Daily Archives: 01/26/2013

(Community Matters) If the Huffington Post’s analysis is correct . . . if Mitt Romney really would have won the 2012 election if electoral votes were allocated by congressional district, then I suppose there is a way for Rs to win the presidency again in my lifetime. I don’t see a way otherwise.

(Community Matters) WSJ: “Losing the Crown: Apple was unseated Friday by Exxon Mobil as the world’s largest company after losing $245 billion in market value since September.”

HT: Playbook

(Community Matters)  Move Your Startup to Austin for Free at SXSW

In conjunction with Capital Factory‘s Demo Day at SXSWi 2013, one company will receive a relocation package worth over $50,000 to move their startup to Austin.

Here’s the package:

• Three months rent in a 3 bedroom house (courtesy of HomeAway)
• Six months of co-working at Capital Factory
• Six months of server hosting (courtesy of Rackspace)
• Moving expenses (courtesy of uShip)
• Six months of a storage unit (courtesy of SpareFoot)
• Six months of local groceries (courtesy of Greenling)
• Six months of Ramen noodles
• Feature story on AustinStartup

(Community Matters) If there were ever a poster child for Christopher Hayes’ Twilight of the Elite, Paul Ryan is it – the Congressman from a small town whose neighbors don’t even vote for him (seriously, he doesn’t even win the election support of his town, though markets well outside to the broader congressional district); someone who lived & went to school on his father’s social security death benefits but who begrudges others as takers vs makers.

While I’ve never met him, I don’t trust the guy. Jonathan Chait names the misgivings in this New Yorker article.

(Community Matters) I’m always citing the fact that while Henry Ford was not a nice man (anti-Semitic & racist) he seized the enlightened self interest of growing America’s middle class – stumbled upon this NYTimes column.

The context of these citations today (vs previously with my UT business students) is in the debate about increasing marginal tax rates. A thriving middle class will actually lift all ships.

(Community Matters) Forbes ranked the fastest growing US metropolitan areas in terms of population & economic growth, Austin ranked #1 (Houston #2, Dallas-Ft Worth #3, San Antonio #9) – unemployment and median salaries for local college-educated workers were also part of the calculations.

When Chuck Gordon and Mario Feghali started Sparefoot, the 25-year old entrepreneurs relocated to Austin, Texas, from Los Angeles, having received seed money from local tech incubator Capital Factory.

Perhaps not surprisingly, cities in Texas — which welcomed more than 427,000 newcomers from August 2011 to July 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — dominated our list. Houston ranked second, behind Austin, followed by Dallas in third place and San Antonio in ninth. Robust labor markets, unemployment rates under 6% (well below the national average),no state income tax, a business-friendly regulatory environment, and strong population inflows all contributed to Texas towns’ high rankings.

Of course I think Capital Factory & its founder Joshua Baer are runaway competitive assets to Austin’s entrepreneurial eco-system. Just met Chuck Gordan, Mario Feghali and their partners at Sparefoot – who we’re hoping will be new members of the Entrepreneurs Foundation soon.

as an aside, I hadn’t realized Forbes ranks Utah as the best state for business and careers.

(Community Matters) Maybe we should require the government to remove one business regulation in order to issue a new one. Heck, I wouldn’t be opposed to a ratio of 2:1 or higher.

I’m not bashing government regulation – believing it’s a critical component of a free market economic system. While the best economic model ever created, it’s still grossly flawed – especially in terms of externalizing costs and protecting workers & consumers. Nevertheless, the sheer number of cumulative regulations and a rather byzantine regulatory system can be a drag on innovation and efficiency. Not to mention: bureaucracy is also cumulative *and* self perpetuating, and even when comprised of all good people with all good ambition, can become a drag on economic growth.

The Democratic Party should be known for both protecting and promoting the interests of America’s middle class *and* promoting and enabling economic growth and innovation. There is a balancing act here; and yes, citizens should win all ties . . . but if we look hard enough, we can usually avoid ties.