Being Right or Making Money

A number of conservatives and conservative groups in Washington, D.C. are pushing yet another pledge. This one is to cut, cap, and balance. They want you to pledge to urge your Senator and Congressman to oppose any debt limit unless all three of the following conditions are met: (1) substantial cuts in spending; (2) enforceable spending caps; and (3) passage of the Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget Amendment, known as S.J. Res. 10 in the Senate and H. J. Res. 56 in the House.

The pledge is wonderful. I fully support it. I also think any conservative and conservative organization that signs the pledge is feckless, spineless, and gutless unless one additional step is taken.

And the sad thing is, I suspect I am one thousand percent right that we’ll all be disappointed by the conservatives and conservative organizations signing the pledge. Here’s why.We’ve reached the point of no return in this country, but Republicans keep making deal after deal after deal. They’ll negotiate their way to hell and our country to fiscal ruin all while nuancing around pledges.

Meanwhile, the pledge makers and pledge signer really do nothing other than say “Oh my, Senator/Representative X broke the pledge. Tisk. Tisk.”

The time for tisk, tisking is over.

I’m calling on the conservatives and conservative organizations who agree to “cut, cap, and balance” to put up or shut up. Here’s the Erick Erickson Pledge:

I pledge that if any Republican votes to increase the debt ceiling without first cutting, capping, and balancing using Lee-Cornyn-Hatch, I will work like hell to beat the hell out of him/her in a primary, even if their election is 2014 or 2016.

The time for nuancing and diplomatic niceties in Washington are over.

Instead of standing around in a circle of Washington hoo-haaing like conservatives are prone to do lamenting their sorry fate and wringing their hands on what strategy to take to Speaker Boehner and Leader McConnell, conservatives need to adopt a very simple strategy:

Hold the freaking line.

If any Republican votes to raise the debt ceiling without forcing (1) substantial cuts; (2) enforceable caps; and (3) sending the Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget Amendment to the states, the conservative movement must unite to beat the hell out of them in a primary. Period. End of Story. No more wimping out.

It really is that simple — or at least it is that simple unless your brain has atrophied from being inside the Beltway. Just don’t raise the debt ceiling. Oh, I know, some of you are getting sweaty palms thinking about it and insisting that we must raise the debt ceiling.

That’s what we always do.

Putting it bluntly — it is time to be a hostage taker and take the debt ceiling hostage to cutting, capping, and balancing the budget.

Will conservative organizations actually stand up and wage scorched earth in the name of saving the Republic, or will they yet again go limp when sold out for the billionth time. My money is on limp, but I hope others will stand on either hand and save this bridge with me.

By the way, the Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget amendment is non-negotiable. Other Republicans are offering up balanced budget amendments, but the alternatives either don’t limit spending or make it too easy to raise taxes instead of making spending cuts. Lee-Cornyn-Hatch has both a spending limitation component and requires a super-majority to raise taxes.

Folks, talk is over. It’s time for action.

Wednesday, nearly eleven years after Tim Westergen and his colleagues started Pandora, it began trading on the public markets. I posted a blog post on the news, and suddenly was overcome by emotion, tearing up a little as I thought about Westergen who has been through hell and back as the founder of this company. His story is no different from any entrepreneur who dares to try to capture lightning in a bottle – but it is one with a happy ending.

There are two ways of looking at Pandora. You could look at through the lens of a life-long skeptical reporter who cannot reconcile the valuation of the company with its business reality — and there are many who are doing exactly that. The other extreme view is to look at it from the point of view of a startup founder, one who has been through his or her own ups and downs. I will let the skeptic take the day off for today. To me, Pandora’s story is about hope.

A Savage Beast

I remember meeting the Pandora team days after my former Red Herring colleague Alex Gove, then at Walden VC, introduced me to Larry Marcus (partner at WaldenVC and an investor in Pandora)  and Westergen. The company was at that time called The Savage Beast and was building a music-genome project. Being a reporter who normally focused on the nuts and bolts of the Internet, I didn’t much care for the company, but I liked Westergen.

Over the years, he and I stayed in touch. The boom turned to bust and what was an idealistic quest turned into a journey over burning coals, with constant rejections and a test of faith. He has bobbed, he has weaved, he has pivoted –- and he has survived.

After all these years, and many rounds of funding, Westergen is not making billions of dollars, as many would assume – in fact, he owns a miniscule share of the company: 2.39 percent, which is worth just over $60 million at the closing price of $2.8 billion, a fraction of the money his investors are making. Something isn’t right about that, but that is the way of the world.

Can’t Buy Me Love

I know Westergen and I don’t think he started Savage Beast/Pandora for money anyway. All these years, he has been the same guy. A pair of jeans, a simple t-shirt, plain old sneakers and a bag slung across his shoulders –- and more importantly, an easy smile and willingness to believe that things will get better, if only he could fight for one more day. He did Pandora for one reason: love.

He loved the idea of building a music genome. Eventually the company figured out what the business model would be — and the team there will figure out profits as well. Most startups come from love, not a desire to make pots of money.

These days, it is commonplace to lionize the amount of money a start-up snags from venture-capital investments or billion-dollar valuations some investors place on a company and the insanity of the public markets. Nothing annoys me more than “money” defining one’s convictions. The world unfortunately tends to focus on the destination, not the journey undertaken. And raising money or the public markets are those destinations.

I often joke with my friends that startups are like climbing sheer rock without any support, always slipping a few feet, and then gaining an inch. It is that inch you climb that brings immense joy, even if it is short-lived. The rest is just fighting to stay alive, trying to get ahead and just getting it down.

Rejection shapes us as much as the positive news. Just ask Tim! Or Reid Hoffman! Ask them about how many times venture capitalists rejected their quest for investment dollars. Just because twenty investors reject the idea of a social network for professionals doesn’t mean that it is a bad idea or it is wrong -– it is just an idea that the world doesn’t quite understand yet.

Being a real entrepreneur is a long, lonely road as Tim’s journey tells us. Creating something that is lasting — something you love — takes time. Often a very long time! But in the end, the journey is worth it.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• Infrastructure Q1: IaaS Comes Down to Earth; Big Data Takes Flight
• Can Social Media Save the Music Business?
• In Q4, Data Was Mobile’s Hot Spot

Surface Encounters complaints [url=http://detroit.ebayclassifieds.com/other/macomb/surface-encounters-now-has-two-locations-in-michigan/?ad=1024602]Surface Encounters complaints[/url] http://detroit.ebayclassifieds.com/other/macomb/surface-encounters-now-has-two-locations-in-michigan/?ad=1024602 - Surface Encounters
click here [url=http://community2.myfoxmemphis.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?keywords=%22surface+encounters%22&as=80520]click here[/url] http://community2.myfoxmemphis.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?keywords=%22surface+encounters%22&as=80520 - http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/02/14/lifestyles/srv0000010907604.txt?viewmode=2
click here [url=http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Surface_Encounters_Ohio,_LLC_Celebrates_100_Years_of_Experience_with_Columbus_S&articleid=880865]Surface Encounters[/url] http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Surface_Encounters_Ohio,_LLC_Celebrates_100_Years_of_Experience_with_Columbus_S&articleid=880865 - click here
Surface Encounters reviews [url=http://surfaceencounters.tumblr.com/]http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/02/14/lifestyles/srv0000010907604.txt?viewmode=2[/url] http://surfaceencounters.tumblr.com/ - Surface Encounters rock tops
Surface Encounters rock tops [url=http://community.myfox8.com/_Surface-Encounters-Macomb-MI/blog/1698404/96365.html]Surface Encounters[/url] http://community.myfox8.com/_Surface-Encounters-Macomb-MI/blog/1698404/96365.html - Surface Encounters

Making Money Work

Almost every owner of a house these days, a lovely cooking area having a amazing counter top would have been a surface encounters mi desire. Properly, because you are definitely aware of, your home will be accepted as and also the of an residence. Absolutely yes, it’s spot the whole family subscribers connect with there are to get placed site tidy as well as desirable. Notably, home-owners acquire unique care to their kitchens. Newl installed counter is actually a desire for everybody because it is known and also resilience, superior level of quality and also school. Properly, longing for a good newl installed counter is usually very easily accomplished, yet defining it as an actuality would appear tricky for some in existence web mainly because it is high-priced generally. Perfectly, newl installed is really a high priced stuff therefore you can’t buy them for low priced expense. Attempting to keep this specific as the primary goal, it will be possible to understand which locating affordable stone design kitchen counter top is not truly an easy task. Nonetheless, one should try to consider which will is among the effectively highly regarded service out there and you will then by no means end up disenchanted.
Without a doubt, we were going over concerning finding granite kitchen countertops on an economical expense. Perfectly, as we include previously stated, you might still find it difficult thinking of the expense of stone. Nonetheless, the idea need to be added it's certainly not impossible as you can find approaches to place the particular affordable but quality marble counters. Many you must complete is usually to transfer on the right course. We are at this point to offer the obtainable help out with the following issue. Extremely vital that you suit a limitations of your price range if you are searching for economical corian kitchen countertops. Very well, let’s examine this ways of ask them to inside reasonable range of prices.
Family home depot retailers are the primary position we would like so that you can encourage surface encounters macomb mi that will anybody exactly who is looking to get the very first them all in very affordable rates. It’s saddening you wouldn’t obtain them very affordable in most cases retail outlets as well as dwelling depots and this also make a difference however. Could your home depots achieve this? Well, many people primarily promote that ancient commodity and also this facilitates the theifs to sell the idea for your lower price. Absolutely yes, everyone read this suitable, merely because advertise that older commodity it’s never which will substantial an issue so they can offer the idea for any very affordable rate. You will find other factors too in such a you since they market a bit impaired pieces in the process. Well, though they are somewhat broken, they may be entirely operational. This means you might consider surface encounters rock tops premium marble countertops dwelling for one extremely affordable amount. Indeed, it’s really probable in addition to go for any closest residence depot save today once more and get the main that suits you. Home depots furthermore give great discount for your old stock options and you ought to exclusively look for lower price.
The other smartest choice can be to watch out for these individuals around the virtual stores. Of course, you will discover any amount of internet vendors providing granitic countertops and you ought to look at looking at these individuals. Perfectly, it is possible to examine all of them in the comfort and ease of your dwelling while all you have to may be a computer system and also world wide web. Very well, look for the particular units around internet outlets. As you possibly can find out, since there is opposition between the surface encounters shops, all are made to promote the idea for any reduced price. That’s correct; since the competitors is actually ferocious, virtual stores can be required to promote the idea to get cost-effective value. A great number of stores also provide superior discounted thus to their deal. For that reason it’s facts about determining the best store with proper price cut. Perfectly, you want to do various extensive investigation earlier than you observe the correct unit you'd like by yourself.
Additionally, the webs retailers may very well be positioned wherever. You are able to pay back them in your charge card and will also be obtaining product at the home throughout subsequent couple of days. Yet, it ought to be talked about you are destined to fork out the distribution premiums. Yet, it’s been recently witnessed that will it’s greatly profitable even though forking out your shipping bills. Therefore many you must perform may be to verify if thez save is known as a dependable just one or perhaps not necessarily; you will be unengaged to make the purchase anyway with virtually no anxieties if at all your reputed hold seeing that you will be owning the application at the doorway very soon. You can even examine out there the particular services furnished by seeing that they are thought of truly dependable in this particular discipline, along with many of us advocate these individuals using most of some of our cardiovascular.
You have to be extremely sensible in terms of ought to be granite counter top for your house. If you fail to spend the money for high value inquired with the native merchants, anyone shouldn’t end up being worried and stop interested in any economical people. It’s supposed to be about your tolerance. Make sure you try to look for url these along at the right websites and also within the ideal moments. That’s most becomes necessary to be able to look for a beautiful though inexpensive stone counter top in your kitchen area. You get additional information coming from below: