The CBV Institute is having their annual national business case valuation challenge. The CBV Institute will accept 25 teams of undergraduate students from prominent business schools into the competition; a maximum of two teams per university can participate.
The first-place team will be awarded $10,000. Second and third place will receive $5,000 and $2,500, respectively.
BV Challenge 2023 info found here.
Visit BVChallenge.ca for registration and information. Register closes on October 13.
I try to unplug from politics time to time because it’s so toxic. It’s absolute garbage. Too much of it and your brain goes to shit. Feels like irreversible brain damage. But unfortunately in my line of work it’s hard to ignore when you have to know what’s going on. And…I’ve to admit that the entertainment and dramatic value of American politics is on another level (which is not exactly a good thing).
Tough month ahead. Republicans are asking for major concessions as part of any deal to keep the government running, including steeper budget cuts and changes to border and defense policy. And there’s the Kevin McCarthy’s impeachment push. And…are they connected? Sounds like the move is also inextricably tied to McCarthy’s struggle to avoid a government shutdown, keeping the crazies in line, and keeping his job as speaker of the House. And making sure none of this backfires on the Republicans. There’s a lot to juggle here.
Biden
We heard of the Hunter Biden’s mess. Did he go anything illegal? That’s for the justice system to figure out. Aside his drug/gun/tax/personal issues, using his dad’s name for “business” is looks like an ethical issue. But Hunter is a pawn. The real target is his dad, Mr. President.
The key question is: Did President Biden commit high crimes or misdemeanors (did Joe Biden benefit from his son’s business dealings)? Republicans and the FBI have been investigating for months and have yet to unearth any concrete evidence of misconduct by Mr. Biden. They are still looking for the “smoking gun”. So far the House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said that Hunter Biden “sold” his father as a “brand” to “reap millions from oligarchs”. The Washington Post provided an analysis of the evidence. Then former Vice-President Biden would go out for dinner with people, like oligarchs, who gave his son money or was put on speaker phone with potential business associates. It smells bad, but it doesn’t mean he is guilty. So far the committee has failed to identify any specific payments made to President Biden or provided evidence that he benefited from them directly. Again, they are still fishing for that smoking gun.
Hunter will have to deal with his legal mess. As for President Biden, so far it seems the impeachment inquiry lacks substance and is more of a political card. In the Washington Post this weekend GOP congressman Ken Buck denounces Biden impeachment inquiry. Buck is no lightweight in the Republican party. He’s a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus. He’s a conservative, pure and hard.
The claim that then-VP Biden pushed out Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin has been debunked. Shokin was not “prosecuting” the company where Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma making $1 million a year. Shokin was corrupt; the US and its allies had made a coordinated effort to oust him. Was Burisma corrupted? Probably, like everything in Ukraine at that time.
Shutdown
As for the government shutdown, it would be great if the US could get their fiscal house in order. Republicans are playing hardball and the fiscal conservatism card. Unfortunately they are not credible. Where was the Republican hardline on spending when Trump was in power (added $8b+ trillion to the debt in 4 years), or Bush? Did the Tea Party magically disappear? Every time a Democrat is in the White House Republicans rediscover their faux fiscal conservatism. Deficit hawks? Did you see any drama around the debt ceiling under Trump? They raised the limit three times. But when a Democrat is in power? “Let’s take the credit card away.” I’m not saying Democrats are fiscally responsible. They are not. But they never pretended to be either.
At the moment of this writing, there’s mixed news. Apparently there was a short-term bill to keep the government open but it was shut-down (a little bit of a play on word here). Some Republicans celebrated the bill but it wasn’t passed? If the House GOP can’t pass the bill, one House Republican said McCarthy “may be forced to choose between staying on as speaker or avoiding a shutdown.”
As for politicians, I just can’t buy anything they say. Don’t listen to what they say. Look at their actions.
Sure American politics is dramatic and entertaining. But unfortunately it’s the people that pay the price of their incompetency.
My excitement over EV trucks died down a bit. I saw the teaser videos. Of course, I wanted one. It’s the truck of the future! But my excitement was replaced with disappointment. I know it’s early innings with EV trucks. The first batch just came out. Fine, I don’t usually buy anything first-gen. I’m more of a “let them build 1 million first to see if the wheels don’t fall off” kinda guy. Let them wrinkle out the bugs first, then I might buy one.
Anyway the problem is not with the technology or the truck itself. They look awesome. I think you can guess. It’s the range! (And the price too.) It’s a massive bummer. I know you are not supposed to take manufacturer numbers at face value. And you shouldn’t. Especially if you are in Canada where the cold can snap your range 40%.
Let me get to the point. I was reading an article on Driving.ca on EV trucks. They tested the Ford-150 Lightning with the biggest battery pack. According to Ford, you should get 515 km of range driving on the highway (basically perfect conditions, no traffic, great weather, and flat, so not Canada). Driving.ca tested it and got 306 km. Ouch! That’s not much for perfect conditions. Imagine regular everyday driving plus the cold weather. And forget doing truck things, like pulling stuff. Car & Driver got 160km pulling 6,100lbs with the Lightning. And where do you charge if you are traveling with a camper? It’s hard not to block every charging spot.
It was good to hear Ford CEO admitting that there’s a lot of work left to do. He took his family on a road trip with a Ford Lightning. Here’s what he had to say after test driving the F-150 Lightning.
“It was a really good reality check of what challenges our customers are going through.” There’s videos out there where he documents his experience.
It’s WIP (Work-in-Progress). Now we can tackle the problems and improve. Charging will get better. Batteries will get better.
I’m just going to say this regarding biographies in general. Maybe the subject matter doesn’t have to be dead, but can we wait until his career is at least over? I feel the stories are told way too early. For example, when Ashlee Vance’s bio of Musk came out, it just felt like there was a lot left of the story to be told. The Musk story was just starting. Anyway…
Another Elon Musk biography is out. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. Musk allowed Isaacson to shadow him for two years, granting access to his family and confidants. Anything Isaacson is the authoritative biography. Isaacson is behind some of the greatest biographies out there. Einstein, Da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Jennifer Doudna (CRISPR, gene-editing) etc…
I read two Musk biographies, including the one by Ashlee Vance, which was considered “the” biography until now. They were good but felt incomplete. Like I said, the story was just starting. Vance tried to get Musk to collaborate for his biography. Musk wouldn’t at first and it took a lot of convincing. Musk finally agreed to give his version of the story to some of the stuff others said. The other biography was on the Paypal Mafia. It had a lot of early Musk stories that I never heard of. Anyway, you sort of knew that more biographies will come out eventually because the Elon Musk story is not over.
I read some excerpts of Isaacson’s biography of Musk. That’s the one you want. It’s by far the most intimate. As for the never-ending pile of biographies being published on Musk, it just seems like it’s a bunch of stories shared at the bar across the plant by a guy who got fired.
But I get it. The guy is fascinating. The guy has to be studied. Yes he has issues, he’s not perfect, he can be controversial, but I believe the world needs more Elon Musks. He’s a polarizing figure. There are good things about Elon, and there are bad things about Elon. And sometimes it’s hard to have a clear picture.
I have shared my Elon Musk opinion in the past. The Elon Musk that makes EV cars, that wants to colonize Mars, and push the frontier of technology. Great Elon! The Elon Musk that talks shit on X/Twitter and posts crap emoji. Bad Elon. And what’s going on with that solar roof? Wasn’t it promised 8 years ago?
I wish there wasn’t so much drama around him. But it’s a package deal. The greatness comes with a lot of dumb stuff too. If you are going to assess anybody, or anything, you have to look at both the good and the bad.
That’s it, have a good weekend.
It’s the time of the year where you can spend more money on a new iPhone! (At least on the iPhone Max, regular iPhone prices stay the same.) Apple just announced the iPhone 15. It feels like a new car commercial: “Same same, but better.” Every year, the improvements are marginal. It’s probably not enough to flip your iPhone 14 for a 15, but compared to let’s say the iPhone 7, there’s that “wow” effect.
The big notable news is Apple embracing the USB-C charger, after EU pressure. I’m not a big regulation guy, but this is a standard that should be adopted universally. How many charging cables do you need?!?! I don’t have horse in the fight (USB vs Lightning). I’m no pro-this cable or that. I’m pro charging. I just want to charge.
But the decision is a blow to Apple. They invested billions in R&D developing their proprietary charging cable, the lighting charger. The charger war is over. This is one of those decisions where the upside trumps the downside by multitudes. Let’s spend time and resources innovating other things.
By the way, it’s just charging. It shouldn’t be complicated. If you have one device and one cable, life is simple. But if you are like me, your phone, speaker, watch, tablet, kids’s stuff…then it becomes an IQ test for monkeys trying to charge stuff.
Imagine if you had to pump gas and each car brand had a different fuel filler inlet. Goddamn nightmare! There are things, certain standards or protocols, that universally we agreed that it should be the way. Like stop signs, traffic lights, air traffic control, seat belt mechanism, the height of a light switch, Internet protocols, most keyboards…it just makes everyone’s life easier and better.
Apple shares are down a bit lately but it’s still up 40% year-to-date. Part of the downslide is market sentiment turning negative. The other part is due to Apple becoming a new parn in the China-US rivalry. China is an important market for Apple. It represents about 20% of Apple’s revenues and income.
Still, even if Huawei and Samsung have superior phones, Apple has a much superior brand. It’s probably the #1 brand in the world. Young people want iPhones. They don’t want to be seen with an Android. The ecosystem is captive. You can’t go anywhere. You are lock-in. People are not trading down.
I’m on a little bit of a roll reading and reviewing books. I will go back to regular posts soon.
Columbia Business School Publishing was kind enough to send me a galley copy of Sports Entrepreneurship – Beyond The Big Leagues (Amazon) by Christopher Mumford. I believe the book comes out on September 26, 2023.
I enjoyed reading the book. It’s a book that speaks to me. As the title suggests, the book lies at the intersection of two interests of mine: Sports and Business.
Over the years I have juggled with sports business ideas. Since I won’t be making money on the field (BTW I’m still a free agent in all professional leagues if anyone from the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB is reading), maybe off the field I could turn one of these ideas into something. The ideas are still in my head. I’ll keep the ideas to myself because it’s not the purpose of the post. But my point is I wish I had that book a few years ago.
Who is this book for? First, you must love sports. Second, you have a business idea that you want to develop into a business. Third, you have key ingredients such as teamwork, competition, and effort that’s required on the field.
Getting involved in pro-sports is not accessible for most people. I can’t speak for all sports fans, but I’m probably not wrong when I say at one point we all had a dream of owning a professional sports team. It’s an expensive. That’s why it’s a dream. The price of a big 5 (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS) sports franchise is in the hundreds of millions, if not billions. For 99.99% of us, that dream will remain a dream. And if you do have billions burning a hole in your pocket, good luck finding a team available. That’s why they are trophy assets.
Or maybe you are a gifted athlete and it didn’t work out. Or your career as a pro-athlete is over and you are wondering what you will do with the remaining 50 to 60 years of estimated life. Or maybe you are interested in a career in sports management but positions are scarce. Or you are into youth sports, coaching, eSports, fitness, or other alternative growing fields and you have ideas you want to explore. Or maybe you are just a mega-sports fan with an idea. Or perhaps you have a sports-related hobby or a passion project that you want to take from the side hustle level to a full-time real business.
Mumford makes the case that it’s easier than ever to get involved in sports. Thanks to the cost and barriers of starting a new business are the lowest they have ever been. Lucky you, the first sentence in the introduction is “Now is the greatest time in human history to start a sports business.” But there’s a but. The second sentence and third sentence is “But it’s hard. It’s really, really hard.” The fundamental question of the book that you need to answer is: Is the juice worth the squeeze? Mumford explains that you may not be able to follow your original (sport) dream, but it can evolve into the dream of creating a sports startup. That’s the “why” of the book.
Sports Entrepreneurships is a how-to book. It’s a practical step-by-step on how to start a sports business. It provides methods for turning an idea into an enterprise. There are many ways you can get involved. The sports industry is a growing field. The first 2/3 of the book is Mumford going over six sectors that are up-and-coming opportunities and high-growth areas for start-ups:
You probably read about some of the sectors on an individual basis. What’s nice is that you have them all in one book and there’s some cross-over between them (e.g. sports betting mixed with esports). Mumford does a good analysis of each sector. He touches on many aspects, the opportunities and the constraints of each sector. There’s no sugar coating: it’s very competitive and hard work is required. I particularly enjoyed the four interviews with “key people” such as the person behind Wyscout, labeled the “Bloomberg platform for soccer”. The other interviews are with a professional sports bettor, a guy behind a couple sports analytics company and another one in youth sports. It’s good to hear from people in the field with boots on ground sharing their insights and experience.
In the last part of the book, Mumford focuses on taking an idea and turning it into an enterprise. This is the how-to, step-by-step part of the book. It’s a couple chapters and it’s very comprehensive. I’m not talking about theory, but a roadmap on how the process works (investor presentation, budget, working prototype, NDA, term sheet, fundraising, conducting a pilot, etc…)
Broadly speaking, the opportunities are in supplemental services, advising, support, and ancillaries. You might not be able to score touchdowns, but might develop a product or service that improves the fan experience, or that helps management and teams. There are tons of experiences. Think of what FanDuel/DraftKings did with daily fantasy football and sports betting. Or what Strava did for mobile fitness. Look at Peloton and Garmin. Look at YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and the podcast scene. In the medium term, think of the possibilities surrounding AR/VR.
This is a good book. It explores high-potential growth areas and provides a process for validating those opportunities. As I mentioned earlier, Mumford talks about determining if the juice is worth the squeeze. The answer to the question starts by developing subject matter expertise and owning the process.
To conclude, I’m going to leave you with a bit of advice from the first interview in the book that I found interesting: Just go out there and work. If something makes sense, do more of it…The only way you can form a perspective is to be working in the space every day. A new idea will not just come out of nowhere. You have to be in the middle of it to see it.
You can buy pre-order the book at Columbia University Press and on Amazon.
Brian Langis 