And pigs will fly:<\/p>\n
Be wary. Most startups fail. Those that don’t fail, actively resist a liquidity event for their shareholders. Keeping it going keeps the CEO in a job.<\/p>\n I used to enjoy listening to the PowerPoint Pitchers. I don’t any longer. I’d rather be playing tennis and sitting in a simple S&P500 index fund, e.g. VFIAX.<\/p>\n There are more banks than there are bankers. <\/strong>Warren Buffett’s words stick in my brain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If you did the numbers, what would they be? One in a hundred?<\/p>\n Apply that rule to every potential investment you look at. Check out 100. Buy one. Money does not burn a hole in anyone’s pocket, including yours and mine. Better to have it in your pocket\u00a0 than in an illiquid investment.<\/p>\n My friend Dan argues that one should never invest directly in a private company. Do it only in conjunction with a venture capitalist, whom you know will be angling for an early (and profitable) liquidity event — and will have the power to force one.<\/p>\n The best way to find anything.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n Searching for a recent piece I did? Try this in Google: Jim Chanos inurl:TechnologyInvestor.com or Jim Chanos inurl:InSearchOfThePerfectInvestment.com.<\/p>\n This method of searching does a better job of finding articles in places in the New York Times, the New Yorker, etc. than going to their own web sites and using their own inadequate search engine.<\/p>\n One of our nice recommendations.<\/strong><\/span> See chart in right hand column for others.<\/p>\n Stuff:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n + Your bank should provide “bank by photograph.” It shouldn’t charge you for incoming wires. It should allow you to send wires directly from your account via your laptop in the comfort of you own home. Your checking account should also be free of fees. If your bank doesn’t provide these services, change banks. I like JPMorgan Chase. They do. They’re great. And their software works beautifully.<\/p>\n \u00a0+ You and I are paying too much for cell phone service. Call your provider. Tell them about the competitor (make one up) that’s offering you $20 a month less. You’ll be surprised what will happen. It always worked for me. I can’t understand their bills. I assume I’m being overbilled by anyone in the telecommunications industry. This is good assumption. It’s worked for about 40 years.<\/p>\n + Call your Internet Service Provider and tell them your Internet speed is slower (and more expensive) than your neighbor’s.It probably will be. But that doesn’t matter. You can always get more speed by switching out modems, upping the speed from the central office, etc.<\/p>\n + Never hang a wireless clock on your wall. Every time there’s a daylight savings change, the thing screws up. I have several that still haven’t adjusted themselves to the latest change. In fact, I’m giving up on wall clocks altogther. Cellphones are the best clocks. Wall clocks are always wrong and take too much effort to change twice a year. Ditto for the clock in Susan’s Mercedes which takes nearly an hour to change. They call it Daylight “Savings” Time. It doesn’t save my time.<\/p>\n Microsoft intends to pay CEO Nadella $90 million for 2014.<\/strong><\/span> Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which advises institutional shareholders, thinks that’s too much and recommends shareholders that they cast a “No” vote at Microsoft’s shareholder meeting in two weeks. Seems a lot to me. But this year, the stock has done well:<\/p>\n Nadella was appointed CEO on February 4, 2014. The market seems to like what he’s going. For more on ISS’s feelings, click here.<\/strong><\/a> Microsoft’s present P\/E is 19.1, but its yield is 2.54%. Seems fully priced to me. Don’t see any hot new products.<\/p>\n Microsoft’s PowerPoint has a new competitor.<\/strong> <\/span>It’s called Prezi, which according to the Wall Street Journal has now raised $57 million. Prezi launched its cloud-based presentation software from Hungary in 2009 and says it now has more than 50 million users\u2014nearly double the number it had last year.<\/p>\n Prezi\u2019s software is unusual because the presentations it produces aren\u2019t the usual lists of bullet points — as in PowerPoint, which I personally abhor.\u00a0 They are based on zooming mages and making their creators tell a story, which helps an audience absorb and remember the information, according to co-founder and Chief Executive Peter Arvai. I watched a couple of Prezis\u00a0 last night. They were impressive and far better than PowerPoint. Click here<\/a><\/strong> and here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The best solid state drive. <\/strong>The best way to speed up your laptop is with a solid state hard drive (SSD). The Samsung 850 Pro is THE best SSD ever built. It is fast. It will last longest. And it’s not expensive. A Samsung 850 Pro 256 gigabyte drive will cost you only $170. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I have many Samsung SSD drives. They are flawless. For this one, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Why do I think this is funny?<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n I bought some toothbrushes from Costco recently. Today they sent me a promotion for another item:<\/p>\n Nice of them wanting to protect all parts of my body. But sixty of them? It seems to be less a promotion and more a compliment — not based in fact or reality. But heck I’m sufficiently intelligent to understand the value of flattery. Maybe I’ll invite 60 of my closest friends and give them party favors?<\/p>\n![\"pig3\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/pig3.jpg\")
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