HINDSIGHT - WRITE SOMETHING WORTH READING ABOUT OR DO SOMETHING WORTH WRITING ABOUT
Wednesday, September 06, 2023
Tuesday, September 05, 2023
WE CAN'T LET THE CLICKBAIT-OBSESSED MEDIA CONTINUE TO DIMINISH BIDEN'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS WHILE THEY CHASE TRUMP'S INSANE ANTICS
Can Joe Biden Ride “Boring” to Reelection?
His administration is getting a lot done for the American people, yet its accomplishments don’t get the same media attention as Trumpian chaos.
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“Do you want my most subversive hot take?” a friend recently asked me over dinner. I nodded, as a writer can never say no to a question like that. “Biden is the best president of our lifetime.” They might be right. Despite being very much on the fence about Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, and even writing a Washington Post piece saying he should drop out after he lost primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, I have come around to the 46th president, impressed with the sheer amount of progressive legislation the administration has championed, from infrastructure to climate to prescription drugs.
But a lot of people haven’t come around to the president, who has struggled with Donald Trump–level approval ratings despite seeming to have pulled off a postpandemic soft landing for the economy, with strong job growth, cooling inflation, and fadingrecession chatter. Yet this financial marvel is not reflected in Biden’s poll numbers. A Wall Street Journal poll found that “58% of voters say the economy has gotten worse over the past two years, whereas only 28% say it has gotten better, and nearly three in four say inflation is headed in the wrong direction.”
“I’ve never seen this big of a disconnect between how the economy is actually doing and key polling results about what people think is going on,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, told The New York Times. The question is not only why does Biden not get more credit for this economic recovery, but also why does the media seem so deeply disinterested in the impact of Biden’s presidency? I think these two phenomena are linked. Bidenworld’s biggest problem is likely also its superpower: its boringness.
This past week I was interviewing Franklin Foer about his new Biden biography, The Last Politician, for my Fast Politics podcast, and we got onto the subject of the president’s major win in negotiating prescription drug costs, a result of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This is something that multiple presidents have promised, and none have achieved. If it works, it will be one of the very few times in American history where the government has won against the lobbyists (or, for lack of a better term, the DC “swamp,” which I seem to remember a certain former guy complaining about). It’s a change, the Times noted, “that the pharmaceutical industry and Republicans have opposed for decades.”
George W. Bush authorized the creation of Medicare Part D nearly two decades ago, but it wasn’t until the IRA that the government could negotiate lower prices on both Medicare Part D and Part B drugs. Last week the Biden administration announced that Medicare had selected 10 drugs on which to negotiate. One of them, Entresto, which people take for heart failure, could no longer cost about $713 for a month of pills. Such negotiation could lead to a sea change in the way elderly people live “We know that 80% of the public is with us,” Senator Amy Klobuchar told the Times,
But you probably didn’t spend the weekend reading about these negotiations, just like you might’ve missed Biden’s big Camp David meeting last month with Japanese and South Korean leaders, which The Washington Post described as “another major step toward the establishment of a new trilateral alliance that could help all three nations cope with the growing threats from North Korea and China in a world destabilized by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” However, you probably caught how Florida governor and 2024 wannabe Ron DeSantis refused to tour Hurricane Idalia damage with Biden, a story that seemed to dominate the news cycle over the Labor Day weekend—surely more than the president’s touting of his administration’s actions to protect workers.
The problem for Team Biden is that its superpower, its ability to slide under the radar while getting a lot done for the American people, may also be its Achilles heel, holding back the administration from getting the credit it deserves. Whether negotiating drug prices with Big Pharma, helping fund the building of semiconductor factories, or investing in cleaner forms of energy, the Biden administration is doing a lot of positive stuff for Americans. Yet certain initiatives, like spending hundreds of millions of dollars on broadband for rural communities, can get easily drowned out by Republicans threatening to shut down the government or calling to impeach Biden for some reason.
It’s not that boringness can’t win elections, as Wisconsin governor Tony Evers can attest. “Boring wins,” he declared after winning reelection in 2022 by 3.4 points, which could be considered a landslide in such an evenly split state. And in a way, we’ve been here before. “It was a key theme of Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, unstated but powerful, and a vivid contrast with the public-train-wreck incumbent: If elected, he was going to be boring,” Michael Schaffer wrotelast year in Politico. “Promise kept.”
But one problem with Biden’s “boring” plan heading into 2024 is the news media. Not only is the media more interested in covering Trumpworld than Bidenworld, but it seems like journalists are somewhat resentful toward the current administration for its disinterest in playing ball these past few years. Remember, Trumpworld was filled with blockbuster leaks and White House feuds, leading to increased subscriptions and sky-high ratings—the “Trump bump,” as it was called. “The media became addicted to the constant excitement and danger of Trump,” Guardian media columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote in an email. “Biden offers something apparently far less compelling: decency, sanity, and a sense of reasonable calm.”
And Foer warns of the media overcorrecting from the Trump years. “All the coverage of Trump was very emotional, unusually impassioned, and rightly so,” he told me. “But I find the press is overcorrecting for that in its coverage of Biden. There’s a drive to reassert authority and objectivity, which leads them to be quite rough on the current guy.”
NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN ON JIMMY BUFFETT FROM HOWARD TULLMAN
Three Things My Friend Jimmy Buffett Taught Me About Life
and Business
Buffett was as talented
an entrepreneur as he was a musician, author, sailor, and aviator. He never
forgot about keeping successes and failures in perspective.
Jimmy Buffett. Photo: Getty Images
Everyone
who ever worked with Jimmy Buffett, and I did, will tell you the
same thing about him. Which is that they took far more away from the
experience--however fleeting it may have been--than simply a love for the guy
and his music. He was every bit as successful an entrepreneur as he was an entertainer,
and he brought the same focus, passion, and enthusiasm to whatever he did.
The
insiders' joke was that he was about the
least "laid-back" guy you were ever gonna meet. Whether it
was music, his Margaritaville-themed businesses, charity, or politics, it was
the same story--if he was in, he was in 110 percent, and he did everything with
a vengeance. Jimmy was direct, down-to-earth, and deliberate in his dealings
with you whether you were a peasant or a prince, although he never paid
attention to those kinds of distinctions. And that openness, attitude, and approach
never changed over the more than 30 years that I knew him.
So,
it's a little surprising to hear from so many people that they had no real idea
that he was such a substantial businessman in addition to being a great writer
and musician. I'm reluctant to add "philosopher" to the encomium
because he always hated it when anyone used such "high-falutin'"
terms to describe him. He was thoughtful and certainly took a great deal of
pride in his craft and worked his butt off to make that happen.
But he
was also amazingly modest and always said that he was just one of the guys who
got far luckier than he ever expected or deserved. And, he'd usually add that
the luckiest thing in his life was his family. I know he usually meant his
immediate family, but there were plenty of others in his various circles who
felt that familial bond as well and knew that--if the need ever arose--he'd be
there for you.
There
are dozens of lines in the lyrics that mean a great deal to millions of
listeners as they applied his folksy and touching wisdom to their own lives,
but very few that related to business as opposed to his mostly imagined
aquatic, romantic, and intoxicated lifestyle. However, if there's an
entrepreneur alive whose long, lonely nights and life on the road doesn't
resemble Come Monday, I'd
like to meet him. In any case, here are the three most important things
that Jimmy shared with me over several projects and many years.
1. Your
work is what you do, not who you are.
It's
difficult for any new business builder to separate himself from the
business--the best entrepreneurs never leave much of anything at the office at
day's end--and taking things personally and to heart is critical to their
eventual success. The ones who care the most win. But maintaining a healthy
distance between what you do and your own identity and self-worth is crucial to
your mental health.
And
when you're a celebrity, and a walking lifestyle, like Jimmy was, it's even
harder sometimes to remember to separate your public "persona" from
the work and the audience's response. No one's "happy-go-lucky" all
the time--it's not part of the human condition. Performers face a far more
immediate and regular test of their efforts every time they cut a record,
perform, write something, or offer new material to the world because the
world--especially these days--is a picky and nasty place. When he faced criticism,
complaints, and even outright rejection or disappointment, Jimmy always took a
step back and said that he could only do his best and that, as long as he did
that, he could live with whatever came after. Success is fleeting, but
excellence is forever. His work was a wonderful part of his life, but making a
living was only a part of making a life worth living.
2.
Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
It's
easy as an entrepreneur to convince yourself that the weight of the world is on
your shoulders, that everyone inside and outside of the company is depending on
you, and that the work you're doing is the most pressing and important work
around. And it's sadly too short a step for too many people to translate that
actual and awesome responsibility into the belief that your shit doesn't stink.
An entrepreneur needs plenty of self-confidence, but that power and passion
need to be tempered from time to time with some self-awareness as well.
Jimmy
could always laugh at himself. He'd sometimes catch himself pressing a little
too hard, lecturing out loud, or even pontificating, and--full
stop--he'd just shut up and shake his head and say: "Where'd I go
wrong?" or "Who is this guy anyway?" He knew he could get caught
up in the work and in the moment, and he would never compromise the take or the
music or the project. But he'd often take himself to task, take a short
break and a mental reset, and then come back--a little sheepishly--and hit
things twice as hard.
He
knew that, from time to time, the person most likely to get in the way of
moving things forward was Jimmy Buffett, and he always kept an eye out for
times when he thought he was getting too full of himself or ahead of the game.
3.
Never expect to get what you give--not everyone's heart is as big as yours.
I'm
not sure that Jimmy ever got enough credit for his charitable work--not just
the music appearances at all the big-deal group events over the years--but the
gestures and the sleeves-rolled-up time he devoted quietly to a number of
causes, people, and charities that were personally near and dear to his heart.
But--unsurprisingly--not everyone else in these ventures lived up to their end
of the bargain, delivered on their promises, or even showed up when they said
they would. What was completely amazing to me was how he never let these
disappointments get him down, interfere with what he needed to do, or even
break his belief that most of the people out there were solid citizens,
well-intentioned, generous, and willing to help others in need. It would have
been so easy to get angry, to hold a grudge, or to say, along with the
Who, "We won't get fooled again" and
walk away. But he never did. He didn't measure, he didn't compete, he didn't
lose his faith, and he never stopped giving back. He did everything he could,
never expected anything in return, and never tried to impose his contributions
and commitments on others.
There's
never a best way to say goodbye or to close a piece like this, but I'm sure
that Jimmy wouldn't mind if I take a line from Now and Forever which Carole King wrote
in 1992: "We had a moment that will last, beyond a dream, beyond a
lifetime." We'll be together, now and forever.
SEP 5, 2023
NEW INC. MAGAZINE ARTICLE FROM HOWARD TULLMAN
In Real Estate,
Less is Definitely More for Startups
There's a lot of
pressure to bring people back to the office. That's understandable, but don't
confuse having a really large office space with having a really good
company.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL
MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@HOWARDTULLMAN1
Two decades ago, some of the biggest
law firms in the country made a momentous real estate decision. Over the
outraged howls of their junior partners, the ruling management committee
members decided that not everyone needed a private office large enough to house
its own conference table, couch and other accoutrements. Instead, after
shrinking the offices of most of the partners, the firms built
one floor of conference rooms, which would be available for client meetings or
other group activities. I will leave it to your fertile imagination to guess
which partners were able to maintain their grand offices with the traditional
furniture and fixtures. There must be a suitable Latin phrase for it, but the
English translation would be something like "what's mine is mine, and
we'll talk about what's yours".
Apart from the sheer wisdom and
economics of shedding excess space, the equally compelling argument was the
recognition that lavish digs were no longer relevant or important to clients.
Conversely, clients regularly commented on the fact that their attorneys'
offices were far grander and certainly more costly than their own -- meaning
their businesses were ultimately footing the bills for these buildouts.
Whatever pride they once took in being represented by their city's most
expensive attorneys was rapidly evaporating in the face of growing legal costs.
Similarly, the pricy modernist artwork on law office walls seemed unlikely to
lead to better results in the courtroom or at the negotiating table.
Not too long after the legal
downsizing began -- accompanied by the simultaneous elimination of private
secretaries and the return to typing pools -- big banks also woke up to the
fact that they, too, no longer needed to demonstrate their institutional might
by building and maintaining enormous marble-and-bronze-enhanced priapic temples
to the long-gone days when people had real-life personal bankers and transacted
business face-to-face. The shift from personal to digital banking also meant
that the competition for clients rapidly shifted from comfort and confidence to
access and convenience. The banks quickly built automated branches and
positioned ATMs everywhere to eliminate humans from the process. And frankly,
until the recent run on Silicon Valley Bank, no one really questioned or
expressed the slightest concerns about the viability and longevity of
"their" bank, even as it became increasingly clear that most
customers no longer had any personal relationship or contact with the bank's
employees.
The moral of this story for startups
--even before the massive impact of the remote work revolution -- is quite
clear and important. Bricks and mortar rarely matter these days. The very last
things that a new business needs to demonstrate its bona fides are
substantial and long-term real estate commitments. In fact, it's far more
likely that investors, clients and customers will regard posh offices in prime
downtown locations as foolish gestures indicative of immaturity and waste
rather than an effort to show strength, stability and seriousness. As far as
employees go, I'd say it's a toss-up. People want to work in a nice,
clean environment-- if they have to work in an office at all-- but plenty of
the same folks would rather see some of the same dollars in their own paychecks
or at least be assured that scarce and precious company funds needed to keep
the doors open aren't being squandered on vanity buildouts.
The best office lease today is a
one-year commitment with a lengthy stream of options for annual renewals
attached. The premium you may pay will pay off eventually. Maximum flexibility,
minimal commitment. If anyone tells you that this kind of approach is too
tentative or makes your business look like a fly-by-night operation just tell
them that you'd rather be flighty than be failing. It's all about optionality
and any smart investor or employee will appreciate that. Don't be embarrassed
or shamed into making bad decisions. Your job isn't to help the landlord
improve the rent roll.
Your primary responsibility, especially
today, is to conserve cash, let your offices get plenty crowded (and masked if
necessary, again) before making your next move and not get too far out over
your skis. Collisions and proximity build camaraderie, enthusiasm, and
momentum. Cash beats cachet, any day. Shrinking your space and reducing your
real estate exposure makes all the cents in the world.
Monday, September 04, 2023
Saturday, September 02, 2023
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