Category Archives: Business

January 14, 2016 · 8:24 pm

KILLER SHILLER

John Jonelis

At Loop Lonagan’s urging, I’m walking his 85 pound bull terrier Clamps down the hard Chicago winter pavement. I don’t mind because it’s an opportunity to road test my two knee replacements. That’s right; I’m the happy product of the wonders of modern orthopedic carpentry! And I enjoy the best physical therapy known to man because I own the company!

Old Donatas Ludditis flanks my other side to make sure I don’t slip on a stray patch of ice. Despite my upbeat attitude, I hold Clamp’s heavy leather leash with some trepidation. In my condition, I seriously doubt my ability to control such a large and volatile animal. Continue reading →

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Tagged as bob shiller, Donatas Ludditis, economic theory, Economics, economist, economists, eugene fama, fama, Loop Lonagan, perfect market theory, predict, predicting, predicting asset prices, prediction, prediction of asset prices, random walk, robert shiller, shiller

December 21, 2015 · 6:14 pm

PAVLOVIAN PT

Loop Lonagan

Ever’body’s gettin’ new knees, new hips, and what not. It’s an epidemic of elective surgery. And I’m talkin’ big money. An investor definitely wants in on a trend like this, but what’s da best play?

Take Jonelis, my good friend and boss. Da guy up ‘n’ gets two brand new knees—AT DA SAME TIME! Seems crazy, don’t it? What’s he s’posed to use fer legs?

So right away I gotta play bigshot. I invite John to my penthouse fer da whole rest ‘n’ recovery thing. Yeah, you guessed it—I wanna play Da Good Samaritan over Christmas. I figure they’s gonna carry him in on a stretcher ‘n’ I’ll be da hero that arranges fer all sorts o’ people t’ help out while he’s bedridden. Shows how much I know. Continue reading →

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Filed under angel, angel investor, Business, Characters, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, loop lonagan, Startup Companies, Startups, vc, venture capital

Tagged as epidemic, free drugs, full knee replacement, home physical therapy, in-home physical therapy, joint replacement, knee replacement, motivation, partial knee replacement, physical therapy, pt

November 24, 2015 · 12:59 pm

THE VENTURE CANOE

John Jonelis

Citizens often refer to their country as the ship of state. In like manner, investors picture big corporations as sleek cruise liners or enormous freighters. The thinking goes like this: The bigger the hull, the more seaworthy the ship and the more stable the ride. And that’s true—most of the time. Continue reading →

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Tagged as a startup is like a canoe, a startup is like a small boat, business is like a boat, escape, investment risk, Risk, small is better, smaller is better, startup boat, startup canoe, startup ship, tradgedy

October 31, 2015 · 4:11 pm

DON’T ASK WHY—ASK WHY NOT

by Howard Tullman

How the First Apprentice Winner Became an Entrepreneur

(No, The Donald Didn’t Help):

Bill Rancic readily admits he wasn’t the smartest guy on the show. But in his subsequent career, he has become very smart about getting the most out of the people around him. Continue reading →

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Tagged as 1871, Bill Rancic, Conductor, delegator, do what you fear, don't ask why, don't ask why ask why not, don't tell me, donald trump, habit of learning, Howard Tullman, learn, Learning, life of learning, manage risk, managing risk, mentor, orchestrator, practical execution, Risk, show don't tell, show me, show me don't tell me, start, The Apprentice, why, you can't win a race with your mouth

October 19, 2015 · 9:53 pm

APPLESAUCE AND APPLE

THE FINANCIAL MINDSET OF A NEW GENERATION

Tom McBride and Ron Nief

The students who began college this past fall have a forty percent chance of graduating in four years, and a seventy percent chance of graduating in six. Having grown up in the Great Recession they can rarely take money for granted. They are more interested in money than in love, unlike their parents, who may have grown up as hippie advocates of free love during the far more prosperous 1960s. Continue reading →

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Filed under Business, Characters, Conflict, Education, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Games, High Tech, Low Tech, mobile, mobile internet, Politics, Relationships, Startup Companies, Startups, The Economy

Tagged as Bill Gates, college debt, college kids, college students, great recession, k-mart, kids, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerburg, Mark Zukerberg, market crash, medicare, money and love, money or love, money vs love, Mort Zuckerburg, outsourcing, outsourcing jobs, pensions, social security, stock market, stock market crash, Target, Wal-Mart, wall-mart, Walmart

September 21, 2015 · 3:13 am

THE PRICE OF THEIR TOYS

by John Jonelis

The radio crackles, “Cherokee Six, rock yer wings and rock ‘em good.” Jim Kren ignores the command. We’re no Cherokee Six. Is the controller looking at another airplane?

The sky is lousy with traffic converging on one tiny airport Too many planes for back-and-forth radio chatter. Special rules apply. The controller spots incoming with binoculars and radios his instructions—the pilots respond in a kind of airborne sign language. Keying your mike is tantamount to declaring an emergency.

Jim can comply. He can bide his time. Either is dangerous if he’s wrong. Aviation is full of moments like that. The entire air transport system won’t function unless responsible people break the law in just the right way.

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Filed under Business, Characters, Death, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, High Tech, Jim Kren, loop lonagan, Startup Companies, Startups, Story

Tagged as air traffic control, eaa, eaa airventure, eaa fly-in, experimental aircraft, experimental aircraft association, fly in, homebuilt, homebuilt aircraft, oshkosh, oshkosh fly-in, signals

August 5, 2015 · 10:12 pm

RAW TALENT

by John Jonelis

Ever want to be a Shark on the popular reality TV show? Wish you controlled a billion dollar investment account? Wonder what it’s like? I’m here at Chicago’s 1871 incubator doing it. Emotions run high. Hey, mine are running away with me. That guy on the end keeps grabbing all the deals! Continue reading →

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Tagged as competition, computer simulation, computer simulations, Gifted, immersion experience, immersion training, immersion week, new tech, new technology, pitch competition, prodigies, prodigy, Shark Tank, simulation, simulations, smart kids, startup companies, whiz kids

July 14, 2015 · 5:43 pm

CROSSTOWN CLASSIC

by John Jonelis

Here in Chicago, we’re blessed with two professional baseball teams. I root for them both—yes, for me it’s Chicago against the world. But how many fans do that? Almost nobody, right? Whenever I betray my crosstown allegiance, people look at me cross-eyed. Continue reading →

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Tagged as cubs vs sox, cubs/sox, fans, interdivisional rivalry, long standing rivalry, major league baseball, pro ball, professional baseball, rabid fans, rivalry, sox vs cubs, sox/cubs, team rivalry