Core Values

The debate on the future to the IP market rages on with dozens of Letters to the Editor protesting Mark Lapedus’ controversial opinion piece (Semi IP is a lost Cause) last month.

I’ve just returned from Japan and had the fortune to pick up a great, thought provoking book called “Black Swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A Black Swan is defined as a rare event with three very special characteristics: 1) It is not predicted, 2) it has massive consequences usually on a global scale, and 3) in retrospect people invariable claim that they could have predicted it if they had been paying attention. Examples of Black Swans are 9/11, the Netscape IPO, and the stock crash of October 1987.

Many of my friends in the U.K. and Europe won’t appreciate an American sports legend, Yogi Berra. But Berra was a solid catcher for the New York Yankees during their golden days of the 1950’s. But Yogi is most famous for his “Berra-isms”, his unusual knack for mangling the English language in his own brand of folksy wisdom. Impossible to describe, so here are some examples:

• “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
• “You can observe a lot by watching.”
• “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.”
• “Ninety percent of the game is half mental.”