Russ: Good morning. This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com. And this is that show that features entrepreneurs about people that make businesses that happen.
John: That's right Russ. They make businesses happen, and they make the economy happen.
Russ: And this is episode 275 of the BusinessMakers Show.
John: Wow! I can't believe that.
Russ: Yeah. But before we dive in, just a word about a cool upcoming event right here in our hometown, Houston, Texas, and that is the Museum of Printing History is holding their 2010 Gala on September 24th at Hotel Zaza.
John: That's right.
Russ: That's right. And keynote speaker is Ralf Blumenthal, award-winning New York Times journalist. And it's really gonna be a cool event. It's open. There's still a few tables left if you're interested. And by the way, we know the co-chairs, the MCs for it.
John: That's right. 'Cause you and I -
Russ: That's right.
John: - yours truly and you -
Russ: Yeah
John: - are going to be -
Russ: And yours truly and you.
John: And yours truly, right. And me [laughter] or however that works.
Russ: Yeah.
John: We're gonna be the MCs of this thing.
Russ: Yeah.
John: And for those of you who think printing is dead and on the decline, just come to the Hotel Zaza and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how alive the industry is.
Russ: You bet. And if you are interested, go to Printing Museum.org and click on the MPH2010 Gala link and arrange to join us on September 24th.
John: That's right. Live, in person.
Russ: That's right.
John: That's us.
Russ: That's right. Absolutely.
John: Right. Okay.
Russ: And here's our lineup for this morning. Our topic is the new world of radio [Laughter]. And our featured guest this morning, I'm gonna be talking to radio industry veteran and the founder of some of the most popular formats of the past several decades, Pat Fant who is the cofounder of RFC Media, the company changing the landscape of radio with his Internet-based brand casting and private company streaming radio stations.
And then for our flashback, we're gonna revisit another innovator in this space, and that is Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora. But first, that's right, it's time for the BusinessMakers School of Business, powered by Champion Energy Services. And this is not business as usual school.
John: That's right 'cause we are powered by an actual electric company [Laughter].
Russ: That's right [Laughter].
John: We have our own private power, dedicated power source, which really makes us much more lively than if we were getting power from a second- or third-hand provider.
Russ: You bet. And Champion Energy Services they're the guys noted for, you know, being totally transparent on the rates that they charge. So check 'em out for sure.
John: Yeah. Please do.
Russ: And we kick off the School of Business each Saturday morning with a quote of the day.
John: Quote of the day.
Russ: And this morning's quote comes from Howard Newton.
John: Howard Newton. The fig guy, the guy that did the figs?
Russ: Fig Newton.
John: Fig Newtons.
Russ: Yeah. This is his brother Howard [Laughter].
John: Is Howard [Laughter].
Russ: Yeah. Right [Laughter].
John: All right.
Russ: Here's the quote. People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it.
John: That's right.
Russ: And that is true, isn't it?
John: Speed is important, but the important thing is, is whether you do it right 'cause if you don't do it right, then you're gonna have to spend more time correcting it.
Russ: You bet.
John: Yeah.
Russ: All right. And that brings us to this week in business history. So what happened during this September week in business history, John?
John: Well, we have kind of a musical week here, I've noticed. And we're gonna start off with this week in business history in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem, which is later set to music and becomes the National Anthem -
Russ: Wow!
John: - in 1931. The Star Spangled Banner.
Russ: Wow!
John: And he wrote it while watching the British bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore. And at the end of the night's bombardment, the flag was still flying over Fort McHenry, and it inspired his poem.
Russ: Wow! I find that interesting that he wrote it in 1814, but it didn't become the National Anthem for over 100 years.
John: That's right. Okay. This week in business history, in 1851, the first issue of the New York Times appeared. It was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, not the country western singer [Laughter].
Russ: Are you sure?
John: He came along much later than that. But these were two former writers for another New York paper. And get this. They wanted to start a paper with a tone somewhat between the common moralizing preachy papers on one hand and the cynical, gossipy papers on the other. Little did they know that later the New York Times is referred to - in some peoples' eyes has reverted into just what they didn't want it to be in the first place, a paper with a preachy and moralizing on one hand and the gossipy on the other [Laughter]. People would - some people would, you know, say this is what the New York Times has become.
Russ: Okay.
John: All right. This week in business history in 1901 Peter Cooper Hewitt receives a patent for his vapor lamp, which was a precursor to today's fluorescent light bulbs.
Russ: Wow!
John: This week in business history in 1908, car manufacturer General Motors is founded.
Russ: Wow!
John: And then later, a new entity, NGMCO, purchased the operation and trademarks from the GM, and later also changed it's name from NGMCO to GMC.
Russ: They thought - yeah, they must have thought General Motors was a better name to begin with so -
John: Yeah. Right. Now it's called Government Motors.
Russ: Right. Right.
John: And we are all shareholders.
Russ: That's right.
John: I hear their IPO isn't doing so well.
Russ: That's right.
John: This week in business history in 1923 Hank Williams is born. He was ranked number 27 in Rolling Stones greatest singers of all time.
Russ: Wow!
John: And he died at 29 years old.
Russ: Wow! Yeah. No kidding. To me he's kind of like the James Dean of country and western music.
John: I know. He was kind of a rebel.
Russ: Yeah.
John: In more ways than one.
Russ: Yeah, they both were.
John: And he died under -
Russ: And they both died young.
John: - mysterious circumstances too.
Russ: Yeah.
John: This week in business history in 1925, Riley B. King also known as BB King is born. Blues guitarist, songwriter, was entered into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and -
Russ: Still going strong.
John: - Grammy Award winner. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the guy's really good.
Russ: Yep.
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1954, an iconic moment in show business. The famous picture of Marilyn Monroe who's laughing as her skirt is blown up from a subway vent blast was shot on this day. They were filming the movie "The Seven-Year Itch" and which also some people think the precipitated the divorce from Joe DiMaggio. He was not very supportive of her role -
Russ: In letting her skirt blow up.
John: - in letting her skirt blow up like that [Laughter].
Russ: Maybe it was an accident, you know. Maybe they were just...
John: No, no. If you saw the movie, it's not an accident [Laughter]. Plus it's a movie set. So, I mean, it wasn't like she was over a real subway then. I mean, they had a fan underneath the thing, and the guy operating the fan probably had the best shot of the whole thing, you know [Laughter]. All right. Okay. All right.
This week in business history, September of 1955 Ed Sullivan's popular talk show was called the Toast of the Town, changes it's named to the Ed Sullivan Show.
Russ: Now, I didn't know - I didn't even know there was a Toast - I should have known that.
John: Yeah. It was called the Toast of the Town.
Russ: Wow!
John: And you talk about an iconic show business.
Russ: Oh, yeah.
John: Yeah. I mean, here's Ed Sullivan who was a good writer. He was an entertainment gossip writer, had no talent whatsoever.
Russ: Right.
John: He was actually terrible on TV.
Russ: Right. He couldn't even announce the acts very well.
John: He had trouble. Yeah [Laughter]. But he had a good instinct for people would like to see.
Russ: Oh, yeah.
John: You know, Bob Hope, Lena Horn, the Beetles. They all made their TV debut on the show.
Russ: Elvis did too. Yeah. Right.
John: Elvis. Yeah.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1960 OPEC is found, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was found in Baghdad at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, and five core members, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Sad Arabia, and Venezuela. And then they added more and more countries. And I say their influence in moral politics and economics peaked in 1973 where they declared any oil embargo.
Russ: They were pretty strong -
John: They were pretty strong.
Russ: - when they did that [Laughter].
John: They were pretty strong, but, you know, they're still, I would say, a factor in the energy business, but they're not the factor, the only factor.
Russ: Well, I think there's so many members now too that they have trouble agreeing on what to do.
John: That's right. A lot of inner _____ warfare between _____.
Russ: Yeah. And so that in and of itself has caused them to lose some power.
John: Yeah. This week in business history in 1962, one of my favorite music groups, the Four Seasons, had their first number one hit Sherry. This week in business history in 1966 minimum wage is raised to a buck forty an hour.
Russ: Wow! We should have left it there. [Laughter].
John: I don't know why they didn't raise it a thousand -
Russ: Dollars an hour?
John: - fourteen hundred dollars an hour, you know [Laughter]. What the heck? You know, why stop at $1.40.
Russ: Yeah. Just make everybody rich.
John: Just make everybody rich.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Yeah. This week in business history in 1969 Santana's first album entered the US charts with the popular song Evil Ways. This week in business history in 1985, Nintendo releases Super Mario Brothers, sequel to the 1983 game Mario Brothers, and was responsible for the initial success of Nintendo Entertainment System. Now, I like Mario Brothers. And the thing is those video games back then I could play them 'cause they didn't have a whole lot of buttons on the thing, you know. And now it's just really complicated.
Russ: Yeah. You'd think they've screwed it up all then right?
John: Well, I don't know [Laughter].
Russ: Right [Laughter].
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1996, the Gillette Company takes another step at expanding its present at retail checkout counters by announcing its merger with battery giant Duracell. Gillette had gone vertical, snapping up toothbrush companies and instrument-writing companies. And the Duracell did jive with the Gillette's business philosophy and made good fiscal sense with sales of $2.3 billion.
Russ: Yeah. And then promptly thereafter came out with a battery-operated normal razorblade.
John: Yeah. I still have one. It was a Mach 3.
Russ: Yeah. Do you keep your battery up to date in that?
John: Yeah. I do. You have to.
Russ: You do have a clean shave, I would say.
John: I do have a smooth shave [Laughter].
Russ: Yeah. It's from that vibrating razor.
John: Yeah. It feels good too.
Russ: All right. All right.
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1997 Apple Computers enlist founder and former CEO Steven Jobs to temporarily run the company. And, of course, temporarily that -
Russ: He's still there, right?
John: He's still there. Yeah.
Russ: Thirteen years [Laughter].
John: Well, you know, he's - look what he's done to the company.
Russ: Oh, incredible job at leadership.
John: That's right. This week in business history in 1997 - now, here's a guy, Ted Turner, pretty savvy business guy, right?
Russ: Yep.
John: Well, he gives a billion dollars to the UN [Laughter]. You talk about a den of thieves, you know [Laughter]. I mean, I'm not saying the UN doesn't do some good things. I'm sure they do, you know, but, you know, to give a billion dollars to that lethargic - I mean, Kofi Annan and all this.
Russ: Oh, yeah.
John: Jeez. What was he thinking of?
Russ: Well, it's interesting that you say that. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about two weeks ago really critiquing Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for their initiative now to talk all these billionaires into contributing their money to philanthropic causes. And the point was these are real innovators, these guys, and it continues to be questionable whether or not giving money to these organizations has the kind of impact that they might be able to have if they continued to innovate with that money and build new companies and stuff.
John: I know. I know. And hire more people.
Russ: That's right. That's right. So anyway.
John: And make peoples' lives better like the way you open the show up.
Russ: That's right. All right.
John: All right.
Russ: And that wraps up the history lesson.
John: I think it does. Yes.
Russ: Okay. Good job. Good job.
John: All right. Okay.
Russ: And that brings us to the Jargon Challenge Round.
John: Oh, my favorite. This is becoming one of my favorite things because I'm being - I'm so good at coming up with the definitions.
Russ: Well, you are. It's in the contest format where I get to go out and select a word, and I say the word, and then John has to guess the meaning.
John: That's right. And I do not know what the word is -
Russ: He doesn't.
John: - until I hear it on this show.
Russ: He doesn't. He should get this one this morning. It's a two-word noun.
John: A two-word noun.
Russ: You ready?
John: Yeah.
Russ: Media culpa.
John: Media culpa. Okay. Mia culpa is when you say hey, I'm at fault here.
Russ: Right.
John: Media culpa is when the media is at fault.
Russ: You got it.
John: And the - yeah.
Russ: Ladies and gentleman, hold your calls. We got a winner.
John: Now, I got to say though the media gets blamed for a lot more than it really deserves to be blamed for.
Russ: You think so?
John: Yeah. I would say so 'cause it's usually the person that gets in trouble that gets himself in trouble. It's not the media reporting what the person did or said. But all that being said, when a lot of the mainstream ten years ago or so decided to get out of the news business and into the news analysis business, that's when they started getting into a lot of trouble. And that's the - I think the real meaning of this word, the media culpa.
Russ: Okay. It's an admission of a mistake or misjudgment by a member of the media. All right. And that brings us to dumb moments in business. Do you have a story for us this morning?
John: Yeah. Yeah. This is - no telling where this one's gonna lead. You know, this is one that just came out. And sometimes, you know, the dumb moments you don't know they're dumb moments until the aftershocks.
Russ: Right.
John: But this could lead to an aftershock or two. There's a discount airline called Ryan Air, which you have flown on.
Russ: Yeah. Yeah. European discount,
John: And you've regaled me with some of the stories [Laughter].
Russ: Yes. It was an experience [Laughter].
John: Yeah. They have a CEO, Michael O'Leary who, for example, one time suggested that they - an aircraft could fly with standing room only areas for passengers as a way of, you know [laughter] -
Russ: Putting more people on it.
John: - putting more people on there and making more money. But he recently suggested that to save costs, they could dump the co-pilot; in other words, not have co-pilots in their airplanes because he suggested that they could train the air - the stewardesses, the flight attendants could be trained to take over to land the plane in the event of a crisis [laughter] because these things are big - nothing more than sophisticated computer games now 'cause it's all computerized and everything.
Russ: That's a good point.
John: I mean, I've seen flight attendants that, you know, I don't think could - they had trouble serving me my coffee [laughter], you know. And nothing against the flight attendant industry. People here this, you think well, what other things are they cutting that I don't know about, you know?
Russ: Well, if they could cut that whole salary of a pilot, that's substantial. Then they have an extra seat, and it's like a premium seat. It's up in front of first class [Laughter].
John: You could get a premium seat.
Russ: Maybe you could even get to handle the controls a little bit if you bought it, you know [Laughter].
John: Maybe you could make announcements over the loud speaker [Laughter].
Russ: All right [Laughter]. Well, I tell ya that synchs up well with my Ryan Air experience. Quite an airline there. All right. But before we wrap up this morning's School of Business, it's time for the very popular PFK Texas Entrepreneur's Playbook.
[PKF Texas Entrepreneurs Playbook]
Russ: Stay tuned in. Up next we have Pat Fant, co-founder of RFC Media, and he's gonna be followed by our flashback with Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com.
