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Brian Eno possibly said that, "the first Velvet Underground record may have only sold 1,000 copies, but every person who bought it started a band." [*]
It certainly wasn't a bestselling album, but without a doubt, it changed things.
The scarcity mindset pushes us to corner the market, to be the only one selling what we sell.
The abundance alternative, though, is to understand that many of us sell ideas, not widgets, and that ideas are best when used, and the more they get used, the more ideas they spawn.
Kevin Kelly has inspired 10,000 companies, and Shepard Fairey, a generation of artists.
How many bands will you inspire today?
* Two footnotes here. The first is that like most revolutionary ideas that start a ruckus, the first album was poorly reviewed. It wasn't the obvious next thing, the idea that's easy to celebrate. And second, Eno's quote has been amended over time: "I was talking to Lou Reed the other day and he said that the first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in the first five years. The sales have picked up in the past few years, but I mean, that record was such an important record for so many people. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!"
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Posted: 27 Oct 2013 11:42 AM PDT The way to stop media reporting of NSA is simple: Shut down the agency entirely. It is too big, too bloated, and too useless. It spies on friends and foes alike. And when you tap the phones of 35 heads of state, including Angela Merkel, it's pretty damn hard to make the case that US spying is about terrorism. Please consider the Guardian article NSA Chief Says Government Must Stop Media Reporting by Glenn Greenwald. The most under-discussed aspect of the NSA story has long been its international scope. That all changed this week as both Germany and France exploded with anger over new revelations about pervasive NSA surveillance on their population and democratically elected leaders.Recall that it was Glenn Greenwald who broke the NSA spy story episode with leaks from Edward Snowden. As one might expect from criminal agencies, the NSA is fighting back, with an attack on constitutional rights. 4th and 1st Amendments Under Fire TechDirt reports Keith Alexander Says The US Gov't Needs To Figure Out A Way To Stop Journalists From Reporting On Snowden Leaks Apparently not satisfied with just setting fire to the 4th Amendment, NSA boss Keith Alexander's next target is the 1st Amendment. In an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog, it appears that Alexander felt he'd have a friendly audience, so he let loose with some insane claims, including suggesting that the government needs to find a way to "stop" journalists from reporting on the Snowden leaks.Please click on the above link to see TechDirt's rebuttal to blatant lies by the NSA chief. Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill to Setup Independent News Agency Jeremy Scahill, National Security Correspondent for The Nation magazine, author of the international bestseller Blackwater, and also the author of Dirty Wars, is starting his own independent news agency along with Glenn Greenwald. CNN reports Glenn Greenwald to join media venture backed by eBay founder Omidyar Pierre Omidyar, founder of online auction site eBay, said Wednesday he is teaming up with journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has led reporting on secret U.S. surveillance programs, to create a new online mass media venture."We Hit the Jackpot" Finally, please consider the following video on the formation of the new independent news agency. In the video, Jeremy Scahill discusses his partnership with Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras: "We Hit the Jackpot" says Scahill. Link if video does not play: "We Hit the Jackpot" War Against Journalists Says Scahill: "The Role of journalists is to hold those in power accountable... We are incredibly excited by this project because all three of us are journalists to the core ... There is a war against journalism around the world. Journalists are missing, beaten and imprisoned around the world ... And in the United States we have a president who won the Noble Peace Prize, who is a constitutional lawyer by training, and he is prosecuting whistleblowers in record numbers. They are monitoring the metadata of journalists, trying to figure out who they are talking to ... and we have a media culture that is totally morally bankrupt." Indeed. And I wish Greenwald, Scahill, and Poitras huge success in their new venture. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Innovation is something else entirely. Many entrepreneurs use an innovation to make an impact, but the hard part, the part that we're rewarded for, is engaging with the user, the audience, the market. Bringing something to people who didn't think they wanted it, know about it or initially welcome it, and make a difference.
One reason it's so difficult to teach entrepreneurship is that we're not teaching tactics or skills. We're not teaching spreadsheets or finance or even marketing. No, when we encourage entrepreneurship, we're actually trying to get people to the place where they care enough and where they are confident enough to stand up and try to make things change.
Don't tell me what you invented. Tell me about who you changed.
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More Obamashock! Glitches Hit Paper, Phone Applications; Obamacare Glitch Great Quotes Posted: 26 Oct 2013 06:44 PM PDT Millions of Existing Plans Dropped I posted my personal experiences on Obamacare, as well as those of a reader, in Tips on Navigating Obamacare Costs on HealthCare.Gov - My Personal Experience - Obamashock! Just in case anyone thought "ObamaShock!" was an isolated incident, the Weekly Standard reports Millions of Americans Are Losing Their Health Plans Because of Obamacare. While the Affordable Care Act was making its way through Congress in 2009 and 2010, President Obama famously promised the American people over and over again that if you like your health plan, you can keep it.Obamacare in Rural Areas The New York Times reports Health Care Law Fails to Lower Prices for Rural Areas As technical failures bedevil the rollout of President Obama's health care law, evidence is emerging that one of the program's loftiest goals — to encourage competition among insurers in an effort to keep costs low — is falling short for many rural Americans.Glitches Hit Paper, Phone Applications Politico reports "The online website signup procedure is such a disaster that President Barack Obama is urging Americans to go ahead and try to get health coverage by mailing in a paper application, calling the helpline or seeking help from one of the trained "assisters."" Please consider 'Glitches' hit Obamacare paper, phone applications too But the truth is those applications — on paper or by phone — have to get entered into the same lousy website that is causing the problems in the first place. And the people processing the paper and calls don't have any cyber secret passage to duck around that. They too have to deal with all the frustrations of HealthCare.gov — full-time.Obamacare Glitch Great Quotes Inquiring minds looking for the most telling and colorful comments made about Obamacare "glitches" can find them on Politico. Here's a particularly funny one. Nonetheless Obama insists the Obamacare show must go on. And what a horror story it is. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
New Tools! More Pure Bank Profit! Posted: 26 Oct 2013 10:52 AM PDT Inquiring minds are monitoring the Fed's Balance Sheet. ![]() click on chart for sharper image One more week like this and the FED balance sheet will be $1 trillion more than last year at this time. Currently now at $980 billion with this past week adding $20 billion. Breakdown From Year Ago
Of US treasuries, the Fed added (and holds) precisely $0 in short-term bills. Of US Treasuries, the Fed added 16 Billion in Inflation Indexed notes Obviously inflation is not a concern to the Fed. Bank profits are. Excess Reserves ![]() The Fed is pumping money into the economy at at rate of $85 billion a month. Banks cannot use the money and are not lending it. The money piles up as excess reserves and the Fed (taxpayers) pays interest on excess reserves. Nonetheless, the Fed has a clever idea! It proposes a new tool to pay banks even more interest on money banks don't lend and cannot use (as an alternative to shrinking money supply). New Tools! With little fanfare or analysis by mainstream media as to what is really happening, Bloomberg reports Fed Gets Bigger in Markets as QE Prompts New Tools. The Federal Reserve is getting more involved in debt markets as it tries to compensate for the impact of its almost $4 trillion balance sheet on short-term interest rates.Where Does It End? From the Bloomberg article, one person sees things correctly. ... With "the amount of bonds that have been piling up on the Fed's System Open Market Account" there "has been a collateral shortage," said Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research LLC in Chicago. "What worries me about the Fed is that in reacting to the fact that their actions have created an unintended consequence in a free market, instead of saying 'Oh, maybe we ought to re-think these actions,' their answer is 'No, we'll go manipulate that problem now.' Where does this end?" Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Wouldn't it be great if you had a patron who would pay for you to have the time to be your best creative self?
And assistants to worry about all the details of your messy life?
This is the business school model of success. The industrial age taught executives that patrons (bosses, shareholders, large banks) would pick us and pay us, and that workers (cogs, assistants, functionaries) would do what we told them to do. All you had to do was find the first and you could hire the second.
In an economy based on art and connection and innovation, though, the first is hard to find, and the second is worth less than you might imagine--you still have do all the leaping yourself.
The goal is to be on the hook, not to let someone else do the scary parts.
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