job search tales: Plan your job search as well as your vacation

In this episode Cindy Pain explains how a little bit of preparation, and research, can go a long way to creating a successful job search. Put at least as much effort planning your strategy for getting a new job as you do in planning a vacation. Cindy also provides insights on interviews: once you've got that interview, the job is already yours, just don't lose it.

You can check out Cindy's career consulting firm at http://www.lhh.com/.




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NOTE: Please contact Michael if you are interested in being a guest on "Tales from the job search trenches" podcasts. Michael would like to discuss your job search strategy, and brainstorm ways to improve it with you.

This Week on Bear radio: The Euro end-game, and China as leading indicator

In this episode we discuss the possible end-game of the Euro, the future of interest rates, and examine how eerily the Shanghai stock exchange has been a leading indicator for the US markets in the last few years.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Linked:Seattle radio - Finding a job in Seattle

In this very first Linked:Seattle radio show, Michael speaks with Jordan Shaw and Lesa Keller about looking for jobs in Seattle. We answer calls from job seekers, and share tips that can be useful to all candidates.




NOTE: The Linked:Seattle Career Center is the best place on LinkedIn to find jobs in Seattle and participate in discussions with area recruiters, career coaches, and job candidates. You can also check out Michael Surkan’s "Tales from the job search trenches" podcasts.

PS: Software goes Hollywood

In this episode, Daniel Stieglitz tells us about how writing software for the media industry has challenges all of its own. Requirements can change on a dime, and projects need to be turned around in a matter of hours. Daniel's firm has managed to deal with this by building flexible applications that are easily customizable (often by the users themselves) through scripting.

You can check out Daniel's software company at http://www.stainlesscode.com/.




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NOTE: Practical Software is the official podcast for the Software Engineering Productivity group on Linked:In. You can listen to other episodes of Practical Software. Other content for the SEP group is stored in our resource center.

PS: Good software starts with business requirements

In this episde, Tony Nicholls explains how the first step in any successful software engineering project is to have a good understanding of the business requirements.

You can check out Tony's IT consultancy at http://greatideaz.com/.




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NOTE: Practical Software is the official podcast for the Software Engineering Productivity group on Linked:In. You can listen to other episodes of Practical Software. Other content for the SEP group is stored in our resource center.

This Week on Bear radio: Did the pan-European bail-out news cause the rally?

In this episode, the Optimistic Bear, and guests, ask if this week's market rally was caused by the pan-European bail-out announced over the week-end, and whether the markets have turned the corner. The frequent "coincidence" of market news and stock moves is revealed.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

ECS intro podcasts

These are the three introductory podcasts Michael has recorded for use in promoting Effective Communications Services.

Episode 1: Social Networking as a marketing tool

Learn how social networks can be used as an effective tool for all businesses.




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Episode 2: Creating good content is the cornerstone of marketing on social networks

Michael discusses how the first step in effective social network marketing is to have good content.

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Episode 3: Social networks provide a new approach to direct marketing

Discover how social networks can be used to conduct highly targeted, and successful, direct marketing campaigns with social networks. Instead of SPAMing, you can use social networks to reach out directly to the people who would be interested in hearing about your business.




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Michael: The Model Job Seeker

Matt Youngquist wrote a very flattering piece on his career coaching blog, highlighting my podcasting and entrepreneurial efforts. Who'd have thunk that I would be cited as an example for others to emulate?

If nothing else, hearing such kind words certainly buoys my spirits, which can take a drubbing now and again, as I keep slogging away with a lengthy job search.

As a “new media” aficionado and somebody who had always prided himself on proactive thinking and creative problem-solving, he decided the best path to his career future would be to go on offense, rather than defense.

The result? After setting up a simple blog portal, Pomp & Surkanstance, Michael started reaching out to dozens of local entrepreneurs, technology luminaries, and business leaders — not to ask them for a job, but to ask to interview them for a special series of podcasts he had decided to start producing. He branded this project “Entrepreneurs Northwest” and found that his invitations were usually received with open arms...

So if you’re in transition and feeling a bit rudderless at the moment, I’ve got just three words for you. Be like Mike. Go on offense. Create momentum. Find a way to start working on something, even if it’s not a revenue-producing something. As any career coach worth their salt could tell you, the real opportunities aren’t found sitting behind a computer, they’re found out in the market and you find them by talking to lots and lots of people. So conjure up your own project that will facilitate some relevant conversations — and go for it!

You can read the full article on Matt's site.

The business that succeeds only through failure

ElliottWave International has long been my favourite economic newsletter, producing insights, and viewpoints that are to be found no where else. They called the housing bubble years before the top. They identified the house of cards (and credit) upon which the global financial system was based.

Even more profoundly, EWI has done ground-breaking work in demonstrating that it is group psychology, and the herding instinct, that drives events (and the economy), not the other way around.

Unfortunately, as insightful and prescient as EWI has been over the years, I can't help but notice that their very own newsletter business itself will almost certainly vanish if their predictions hold water. Ironically, the only way EWI will succeed as a going concern is if their call for a deflationary depression, and the collapse of nearly every asset class, is wrong. In a world where virtually every asset has fallen by 90% or more, precious few souls will be interested in paying for investment advice.

Just look at financial news services in the 1930s (a time which EWI frequently refers to for guidance on what to expect in the years ahead). During the great depression, stocks became thinly traded and the average middle class American virtually disavowed investing altogether, focussing on bonds and simple savings for over a generation. If the Dow were to plunge below 1000 again, and remain there for years, a similar phenomena would occur.

Moreover, EWI itself proclaims that investors should be in cash, and stay there for many years. Assuming this advice is correct, there is little reason for anyone to continue paying for new reports when the advice will remain unchanged for years to come.

Here's to hoping that there will still be some new investment advice worth writing about, even if America were to experience a depression to rival the 1930s. Otherwise I will lose the precious voice of independent, and intelligent, thought I have come to look forward to every month.

Yet another threat to the Euro

There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether the Euro might come unglued if one of the member nations were to either be expelled, or leave the currency bloc in its own right. However, it occurs to me that a very real threat to the Euro might come from a completely unexpected quarter: nations who are members of the European Union, but not the Euro currency (like Sweden and the UK).

According to the standard hypothesis, it is merely a matter of time before Germany gets fed up enough with bailing out weaker economies that they decide to sever the weakest link, or that the weakest link (e.g. Greece) might bolt anyway, in order to avail itself of options which which are currently prohibited by the Euro rules . It may be far more palatable on the domestic political front to devalue the currency, or simply default on debt, than to implement strident fiscal austerity measures.

This theory seems pretty compelling, and could very well come to pass. On the other hand, there is a palpable threat to the Euro, from EU member states that never joined the common currency, that has gone virtually unnoticed. In short, it is possible that strains from dealing with Euro currency problems may lead one (or more), of the non-Euro countries to bolt from the European Union altogether.

At first blush this seems crazy. EU nations have such a close economic arrangement, that leaving the free trade zone would have extremely deleterious economic effects. On the other hand, what the desperate measures that Euro nations are exploring, as they struggle to stave off disaster could potentially lead to precisely this kind of almost unthinkable result.

For example, there has been recent talk of Euro member nations forcing an emergency vote in European Union government sessions, using simple majority rule principals, to force even non Euro members to participate in the Euro bailout. If such a thing were ever to happen, and countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden (who never joined the Euro to begin with) were obligated to pay for bailing out the Euro currency, the political backlash could be truly frightening. Considering how luke-warm countries like the UK have always been to the EU, forcing them to participate in bailing out the Euro could push things over the edge.

And just what, pray tell, would happen if the UK were to secede from the EU? It would undoudbtedly spread fear and economic panic far and wide. The Euro would likely be toast overnight. Instead of merely dealing with the calamity of an unravelling Euro currency, the departure of a nation from the EU could undermine more than 60 years of painstakingly crafted European unity. Certainly it is inconcievable that a civil war could break out, with the remaining EU members refusing to allow other members to depart, but the psychological damage would be enormous nonetheless.

Of course, the EU could very well be in jeapardy even if there is no revolt amongst non-Euro nations. The bad blood that will exist upon the departure of any Euro member nation from the currency (which is looking increasingly inevitable) will make running the EU an even more difficult proposition than it already is. After a messy currency divorce, it is hard to envision that the previously married parties will be able to cooperate on a broader EU level.

Perhaps the future of the Euro isn't the only thing we should be worried about.

The True Lesson from Greek Debt

The deeper lesson in the Greek debt debacle is that welfare states paint themselves into a corner until they reach a tipping point of no return. All democratic, debt-ridden countries are heading for the same fate, and it is too painful and unpopular for governments to take the necessary austerity measures to avoid collapse. Any politicians proposing austerity measures will lose the votes of those who receive the benefits of government largesse. Once the group of people who believe they receive more from government than they pay reaches a majority, collapse is assured.

The political candidate's dilemma is: propose austerity and not get elected, or run on a free lunch campaign, get elected, and perhaps try to slip a little austerity in with the largesse. Even those who propose austerity as candidates tend to take little substantive action against it once they are elected. Note that the worst fate a politician faces by over-spending is getting elected out of office. If austerity policies guarantee such evictions, then largesse in the hope that the consequences will fall on a future government seems to be the best option.

Externally enforced austerity only works temporarily until either a new election, where communist candidates become attractive, or until the uprisings in the street reach a tipping point, forcing the government to declare bankruptcy. Either way, the government debt will ultimately go unpaid, and the currency will be devalued. In short, external bailouts, much like chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and domestic corporate bailouts, merely tax nations that aren't yet quite as bad off and delay the inevitable collapse. By taxing the healthier nations, such bailouts serve to weaken everybody, making it increasingly inevitable that the healthier nations will fall a little sooner than they otherwise would because of their own economic imprudence. The linked currencies of the euro merely guarantee a combined collapse rather than a selective one.

The solution to failing nations is the same as the solution to failing individuals and companies: unassisted, liquidation bankruptcy. It is unpleasant, and that is precisely the point. It needs to be unpleasant and inevitable in order for citizens to be a little less inclined to vote for governments promising a free lunch. Further, we need to let week countries fall in order for them to more quickly get on to the road to recover. It is a road that only starts from the bottom. Does only democracy lead inevitably to collapse, or is it a symptom of every form of government which has forgotten frugality and freedom?

The Freedom to Fail

Among the plethora of freedoms, real and imaginary, touted by politicians and pundits, one fundamental freedom is glaringly missing: the freedom to fail. Governments create welfare programs to save us from personal economic failure, health care to save us from health care failure, business and banking regulations and agency to save us from bank and business failure. Unfortunately, we learn by our mistakes. More importantly, the risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit requires the right to fail completely in addition to the right to windfall profits if it succeeds.

Without the right to fail, we become capricious and stop taking precautions to avoid suffering. Why save money if the government will provide pensions? Why buy health care if the government will provide it? Why be skeptical of bank interest rates that are too good to be true if the government guarantees our savings will be safe from loss? Why save for a rainy day when the government provides steadily growing unemployment insurance? Why cautiously rent when the government rewards us for taking a mortgage?

Unfortunately, when you take away the right to fail, you must also take away the right to succeed. Without the risk of failure, banks and individuals take too many risks and individuals are less inclined to take care of their own needs, increasing the need for heavy taxation. We already tax the poor heavily through monopoly gambling rights for the government and sin taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. The only way to raise taxes is thus on the less poor, by taxing the rich until their income is at a very modest level.

Many things stop happening at such a level. Potential medical students decide to not pursue degrees in medicine. Entrepreneurs decide not to create new, innovative businesses. Pharmaceutical firms decide against researching expensive new drugs. In short, the advance of civilization slows. Everybody focuses, instead, on hiding their income from the taxman and maximizing their government benefits. How many of our decisions are already driven by their tax or benefits implications?

Finally, when innovation has slowed, and new companies are scarce, the government becomes fearful of large existing firms going bankrupt, as new firms will not rise to replace them. They they provide subsidies to the weak companies and tax the successful companies until they also become unprofitable. If the companies no longer face the risk of failure due to taxpayer bailouts, then it is understandable that we then spurn profitability and bonuses.

The only solution is to harald a return of the right to fail. Eliminate chapter 11 and other corporate bailouts. Eliminate all government subsidies and regulation of retirement, health and unemployment. Encourage entrepreneurs to take risks, but allow them to bear the full loss or success of those risks. Inasmuch as we reduce the freedom to fail, we reduce the freedom to succeed.

The mistake that shook the world

With everyone reeling from the stock market gyrations of Thursday May 6th, with the largest intra-day drop ever, we are told that a simple trading mistake was the cause of the dramatic plunge. Someone apparently entered a "b" instead of an "m" when placing a sell order, which resulted in billions of shares being sold rather than just millions.

Now that the mystery is solved we can all breath easier... Hardly!

Trading errors occur all the time, sometimes causing very brief swings in stock indexes. However, these "errors" don't result in any kind of lasting impact, and the gyrations they cause are rather minimal. While it's entirely possible that Thursday's crash was accentuated, or even catalyzed, by human error, it is grossly inacurate to blame the decline on a mistake. In fact, mistakes are far more likely to happen when people are spooked, thus making it inevitable that more glitches would occur than normal when stocks are tanking.

Quite simply, the markets had been getting jittery for a while with the growing sovereign debt problems. Moreover, stocks have rallied so much that their values are already at levels which are hard to justify given the slow nature of the economic recovery seen in the last year. There just wasn't much more room for prices to rally anymore.

Curiously, no one ever makes a big fuss when a trading mistake leads to higher prices. It is only when there is blood in the streets that we look for scapegoats.

If there was indeed a large mistake in some of the orders placed on Thursday then the securities firms, and management bodies, need to rectify the problem and perhaps find ways to help prevent such glitches in the future. But it would be terribly naive to pin the blame for the market crash on an error.

This Week on Bear radio: is the sovereign debt crisis over?

In this episode, the Optimistic Bear and guests discus sovereign debt. With all the problems in Greece, and Europe, prudent investors are wondering if purchasing bonds of nation states makes sense anymore. Are US T-bills, or German bunds safe?

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

This Week on Bear radio: Who needs the ratings agencies anyway?

In this show, the Optimistic Bear (and friends) discusses the role ratings agencies play in finance, and whether their judgments hold any value for investors.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

PS: Software automation tools

In this episode Stephen Heffner explains how automation tools can improve both the efficiency, and quality, of software development. Code generation tools still aren't all that useful, but there has been a lot of progress in automation systems that check code for best practices and quality.

You can check out Stephen's company (which makes software automation systems) at http://www.pennington.com/.

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NOTE: Practical Software is the official podcast for the Software Engineering Productivity group on Linked:In. You can listen to other episodes of Practical Software. Other content for the SEP group is stored in our resource center.

EPNW: Invest in yourself - go solo

In this episode Lenora Edwards shares the wisdom she's gleaned from 20 years of working with entrepreneurs to explain how success requires a willingness to invest in yourself. A burning passion, confidence, and family support are important, but entrepreneurs also have to see themselves as worthy of serious investment. After all, what better stock is there to put your money in than yourself?

You can check out more of Lenora's ideas at http://www.lenoraedwards.com/.




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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

job search tales: Making the recruiter your best friend

In this episode Ryan Lum explains how building relationships with recruiters can pay-off. Good recruiters know the value in bulding a network of quality people who they can call on for information or jobs. Recruiters can offer insights on employers, and give tips that help those interviews go over the top.

You can find more information about jobs available through Ryan's agency at http://www.greythorn.com/.




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NOTE: Please contact Michael if you are interested in being a guest on "Tales from the job search trenches" podcasts. Michael would like to discuss your job search strategy, and brainstorm ways to improve it with you.

Poll Taxes

At my private school, the faculty are encouraged to contribute to two faculty scholarships for graduating seniors. Those who contribute to the scholarships are allowed to vote on the recipients, but those who don't contribute are excluded from voting. Were I to point out how undemocratic this restrictive voting policy is, I would be understandably scorned.

Strangely, many of the same people who would spurn such a suggestion at this local level, believe that restricting political franchise to taxpayers would be unamerican and immoral. Is it any wonder that we continually choose leaders who redistribute the wealth of the minority to those who contribute the least in taxes?

This Week on Bear radio: The case against Goldman Sachs

In this episode, the Optimistic Bear and Elliott examine both the moral, and legal, cases against Goldman Sachs. A perusal through Goldman’s past shows that they routinely wind up with egg on their face every time the economy goes south. The Optimistic Bear tells about how this is all reminiscent of the trouble Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken wound up in when the junk bond market tanked in the early ‘90s.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

This Week on Bear radio: Could anyone have foreseen the financial crisis?

In this episode Elliott, Jeremy and the Optimistic bear wonder if the claims to have been blind-sided by the financial crisis by pillars of the financial community, like Greenspan and ex-Washington Mutual executives, can be taken at face value. Frequent caller Ray Pepper updates us on the growing number of defaulting homeowners who stay in their homes when the lenders are unable to produce the note.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

job search tales: Finding a job is all about marketing

In this episode Dennis Buckmaster explains how the search for a job is a marketing and sales challenge. Job seekers shouldn't waste their time doing an excessive amount of networking, instead they should directly approach the companies they wish to work for with the same determination, and strategy, of a star salesman. A resume is your brochure, and interviews are the face-to-face sales pitch. This is not a time to be bashful: you have a product to sell, and you have to close.

You can find more information about Dennis' ideas for building a successful job search at http://www.dennisbuckmasterassociates.com/.




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NOTE: Please contact Michael if you are interested in being a guest on "Tales from the job search trenches" podcasts. Michael would like to discuss your job search strategy, and brainstorm ways to improve it with you.

Why do the Poor Teach the Rich?

As a teacher in a respectable private school, I'm starting to wonder whether the fact that lower middle class teachers, often educated in public schools, teaching upper class students is not just an ironic juxtaposition, but a necessary relationship. Often the students in my classroom have never had to perform basic household chores, light a match or learn the plethora of life skills that a lower class teacher learns by necessity.

As I contemplate the justification for spending $17,000 dollars a year to send a child to middle school, safety, nurturing and academics come to mind, but is there more to it? Maybe the fact that we poor teachers spend considerable time learning basic survival skills and street smarts growing up qualifies us to prepare these privileged children for the bump and tumble challenges of life. What are the students receiving for their parents' $20/class?

Meanwhile, we teachers can appreciate the fact that we don't have to go as far out of our way to teach our children to appreciate what they have: we can't afford a maid, and they'll have to work their way through college. Perhaps their challenges will on day qualify them to teach the wealthy.

Getting Older: Back to Basics

As I get older, I find my interests and awareness slowly evolving to become more like those of my parents, who are now grandparents. Simple pleasures like spending time with children, playing cards, and gardening are becoming increasingly fulfilling, and intellectual debates about saving the world are fading in their allure.

A heightened awareness of the wonder of nature is my latest rediscovery, as I marvel with my young daughters who are discovering it for the first time. The clichés about staying young by seeing the world through their eyes have some truth to them, but I believe the more fundamental reason for the evolution of interests is a greater awareness of what really counts. By this point, I'm fairly set in my intellectual ways, so rehashing them doesn't accomplish much, but I seldom tire of spending time with family and friends.

After I learned how to play hearts a few years ago, I quickly thought I had mastered the game and it became boring. When I play it now, I recognize seemingly endless subtleties that not only help me to become a better card player, but seem to parallel life. Knowing which cards to pass off and which ones to hold is akin to coming to terms with our daily dilemmas. In life, finding pleasure in what others reject or ignore is also much safer than searching for the holy grail. It isn't really important whether I win the card game, but rather whether I play my hand to its full potential.

The same analogies apply to parenting and teaching, my chosen vocation. Regardless of what others are doing, I can always improve myself if I only take the time to contemplate my situation. Is this what it means to grow old?

job search tales: 5 biggest job seeker mistakes

In this episode Matt Youngquist shares his decades of experience in career coaching to tell about the 5 biggest mistakes job seekers make. Matt explains how many people spend too much time on resumes and innefectual networking activities, amongst other things.

You can check out more of Matt's ideas at http://www.career-horizons.com/.




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NOTE: Please contact Michael if you are interested in being a guest on "Tales from the job search trenches" podcasts. Michael would like to discuss your job search strategy, and brainstorm ways to improve it with you.

This Week on Bear radio: Impacts of a Chinese currency revaluation, and balance of trade nonsense

In this episode Elliott and Jeremy ponder if a floating Chinese currency would really behave as experts expect. We also talk about how misleading the balance of trade statistics really are.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

This Week on Bear radio: The euro has an anniversary and the stock rally has bears in retreat

In this episode regular contributor Elliott and the Optimistic Bear celebrate the Euro's 10th anniversary and discuss whether the markets are actually secretly manipulated, and controlled, by mysterious people in smoke filled rooms.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

EPNW: The REAL pro-sports action in Seattle is soccer

In this episode Joe Gradilla, a member of the Linked:Seattle sports group, talks about his passion for the Seattle Sounders Football Club. The games are cheap, exciting, and family friendly. Colorful touches like Drew Carey and marching bands give the Sounders games a vibrancy lacking elsewhere.

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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

EPNW: The silver bullet to internet marketing just doesn't exist

In this episode of Entrepreneurs Northwest Ian Lurie says that businesses have to do their homework before hiring an internet marketing professional. There are no silver bullets for internet marketing, and every business needs a customized strategy.

You can check out Ian's marketing ideas at http://www.portentinteractive.com/.




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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

This Week on Bear radio: A Primer on Inflation and Deflation & Health Care gone Mad

In this episode regular contributor Jeremy and the Optimistic Bear demystify what inflation and deflation really are, and reluctantly come to the conclusion that Canada's health care system may actually be better than America's.

For more details on deflation you can also check out the Optimistic Bear's in-depth Deflation 101 presentation.

You can also join the community discussion on this subject by joining the Deflation Study Group on LinkedIn.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

EPNW: Be patient: Seattle's real-estate market won't hit bottom for some time

In this episode the manager of the Linked:Seattle Real Estate group, Jillayne Schlicke, explains why she thinks the Seattle area real-estate market still hasn't hit bottom. As an educator of real-estate professionals Jillayne gets an inside view of what is happening across the industry, and shares her insights about how the Seattle real-estate market has changed, and what lies ahead.

You can check out Jillayne's web site at http://ceforward.com/.

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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

This Week on Bear radio: Will smaller banks make the economy safer?

In this episode regular contributors Jeremy, Kevan, and Elliott chat with the Optimistic Bear about the futility of proposed financial industry reform. Will legislating large financial institutions out of existence really save us from future economic calamity? Does size really matter? We also talk about whether timing matters with value investing, and whether resource rich nations are really better off.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

EPNW: Michael tells all- redesigning surkan.com was tough, but worth it

In this episode Bryan Cox sits in as the guest host of "Entrepreneurs Northwest" and interviews Michael Surkan about all the entrepreneurial activities he has been up to, and the new redesign to http://www.surkan.com/, to better help readers find the content they want. Michael shares his ideas about social networking, and the power of podcasting, as well as highlight his experience with using off-shore help for web development.

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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

This Week on Bear radio: Robert Shiller's economic pessimism and prospect for northwest real-estate

This week our regular pundit Jeremy discusses the Q ratio and Robert Shiller's bearish economic prognosis. We also chat with Washington state real-estate investor Ray Pepper about his views on the still treacherous property markets, and shares some ideas on how investors can still make a buck.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Entrepreneur Northwest podcast directory

Welcome to the Entrepreneur Northwest podcasts. In this series, Michael talks with entrepreneurs who are living their dreams. We talk about the successes, and failures, and offer words of advice for others trying to start their own businesses.

http://surkanstance.blogspot.com/search/label/EPNW

EPNW: The entrepreneur's guide to program management

In this episode of "Entrepreneurs Northwest" Donna Reed talks about how entrepreneurs often ignore the skills of program management at their peril. A good PM does much more than just handle scheduling, but works to understand the entire business and product, and helps prioritize work, marketing, and other activities. Even if a new startup can't afford to hire a full time program manager, there are many people who work on a consulting basis. Better yet, every entrepreneur should spend at least as much time learning the skills of program management as they do exploring finance and marketing.

You can check out more of Donna's ideas on program management at http://www.donnaareed.com/. You can also watch Michael's presentation called "Microsoft Program Management for Dummies", for a perspective on program management at Microsoft.




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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Microsoft Program Management for Dummies - Live, and on-line!

I will be giving my presentation about Program Management at Microsoft in a live (and FREE) web-cast at 12:00pm (Pacific Time) on February, Wednesday the 3rd. I will be taking time to answer questions at the end of the presentation.

You can look up details on how to register to participate in the web-cast here.

You can watch the existing recording of this presentation (given in August 2009) any time.

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

Weekly Economics and Finance round-up

The Optimistic Bear discusses the week's economic and financial news with his guests. Is deflation or inflation up ahead? Has the economy turned the corner? What is going to happen to real-estate, commodities, stocks, or gold prices? Tune in to hear a deeper understanding of why things happen in the economy, and what it really means to you or your business.

Download the sound(right click and save as link) : Download

You can find all the Optimistic Bear shows here: Optimistic Bear

You can find all the Entrepreneurs Northwest shows here: Entrepreneurs Northwest

EPNW: Why publishers make the best entrepreneurs

In this episode of "Entrepreneurs Northwest" David Meerman Scott explains that the old days of begging, buying, and bugging consumers with crude marketing efforts are over. The only way to get attention in the fractured world of the Internet is to earn it by publishing useful information, and content, that customers want to see. The key to marketing success is to think like a publisher, looking for the content that will appeal to the market.

You can check out more of David's ideas at http://www.webinknow.com/ or the new edition of his book, "The New Rules of Marketing and PR".




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NOTE: Check out the complete podcast directory of discussions with entrepreneurs. If you would like to be a guest on Entrepreneurs Northwest, to talk about your business venture, contact Michael Surkan.

seeking CTO for fast growing affiliate startup

If you are a talented internet software engineer, with deep experience working on web sites and databases looking for a ground floor opportunity in a startup, I want to talk with you!

I am a partner with a company that is setting up a network of auto service shops that pay referral fees for customers who come through our service. We generate the majority of our customers by signing up non-profits to receive donations every time one of their supporters get their cars serviced at a member shop. We charge the shops 5% of the gross bill for every customer we send them, and we give the charities 3%. The beauty of this is that the charities do all the hard work of marketing our service (i.e. telling anyone and everyone to get their cars repaired at our member shops), keeping our costs super low.

Our business model is self-financing , and will start generating revenue within months. This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky dream that hopes for a pay-off way in the future. Because we will be generating cash soon, and because our technology and marketing needs are modest, we are confident we can be self-financing, and will not need to give away big chunks of equity to investors.

We are currently starting off by getting this business (www.referredautorepairs.com) running in British Columbia. Once we are fully running there we plan on taking it across North America by the end of the 2010.

The best part is that we are seeing a simply PHENOMENAL demand for this. Charities are almost beating down our door asking to participate, and a LOT of auto repair shops are really hurting, making them eager to sign up. The worse the economy gets, the better it is for us as charities get more desperate for new funding sources, and service shops look for new ways to find customers.

The downside is that we are very cash poor right now, and really can’t afford to pay a CTO anything at the moment. Our back-end is our weakest link, and our reliance on off-shore developers is just taking far too long. We are currently a business of salesmen and marketers, but lack the technical skill to make the back-end hum smoothly.

This is the chance of a life-time for any web developer who is able to sustain themselves for a few months while putting in a lot of sweat equity into putting the finishing touches on this venture into place. We already have a lot of the back-end built (using the LAMP stack), and it won’t take a lot to get the very basics working. As soon as we have a working system to accept the on-line customer shop bookings, we will have a huge pipeline of PAYING customers to use it.

Most of the people in this company are in British Columbia and Seattle, but we don’t mind working with people who live elsewhere in North America. Most of our work is virtual anyway.

If this sounds interesting, just let me know and I would be happy to talk with you and share details.