Mark Cuban’s message to the President-Elect

Mark Cuban

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Mark Cuban‘s blog is always a good read.  He doesn’t hold back on opinions, and often times he nails it.  As I was working through my RSS feeds, I came across Cuban’s latest post.  His point is spot on.  The “who’s who” that the President-Elect has brought together to build an economic plan has a missing person, the entrepreneur:

PE Obama’s 1st Big Mistake « blog maverick

Notice anything missing ?

Not a single entrepreneur. Yes Warren Buffett started a business, but he will be the first to tell you that he “doesn’t do start ups”. Which means there isn’t a single person advising PE Obama that we know of that knows that its like to start and run a business in this or any economic climate. That’s a huge problem.

If we are going to solve our current economic problems, our President needs to get first hand information on the impact his proposed policies will have on real Joe the Plumbers. People who are 1 person companies living job to job, hoping they get paid on time. We need to know what the impact of his policies will be on the individually owned Chrysler Dealership in Iowa. The bodego in Manhattan. The mobile phone software startup out of Carnegie Mellon. The event planner in Dallas. The barbershop in LA. The restaurant in Boston.

There is no doubt that those who have established themselves in their respective fields can offer important advice, but I think Cuban is absolutely correct in asking for strong representation from those that are on the way to doing good things. It’s the later group that will truly shape the future.

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Quick thought: Uncertainty dominates enterprise software market

City of Las Vegas

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So I figure I’d write a quick post this morning while I wait to catch my connecting flight home. This is also my first post via the iPhone WordPress application, so it’s somewhat of a test from this device.
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This week I was at the SSPA trade show in Las Vegas, and it was the quietest I’ve ever seen a major industry event. I don’t have actual numbers, but it seemed like attendance was down. I’m sure some of this reflects general economic softness, but I also think that the dramatic gyrations in the financial markets must have led to last minute cancellations. Either way, if this one data point reflects the level of activity in the overall market, then enterprise software is about to face the biggest slowdowns since the beginning of this decade…at least from a new license perspective.

The week before, Consona had their annual user meeting, also in Las Vegas. While attendance was down, the existing user base in both the CRM and ERP divisions seemed to be energized.

If the two events reflect any larger trend, those enterprise software companies that have a business model that is built on new license sales are in for some very choppy waters…

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