February 2009
7 posts
Startups in 13 Sentences →
Paul Graham’s lessons for startups. These are great lessons.
Once Again, The AP Tries To Redefine Fair Use;... →
An interesting issue on copyright. If people got permission before creating and distributing a derivative work, there would be fewer disputes. But people usually don’t work that way.
Time for the Government to Stop Subsidizing... →
“…giving the system much needed new equity capital, which, at this time, can come only from the government.”
I am not sure what you mean by agreeing to the statement.
Here is a question. Let’s say you auction an insolvent bank, starting price being $0 and lowering the bid price to be negative (meaning removing some liability obligation). If the bank is too large, you could divide it into...
Something for Nothing - Freakonomics Blog -... →
Successful innovations tend to start as a complementary good to the incumbent. So, they create a new market, adding to the existing and sometimes helping the incumbent. It is necessary strategically, to avoid direct competition with the strong incumbent and find a room for growth.
However, some, if not many, of them will start substituting the incumbent over time, depending on whether it remains...
Greg Mankiw's Blog: News Flash: Economists Agree →
Greg Mankiw seems a very reasonable and balanced economist. I started reading his blog.
FT.com / Columnists / Stefan Stern - The hot air... →
You have to survive, to do whatever good. I guess that’s the message.
"Art - what's the point?" in Journal - RedBubble -... →
January 2009
1 post
Welcome - A Nation of Wimps →
This book may be for Korean parents, too.
December 2008
13 posts
Bits Of Destruction →
Yes! Give freedom to entrepreneurs and we will make the world better!
Remove required capital (which is huge) to start a new bank. The worst regulation of all is “barrier entry regulation”. Allow a guy with an idea and little money to start a new “different” bank. The government officials (at least in Korea) did not grant a license even if you do have the initial capital,...
Correspondence Is Making A Comeback →
I really agree with you. There are some problems (opportunities?) to address.
- Discussions don’t last long. This is a major problem. Some topics (such as market vs. regulation) deserve much more than just 2 days of popularity. There should be slow-pace solutions.
- The discussions can happen anywhere, which is good and bad. It would be great if one can see interesting discussions in...
Bloomberg.com:
Exclusive →
A great article about Chicago school of economics. I guess we’ll know this time better after some years.
After Credentials →
A great, as usual, article about education and credentials. He mentioned Korea, and I agree with him.
The Long Tail - Wired Blogs →
Regarding this issue, I agree with Chris Anderson mostly. I think the most effective way for a poor startup (including artists) is to create a market, not just a product in an existing market. What does it mean to create a market? Create a product that’s different enough so that users cannot associate with an existing category.
The Long Tail - Wired Blogs →
An issue on the long tail. Essentially the question is “do the tails have a chance?” I think the answer is “yes, if you become the head of your own niche.”
OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN | The Art of... →
Richard Branson serves Guy Kawasaki.
See the photo!
myartspace>blog: For the Love of God: Damien Hirst... →
The copyright issue is everywhere.
Times Extra: The New York Times Opens Web Front... →
Newspapers need to decide what they will become, a content creator or a content distributor. They can mix both, but need to have one or the other as their primary identity. It is like either Techcrunch or Techmeme. Either can work, but not trying to be both with one site.
If they want to be a content aggregator, then they have another choice of how to prioritize the news. Broadly, you can base...
What Exactly Is Adult Content? Google Forces Ning... →
Unless you accept that this kind of classification is inherently subjective judgment (by the people at the top of Ning or Google or whoever), people will waste time discussing what is objective or ‘right’.
The best that Ning can do is to make it as clear as possible so that future users do not invest time setting up a network, only to find later that they have violated Ning’s policy.
No matter...
Pulitzer Prize Makes Nice With The Web As Print... →
It seems that The Pulitzer Prize itself is trying to remain relevant, but not enough yet…
The High-Res Society →
Startup will take the leading role that large companies used to play… I agree.
The End Of Online Anonymity - ReadWriteWeb
→
Something that has already been happening in Korea. But the US heading towards removing online anonymity is surprising.
November 2008
21 posts
A Modest Proposal For The Auto Industry: Stop... →
I think this is a recommendation worth considering. The key insight comes from Professor Clayton Christensen’s disruptive innovation theory. When a product’s key performance does not yet meet the consumers’ standard, the best company is likely to be integrated because improving that product performance is the key factor to win customers. When that product performance of most companies largely...
A Modest Proposal For The Auto Industry: Stop... →
I think the natural deal would be GM selling the production factories to Toyota or Hyundai with some guarantee of buying the produced cars under GM brand. I am sure there will be buyers. It would be like “sale and lease back” of an real estate asset.
When Everyone Is A Blogger, Nothing You Say Is Off... →
No defender of the politician… One interesting online phenomenon I see repeatedly. It is amazing how fast people label someone a ‘bad guy’ with very limited information from one party.
The Cost of Prudence →
“Stronger rules regulating the buying and selling of credit derivatives would have definitely been in the “worth it” category”
May I ask why you think so?
The Other Half of "Artists Ship" →
Paul Graham talks about the cost of checks, which are implemented to protect the organization such as solvency check of suppliers. They tend to have real cost, of excluding the best supplier. I agree, especially with the government issue.
My view is that big companies cannot solve this. It is just not possible, because it conflicts with how a big company runs. The only solution is to become...
Recourse, Of Course - Freakonomics Blog -... →
I need to read this again to clearly understand.
Seth's Blog: Watching the Times struggle (and what... →
Seth Godin’s advice to the ailing newspaper. I agree with the diagnosis, but I am not sure about the prescription.
Idiot's Guide to Blogging: Working for Yourself... →
Thanks for the good article. I would like to add one point. Employing also reduces your freedom, as well as being employed. As you are responsible for leading and supervising them, you cannot have the full freedom of solo work.
In a sense, solo entrepreneur is the most free work style. Obviously, you have business commitments which reduce your freedom, but they are common to other work styles.
Seth's Blog: What to do about Detroit →
I fully agree with Seth Godin. I have the same thought about Korean financial services industry. Make it really easy and cheap to start a financial service company, even a bank. Imagine a person with an idea can start a bank in a week with $1000 (for all the expenses and capital before the start up), and that’s what I am talking about.
Larry Lessig Defends Copyright, Loves Charlie Rose... →
I think CC movement is great. It gives more easy-to-understand options to people, not just all (full Copyright) or nothing (Public Domain).
I wish there were more options between CC and All-rights-reserved copyright. CC is developing licenses between original CC and Public Domain. When I asked Professor Lessig about it at his lecture in Korea, he said that my observation was right.
Another...
Marginal Revolution: Kudos to Krugman →
@Laurent GUERBY, I did not say ‘the current legal copyright system should be kept.’ That’s something I don’t have a firm opinion about. I said I think “if we require content to be free”, we lose capitalism. Physical products and media contents are thought differently, but I think this is an intellectual error many people are making. You can read my blog post I...
How Can The Music Industry Be In Trouble With All... →
I don’t think there is any fundamental difference between a song and a car. Both make money and recover the upfront investment by selling “a creative idea replicated many times”.
For more on this:
http://slowblogger.com/2008/06…..erson.html
Ian Rogers On The Death Of The Music CD Business:... →
This topic never seems to go away… I have written quite a few blog posts on this, which were usually responses to blog posts of Michael Arrington, Chris Anderson, Fred Wilson, etc. Strangely, they are my favorite bloggers and I respect other perspectives of them a lot.
(Especially, I thought initial ‘Free’ article on Wired’s Chris Anderson, whose The Long Tail I liked a lot and translated into...
Murdoch: The Future Of Newspapers Goes Beyond Dead... →
I agree with Mr. Murdoch. Every change is an opportunity as well as threat. There will be more news. But it does not mean newspaper companies will do well. In any innovation-driven change, more incumbent firms die (or get weaker) than prosper. The advent of the digital camera hurt traditional analog camera and film companies, and Canon is probably the only company that took advantage of the...
Joe The Plumber's Landing Page →
“And the thing Google needs to do is make the merchant pages in its service good enough that local merchants can use them as landing pages.” That’s a great idea. People have tried to make web publishing easier for small businesses. Now, Google could say “you don’t even need to do it yourself. We have one for you.”
Can You Manage A Global Economy One Nation At A... →
Can You Manage A Global Economy One Nation At A Time? Maybe not. But that does not mean a centralized global regulation. I used to have the same idea, but changed my mind. If a perfect global regulatory body can be set up, which will have very little regulation, I would like it. But everyone has a different ‘perfect’ regulation from mine, and so the result will be a compromised and...
gladwell dot com - outliers →
I don’t read many books these days. But Malcolm Gladwell is a writer whose book I have to read. And the topic sounds really interesting, again.
The Austrian Economists: Parenting and... →
I recently became interested in Austrian economics, because I share some key perspectives. And, as a non-academic, I feel more comfortable with its literary style.
I agree with the post. I (and other Koreans) have admired American parents’ raising children to become independent. But maybe it is changing? More broadly, I think that the more people are entrepreneurial, the better free market...
The creative role of the entrepreneur in economic... →
Something that I have been telling people without knowing this kind of academic studies on entrepreneurship existed. I may buy a book.
One thing, as an entrepreneur, I would like to add. An entrepreneur’s motivation is not entirely about profits, though that may be one necessary element because I need to make a living. But the greater motivation may come from something else. For me, I guess...
Scientists prove it really is a thin line between... →
So… Is it more likely for a person to come to love someone he/she hated (and vice versa) than someone he/she was indifferent?
The Becker-Posner Blog: “Does the Free Market... →
I don’t know in academics, but in strategy consulting there are a lot of data that support having repeat business is critical. Fred Reicheld, customer loyalty expert at my former firm Bain, praises customer loyalty as the single most important thing for a business success.
Market share is often correlated with higher profitability, but I think they are special cases (whereas customer...
October 2008
17 posts
Ray Ozzie on Azure, Office unchained, and Openness →
Microsoft is moving to the cloud. Very interesting to watch how MS and Google will position against each other.
Get Rid of the Performance Review! - WSJ.com →
There seems some truth and insight in this story. But I have not understood the alternative clearly.
Seth's Blog: Too small to fail →
I agree.
The Weekend Interview - WSJ.com →
An interview with Anna Schwartz, co-author of “A Monetary History of the United States” (1963) with Milton Friedman. I am very impressed about her clear explanations. She is 92-years old.
Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy →
Good points.
The Cause of Bubbles =Investment vs Financial... →
Points worth thinking about. Especially the diagnosis.
Seth's Blog: Maybe you can't make money doing what... →
My thoughts:
- Maybe you can.
- Even if you can’t make money, you may be happier than doing what you don’t like and making more money.
The Global Discussion#comment-3044807 →
You are not thinking like an American (in a good sense). Few Americans care about the language issues especially from the perspective of non-Americans. I also thought about this. As fas as I know, there is no good solution for what you are looking for. I don’t think any of the existing approaches (I have researched before) has the potential to nail it down.