Russ: This is the Businessmakers Show heard on the radio and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com. That show about the working class. We're talking about the innovators and the entrepreneurs.
John: That's right. These are the ones who did make it happen and these are the ones who did build what they built.
Russ: That's right.
John: Don't let anybody try to convince you otherwise. I mean, we all have help along the way.
Russ: Sure we do.
John: But where do you think those tax dollars come from that build the roads --
Russ: That helped ya'.
John: and pay the policemen and all that. It comes from us, the private sector. Not that we're discounting those things.
Russ: No, not at all.
John: There ya' go.
Russ: Alright and here's our lineup for today. First up, I'm gonna visit with Brad Burke, the managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. He's been on the show quite a few times, but not recently.
John: Yeah, we should start charging him to be on the show.
Russ: We should. We should. He's gonna update us on their new energy forum, a venture forum that's coming up in a couple of weeks and then that's gonna be followed by a guest that you and I both interviewed about six years ago --
John: Six years --
Russ: Carol Isaak Barden.
John: Oh yeah.
Russ: Interesting, interesting make it happen person. Had a very successful career in journalism. Was writing at one time for Conde Naste I think, which has something to do with --
John: Yeah, they own us.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Or the company that owns Conde Naste owns us.
Russ: Okay. Well then she completely changed gears and followed her passion and became, for lack of a better description, a developer of residential real estate.
John: There we go.
Russ: But unique residential real estate. It's a great story --
John: Very unique.
Russ: It's a great story. That's right. But first. That's right. It's time for the Businessmakers School of Business. Not your business as usual school.
John: That's right. We had a very interesting time this week putting our curriculum together.
Russ: Absolutely.
John: Finding things and there's no shortage of information out there. We were able to garner it and we're gonna be giving it to you for free in a very presentable way.
Russ: That's right.
John: Most of what we talk about during the segment is true.
Russ: That's right.
John: We do embellish things from time to time to make the facts more interesting and --
Russ: Yeah, but we don't spin it.
John: Not unlike a lot of what the mainstream media does --
Russ: No, they spin. We embellish.
John: We embellish. Right.
Russ: There's a difference. Embellishing is honorable.
John: It is honorable, yes it is. Yes.
Russ: Spinning is not.
John: Sorry. Okay.
Russ: Alright. We kick off the School of Business each week with a quote of the day and --
John: Quote of the day.
Russ: Today we're gonna go back to that guy that is so plentiful, Mr. Winston Churchill.
John: Oh yeah, he's a quote machine.
Russ: Yes, he is. This one actually is a little bit scary. Here it goes. The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
John: Ew. He must not have thought very highly of the voter --
Russ: Well, I mean, particularly today --
John: -- kind of an elitist mentality.
Russ: Well, but today we're so --
John: But he wasn't talking about today. He was talking about --
Russ: Well, I don't know. I think it was like that back then, but I --
John: I know.
Russ: I contend that there's major economic ignorance within our society today --
John: Right, yeah. But it's really not the individual's fault totally.
Russ: I agree.
John: 'Cause if you look who's taken over the public school system, university system, they don't do a very good job of teaching the basics. They're very good in teaching self-esteem and the facts no matter what kind of grades you get or how well you do in school, it's okay because deep down inside you're a good person.
Russ: Right. Right. Well, and then even some of the media, they bombard us with these extracurricular issues in the mainstream about what keeps life going on, the economy is ignored. Maybe we should take it on.
John: Let's buy all the media.
Russ: No, I'm saying we should take on the mission of educating the world and the ideology of free enterprise capitalism --
John: That's right.
Russ: -- because it's good for everybody.
John: It's basic economics.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Which really hinges on the supply and demand theory.
Russ: Yeah. And generally the whole thing is a meritocracy, which means if you're on the bottom you gotta shot to get up there --
John: In our country you still have a shot.
Russ: Yeah, if you're willing to do what it takes.
John: If you live in a dictatorship, then if you know people --
Russ: Or if you know the dictator.
John: Well in a favorable way.
Russ: Yeah in a favorable way --
John: Yeah, right.
Russ: You might do well. Alright.
John: Okay. Alright.
Russ: That brings us to This Week in Business History. So what happened during this August week in business history?
John: Okay. This week in business history, Mt. Vesuvius erupts in the year 79 A.D. and --
Russ: Changed the civilization over there, didn't it?
John: That's right. We wiped them out --
Russ: Yeah, right.
John: They didn't know. There were no seismologists there. I mean, they just thought they were gonna live there and no matter how bad things looked, they just kinda' stuck around and were buried under tons of ash.
Russ: Right.
John: Yeah. Terrible thing.
Russ: Right.
John: This week in business history, in 1841 the first bankruptcy laws are established. I would say basically they were put together so people wouldn't go to debtors' prison.
Russ: Yeah.
John: If they could work out an agreement with the people they owed money to, to settle on a way of giving these people the money that was owed them or at least a portion of it to keep someone out of debtors' prison, then it was a good thing. Unfortunately, now the bankruptcy laws are used as a cash management tool and some of the laws, like if you're gonna go bankrupt it's good to go bankrupt in Florida because your home is protected --
Russ: That's good.
John: -- and especially if you put it under the name of your spouse --
Russ: That's good.
John: -- and everything, then you're -- so I would say the pendulum's probably swung the other way in some regards, but it's still a good system.
Russ: Yeah, I agree.
John: This week in business history, in 1853 the first potato chips prepared by George Crum, chef George Crum, Saratoga Springs, New York. The first potato chip 1853.
Russ: Well I love potato chips and they're getting so good at exotic brands --
John: Ooh, yeah.
Russ: -- now a days and they're even making some of them taste good that are even in the baked category --
John: Oh yeah.
Russ: -- which is good.
John: Which is good. The only problem I have with the potato chip industry is the bags that they put them in makes you think you're getting a lot of potato chips, but then when you open up the bag, I'm always roundly disappointed by the dearth of potato chips that are in there.
Russ: Right. I understand.
John: This week in business history, and to be specific August 19, 1871 is Orville Wright's birthday of the Wright brothers who were the first --
Russ: Aviators.
John: -- say aviators in the machine flight, machine powered flight.
Russ: 1871?
John: 1871.
Russ: So he'd be 141.
John: Yeah, if he were alive today.
Russ: That's right. That would be impressive.
John: The thing about the Wright Brothers' airplane is you didn't have to wait and there were no baggage fees.
Russ: No, there weren't.
John: Course there was only one flight there at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Russ: Yeah and you kinda' were just hanging on the wing as you flew it --
John: That's right. You're hanging on the wing. A wing and a prayer as they say.
Russ: Yeah, there ya' go.
John: This week in business history, in 1888 the first adding machine in the United States is patented by William Seward Burroughs. The Burroughs Company, remember that?
Russ: Whoa, Burroughs. Yeah.
John: They tried to get in the computer business. Didn't work out very well for them --
Russ: That's true.
John: Okay. This week in business history, in 1896 the dial telephone is patented. This is the rotary dial, which is still in use today.
Russ: Some places, yeah.
John: In some places, yes.
Russ: You don't have any in the HBJ offices, do you?
John: Oh no. We are tech. We are high tech --
Russ: Touchtone.
John: Tech to the hilt. Yeah, we got the touchtone. But it was a very effective way of dialing a phone number back in those days --
Russ: Yeah, I kind of miss it sometimes.
John: I do. I used to get my finger stuck in it. I'd get a hangnail or something. I actually sued the phone _________ --
Russ: What's bad is if you had a number with a lot of eights and nines and zeroes.
John: Oh yeah.
Russ: Man, it took forever.
John: Took forever. I know.
Russ: If you had ones, twos and threes those were okay --
John: In some cases you just talk into your phone and it'll dial the number for you.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay. This week in business history, in 1901 the Cadillac is launched. Named after the 18th Century French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. I guess that's how you pronounce it. Founder of the city of Detroit.
Russ: Wow. How about that. Well, and Cadillac seems to be at least doing well in the merchandising -- their ads these days, man, they're kinda' hot.
John: They are hot.
Russ: Yeah. Good for them.
John: The cars look good. ________. I hope they do well. ________ --
Russ: Unfortunately they're -- yeah, they're part of General Motors.
John: This week in business history, in 1905 trademark is filed for the Cadillac Crest.
Russ: Oh, a lot of Cadillac this week.
John: That iconic trademark.
Russ: Yeah, which they still stick with today.
John: Newell S. Wright, an attorney, filed to register the crest as a trademark and been on the car for over a century.
Russ: Cool.
John: Yeah. This week in business history, in 1906 the first Victor Victrola is manufactured.
Russ: Wow.
John: Listen to music --
Russ: Well, we had one of those in our family for a long time --
John: Oh really.
Russ: It actually ended up belonging to me and believe it or not, a tornado hit my home and destroyed it.
John: Oh my.
Russ: True story.
John: A tornado.
Russ: Yes.
John: Well, good thing you survived.
Russ: Right.
John: Better you survived and the Victrola gets destroyed than the other way around it.
Russ: Right. Exactly. That's the way I felt, too.
John: This week in business history, in 1937 the Toyota Motor Company is established and began as a division of the Toyota Automatic Loom Works and it converted over time into the automobile business --
Russ: Wow.
John: And was very instrumental in changing the perception of Japanese manufactured goods where at one time they were considered a very poor quality --
Russ: Sure they were.
John: -- and cheap. Now the people think a lot differently.
Russ: Yeah, well now everybody gets excited when there's a Toyota-Thon.
John: Yeah, I know. I actually have them marked on my calendar.
Russ: Do ya'?
John: I take the day off to celebrate the Toyota-Thons.
Russ: And you wear a Toyota thong, right?
John: All over the city. Yes. I wear a toga to celebrate the Toyota --
Russ: Toyota-Thon?
John: Yeah. One time I got mixed up. I called then a Toga-Thon and I went into the dealership and they were wondering what are you talking about. Okay. This week in business history in 1966 the Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photographs from earth from orbit around the moon, that iconic ________ --
Russ: Yeah, that was a big deal back before we went to Mars and even before we had people that went to -- we haven't gone to Mars --
John: We haven't, no. We've sent some equipment to Mars.
Russ: Right.
John: And probes. Probes to Mars. As far as we know no human has gone to Mars.
Russ: Right.
John: Right. This week in business history in 1982 Martin Segal meets Ivan Boesky at the Harvard Club in New York City to discuss financial information and that's --
Russ: Led to one of the most successful insider trading clubs ever, right?
John: That's right. Yeah. Ivan Boesky was the iconic figure that was based on -- where the movie Wall Street, Michael Douglas' character was based on Ivan Boesky although Michael Douglas looked a lot better than Ivan Boesky.
Russ: Yeah, he did. He did.
John: Right. Okay. Alright. This week in business history, in 1991 the dissolution of the Soviet Union begins. What happened, Mikhail Gorbachev who's still around and still considered a very popular figure --
Russ: Right. Yes, he is.
John: He was considered a very popular figure then because he just looked like a nice guy plus he had that birthmark on his forehead, people felt sorry for him and so he got away with a lot, but the problem he had is he tried to liberalize the Russian economy while at the same time not liberalizing the government. So it's hard to have a free economy if the people themselves are not free. I think you're gonna probably have the same problems in China.
Russ: Could be.
John: Sooner or later those economic pressures are gonna cause the Chinese government to radically change some day. That's my prediction anyway. Okay. This week in business history, in 1996 Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law representing a major shift in welfare policy. He was forced into this after the Republicans took over Congress. There were actually two parts to the Clinton first term. There were the two years before the --
Russ: Right.
John: -- Republicans took over where you had midnight basketball and all this other ________ --
Russ: Right, right.
John: And then you had the two years after the Republicans took over, which is where you had the welfare reform. It was one of the most successful government endeavors in a long, long time, which has been partially if _______ --
Russ: Overturned, right.
John: -- totally a race through an Executive Order by our current President, which I think a third of the population is getting a welfare check right now.
Russ: Well, and the part that he changed is he didn't want you to have to be out there looking for a job in order to get welfare --
John: No, it's not fair. It's not fair. You can't help it if you can't find a job.
Russ: Right. Right.
John: Okay. This week in business history, in 2007 Michael Oxley is interviewed by the Businessmakers radio show. Former Congressman, House sponsor of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act now and I guess he's still the vice-chairman of NASDAQ.
Russ: I'm not sure if he still is, but he was at the time ________ --
John: At the time and I wonder if he realizes all the damage he did --
Russ: I think he actually blames it more on Sarbanes now.
John: Sarbanes, yeah. They've had a huge feud going on for years.
Russ: Right. Did that wrap it up?
John: Isn't that enough?
Russ: That's enough.
John: Alright.
Russ: That's enough. Absolutely. Alright.
John: Okay. Alright.
Russ: Alright. That brings us to the jargon challenge round, also known as our vocabulary lesson, which is presented in a contest format where John does not know the word. I get to choose it.
John: I don't. That is no jive. I really don't know the word.
Russ: He doesn't. I just spring it on him and he does his best at guessing the definition.
John: Yeah. Sometimes I get it. Sometimes I'm a miserable failure.
Russ: Right. Today's word is a noun and it's walkshed. One word.
John: Walkshed. I have no idea what that --
Russ: _______ _______ you take a shot at it, but I was gonna be impressed if you could, but a walkshed is the area that a person can comfortably or conveniently cover on foot. Like sometimes a watershed is like a watershed area. It's like a watershed where -- you don't think so.
John: I gotta tell ya' you've come up with a lot of great words. Duck shelf links is still my favorite.
Russ: Yeah, mine, too.
John: That is the worst.
Russ: Alright. That brings us to Dumb Moments. Do you have one for us today?
John: Well I've got two dumb moments. These are employment occasions.
Russ: Alright.
John: Okay.
Russ: Good.
John: One thing wrong about if you're in the terrorist business, especially if you're --
Russ: Yeah. One thing wrong.
John: Well yeah. This is a big thing.
Russ: Yeah, alright.
John: It's a problem that a lot of employers have and that is that when they're acquiring talent --
Russ: Human capital's important.
John: Human capital's important and things have gotten so bad for Al Qaida that they're --
Russ: They've been losing a lot of talent?
John: Yeah, because of their suicide bombers and there's been some slim pickins' out there as far as acquiring talent _________ --
Russ: Yeah, the benefits are kinda' tough --
John: Yeah. There's no 401k to speak of, healthcare. There's no healthcare. So anyway they've had to revert to suicide bombers want ads. The first paragraph kinda' lays it on the line. Apparently low on bombers, Al Qaida is running short term employment advertising on its internet forum under the heading Area Activity, the Planet Earth. If that doesn't work out, then you can always become a meter maid in Hermosa Beach, California --
Russ: This is another employment opportunity.
John: Yeah, right. Meter maids are pulling down almost 100k a year. No, $90,000.00; $90,000.00-92,000.00 dollars --
Russ: Just walkin' the beach and --
John: Just walkin' the beach and you have to be on the lookout for stray dogs and things like that. You have to be able to drive a standard transmission. Have to handle some large animals. You have to read and interpret statutes and regulations and you have to have a high school diploma or equivalent. This is according to the city's job description, the community service officers are supposed to enforce meter, other regulations, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera --
Russ: They must be one of the California communities that's in trouble, right?
John: This is according to the Orange County Daily Newspaper.
Russ: Well, okay. Alright. Before we wrap up today's School of Business, it's time for the very popular PKF Texas Entrepreneurs' Playbook.
John: And here's Greg Price.
Russ: On the piano. Alright. That wraps up today's School of Business. Stay tuned in for our interview with Brad Burke, the managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship followed by an interview with Carol Isaak Barden, the unique residential developer. All of that right after this. This is the Businessmakers Show heard on the radio and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com.
