Soros has been betting against the Euro since March, shorting it for US dollars.
Again, the central bankers are fighting a losing battle.
Sooner or later there will be a similar attack on sterling and eventually the greenback.
The transferance of private debt to sovereign states has created a level of currency volatility which is the closest thing to paradise for aggressive currancy trading.
Sacca is a mega impressive guy, when presenting on Google based material. I've seen him present his own lowercase capital stuff since he left and it lacked the wit and insight which he is famed for; infact one presentation was damnright lame, bring a horse to water nonsense. He needs to employ an script writer like his Jesus, Obama, if the Sacca-brand is to continue.
Agree that you need a little overconfidence sometimes.
But perhaps the fact that there are more support systems around (move back in with parents, social benefit), means that we as a generation never grow comfortable with risk in the first place, and thus can never be truly confident with it.
Major problem with the business plan competitions I've been to is the IP. One Conversation went:
presenter: its a great idea.
judge: so what is it.
presenter: i can't really say, just trust me.
On the flip side, when a friend of mine won a competition he then couldn't patent it, as he had declared it in a room full of people.
As a result, most of the more open competitions tend to focus on quirky ideas, that could not be patented anyhow. I often find they are little more than pr exercises to lift the profile of the entrepreneurs society and/or business school, not bad in itself, i guess, but I always get more of an institutional feel about them.
"Gradually, I was descending into the strange social isolation of my colleagues. I spent less and less time with normal people and more time with people from the bank."
I enjoyed this article, because it suggests that, for all their occupation of what they thought to be 'the real world', bankers were living as bubble-like an existence as a fourteenth-century monk.
I have found it difficult to entirely forgive The Economist for some woefully incorrect predictions (they were big on Goldman Sac's prediction for $200 oil, and did not see the credit crunch in any shape or form or give space to those who did [and there were a number]). Now they issued a lukewarm 'apology' at the start of this year, all good and well, but still it was delivered with their habitually self-satisfied, borderline arrogant tone.
This may sound odd, but in a way everything you have said suggests you are on the right path. Yes, you may have to ditch this particular project, but the fact that a) you are open and real about it and b) you have a respectful attitude towards your partner, suggests that you have a good team, which is really important.
Be open with your partner and suggest you both work together on another idea - theres lots out there.
In the past I have lost faith in a project, it hurts a bit but you get over it. Much worse is losing faith in a startup partner.
Santa's finished, then. "Dear Barack Obama, for Christmas this year I want..."
From over here in Europe, these Obama-pleading articles do come across as unamerican - we always thought that if the Yanks wanted to change things, they just did it.
This article is more reminiscent of a pleading courtier at a thuggish Medici court.
In my experience, there is no point doing anything unless you spend at least twenty minutes just getting into it first. This is how long it takes me to get into a 'concentration/focus' zone.
Yep, in the past I would go through a month of exercise addiction at the gym or pool, then do nothing for the next four months. I've been off-road cycling (mountain biking would be a hyperbole for south-east england) for four years now, non-stop; its a great thing to discover an activity you enjoy so much, and the exercise becomes an added bonus.
Interesting that the article mentions Michael Birch, UK born but as they point out made it in SV - then again, Birch has invested in some uk based web startups.
SV has it all, really, except one thing, which America lacks in general: a culture of quality. Europe has this, and as IT growth slows down for good, there will be more lucrative opportunities in fixing existing technologies that were originally rushed out in the US.