The Most Important Thing Is To Talk

The Quality Of American Patents Has Been Deteriorating For Years; They Are Increasingly Issued For Products And Processes That Are Not Truly Innovative - Things Like The Queuing System For Netflix, Which Was Patented In 2003. Yes, It Makes Renting Movies A Snap, But Was It Really A Breakthrough Deserving Patent Protection?

The Night Before, Go Over Your Schedule And See What You're Going To Do And What The Purpose Of What You're Doing Is. I Advocate Having A Two-column Schedule. On The Left, Put Down All Your Appointments And Phone Calls. On The Right, Put Down What The Purpose Is.

The Classic Problem As An Entrepreneur Is That They Have A Hard Time Delegating. But That's Really Crazy. Recruiting Other Executives Is Critical, So Is Dealing With Customers And Dealing With Regulators. Those Are Functions That Only The Top Founders Can Do.

Mandatory Auditor Rotation Is Designed To Address A Potential Conflict Of Interest Between A Public Company And Its Auditor. Because An Auditor Is Hired And Paid By The Public Company It Audits, The Auditor's Desire To Maintain A Good Relationship With Its Client Could Conflict With Its Duty To Rigorously Question The Client's Financial Statements.

From The Law Firm's Perspective, Billing By The Hour Has A Certain Appeal: It Shifts Risk From The Firm To The Client In Case The Work Takes Longer Than Expected. But From A Client's Perspective, It Doesn't Work So Well. It Gives Lawyers An Incentive To Overstaff And To Overresearch Cases.