I was at a conference about a year ago and listened to the head of tech transfer of one of New York’s major universities say “We’re doing a great job. I don’t think there’s anything we could possibly be doing better.” And he actually seemed to believe it. I had a bit of culture shock. […]
Posts for May 2010
Taxing carried interest is nothing but a political circus
I should start by saying that because of the idiosyncratic nature of my thirteen years of venture investing, I’ve never been paid a carry. And, since I’m now a country gentleman, cutting the brush and tending the horses over here in bucolic Hoboken, I probably never will be. So maybe I’m uniquely qualified to give […]
Information and Markets, Pork Chop Edition
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, a thought-provoking book, I came across this. The fact that the nutritional quality of a given food (and of that food’s food) can vary not just in degree but in kind throws a big wrench into an industrial food chain, the very premise of which is that beef […]
Hitting the tropopause
Some of us old-timers are feeling a bit uneasy. My friend Seth is having flashbacks and reliving Q1 2000. I long ago overcame my own PTSD, embracing my dot com bubble grief after being repeatedly compelled to recall the events in excruciating detail by various lawyers and accountants (ah, the joy of working for a […]