Shouldn't Hanscom's flight school pay its CEO $50 million? A joking blogger is asking.
(William Moore for The Boston Globe/File 2006)
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A bailout? It can't hurt to ask, needed or not
Shouldn't Hanscom's flight school pay its CEO $50 million? A joking blogger is asking.
(William Moore for The Boston Globe/File 2006)
By
Scott Kirsner
Globe Correspondent
/
September 22, 2008
- |
Don't ask, don't receive. Will the next government bailout happen at Hanscom? Philip Greenspun, a former software entrepreneur turned helicopter pilot and blogger, thought it was at least worth putting in a request. In a tongue-in-cheek blog post published after last week's $85 billion federal loan to AIG, Greenspun wrote:
Dear Messrs. Paulson and Bernanke:
This is to request Federal assistance for East Coast Aero Club. We operate a flight school at Hanscom Field in the Boston suburbs. We are concerned that most of our customers have had a significant portion of their savings and retirement funds wiped out by Wall Street. These folks may not be able to afford flying lessons and aircraft rental anymore. Certainly the financial crisis has resulted in a drop in executive compensation. We are not able to pay our CEO the $50 million per year that he deserves, having kept the school in operation for more than 20 years.
Given that we have 27 airplanes and helicopters and a staff of five full-time mechanics, I think it is safe to say that we are regarded as "too big to fail," at least by pilots at Hanscom. We believe that an $85 billion loan would enable us to continue to operate, would give customers faith in our stability, and would enable us to compensate executives appropriately.
blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg
Solitary gamers? Nabeel Hyatt, chief executive of the Cambridge game development company Conduit Labs, blogged about a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. It chisels away - a bit - at the myth of the lone gamer locked away in his bedroom. Here are some highlights:
In general, I was impressed to see that not only is gaming absolutely ubiquitous in this age group, it is also at this point a predominantly social activity. Gaming also seemed to have no causal effect on a person's social life, but [was] simply a part of it. Basically, if you are social, then you are more likely to be involved in school clubs, online social activities, and play games with friends. If you are already anti-social, you are more inclined to play single-player.
nabeel.typepad.com
Money's still flowing somewhere. Attending an open house last week at Commonwealth Capital Ventures in Waltham gave Microsoft executive Don Dodge an opportunity to blog about the state of venture capital in the Boston area. So far, it seems untouched by the financial turmoil.
Commonwealth Capital recently closed on a large new venture capital fund. Longworth Ventures, another Boston/Waltham based VC firm, also recently closed a new fund. In fact, over the past year or so, several Boston firms have raised over $2 billion in venture capital. While the financial markets on Wall Street are in a panic, the venture capital community in Boston is strong, with billions of dollars to invest in innovative startups.
Boston based VC firms that have raised funds over the last year or so include: Flybridge Venture Capital, Spark Capital, Fairhaven Capital, Commonwealth Capital, Longworth Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, 406 Ventures, Ascent Venture Partners, and Staley Capital. The total funds raised exceeds $2 billion. If you look over the past three years, the funds raised in Boston exceeds $10 billion, with giant firms like Polaris Ventures, Highland Capital, and General Catalyst raising huge funds.
dondodge.typepad.com
Three levels of intimacy. Mike Hirshland of Polaris Venture Partners blogged a quick anthropological observation about how teens use communications technology.
Pano Anthos, CEO of our portfolio company Hangout.net, tells me that teens have three modes of communicating with friends at different levels of intimacy: SMS [text messages] for really good friends; Facebook for a broader circle of friends; and e-mail for teachers and parents.
vcmike.wordpress.com
Seen an interesting blog item on the local business scene? Email kirsner@pobox.com. 
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