Michael Kors: How Did I Get Here?

Michael Kors: How Did I Get Here?

August 29, 2013

The fashion designer on his first trunk show, joining Project Runway, and other high points of his career.

Noonan: Work and the American Character; We need political leaders who can speak to the current national unease. Really good politicians don’t try to read the public, they are the public

August 29, 2013, 6:16 p.m. ET

Noonan: Work and the American Character

We need political leaders who can speak to the current national unease.

PEGGY NOONAN

Two small points on an end-of-summer weekend. One is connected to Labor Day and the meaning of work. It grows out of an observation Mike Huckabee made on his Fox show a few weeks ago. He said that we see joblessness as an economic fact, we talk about the financial implications of widespread high unemployment, and that isn’t wrong but it misses the central point. Joblessness is a personal crisis because work is a spiritual event. Read more of this post

“It is psychologically extremely difficult to attribute something to luck,” Michael Mauboussin

Michael Mauboussin, Interview No. 4

by SHANE PARRISH on AUGUST 28, 2013

Michael Mauboussin is the author of numerous books, including More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places, Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition, and most recently The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing (a book that found its way to Warren Buffett’s desk.)

While Michael is well known in investment circles for his knowledge of biases and clarity of thinking, a lot of others are missing out on his insight. In his latest book he takes a look at how both skill and luck play a role — they are, on a continuum. For instance, he believes that basketball is 12% luck whereas hockey is 53% luck. Skill still plays a certain role but talent might mean more in certain places. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to interview Michael over email. In this wide-ranging interview we talk about what advice he’d offer his younger self today, the definition of luck, decision journals, and how organizations can improve their decisions and more. Let’s get started. Read more of this post

Did life on Earth start on Mars? A scientist lays out the evidence

Did life on Earth start on Mars? A scientist lays out the evidence

By Deborah Netburn

August 29, 2013, 7:09 p.m.

Did life as we know it start on Mars? Are we all Martians? These are the questions some serious scientists are considering. Speaking at an international conference of geochemists, chemist Steven Benner of the Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology argued Thursday that early Mars provided a more hospitable environment for life to spring up than early Earth. “The evidence seems to be building that we are actually Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock,” he said in a statement. Read more of this post

The Brazilian Billionaire Who Controls Your Beer, Your Condiments, and Your Whopper

The Brazilian Billionaire Who Controls Your Beer, Your Condiments, and Your Whopper

By Alex Cuadros August 29, 2013

After they sold H.J. Heinz to Warren Buffett and a bunch of Brazilians in June, the ketchup manufacturer’s outgoing board of directors met for dinner at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Club to congratulate themselves on a job well done. Twenty-three billion dollars had just changed hands. The takeover price, at $72.50 a share, was almost 20 percent higher than the company’s recent all-time high. “We said we’re all going to miss each other, but we felt we had done right by the shareholders,” says Dean O’Hare, who’d sat on the board since 2000. Heinz is an institution in Pittsburgh—the Steelers play at Heinz Field, locals of means like to get married at Heinz Memorial Chapel—and Buffett’s presence allayed fears that the 144-year-old company would be dismantled. “Seeing the name on the letter was very important to us,” O’Hare says.

Read more of this post

Hedge funds need smoother handovers; The sector’s stars tend to be mavericks with outsized egospower-sharers

August 29, 2013 6:36 pm

Hedge funds should invest in smoother handovers

By Gillian Tett

The sector’s stars tend to be mavericks with outsized egospower-sharers

This summer Glenn Dubin, the co-founder of the hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management, has been kicking back – a bit. The reason? Twenty-one years after the 56-year-old created the fund, Mr Dubin recently handed control of his $32bn “baby”, as he calls it, to a former Goldman Sachs banker, Scott Kapnick. But Mr Dubin has not stormed off in a tantrum. He is still working in Highbridge’s Manhattan office to support Mr Kapnick, his handpicked successor.

Read more of this post

The Most Surprising Things About America, According To An Indian International Student

The Most Surprising Things About America, According To An Indian International Student

GUS LUBIN AUG. 29, 2013, 9:18 PM 10,584 26

Aniruddh Chaturvedi came from Mumbai to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he is majoring in computer science. This past summer he interned at a tech company in Silicon Valley. During two years in the U.S., Chaturvedi has been surprised by various aspects of society, as he explained last year in a post on Quora. Chaturvedi offered his latest thoughts on America in an email to Business Insider. Read more of this post

The entrepreneurial state: A new book points out the big role governments play in creating innovative businesses

The entrepreneurial state: A new book points out the big role governments play in creating innovative businesses

Aug 31st 2013 |From the print edition

APPLE is generally regarded as an embodiment of everything that is best about innovative businesses. It was started in a garage. For years it played a cool David to Microsoft’s lumbering Goliath. Then it disrupted itself, and the entire entertainment industry, by shifting its focus from computers to mobile devices. But there is something missing from this story, argues Mariana Mazzucato of Sussex University in England, in her book, “The Entrepreneurial State”. Steve Jobs was undoubtedly a genius who understood both engineering and design. Apple was undoubtedly a nimble innovator. But Apple’s success would have been impossible without the active role of the state, the unacknowledged enabler of today’s consumer-electronics revolution. Read more of this post

What Stops Leaders from Showing Compassion

What Stops Leaders from Showing Compassion

by Roger Schwarz  |   8:00 AM August 29, 2013

Most good people want to act compassionately at work. And recent research suggests that compassion also creates positive outcomes in organizations: People who experience compassion feel more committed to the organization and feel more positive emotions at work; when people receive bad news that is delivered with compassion, they remain more supportive of the organization; and acting with compassion can increase your own satisfaction and mitigate your own stress at work. And yet even if you want to be compassionate with others at work, you may find it difficult. You may find yourself either judging others or making assumptions about what will happen if you are compassionate. This can be especially challenging for leaders. As a leader, you get paid for your judgment. You are constantly evaluating situations and people. But that strength can become a liability when others need your compassion. If you find yourself thinking any of the thoughts below, chances are you’re letting your judgment get too much in the way of your compassion:

“Your suffering isn’t that serious.” When you tell yourself that others’ suffering isn’t serious enough, you’re saying they don’t deserve compassion. When your direct reports say, “We’re totally overwhelmed with work and can’t get any cooperation from the other divisions,” do you think, “Your workload is nothing; you have no idea how much I’m working. Stop complaining and make it happen”? Suffering isn’t a competition. Other people’s suffering doesn’t have to exceed yours for you to be compassionate. Remember that acting with compassion can also reduce your own stress. Read more of this post

Wine Consultant Charles Curtis on Spotting a Wine Fake

August 28, 2013, 6:59 p.m. ET

Wine Consultant Charles Curtis on Spotting a Wine Fake

The Signs a Wine Isn’t What Its Label Says It Is

JASON CHOW

As the market for fine wine grows, so does the opportunity for making money from passing off a cheap blend as pricey aged Bordeaux. Wine counterfeiters “are getting really sophisticated,” says Charles Curtis, a New York-based wine consultant who, through his company Wine Alpha, offers a service that checks for fakes in the cellars of wealthy collectors throughout the world. “People are reusing old bottles, reapplying labels and corks—it’s complex.” Few wine collectors have seen as many old bottles as Mr. Curtis, a former head of wine for Christie’s auction house in Asia and the Americas. He now advises private clients on how to start or sell a collection as well as verifying the wines they own. Read more of this post

Is Bias Fixable?

Is Bias Fixable?

by Nilofer Merchant  |  10:16 AM August 28, 2013

“As a brown woman, your chances of being seen and heard in the world are next to nothing,” he said. “For your ideas to be seen, they need to be edgier.” He paused, as if to ruminate on this, before continuing. “But if you are edgy, you will be too scary to be heard.” This was the advice I got from a marketing guru when I asked for his help with titling my second book. I was confused, as I couldn’t figure out how this answer had any relationship to my original question. I walked — somewhat dazed — to my next meeting and repeated what I’d just heard. In return, I received only blank stares. It wasn’t that these people affirmed his point of view; it’s that they stayed silent. My confusion gradually turned to fear. Was someone finally doing me a service by telling me … The Truth? For months after hearing this “… you’ll never been seen” message, I was a mess seeing his “truth” into every missed opportunity or unexpected obstacle. Read more of this post

Love of creation is what enables entrepreneurs to withstand the fear that comes with entrepreneurship

Startups are a young person’s game: Leasing a soul to build better companies

BY OPHIR TANZ 
ON AUGUST 28, 2013

Institutional investment in tech entrepreneurs dates back half a century, and during that period the average age of funded entrepreneurs has plummeted. The first Silicon Valley entrepreneurs were in their middle age. Today a typical early stage venture capital investment, $1 million or more, is pooled from pension funds, charities, endowments and sovereign wealth funds and entrusted to a 20-something with zero work experience, no real understanding of how to manage people or capital, no ability to command a room, garner press, or even put together decent financials. Read more of this post

How JoJo Maman Bebe founder Laura Tenison shunned university to start a business

How JoJo Maman Bebe founder Laura Tenison shunned university to start a business

Laura Tenison’s upbringing was “pretty sexist”, she jokes, with her mother teaching her only the girlie jobs of sewing and cooking. She is now arguably one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs. Emma Sinclair asks her how she did it.

Laura Tenison is the founder of JoJo Maman Bebe, the maternity, baby and nursery company she started in 1993.

By Emma Sinclair

3:39PM BST 27 Aug 2013

Laura Tenison is the founder of JoJo Maman Bebe, the baby clothing retailer she started in 1993. The company has 46 stores across the UK, expanding at a rate of eight new stores a year in the UK and selling to 37 countries – and growing. In 2010, when Ms Tenison won Veuve Clicquot’s Business Woman of the Year trophy, the company had a turnover of £20m and 27 UK stores. The retailer has forecast revenue of £44m for 2014. All this on start-up capital of £50,000, conceived in a hospital bed. Read more of this post

The strategy consultants in search of a strategy; Consultancy is in a funk as midsized partnerships realise they have to do something to survive

August 28, 2013 7:10 pm

The strategy consultants in search of a strategy

By John Gapper

Consultancy is in a funk as midsized partnerships realise they have to do something to survive

Did you hear the one about the strategy consultancy that could not work out a strategy for itself? It might make chief executives being billed $500 an hour for the wisdom of McKinsey & Co or Boston Consulting Group chuckle, but it is not a joke for the industry. Consultancy is in a funk as midsized partnerships with venerable names, such as Booz & Co and Roland Berger, realise they have to do something but cannot decide on what. Just carrying on is not an option – they face the spectre of Monitor, the consultancy that went bankrupt last year, and was bought by Deloitte for only $120m. Read more of this post

Researchers take on crucial question: Are haters gonna hate? The ‘Hater Test’ Shows Why Some People Hate Everything

Researchers take on crucial question: Are haters gonna hate?

By Sarah Kliff, Updated: August 27, 2013

It is an age-old adage of Twitter, which apparently traces its roots back to a 3LW video from 2000: Haters gonna hate.

Now, scientists have taken it upon themselves to figure out whether this is true. Do verified haters tend to hate everything else they stumble upon? Yes, according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. People who tend to hate things they already know about are (surprise!) more disposed to hate things they have not yet come in contact with. To test out this theory, a team of psychologists asked study participants how they felt about a number of mundane and unrelated subjects that included (but was not limited to) architecture, health care, crossword puzzles, taxidermy and Japan. Read more of this post

A Light Footprint Can Lead to Powerful Business Gains in a “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous” (VUCA) world

A Light Footprint Can Lead to Powerful Business Gains

by Charles-Edouard Bouée  |  12:00 PM August 28, 2013

Some of the best current lessons on how to adapt to our changing business environment come from the realm of military doctrine. And one key methodology stems from mid-1990s, when students at the U.S. Army War College were told repeatedly they were preparing for leadership roles in a “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous” (VUCA) world. Barack Obama’s “Light Footprint” doctrine of warfare, featuring novel uses of drones, cyberweapons, special forces, allies, and proxies, is an early adaptation to the VUCA world. Read more of this post

Duo’s efforts lead to the creation of Guitar Empire, one of Malaysia’s largest musical instrument supply companies

Updated: Thursday August 29, 2013 MYT 8:54:20 AM

Duo’s efforts lead to the creation of one of the country’s largest musical instrument supply companies

BY JOY LEE
JOYLMY@THESTAR.COM.MY
PHOTOS BY LOW BOON TAT

Customised to the tee: Eizaz Azhar (left) and Ray Lee of Guitar Empire have their eyes set firmly on becoming one of the biggest suppliers of musical instruments in the country. Growing ambition: Guitar Empire currently takes up 17,000sq ft of space in Endah Parade, but Lee and Eizaz hope to eventually turn the whole building into a music hub. Bestsellers : Guitars are the best-selling instrument in the store. Guitar Empire sells about 600 to 700 guitars a month. A turning point: Guitar Empire got a boost when a client placed an order for 300 violins, opening a door for the company to meet manufacturers.

Sometimes an unexpected diversion can turn out to be not just an enjoyable journey, but a profitable one as well. Ray Lee and Eizaz Azhar can attest to that. Lee and Eizaz are founders and directors of Guitar Empire, one of the largest musical instrument suppliers in the country. The company also runs a studio and a music school. Ironically, both do not have much of a musical background. Thirty-six-year old Lee grew up playing the guitar on his own and had frequented functions with his brothers as a group of buskers. He remembers getting kicked out of those functions a lot. As an adult, he took up photography, but remained passionate about music. He later left his job as a photographer to pursue his passion and started a small music school called Mama Treble Clef Studio. Eizaz, on the other hand, only took up classical piano at the age of 18 upon his mother’s insistence. The 27-year-old was in the middle of a degree in electronic engineering when he met Lee at his music school. They became fast friends and eventually discussed the possibility of starting a music studio. Eizaz decided to drop his education, and in 2006, the duo pulled together RM4,000 to start a small rehearsal studio in Endah Parade, Sri Petaling. Lee maintained his music school as it was generating enough revenue to sustain their new project. Read more of this post

The small start-ups are as vital as the stars

August 27, 2013 4:37 pm

The small start-ups are as vital as the stars

By Luke Johnson

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Britain and the US were dynamic and open to novelty

Are entrepreneurs freaks of nature? Jim Clifton thinks so. He is the boss of research firm Gallup, and recently wrote about studies it is undertaking to find those especially talented individuals who can build the next Google, Ryanair or Bloomberg. Gallup estimated that such “super-entrepreneurs” number just three out of 1,000 across a sample population. These are the risk-takers capable of founding so-called gazelle companies: the fastest-growing breakthrough organisations that create a high proportion of the new jobs and genuine innovation in an economy. Read more of this post

It’s okay to hate small talk

It’s okay to hate small talk

BY FRANCISCO DAO 
ON AUGUST 27, 2013

Do you hate small talk? If you do, you’re definitely not alone, perhaps not even in the minority, and yet many people feel guilty about disliking meaningless conversation. We are so conditioned to view social behavior as an absolute good that avoiding small talk is considered rude. This is part of something I call “the tyranny of extroverts,” a set of expected behaviors that are assumed to be superior, simply because they are louder or more visible. As someone who despises small talk, I’d like to debunk the myth that it is necessary or even useful. Read more of this post

The One Thing You Need To Know To Be A Great Manager: discover what is unique about each person, and capitalize on it

The One Thing You Need To Know To Be A Great Manager

JENNA GOUDREAU AUG. 27, 2013, 2:53 PM 3,981 3

Marcus Buckingham aimed in 2005 to boil countless professional insights down to one piece of advice for managers, leaders, and individual contributors. His best-selling book, “The One Thing You Need to Know: …About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success,” pulled this off, and it holds up remarkably well.  For managers, Buckingham says the most important thing is to discover what is unique about each person, and capitalize on it.  Read more of this post

What Happens When Co-Workers Are Nasty to Each Other; Hostile Work Environments Cost Companies in Productivity, Creativity; Using the ‘No Venting’ Rule

August 27, 2013, 8:07 p.m. ET

What Happens When Co-Workers Are Nasty to Each Other

Hostile Work Environments Cost Companies in Productivity, Creativity; Using the ‘No Venting’ Rule

RACHEL FEINTZEIG

Workers have new tasks on their to-do list: Say hello to colleagues. Don’t forget to smile. Companies may be reluctant to admit their offices are anything less than pleasant, but incivility—think belittling barbs or gruff responses—can lead to lost productivity, creativity and talent. As employees who are forced to do more work with fewer resources become more stressed, the rudeness is ramping up. So firms are urging staffers to play nice. Read more of this post