Coyote Blog

3 Comments

1. Nick:

   Read about the "Wisconsin Venture Capital Authority":
   http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/124170174.html

   Summary:
   - They take my money.
   - They give to to private investment firms to gamble on Wisconsin startups.
   - If the firms make money on their (I mean the state's) investments, the state gets 20% of it.
   - If I'm lucky, some day, I might get a high-paying job with one of these new companies.

   Unfortunately, my state Senator is a co-sponsor of this legislation.

   July 20, 2011, 1:12 pm

2. Matt:

   The failed company's mission statment mentions things like a "radical sense of responsibility" and "transparency." It reminds me of your post a while back on Chrysler's proposal to the government with items that would appeal exclusively to politicians, while only mentioning anything relating to the profitability of the business in the last bullet. This kind of dynamic has huge opportunity costs for the government as a whole - instead of business leaders devoting their talents to devising new products and services, they're instead trying to come up with catchy proposals that sound good to megalomaniac politicians.

   July 20, 2011, 2:51 pm

3. DrTorch:

   I heard that "gullible" isn't in the English dictionary. Those politicians in Salinas ought to check that out.

   July 21, 2011, 9:44 am