Too big to fail, too small to succeed.

Too big to fail, too small to succeed.

Peter J. Wallison, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote Dodd-Frank’s Threat to Financial Stability, in which he argues that the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) ruins the competitive landscape by picking those companies that are too big too fail. In so doing, the FSOC also picks those that are too small to succeed. Adam Smith would also not likely approve.

Under Mr. Smith’s theory, a highly competitive marketplace is more or less atomistic — small players with no monopoly power compete against one another. The FSOC ruins this picture. By picking certain companies that are too big to fail, the government is essentially underwriting some businesses over others. To make matters worse, these businesses likely already had market power in the first place. The FSOC only increases this power. As Mr. Wallison points out in his article, this gives unfair competitive advantage to those companies who receive the government’s blessing. And those that are too small to succeed? Well, the FSOC is apparently not to concerned with those companies. The marketplace can afford to lose them, in the FSOC’s view. At the same time, such companies are often the lead innovators because they are quicker to respond to marketplace currents. What is more, small businesses are the largest employer in the country, employing 53% of the American workforce. But even if such companies were objectively worthless, which they are not, is it the proper place of the government to pick winners and losers? Mr. Smith would likely say no. Leave that to the marketplace, not elected officials.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?

There is the old saying that, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”    But Harvard Business School (“HBS”) professors Francesca Gino and Gary P. Pisano rightly point out in their article, Why Leaders Don’t Learn From Success, that successful businesses often appear not to be broken, only to find out that they are when it is too late.

When things are going well with your business, you often let your guard down. You think that things are going well because you are doing something right. But the HBS professors explain in their article that your success may be due to factors including fortuitous market conditions or beginner’s luck, as was the case with the rookie Ducati Corse racing team who won third place in the Grand Prix in 2003. You don’t question your strategy as much when things are going well. The Ducati team changed the design of their racing bike thinking it would improve performance in 2004, but the hasty changes left them in third place. It was only then that they realized the errors of their ways. Like with others, the authors write, the team learned only went things bad. The problem is that when things go bad, it may be too late. Another competitor may have already wooed your major client away. In short, its good to take the time to learn from your successes rather than waiting for a crushing defeat to wake up from what you realize was a slumbering false sense of security.

Mavericks with Money

Mavericks with Money

This is the first blog post on the new website of Ryan E. Long PLLC.   We hope you like the new site.    We sure do.  And that is thanks to Kevin Robbins of Ironclad360, L.L.C., an excellent New York based web design company.    We also hope you like our entries, which will cover thought provoking and/or inspiring stories we read about in the press or encounter in our practice.   One article that we saw which peaked our interest was  Mavericks with Medals on WSJ.com.

The reason why we liked the article is that we thought Mr. Sean White, the subject of the article, is a dying breed of American — independent, creative, and yet highly effective. Through his entrepreneurial zest, Mr. White was able to achieve success “his way.” Mr. Sinatra would be proud. But not only that. Mr. White’s different way of training, which shunned, to some extent, being cast with everyone else, enabled him to make moves nobody else ever saw before. Of course, there is no doubt that efficiencies of scale come about from mass production. And yet sometimes these efficiencies of scale from the Ford style mass production are made possible only be the likes of Mr. White. Take, for example, the Wright Brothers. They beat out the better funded Langley for the first to flight. We think what explains the Wright Brothers success is ingenuity, creativity, and, of course, persistence and bravery. We also think, too, that Mr. White shares these traits. Our clients do, too. Whether you are talking about music, fashion, technology, or hospitality, our clients are in the vanguard of their industries because of their tenacity and willingness to do what it takes to succeed. We applaud them. And we certainly applaud Mr. White.

Yosemite Sams — inspiring stories from Patagonia’s founder

Yosemite Sams — inspiring stories from Patagonia’s founder

We are big fans of Patagonia’s products.   So when we ran across Yosemite Sams, an article in the Journal, which talks about how Patagonia’s founder went from eating cat food out of cans to running one of the most successful outdoor clothing  companies, we were excited.

As the image above shows, being on your own can be scary. This is especially true in today’s world, which is full of turmoil in the Middle East and the horrible events of Japan. And so the story of Mr. Yvon Chouinard going from eating cat food to running one of the most successful outdoor product companies in the world — Patagonia, which is now based in Oxnard, California — is well needed. His story, and those of others like him, is an inspiration to us all — especially those who are striking out on their own in these trying times.

Loneliness isn’t good for business

Loneliness isn’t good for business

Industrialization has brought us immense wealth and free time. But at what cost? University of Chicago professor John Cacioppo explores the hidden costs in his book, Loneliness, which is featured in The Nature of Loneliness.

As is more fully set forth in the article, we are mammals. We need physical connection with others as much as we need oxygen. And yet while we have become more virtually connected in today’s globalized economy, we have also become more physically isolated. People date online, do business online, and virtually live online. We have moved from the country, to the city, to the internet. Mr. Cacioppo has some very provoking thoughts about the costs of such virtual connectivity — and isolation — on our health. Workplaces who foster more physical networking and collaboration among the team often increase productivity. Perhaps that is why internet companies — such as Google, Facebook, and the like — are so successful. By collaborating with one other, their members feel more like part of the team that has a common purpose.