Creating Wealth Has Never Been So Easy. Or Difficult. By Alex Biles, University of Michigan “Oh, get a job? Just get a job? Why don’t I strap on my job helmet, and squeeze down into a job cannon and fire off into job land, where jobs grow on jobbies!” — Charlie Kelly Welcome to post-college, the … Continue reading
By Alex Schiff and Chase Lee, University of Michigan Over the past decade, the financial barriers to starting a web-centric business have plummeted, and technical developments, fueled by open-source technology, have made once unprofitable ideas extremely lucrative. Combined with the rising information economy, this has spurred a wave of entrepreneurship across America—one that won’t be … Continue reading
By Alex Schiff, University of Michigan Last week, I had a good hour-long conversation with a friend about stock options. Somehow, the conversation turned to communication skills in business and how they manifest differently in the two of us. He has excellent verbal skills—give him enough time on the phone or in person and he … Continue reading
By Micah Akuezue, UCLA This article isn’t so much about a beloved, fallen bookstore, but rather, fittingly enough, a literary term: juxtaposition. On an early Friday morning, after a night of finishing Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, I was greeted by a farewell email from Borders. I forced myself to read the letter—twice, … Continue reading
By Alex Biles, University of Michigan After giving fellow co-founder Alex Schiff’s excellent take on the U.S. debt ceiling debacle some thought, I found myself in agreement with much of it. Considering our countless lunches with departures marked on an agreement to disagree, this was slightly unexpected. I have a few comments of my own … Continue reading
By Alex Schiff, University of Michigan Are we in a bubble or a boom? Are we all screwed or are we seeing the dawning of an entrepreneurial revolution? Everyone is starting a company these days. I’m doing it, my dad’s doing it, friends of friends and everyone else under the sun are becoming founders or … Continue reading
By Alex Biles, University of Michigan With constant reminders of our nation’s economic woes, one might wonder the role pessimism plays in prolonging the malaise. Economies run on confidence, and if one’s view of markets can be swayed by related factors – say, political – there exists a possibility that other people can be influenced to think … Continue reading
By Alex Schiff, University of Michigan Last week, “Why I Didn’t Get A Real Job” received quite a bit of buzz around startup circles. It started with Hacker News, where it shot up into the Top 20 and proceeded to spread across the Twitterverse. By mid-week, some widely-followed organizations like Startup America and StartupDigest had … Continue reading
By Alex Schiff, University of Michigan A month ago, I turned down a very good opportunity from a just-funded startup to continue my job for the rest of the summer. It was in an industry I was passionate about, I would have had a leadership position and having just received a raise, the pay would … Continue reading
