I tried to get Joe Walsh’s song, “Life’s Been Good” as the theme song for The Benefactor. I wanted it for two reasons. It was mine and my roommates favorite song in college, and it really sums up how I feel about things since then, and now.

This blog entry is about nothing more than a chance to say thanks to my friends, family and all those who have made my life so special.

Just about every interview I do about The Benefactor, one of the first questions is “why?” Why do the show? It’s as if everyone has a specific image of what someone should do when they have money.For the most part, they can’t believe that it doesnt involve living on an island, playing golf,eating at nice restaurants, and doing as little as is possible.

My response is pretty much the same. I was having a blast before we sold Broadcast.com, and there really wasn’t a reason to change who I was afterwards. Not that my friends would let me.

Which brings me to the catalyst for writing this entry. This weekend I went to the Van Halen concert with a group of friends. Seats up real close. I got to show off a little bit and we went back stage and did a shot of tequila with Sammy before the show. Met his wife and beautiful kids. Went back and watched the concert with 12 of us just jamming like we were 22 years old again.

Except there was a very stark reality among all of us. Our friend’s wife has cancer. It’s life threatening and it’s obviously tearing him apart. His wife is incredibly strong and courageous, she encouraged him to go. It wasn’t until her brother basicallyforced him out the door, that he would actuallygo with us.

During the concert it was hard not to bounce back and forth between the fun that comes from having a beer in one hand, your other hand raised and pumping to the music, and the pain of looking over at our friend, seeing him try to get into the show. Getting caught up sometimes, but more often seeing him drift off. Obviously hurting.

Money is an amazing thing. It can solve problems. It can reduce stress. It can create opportunities. It can’t fix what our bodies won’t let us fix. Talking to our friend just reinforced how much more to life there is.

There is nothingI could buy that could possibly compare with the feeling of partying with close friends. Nights like Saturday night reminded me of the fun I had and have with my friends and my family. Doing the stupidest, simplest things have been the best times of my life.

Nicki, Ray, Mrs Hyde. Get well.I’m thinking of you and never taking a minute of all of this for granted.

BC, MC, LYMFEAEA11DAYS

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I tried to get Joe Walsh’s song, “Life’s Been Good” as the theme song for The Benefactor. I wanted it for two reasons. It was mine and my roommates favorite song in college, and it really sums up how I feel about things since then, and now.

This blog entry is about nothing more than a chance to say thanks to my friends, family and all those who have made my life so special.

Just about every interview I do about The Benefactor, one of the first questions is “why?” Why do the show? It’s as if everyone has a specific image of what someone should do when they have money.For the most part, they can’t believe that it doesnt involve living on an island, playing golf,eating at nice restaurants, and doing as little as is possible.

My response is pretty much the same. I was having a blast before we sold Broadcast.com, and there really wasn’t a reason to change who I was afterwards. Not that my friends would let me.

Which brings me to the catalyst for writing this entry. This weekend I went to the Van Halen concert with a group of friends. Seats up real close. I got to show off a little bit and we went back stage and did a shot of tequila with Sammy before the show. Met his wife and beautiful kids. Went back and watched the concert with 12 of us just jamming like we were 22 years old again.

Except there was a very stark reality among all of us. Our friend’s wife has cancer. It’s life threatening and it’s obviously tearing him apart. His wife is incredibly strong and courageous, she encouraged him to go. It wasn’t until her brother basicallyforced him out the door, that he would actuallygo with us.

During the concert it was hard not to bounce back and forth between the fun that comes from having a beer in one hand, your other hand raised and pumping to the music, and the pain of looking over at our friend, seeing him try to get into the show. Getting caught up sometimes, but more often seeing him drift off. Obviously hurting.

Money is an amazing thing. It can solve problems. It can reduce stress. It can create opportunities. It can’t fix what our bodies won’t let us fix. Talking to our friend just reinforced how much more to life there is.

There is nothingI could buy that could possibly compare with the feeling of partying with close friends. Nights like Saturday night reminded me of the fun I had and have with my friends and my family. Doing the stupidest, simplest things have been the best times of my life.

Nicki, Ray, Mrs Hyde. Get well.I’m thinking of you and never taking a minute of all of this for granted.

BC, MC, LYMFEAEA11DAYS

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I tried to get Joe Walsh’s song, “Life’s Been Good” as the theme song for The Benefactor. I wanted it for two reasons. It was mine and my roommates favorite song in college, and it really sums up how I feel about things since then, and now.

This blog entry is about nothing more than a chance to say thanks to my friends, family and all those who have made my life so special.

Just about every interview I do about The Benefactor, one of the first questions is “why?” Why do the show? It’s as if everyone has a specific image of what someone should do when they have money.For the most part, they can’t believe that it doesnt involve living on an island, playing golf,eating at nice restaurants, and doing as little as is possible.

My response is pretty much the same. I was having a blast before we sold Broadcast.com, and there really wasn’t a reason to change who I was afterwards. Not that my friends would let me.

Which brings me to the catalyst for writing this entry. This weekend I went to the Van Halen concert with a group of friends. Seats up real close. I got to show off a little bit and we went back stage and did a shot of tequila with Sammy before the show. Met his wife and beautiful kids. Went back and watched the concert with 12 of us just jamming like we were 22 years old again.

Except there was a very stark reality among all of us. Our friend’s wife has cancer. It’s life threatening and it’s obviously tearing him apart. His wife is incredibly strong and courageous, she encouraged him to go. It wasn’t until her brother basicallyforced him out the door, that he would actuallygo with us.

During the concert it was hard not to bounce back and forth between the fun that comes from having a beer in one hand, your other hand raised and pumping to the music, and the pain of looking over at our friend, seeing him try to get into the show. Getting caught up sometimes, but more often seeing him drift off. Obviously hurting.

Money is an amazing thing. It can solve problems. It can reduce stress. It can create opportunities. It can’t fix what our bodies won’t let us fix. Talking to our friend just reinforced how much more to life there is.

There is nothingI could buy that could possibly compare with the feeling of partying with close friends. Nights like Saturday night reminded me of the fun I had and have with my friends and my family. Doing the stupidest, simplest things have been the best times of my life.

Nicki, Ray, Mrs Hyde. Get well.I’m thinking of you and never taking a minute of all of this for granted.

BC, MC, LYMFEAEA11DAYS

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Preparation is the key to cutting risk, Cuban says

Mark Cuban was already well-known as a flamboyant self-made billionaire. TV is about to elevate that fame. He canned
three contestants on the premiere of his reality show, The Benefactor, last Monday. Episode 2 airs tonight at 8 ET on
ABC. He’s president of HDNet, a high-definition TV network and owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team. Forbes said he was
worth $1.3 billion in 2003, the world’s 329th-richest person. He got there by co-founding MicroSolutions, which he sold
to CompuServe in 1990. He then co-founded Broadcast.com, which rose 250% the day of its initial public offering in 1998
and was sold to Yahoo with near-perfect timing at the peak of the Internet craze in 1999. Timing might be everything,
but the 45-year-old said his business philosophy is “no balls, no babies.” That’s something you don’t hear at too many
board meetings, so USA TODAY corporate management reporter Del Jones went to Cuban for an explanation.

‘I want the risk and I want the gain,’ Mark Cuban says.

Q: This is a family newspaper. What exactly do you mean by “no balls, no babies”?

A: The very first time I went to Vegas, I was learning basic blackjack strategy while I played $5 a hand. I didn’t
know whether to hit or stick. I asked the dealer, and he said, “No balls, no babies.” I took that to mean: I have
nothing. If I lose, I still have nothing. So why not go for it? If you don’t play the game, you can’t win.

Q: Did you win that hand?

A: I don’t remember.

Q: Would you say that Donald Trump lives by the “no balls, no babies” philosophy?

A: It certainly doesn’t apply to Mr. Trump. He is part of the lucky sperm club. His father was very successful, and
to Mr. Trump’s credit, he was smart enough to do deals built on the foundation his father built and to grow it into a
bigger organization. He has had his back up against the wall with debt, but I’m not sure he has ever faced the risk of
starting a business purely with sweat equity. The concept of “no balls, no babies” is that you are starting a business
with nothing. If the business fails, you go home with nothing. Any entrepreneur without outside capital and who had to
hustle to stay alive knows exactly what I am talking about.

Q: Now that you’re a billionaire and no longer starting from scratch, do you still live by that philosophy?

A: I do, but how it applies to me has changed. I can’t say that if I fail I will end up with nothing. However, I
still accept 100% of the risk and reward of any new venture. I won’t ask for money from outside investors in order to
reduce my risk. I want it on my back. I don’t believe in borrowing so the banks are your partners. I don’t want to play
off the risk on friends and family or others who believe in me. If I believe a business can be successful, I want the
risk and the gain. Once the business is stable and successful, I’m happy to share in the upside. I can handle losing my
money. I can’t handle losing other people’s money.

Q: What is the best example in your life where this strategy paid off?

A: MicroSolutions was started when I lived with six guys in a three-bedroom apartment. I started with no cash. It
was pure sweat equity. If it failed, I would be back tending bar. Fortunately, MicroSolutions was profitable every
month of its existence.

Q: Measured risk is one thing. Then there is outright stupidity. How do you tell the difference?

A: I have no idea. I’m always sufficiently scared of failing that I make sure I’ve reduced my risk through
preparation. Most people think money is the key to reducing risk. Preparation is. There is an old saying that
when you sit at the business table, you look for the fool. If you don’t see a fool, then it’s you. If you aren’t the
smartest person at the table, you better have a partner who is, or you shouldn’t be there.

Q: There have been business winners who let others take the risk. The Japanese were well-known for reverse
engineering, letting others foot the R&D. What’s wrong with a safe strategy?

A: Nothing. If it works for you, that’s great. Each person has to know what his or her circumstances are. If in your
preparation you feel that risk-aversion is the right way to get results, be risk-averse.

Q: Do you think most leaders are too timid?

A: No. Everyone has their own style. Business is very Darwinian. If your style works for you, great. If it doesn’t,
you won’t be leading very long.

Q: How do you personally calculate risk vs. reward when making a decision?

A: First, I ask myself if this is something that I would enjoy doing. Find something you love to do. If you don’t
make money at it, at least you love going to work. When I started MicroSolutions (a systems integrator), it wasn’t a
gamble, because I had nothing to lose and I loved working with computers. I had no idea how much, if any, money I would
make, but I loved what I did, so in my mind I was successful. When Todd Wagner and I started Broadcast.com (which
provided sports and other events over the Internet), it was because we saw an opportunity to leverage the Internet and
change how people consumed media. When Phil Garvin and I started HDNet, I loved the idea of pushing forward
high-definition TV when the entire media industry said it was not possible and there was no market. When I bought the
Mavs, I wanted to turn a team that everyone said would be a perennial loser into a winner. Rewards come in many forms,
financial being just one of them. I have had a blast in every one of these businesses.

Q: You’ve been compared with Trump. Are you a clone?

A: You won’t catch me in a suit, you won’t catch him out of one. His businesses are built on other people’s money
and doing deals. My businesses are built on sweat equity and building businesses. He dismisses his casino partners’
problems as not his; I can’t sleep at night if my partners aren’t successful. I play basketball, he plays golf. I go to
sports bars, he goes to black-tie dinners.

Q: There has been much criticism in recent years of the celebrity CEO. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins argues
that the best companies are run by guys who shun the limelight.

A: Microsoft is successful because Bill Gates branded himself as a futurist and able to understand personal
computing trends. Larry Ellison, Carly Fiorina, Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, the list goes on and on. Visibility doesn’t
guarantee success by a long shot, but customers want to know who is responsible. When I read an article about a CEO, as
a customer I am able to better understand if our goals are aligned. I know that Michael Dell is committed to offering
value-based computing. Mavericks fans know I will do whatever I can to put the team in a position to win. You can’t
accomplish the same thing with anonymity.

Where I would agree with Collins is that a CEO can’t place visibility over performance. Without performance, any
visibility is just a setup for failure. There are plenty of companies that have suffered the consequences: Sunbeam,
Tyco, Enron, WorldCom, etc. I get asked every week to write a book. I won’t do it because I haven’t accomplished what I
have set out to do. Writing a book about success seems to me to be incredibly hypocritical if I haven’t yet
accomplished all my goals.

Q: Do reality shows teach real business lessons, or are they strictly entertainment?

A: It depends on the show. In The Benefactor, I try to re-create some of the business and personal challenges I
experienced. Some I excelled at, some I failed miserably at. Every one of us thinks we have what it takes to be
successful. But when the opportunity arises, most people don’t have the courage to go for it. The game is a series of
tests and challenges that force the players to step out of their comfort zone. Some shine, some crash and burn. Some
excel, some leave in tears.

I loved doing it. It wasn’t long before I went from host to part of the game. I got lied to, cheated and played, and
that made it a blast. The theme of The Benefactor really is, “no balls, no babies.”

About Cuban

First job: Selling garbage bags door to door at age 12.

First time he dunked a basketball: Age 37.

Greatest business executive: Andrew Carnegie.

Greatest athlete: Michael Jordan.

Best Dallas restaurant: Bob’s Steak and Chop House. Order the filet mignon, medium rare.

Best sports bar in any NBA city: Kilroy’s in Bloomington, Ind.

Advice to small investors: Don’t buy stocks. “The only people making money are brokers and company insiders. Put
your savings in the bank.”

Favorite book: The Number by Alex Berenson, about how corporate fraud was driven by Wall Street’s focus on
quarterly earnings. Cuban liked it so much that he volunteered to write the foreword for the paperback
edition.

Tips from Cuban

Go for it. If you have nothing and lose, you still have nothing.

Preparation reduces risk. Sometimes, preparation may tell you to play it safe.

Love what you do. That spells success even if you don’t make money.

You can’t be effective and be anonymous. Celebrity CEOs are good for the company if they
perform.

In business deals, look for the fool. If you don’t see one, the fool is you.

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Thanks to Bill Ingram of Reality News Online for asking a question that appears below !

Let me say off the bat. It was HARD for me to make the cuts. I didn’t want to cut people that early, but we had established the rules and tests,and I had to stick to them. I knew exactly what I was looking for in each test, and I was going to cut someone with each.

In the show, you see me calling each contestant at their homes. What we told them was that they were in the final 25. That I would be calling them to let them know if they had made it or not. Thats why they were so excited. They didnt know if they were in or out till I called. It also meant I was going to have their full attention when I called. That was important.

During the call, I told them repeatedly “the game was on the minute they walked in the door.” I wanted it clear to them that something was coming immediately. If they asked a question, my response, in order to be fair was exactly the same. “The game starts the minute you walk in the door”

The first test was “You dont get a 2nd chance to make a first impression”.

I had some fun with Mario and Dominic to try to break some of the tension that wasin the room, but also to let them know that Im not against them taking chances and calculated risks. Thats a theme that will reoccur during the game.

Making the cuts were very, very hard for me. Maybe it didnt come across well on TV, but it was very hard for me to cut people that early. They all came with high expectations and to cut them before that got going was hard. Honestly, when I designed the game, I had no idea how hard it would be to stand up there and actually tell someone they were cut so soon.

Rich did the poorest job of making a first impression. I realized he wasn’t being directly derogatory with his stupid comment, but my first impression when I heard it certainly that he was. More importantly, the other players, realizing that there were tests going on right from the start, stuck to getting to know the other contestants. No one else took the bait from Rich and talked about the game in anything resembling a derogatory tone. In fact, those around Rich avoided the subject completely.

Rich was the only one that even created any questions about the first impression. He actually saved me. I was concerned that I might have to cut someone because they werent polite…didnt stand up when the women came in the room, that type of thing. I definitely didnt want to do that. Rich gave me an out.

As it turned out, Rich has an issue with saying things at the wrong time and his wife warned him to keep his mouth shut.

The next test was Meeting Expectations

Laurel was the easiest of the cuts. She was nothing like she had presented herself. Nice girl. But not what she billed herself to be.

Grayson and William were on the fence. We had several options depending on how many people I thought didn’t live up to expectations, each of which led to the final test,” can you deal with pressure” (for instance if only 2 had issues, it would have been Laurel and either Grayson or William playing Jenga)

Test 3.. Can you handle pressure ?

I thought the Jenga game was perfect. It requires concentration and coolness under pressure. What could be more pressure packed than playing with 1mm dollars at stake 6 hours after you had walked in the door ? I really thought with all the pressure, the game would be over in a few minutes. Boy was I wrong. They both were amazing. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife.

As the game went on, I was rooting for Grayson, but William was brilliant. Not only in how he played the game, but also in how he used his antics to put the pressure on Grayson and off himself. I wish we could have shown all the stupid stuff he was doing.

Grayson deserved a ton of credit for ignoring every bit of it and keeping her cool. It was unfortunate that she lost.

I know people wanted me to eliminate William because of how he acted, but the test was established. The loser was going to be cut. William was the coolest under pressure, won the game and earned the right to stay.

The Benefactoris not about who I like the most. I know exactly what I am looking for from each test. These are tests for success, not who I want to have a drink with. This is a single elimination event. Who ever is standing at the end gets 1mm dollars.

I tried to make the tests and the message from the testsreflect the challenges we all need to go through in ourefforts tobesuccessful. Not just in business, but in whatever is important to any of us..

During the taping, I would ask the contestants what they thought the game was about. As the they would say, it’s the game of life. Only in reality shows do they tell you that your success will be determined based on clearly established lists of criteria that you know in advance. I didn’t want to be like every reality show and more importantly, as a reality show, I wanted The Benefactor to be a true reflection of what it takes to be successful

Life is unpredictable to all of us. I wanted the tests to be unpredictable. The contestants and audience don’t know from where and when the next testsare coming and what they will be. They do know however that I will be as fair as I know how to be.

One thing that I was proud of, was that with so much at stake, all but the first cut, Richard, came up to me and gave me a big hug and thank you for giving them an opportunity and for latercuts, how much they learned.

Thanks to Bill Ingram for the following question.

Is there a chance players could save themselves after you tell them to leave or after you make a decision? For example, if you told Grayson and William to play Jenga and then Grayson, perhaps, reaches out, knocks over the tower on purpose and makes a moving speech about life being more important than a parlor game, would you seriously consider retracting your decision? Would you ever take back a decision for a good reason?

No.As Isaid above. I knew exactly what I was looking for in each. The tests were very specific and I wanted to be fair to those who did well in the tests. Also, remember, the game isnt about 1 day. There were a lot of challenges still to be encountered. Just because a contestant showed an admirable quality, or an unadmirable quality in the first show, doesnt mean they wont show a completely different side in the future. Which they did.

The show took many a twist and turn. Not just for the contestants, but for me. Contrary to what people think, and again, maybe the first eps didnt show is enough. Im not a host of the show. Im a participant. The choice of tests, how they are responded to, and the decisions I make are all influenced in real time by the contestants.

I think I got the first eps right and made the right choices. .I cant say that about all the future eps…

Expect the unexpected and more importantly, call all and email all your friends in your email lists and buddylists and have them watch The Benefactor on ABC on MOnday nites . Then have themcome back here and tell me what they think !

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Thanks for all the great feedback on the premiere of The Benefactor. The response has been great! For those who missed it, it runs again Thursday the 16th on ABC, then goes back to its regular time slot on Mondays.

For those of you in the 25 pct of the country who can’t watch it at a normal time due to Monday Night Football, make sure to record it whenever it runs!

Once we are a few episodes in, I will go back and backfill with some of the drama and fun that happened behind the scenes and led to why some were cut and why some stayed.

Make sure to watch, and make sure to tell your friends to watch!

And don’t forget that you can register to win 25k in the Chili Giveaway Promotion on the ABC website!

http://abc.go.com/primetime/benefactor/index.html

and as always, keep the comments coming…and I will give one thing away here.

I was rooting for Grayson too.

m

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Success and Motivation – The Benefactor Tests

I have been asked when the next installment is coming. Since they go hand in hand I decided to list the topics
that will be part of the blog series, which happen to match up to the Factors for Success that I test for in The
Benefactor in coming weeks.

1. Time is more valuable than money

You have to learn how to use time wisely and be productive. How wisely you use your time will have far more impact
on your life and success than any amount of money.

2. Random Acts of Kindness

Being successful entails being able to not only get along with people, but also give something back. No one gets
to the top on their own, and I believe we all should be able to make those around us smile.

3. No Balls, No Babies

This is something a blackjack dealer once told me when I asked him if I should hit or stick. It is also my
favorite line and probably the thing I tell myself the most. Once you are prepared, and you think you have every
angle of preparation covered. Then you have to go for it. No balls, no babies.

4. Work Hard Play Hard

I went 7 years without a vacation, but I sure managed to have fun. You have to find ways to blow off steam so you
don’t blow a gasket.

5. Don’t let fear be a roadblack

You can use fear as a roadblock or as motivation. There is always going to be someone who is competing with you,
and they are going to win sometimes. Rather than not doing something for fear of losing, take on the challenge. If
you fail, get back up and go for it again. I have been fired from more jobs than most people have had! In the search
for success, you can fail any number of times, but you only have to get it right one time.

6. Expect the unexpected, and always be ready

You don’t wake up in the morning with someone telling you that everyone is going to be selling lemonade so whoever
sells the most wins. It’s the exact opposite. Life is unpredictable, which is exactly why we made The
Benefactor unpredictable.

You never know when an opportunity will open or close. You have to realize this and always know that the game is
on. Whatever your are striving to achieve isn’t waiting in one static place for you to find it.

It’s the opposite. Everyone has inside of them what it takes to be successful. You just have to be ready
to unleash it when the opportunity presents itself.

7. It’s ok to yell and be yelled at

One of the rules I have is that I don’t mind if people raise their voice and even yell a little bit. At
MicroSolutions, my partner Martin and I would have some knockdown drag outs. They were always short bursts. They
didn’t happen a lot. When they did, I knew, and he knew, that this was an issue we were passionate about.

As my businesses grew, it happened less often because people deferred to me more often. I hated that. If someone
believed strongly enough in something and I was being passionate about something, I wanted them to match my level of
passion if they felt that strongly about it.

So I told people that if they thought it was the only way to get through to me, to go for it. This may not work
for you in corporate America, but anyone in a family business, or in a private business of any size with a partner or
two, knows exactly what I am talking about!

8. Everyone gets down, the key is how soon you get back up

I can’t count how many times I have gotten up in the morning dreading the day. I wasnt motivated, I was tired. I
just wanted to crawl back in bed.

Other times, I had lost a deal, we had lost a game, something wasn’t working. I just wanted to crawl under a rock
and disappear.

EVERYONE goes through those moments. The key is how you fight through them.

Knowing that everyone has those days, the people who truly will be successful are those that fight through the
quickest and come back stronger and smarter

9. It’s not if the glass is half empty, or half full, it’s who is pouring the water

This is one of my favorites. They key in business and success at any endeavor is doing your best to control your
destiny. You can’t always do it, but you have to take every opportunity you can to be as prepared and ahead of the
competition as you possibly can be. Take the lead, and you can control your own destiny.

10. It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing

Everyone has it in them to be successful. EVERYONE. Most people only dream about what they do if they were
successful, or how they might get there.

Anyone can dream. Anyone and everyone does have ideas about how they might be successful. It doesn’t matter if
your definition of success is being a great parent, being an athlete, a business person, whatever.

When I catch myself daydreaming about how I’m going to do this or that, I always try to wake up and ask myself
just how I’m going to get from where I am, to where I want to be. What EXACTLY is it going to take to do it, rather
than dream about it.

11. Pigs Get Fat, Hogs Get Slaughtered

This is one I got from my partner Todd Wagner. He is right on. Sometimes you have to go for the jugular, but more
often than not, the biggest mistake people make are getting too greedy. Every good deal has a win win solution. There
is nothing I hate more than someone who tries to squeeze every last penny out of the deal. They often raise the
aggrevation level to the point where it’s not worth doing the deal. They also raise the dislike level to the point
where even if a deal gets done, you look for ways to never do business with that person or company again.

Business happens over years and years.Value is measured in the total upside of a business
relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

12. You only have to be right once

I have been fired from more jobs than most people have had. Some jobs I have had were so bad, the only way I could
justify them to myself was that I was getting paid to learn (as opposed to paying to go to school).

I have started a stupid business that was doomed to fail (selling powdered milk). I have dated more girls that I
wanted to. The beauty of success, whether it’s finding the girl of your dreams, the right job, or financial success
among many others, is that it doesn’t matter how many times you have failed, you only have to be right once.

No one keeps score. There are so many ways that each of us can find happiness and success in our endeavors, that
it never really matters how many times you fail. You only have to be right once

These are some of the things I use to guide myself in different situations.

Maybe they apply to your situation, maybe they don’t, that’s up to you to decide. They arethe
foundation for many of the tests and challenges, and the spirit of what I tried to do in The Benefactor

Make sure to watch the show monday nights and let me know what you think! (and those in the mountain and
pre empted cities, please TiVo!)

thx

m

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Nice job on Leno last night Donald. At least you admitted that you hadn’t seen The Benefactor. But saying that it will fail. That’s a little much Donald, even from you.

Let’s get a couple things straight here. First, The Benefactor is a good show. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, it’s engaging and makes you think. How it will do in the ratings, is anyones guess. I don’t have the luxury of premiering after Friends. The good news is, if people watch it, they will like it. The better news is that ABC liked it so much that they have decided to not only run it in its Monday time slot, but also on Thursday as well. Opposite The Apprentice. How ironic will it be that people watching your show, and flipping through the channels in breaks, can and will sample The Benefactor and get excited about the show. Isn’t the TV business fun!

Speaking of business, I don’t think its dawned on you just how hard Mark Burnett threw you under the bus. Burnett is brilliant no doubt about it. You were right when you said he is one of the best in the business. He is.

Here’s the rub Donald, and I don’t think you have picked up on this, but your advertisers and placement partners surely will. You think The Apprentice, which really is a good show, is a positive reflection of your business acumen. That the show, as you put it, is a job interview to come work for you. So Donald, when the promos for this years show come on and one contestant says that “the women would eat their young”, or that the “men are all chauvinists”, is that a reflection of the people you interview for jobs in your companies?

How do you think Mattel and their employees feel knowing that’s how the contestants coming into their offices, the world of Ken and Barbie, are being described? I’m guessing Mattel employees are cringing at the possibility that the audience thinks that The Apprentice contestants are there because Mattel people weren’t smart enough to do the job themselves.

Burnett is brilliant at casting, he has proven it time again. He knows how to find people who will make for good TV. Including you Donald. I’m guessing, but I’m pretty sure he cares more about ratings than who can come up with toy ideas for Mattel, or manage an exhibition basketball game or handle any business task.

The Apprentice is a knockoff of Survivor. Pretty much all competitivereality shows, includingThe Benefactor,are knockoffs in some way or another of Survivor. As Survivor and all good reality shows have proven, success is about casting and storylines. Burnett is great at both.

I think our production team and the people at ABC are great at both as well. The Benefactor has great characters. It has great drama and intensity. It has great storylines. It also has a twist that I think is significant.

In every other reality show, everyone does the same thing. Everyone knows exactly what they are trying todo, and there is a set of rules and a winner is picked. That’s ok, but we did one better. On The Benefactor, all the challenges are open ended and there are no rules.

For each challenge in the game, the minute you hear it, your mind starts racing, like the contestants, trying to figure out what you would do if you were them. It’s one thing to open up intellectually and sell lemonade, it’s far more difficult to doand far more interesting to watch someone open intellectually andemotionally.

What would you do if, with 1millon dollars at stake, you were asked to showone thing that you thought was special about yourself, with the only criteria being that you push out of your comfort zone and do something you have never done before? I won’t give anything away, butI can tell you that what happened, as with all the tests onThe Benefactorwas great TV.

That’s what it comes down to. Great TV. I can go back and forth with Trump and anyone else about who copied who, who was here first, etc. Bottom line is that we all copied Survivor in one way or another. That it all comes down to whether or not the show hasgreat characters, great storylines and people want to watch. The Benefactor does

When it’s all said and done Donald,our producers, casts and timeslots have far more to do with the success of our shows than you and I. We each contribute in our own ways, but we are alongfor the ride. The Apprentice’s success depended far more on Sam being a goof and Omarosa being adrama queenthan anything you did. That’s why you kept on bringing them back. The Benefactor’s success will depend on how the audience responds to a 2nd grade teacher with satanic like tatoos, a black gay bartender who carries around a picture of Oprah and asks it what Oprah would do, a womens professional football player who wants to kick everyone’s ass, a super hot beauty queen, who is far from asinnocent as she tries to come across, and 12 others, who are incredibly competitive and realize that for a million dollars, the game is always on.

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First of all, I think it’s pretty funny when celebs start talking politics and think people should listen to them
because they are on TV or in the movies or whatever they are known for. That said, one of the beautiful things of
having a blog, is just that, it’s my blog. I can throw out there whatever it is that I think is important, worth
discussing, or just worth throwing out there to get people are stirred up and see how they respond.

Consider this blog entry my entry on politics, the business of politics, and ideas I have.

The goal is not to make you believe what I believe. Make your own choices and make up your own
mind. I’m sure some will disagree. Some will agree. Some won’t care what I have to say, they will agree or
disagree with me just because I wrote it. This is my opportunity to say it and read the feedback, which to me is fun.
This is a unique forum to get feedback that I know will take all sides of the issues, which in turn will hopefully
make me a more informed citizen. That’s never a bad thing.

I hate politics. I have a strong dislike for politicians when they are doing the business of
politics. My experiences in that world range from slimy to slimier. I could give a variety of stories, but my
favorites always come back to Senator Hatch. It startedthe time he suggestedIsell his music
CD on Broadcast.com and culminated withthe time he asked me to visit with him in Washington and the net of the
discussion was a request for money forthe Utah State Library. Just what a guy from Texas wants to fly to DC to
discuss (I had hoped to discuss the Senator’s massive confusion and ass kissing of the content industry). He politely
avoided the subject and guided me towards his request for money…slimy. So for the rare and random times when I
getasked to run for a political office, the answer is no.

I have zero political agenda. I don’t care who you vote for. I do have an opinion on things, so here goes.

1. Outsourcing.

This has become a flashpoint across all of America. I can understand both sides of the argument. On one side,
replacing an American worker with one from overseas means one of our own loses a job. That is terrible for those who
are displaced and their families. As an employer, I can also understand how the money saved from diverting that job
overseas can be used to do quite a bit. It can be applied to Research and Development, it can be a pay increase to
other workers, it can be used to hire workers who add new value to company.

If the money is redeployed and invested in the company, I don’t have a problem with it. I can see that although
some my feel the pain short term, that the capital redeployment will result in a net gain to the economy and the job
count in our country.

Where I have an issue, and where I think there needs to be controls put in place, is when corporate
insiders in essence put the money saved from outsourcing in their own pockets. If you go
through the list of companies that outsource and start looking at stock sales, bonuses and other incentives, you
quickly see that a material portion of the money saved is going into the pockets of insiders. That’s wrong. Or the
outsourcing is being used to hit a Wall Street expectation for quarterly earnings, maintaining stock prices and
enabling insider stock sales. That’s wrong.

If we want to make outsourcing the route of last resort and to make sure its only used when it makes absolute
business sense, Prevent insiders from selling stock or earning corporate bonuses in any year they outsource
jobs.

2. Expensing Stock Options

This could easily be the stupidest argument in corporate America right now. The argument from the technology
industry goes that they can’t recruit new employees unless they can grant stock options, and they can’t grant them if
they have to expense them. Say what?

The underlying issue of course is that if you expense options as a labor cost, your earnings will decrease. If
your reported earnings decrease, then your stock price will be lower. The greater issue in all of this is the
recognition of how stupid the typicalstock and fundbuyer is. Technology companies realize that
stock and mutual fund buyers are so inept and uninformed that although the actual business of the technology has not
changed with theexpensing of options, the “perceived” value will change. The company’s operating cash
flow won’t change.The company’ssales and gross margins won’t change. The only thing that will change is
the numberat the bottom of the financial statement. A number,because of understated labor
costs,didn’t accurately reflectthe cost of doing business in the first place!

Which leads to the question of how to value the options. It’s simple. Require the companies to buy them from
market makers in the open market. The company should be responsible for finding someone on an exchange to issue
options for their public stock. Theyare required to find someone to issue insurance on theirbusinesses.
Finding someone to issue options should be no different.

The company can then buy them like the rest of us investors do, and expense the actual cost.

If the company can’t find someone to issue the options, then the trading volume probably isn’t sufficient enough,
and the company shouldn’t be issuing options in the first place.

3. Protecting Drug Company Profits.

One of the great lies of all time is that we have to protect drug company profits. That is, it’s the job of the US
Government to prevent us from going to Canada and other countries where drugs are far less expensive. That if it
doesn’t, then the drug companies won’t invest money in new drugs, and as a result we won’t have the miracle cures,
particularly those miracle cures that don’t ever offer a complete payback on the cost of developing them.

Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit.

Let’s get real here. The dayI believe that argument is the day that CEOs of public drug companies don’t pay
themselves, don’t have bonuses and don’t own stock in their companies.

Theydon’t run their companies to make a profit. They run their companies to make Wall Street happy, to push
their stock prices up, and if they are lucky, tohit the jackpot personally.

They know thatin order for their stock prices to go up, they have to sell the future. If all they have to
sell is the cash flow fromtheir existing base of drug patents, they have a problem. Could you imagine the
CEO of a major drug company saying, “Well, we can’t come up with any new products, and our R&D isn’t really
working, so we will just play out the patents on our drugs and pay out the cash to shareholders.” Yeah Right.

They will do just what they are doing now keep on investing in their own R&D hoping they can hit a home run
with newdrugs, and when that doesn’t work, they will use their stock and cash to buy other companies that have
better prospects. In all cases, they hope the resultswill propel their stock and their own net worth.

They aren’t going to change how they do business at all. Won’t happen. CEOs are a competitive bunch. You don’t get
to run a major corporation by not being motivated to succeed. A measure of that success is personal wealth.

As long as CEOs and those around them want to be rich, we can change the laws regarding drug pricing and nothing
at all will change…Nothing.

If you believe that we are being overcharged for drugs in this country, the first thing you should do is sell any
drug stocks that you own. Then sell or swap out of your mutual funds that own drug stocks. I can assure you
that if the government isn’t smart enough to force change, a falling stock price is.

The 2nd thing you should do is call your congressperson and senator and let them know that you believe that US
citizens should be allowed to buy drugs from Canada.

4. “Opt out” Social Security Option

There are two certainties we as citizens face when it comes to Social Security. The first is that our elected
officials will find ways to use the money that is supposed to be waiting for our future, and thesecond is that
they will try to hide both the fact they are using the money and how they are using the money.

Social Security is at risk for those who will need it the most. We as a country are aging. The number of jobs that
offer future security, through pensions and other savings programs are not keeping the pace. The reality is,
that no matter what politicians spew to us about how to fix Social Security, they have no idea how to fix
it.

Here is a simple way to understand the impossibility of believing what our politicians tell us regarding Social
Security and our economy in general, and how incredible it is that some of them even believe what they say
themselves.

Companiesthat have been in the same business for years and years have a difficult time forecasting what
their sales are going to be in the next quarter. Most won’t even begin to forecast for more than 12 months, and the
smartest companies have stopped giving guidance to Wall Street about their future earnings. If a company, with
a couple billion or so in sales, that focuses on the same businesses on a day in and day out basis can’t forecast
accurately beyond 12 months, and doesn’t feel comfortable committing to numbers for the future, how in the world can
our politicians make commitments and forecasts for our country that go out for years?

Our country’s economy is so big, and impacted by so many variables that there is no one who can get their arms
around it and accurately forecast its future.

So take it as fact, that there is complete uncertainty regarding the money you have contributed to Social
Security.

With that in mind, I would like to suggest an action, that although it is the equivalent of a pimple on an
elephants behind, and nowhere near a complete solution, it is a least a step that allows each of us as individuals to
at least feel like we are part of the solution and not part of the problem.

My suggestion is to allow individuals to “take early retirement” from Social Security. Offer a tax credit to each
of us in exchange for opting out of Social Security. We can’t offer a deal like this today, but enact the law so that
the rule comes into effect the next time (if ever), we have a government surplus.

How much should the tax credit be? Probably the equivalent of 3 years of the average being paid annually in SS
retirement benefits at the time of the surplus. Let’s use the money to give something to the economy, and
reduce our obligation for the future. It won’t cure the problem of a Social Security shortfall, but it certainly will
help.

So there you have it. Just my 2 cents.

Whatever you do, don’t make any decisions on what I have written. Do your own homework. I don’t think I know
anymore than anyone else on these subjects, these are justMY opinions and I knew I would feel better if I wrote
them out in the blog.

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