese. Right now, the average fee is about 44 cents. The store pays the fee by tacking it onto the price of everything you buy. The fees have grown steadily over the last decade, according to the Federal Reserve. [Related Articles: The Durbin Amendment] For years, big retailers including 7-Eleven and Walmart have fought those rising fees. They argue that the fees amount to extortion, since Visa, MasterCard and the small number of big banks that issue most of the debit cards in this country use their dominance of the industry to charge whatever they want, adding up to over $1 billion a month in unnecessary debit fees. “The debit card industry is broken,” says Mallory Duncan, chief attorney for the National Retail Federation. “They’re charging these outrageous, unnecessary fees, not because they need to, but because they can.” The banks and card networks fought back, arguing that the debit card networks brought retailers countless new customers and sales, while decreasing their risk of theft and fraud. And now, the banks argue, the retailers don’t want to pay for it. “The retailers don’t want to pay their fair share of this system,” says Trish Wexler, spokeswoman for the Electronic Payments Coalition, which represents the big banks and the credit card networks. “They want us, the consumer, to pay for it. And that’s not fair.” [Related Article: What Does the Debit Card Fee Cap Mean for You? An Inside Look.] Congress listened to the merchants. Last summer Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The amendment required the Federal Reserve to write new rules that would cap swipe fees. The Fed came back with a cap of 12 cents, a whopping 73% cut from the current average. The banks, to say the least, were not happy. They unleashed a massive campaign to overturn or delay the Durbin amendment—a campaign so big that some in Washington dubbed it the “Lobbyist Full Employment Program.” But between Democratic control of the Senate and the White House, and a tight deadline set by Dodd-Frank to begin enforcement, the banks lost the battle. (Though perhaps not the war. After their proposal to delay the Durbin amendment by a year failed, bank leaders vowed to pursue other means, including more pressure on the Fed, to limit the rule’s impact.) Regardless of the banks’ efforts, the Fed’s announcement still will likely be a watershed moment for people with debit cards. In recent decades consumers have come to expect a free debit card tied to their checking or savings account as standard. But now that the cards may earn banks significantly less money, banks have warned that they may change some things. Because of Durbin, the debit card of the future may come only after consumers open accounts with high minimum balances, or once they have multiple accounts with the same bank. Some banks may try to replace free debit cards with prepaid ones, which come with many different up-front and continuing fees. “I don’t think debit cards are going away,” Detweiler says. “It could mean that debit cards become more expensive, or it could mean that we see more issuers moving toward prepaid cards, or that debit cards become more closely tied to other financial products.” Christopher Maag is Credit.com’s Staff Writer. Chris graduated with honors from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and has reported for a number of publications including The New York Times, TIME magazine and Popular Mechanics. This post originally appeared at Credit.com. Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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The global economy follows this Golden Rule: The one who has the gold, makes the rules. The same can be said of oil, rare earth elements, iron, food products, and everything else that the world needs to keep running. The country that can produce crucial commodities can control the supply. True mavens know where every commodity comes from, and they watch those countries for revolution, disaster and anything else that could disrupt the market. Which country produces the most oil? 
Russia produces more than any other country.  You thought it was Saudi Arabia, didn't you? Saudi Arabia has more reserves than any other country, but it is non-OPEC Russia that actually produces the most in 2010. Being outside OPEC's (ostensible at least) production targets gives Russia a considerable advantage, being able to produce more when prices are high. The Top Five: - Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- United States
- Iran
- China
Source: CIA World Fact Book
Which country grows the most tobacco? 
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 Headline: 8.2% month-over-month growth
Expectations: 3.0% month-over-month gain Analysis: Pending home sales came in better than expected, and rose substantially year-over-year, up 15.5%. Notably, this month's improvement comes after a weak April, in which home sales fell 11.3% month-over-month, and 26.6% year-over-year. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
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