Are You in the Right Business?
I recently read an article claiming that McDonalds was not in the fast food business, but was in the real estate business. The company buys locations and leases them to franchisees, using fast food as a way of ensuring stable and low-risk rental income. But, for its property model to work people have to keep […]
Looking For Love in All the Right Places (and Right Times!)
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot to say about online dating. But somewhere in between reading that I must love dogs or the admonition of “NO SERIAL DATERS” (I don’t know what that means, but it sounds somewhat criminal), I must have missed the most important piece of information — how to […]
How to Feel Good in 2013
I was not surprised to find out that my three personal New Year’s resolutions were also listed in the top ten resolutions of all Americans. I was surprised to find out, however, that every resolution on that list had the virtually same core net benefit – it would make the individual feel good. I had […]
Is Your Company Asleep in a Cave?
I recently returned from a ten day travelling and trekking trip in the mountains and deserts of Morocco. After one particularly challenging trek up a steep gorge on the edge of the Sahara desert, we encountered a nomadic family who welcomed us into their encampment. They invited us into their black muslin tent that was […]
Does Your Company Think Like a Fraternity?
My son’s fraternity had a huge problem. The University of Colorado had banned alcohol during rush parties. Fraternities use rush parties to get pledges. Alcohol makes freshman boys happy. Happy freshmen are easier to convert into pledges. More quality pledges mean a stronger, more popular house. Popular houses get the best girls. You get the […]
Is There a Picasso in Your Basement?
Over the summer, a museum in Evanston, Indiana discovered a multi-million dollar piece of glass artwork by Picasso that had been gathering dust in their basement. It had been in storage for nearly 50 years. It makes one wonder how a museum, with curators who are experts in art, could not have known that a […]
Are You a Poser?
My son left for college last month and just before he left he received a text from a fraternity brother excited to see him. “I hate that guy”, my son declared, “What a poser!” A ‘poser’, for those of you without teenagers, is someone who pretends to be someone they are not. No one respects […]
Solving the World’s Problems: One Electronic Cigarette at a Time
I just read that Thompson Reuters expects S&P 500 second-quarter 2012 revenue growth to be only 2% compared with an average of 7% every quarter since 1998. Seconds later, I read how revenues for the electronic cigarette industry have now reached $300M, up 400% in the last four years. Huh???? For the uninitiated, including me, […]
The Hot New Apple…Coffee Cup
As I walked past the way too crowded Apple store in Santa Monica a few months ago, I was struck yet again by the amazing popularity of Apple products and had a crazy thought. Actually, a relatively ridiculous thought. Imagine if Apple announced that they were releasing in a week the most technologically advanced coffee […]