Sometimes people talk when they shouldn’t. I’d long been in the advice business: I got paid primarily for giving advice, the right advice, and advice that was right. I didn’t get paid for guessing, for making things up, and I certainly didn’t get paid to give the wrong answer. Not all “experts,” credentialed, licensed, or…

A friend recently asked me about Startup-NY, New York’s new program ostensibly designed to help foster startups. As you might expect, the bark is better than the bite. Fundamentally, there are a bunch of complicated rules, exceptions, and requirements, and some conveniently unstated limits. Now, since I think the prerequisites will gut most of the…

This statement from a spokesperson for Pulte Homes qualifies as least helpful PR of the day: A spokeswoman for Pulte says it has been able to raise prices due to less competition from foreclosures and low interest rates. Really? That’s what you come up with and tell the WALL STREET JOURNAL? “We’re fortuitously able to…

I saw an interesting article in the WSJ today on the idea of hacking victims “hacking back.” The concept is that if you’re hacked, you might hack the computer that hacked you to recover your property or identify the hacker and pass that info to authorities. The concept isn’t crazy (the article’s warning that hacking…

Here’s a short link to one of my other blogs, Watch Rick Train. I’m raising money all year for Reed Academy, starting with the Tough Mudder in Pennsylvania tomorrow and finishing with Ironman Florida in November. My goal is $140,000. This is the start. Thanks for your support; I’ll post updates at the WRT blog.

I recently answered a LinkedIn question from a young lady asking whether an MBA or a JD was a better choice. (I won’t link the question since most of the responses were utterly misinformed and won’t even accidentally spread that nonsense.) I get asked this question, and questions about choosing law schools, pretty often. My…

This interesting Neuromarketing post on a proposed Australian law to eviscerate the branding value of cigarette packaging is a doozy. Separate from the inherent interest in the notion that the pack may be far more powerful than the cigarette (and I like both Why We Buy and Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill as…