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WHY AREN’T YOU LINED UP OUTSIDE THE DARK ROOM ALREADY?!? The Business is never a show to miss, but this week… THIS WEEK.    We are welcoming two splendid guests: Frank Chu and Boutros-Boutros Ghali. BARATUNDE THURSTON.   Baratunde Thurston is a politically-active, technology-loving comedian from the future. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack and Jill Politics and served as Director of Digital for The Onion  before launching the comedy/technology startup Cultivated Wit . Then-candidate Barack Obama called him "someone I need to know." Baratunde travels the world speaking and advising and performs standup regularly in NYC. He resides in Brooklyn, lives on Twitter and has over 30 years experience being black. He writes the monthly backpage column for Fast Company , and his first book, How To Be Black , is a New York Times best-seller. And the wonderful Wonder Dave Wonder Dave is a writer and performer from Minneapolis MN. not to be confused with Super ...

To my generation, Nipper is an old treasured friend. Nipper is the dog you see on that immortal brand logo of His Master's Voice, better known as HMV. Most of us , in the good old days, owned a HMV Radio and certainly bought a few HMV records - or at least one or two, for the money would stretch only so much those days. In India, until Television really came to the country along with the Asian Games of 1982, HMV radio was the prime entertainment medium of the land. HMV has now gone into receivership and , I'm afraid Nipper will now be consigned to a dusty shelf in some museum. Nipper, was Mark Barraud's dog and lived in the late 1800s in Bristol in England. On his death, a sorrowful Barnard painted the famous picture of Nipper listening to a gramophone with a puzzled expression and sold it to the Gramophone company. A marketing genius there called William Owen made it the logo of the business and thus was the immortal His Master's Voice born. The Gramophone Company star...

When my fiancé  first left for his MBA project in China, I was like: but I realized my friends are all still in town, and now we're like:

Legacy news organizations (newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters) are confronting three critical relevance challenges as the digital world matures: Changing business configurations and characteristics, declining value of traditional news and informational content, and unhealthy attitudes toward audiences. These challenges will need significant attention if they are to be successful in the new information environment.   During the twentieth century news products were widely used, fast-moving consumer goods. Because media operated in relatively inefficient markets, news organizations were cash-producing investments with high cash flows that yielded high profits. Newspapers had asset-heavy balance sheets and excellent equity positions. The business drivers of the legacy news industry in the latter half of the twentieth century were g rowing consumption in absolute audience sizes (but declining penetration that most executives ignored). Companies changed high prices for advertis...

My state is coming into election time. The politics of it - who will win; who will lose, etc is beyond the purview of this blog. But this blog will certainly muse on the economics behind it. I am foxed as to why anybody wants to stand for any election - for the economics behind this is akin to a Las Vegas casino. On a conservative estimate, each candidate would spend about Rs 15 crores in each assembly seat ( see this speech as evidence of such numbers). More than three quarters of it is not for campaigning, but to bribe the voters (shame on you and me). Traditionally it used to be just cash and liquor.  But apparently now even water drums, watches, sarees and T shirts feature, as evidenced by this photograph and this article from The Hindu today. The number of assembly constituencies in Karnataka is 224. There are four political formations in the fray. So that makes for 900 serious candidates. At Rs 15 crores per candidate, that amounts to an expenditure of Rs 13,500 crores ....

Taking my husband pretty much anywhere besides the B-School and nearby bars is like:

When my boyfriend asks what I did all day and I tell him I applied to jobs (and he believes me), I'm like:

We saved a spot on our Durst card open just for you.   Come join us! Sweeping both sides of the aisle with a quiver full of arrows dipped in common sense, Will Durst transcends party ties, having performed at events honoring former Presidents Bill Clinton and George HW Bush as well as acclaimed appearances a column, daily website jokes—yet still finds time to perform hundredss of comedy shows every year. He has racked up more than 400 television appearances in 14 different countries while slinging jokes around the globe in his one man crusade to make people laugh out loud on purpose against their will. Hobbies include the never-ending quest for the perfect cheeseburger, while his heroes remain the same as when he was twelve—Thomas Jefferson and Bugs Bunny. Also joining us, the fantastic Karinda Dobbins Hailing from the Motor City and now living in the Bay Area, Karinda's humor is sharp, distinctive and infused with hilarious social commentary. Karinda has appeared at dozens of ven...

Barbarians at the Gate is the name of the scintillating book that detailed the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco in the mid 1980s. It was made into a movie as well and for a long time it was the biggest M&A transaction in the world. I strongly recommend the book, if you have an interest in business. ( or if you like thrillers !)   Take 2 seems to be happening in the goings on with Dell . The resemblance to what happened with RJR Nabisco is uncanny.   The Dell story started with Michael Dell, the founder teaming up with Silver Lake, a private equity firm,  and announcing a bid to take Dell private at $13.65 a share (a 25% premium over the closing price of $ 10.88 prior to this announcement). When rumours of this started to surface in January, people thought it was not a doable deal. Dell after all is a struggling PC maker in an industry which is declining with the onslaught of tablets. In any case its a fiercely competitive and somewhat commoditized industry. Whoev...

When we are all leaving the bar after the free tab runs out on Thursdays, it's like:

When I drive by undergrad parties on my way to get my taxes done I feel like:

When my husband runs out of cash, he's always like:

What I felt like trying to meet people at the B-School welcome weekends:

With a set-up like that, you just KNOW you’re in for wacky hijinks!! This week we welcome back an old favorite before she becomes worm food.    At age 77, Lynn Ruth Miller is a renaissance woman who wears many hats. She entertains audiences of all ages with comedy and song. She is living proof that the older you are, the more fun you have.Lynn Ruth is the host on two television programs on public access television, Channel 26 in Pacifica: “ What’s Hot Between The Covers ” (book reviews and interviews in the arts) and “ Paint With Lynn ” (a hands on creative arts series) We are also happy to have, all the way from LA, the fabulous Pat Bishop.   Pat Bishop writes, produces, and directs sketches and other content at Funny Or Die, and performs stand-up across the country. He's super into ginger ale.   So he and Lynn Ruth already have a lot in common! All these wonderful guests, plus your Business regulars Bucky “Chicken Crossin the Road” Sinister, Nato “Stupid Blonde” G...