Russ: Good morning. This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com and this is that show that features those private sector people that go out there and make it happen.
John: That's right. We're talking about the people who start, create and endure, and they're the main reason why I think this economy will never go down the drain entirely.
Russ: Right.
John: I think they'll rescue it -
Russ: And here is out lineup for today. First up for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, we are featuring make it happen advice from make it happen entrepreneurs. Including, Brian Liu, co-founder of LegalZoom.com, Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Nolan Bushnell, inventor of Pong and founder of Atari, Jeff Sandefer, serial entrepreneur and founder and master teacher at the Acton School of Business, and Judith Cone, former vice-president of emerging technologies with the Kaufman Foundation. Then for our featured guest segment, we have the person who has launched more new companies than anyone other guest we have had on the show, because I am going to sit down with Billy Ladin, CEO of Internet America. And Billy is going to share the details of his new en devour, PDQ Meetings, the very cool multi-person face-to-face online meeting platform. I tell you, its like Skype but for multiple users. And we are going to follow the interview with a special WebXtra video recording of a PDQ Meetings session at thebusinessmakers.com between me, Billy Ladin and a former governor of Texas. But first. That's right, it's time for The BusinessMakers School of Business and this is not your business as usual school.
John: No, it's actually much better. Yeah.
Russ: All right. And we kick it off each Saturday morning with the quote of the day.
John: Quote of the day.
Russ: And this morning's quote comes from Ludwig Von Mises -
John: Oh, okay.
Russ: - the Austrian economist and philosopher.
John: Yes. First free market guy out there that went public, I think.
Russ: Well it's amazing how you recognize these people.
John: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Russ: But when you hear this quote, you'll definitely agree with that.
John: Uh huh.
Russ: Here it is: "All people, however fanatical they may be in their zeal to disparage and to fight capitalism, implicitly play homage to it by passionately clamoring for the products it turns out."
John: Yep.
Russ: All right and that brings us to This Week in Business History. So what happened during this February week in business history?
John: This week in business history in 1431 England begins a trial against Joan of Arc -
Russ: Oh yeah.
John: And she was a national heroine of France and eventually became a Catholic saint. She was born almost destitute -
Russ: Right.
John: - in Eastern France, had a couple of visions and actually led the French Army in several important victories during the 100 Years' War. However, she was captured by some of the French and sold to the English. I think they sold her to the English so the English would quit killing them.
Russ: Right. Right.
John: In subsequent battles and that - of course that didn't work anyway.
Russ: Right.
John: But this just goes to show even if you're French you still can't trust the French, because they'll just, you know, they'll just sell you out like that, you know?
Russ: Right. Right.
John: She died - burned at the stake and -
Russ: Ooh, and at a pretty young age, wasn't it?
John: Oh yeah, teenager.
Russ: Okay.
John: All right this week in business history in 1630 Indians introduced popcorn -
Russ: Wow, to the pilgrims.
John: Yeah, right.
Russ: It is with a microwave, you know -
John: Well it was microwaved, yes. Okay this week in business history, 1836 the Alamo is besieged by General Santa Ana -
Russ: Wow.
John: - and about 3,000 Mexican soldiers. They held out for about two weeks.
Russ: Yeah, 'cause they were only like less than a couple a hundred of Texans.
John: Yeah, 'bout a hundred. Last - the most accurate number I've ever seen is about 180.
Russ: Yeah.
John: And the entire garrison was eventually killed.
Russ: But we're doing our part of remembering the Alamo.
John: That's right and you know, I think it was a good thing.
Russ: Yeah, there you go.
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1858, Edwin Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm.
Russ: In 1858?
John: 1858.
Russ: Wow.
John: Now -
Russ: Just barely had electricity in homes.
John: I know. Well, I wonder why - what prompted him. He must've been burgled -
Russ: He must've been burgled?
John: - a couple of times and -
Russ: Yeah?
John: - and thought, "You know, I've had enough."
Russ: I've had enough.
John: Okay.
Russ: Interesting.
John: This week in business history the plow is patented by John Deere in Moline, Illinois and the rest is history.
Russ: Wow it's a pretty simple device.
John: I know, who - I mean it had been used for a long time -
Russ: Yeah.
John: -but they had obviously improved it.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay, this week in business history in 1878 the first telephone book is issued and there are only 50 subscribers in New Harbor, Connecticut.
Russ: My goodness.
John: So I mean it really wasn't a book -
Russ: Yeah.
John: It probably like a couple of sheets of onion skin or something, you know?
Russ: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
John: But anyway.
Russ: But I guess if you had 50 people, you know, and they all had telephone numbers, you'd need some way to figure out what their numbers are, so -
John: Yeah, so why not have a telephone book?
Russ: Okay.
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1896 - my oh my, the Tootsie Roll is introduced by a guy named Leo Hershfeld.
Russ: Wow! 1896?
John: Hershfield I should say.
Russ: Now that's -that's pretty cool.
John: The Tootsie Roll.
Russ: Man.
John: You know, I like Tootsie Rolls but I tell ya, you know what I really like better than a Tootsie Roll?
Russ: What's that?
John: Is the Tootsie Roll Pop.
Russ: Oh, 'cause you put a little -
John: That, that is a lollypop -
Russ: - hard candy on the inside.
John: - hard candy on the outside -
Russ: Yeah. That's pretty good.
John: - and the Tootsie Roll's on the inside.
Russ: That's pretty good.
John: And that is, aw man, I love those.
Russ: But Tootsie Roll - imagine now. I mean a Tootsie Roll is probably a pretty cool little thing in 1896.
John: I wonder what they looked like. I wonder what the first one looked like.
Russ: Yeah.
John: 'Cause now they have them in little segments, you can -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - but nobody really -
Russ: I believe -
John: - nobody really breaks off the segments.
Russ: Oh no, man.
John: Man, you just stick that thing in your mouth and chow down.
Russ: Yeah. You're right.
John: This week in business history in 1902 Dr. Harvey Cushing, the first U.S. brain surgeon does his first brain operation.
Russ: My goodness. Wonder who the patient was.
John: Now I - well I know. That patient should've gotten a medal.
Russ: That's right.
John: Okay, 1902, I mean I don't think anesthesia had been perfected.
Russ: No.
John: 'Course they say when you go into the brain it's - there's no nerves in there or something.
Russ: Yeah. Well -
John: I read - saw that in a movie once but -
Russ: I'm sure it's true, but -
John: Wonder what prompted them to go into the guy's brain.
Russ: Ah - probably curiosity.
John: 'Cause they - did - did they - I don't think they had perfected the X?ray or anything.
Russ: No. Why were they even in there?
John: I don't know.
Russ: Yeah?
John: All right, this week in business history in 1920 the first artificial rabbit was used at a dog race track. Man, you talk about innovations.
Russ: Innovation.
John: Because I wonder what they did before that. I guess they had -
Russ: Well they used real rabbits, yeah.
John: - real rabbits. Right. Okay.
Russ: PETA got hacked off and, and -
John: PETA, yeah.
Russ: - was about ready to shut 'em down and -
John: I know.
Russ: - and lo and behold they came up with the artificial rabbit.
John: All right, this week in business history in 1931 the everyman cure for hangover, the Alka Seltzer was introduced.
Russ: Wow. It seems like you used to really see - 'course I'm thinking way back to the '60s, maybe even the '50s, you'd see Alka Selzter commercials -
John: Yeah.
Russ: - on TV all the time.
John: This week in business history in 1957 Buddy Holly and the Crickets record "That'll be The Day."
[Music: "That'll be The Day"]
John: This week in business history in 1965 The Beatles begin filming Help in the Bahamas.
[Music: "Help"]
Russ: Yeah, so the movie Help. Did you see the movie?
John: No, I never watched any of The Beatle movies, you know?
Russ: Well I did. They never felt like you were really watching a movie.
John: Just like a documentary or something.
Russ: Kind of. Yeah.
John: Yeah. This week in business history in 1967 the 25th Amendment which spells out presidential succession was ratified by the Congress.
Russ: Which is interesting. 1967. So before then, you know, it was kinda like I guess -
John: Well the - well the Vice President was -
Russ: Was always, yeah, yeah.
John: But they didn't have -
Russ: Beyond him.
John: - beyond him.
Russ: Yeah.
John: This week in business history in 1970 the Jackson 5 make the TV debut on American Bandstand.
Russ: Now what - were you a fan of American Bandstand?
John: Uh it was all right. You know?
Russ: I mean I watched it a lot as a kid and it was, you know it was up there in Philadelphia, PA.
John: Yeah, well it was all right.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay this week in business history in 1980 - this is probably the preeminent sport event if you're an American, I would say, of all time.
Russ: And what is it?
John: And that is when the USA beat the USSR in Olympic Hockey -
Russ: Oh man, no kidding'.
John: - en route to a gold medal. That victory did not give them a gold medal-
Russ: Right.
John: - they still had to defeat Finland.
Russ: Right, yeah. I mean I watched it with a group of people, a group of IBM'ers. I was working at IBM and we all went nuts, you know, not expecting -
John: Yeah.
Russ: - to have a chance at all. I mean, man. What a game.
Russ: I got to meet Mike Eruzione.
John: Oh you did?
Russ: Yes, in -
John: Was he giving' like a motivational speech or somethin'?
Russ: - no it was like at a party thing.
John: Oh really?
Russ: And it was a sporting thing and he was like one of the keynotes -
John: Okay.
Russ: - and he actually went and sat at the table with us and -
John: Wow.
Russ: - good guy, yeah.
John: Did he body check ya into the, into the souffle or something?
Russ: He didn't, no man. Good guy.
John: All right, this week in business history in 1983 Michael Jackson's Thriller album goes to number one stays number one for 37 weeks.
[Music: "Thriller"]
Russ: Yeah, it was kind of a popular hit.
John: Oh, big hit, then. He had a lotta good songs on the album.
Russ: Yeah. Yeah.
John: This week in business history in 1991 singer James Brown is released from prison.
[Music: "I Feel Good"]
Russ: Wow. Okay. The hardest working' man in show business, eh?
John: That's right. Ask his wife about that. Got the heck knocked out of her.
Russ: Yeah, right.
John: Which is why he was in prison.
Russ: That's right.
John: Okay this week in business history in 1993 New York City World Trade Center is bombed by Muslim terrorists.
Russ: Right.
John: And -
Russ: The first attempt. Right.
John: - first attempt and seven people get killed.
Russ: Right even though it was a failed attempt, it was a quite an extraordinary -
John: Well we can't say it was a failed attempt because seven people got killed -
Russ: Well I know but they didn't bring the building down -
John: Yeah they -
Russ: - but man everybody in the building, you know, kinda freaked out.
John: Uh huh.
Russ: Everybody and I knew people that worked 'round there that it certainly left the feeling that hey, they're gonna try to blow this thing down in the future.
John: Well, well they thought if they could put the bomb inside the building it would make it happen.
Russ: Right, right.
John: But something - the way it was set up or the way - the position of the truck -
Russ: Right.
John: But anyway. That's kind of a downer this week in business history 'cause it begins with the English -
Russ: Right.
John: - getting a teenage girl and burning her at the stake -
Russ: Burning her at the stake, yeah.
John: - and then it ends with Muslim terrorists bombing the World Trade Center.
Russ: Yeah, yeah.
John: Yeah.
Russ: Yeah, tough week in business history.
John: Tough week in business history.
Russ: Wow, wow. Okay. All right but nevertheless, good history lesson.
John: Okay.
Russ: The kinda history lesson you don't get at regular business school 'cause you don't get any history lesson.
John: No, they don't teach you anything about, you know, the -
Russ: Right, that's right.
John: - where the country's been.
Russ: That's right. And that brings us to Navigating Business Jargon, also known as our vocabulary lesson.
John: That's right.
Russ: Where we do our best at helping our audience understand all of the new words and phrases and acronyms and techno-speak that are emerging around us daily and the way that we do it -
John: Uh huh.
Russ: - this is just mandatory. We just have to do it this way. It's in a contest format.
John: Yeah. That's right.
Russ: I say the word.
John: And - no first you make up the word.
Russ: Well, sometimes I do. Yeah.
John: Then you say the word.
Russ: Sometimes I make it a combination of two other jargon words.
John: Yeah.
Russ: But I'm not gonna do that today but this one -
John: Yeah, I didn't get it last - I've been doing pretty good though, if you look over the long haul.
Russ: Yeah.
John: This past six months I think I've done pretty good. Yeah.
Russ: Nah, I think you - I think you've been batting over .500, actually.
John: Which is pretty good not knowing the word.
Russ: Absolutely.
John: Yeah.
Russ: Today's - I think you can get it but you really have to think and focus on this. It's a noun. Cyberdisinhbition.
John: Wow. Cyber we all know that's Internet.
Russ: Right, you got that right.
John: Dis- what?
Russ: Disinhibition.
John: Okay. Okay. Inhibitions means you have like a tightly sense of self control.
Russ: Right.
John: You're inhibited. You know.
Russ: Right, right.
John: Well, if you're disinhibited that means you're flamboyant as heck -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - and you don't - and you just get on the web and you just do anything you want, you don't care what the outcome is gonna be.
Russ: Ladies and gentlemen, hold your calls. I think we've got a winner.
John: Wow.
Russ: Yeah, that's what it is and it's an interesting one because here's the official definition - a temporary loss of inhibition while online. Sometimes people get online, they're emboldened and leading to inappropriate behavior.
John: Inappropriate behavior -
Russ: Yeah, yeah. Cyberdisinhibition. And it's kinda interesting because you know you'll see people that'll just lambast somebody -
John: Yeah.
Russ: - you know, online but then in person - or even on the phone they'd go, "Well, well I didn't mean it like that," you know.
John: Well it doesn't matter.
Russ: That's right.
John: It's out there.
Russ: That's right. Yeah, you did mean it 'cause you said it. Yeah, there you go.
John: Yeah, yeah it's a, you know, you gotta watch what you do.
Russ: All right. All right. That brings us to Dumb Business Moments. Do you have one for us this morning?
John: Yeah, this is a - this is pretty dumb mo- this happened back in 1990. Now we've all heard how military contractors overcharge for stuff, you know -
Russ: Yeah, all the time, yeah.
John: - $500.00 toilet seat - oh, you hear about it all the time.
Russ: Yeah, it's embarrassing.
John: But I've never really heard the reason that a company gave for, for doing that.
Russ: Oh there is, there's sometimes there is a reason?
John: Yeah. Well they say there's a reason.
Russ: Yeah, okay.
John: I mean they give you a reason.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay. This goes back, again 1990.
Russ: Yeah.
John: There's a company I'll call Pratt & Whitney.
Russ: Oh yeah.
John: It's a, you know, aeronautics company.
Russ: Right.
John: Robert G. Carroll was the company spokesman, which means he's the PR flak.
Russ: There you go.
John: Whenever the CEO doesn't wanna catch any bad stuff, they just put -
Russ: Yeah, the spokesman yeah, 'cause they'll do it.
John: - they just push the spokesman out there and do it.
Russ: Right.
John: They put this guy out to explain why they charged the Air Force about $1,000.00 for a pair of pliers.
Russ: Okay.
John: Yeah $1,000 pliers are, right?
Russ: Yeah, absolutely.
John: You go to Home Depot, pick them up for a buck.
Russ: Yeah, yeah, right.
John: You know five bucks or whatever.
Russ: Right, right. I wanna hear this.
John: So he - his explanation was, "Well you see they're multi-purpose. Not only do they put the clips on, but they take them off as well."
Russ: Well that explains it.
John: Now wanna know what kinda clips they are, but you I guess, I guess these are -
Russ: Well that totally explained it.
John: I guess these are - this is a tool that the Air Force uses -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - to you know, fix Pratt & Whitney engines or something.
Russ: It puts the clips on and you can use it to take 'em off. We gotta charge more.
John: And at least they didn't have another set of pliers that were only for taking the clips off.
Russ: That's right, that's right.
John: You know, you gotta use this set of pliers -
Russ: To put it on.
John: - to put 'em on and then this one to take 'em off.
Russ: That's right.
John: So anyway. That's the first time I've ever seen a full-fledged explanation for, you know, bilking the government. I wish the government would give us explanations on why they've been bilking us.
Russ: That's right. Good point.
John: I mean you never hear - you know it's easy to make fun of a private company.
Russ: Right, right.
John: But the government is -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - I mean when's the last time they ever shot straight with anybody?
Russ: Not at all, man.
John: Nothing. Yeah.
Russ: Right, right.
John: Okay.
Russ: All right and before we wrap up this morning's School of Business, it's time for that very popular PKF Texas Entrepreneur's Playbook.
John: You know and you think of straight shooters.
Russ: Yeah.
John: You know we just got done saying' it, even though we shoot straight -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - Here is the straight shooter of all -
Russ: You bet.
John: If you look up the word, the phrase "straight shooter" in the dictionary -
Russ: Yeah.
John: - you'll see Greg Price's picture and here he is.
Russ: Greg Price on the piano.
Greg: This is Greg Price with PKF Texas' Entrepreneur's Playbook.These days, it can often be difficult to keep your business' long term vision in sight as you balance the short term demands of this new economy. Maintaining this balance is more important than ever. Some things to keep in mind:
- Make the time on a regular basis to think about and plan for the future. Have a regular meeting with your executive team or advisory board.
- Marketing and business development are critical now to keep your pipeline full, which sets the stage to hit your long term growth goals.
- Talk with your clients about what is going on in their business and really listen to what they tell you. Their growth and ability to continue to use your services directly impacts your long term goals. If their needs change dramatically will you still be or want to be their go-to resource?
- Be flexible and ask yourself, "Are the long term goals we set for the company still relevant? And is that still the direction we want to go?"
To read and comment on the PKF Texas' Entrepreneur's Playbook, visit my blog, fromgregshead.com. And be sure to check out the new mobile ready website at PKF Texas.com - PKF Texas, The Fit That's Right!
Russ: Alright and that wraps up this mornings School of Business. Stay tuned in for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback where we are going to share advice for entrepreneurs from entrepreneurs. Including, Brian Liu, co-founder of LegalZoom.com, Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Jeff Sandefer, founder and master teacher at the Acton School of Business. Then for our featured guest segment, I will be visiting with Billy Ladin, CEO of Internet America as he shares details of his new en devour, PDQMeetings.net. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
