There is NEVER a Bubble in Schlepping

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  • on January 15th, 2012

My daughter had her 14th birthday party and we put her to work for some prizes. Not the same old Goldman Banker ‘pinata’ from 2008. That’s played out. We had the kids hustle around the island for 13 clues in a Coronado version of the ‘Amazing Race.’ They actually loved it. (Note to self – Sending them to Mexico in a stolen car and no passports is too much for kids their age.)

The last clue sent them to Dog Beach to grab a picture with a dog. Done.

The year 2012 will be a great one to start a business. I say this every month and every year. It’s always the same reasons. There are great prizes along the way for the entrepreneurs and the costs have never been lower.

This year, with all the new entrepreneurs and startups in the web world, there is a lot of ‘bubble talk’. All of a sudden, the ‘media’ is very concerned for investors about to lose their shirt by overpaying for ‘social networking’ and other web startups.

It has to be a ‘bubble’ because CES broker attendance records for people to see old man @rupertmurdoch shoot dice and yammer about Google being evil, Polaroid (I am an investor) battle Eastman Kodak ($EK) on the exhibit floor, crowd around some 3d tv’s and walk by a bunch of ipad cases and phone chargers.

But Howard…isn’t it important that my new Samsung Fridge has a $P Pandora option on the freezer door?

The thing is, people are schlepping in record droves. Paul Graham nails it with what he calls ‘Schlep Blindness.’

There is never a bubble in ‘Schlep Blindness’.

You will never find enough entrepreneurs willing to schlep and enough money to back the people willing to schlep because of their blindness.

As an entrepreneur you can win when you make the 50 extra yearly schleps (cold calls, ‘red eye’ flights to see customers, late night product sessions ‘evolving’ your product after hundreds of discussions with your users). As an angel investor you can make money in any environment by spotting these schleppers.

Side note -there will probably be light blogging again from me this week as I schlep to New York today.

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.

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