Out of the Loop in Silicon Valley
Oh. Someone noticed that women don't rise to the top in Silicon Valley. My opinion is that this particular ... situation isn't restricted to the wonderland of Silicon Valley, but from sea to shining sea. America has high expectations on our "new" culture and values. That doesn't excuse us, but it doesn't let us off the hook either.
Another potential backer invited her for a weekend yachting excursion by showing her a picture of himself on the boat — without clothes. When a third financier discovered that her husband was also a biking enthusiast, she says, he spent more time asking if riding affected her husband’s reproductive capabilities than he did focusing on her business plan.
Ultimately, none of the 30 venture firms she pitched financed her company. She finally raised $1.8 million in March 2008 from angel investors including Golden Seeds, a fund that emphasizes investing in start-ups led by women.[more]
Eve of Destruction
A book review by Michael Gross of Michael Lewis and Roger Lowenstiein take us backstage on Wall Street. So if you’re showing up late to this party, you had better come either
with a strikingly original take that offers an enhanced understanding of
the debacle or with an elegantly constructed narrative that covers the
story from origins to bailout. Michael Lewis has done the former; Roger
Lowenstein has done the latter.
[more]
I've been following Mr. Lewis appearances in the media and he's perfectly perfect in his enthusiasm for the topics he covers. It's reminds me of George Plimpton, the guy who knew he was the luckiest guy in the world because he wrote about everything that interested him.
Indecision-Making
Book Review by Virginia Postrel
A congenial writer, Iyengar is less hard-edged and ideological than Schwartz and less glib than Malcolm Gladwell, who she says encouraged her to write this book. “The Art of Choosing” should appeal to fans of both writers. It’s full of the experimental results that make for good cocktail party chatter, but it offers fewer explicit lessons. Iyengar favors exploration over conclusions. “Isn’t this interesting?” she asks, rather than “Isn’t this awful?” or “Isn’t this useful?”[more]
This is very reminiscent of John Gardner's Grendel
Welcome to Confederate History Month
by Frank Rich
Most Americans who don’t like Obama or the health care bill are not racists. It may be a closer call among Tea Partiers, of whom only 1 percent are black, according to last week's much dissected Times/CBS News poll. That same survey found that 52 percent of Tea Party followers feel “too much” has been made of the problems facing black people — nearly twice the national average. And that’s just those who admit to it. Whatever their number, those who are threatened and enraged by the new Obama order are volatile. Conservative politicians are taking a walk on the wild side by coddling and encouraging them, whatever the short-term political gain.[more]
Russia and Poland: A Blood Feud Rooted Deep in the Past
Russians who hoped for reconciliation saw reason for optimism. Alexey Vasilyev, deputy director of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research, went to Poland’s embassy. “This is a tragedy that can join us, that can unite our two countries,” he said. “All of us who love Poland and Russia’s friendship with Poland want this to happen.”
[more]
