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Charlie Rose interviewed Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, earlier this week. Dimon is an interesting fellow and many of the things he said resonated with me. One you rarely hear: growth doesn’t always make sense. He said part of what has fueled the banking meltdown is incentives tied to the wrong goal; people were encouraged to acquire/sell/grow at any […]
- Kup
A firm I know wanted to grow its Website design services business, so it added a prominent banner on its home page: Get your Biz on the Web! Underneath, in huge font, was the phone number of the firm’s web designer…without any area code. Is the firm in New York? Tokyo? Boise? How can this firm get your “Biz […]
- Kup
I recently spent a couple of nights in a small town with limited hotel options. So, I stayed at a La Quinta. Not to sound disparaging of La Quinta! It’s just that I prefer classic, full-service hotels; preferably resorts. But, now that I’ve done the La Quinta, thing, I’m reconsidering my viewpoint. Clean, neat, spacious, and […]
- Kup
I should warn people who know me to sit down…I’m about to say something nice about Southwest Airlines. I’ve disliked Southwest—deeply—since its inception and that whole disgustingly sexist way it operated, from “LUV Southwest Style” to hot-pants-wearing stewardesses (no they were not flight attendants). Its anything-goes approach, with only-the-strong-survive boarding and free alcohol (via liberally distributed “complementary beverage tickets”), appealed to hard […]
- Kup
I caught a bad “bug” after a recent day-trip to Denver. (Airplanes are so germy!) A full week later I was truly ill and getting worse; and, on another trip. So, finally one morning I presented myself at an urgent care center even before they opened and then I dragged myself over to Walgreen’s to […]
- Kup
I love American Express and always have…because they’ve always been good to me. Stunningly efficient and professional service might be why they’ve been around for 158 years. In fact, many card holders not only don’t leave the house without it, they travel the world believing if you find yourself in trouble in a foreign country, you want to […]
- Kup
A young couple I know can speak to the Linens ‘n Things brand and the character (or lack thereof) behind it. Linens ‘n Things has been on the ropes for a while. By April this year, the company was mulling over bankruptcy. But, that didn’t stop it right after the New Year from transferring my friend, a long-time […]
- Kup
We have a wonderful Safeway grocery store two miles away. We shop there not just for convenience, because we do pass by other groceries slightly farther away at least a couple of times a week. We shop there because they give great service (I know, I know, it’s hard to imagine service in today’s grocery stores). […]
- Kup
Ever know someone with a Napoleon complex? Someone who, because they were small in stature, huffed and puffed and tried to make themselves seem larger; or, just found everything possible wrong with being large? Ever know a small business that acted the same way? That mislead or downright lied to appear larger; or, just bad-mouthed large […]
- Kup
I was thinking about how our basic nature “colors” our opinions—how you interpret marketing blunders definitely depends on whether you are a “glass half full” type or a “glass half empty” type. Case in point: I bought a new box of Miracle Grow Plant Food and as I started to tend to some needy flowers, I noticed the […]
- Kup
