Jason Calacanis' How To Save Money Running A Startup Misses Mark - Sort Of

There's a firestorm going on and at the hub of this is none other than Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis. Jason wrote a blog post called "How To Save Money Running A Startup" which has upset a number of people because it seems to reduce his employees to slave status.

Having ran Sports Business Simulations for over five years and without a million dollar or more investment -- we started with just $25,000 and later a loan from me to the firm of $18,500 -- I think I have a good list to "sort of" add to what Jason wrote.

Well, OK, more modify what he wrote.

First, don't hire employees, bring in independent contractors. The reason is that you do save money on liability issues and health insurance and equipment. Look, you're a startup, that's what startups do.

Second, don't promise a level of pay you can't achieve. If you know what you're going to have coming in, use that as a basis. Then offer percentage revenue deals to the contractor. In five years, I have yet to experience a controversy because I said I could make a payment I could not indeed do.

Third, work out of your house. You really don't need a large office and telecommuting is all the rage, so use your house or apartment and have a dedicated workspace. For extra space, use the kitchen and dining room.

Fourth, learn to love the Internet Cafe. There a lot of places to go to just get out of the house with your partners in work and get coffee, work on the computer, and admire the single talent when your mind wanders -- and you're single yourself.

Fifth, think of your co-workers as just that, co-workers; not slaves, or insects, or idiots, or expendable units. But you have to seek out people who themselves are entrepreneurial. Be very careful not to find people who want you to provide an employment structure because they will sap your energy dry. Remember, you're a startup. Start with contractors, make great deals, and grow the business first.

Sixth, make sure to find people who don't use company party time to get royally smashed and have you wonder why you contracted with them in the first place. Remember, startups are known for parties, but that doesn't mean you have to have a high booze tab.

Seventh, Jason's right about the cell phones.

In closing, you too can grow a startup with my advice. But don't stop with me, ask around. And remember that startups are fun!

Racist GOP Congressman Steve King Opens His Big Mouth

That's about all I'll say regarding GOP Congressman Steve King of Iowa. He's racist in my view, and thinks that the old trick of using Barack Obama's middle name, thinking that there are racists out there who will agree with him. Maybe someone will let him know this is 2008 and not 1808.

Barack Obama Wins Wyoming Caucus

CNN's Jessica Yelin announced that Senator Barack Obama won the Wyoming Caucus. I'm watching now and he has 58 percent versus 41 percent for Clinton. There are 18 delegates at stake.

Samantha Power On The "Clinton Is A Monster" Statement - Video

Obama Gains 4 Delegates From California Primary

According to Talking Points Memo and the DailyKos, Senator Barack Obama gained 4 delegates in the California Primary. In other words, Obama has 4 more California Delegates that was reported by CNN and other news outlets. That means Senator Clinton's initial pick up of 8 delegates on March 4th has been cut in half by this and will be eliminated by the outcome of the Texas Caucus.

Samantha Power Is Right; Clinton Is A Monster

Samatha Power, a celebrated foreign policy expert from Harvard and the director of Senator Obama's foreign policy strategy as he runs for Preident, resigned today , after referring to Clinton as "a Monster."

The trouble is, Power's right. Hillary Clinton has exacted a terrible toll of destruction of the ideals o the Democratic Party, from race-baiting campaign tactics, to insulting Martin Luther King's lagacy, and spreading the false idea that Senator Obama is Muslim, Clinton is a Monster.

Power is right. She always is. I think the Obama campaign should bring her back.

Larry David Says Hillary Clinton is Nuts - Larry David's Obama Ad

Larry David, the main writer behind "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiam" has set off a real barnburner of a blog post over at The Huffington Post.

David, as of to come to the aide of Obama Foreign Policy guru Samatha Power (who said Clinton was a monster), writes that Senator Hillary Clinton is nuts, and wonders how great it would be if Clinton actually did answer the phone at 3 AM.

This is a sample of David: Here's an idea for an Obama ad: a montage of Clinton's Sybillish personalities that have surfaced during the campaign with a solemn voiceover at the end saying, "Does anyone want this nut answering the phone?"

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Senator Clinton Brings NOTHING To Military Efforts

That's the view. Senator Clinton is in reality a FOREIGN POLICY LIGHTWEIGHT who has zero substantive experience that one can draw from. Barack Obama is in a better place to judge American Foreign policy.

Clinton Blueprint For Victory Would Tear Dems Apart

In today's Column, Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza outlines what the Clinton Campaign considers its way to victory. It includes two actions that will drive the Democratic Party apart: 1) Clinton as fighter, which really means Clinton using racist means of campaigning, and 2) having Florida and Michigan count.

Look, I don't care what anyone else writes, Florida and Michigan are using their voters as tools to get what they want. That's smelly. Both states signed a contract and then violated that contract. So the voters should stay put and if they're pissed off about it, then they should throw their elected officials out of office.

Barack Obama's ahead -- deal with it.

Obama Raised $55 Million In February - A Record

I just got this from the Obama campaign:

Zenophon --

I want to add some more news to David's note about the state of the race.

As you know, we've won 27 of 41 contests and have maintained our commanding lead among pledged delegates.

But today I want to share another staggering number: supporters like you donated more than $55 million to this campaign in the month of February.

That's a humbling achievement, and I am very grateful for your support.

No campaign has ever raised this much in a single month in the history of presidential primaries. But more important than the total is how we did it -- more than 90% of donations were $100 or less, and more than 385,000 new donors in February pushed us past our goal of more than 1,000,000 people owning a piece of this campaign.

From the beginning, this campaign has always been funded by a movement of grassroots supporters giving whatever they can afford. And unlike Senator Clinton and Senator McCain, we have never taken money from lobbyists or PACs.

Senator Clinton has decided to use her resources to wage a negative, throw-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink campaign. John McCain has clinched the Republican nomination and is attacking us daily. But I will continue to vigorously defend my record and make the case for change that will improve the lives of all Americans.

Despite your generosity in February, I need your help to continue this battle on two separate fronts.

Please make a donation of $250 today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/delegatemath

Thank you for your support,

Barack

Charlotte Allen's WashPost Anti-Feminist Column Causes Firestorm

I first learned about Charlotte Allen's controversial column in a response writen by Alex Leo in the Huffington Post and titled "Charlotte Allen Is a Bigot", which is bound to get anyone's attention. But before I jumped on the Anti-Charlotte bandwagon, I figured I'd do two things: 1) read her column and 2) contact her.

I did both.

I got this response from Charlotte, who was kind enough to take the time to write back. Now, "CA" is her and "ZA" is me.

CA: Zennie:
I'll try to respond to your queries, but briefly:

ZA: I write a blog called Zennie's Zeitgeist
http://zennie2005.blogspot.com and I have a question for my post about
your column that has caused such controversy.

What was the movivating factor for writing it?

CA: Just fun--a friend of mine and I had been ventilating about all the dumb things women say and do.

ZA: Also, is there some discomfort with being a woman?

CA: I love being a woman?

ZA: In other words, what's wrong with essentially being how you're wired?

CA: Nothing--I'm not one of those gender studies types who believe that gender traits are all socially imposed.

ZA: Also, isn't it true that a lot of women aren't that way?

CA: Sure--I carefully pointed that out in the article.

ZA: I'm just curious. Also, did you expect to launch a controversy?

CA: I knew the piece would be loathed by many feminists, but not quite on this scale.

ZA: Would you still write the column if you knew it was going to piss off so many people?

ZA: It's been overwhelming trying to answer all the e-mails, but of course I'd do it. I refused to be intimidated by humorless politically correct types.

CA: Thanks! Hope this helps!

Actually, it does. I figured that Charlotte had -- as I told her -- her tongue way down her cheek when she wrote the column. I took the episode as something where she wanted to piss off a particular group of women who perhaps take themselves too seriously and she hit the mark -- bullseye.

Still, now there's a bullseye on her back. With so many calls for her head amoung the 1,000 comments and 10,000 blog responses, it will be interesting to see what happens to her. My bet is that she winds up on some TV show. Hey look, the WashPost editors must be loving this stuff. It's online churn of the first order.

I disagree with Alex Leo as I do think it was satrical and also balanced; not the divisive work Leo painted it to be.

NY Times Square Explosion - Biker Nearby Before Blast

The NY Post reports that a person on a bike acting suspiciously was seen just before a bomb went off at 4 AM EST today and wrecked a U.S. Military Recruiting Station there. No one was hurt and the person who did this is still at large.