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PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

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Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#21

Post by jerf »

mixmax wrote: post #3

I think the post is a bit misguided. The people you talk to about matters of economy and finance are people with a background in finance and economics. For all their other assets entrepreneurs don't know a lot about macroeconomics, big finance, and economic policy. I'm sure that one layer below this there will be, or at least should be, entrepreneurs that are consulted in order to get the most bang for the buck. But…

You seem to be arguing from the premise that the team would only consist of entrepreneurs or something; I really can't make your argument out. You argue that the the entrepreneurs wouldn't know about X (big economics) but seem to implicitly concede the original point that the current team won't know about Y (startup economics), so, if having only X and a big hole in Y is bad, why isn't it a good idea to add someone who knows Y to the team full of X people?

I'm having trouble finding a coherent point there. Why is it so bad to close a hole in a team?

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#22

Post by mixmax »

jerf wrote: post #21
mixmax wrote: post #3

I think the post is a bit misguided. The people you talk to about matters of economy and finance are people with a background in finance and economics. For all their other assets entrepreneurs don't know a lot about macroeconomics, big finance, and economic policy. I'm sure that one layer below this there will be, or at least should be, entrepreneurs that are consulted in order to get the most bang for the buck. But…

You seem to be arguing from the premise that the team would only consist of entrepreneurs or something; I really can't make your argument out. You argue that the the entrepreneurs wouldn't know about X (big economics) but seem to implicitly concede the original point that the current team won't know about Y (startup economics), so, if having only X and a big hole in Y is bad, why isn't it a good idea to add someone w…

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. My point is that if the team should include tech entrepreneurs it should also include dairy farmers, mom and pop stores and advertising executves - these sectors are all as large as the tech entrepreneur sector. If you plug the tech entrepreneur hole you should also plug the dairy farmer hole - given that this sector is as large as the tech upstart sector of course.

A team of thousands of different people from thousands of different sectors obviously isn't a viable solution. This is why at the top level you have people that understand macro economy, finance and politics. Below this you have the whole armada of different sectors that should be heard in respect to regulation, economy, etc. that relates to their industry.

Basically if you want tech entrepreneurs to be on the economic team advising the president you should also have dairy farmers and advertising executives. And that would be a mess.

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#23

Post by helveticaman »

hugh wrote: post #5

There are two ways to use advisors. On one hand, you can use them to help you make decisions. On the other hand, you can use them to lend credibility to decisions you've already made. Interestingly, the bigger and more prominent your board of advisors, the harder it becomes to use them for the former purpose and the easier it becomes to use them for the latter.

>Interestingly, the bigger and more prominent your board of advisors, the harder it becomes to use them for the former purpose and the easier it becomes to use them for the latter.

I'm guessing this is because prominent people are super-busy. Sounds reasonable.

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#24

Post by nazgulnarsil »

I think from the primary polls a good 10% of the country would like to see Ron Paul as an adviser. He has consistently showed that he has a firm grasp of conservative economics and an intellectually honest president would want both sides represented.

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#25

Post by yters »

mixmax wrote: post #19
vlad wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't want Robert Rubin to be the CIO of my startup either, even though I know he's as smart and dedicated as anyone. While I have to agree that it would be hard to find such versatile people, the argument is not logical. If a implies b, it doesn't mean that b implies a. If it did work that way, then it would mean any CIO could never make a great expert on finance and economy, and vice versa, and that's not qual…

I see your points, and what your goals are with this, but I think that you and Cuban are getting in on the wrong level. He wants to make sure that tech entrepreneurs are heard in the new government - which I certainly agree is a good idea. Both for the entrepreneurs and the economy. My grudge with the post is that he finds it perfectly reasonable that tech entrepreneurs should be represented at the very top level of…

What drives America's economy? Investment or innovation? Where has the most influential innovation come from?

Macroeconomics is a step removed from the people who really make it work. So, to get the best macroeconomics we need to make sure we get things right at the micro level. I don't see this happening with people who've spent their lives at the macro level.

EDIT

After reading the article, I also see you've set up a strawman. Cuban is not arguing you stick a lone group of tech entrepreneurs in Obama's advisory board. He says Obama needs to directly talk with them to see what they need, explicitly including non tech people in this by his mention of Joe the Plumber. Instead, Obama has insulated himself from these people with his advisory board. I agree with Cuban that this is a bad sign.

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#26

Post by jerf »

mixmax wrote: post #22
jerf wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be arguing from the premise that the team would only consist of entrepreneurs or something; I really can't make your argument out. You argue that the the entrepreneurs wouldn't know about X (big economics) but seem to implicitly concede the original point that the current team won't know about Y (startup economics), so, if having only X and a big hole in Y is bad, why isn't it a good idea to add someone w…

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. My point is that if the team should include tech entrepreneurs it should also include dairy farmers, mom and pop stores and advertising executves - these sectors are all as large as the tech entrepreneur sector. If you plug the tech entrepreneur hole you should also plug the dairy farmer hole - given that this sector is as large as the tech upstart sector of course. A team of thou…

From the original article: "our President needs to get first hand information on the impact his proposed policies will have on real Joe the Plumbers. People who are 1 person companies living job to job, hoping they get paid on time. We need to know what the impact of his policies will be on the individually owned Chrysler Dealership in Iowa. The bodego in Manhattan. The mobile phone software startup out of Carnegie Mellon. The event planner in Dallas. The barbershop in LA. The restaurant in Boston."

No fair adding the word "tech" to the original article, then criticizing it for the word "tech". :)

A "small business representative" is exactly what the article calls for. And the article isn't calling for this person to know about their industry, but to know about small business; the pressures of mandated paperwork on a one-person operation, tax pressures, basically all those things that come up when you're too small to have or afford an HR department and dedicated finance staff. The US Federal government, being the single largest entity on the planet AFAIK, has a bad habit of forgetting that paperwork isn't free; the cognitive costs alone when it isn't your job to fill out the paperwork correctly (with steep fines for errors in some cases) can be significant, even before we discount time. (For example, consider your taxes; even moderately complicated individual taxes won't take that much of your calendar year, but the cognitive costs can be daunting. And that's what an individual is expected to pay...)

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#27

Post by mixmax »

yters wrote: post #25
mixmax wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see your points, and what your goals are with this, but I think that you and Cuban are getting in on the wrong level. He wants to make sure that tech entrepreneurs are heard in the new government - which I certainly agree is a good idea. Both for the entrepreneurs and the economy. My grudge with the post is that he finds it perfectly reasonable that tech entrepreneurs should be represented at the very top level of…

What drives America's economy? Investment or innovation? Where has the most influential innovation come from? Macroeconomics is a step removed from the people who really make it work. So, to get the best macroeconomics we need to make sure we get things right at the micro level. I don't see this happening with people who've spent their lives at the macro level. EDIT After reading the article, I also see you've set up…

I just reread the article, and you're right about the strawman. Got a bit carried away in the discussion apparently :-)

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#28

Post by jobeirne »

Uh, can anyone tell me how "your current group has no one with 100pct of their networth on the line" is a reasonable complaint?

We're talking economics here. Smart people familiar with basic economics don't risk 100% of their net worth.

Re: PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake

#30

Post by yters »

mixmax wrote: post #27
yters wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What drives America's economy? Investment or innovation? Where has the most influential innovation come from? Macroeconomics is a step removed from the people who really make it work. So, to get the best macroeconomics we need to make sure we get things right at the micro level. I don't see this happening with people who've spent their lives at the macro level. EDIT After reading the article, I also see you've set up…

I just reread the article, and you're right about the strawman. Got a bit carried away in the discussion apparently :-)

No prob, happens to me plenty:) Now, if Cuban was only arguing for a tech entrepreneur, I'd completely agree with you.
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