[TriLUG] OT: Education

Mon Sep 26 20:29:34 EDT 2005

Shane Cassandra O'Donnell,

You have no idea what I know... and you've also taken much out of
context. 

I'm sure the top five folks on the list got there by *not* being
satisfied - they probably still feel restless. That's why they are where
they are. You won't be there - unless you marry one of Sam Walton's
kids, but you're happy with that and that's okay.

... About planning. There was a great article on XO corp that I read
last week. The article talked about their ability to innovate and rise
again to profitability. One of the key components to their success: Not
over analyzing. They said it was paralyzing to plan too much. The key
thing was to have a fixed goal and then to be flexible enough to
overcome problems as they arose.

That is the key to success in business: setting goals that move you
forward, and overcoming those obstacles that get in the way of those
goals... not listening to the Cassandra's of the world and paralyzing
yourself with mediocrity.

Jon

On Mon, 2005-09-26 at 09:01, Shane O'Donnell wrote:
> So we're not satisfied unless we make the Top 10 richest people in America list?
> 
> How about Quality of Life issues?  How about personal happiness?  How
> about the enjoyment in doing an honest day's work for an honest day's
> pay, coming home and kissing your significant other, hugging your
> kids, and having a beer on the porch with the neighbors?
> 
> Prediction:  No one on this mailing list is going to become one of the
> Top 10 richest people in America.  I'll even extend that to say Top
> 1000.  Big deal.
> 
> Now, on various other topics:
> 
>  - "You must have money to make money".  Not true, although the
> prospect is much easier if you do, given interest income, investment
> opportunities, etc.
>  - "I earned the equivalent of an MBA in a weekend/two weeks".  Also
> not true (sorry Jon), although the specific tactical knowledge you may
> have derived might have scratched a particular itch.  MBA schools are
> still somewhat more about abstract processes and having the ability to
> apply principles to a broad array of situations, sectors, businesses,
> etc.  And to the previous point, in many ways, they are about the
> networks you can build--and it costs more to go to Duke than UNC or NC
> State in part because of the network you'll build (and the likelihood
> that that network will have money in it somewhere)
>  - "Most new business startups fail".  True, and usually it's not
> because they have a bad idea, but because of execution.  Over a short
> period, the market can be very forgiving to a bad idea executed well. 
> Over the long term, bad ideas are bad ideas.  Ask the guy that came up
> with "New Coke".
>  - "Charter schools shouldn't be measured by the same guidelines as
> public schools."  What?!?!?  If they are funded by our tax dollars
> (which they are) and the DPI is funded by our tax dollars (which it
> is), there seems to be a pretty tragic disconnect here.  My experience
> with charter schools is basically nil, aside from researching them as
> an option when we were deciding where to send our kids.  The turning
> point in our decision was when the principal from the magnet school
> told us that the charter school we were looking at had a pattern of
> hiring the teachers that he interviewed and passed on.  Take that for
> what it's worth -- a single data point from a potentially biased
> source.
>  - "Innovative scientiest don't innovate when they join a team."  I
> have no idea what the truth-factor on this statement is, but I highly
> doubt it.  Personally, I'm much more innovative when working with
> talented folks.  Left to my own devices, the means and the end are
> decidedly less fulfilling.
>  - "You don't need a college education to be successful."  True, if
> you have low standards/goals, would rather learn from your own
> mistakes over a longer period of time, or are a genius.  Otherwise,
> shut up and go to school.
> 
> Okay kids, if I haven't offended you all by now, here's my
> earth-shattering statement that you'll all hate:
> 
>    The genius of Genius is in its simplicity.
> 
> We rush to call our "big winners" in business "Geniuses", but almost
> across the board, especially compared to today's climate, these ideas
> were all pretty simple.  Sam Walton started a department store (Retail
> is not rocket science, although it approaches rocket science when you
> do it on the scale that Wal-Mart does it).  Bill Gates (and co.)
> created DOS.  Note:  DOS wasn't the first operating system, it was
> simply another operating system that achieved mass-market distribution
> status very quickly, thanks to a deal with the soon-to-be-huge IBM PC.
>  Where would Microsoft be without that original IBM deal?  (Note:  You
> were expected to bring two blue books and you'll have 45 minutes to
> complete your answer.)  Michael Dell sold commodity computer
> parts/assembled boxes out of his dorm room.  So did a lot of us.  He
> just did it well, focusing on growth during a rapdily growing market,
> taking investment capital at the right time, and then shifting his
> focus to cost-competitiveness through optimized processing and bulk
> purchasing.
> 
> The point here is that these businesses were not beyond the grasp of
> anyone on this list.  But many of the concepts, including sales and
> marketing, ARE beyond the grasp of many on this list--despite our
> collective efforts to belittle the importance of these parts of a
> company (or company strategy).  Advanced technologies and years of
> research usually don't take the market by storm until they've been
> dumbed down so that Joe Blow and his wife can use them cheaply and
> easily.  Michael Dell didn't invent the ISA bus--he just sold it.  Ask
> someone in bio-tech when they make money...it's not when they invent a
> drug that reduces hair-loss in chemo patients--it's when they build a
> better "erectile disfunction" mousetrap.
> 
> I'll shut up.  And sorry about that final painful mental image...
> 
> Shane O.
> 
> On 9/26/05, Ben Pitzer <bpitzer at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Don't get me wrong. I know that there are hard working people out there, the
> > ones who put together a business model and bust their asses through hard
> > work, scrimping every cent in order to make things work. Paul Allen went to
> > a private high school where he met Bill Gates, and his father was an
> > associate director of libraries for the University of Washington (
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen). So I'd say there was a little
> > money there.
> >
> > Michael Dell, however, did it on his own, as I understand things. He busted
> > his ass, and simply had a great idea at a great time. He had the other thing
> > that can make money: a great idea, one that comes along once every 100
> > years. Sam Walton had that, too. He started with some money. Not a ton, but
> > enough to start up a discount department store in Arkansas, which is still
> > more than I probably have. Nevertheless, he had a great idea, busted his
> > ass, and made it work.
> >
> > No, money isn't all it takes. But it sure as hell helps, as most of the top
> > 10 will tell you.
> >
> > -Ben Pitzer
> >
> >
> > On 9/26/05, Mark Freeze <mfreeze at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Bill Gates was going to Harvard when he dropped out so I think he must
> > > have
> > > had some family cash behind him. I don't think that Paul Allen or Michael
> > > Dell had any big family money backing them. I don't know for Ellison or
> > > the
> > > other guy. The bottom of the top ten are all Waltons. They all inherited
> > > the
> > > money, but the person they inherited it from was (I think) the proverbial
> > > rags-to-riches story.
> > > Regards,
> > > Mark.
> > >
> > >
> > > On 9/25/05, Ben Pitzer <bpitzer at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I'm going to jump on this dead horse and start a'whippin, just because
> > > > it's
> > > > Sunday night, I'm bored, and y'all need to know that I still listen
> > > around
> > > > here so you don't start gettin' all mouthy about me.
> > > >
> > > > Anyone ever heard the old adage 'you have to have money to make money'?
> > > I
> > > > think that there's an imporant correlary to be drawn here, and that is
> > > > that
> > > > having money to start with is the best way to make money.
> > > >
> > > > My question about each of these on the top 5 (haven't seen the list
> > > > myself)
> > > > is whether or not they came from wealthy families to begin with. Going
> > > > from
> > > > big bucks to mega bucks doesn't impress me. Going from my salary to big
> > > > bucks does. When you have money, you have connections and/or the ability
> > > > to
> > > > make connections. That means that you are invited into situations that
> > > > allow
> > > > you to make money, and which are much more reliable than those that
> > > people
> > > > such as myself will find. The last time that somebody offered me an
> > > > opportunity to invest my money and make (potentially) millions, it
> > > > involved
> > > > purchasing cleaning products from his online store that he didn't own,
> > > and
> > > > was the marketing brain child of the family that brought us Amway.
> > > >
> > > > So frankly I don't think that having a college education always helps
> > > when
> > > > you already have all the tools you need to be successful, and that is a
> > > > head
> > > > start.
> > > >
> > > > Flame on,
> > > > Ben Pitzer
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 9/23/05, Mark Freeze <mfreeze at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Remember the posts we had a couple of weeks ago regarding education &
> > > > > certifications? I was just reading the list of the 10 richest people
> > > in
> > > > > the
> > > > > US and I saw an interesting fact: Out of the top 5, 4 were college
> > > > > dropouts.
> > > > > (The bottom 5 were all from the Wal-Mart family.)
> > > > > I hope everyone has a good weekend,
> > > > > Mark.
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> 
> --
> Shane O.
> ========
> Shane O'Donnell
> shaneodonnell at gmail.com
> ====================