Tidbits of Times Past

The public mind has been greatly stirred upon the subject of monopolies and legislative abuses; but there are some glaring evils, which a short statute might suppress, that are flourishing unchecked.

Speculative dealers in the necessaries of life have learned how to build colossal fortunes by extortion from the entire nation, and the nation submits quietly because gambling competition is the fashion. The late Charles Partridge endeavored to show up these evils and have them suppressed. We need another Partridge to complete the work he undertook.

A despatch to the Boston Herald, March 5, shows how the game has been played in Chicago on the pork market:

“‘Phil Armour must have been getting ready for this break for three months,’ said a member of the board of trade to-day. ‘Since September last he has visited nearly every large city in the country. He knows from observation where all the pork is located, and, having cornered it, his southern trip was a scheme to throw his enemies off the scent, and enable his brokers to quietly strengthen the corner. His profits and Plankinton’s cannot be less than $3,000,000.’

“But if Armour and his old Milwaukee side partner have made money, so have hundreds of others here. A messenger boy in the board of trade drew $100 from a savings bank on Monday last at 11 o’clock and margined 100 barrels of pork. To-day the lad deposited $1,000, and has $300 for speculation next week.

“Those poor snorts who are expecting to have pork to-day to make their settlement, paid $21. Anything less was scouted. ‘You will have to pay $25 next Saturday night,’ was all the comfort afforded.

“An advance of 2 cents a bushel in wheat was also scored by the bulls to-day. The explanation is that the several big wheat syndicates encouraged by the action of pork have made an alliance. The talk at the hotels to-night is that Armour has started in to buy wheat.”

We have laws that forbid boycotting, and they are enforced in New York and New Haven by two recent decisions. Financial extortion is an equal crime, and needs a law for its suppression. Why is the metropolitan press silent? Have the syndicates too much influence? Will editors who read these lines speak out?

In the last North American Review, James F. Hudson, in an essay on “Modern Feudalism,” says:–

“The conquest of all departments of industry by the power of combination has just begun. But the mere beginning has imposed unwarrantable taxes on the fuel, light, and food of the masses. It has built up vast fortunes for the combining classes, drawn from the slender means of millions. It has added an immense stimulant to the process, already too active, of making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The tendency in this direction is shown by the arguments with which the press has teemed for the past two months, that the process of combination is a necessary feature of industrial growth, and that the competition which fixes the profits of every ordinary trader, investor or mechanic, must be abolished for the benefit of great corporations, while kept in full force against the masses of producers and consumers, between whom the barriers of these combinations are interposed.”

From Buchanan’s Journal of Man, May 1887.

Buchanan’s Journal of Man, Volume 1, Number 3, by Joseph Rodes Buchanan. Published April 1887.

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Buchanan’s Journal of Man, Volume 1, Number 2, edited by Joseph Rodes Buchanan. Published March 1887.

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Odd Ends isn’t a normal blog. In fact, it’s not a blog at all. However, since I don’t have anywhere else to put this post, here it is.

I spent a day decompressing after the three days of Startup Weekend Ann Arbor, and now I have to write down my thoughts so maybe they’ll stop roiling around in my head and I’ll be able to get some uninterrupted sleep.

First, let’s go over what worked well.

• The space was amazing. McKinley was incredibly generous. I think the scruffiness and the basementiness of the space helped to give a sense of verisimilitude to the idea that we were part of high-energy low-rent startups.

• Meeting people. Most of the people there knew only a few (if any) of the others before Friday. I often overheard people saying how surprised and pleased they were to meet such talented folks.

• The food was generally tasty and plentiful, and there were plenty of opportunities for eating healthy food as well as junk. (All kudos go to Laura — I merely assisted on the Costco run.)

Now onto what worked less well.

• Logistical support. Hire staff or develop a larger pool of event volunteers. I didn’t participate like I thought I would — though if I had, I wouldn’t have had the vantage point to be able to observe the proceedings and make this post. I’m not complaining (not anymore ;)), just suggesting.

• WiFi. Yes, we had access, but it was spotty at times which encouraged some teams to disperse to other venues. Don’t hold people hostage, but don’t give them reasons to go away for long periods either — it disrupts the energy in the main venue.

• Scheduling. Startup Weekend is not an Open Space event. It has some similarities, like self-selected interest groups, but that’s about where it ends. It wasn’t until the day of the event that we learned that there was actually supposed to be some structure (expressed in the form of “Well usually we…”) to the weekend, with status reports and final presentations.

  If you’re reading this as a future SW organizer, take this little piece of advice and make a schedule. Even as simple as “Saturday: 9am start/status, noon lunch, 4pm status, 11pm leave” (or whatever your plans are, and you do have them even if it’s figuring out when you’re going to eat).

  Also on the status reports — the only topic should be bottlenecks, where a team leader says “We need (accounting, legal, coding, whatever) help” followed by somebody offering a few minutes of assistance. Next!

• Group formation. We had so many pitches (34 for 90ish people!) that it was hard to get groups to coalesce. (Another area where the “Well usually we…” came too late to be of any use.) A significant proportion of the people who came had one particular idea that they wanted to work on (and they only wanted to work on that idea). A similar proportion had businesses already started and wanted “free” help. A third group (happily, the majority) of people came without any real idea of what/how/where they would contribute, but took the “startup” part to heart. I think it was this last group that had the most fun and got the most out of the weekend.

  Future SW organizer: set a minimum group size (and/or maximum number of projects). Larger groups have a better chance of surviving without some of the players for a while. Discourage projects/companies that are already started (these “idea” pitches often start with “I’ve been working on this for a while…”). Emphasize the point of the event is creating new companies.

• Project choices. It’s a two and a half day event. Companies involved in making physical objects are unlikely to be successful as a Startup Weekend project, simply because it’s hard to find out manufacturing costs within a few hours (unless you have been working on the idea for a while, which you shouldn’t be doing — see above).

• Managing expectations. Many people came with the idea that they were going to be walked through the starting of a company — how to make a business plan, how to do market research, etc. Startup Weekend (the company) assumes there are people with that experience already coming to the event who will be willing to share their knowledge so others will be learning by doing. This needs to be spelled out very clearly at every possible opportunity.

Lest you think upon reading this that the whole weekend stunk, let me assure you that it didn’t. The people who came to Startup Weekend Ann Arbor and stayed (I think we had about 50 at the bitter end, not including the people who had to leave early on Sunday) impressed me with their drive, stamina and enthusiasm for their projects and companies. Of the six projects that were most fully formed by the close on Sunday, three companies really fit the “Startup Weekend” idea and launched from scratch. Two were close but didn’t quite make it to launch, and the other one seemed to me to be a recharacterization of an existing business.

Three new companies that didn’t exist before June 21, except maybe as a random thought in someone’s head, are now out there in the world (at least in beta ;)). And that is awesome.

[updated to add] I forgot to mention Laura’s hard work and nearly single-handed effort to bring the weekend off successfully. Any criticisms you might think you see here are not directed at her, but are observations of the Startup Weekend process. She earned that gin

Stray Studies from England and Italy, by John Richard Greene. Published 1876.

Thanks to Barbara Kosker for post-processing this project!

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On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening, by Samuel Felton. Published 1830.

What an odd book. The title says exactly what it is, but yet it doesn’t. The author 1) makes a list of English authors who have written (or published) books about 2) gardens and gardening (including horticulture), lists them and discusses 3) portraits that have been made of them. These are not “word picture” portraits, but engravings of paintings, etc. that can be found in the various books. Oh, and 4) they were deceased at the time of writing.

Thanks to Anonymous for post-processing this project!

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1. This Club shall be known as the Ignoramus Club of ——.

4. Every member shall be pledged not to read the latest book until people have stopped expecting it.

5. The Club shall have a Standing Committee that shall report at every meeting on New Things That People Do Not Need to Know.

6. It shall have a Public Library Committee, appointed every year, to look over the books in regular order and report on Old Things That People Do Not Need to Know. (Committee instructed to keep the library as small as possible.)

8. No member (vacations excepted) shall read any book that he would not read twice. In case he does, he shall be obliged to read it twice or pay a fine (three times the price of book, net).

11. The Club shall meet weekly.

12. Any person of suitable age shall be eligible for membership in the Club, who, after a written examination in his deficiencies, shall appear, in the opinion of the Examining Board, to have selected his ignorance thoughtfully, conscientiously, and for the protection of his mind.

13. All persons thus approved shall be voted upon at the next regular meeting of the Club—the vote to be taken by ballot (any candidate who has not read When Knighthood Was in Flower, or Audrey, or David Harum—by acclamation).

Perhaps I have quoted from the by-laws sufficiently to give an idea of the spirit and aim of the Club. I append the order of meeting:

1. Called to order.
2. Reports of Committees.
3. General Confession (what members have read during the week).
4. FINES.
5. Review: Books I Have Escaped.
6. Essay: Things Plato Did Not Need to Know.
7. Omniscience. Helpful Hints. Remedies.
8. The Description Evil; followed by an illustration.
9. Not Travelling on the Nile: By One Who Has Been There.
10. Our Village Street: Stereopticon.
11. What Not to Know about Birds.
12. Myself through an Opera-Glass.
13. Sonnet: Botany.
14. Essay: Proper Treatment of Paupers, Insane, and Instructive People.
15. The Fad for Facts.
16. How to Organise a Club against Clubs.
17. Paper: How to Humble Him Who Asks, “Have You Read—-?”
18. Essay, by youngest member: Infinity. An Appreciation.
19. Review: The Heavens in a Nutshell.
20. Review. Wild Animals I Do Not Want to Know.
21. Exercise in Silence. (Ten Minutes. Entire Club.)
22. Essay (Ten Minutes): Encyclopædia Britannica, Summary.
23. Exercise in Wondering about Something. (Selected. Ten Minutes. Entire Club.)
24. Debate: Which Is More Deadly–the Pen or the Sword?
25. Things Said To-Night That We Must Forget.
26. Adjournment. (Each member required to walk home alone looking at the stars.)

“He Giveth His Beloved Sleep”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Illustrated by Miss L. B. Humphrey, engraved by Andrew. Published 1882, ©1880.

One of my oldest clearances — it took a while for us to figure out that the best way to present this heavily illustrated book is the simplest way: as illustrations.

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