Are the markets getting frothy again?

It's hard to pick between the bubbles-are-bad and bubbles-are-O.K. camps is that bubbles aren't all alike. The best ones create assets whose value survives the crash. The Apollo program that put people on the moon, only to lose public support in the 1970s, was a "social bubble" in which over-optimism advanced science. Bad bubbles generate worthless assets such as exurban housing subdivisions that are taken over by squatters and mold. Other bubbles don't produce any supply response at all. The only impact of China's new mania for old wine—one bottle went for nearly $233,000 last year—is to transfer wealth to whoever was lucky enough to own the bottles before the Chinese got interested.
When the tech sector gets bubbly, consumers are often the biggest beneficiaries, notes Harvard economist Edward Glaeser. 
Glaeser says:

Because investors fund ideas that help the general public, from wireless communications to solid-state data storage to the Internet. So it was in the 19th century with the railroad boom. Today's speculation in tech is concentrated in social networking. 

The question is whether the new investments will live up to the greatest hits—and productive busts—of Silicon Valley's past.

Are You Growing Your Business to Sell?

Decide if you’re a Lifestyle Business Owner or an entrepreneur.  This distinction matters to Private Equity investors. They have to see the big growth over the next five years.
In the Bootstrapper’s Bible, Seth Godin teaches us that a product focused business owner sells their talents.  While they may have a few employees, they’re doing a job without a boss, but not running a business.  There’s no exit strategy or pot of gold, but they make their own hours and be their own boss.  Examples include layout artists, writers, consultants, film editors, landscapers, architects, translators, and musicians.  Seth writes:

An entrepreneur is trying to build something bigger than themselves.  They take calculated risk and focus on growth.  An entrepreneur is willing to receive little pay, work long hours, and take on great risk in exchange for the freedom to make something big, something that has real market value.

Why Valuations Matter in Tale of 2 Economies - China and USA

In the US, the Obama administration is ploughing a lonely furrow, the only major country in the world to be easing fiscal policy this year, even as the Federal Reserve persists with a scorched earth monetary policy. The President's nod to the hawks in the Republican party, who not unreasonably consider America's deficit to be out of control, could hardly have been more half-hearted – his proposed spending cuts won't get going until the presidential term after next. George Osborne he is not.

On the other side of the world, China faces a completely different set of problems.

Why valuations matter in US and China's tale of two economies - Telegraph

The BRIC countries’ Hainan summit could make the G20 redundant - Telegraph

 The West's political and financial elite is still a long way from adjusting to the fact that economic power is shifting to Asia and the long term implications for our cost of living. Money is flooding to China and India and for those thinking about selling their business, now would be the time to act.

The West’s political and financial elite is still a very long way from grasping the extent to which the global centre of economic gravity is now shifting – and the implications in terms of relative and absolute living standards.

The BRIC countries’ Hainan summit could make the G20 redundant - Telegraph

Which Pitch Would You Choose?

Jacoline Loewen was on BNN, The Pitch, April, 13th and was pleasantly surprised by exciting pitches.
There was a gold nugget of an idea pitched by Ken Seville, Guaranteed Interview, but the business model is not well developed yet.
Guaranteed Interview is for a recruitment website like Monstor.com, but focused on ex-military. What a great marketing vertical.
The company name is also not a catchy brand, and they need some private sector talent to drive growth. Great concept though and every trucking, security, logistics, aerospace company will be bookmarking the site. Ken did a great job presenting. Check it out HERE
Get hold of Ken: : ken.seville@gmail.com

Exempt Market Dealer Association Town Hall: EMDA Events

Kersten Kloss and Ron Lessoway would like to thank everyone for coming out to Peer Diligence's EMDA Town Hall last night.  It was a huge success.We want extend out thanks to Angie Redecopp from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and Ron Lessoway from MRL Group of Companies.
For those of you who want to see the recorded version, you can see WATCH IT HERE 
The event is at the bottom of the page listed under "Peer Diligence TweetCast".  Click on the "Register For Event". When you register, you will be sent and email with the link to view to information.
We had a lot of non-registered participants last night, so if you know of anyone who showed up who was not registered, can you please get them to sign up for Peer Diligence at www.meetup.com/peerdiligence.  
http://www.refreshedit.com/index.php/live

Canada makes the list of countries with the Most Billionaires

19 Canadian Billionaires seems a paltry number next to the USA's 270, until you look at the top 10 countries with Billionaires.
Canada comes in fourth.
Mexico makes the cut too which shows it's great to be around the top economy in the world, the USA.

Teaching a 'Lean Startup' Strategy

Lean startup executives do not invest in scaling the company until they have achieved product market fit (PMF); that is, the knowledge that they have developed a solution that matches the problem.

Teaching a 'Lean Startup' Strategy — HBS Working Knowledge

Markets suffer setback | Investing | Financial Post

Oil prices are going to knock the economy, economists are now predicting.

Canadian stocks fell sharply for the second consecutive day on another violent pullback in commodities as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. told investors to take profits while warning of a correction in oil prices.

Markets also suffered after Japan’s acknowledged its nuclear situation had worsened and Alcoa Inc. showed disappointing results as the U.S. earnings season kicked off.

“For the last several weeks, world stock markets have taken every disappointment and uncertainty the world could throw at them and continued to drive higher,” said Colin Cieszynski, market analyst at CMC Markets Canada.

Markets suffer setback | Investing | Financial Post

Ikea, Where's the Video Instructions? | Mark Evans Tech

IKEA is a wonderful place to visit but their product does not look the same at home - for me, their book cases need to be secured to the wall. I am glad for modern technology as my books and CDs seem to be dwindling in volume. Mark Evans made me laugh with his return to IKEA:

After swearing off buying anything from Ikea as a rite of passage in becoming a real adult, I succumbed recently in an effort to refurbish the home office without pillaging the corporate bank account. The magic about Ikea is how wonderful they make everything look. You stroll through the showroom and the world seems like your oyster…until you get everything home and suddenly realize it has to be assembled.

So, you unpack all the boxes, pull out parts, which includes lots and lots of little pieces (screws, widgets, etc.) and hunt for the instructions. What’s amazing is the instructions haven’t changed in years; they’re still black and white, no-frills, step-by-step instructions that assume everything is just so easy to follow.

Wrong.

Needless to say, the assembly process is frustrating, time-consuming and a serious threat to relationships if you do it with someone else. And you end up with extra parts, which I’m pretty sure Ikea doesn’t supply as a convenience.

It struck me there are some easy things Ikea could do to make things a lot better and easier. First, it needs to colour-code its instructions and the parts to remove a lot of guess-work that goes into assembling things.

Second, Ikea really, really needs to embrace video.

Read more: Ikea, Where's the Video Instructions? | Mark Evans Tech

Ikea, Where's the Video Instructions? | Mark Evans Tech