Russ: Good morning. This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com. And this is the show that features make-it-happen innovators and entrepreneurs.

John: That's right. We talk about 'em. We talk to them. They talk back at us. And what really usually comes out of all this is someone comes up with an idea almost every day, and -

Russ: Right. And improves our lives. And here's our lineup for this morning. This morning, this is gonna be real cool because John and I are gonna review our favorite elevator pitches from the 8th Annual Information Technology and Web Venture Forum at Rice University. And, man, hang onto your seats out there 'cause there's some cool ones here. We have 'em all at theBusinessMakers.com, but we're gonna share our favorites. But first... That's right. It's time for the BusinessMakers School of Business. And this is not your ordinary business school.

John: no, it's not. It's -

Russ: But most importantly, the BusinessMakers School of Business is powered by Champion Energy Services.

John: That's right, really good electricity at affordable rates, and you can understand the bill.

Russ: Yeah.

John: What more could you want?

Russ: Well, nothing. I mean, and it's some of the best electricity available, I'm pretty sure.

John: I know. It's 99/100ths percent pure, like the soap.

Russ: Pure electricity.

John: Pure electricity, right.

Russ: All right. Powered by Champion Energy Services. All right. And we kick of the School of Business each Saturday morning with a quote of the day.

John: Yes, sir.

Russ: And I'm just gonna go ahead and stay with Mr. Warren Buffet, man, 'cause, man, he's doing great. He's no relationship to Jimmy Buffet, though.

John: No, no. Don't get 'em mixed up.

Russ: But listen to this. Listen to this. He might be dissing our School of Business here, but we can take it, can't we?

John: Yeah. _____ why not.

Russ: All right. Here it is. Here it is. "The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior. But simple behavior is more effective. There are 309 million people out there that are trying to improve their lot in life and we've got a system that allows 'em to do it.

John: That's right. It's kinda like the preamble of the show, really. That's why we do what we do. It's all Warren Buffett's fault.

Russ: That's right. [Laughs] That's right. And we're lucky because we're in the United States of America, a pretty cool system. All right. And that brings us to This Week in Business History. What happened during this December week in business history?

John: Well, we start off in 1620, in December 1620, up in Massachusetts. The Mayflower came ashore at Plymouth Harbor. Actually there wasn't really now harbor there; it was just a kind of a beach. And they started their new settlement. And they left England because of their - there was not a whole lot of religious and political freedom back in those days.

Russ: That's right.

John: You had a theocracy with the Church of England kinda running the show more or less. They were kind of a wandering tribe, the puritans were. And they would spend some time in the Netherlands and then they did run into some financial investors that backed a trip set up a colony in America. And, of course, they landed there in 1620 and a had a lotta trials and tribulations. But eventually they got successful and they paid off their investors and that was one of the reasons why they had the Thanksgiving, really, they were free and clear of the -

Russ: Of the loan.

John: - of the loan. Yeah.

Russ: All right. And when you say, "timing it," it woulda been maybe there's a better month than December to arrive in Massachusetts?

John: Yeah. If you're gonna go to Massachusetts, I'd go in like August or something or July. But, ooh, December up there

Russ: I know _____.

John: There's no gas heat up there.

Russ: That's right.

John: Okay. This week in business history, in 1820, Missouri imposes a $1.00 bachelor tax on, of course, unmarried men. It's hard to be a bachelor if you're married unless your -

Russ: Right, right.

John: - you take that ring off or something.

Russ: Right. [Laughs] That's a temporarily that you're a bachelor, I guess.

John: Temporarily. Yeah, but anyway, so that just goes to show that there's no shortage of ways of separating us -

Russ: Taxing.

John: - from our money when the government wants to -

Russ: A bachelor tax.

John: Yeah, a bachelor tax. Okay. In 1820, again, now this week in business history, is the birthday of the first self-made millionaires, Sarah Breedlove, also known as Madame CJ Walker. She was a businesswoman, hair care entrepreneur, tycoon, and philanthropist. She made all her dough by developing and selling a successful line of beauty and hair care products for black women. This was back in 1867. And very timely because the Civil War was over and these blacks were free and they were free to make their own money and all that.

Russ: Well, that's interesting 'cause she was the first female millionaires, and she was black, and that's pretty cool.

John: That's right. Yeah, African American.

Russ: Cool, all right.

John: This week in business history in 1871, Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, patents elastic suspenders. It was his first invention. Patented it on December 19, 1871. And it was better than the belt, an improvement in an adjustable detachable garment straps. I wear from time to time.

Russ: Well, I know. You've got some on right now. I don't know if our audience knows that.

John: I got some on right now. That's right. It's nice. I don't like wearing a belt sometimes.

Russ: Yeah. I understand.

John: So I put these on.

Russ: And you do like wearing pants, and that's what keeps 'em up, right

John: Well, yeah, especially in the wintertime.

Russ: That's right. [Laughs] That's right. All right.

John: This week in business history in 1922, 14 republics formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They were anything but republics. They were under the thumb of the Polit Bureau and the chairman.

Russ: Yeah. I mean, I think about it. By the time you and I were able to know what was going on, there wasn't hardly any talk of republics. There mighta been a line that used to be there where there was a republic. But, man, it was all USSR.

John: Yeah, the USSR. The USSR. And a big monolithic dictatorship.

Russ: Right.

John: Totalitarianistic government.

Russ: Right.

John: This week in business history in 1939, Montgomery Ward - this was one of the great marketing ploys of all time - invents another reindeer. Rudolph became the ninth reindeer. And he was created by a guy name Robert May, and he was an employee of the Montgomery Ward Company.

Russ: Isn't that interesting?

John: Even made a song, "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer." I don't know whether this guy, Robert May, did the song, but Gene Autry made a living singing it. And everybody made money off of this reindeer, a beautiful reindeer.

Russ: Right. But who - I wonder how many people know that was originally a marketing ploy?

John: It was a marketing ploy. Well, some people think Christmas is a marketing ploy now.

Russ: [Laughs] Right.

John: People forget why we celebrate it.

Russ: But there was really not a reindeer that had a red nose, right?

John: Well, I don't think there were the eight other little tiny reindeer, either.

Russ: That pulled the sleigh, [laughs] that could fly.

John: Yeah, that could fly.

Russ: I always wondered about that. Now why can they fly? They don't even have wings.

John: They don't have wings. Well, it's pixy dust, I guess.

Russ: I guess. All right.

John: This week in business history, in 1946 is the birthday of Jimmy Buffett.

Russ: Wow. Speaking of Warren Buffet.

John: I'd say he's a marginally talented singer that caught on with the beach crowd. That's his marketing.

Russ: Did he ever.

John: And Montgomery Ward had Rudolph. Jimmy Buffet has the beach, right?

Russ: [Laughs] Right. Or the beach has Jimmy Buffett.

John: Yeah, right. So -

Russ: Now I saw him about 35 years ago. And then I saw him last week. And what I love about it is it's a very festive, fun, _____. And, man, he's like a business machine, too.

John: Yeah, I know. I saw him down at Minute Maid Park a couple years ago and everybody wearing their parrot heads and everything.

Russ: Oh, yeah.

John: 60-70-year-old guy wearing a parrot head.

Russ: [Laughs] Right, right.

John: Jesus. All right. This week in business history in 1965, director, David Lane - this has to be probably his most successful movie. He had a couple others - premiers "Doctor Zhivago."

Russ: Oh, man. With Omar Sharif?

John: Omar Sharif and Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin and kind of a faithful adaptation of the book. The book - it was not permitted to be published in the Soviet Union 'cause it was very critical of the revolution.

Russ: Right. Well, it's the whole Bolshevik thing.

John: The Bolshevik, yeah.

Russ: I was young and saw it and loved it. I thought it was a great story.

John: Oh, great movie. Why not love it, you know?

Russ: Yeah, that's right.

John: And then Rod Steiger plays a great role in that.

Russ: That's right. Okay.

John: This week in business history in 1967, two years afterwards, "The Graduate," starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft premiers.

Russ: Wow, what a movie week.

John: And it turns out that - people don't know this, but Anne Bancroft wasn't that much older than Dustin Hoffman. She played Mrs. Robinson, the older woman.

Russ: Yeah. She was the older woman, seducing him.

John: But he looked - he played the part younger than he actually was, and she was made up to look like an older person. This week in business history in 1968, David Crosby, along with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, premiere together in California. Yeah, that was a group that it sounded great, but they never really stayed together. They were always adding and subtracting members. 'Cause when Neil Young was in the band, it was called Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. They had that great Woodstock album, remember?

Russ: Well, I think they added drugs in there a lot, and then that played a role, too, _____.

John: Yeah, that will tend to drop off your productivity if you're stoned.

Russ: [Laughs] Right.

John: Okay. This week in business history in 1998, President Bill Clinton is impeached, one of two presidents that was impeached. But after 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a Grand Jury, and obstructing justice. He later went to the Senate for trial and was acquitted.

Russ: Right.

John: Do you know who the other president was?

Russ: Johnson.

John: Yeah.

Russ: Not Lyndon.

John: Not Lyndon, the other Johnson.

Russ: Yeah.

John: The guy that succeeded Abraham Lincoln.

Russ: Yeah, yeah. But I mean I remember in history lessons in school, we talked about impeachment and we talked about this guy, Johnson, and it was like it was like God-awful shameful thing, even though he, too, was exonerated. But now I think that so many people liked Bill Clinton they think, "Aw, impeachment's not that big a deal."

John: Yeah. Well -

Russ: Kinda like a DUI.

John: DUI, well, it's -

Russ: [Laughs]

John: I don't know.

Russ: That was an unusual time, man.

John: Well, he also lost his license to practice law for like ten years.

Russ: Yeah, I think that's okay. All right.

John: That's it.

Russ: That's it. All right. All right. We went from the Mayflower to Slick Willie, all right.

John: Slick Willie, yes.

Russ: Cool. All right. And that brings us to the Jargon Challenge Round, also known as our Vocabulary Lesson where I think you all know the whole process. I go out and find word, a new word, or make one up. John doesn't know what it is, and he has to guess the meaning.

John: That's right.

Russ: All right. Are you ready for this morning's word?

John: I guess I am.

Russ: All right.

John: All right.

Russ: Data exhaust.

John: Data exhaust.

Russ: Yes.

John: Okay. Well, "exhaust" is the crap that comes outta your tailpipe. It's pollution, so "data" is when you get so much data crammed into your life and it just - just your whole life is data-obsessed. Not all that data is good. So it's kind of a pollutant that pollutes your mind. It pollutes your computer. It computes the very life you're living, and it's all that exhaust has to go. You wanna free yourself -

Russ: All right, I think what we're gonna do -

John: You gotta get rid of all that crap.

Russ: - is we're gonna give you a tie today. We think that's a good secondary meaning of data exhaust.

John: Oh, okay. All right.

Russ: The first one is the digitally trackable or storable actions, choices, and preferences that people generate as they go about their daily lives. Nowadays, everywhere you go you charge something, you search for something, you make a phone call, you text somebody. All of that is trackable, and is data exhaust.

John: That doesn't make sense.

Russ: I'm sorry. I'm sorry you feel that way.

John: Yeah. Well, it's -

Russ: All right. That's the official -

John: Whoever came up with that word don't know what they're talking about.

Russ: That's the official meaning.

John: Yeah.

Russ: All right. And that brings us to Dumb Moments in Business. Do we have one to share this morning?

John: Yeah, This is just a little tidbit. You know how you pick these things up. Not all the mistakes there are catastrophic and calamitous. All this is part of a calamitous mistake, okay?

Russ: Right, all right.

John: They think the stimulus money - anybody who thinks the stimulus money is going to the right place, well, you're wrong. Here's an example. National Science Foundation gave $141,000.00 of federal stimulus money to Montana State University to fund a six-week student trip to China so the little kiddies can study dinosaur eggs and other fossils. Now the kids had a good time, six weeks in China, all expenses paid.

Russ: Yeah, I'll bet they did.

John: But the dinosaur eggs that they studied didn't hatch any new jobs. So -

Russ: [Laughs] Great.

John: So I guess it was money - it was - I guess it's part of the - it's stimulus money that - well, we're not sure what this is gonna do, but once we spend it, then you'll know what it did.

Russ: [Laughs] We need to put our research department on who decided that would be a good utilization of some of our federal tax money.

John: I know, I know. I know. Somebody's kid was going to school in Montana State and they thought, "Oh, let's give little Johnny a trip."

Russ: There you go. All right. And before we wrap up this morning's School of Business, it's time for the very popular PKF Texas Entrepreneur's Playbook.

John: And here comes the stimulating Greg Price, all people -

Russ: On the piano.

John: On the piano. And here he goes. A one, and a two -

Russ: A one, and a two, and a -

[PKF Entrepreneur's Playbook]

Russ: All right. And that wraps up this morning's School of Business. Stay tuned in for our favorite elevator pitches from the 8th Annual Rice Alliance Information Technology Web Venture Forum. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com.