Summation

Book: The World's Banker

The World's Banker : A Story of Failed States, Financial Crises, and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations by by Sebastian Mallaby

This is a story of Jim Wolfensohn -- President of the World Bank for ten years (1995 to 2005).

for those of you who'd like to learn more about the World Bank, this is a marvelous book ... gives you a real insight into one of the world's most important institution.

you'll also follow Mr. Wolfensohn -- the most prolific Bank President since Robert McNamara ... and watch him try to charge a flawed institution. Mallaby also points out Wolfensohn's own flaws ... and how his personality isn't suited very well to running a large institution.

the book is incredibly well-written and reads easily ... it is worth a read if you want to enhance your knowledge of how global poverty can better be transformed.

Danish govt pays prostitutes to sleep w disabled people

The headlines blurt: Danes provide prostitutes for the disabled

Brad Plumer has a great analysis of this crazy govt policy. snip:

1) Whoa...; 2) Only once a month? We pay taxes here in America and get screwed every single day; 3) Not that far a leap from this to taxpayer-subsidized sex for everyone—why not subsidize brothels for unattractive or shy people? Same principle, no?; 4) Well, what of it? If adequate housing and a decent living and all that jazz are things lefties think government should help guarantee, why not a happy sex life too?; 5) Assuming there aren't enough male prostitutes, or gay prostitutes, or tranny prostitutes, or whatever, to go around, aren't there discrimination issues here?

Woman Ticketed for Sitting on a Playground Bench with No Kids

I love stories like this:

Woman Ticketed for Sitting on a Playground Bench with No Kids

how wacky

40 under 40 = me

i got a few emails about this today ... aparently i was named as one of "40 under 40" by the San Jose Business Journal today.

cool!

see article on "People to watch: 40 under 40"

(unfortunately, i no longer qualify for the 30 under 30 articles...)

"Millions of Americans"

run away from anyone you hear someone say the phrase "Millions of Americans"

"Millions of Americans support ..."
"Millions of Americans believe ... "
"like millions of Americans, I ..."
"we stand behind millions of Americans ... "

technology is where you never expected it

Jeremy Epstein blogs about how his plumber uses a tablet PC.

blogging survey

Jason Throckmorton at LaunchSquad asked me to post this:

iUpload is doing a corporate blogging survey. if you have a few minutes, pls take a few moments to fill it out:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=665601347079

(results will be unveiled at next month's BlogOn conference)

Book: Founding Brothers

Another great book on the revolutionary war period. Just finish Alexander Hamilton (a must read) and then went after Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis.

this is a great book. and if you are into audiobooks like me, you'll find it a fantastic listen.

for some reason i am on an American biography kick right now. the four books i am currently devouring are Charlie Wilson's War, Theodore Rex (on Teddy Roosevelt), a book called "Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership", and a bio on Jim Wolfensohn.

Andrew Boer launches his blog

Andrew Boer -- a long-time friend of mine and colleague from my BridgePath days finally enters the blogosphere with: The Emptor Blog.

Andrew also recently launched a new business:

Emptor, the Latin word for buyer, is a creative, full-service licensing agency focused on reaching both the traditional markets and the new frontiers in licensing: including video games, Internet, and mobile applications.

connecting and dating...

After Fortune called me a "Corporate Yenta," people who never really understood what I do had a much better understanding...

My job is to set-up companies with business development relationships. It is basically the same strategy as setting people up on dates. My objective is to get enough interest that there is a second date. That is a success for me.

I know that not all my set-ups will result in marriage. But I want people to be excited to meet each other. The worst case scenario, like in dating, is when one of the parties calls me and says "what were you thinking!" luckily, that doesn't happen very often because it is common sense … you don’t want to set up a supermodel with an ugly, unemployed dude … unless, of course, he's unemployed because he just sold his Internet company for a billion dollars ... then it is ok if he's ugly ...