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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

personal financeonline personal finance

BenchCraft, LLC announced that it is going to debut its Concert Series, a fresh line of recliners with an integrated sound product, at Superior Stage Marketplace on October 17-22, 2009. Concert Series recliners feature two built-in stereo speakers including a subwoofer made specifically to build a complete assortment of sound. It's tactile motors that could possibly vibrate with all the sound or be implemented independently like a massage procedure, and separate controls that let for person changes to get developed to the volume, bass/treble, as well as tactile/massage function. The model, which will have a very beginning price point of $699, will also encompass a mini audio jack so users can connect to their a number of audio sources (i.e. iPods, MP3 players, cell phones, and so forth.). To that conclude, Sinning mentioned that Berkline will even be introducing in select motion
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Monday, March 14, 2011

personal finances help

ReadyForZero is one of the simplest and easiest-to-use tools that can help you build a plan to eliminate your credit card debt. Once you sign up for a free account, prove your identity by supplying your mailing address and last four digits of your social security number. ReadyForZero than pulls how much you owe to all your credit card companies combined and lets you link your credit card accounts to pull exact details.

The tool than shows you how much time and interest it would take to pay off your cards if you keep making minimum payments. Click on “Let’s improve this” and the tool will show you various options. You can pick the monthly amount you are willing to spend or your target date to get rid of debt and ReadyForZero will display details based on this new plan. Once finalized, you can keep track of your progress and see how much more money/time is needed for payoff.

Features:

Create a plan to pay off credit card debt.
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Similar tools: Creditable, Mint, Paystr, Accpal and TripLittle.

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Features:

Create a plan to pay off credit card debt.
Link your credit cards and explore different options.
Track your progress or adjust plan.
Similar tools: Creditable, Mint, Paystr, Accpal and TripLittle.

Visit ReadyForZero @ www.readyforzero.com

Surface Encounters proudly ensures buyer satisfaction and price tag installing granite assurance. “I’m constantly skeptical heading with new businesses, but your employees has built me a believer!” - Steve, Indianapolis

Surface Encounters is really a fast-growing surface encounters company and, yet they've stored tempo with each of the current buyer referrals. “This business is probably the most reasonable, reliable and friendly agencies during the entire state. I would advise them to everyone.” - Mike R., South Bend

Plenty of perform goes into developing breathtaking countertops from nature. The process comprises laser measurement creative vein matching, precision diamond and water-jet cutting, edging and professional installation. One particular are unable to purely call within their order to get a custom countertop and have it within a day or two. Quality requires time.

Surface Encounters encourages customers to go to a showroom to know even more about all natural stone countertops. Apart from the assortment and fabrication method, some other important element of consumer treatment is ensuring a person is aware of ways to care for their granite countertop to help keep it looking new for decades to come.

Granite can be a gorgeous purely natural stone merchandise that is a well-liked content used for countertops and floor tiles in kitchens and bathrooms. Granite has surpassed marble in recognition considering that is it a lot more sturdy and less difficult to care for. Granite is unmatched by artificial products for its strength and sturdiness, tolerance to temperature alterations and resistance to stains and scratches.

Granite is mostly a effortlessly shaped stone that is quarried from deep in the earth, harvested, lower, polished, sealed and put in in properties to add magnificence, elegance and style. Simply because it's a purely natural item, no two slabs are specifically alike. Granite is obtainable in quite a few colors in the a number of minerals that are located from the rock. Considering the fact that it comes from all over the world, several regions and environmental aspects allow it to be exceptional.

Granite is mainly crafted up of quartz crystal, but it also has diverse quantities of other metals which includes feldspar, mica, copper and iron. Some granite can include bits of gold or silver. The quantity of just about every metal depends around the area it arrives from. All granite is shaped into a challenging stone by heat and stress. Rain adds other minerals since it is forming. It's available throughout the planet, in any country, and just about every area will produce a surface encounters special number of granite.

Surface Encounters state-of-the-art machinery makes sure the greatest level of quality completed product as they design and style and construct a number of the finest kitchens and bathrooms. Granite Countertops boost the warmth and beauty of real estate whereas increasing their worth and improving upon lifestyles.

Surface Encounters is additionally concerned with worker morale; satisfied workers are further probably to lead to the achieving success of the business enterprise. On top of that to getting a profitable organization and a single that may be great to deliver the results for, Surface Encounters does their part to protect our planet.

Surface Encounters does what on earth is precise for his or her clients, staff and then the atmosphere. Surface Encounters utilizes innovative h2o recycling capabilities to recycle as much as 43,000 gallons of water each day. Additionally, one hundred percent from the scrap generated in creating classy kitchens and stunning baths is re-used as aggregate in street making, surface preparations and concrete.

The Columbus, Ohio Grand Opening of Surface Encounters functions an artwork gallery showroom of Granite, Marble, Quartz and Engineered Stone counter tops. Retail store Supervisor, Scott Donnelly unlocked the doorways on the showroom at 4717 Roberts Road, just west of your I-270 Beltway. The Surface Encounters production procedure makes use of precision, automated technologies through the fabrication of your customer's customized counter leading, this sort of as: a laser measuring alignment that plans the diamond-tipped sculpturing blades. Surface Encounters' course of action includes computer-driven software that perpetuates the stone's natural veins. Every Surface Encounter retailer has at least a person registered, interior designer to assist you in generating the finished project that you are shopping for. The craftsmanship continues with the

Homeowners are choosing to remodel instead than sell their houses in today’s market place
Granite countertops have grown to be a leading selection amongst Wixom individuals for kitchen remodeling jobs. Kitchen remodeling is usually the primary undertaking tackled with families shelling out three,000 hours or more each year within their kitchen. Granite countertops furnish an atmosphere that enhances the good quality time invested with relatives and pals. Granite countertops last a lifetime and boost the good quality of homes.

Surface Encounters Wixom keep manager, Sal Dellacasa, says there are several causes buyers are picking granite for their countertop desires. “Granite countertops add beauty and elegance to a kitchen. Granite is accessible in a number of vibrant colours and rich textures and its strength and durability is unmatched by any other purely natural stone or synthetic countertop material.”

Surface Encounters’ clientele get pleasure from certified service including a pleasant, valuable staff to tutorial them with the kitchen remodeling approach. Lots of of Surface Encounters new shoppers are referred to them by preceding buyers.
"This service is just about the most reasonable, dependable, and pleasant organisations within the overall state. I might advocate them to any individual." Mike R. Clinton Twp., MI

"The firm has continually been there to assist me in whatsoever way potential. Thank you so much!" David V. Lapeer, MI

Surface Encounters Macomb will be the house of half-off granite for kitchen and bathroom countertops. Granite countertops by Surface Encounters have rather quickly become the top alternative for Macomb residents who're remodeling their kitchens. Kitchen remodeling requires priority with households investing three,000 hours or even more per year within their kitchen. Granite countertops offer an atmosphere that enhances the top notch time spent with loved ones and close friends and enrich the good quality of houses.

Surface Encounters Macomb retail outlet supervisor, Sal Dellacasa, says there are several reasons individuals are opting for granite for their countertop demands. “Granite countertops add elegance and elegance to a kitchen. Granite is accessible inside of a number of vibrant colours and loaded textures and its strength and durability is unmatched by any other surface encounters normal stone or artificial countertop substance.”

Surface Encounters’ users enjoy certified service as well as a pleasant, valuable employees to guideline them with the kitchen remodeling system. A number of of Surface Encounters new prospects are referred to them by prior shoppers.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Making Money Online Forum

Founded in 2009 by Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth can be a day-to-day electronic mail newsletter that features information on economic literacy and capital management skewed in the direction of a female audience. DailyWorth’s subjects selection from learn how to organize your finances to tax ideas to saving advice. And DailyWorth has an amazing editorial workers to produce articles. MP Dunleavey, formerly a personalized finance columnist with all the Ny Times and at this time a contributor with Income magazine, is primary DailyWorth’s editorial group.

Inspite of unions’ very long hatred of Scott Walker, the new governor is moving to deal with equally the signs and symptoms for the disorder as well as the illness itself-the public-sector union scheme that has molested Wisconsin’s taxpayers and their children by gaming the method. Unions like Wisconsin’s teachers’ union [WEAC] (which was Wisconsin’s biggest-spending lobby in 2009) are extraordinarily adept at correcting the product thru shelling out hundreds of thousands to elect politicians who, in flip, reward the unions on the expense with the taxpayers.

the Wisconsin fight, when as compared to private-sector negotiations is about: 1) the Scope of Bargaining, two) Union “Income” Protection [Right-to-Work vs. Pressured Dues], 3) no matter whether Wisconsin should really be the unions’ dues collection agency [payroll deduction of dues], and 4) whether or not public-sector unions may want to be ‘recertified’ by keeping elections every last 12 months.

put the pictures on-line to indicate our assignments staff at msnbc.com, and photographer Jim Seida claimed, why really do not we just publish it as a slide demonstrate? I used to be skeptical at first - would that crimp the writing? - but during the conclude I was advocating doing it by doing this when the picture crew was skeptical. I believed much more folks would read through thru it by doing this, and it will be truly worth an experiment.”

commercial fishing boats based mostly in Crescent City put to sea very last evening once the tsunami alert was first of all broadcast. It really is a lot easier to experience out great waves at sea than with the dock. Now a lot of individuals boats are running reduced on fuel, but they are unable to return to port whilst the surges carry on, claimed Chris Renner, proprietor of C. Renner Petroleum Co. in Crescent City, which serves the fleet

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Making Money Fast

On Monday night, I watched my to begin with, The Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell.
Even while O’Donnell laudably experimented with to target the audience’s consideration onand hopefully previous, Charlie Sheen trainwreck interview, courtesy of the tragic undertow that threatens to pull Sheen underneath for decent, I was overtaken, not through the pulling on the thread, and therefore the voracious audience he serves. It didn’t make me unfortunate, it produced me angry.

Relating to celebrities, we can be a heartless nation, basking within their misfortunes like nude sunbathers at Schadenfreude Beach. The impulse is understandable, to some diploma. It could possibly be grating to pay attention to complaints from individuals who delight in privileges that the majority of us can’t even contemplate. In the event you can’t muster up some compassion for Charlie Sheen, who can make alot more moolah to get a day’s do the trick than the majority of us will make in a very decade’s time, I guess I can not blame you.

Using the speedy tempo of activities on the internet as well as the specifics revolution sparked by the Web, it’s very very easy for your technological innovation market place to presume it’s distinctive: often breaking new ground and accomplishing details that no person has ever before undertaken previous to.

But you will find other sorts of home business that have by now undergone many of the same exact radical shifts, and also have just as superb a stake with the long term.

Take healthcare, as an example.

We normally feel of it as a immense, lumbering beast, but in fact, medication has undergone a series of revolutions while in the previous 200 many years that are at the least equal to people we see in technology and specifics.

Much less understandable, but even now within just the norms of human nature, may be the impulse to rubberneck, to slow down and find out more about the carnage of Charlie spectacle of Sheen’s unraveling, but from the blithe interviewer Sheen’s daily life as we pass it during the most suitable lane of our everyday lives. To become straightforward, it can be challenging for consumers to discern the difference concerning a run-of-the-mill interest whore, and an honest-to-goodness, circling the drain tragedy-to-be. On its own merits, a quote like “I Am On the Drug. It’s Identified as Charlie Sheen” is sheer genius, and we cannot all be expected to take the full measure of someone’s everyday living every last time we hear a little something funny.

Extremely fast forward to 2011 and I'm endeavoring to take a look at indicates of becoming a bit more business-like about my hobbies (largely new music). By the finish of January I had manned up and started off to advertise my blogs. I had created several distinctive blogs, which were contributed to by pals and colleagues. I promoted these actions via Facebook and Twitter.

Second: the very little abomination the Gang of Five around the Supream Court gave us a yr or so ago (Citizens Inebriated) genuinely consists of a little bit bouncing betty of its personal that could quite perfectly go off from the faces of Govs Wanker, Sacitch, Krysty, and J.O. Daniels. Since this ruling prolonged the principle of “personhood” to both equally companies and unions, to look at to deny them any best to operate inside of the legal framework that they have been organized under deprives these “persons” from the freedoms of speech, association and motion. Which implies (once again, quoting law college educated friends and family) that both the courts need to uphold these rights for your unions (as person “persons” as guaranteed from the Federal (and most state) constitutions, or they've to declare that these attempts at stripping or limiting union rights really have to apply to big corporations, also.

You read the headline “Android Market grows a staggering 861.5 per cent”, and you think, “Wow, Android is really on a tear.” But then you look at the fine print, and you realize that Android Market revenues are still barely registering, and that the only reason they grew so much in 2010 was because in 2009 they were nearly non-existent.

According to a chart making the rounds from UK-based research firm IHS, Android Market revenues in 2010 came in at an estimated $102 million, up from $11 million the year before.

And how did that compare to revenues from Apple’s App Store? Apple App Store revenues came in at an estimated $1.7 billion in 2010, almost 20 times bigger than Android. And Apple App Store revenue grew at a not-too-shabby 131.9 percent rate. More importantly, Apple accounts for 83 percent of the total estimated app store revenues.

It’s great that Android app store revenues are growing so fast, but whenever you see such sky-high numbers, be sure to look at what is the base they are growing from. Android will have to keep growing at astounding rates for a few more years simply to catch up to where Apple’s App Store is today.

If you are an app developer trying to make money, you still really don’t have much of a choice about where to put your apps. No wonder Apple feels like it can treat app developers any way it wants, and take an increasing percentage of their revenues.

Social game maker Zynga is reportedly talking to investors about raising a new $250 million round of funding that values the company at $7 – $9 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That valuation is much higher than the $5 billion value Zynga had on the secondary market( where employees sell shares to private investors). And it shows investors are still going gaga about social games and anything related to fast-growing social media platforms such Facebook.

Zynga has 275.8 million monthly active users on Facebook, including 96 million who are playing the company’s hot CityVille game. CityVille is the fastest-growing game ever, as it hit 100 million players in just 43 days before sinking down again more recently.

The funding shows that investors consider Zynga to be in the hot class of social media companies that includes Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, and LinkedIn. Both LinkedIn and Pandora have filed to go public, but Zynga has postponed its IPO by raising large rounds from investors such as SoftBank and DST.

Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the decision to raise a round could be weeks away and may not happen. Zynga is valued so high because it has figured out how to make money online through the free-to-play business model. Pioneered in Asia, that model lets users play games for free. But to progress faster in a game, they can pay real money for virtual goods such as tractor fuel in FarmVille. Zynga has also made a lot of deals to market its games and virtual goods via 7-Eleven stores and American Express cards. The company has made itself more attractive to investors by expanding into new territories and moving into mobile games.

The $7 – $9 billion figure is astounding, since Zynga’s revenues in 2010 were estimated to be $850 million. Investors are valuing Zynga at 10 times revenue. Compare that to a successful mainstream game company like Electronic Arts, which has a market value of $6 billion and is valued at less than two times revenue.

Zynga had an estimated $400 million in profits in 2010, the Wall Street Journal said. Zynga declined to comment to the WSJ. Zynga’s value is closing in on the biggest video game maker, Activision Blizzard, valued at $13 billion.

Zynga doesn’t need a lot of money for operations, but it has been buying about one company a month to acquire new developer talent so that it can keep making better and better games. To date, Zynga has raised $360 million from investors, not counting a rumored Google investment that was never announced.

The WSJ said that Zynga will likely avoid the “special-purpose vehicle” that Goldman Sachs created for wealthy foreign clients to invest in Facebook. That deal raised concerns among regulators in the U.S.

Next Story: Adobe: More than 84M smartphones and tablets support AIR Previous Story: Along with iPhone Mini, Apple may make MobileMe a free digital locker

Source: http://removeripoffreports.net/ corporate Reputation Management

The best in online reputation management

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Making Money With Options

Babies are big business. Nobody wants to be a bad parent, so there is great pressure to be sure you have not just the essentials, but the best essentials for your new baby. If you're a first-time parent, you have no experience to guide you. The helpful salesperson at the local Baby-Mega-Super-Store will be more than happy to provide you with a mile-long list of what, you're assured, are really and truly the essentials.

Well, I'm here to tell you different.

My fourth child is scheduled to make her appearance in just a couple of months. My oldest child is not yet five years old. For the last several years of my life, I've been a card-carrying, dues-paid, full-fledged member of the baby club. Many of those "essentials" you see for sale just turn into extraneous stuff that you have to keep cleaning, moving, and, at times, paying for. Save yourself some money and space, and stock up only on what you'll actually use. Here's my list of needs. (See also: Which Baby Products Are a Waste of Money?)

A Place to Sleep

A decent crib, a good mattress, and enough bedding to keep baby comfortable are essential. You don't, however, have to buy a crib new to get a good one. Search your local classifieds for a used crib; just make sure you get one that isn't more than five years old. It should be sturdy, with small spaces between the slats and all hardware intact. Most cribs that have been made within the last five years convert easily into toddler beds.

Salespeople at the Big Baby Box Store will scare you with talk of scoliosis and try to get you to buy the premium mattress for your crib. I bought the mid-grade; it's obviously firmer and nicer than the cheapest option, but it's also as firm and nice as I need it to be for peace of mind.

As far as what to put on the mattress, keep it simple. Bumper pads are not necessary and can even be a suffocation hazard. Same goes for big, fluffy comforters, pillows, stuffed animals, or piles of blankets. For the first six months or so, you'll want to have a mattress cover, five crib sheets (frequent spit-ups and diaper incidents make extras really nice to have around), and a couple of lightweight blankets. When the weather is cool, dress baby warmly so she won't get cold during nap time and night time.

A Place to Play

For the first several months of your baby's life, mobility won't be an option for him. This means, basically, that you can plop him down on a blanket, and he's not going anywhere. This also means that baby doesn't really need a swing, a bouncer, a play center, a play pen, a walker, a baby papasan, or any of the other play area options out there.

The caveat on this is when your baby does start to get mobile. Rolling, scooting, and then crawling will introduce a whole new world of possibilities. At that point, it's nice to have one or two confined play areas handy, so you can keep your baby entertained and safe while you need to do something else. But you don't need all the options.

Before you buy, test out what your friends have; go have a play date and put your baby in your friend's swing. If he's screaming in five minutes, don't spend $100 on a swing. If he's happy, it might be worth the investment. I've had the best response from my children with a very basic baby swing, a little reclined baby seat, and a Pack 'n Play that serves as a confined play area and can be moved to any room of the house, the yard, a friend's house, or Nana's house.

A Way to Travel

A safe car seat and a sturdy stroller are investments worth making for your new baby. You'll get the best deal on new items by purchasing a car seat/stroller combination; those will start at about $150 new and go up from there. The same advice applies to car seats and strollers as to cribs. If you're purchasing used, make sure the car seat/stroller isn't over five years old, and inspect it thoroughly to be sure it's in good condition.

The only other "travel" item I've used over the years is a front-pack baby carrier. I got a good brand, and it's lasted through heavy use with three babies. These seem to be mainly a matter of personal preference, however; if you can't picture yourself walking around with a baby strapped to your chest, don't buy one.

Clothes

Brand-new babies, prone to random bouts of spitting up and explosive diapers, can go through quite a few outfits in a day. Stock up on essentials that are comfortable for your baby and easy to get on and off: ruffles, ribbons, bows, zippers, buttons, and extra clothing "decor" tend to make the dressing process complicated and long (not fun when your baby is screaming), and, generally, the more "stuff" on an outfit, the less comfortable your baby will be in it.

Now that silver continues hitting nominal high after high (except of course for the record price hit during the Hunt Bros period), and there is a very distinct possibility we may see an unprecedented melt up in the price of silver to over triple digits for a variety of previously discussed factors, here is a post we produced a year earlier, courtesy of a "deep insider" which dissects with exquisite detail the nuances of silver market manipulation, which in retrospect may have been just a little early. Considering that every single trope mentioned is now in play (even the unmasking of Buffett's unbelievable PM bashing hypocrisy when he himself was one of the people who utilized blatant silver market manipulation for his own purposes when it suited him back in 1997 to send silver soaring), we believe readers should re-read this post in its entirety as it presents a walk-thru for the mechanics, and strategy, of the ongoing unprecedented move higher in the shiny metal.

From A Deep Insider's Walkthru To Silver Market Manipulation, posted originally in April 2010, when silver was lower.... way lower.

As the topic of physical delivery has gained prominent attention
recently, it is crucial to complete the circle and show how this
weakest link in the PM market is (ab)used by the big boys: Phibro and
Warren Buffet. Pay particular attention to the analogues between the
methods employed in the 90's commodity market and how the PM (and
equity) market is being gamed currently. And to think that each new
generation of traders believes it has discovered something new... (All emphasis below is ours)

Background

As
a market maker in silver options from 1989 to 2000 I was present during
both the 1994 and 1997 silver events. They were seminal in my education
of gamesmanship in trading and how probabilities can come up short.
Prior
to going out on my own, I traded at a small market making firm. When a
trader finished training there, he had top-tier options knowledge but
was not educated in whom the players were, the fundamentals of the
markets, and how probabilities were useless when information was
asymmetric. That wasn’t their business, they taught option’s theory.
Since I had drunk the kool-aid, I thought fundamentals and gamesmanship
were useless in the face of the almighty Standard Deviation model. That
was a mistake.

Phibro Early Exercise

In
April 1994, the Thursday before Easter, the trading day ended with a
rather unusual run up of 15 cents near the close to finish at 435ish
around noon. Options expired that day at 4pm but we weren’t anywhere
near the closest strikes (425 and 450) so most of us left. It was a 4
day weekend in the U.S. but silver traded globally, albeit il-liquidly
in Asia. Comex wouldn’t open until next Tuesday. My education in
gamesmanship started that afternoon at JFK airport as I was waiting for a
flight, my first vacation in 5 years.
My backer paged me at the
airport to inform me that someone was exercising the K 450 calls. I
scoffed thinking it was a retail sap that was talked into exercising
some 5 lot piece by an overzealous broker. “Great I said, let them, the
options are out of the money.” And I hung up
10 minutes later
he had me paged again. “You don’t understand, it’s Phibro exercising.”
Again I naively said, “So what, they are energy guys.” But I was
curious, “How many? “ I asked. “All of them, five thousand, he replied.
Now I was really curious, but still woefully ignorant that it was I who
was the sap at the table. “Why would they do that?” and he explained it
to me. I nearly shit myself and bent over in the cab vomiting on the
ride back.
Cancelling my trip, I headed back to the office to
assess the reality of what would happen, probabilities were no longer
important. Survival was important. I had no money and was trading on a
$25k note lent to me by my backer.
We covered by buying futures
on my entire short open Interest equivalent of EXPIRED OUT OF THE MONEY
OPTIONS in Singapore with a dealing firm. We did this prior to even
actually knowing if I was exercised, probabilities be damned. How did I
know they exercised? The price covered at was $462; that is how. The
450s were already in the money by 12 cents.
Phibro exercised all
5k lots. I had a fraction of that but big enough to be carried out on a
stretcher had the rest of my position not bailed me out/ performed on
Tuesday next week.
The weird part was, the market stabilized
that Tuesday and did not run to “infinity” as it could easily have. We
found out later it was because Phibro’s exercise was a no-no and Warren
Buffet ordered them to shut the trade down as it was too big of a
potential scandal. Especially in light of his coming to Solly’s rescue
and lending his good name to fix their most recent Treasury scandal. A
couple head’s rolled there if I remember correctly.
My guess was
that the client was a Buffet or Soros type. Someone that would only go
to Phibro, as these guys were the best at preventing information
leakage, and always aligned themselves with client interests, where as
if IB had an order and acted in dual capacity as a dealer, he would
potentially front-run the order or stop it out poorly on an exit. Phibro
didn’t take other side of their client’s orders. They ran with them,
and took care of the clients first.
Phibro got a big order for a
client to buy silver, one that had to be handled expertly, and filled
over time, no information leakage would be tolerated. These guys were a
prop desk that took orders as brokers once in a while.
They accumulated options for their own account (K 450C) to piggyback but not front-run the client.
They must have bought futures for themselves as well as the client with his permission.
They beat the VWAP by gunning the market on light volumes 1 hour before a 4 day US holiday. [TD: compare and contrast with the daily patterns seen every single day in the endless move up in the S&P]
They
exercised the 450 Calls that day and then lifted the offers of the 1 or
2 OTC metals dealers left open during Singapore hours, running them
over during illiquid markets.

Never Again!

I became infatuated with Phibro gamesmanship and made it a point to understand that particular type of player.
Libertarian
Darwinist that I was I did not blame them. At the time It was a
buyer-beware market for big businesses and they did nothing wrong. They
took risk and they aren’t bigger than the market. I wanted to play with
the big boys, and that was the price.
For me it was about
learning how to read the signs and not be on the wrong side of one of
those events again, even if I was not privy to their meetings.

Here is some of what I learned:

In
metals (and energy and anything else with an OTC market) the IB firms
have dealing desks along GS, MS, Republic, JPMorgan, Scotia Mocatta, all
were essentially broker dealers in precious metals. All had clients:
miners who hedged production and hedge funds who speculated OTC. They
provided liquidity by taking the other side of their client’s trade and
“back-to-backing” them in the futures markets or held onto them in their
prop books as counterparty because of something else they saw.
Their
client left resting orders with them in the IB’s Central Limit Order
Book (CLOB) which served as good information to trade around for the IB.
Sometimes they front-ran the client, other times they go for stops to force the client to puke. Sometimes they’d just make markets, depending on many things. It was poker to them.
Phibro
was different. These were smart guys but they weren’t a dealing bank.
They exploited imbalances in markets and took positions. They had
ideas. They also took orders for heavyweights who needed absolute
discretion. They did not make it their business to fleece their own
clients and instead aligned their interests. And they made the banks
look like pikers when a client came to them with an order.
For
the next 4 Years I paid attention to how those dealing banks and phibro
played the markets. It was all about gamesmanship, Bayesian probability,
and knowing your counterparty’s motivation with these guys. Information
and misinformation.

Some methods:

How
I.B firms would use a thinly traded floor to print the price that would
trigger a massive stop loss in the OTC markets and bury their own
clients. Or how they would buy for their own accounts in front of
resting limit orders for clients and simply use their clients to stop
themselves out if the market printed thru their buy levels. Or how they
would use dual representation to show loudly they were buyers on one
side of the ring, while they were selling quietly upstairs to other OTC
dealers. Trading with themselves in multiple entities, etc.
An
IB with a Commodity Index was in heaven. Prop trading, captive client
flow from IB deals and OTC dealing and Brokerage. The good ones knew how
to integrate and hedge macro risks, whether to front run their own
index clients or get out off their way. “Chinese walls” did not exist
in Commods.
Commods were mostly self regulated and that lead to predatory yet mostly legal behaviour.
Some
of these were necessary to protect their interests with such a small
number of players. Some were possibly unethical, but most were legal.
Their clients were all big boys who left resting orders with the IBs at
their own risk. Clients themselves had to resort to some of the same
tricks to keep the IB desks honest, like Coming in backwards,
“spoofing”, leaving buy stops to get sell orders filled. The alternative
for these clients was to put massive orders in the floor where
liquidity was subjective, non continuous and information leakage was
massive.

1997- Warren Buffet.

I got my chance to not get run over in 1997, when Warren Buffet gave an order to Phibro to buy silver.
Short version. Here is what went down.
Buffet gives Phibro the order- fact
Phibro
begins filling it as a broker using various OTC dealers as
counterparties, and letting the I.B dealers sweat getting out of the
risk. - fact
Phibro buys options for their own account (no exercise game this time tho)- fact
Phibro buys futures for their own account. – not confirmed.
One
by one the IB dealers start to catch on that this is no ordinary order
Phibro is handling. They back away and liquidity gets harder to find.-
fact
Other bigger hedge funds in the small circle of professionals, and other smart firms start getting long.- fact
Silver
starts getting delivered from the Comex vaults. Some of it actually
removed. Some of it just “covered with a sheet” for removal. But ounces
begin to be removed from the warehouse. Phibro was rumored to be taking
delivery and beginning to telegraph fear in the markets to start
spoofing the VWAP. Rumor was they had a warehouse in Red Hook where they
stored it. Never confirmed.
Point here is, the saps for the
last part of this play were the producers and refiners who were
complacently net short and dependent on above ground silver to satisfy
delivery requests.
Producers had been over-hedging for years in
this market, as silver was cheap and they had business cash flow issues.
It was their habit to sell forward production not yet available to
them. And if forced to, they would lease already above ground silver and
make delivery, collateralizing it with silver yet to be mined. Their
positions were habitually synthetically long the contango as they rolled
their deliverable production further and further out the curve in an
attempt to squeeze much needed cash (cost of carry)for their businesses.
The net effect was that sometimes they had to borrow silver for prompt
delivery while they rolled their production hedge back further. – my
interpretation of what I learned. May not be accurate to the “T”, am not
a physical guy.
Example: in 1995 a miner has silver due above
ground in 1997. He hedges it in Z-1997 contract. Z 1997 comes and if he
doesn’t have that silver available for some other reason; he covers the
short and rolls it back. How much he needs to do this is a function of
his obligations, cash flows, and his greed for carry. If leases are
cheap, he will seek to capture all the contango and lease it until he
gets the silver available.
If lease rates go up, it is not
unlike a miner strike. Silver is needed for delivery now, and term risk
becomes the issue. Contango collapses and market goes backwardated. He
will be forced to sell the contango to get that prompt silver short back
if he cannot make delivery. He has to defer delivery.
These guys were dependent on the specs NOT taking delivery for years. Specs didn’t have balance sheets to take and store physical metal. Specs usually were the weak hands at futures expiry.
But then…..Entities
that stored silver in bank vaults (like the Republic vault) begin to
remove silver from the available pool for leasing. This made the “easy
money” portion of production financing no longer easy. Think: smart
money getting the word that a squeeze was on and playing along with it.
Phibro
(and others) start selling the contango in the futures market to
prepare to take delivery of even more contracts. Or at least put
pressure on the producers who had front month shorts they would have to
make a decision on delivering. Phibro KNEW that the producers had to
sell the spreads to get their shorts back. But they couldn’t lift their
shorts altogether as part of their financing deals with their bankers.
Their own positions were now breaking down in every way except flat
price. The market really didn’t move much. This let them stay in denial.
Buffet announces he is long and intends to take delivery of silver. Contango collapses. Market spikes to 7.40.
Rumor
is gov’t intercedes and asks Buffet to not do this, it would break the
industry. (Kind of like how the exchange begged the gov’t to help it
shut down the Hunt Bros.) He says ok, and agrees to lend then their
silver back to them. Essentially charging them 40% interest to delay
delivery for a year.

What to look for:

Find the overleveraged/ extended party- and you will find the weak hand at the table. (Producers in 1997)
Tail
wags dog: if the pricing venue trades smaller volume than the OTC, then
manipulate price with small volumes to execute trades with big volumes
favorably. (OTC vs Comex floor)
Divide and conquer- if
counterparties are undercapitalized and/ or fragmented, then it will be
easier to get them to move like a herd. (happens in options ALL THE
TIME at expiration)
Manipulate data- take delivery of metal, take risk off books, manipulate MTM data.
Create
an exit strategy- a good catalyst like Easter weekend, an announcement
by an investor etc. or develop a market and grow your own bigger fool.
ie – retail.

Comments - So many points to make here:

How
derivative markets can create a problem thru too much liquidity that
cannot easily be reconciled by bringing physical production on line fast
enough.
How this works both ways, and that dealing banks have
been playing the gold/silver carry game for easy funding of other trades
for years.
How, even though I personally think that what the
OTC does is their own business, but the increasing securitization of
commodities leaves regulatory arbitrage and OTC games to affect a new
generation of ETF buyers, either thru incremental banking or thru
contango cancer. That Wall Street salesmen and players with
access to both markets retail and professional can exploit the captive
audience created with ETFs and other fund type instruments to shear and
in some cases skin the sheep.
That much of this happens
because the gov’t is too stupid to see the inherent conflict of
interest in what a broker-dealer does. Regulation will not stop gaming
the law. Ethics do, and not everybody has ethics. So best you
can do is prevent situations of conflict of interest, like the existence
of Broker-dealer type entities. Either you trade for yourself, or you
trade for others. Period.
Fact is, if there were retail
public in this game back then, the IB firms would have somehow sold
them on the idea to BUY contango, or short silver. But the
financialization of commodities wasn’t there yet. And the “bigger fool”
game stopped at the producers. If it happened again, with ETFs, cross
regulatory semi fungible products, asymmetric access to venues and other
factors in a global market, the public would be killed, short squeeze
or long puke (like in UNG now) take your pick.
You can never
know intentions, and no one is bigger than the market, but the
consequences of a lack of transparency and the free reign in which banks
can tell half-truths to investors is a big factor in enabling strong
hands to fleece weak hands with little market risk. It’s all a con game.
And when the IBs figured out how to change the rules, then they
were free to use their killer techniques to exploit a million little
fish instead of the 10 big fish they usually competed with.
Phibro
was a ballsy cowboy trading firm. The banks at the employee level are
as well, but corporately, they first seek to make money and secondly
provide a service. When they should be providing a service that makes
money.
Everything that was done I’ve seen done the other
way, keeping prices low, shaking out weaker players. Rarely does it
happen in such a dramatic way. It is usually a series of “short cons” as
opposed to Phibro’s home run. It’s all Darwinism. But when civilians
are involved as they are now, then it is no longer caveat emptor.
Instead of taking a million dollars from a hedge fund, these guys take a dollar from a million people now.

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

New York Times editor Bill Keller hit out at Fox News for the second time in as many monthsâ€”only this time, he went after people who watch the network. As The Cutline's Joe Pompeo reported, Keller made the comments during an event at ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

All other copyrights remain the property of their respective owners com/news/business/2006099/new_survey_finds_vegan_diet_enhances_health_weight_loss_and/index.html Source article? r_science source = “> Read more about redOrbit ...

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

AOL has agreed to acquire Outside.in, a hyper-local news aggregator, for substantially less than investors put into the company. Like many other experiments in hyper-local news, it failed to connect with the communities it was supposed ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

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Bill Keller: Fox News Viewers 'Among The Most Cynical People On ...

Latest Health News Wellness | Daily Health Reviews

Hyper-Local News: It's About the Community or It Fails: Tech News ...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Money Making

• Amar'e Stoudemire's dreams just came true: He recently posed for Vogue’s April issue! [Page Six/NYP]

• Joseph Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa: "[Calvin] is just great. He's a genius. He has a legacy of work, a huge body of work. You cannot compare really because he is just unique. And it's not fair because he has 35 years to back him up. It's very tempting and an easy thing to just bring back the archives. That challenges me. I find that most difficult. I find it insulting to the house and insulting to myself. For me to take it forward — that is Calvin — to look forward. So for me to look back and just copy something, then I am not doing my job." [Vogue UK]

• Garance Doré recently moved into a prewar Greenwich Village loft with boyfriend Scott “The Sartorialist” Schuman, explaining, “I don’t make sacrifices. There is no, ‘I leave everything for my man.’ I just do things when they make me feel good and they feel right." [NYT]

• Critical shopper Jon Caramanica on Soho’s new Fiorentini + Baker store: “From a distance, you could be forgiven for thinking they were sets of twins, or maybe the whole Duggar clan, 19 siblings and counting. There is not much variation to be had on the women’s side. Colors: black, or maybe a muted earth tone. (There was one chalky lavender option; it looked lonely.)” [NYT]

According to a BusinessInsider interview, Gogo in-flight wireless is doing well and just raised another $35 million in capital to keep the lights on and the in-flight Wi-Fi flowing. Aircell, Gogo’s parent company, says that the service served 3 million sessions between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Google offered free Gogo on all flights during this period.

In-flight Internet is, in a word, great. However, I worry that it is severely hampering my movie watching time these days as I’m encouraged to write and work during flights as opposed to read magazines and watch movie’s I wouldn’t normally watch with the lady wife like The Box and Pootie Tang. Gogo is available on American, United, Delta, Virgin America, and Air Canada and airlines love it, as Dan Frommer points out, “because it’s a way to distract passengers and generate revenue at the same time — unlike installing TV sets and on-demand movies, which costs money.”

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Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

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Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

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Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

bench craft company scam

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

benchcraft company scam

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

bench craft company sales

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

bench craft company scam

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

benchcraft company scam

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

bench craft company scam

Obama to Friend Zuckerberg in San Fran - FoxNews.com

UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed two other participants in Thursday's meeting. Both Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Apple CEO Steve Jobs will join Zuckerberg and the president.

Washington Extra – Royal news | Analysis & Opinion |

As is increasingly the case, the United States is finding that talking pro-democracy is one thing. Dealing with the aftermath of uprisings another.

What Will Kill a Bull Market? Good News - CNBC

The best of times for the economy can be the worst of times for the stock market, and that may prove especially true in a market driven by trillions of dollars in monetary stimulus.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

1 internet marketing

Editor’s note: Guest author Chris Yeh is an independent angel investor and VP of Marketing for PBworks, one of his investments. He has been involved with Internet startups since 1995. His Twitter handle is @chrisyeh.

Update: This post originally referred to DST as the investor in Start Fund when it actually is Yuri Milner personally investing, along with Ron Conway’s fund SV Angel.

Update II: This has been corrected below.

The big news this morning is Yuri Milner’s announcement that he and Ron Conway will be investing $150,000 in *every* Y Combinator startup on a no-discount, no-cap convertible loan.

Many people have already weighed in with instant reactions—”It’s a bubble!” “It’s the greatest thing to happen to the US economy!” As usual, these off-the-cuff reactions focus on a single part of the story, rather than looking at the big picture.

Let’s walk through the news, step-by-step, and see what it really means. Ultimately, my take is that it’s good for Y Combinator and Milner, but bad for the rest of Silicon Valley.

1) “Yuri is a fool who believes he can sell to a greater fool.”

Many people mocked DST when it began investing in companies like Facebook at “outlandish” valuations. DST invested in Facebook at a $10 billion valuation; with the valuation now above $50 billion, I’d say Yuri is having the last laugh (for now).

If Milner is investing in YC companies on these terms, it’s because Milner believes it can make money on these terms (more on this later).

2) “I can’t believe all the money going into YC’s dipshit companies.”

Once upon a time, Y Combinator’s companies were features masquerading as companies. But anyone who still thinks that isn’t paying attention. The quality of YC companies has risen considerably; the companies graduating from YC these days are much more polished and accomplished. And with monster successes like Dropbox and AirBnB (along with Heroku’s exit), YC’s company quality is looking better and better.

3) “Finally, someone who’s willing to take risks, unlike today’s pantywaist angels and VCs!”

Now we’re getting to something more substantive. There seems to be a feeling among entrepreneurs that investors are no longer willing to take risks, and that no one is willing to invest in ideas any more. My response to that is simple—if startups are really so low-risk, why is it that only a tiny fraction of the companies that do get funded (which are presumably “no-brainer” investments for all the cautious VCs) actually return any money to investors?

Of course I try to invest in companies that I expect to be “sure things,” but I also know that history predicts that at least 60% of my investments are going to be complete financial failures. The reason Milner is willing to take on such risk is simple—in addition to the actual investment, it’s also buying option value.

Option value is what makes the VC system work—by investing in stages, investors are able to abandon companies that don’t look likely to succeed. This is why startups are so much more effective than big companies at innovation—a big company’s internal politics make it difficult to try lots of things that will probably fail. Milner has additional option value available to them that traditional angels do not because of its ability to invest at later stages. By investing in the seed round, Yuri – and DST – gets the inside track on any future financings.

Let’s say that I was lucky enough to invest in Facebook’s seed round (I wasn’t). As the company raised further rounds of funding at $100 million and $10 billion valuations, I would have to come up with increasingly large checks to maintain my ownership position. Buying 0.1% of the company is pretty easy at a $5 million valuation (that’s just $5,000). It gets harder at $100 million ($100,000) and $10 billion ($10,000,000).

For Milner, however, investing a few million in YC companies is well worth it if it gives him the inside track to do a $100 million expansion round in the future. Moreover, is Milner really making it easier for entrepreneurs to raise money? I was not under the impression that YC grads were having difficulties raising money. It’s not like Milner is giving $150K to anyone who asks—the investment is reserved for companies which pass YC’s rigorous screening process.

4) Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants, why is this bad for Silicon Valley then?

In the TechCrunch comments, Ted Rheingold of Dogster fame says simply, “This is not going to be healthy for the ecosystem.” I think he’s right, but the reasons he’s right are subtle. Allow me to explain.

a) Independent angel investors need to be able to invest at reasonable valuations.

As I explained in (3) above, folks like me need to be able to invest at reasonable valuations. That means either priced rounds or convertibles with valuation caps, and seed round valuations of $1-3 million. We don’t have the money to stay in the game with the VCs and DSTs of the world, so if seed funding shifted to a model of no-cap convertibles, we would be priced out of the ecosystem.

In today’s environment, many companies skip straight from a seed round to $20 million+ valuations, and angels simply won’t get rewarded for the extra risk they assume without priced rounds or caps.

b) The Milner/YC partnership could end up upsetting this delicate balance

As I’ve argued in the past, angel investing is a fragmented game. No one has enough power to collude on valuations. However, someone who is influential enough can influence what is and isn’t considered “standard.”

Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a convertible note with a cap. There were convertible notes, and there were priced rounds, and nothing in between. Then a few years ago, a number of prominent players in the ecosystem (YC included) began pushing the concept of a capped convertible. Today, even though there are plenty of angels who despise any kind of convertible note, capped or not, the capped convertible is pretty much the standard seed financing instrument.

Now imagine the impact of YC, the most influential incubator, standardizing on uncapped, no-discount convertibles. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario in which the entire industry moves in this direction. The problem is that this shift eliminates the incentive for independent angels to participate in the ecosystem.

Angels play an important part in the ecosystem because we are willing to take on more risk than the VCs. Some of that is non-economic behavior, but some of that is also due to the fact that we get compensated for that risk-taking with much lower valuations. Eliminating that compensation will surely reduce the number of independent angel investments.

The irony is that the Milner/YC deal didn’t have to cause problems for independent angel investors. If Milner committed to providing $150K to every YC company, at whatever terms were determined by the lead investor in the syndicate, he wouldn’t be pricing the angels out of the ecosystem.

c) Removing independent angel investors from the ecosystem is a bad idea

Naturally, angels like me will be upset about getting shut out of the ecosystem, but why is that bad for Silicon Valley? After all, between YC, TechStars, the Founders Institute, and all the other incubators and quasi-incubators, who needs us? Let the incubators pick the winners, and let the DSTs fund them.

The problem is that the chaotic, fragmented, Darwinian nature of Silicon Valley is an integral part of what makes it great. We need those random mutations to generate innovation, especially breakthrough innovation.

If we concentrate the decision-making on who does and doesn’t get funding in the hands of a small number of institutions, we hurt Silicon Valley as a whole, no matter how smart those institutions are.

I tell many people that Paul Graham is a genius. He saw the opportunity to start YC, and he’s done the Valley a huge favor by broadening the pool of company founders. But I don’t want Paul to be one of a small group of people who decides which companies get funding—not because he isn’t smart (he is) or a great guy (he is). When it comes to innovation, central decision-making is bad, no matter how good the decision-makers are.

For all our flaws, independent angels serve the important role of enabling the “genetic diversity” of the startup population. That diversity is at the heart of Silicon Valley’s success, and that’s something we don’t want to lose.

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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Monday, March 14, 2011

Friday, March 11, 2011

Saturday, March 5, 2011

A Place to Sleep

A Place to Play

A Way to Travel

Clothes

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

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