with Auren
Hoffman
Month of August, 2003
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Summation Auren Hoffman's Summation for August, 2003 This issue:* Some Quick Thoughts on the World (America, Israel, Women, and Quarantine Laws) * Suing the Mayonnaise Company (who Cares about Tort Reform) * The Connector: Save Time by Stopping Spam. Cloudmark. * Book Review: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion -- by Robert B. Cialdini * Reader Responses: * Friend of Auren: Mark Gerson, CEO of Gerson Lehrman Group and TheCouncils * Summation Pick Links * Hoffman Reading List Note: There are currently over 12,000 people subscribed to Summation (Share Summation. Forward it to the smartest people you know.) -------------------------------- SOME QUICK THOUGHTS ON THE WORLD (America, Israel, Women, and Quarantine Laws) by Auren Hoffman I was thinking the other day, on July 4, about the United States of America and the world. Just thinking, not theorizing or forming some sort of hyped-out hypothesis ... but just thinking ... America is to the world as Microsoft is to other tech companies. We have the begrudging respect for all that we have accomplished yet other countries fear us and many of those countries would like to see us falter or be split apart ... ----- Israel wants peace but only has three options -- all bad: Option 1: Current option -- tit-for-tat. McGoerge Bundy said the reason why the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam is that the Vietcong were more willing to die than we were to kill. That's true in Israel today and I believe this leads to long downward spiral to quagmire hell. We've now had three years of little progress and with no hope in sight Option 2: Full scale conflict. Define terrorism as war and attack its supporters. Attack Syria. Attack Iran. This plan is the most high-risk because it could ultimately lead to the entire world collectively engaging against Israel (though that's not too different from today). Option 3: Pull out of the West Bank and Gaza ASAP. Build a huge fence, dismantle all untenable settlements immediately. This option is likely to have some horrible short term consequences (as terrorists will be emboldened due to a perceived victory) but might be the only sane choice Israel has in the long run. Israel, a nation that more than any other wants peace, has no good option to achieve that goal. ----- This is very sexist to say -- but women are a major influence for peace. More women getting involved in a country makes that country less likely to engage in war. That doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of women hawks and plenty of counter-examples. But overall, women are a moderating influence. Getting women more involved in traditionally warring countries is in America's best interest and that should be a criterion for foreign aid. ----- We need new quarantine laws in this country (and in much of the world). Just like we should have put together the Department of Homeland Security before 9/11, we should debate and institute laws on quarantines before a massive health outbreak in the U.S. We need to debate it now before having a massive bioterror, bioerror, or terrible outbreak (like a potential SARS or Ebola explosion within our borders). Setting sensitive policy that might potentially take a victim forcefully away from his family and friends for the greater good should not be taken lightly. We need to create a system that is effective, fair, and cognizant of everyone's civil liberties. (What are your thoughts on my thoughts? E-mail auren@summation.net) -------------------------------- SUING THE MAYONNAISE COMPANY (who Cares about Tort Reform) You've heard of the tons of lawsuits against tobacco because of cancer, gun manufacturers because of unwanted deaths, McDonald's because of hot coffee burns, dot-coms because of stock price fluctuations, Cosmo because of the complex it gives to all women who are not models. So I've taken my lead from all these incredibly worthy lawsuits and launched my own. That's right, I'm suing big mayonnaise -- and not just because I can't stand mayo (see http://www.nomayo.com/). I mean, what is mayo anyway? It is basically just a big swab of fat originally designed to hide the taste of rotten and disgusting French food. Heinz and Hellmann's watch out! You'll probably be paying me and other people like me billions of dollars (though it will likely amount to a 25%-off coupon on mustard after we deduct taxes and lawyer fees). Ever notice there is no label on bottles of mayo saying "if you eat me, you'll get fat?" You think that's a coincidence? You think that Mayo producers don't know you'll get fat from eating mayo? I think the executives at Heinz and Hellmann's are conspiring to create a world of fat mayo eaters -- and the only people that will be able to compete are the poor in third world countries (who can't afford mayo) and the vegans (see tofu mayonnaise http://vegetarian.about.com/cs/reccoll/ht/howtofumayo.htm). I put on 4 pounds this summer! I used all my intuition (flipped a coin) to come to a complete scientific determination (a pure guess) that mayonnaise was behind my new largeness. Wow, someone call the cops. Those four pounds did irrevocable harm on me -- it made it harder for me to pick up girls at the beach this summer which means I am single longer and might traumatize me for life (or at least having to hear my mother's nagging about not having grandkids that much more). Makes you wonder what else mayonnaise might be responsible for ... hmmmmmm ... where there's smoke, there's fire ... I suggest that a global mayo corporate conspiracy is angling to destroy the rain forests, in cahoots with international bankers to create war in Iraq, and convince us that Gerard Depardieu is a good actor. (What do you think about Law-Suit Nation? Write auren@summation.net) -------------------------------- SUPPORT SUMMATION Be like Steve Mohebi. If you like what you read, give Summation a tip: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=push%40summation.net&item_name=Summation+Push&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD -------------------------------- The Connector Tools for Increasing Your Network SAVE TIME BY STOPPING SPAM. CLOUDMARK. Spam takes a lot of time to get through. The delete key is fairly effective, but good spam filters are much better. I use Cloudmark to filter my spam and I have to say it works very wells (filters about 90% of my spam and rarely has false positives. Some spam filters force the people sending you mail to go through a lot of work to complete the electronic communication. That might be good if you're Jennifer Lopez or Bill Gates, but that kind of system will prevent important messages from getting to most of us. Cloudmark uses collaborative filtering tools to work across networks to effectively eliminate spam. To get one month free of Cloudmark and a special price of $2/month afterwards go to: www.cloudmark.com/spamnet and use the referral code: r105hl And then let me know what a difference spam filtering made in your life. Past musings on "The Connector" at http://www.summation.net/connector.html (What are your thoughts about connectors? Write auren@summation.net) -------------------------------- SUPPORT SUMMATION You tip the taxi driver, the hairdresser, the housekeeper, and everyone at the hotel. Please also tip Summation for making you think -- we'd be very grateful for a $5-$25 donation. Thank you. https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=push%40summation.net&item_name=Summation+Push&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD -------------------------------- Useless Fact: President Theodore Roosevelt wrote 37 books. -------------------------------- Book Review: 
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasionby Robert B. Cialdini Phd This is one of the best books I have read this year and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in how people tick. This is very important for marketers, psychologists, or anyone else who needs to understand and persuade people (pretty much everyone). The book details why humans act the way we do and how we make seemingly irrational decisions all the time based on the context of the decision. The book is full of interesting examples and studies and is also written in a tight, informal, and humorous manner. I highly suggest reading this book. [Buy this book now] (To see more book reviews, check out the Hoffman Reading List at http://www.summation.net/reading.html) (What are you reading? Write auren@summation.net) -------------------------------- The objective of Summation is to make you think. Pass it on to a friend. -------------------------------- READER RESPONSES AND OPINIONS Regarding last month's article on "THE ENTREPRENEUR VS. THE STRATEGY CONSULTANT" (see http://www.summation.net/push0306.html) Neil Peretz opines: Having been in strategy consulting eons ago and then later an entrepreneur, I have a few thoughts: a. Most consultants like to study, study, study rather than act. And then they want to do a follow-on study. That's because they are paid for studying. Entrepreneurs focus on delivering/shipping a product or service and getting paid for it. b. Some strategy consultants are not industry-centric, which means they don't have as much of a gut feel for trends related to technology, regulation, etc. -- on the other hand, they may be more likely to find interesting parallels in other industries. c. Most consultants don't usually focus on organizational and personal politics in a company - yet that drives decision-making as much as outside facts in many cases. d. Most consultants are selling a Brain-for-Hire, and a fair bit of arrogance comes with that as part of their shtick. That arrogance doesn't work as well in some facets of the business world. e. Some entrepreneurs dream farther and wider - inventing entirely new products and services and processes. Consultants try to synthesize existing data sources (books, articles, experts, stats) to make recommendations that are inherently penned in by these sources. f. Many entrepreneurs are poor listeners - while consultants are oftentimes the ultimate listeners. These tendencies can be a strength and weakness. There needs to be a mid-point in a thriving company. All this said, there is a wide standard deviation within the category of entrepreneur and consultant. We shouldn't only think of silicon valley folks as entrepreneurs - the guy/gal who owns and runs your muffler shop is an entrepreneur too. Likewise, a minority of consultants have lots of hands-on operating background and don't solely rely on computer models and interviews with "experts". ... and John Girard, CEO of Clickability, says: Entrepreneurs believe in evolutionary approaches to business. Vary, select, and copy (aka throw it against the wall and see what sticks, then do it all over again with mutated copies of the stuff that sticks). Consultants believe in design/engineering. The former model is messy and relentlessly effective (just like evolution). The latter is, well, presumptuous (guess which model I believe in?). Another pop-culture induced thought: with truly brilliant entrepreneurs, I sometimes get the sense that they see the world like Neo did at the end of the first Matrix -- straight through the façade to the way that the world really works. Sorry, I have Matrix on the brain right now. ... and Matthew Cook on the Gavin Newsom for SF Mayor campaign, relays: Coin Flip -- other questions an entrepreneur might ask... "what is the burn rate while the coin is being flipped", "can we get rid of that said person flipping the coin to save money" the entrepreneur also might ask why are we even playing this game... why don't you invest that money that you were prepared to lose in my new idea... ... and Matthew Dundon at Alston & Bird LLP, remarks: The consultant responses you mention seem more to be the stereotypical lawyer responses to those kind of questions. A thoughtful and well-educated consultant (or a lawyer who went to Chicago!), would ask the question that go to the true end of strategy ... the delta in the person's concerned utility, or, in consultant-speak, the risks and benefits in terms of the clients' ultimate strategic objectives. When you ask that question, you can see how it is possible, in fact, even likely, for the rational person to reject the wager. The simple reason for that is that it can be far, far worse to lose $6,000 than it could be to win $10,000 -- $10,000 won isn't enough to transform most people's lives, $6,000 lost is enough to be a huge disaster for most people. It's not just poor people, it's anyone married. "Hi, honey, I just won $10,000," might get one a kiss. "Hi honey, I just lost $6,000" might inspire a visit from the divorce lawyer. Think of it in the corporate sense, as well: a windfall profit simply means you get one good year, without affecting expected earnings for future years. A terrible loss can mean liquidation, which is forever, or, applying public choice theory, the loss of the decision maker's job, which signifies in strategic gaming exactly the same as the liquidation of the company (since the company's sole value to the decision maker is his own salary and expectations for future salary). ... and Steve Mushero at Managing Director at GLOBALTECH, remarks: The B students couldn't get good jobs that satisfy them - the many women you note below primarily start hair dresser and other companies (including PR and other professional stuff, too) where they probably can't do as well elsewhere. I suspect your reasons are dominant, but there are probably other factors at work, too. I also know lots, maybe most, entrepreneurs who are just not that bright. ... and Allison Lehr at Baruch College, instructs: I work as a business advisor to entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs, so I have my feet in both worlds. Main difference? As a consultant, I can tell people what to do.... as an entrepreneur, I live directly with whatever choice I do or do not make. It's kind of like the difference between reading a Choose Your Own Adventure and actually living it. ... and Cynthia Tsai, well-known CEO of HealthExpo, quips: "Entrepreneurship is very over-rated." ... and Richard Neumann, author and CFO, writes: First, consultant vs. entrepreneur. A consultant is an entrepreneur who pays the mortgage while writing his first novel. O.K. so that wasn't fair, just true. For your readers who want a fun and thought provoking diversion from life, they might want to pick up a copy of my latest novel, "The Chronicles of Adrian Smith: The Audit Report." The story is a lot of things all at once. It's about people who face life altering changes and how they face them. Something I find is very much in the forefront of many people in this economic time of ours. It is also a romance that spans 100 years and crosses 100 light years of space. And for those native to San Francisco, it's an interesting visit to the city's glorious past in 1915. And written by a rental CFO. Regarding "MAKING PEOPLE REMEMBER YOU" (see http://www.summation.net/push0306.html) Gary Partoyan at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, remarks: On the topic of networking and making oneself stand out... I still go by "Gary", but I am using my own unique characteristic--my full, legal name of "Garo Linck Partoyan"--as a marketing and networking tool. Most everyone looks at a business card they've just been handed. And now most of those folks take a second or third look at mine, and many of those people ask me about my name. Something special by which to remember me. I'm no longer just some guy from Morgan Lynch Barney Sachs... I'm the nice guy with the Armenian name! (Write Auren your thoughts: auren@summation.net) -------------------------------- SUPPORT SUMMATION If you like what you read, give us a tip: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=push%40summation.net&item_name=Summation+Push&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD -------------------------------- FRIEND OF AUREN (FOA) [This section updates you an interesting person that is a member of Auren, Inc.] Mark Gerson CEO of Gerson Lehrman Group and TheCouncils Mark was introduced to me by my friend Joel Hornstein, a fellow graduate of Yale Law School. Mark is currently the CEO of Gerson Lehrman Group, a company dedicated to providing research experts to hedge funds and other institutions. Mark has been a very successful entrepreneur and is a fixture in New York City's political circles. Mark has authored In the Classroom: Dispatches from an Inner-City School That Works (Free Press, 1997) about his experiences teaching in an inner-city Catholic high-school right out of Williams College. Mark also wrote The Neoconservative Vision (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1995) and Essential Neoconservative Reader (Addison-Wesley, 1996). He's a modern-day Ben Franklin. Mark is a forward thinker who serves on the boards of the Manhattan Institute, Student Sponsor Partnership, the Yale Chai Society and Imentor. Even though he's extremely busy, he somehow finds the time to read three books a week! See past profiled Friends of Auren at: http://www.summation.net/friends.html -------------------------------- ...Forward Summation to a colleague.... Did you know it has been at least four months since we mentioned Andy Choy or Doug Kilponen? -------------------------------- THIS WEEK'S SUMMATION PICK LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK: * Google Browser by TouchGraph (http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html) - this is an extremely cool tool that gives you a graphic representation of links to a particular web site. Type in "www.summation.net" and see what happens. . * Corporate Library (http://www.thecorporatelibrary.com/) -- in this new age of good corporate governance, sites like these become extremely valuable. Forwarded to me by Gary Kraut. * Will the Real Saddam Hussein Please Stand Up (http://crew.tweakers.net/JvS/zooi/realhussein.swf) -- a terrific spoof on an Eminem classic. * RSVP for the Party of the Decade (http://evite.citysearch.com/ggparty@eudoramail.com/2011Party) -- taking place on Nov 11, 2011. * Auren on How to sell via e-mail (from the book "21st Century Selling"): http://www.summation.net/emailselling.html * What am I reading? (http://www.summation.net/reading.html) -- The Auren Hoffman Reading List. * Send a tip to Summation (https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=push%40summation.net&item_name=Summation+Push&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD) NOTE: Auren Hoffman works for Stonebrick Group but the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Hoffman. NOTE: You may reprint in full or in part (for free) with permission from author. Auren Hoffman's bio can be found at: http://www.summation.net/hoffman.html ------------------------------------ Comments: E-mail: auren@summation.net
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