Paul Krugman of the New York Times is calling this economic decade ‘The Big Zero ‘.
It was a decade in which nothing good happened, and none of the optimistic things we were supposed to believe turned out to be true.
Paul and I smoke insanely different tobacco. As an entrepreneur that has managed a hedge fund now for 11 plus years through bubbles and crashes, I almost take offense.
When 2000 started I was living pretty high on the hog. Stocks only went up and they did so 50 points at a time. By March of 2000, that party ended. In March of 2009, if the same stocks moved $50, they would have been -$49 and change. BUT, by December 2009, the S&P is only 28 percent below all-time highs.
That’s definitely SOMETHING.
This decade was all about two things, creative and greedy destruction. Both hit all-time highs in 2009. In ten years we will see dizzying new highs again.
Here is a list of great creative destruction and economic wonderous things we did not have a decade ago (thanks @gregory for the fast list, great post and super cool Listorious ):
Skype
Wikipedia
Gmail
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
adWords
Amazon AWS
iPod
Wordpress
iPhone
Google Docs
Flickr
etc……………………
If anything, this decade did not see enough creative destruction…see AT&T.
As for creative greed , count me as a wounded, frustrated casualty. In 2000, I was way green and soft. When bad stuff happened to me I was a victim godammit! In 2009, when bad stuff happens to me, I blame myself. That’s a little growth :) .
In 2001, I was caught up in ‘collateral damage’ and I learned about diversification and humility. My lawyer was my best friend and saved/guided my ass (I love you Sara). I have written a few posts about it over the years . In 2009, I know that if my lawyer is my best friend, I am in trouble. That’s something.
Since my personal economic bottom in 2002, I have had many big victories . There was an insane amount of hard work, a lot of good fortune and a little luck. In 2005 I discovered blogging when I typed ‘term sheet’ into Google’s search box. I was directed to Brad Feld’s blog. I was inspired by Brad and his wicked blogroll of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. That term sheet was one I was writing for an angel investment in GolfNow.com .
As you know though, blogging is a waste of time and of no economic value.
In 2006, I started Wallstrip. In 2007, Wallstrip was purchased by CBS. Booyah!
In 2008, after writing the obligatory book (a bestseller…in Haiti!), I co-founded Stocktwits. In 2009, True Ventures and Foundry (yep Brad Feld) invested. In 2010, someone from Russia will invest bonker dineros. That’s just how shit will go down in the next decade of the web.
It’s not just economic progress….it’s global, thermonuclear economic progress – with a side of money laundering.
Congratulations on your successes and lessons learned, Howard. I think there are other observations that can be drawn from what you mention in this post, but I’ll leave those aside for now. I will note that economic progress has occurred during other secular bear or range-bound markets (worth checking out Vitaliy Katsenelson’s thesis on range-bound markets, which I blogged about back in August).A good example is the 1970s: another lousy decade for stocks, and yet that’s when companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Genentech were launched.
its a great point and right on. forest for the trees
Howard’s real boss. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter
Congratulations on your successes and lessons learned, Howard. I think there are other observations that canbe drawn from what you mention in this post, but I'll leave those aside for now. I will note that economic progress has occurred during other secular bear or range-bound markets (worth checking out Vitaliy Katsenelson's thesis on range-bound markets, which I blogged about back in August).
A good example is the 1970s: another lousy decade for stocks, and yet that's when companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Genentech were launched.
me neither…never let an ad on. maybe this year for charity
you’re focused on the creative and Krugman’s focused on the destruction. By the way, some of us actually read, liked (and even reviewed) your book. Happy New Decade Howard
thx chris
you're focused on the creative and Krugman's focused on the destruction. By the way, some of us actually read, liked (and even reviewed) your book. Happy New Decade Howard
Blogging has always been about creating intangible value through social contacts and building personal brands. It was never meant to be a source of direct income, at least for 99.99% of the bloggers.
me neither…never let an ad on. maybe this year for charity
If you feel like experimenting with ads as content next year give a shout. Victus Media’s 10% cut just dropped to zero (we had to tear down any barriers to entry).Still fervently working on entity matching quality and response speed for HUGE Twitter lists on the search side at VictusMedia.com. Would be curious to see how we compare to banners/etc for fund raising.
sure – lets do it
This week we’ll get our best/fastest version up to hammer things out,
but you can get the widget code at http://victusmedia.com Just enter
an email and affilate ID to start chuggin
It gives you a code snippet to paste into a sidebar text/HTML widget box
Let me know if you need a hand setting it up. Entities still aren’t
optimal but are getting better every push
My soapbox
http://www.victusspiritus.com/
Blogging has always been about creating intangible value through social contacts and building personal brands. It was never meant to be a source of direct income, at least for 99.99% of the bloggers.
Howard's real boss. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter
Marvelous post, great perspective, thanks!
Marvelous post, great perspective, thanks!
If you feel like experimenting with ads as content next year give a shout. Victus Media's 10% cut just dropped to zero (we had to tear down any barriers to entry).
Still fervently working on entity matching quality and response speed for HUGE Twitter lists on the search side at VictusMedia.com. Would be curious to see how we compare to banners/etc for fund raising.
sure – lets do it
This week we'll get our best/fastest version up to hammer things out,
but you can get the widget code at http://victusmedia.com Just enter
an email and affilate ID to start chuggin
It gives you a code snippet to paste into a sidebar text/HTML widget box
Let me know if you need a hand setting it up. Entities still aren't
optimal but are getting better every push
My soapbox
http://www.victusspiritus.com/
A blonde lady was driving along the highway when a blonde police officer pulled her over for speeding.
Officer: May i see your licence?
Lady: what does it look like?
Officer: its a rectangular thing with a photo of you on it.
The lady looks through her bag and pulls out her compact mirror and hands it to the officer.
The officer opens it up and says 'if you had told me you were a police officer I wouldn't have pulled you over.'
respect
Brehm
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Poly-wood | Poly-wood | recycled plastic outdoor furniture
A small tourist hotel was all abuzz about an afternoon wedding where the groom was 95 and the bride was 23.
The groom looked pretty feeble and the feeling was that the wedding night might kill him, because his bride was a healthy, vivacious young woman.
But lo and behold, the next morning, the bride came down the main staircase slowly, step by step, hanging onto the banister for dear life.
She finally managed to get to the counter of the little shop in the hotel. The clerk looked really concerned, “Whatever happened to you, honey? You look like you've been wrestling an alligator!”
The bride groaned, hung on to the counter and managed to speak, “Ohhh God! He told me he'd been saving up for 75 years and I thought he meant his money!!”
Thanks
Kimbrough
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Portrait from photo | Photo to portrait | Photo on Canvas
10. Get ahead faster in corporate America.
9. Get a blow job.
8. Find out what is so fascinating about beating the meat.
7. Pee standing up while talking to other men at a urinal.
6. Determine WHY you can't hit the bowl consistently.
5. Find out what it's like to be on the other end of a surging orgasm.
4. Touch yourself in public without thought as to how improper it may seem.
3. Jump up and down naked with an erection to see if it feels as funny as it looks.
2. Understand the scientific reason for the light refraction which occurs between a man's eyes and the ruler situated next to his member which causes two inches to be added to the final measurement.
1. Repeat number 9……
Have a nice day
Messina
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debt consolidation companies | debt elimination companies | debt management consultants
Why did the blonde cross the road?
I don't know.
Neither did he.
respect
Rolon
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pet strollers | pet strollers | pet gear stroller
1. A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't want.
2. A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
3. A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
4. To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot & love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot & not try to understand her at all.
5. Married men live longer than single men – but married men are a lot more willing to die.
6. Any married man should forget his mistakes – there's no use in two people remembering the same thing.
7. Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
8. A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change & she does.
9. A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
10. There are 2 times when a man doesn't understand a woman – before marriage & after marriage.
regards
Hudson
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car seat for dogs | pet car seats | dog car booster seat
thx chris
its a great point and right on. forest for the trees
Your transparency, honesty(In 2000, I was way green and soft. When bad stuff happened to me I was a victim godammit! In 2009, when bad stuff happens to me, I blame myself) and humor (Haiti) is always refreshing Howard. Gogo 2010.
Thx leigh
I would have spelled it “humour” but only you and I would get it….. lol #Canucks
Congratulations.
Your transparency, honesty(In 2000, I was way green and soft. When bad stuff happened to me I was a victim godammit! In 2009, when bad stuff happens to me, I blame myself) and humor (Haiti) is always refreshing Howard. Gogo 2010.
Thx leigh
I would have spelled it “humour” but only you and I would get it….. lol #Canucks
Congratulations.