The stock market closed on a nice upper today, the last day of January, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index rising more than 98 points, approaching a record high. With today's close, it is time to check on the progress of the Magic Formula Index that we initiated on December 13.

At that time we introduced Joel Greenblatt's book The Little Book That Beats the Market. In his book, Greenblatt shared his success with the Magic Formula.

Recall that we started with a notional $100,000 investment in a basket of 25 stocks. The investment is now worth $104,482. The index is up 4.5% versus 1.9% for the Standard and Poor's 500 Index, which closed today at 1438.24 (the Index closed on December 12 at 1411.56).

In our basket of stocks, 15 are up and 10 are down. The best performing stock is Pinnacle Airlines Corp., up 69.7%. The worst performer is OmniVision Technologies, down 20.9%.

Details of the index, assuming closing prices on December 12 and January 31:

• Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp. (ASPV), $19.70 vs. 19.94, up 1.2%
• Biovail Corp. (BVF), $21.00 vs. $20.38, down 3.0%
• Cavco Industries Inc. (CVCO), $34.41vs $32.37, down 5.9%
• EPIQ Systems Inc. (EPIQ), $15.76 vs. $18.07, up 14.7%
• Earthlink Inc. (ELNK), $6.42 vs. 7.31, up 13.9%
• Fording Canadian Coal Trust (FDG), $22.58 vs. $22.66, up 0.4%
• Freight Car America Inc. (RAIL), $53.39 vs. $58.11, up 8.8%
• Frontier Oil Corp. (FTO), $31.34 vs. $28.41, down 9.3%
• Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (HNR), $10.21 vs. $10.06, down 1.5%
• King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG), $16.56 vs. $17.86, up 7.9%
• Korn/Ferry International (KFY), $22.30 vs. $23..88 vs. 7.1%
• Mannatech Inc. (MTEX), $13.46 vs. $16.13, up 19.8%
• New Frontier Media Inc.(NOOF), $9.31 vs. $9.19, down 1.3%
• OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI), $14.59 vs. $11.54, down 20.9%
• PW Eagle (PWEI), $34.96 vs. $32.98, down 5.7%
• Palm Inc. (PALM), $14.01 vs. $13.88, down 1.3%
• Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (PNCL), $10.34 vs. $17.55, up 69.7%
• PortalPlayer Inc. (PLAY), $13.40 vs. $13.48, up 0.6%
• True Religion Apparel Inc. (TRLG), $15.41 vs. $16.75, up 8.7%
• United Online Inc. (UNTD), $13.38 vs. $14.04, up 4.9%
• Vaalco Energy Inc. (EGY), $7.97 vs. %6.51, down 18.3%
• Valassis Communications Inc. (VCI), $16.44 vs. $15.37, donw 6.5%
• Verigy Ltd. (VRGY), $18.06 vs. $18.33, up 1.5%
• ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM), $14.99 vs. $17.03, up 13.6%
• Western Refining Inc. (WNR), $27.17 vs. $27.35, up 0.7%

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:19 PM | Permalink

As do you, I get lots of joke emails during the day and usually I just delete them, but once in a while I open one and peruse and then go back to deleting again. But the other day, I read this piece and it really amused me. Hope you enjoy it.

THE SILENT TREATMENT

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM " He left it where he knew she would find it.

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."

Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:01 AM | Permalink

The local tech blogs, SacStarts and TechTomato, are abuzz about the latest news from Sacramento startup, Revionics.

Revionics, provider of price optimization software for small and medium sized retailers, announced that it has attained several important milestones in the areas of funding, internal growth, and customer count.

Revionics is about to move to Granite Bay Business Park to make room for its rapidly expanding operations. The company has tripled its number of subscribing customers and is forecasting a substantial additional increase this year. The company has recently received outside funding to assist with fueling this growth. The private company did not reveal specifics of the funding or number of customers or staff.

Keep a close watch on these guys. They have been around for several years slowly building their operations, refusing to take the rebuffs from the local investment community personally, making some mistakes along the way, but always recovering and getting back on track. The key to their success in my view - they really know who their customer is and how to get to them to show the value of their solution and, it doesn't hurt, they are in a hot space. I have very high hopes.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Disclosure: I have been a sometime adviser to this company

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:40 AM | Permalink

Starting Jan. 30, every Staples store in the U.S. will have an in-store technician to help customers with services such as hardware and software installations, data protection and security, and repair and troubleshooting. Staples is offering free installation of Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Ultimate, $19.99 unlimited installation of any software, $29.99 unlimited installation of any hardware, and $39.99 unlimited hardware/software combinations from Jan. 30 - March 31.

Not sure if Vista is right for you? Entreprenur.com gives you all the pros and cons.

My computer screen has given out, right before the hard disk grinds to a halt - I can already hear the tell tale signs. So, as soon as my new computer arrives, I am going to install Vista and the latest version of Office. I will let you know how it goes.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:49 AM | Permalink

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. gave Chief Executive Gary Pruitt a $950,000 bonus for the 2006 fiscal year, maintaining the same bonus level as the previous year.

The company, which completed the $4.5 billion acquisition of Knight Ridder Inc. last summer and sold off 12 newspapers after that deal was announced, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday that the company's compensation commitee on Jan. 23 awarded Pruitt the bonus. For this year, Pruitt's bonus will be set based on the company's cash flow and "achievement of non-financial goals," the SEC filing said. This year, Pruitt is to earn base pay of $1.1 million, up from $1.05 million last year.

Source: AP

Meantime, across town, CSUS professors are walking the picket line. CSU system officials say they've made an "excellent" offer for raising faculty pay over the next four years, amounting to 27 percent in some cases. Union leaders say that too much of the offer is discretionary and is more like 14 percent over four years. Professors at CSU earn, on average, $71,000, according to the California Postsecondary Education Commission. Many newcomers are making around $50,000 and say they're feeling more pinched by paychecks frozen by recent state budget cuts and the lapsed contract.

The Legislature gave CSU extra money this year for raises and other costs, but the funds for faculty pay are being held until the contract issues are resolved. As the impasse continues, the faculty, who have only received one raise in the past four years, are furious that two rounds of pay raises have been approved for campus president Alexander Gonzalez and other CSU executives since 2005. Gonzalez's salary was increased to $265,000, retroactive to July 1, 2006.

Source: Sacramento Bee

All of this leads me to state the obivous. Why do we pay a newspaper publisher $2M a year when we pay a University president $250,000 a year and a university professor $50,000 a year? Doesn't it seem that our priorities are out of whack?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Bluepoint Energy Inc.

Makes: Efficient, low-emissions "cogeneration" power units that provide both electricity and heat
Headquarters: El Dorado Hills
Number of employees: 30
Founded: 2000
Value of contracts signed during the year ending June 30, 2006: $4 million
Value of contracts signed during the year ending June 30, 2007 (projected): $60 million
Market capitalization: $84.4 million
Stock symbol: CPEU.OB; trades on Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board
Friday's closing price: $3.22
Jan. 12, 2006, closing price: $0.22

Biggest gamble to take on $4B market-cap gorilla already in the market:

Per CEO Archbold, "I made a strategic decision, which was to really prolong our (research and development period), rather than just coming out with the technology we had," he said.
He aimed his product for a far-off regulatory barrier that he guessed would define the future of the cogeneration market: the California Air Resources Board's 2007 emissions standards, which were adopted in 2001. While the air board sets standards that apply only in California, its regulations can carry great weight in the global marketplace because other states and even nations often follow the state's lead. To make it through that long period without any sales, Archbold invested his own money in the company, attracted $8 million in venture capital and gave his engineering team a chance to do its work. Archbold says he had to push hard against others in the company who wanted to put out a product more quickly.

Turns out his gamble has paid off handsomely. He just bought himself a brand new Porsche and the company looks like it's on its way to be a worldwide star.

Source: Sacramento Bee

Read the whole story, it's a fascinating study of a startup and the value of a strong leader.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:44 AM | Permalink

Grass Valley based VTrac Systems, a GPS-based security and logistics startup located in Grass Valley, CA has filed for bankruptcy. Many investors in the local area have invested in, worked with, and tried long and hard to take this seemingly high-potential company to the next level, but, it seems, it was not meant to be.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:26 AM | Permalink

I am not a doctor, scientist, nurse, or nutritionist. And I am not blind. I can plainly see that Americans are fat, and getting fatter. Fat kills. Fat hits my pocketbook whether or not I am fat - taxpayers and insurance programs pay for fat people's health care issues.

Everywhere I go, the advertising media is promoting another type of diet - Scarsdale, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Rosedale, low-carb. We are bombarded with all kinds of ways to lose weight. But, apparently these promotions are not working. Americans eat more calories and have a higher obesity rate than any other country.

Let's get back to basics. Here's a fool-proof way to eat healthy and not get fat. Simply eat food that is natural and not wrapped in any packaging. If you follow this rule, you will not be fat. Try fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fresh fish. Throw in a bit of meat now and then.

And stop eating big portions. When done eating, exercise. Now get started!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:59 PM | Permalink

Digital Music Group Signs Deal With iTunes

AFX News
01/24/07 12:11 PM PT

Digital Music Group announced Wednesday a three-year deal to sell its licensed video content to Apple's iTunes Store. The company's collection includes historic news broadcasts and classic TV episodes, including "Hopalong Cassidy" and "My Favorite Martian." Digital Music Group licenses and sells video and audio content to online music stores.

Shares of Digital Music Group soared more than 9.5 percent in extremely heavy trading Wednesday, after the company filed documents that outlined a three-year pact with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based company will sell its video content on Apple's widely popular iTunes store, according to a document filed late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Apple will pay fixed wholesale prices for each downloaded television program or movie.

Digital Music's collection includes historic news broadcasts and classic TV episodes, including "Hopalong Cassidy" and "My Favorite Martian."

Digital Music acquires the rights and digitizes music and videos, and makes them available to online music stores including iTunes, Google Video, RealNetworks, Napster, Wal-Mart Music and Yahoo Music.

Shares of Digital Music increased 36 US cents to $4.15, with more than 184,000 shares trading -- about 11 times the average daily volume during the past month. Apple stock climbed $1.15 -- or 1.3 percent -- to $86.85 in mid-day trading.

DMGI closed at $4.02 on Friday.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:53 AM | Permalink

From the New York Times, Sunday January 28, 2007 -

"...have a common view at the highest level of what the company needs to do to succeed: hire great people, make big bets and take the long view and be patient where we think there are the greatest opportunities."

- Bill Gates, CEO Microsoft

Sound advice for all companies, regardless of size or life-cycle stage. And note, it all begins with the team - hiring great people. Why would great people want to work for your company? Every manager in your organization needs to be able to answer this question.

Most successful angel and venture capital investors base their investment decision on the team. Warren Buffett's embraces this practice in his decision making as well - "You can't make a good deal with a bad person".

Hire great people. If you do, great things are likely to occur.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:30 AM | Permalink

Last night Pierre and I attended a performance of the Dallas Symphony. The program included pieces by two Finnish composers. In the program was a writeup about Finland's dedication to musical education and the amazing results it has produced. Evidence is that despite its small size - approximately 5 million people - Finland has, and continues to, produce an abundance of important musicians.

In the 1960's, the Finnish government sponsored state grants to performing artists and composers. This investment spawned a wealth of music schools, orchestras and festivals. One example is the conductor training program at the Sibelius Academy which is among the finest in the world. Another factor is that music is a normal part of every day life for all students starting in elementary school. This ensures that musical programs receive lifetime support from welll-educated audiences.

As I read this amazing story, I looked around the Meyerson Symphony Center (home of the Dallas Symphony). The crowd was predominantly white and older. And there were many empty seats.

And then I remembered how we have constantly cut music programs from schools in this country. (The Center on Education Policy, found that since the passage of No Child Left Behind into federal law, 71 percent of the nation's 15,000 school districts had reduced the hours of instructional time spent on history, music and other subjects to open up more time for reading and math). But research has proven time and again that music education improves academic success, life skills and reduces crime. From the Reading, Writing and Rhythm Foundation:

Music education improves things such as SAT scores, school attendance, the ability to work in teams, self-esteem, self-discipline, early cognitive development, creativity, spatial reasoning skills, basic math and reading skills and the knowledge of other cultures and history. Scientific studies have proven that music participation builds brainpower in children by enhancing vital intellectual skills. As a result, music participation increases a child's ability to learn basic math and reading. Students who participate in music programs score significantly higher on standardized tests while at the same time developing crucial skills to be successful in life. Students involved in music are also less likely to be involved in gangs, drugs, or alcohol abuse and have better attendance in school. Most importantly though, students enjoy it!

Let's push for the return of music education to our schools. We can't afford to let another generation go by.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A very interesting look at drugs and the top read list on AlterNet in 2006.

The Top 10 Things I Know About Drugs By Tony Newman, AlterNet. Posted June 2, 2006.

We have to learn how to live with drugs -- because they aren't going anywhere.

I know a lot about drugs and the drug war, both personally and professionally. Drugs have had a positive and a detrimental impact on my life. I have laughed, played and found inspiration while intoxicated. I have also struggled, fought and cried because of my addiction to drugs.

I have spent the last six years working for an organization that is working to reform drug laws. I have read thousands of newspapers articles, had thousands of conversations and spent thousands of days thinking about drugs. What follows are the top 10 (plus one) things I have learned from my immersion with drugs and the drug war.

1. Drugs are everywhere. Despite a $40 billion a year "war on drugs" and political speeches about a "drug-free society," our society is swimming in drugs. Cigarettes, sugar, alcohol, marijuana, Prozac, Ritalin, Viagra, steroids and caffeine. The vast majority of Americans use drugs on a regular basis. People always have and always will.

2. Different people have different relationships with different drugs. My wife is someone who can enjoy an occasional cigarette and only smokes when she drinks. I am an addict who cannot control my cigarette problem. If I have one cigarette, I will end up smoking a pack a day. Some people have serious problems with alcohol and can't enjoy even a single drink. I can handle alcohol and enjoy a drink or two some nights, leave it alone on others, and I rarely have negative experiences with it. Different strokes for different folks.

3. People use drugs for joy and for pain. Many people enjoy using mind- and body-altering substances. How many of us enjoy having some drinks and going out dancing? How many of us enjoy a little smoke after a nice dinner with friends? Many people bond with others or find inspiration alone while high on drugs.

On the flip side, many people self-medicate to try to ease the pain in their lives. How many have us have had too much to drink to drown our sorrows over a breakup or some other painful event? How many of us smoke cigarettes to deal with anxiety or stress?

4. Drug abuse does not discriminate, but our drug policies do. Rush Limbaugh, Noelle Bush and Patrick Kennedy remind us that drug addiction does not discriminate. Unfortunately, our drug policies do. Ninety-three percent of the people incarcerated under New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws are black or Latino, despite equal drug use among blacks and whites. Treatment for the privileged, jail for the poor.

5. Relapse happens. Anyone who has tried to quit cigarettes knows that relapse happens. I have unsuccessfully tried to quit cigarettes 15 times. While we know that drug treatment is more humane and more effective than prison, it is not a silver bullet. Many people will quit, relapse and need support to quit again.

6. Smoking five cigarettes is better than smoking 20. Using marijuana is better than using heroin. Many well-intentioned people think drugs are terrible and abstinence is always the answer. I believe that progress can be made, even if someone continues to use drugs. My 70-year-old landlord is a pack-a-day smoker. After some serious health problems, he is now down to smoking two cigarettes a day. This is progress. Some people who have struggled with heroin have been able to quit heroin, but still use marijuana. Our criminal justice system and many in the abstinence-only treatment world would view this as a failure and send the marijuana smoker to jail. I say congrats on giving up heroin. Keep it up.

7. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse. Locking someone up in a cage for using marijuana or some other drug when no harm has been done to anyone else is cruel and inhumane. People who prohibit clean syringes to reduce the spread of HIV have blood on their hands. Denying financial aid to students who have a drug offense is counterproductive. Many of our country's laws are more harmful than the substances they are trying to combat.

8. Prohibition doesn't work. Prohibition is responsible for most of the violence associated with drugs. We tried to prohibit alcohol in the 1920s. It did not get rid of alcohol, but it did create a black market for hooch, and empowered and enriched violent gangsters like Al Capone. Marijuana and cocaine are not responsible for the drug war shootouts. What is responsible is the fact that both are worth more than gold because they are illegal. It is the underground trade of these drugs that causes people to kill each other over the right to sell them. No one is shooting anyone else over a Budweiser anymore.

9. Drugs and the drug war touch most families. Almost every family in America has to deal with drug addiction or the war on drugs. Millions of people have a loved one behind bars on drug charges. Many millions more have struggled themselves or have a loved one who has dealt with addiction to illegal or legal drugs. By declaring a "war on drugs" we have declared a war on ourselves.

10. We have to learn how to live with drugs, because they aren't going anywhere. The drug war has been waged over the last 30 years. Currently we have 500,000 people behind bars on drug charges. We spend $40 billion a year, and despite the decades of war, incarceration rates and money spent, drugs are as plentiful as ever and easily accessible. We have to accept that drugs have been around for thousands of years and will be here for thousands more. We need to educate people about the possible harm from drug use, offer compassion and treatment to people who have problems and leave in peace the people who are causing harm to no one.

*Bonus point: The public is ahead of the politicians. The majority of Americans supports treatment instead of incarceration. Californian voters passed Proposition 36 in 2000. Since its passage, more than 60,000 people have received treatment instead of jail for their nonviolent drug offenses. Eleven states have approved medical marijuana for sick and dying patients. It is the timid politicians who are resistant to change. We need to continue to demonstrate to our leaders that we want an end to the war on our families. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.

Tony Newman is communications director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:15 AM | Permalink

USA Today reports:

Venture capitalists invested $25.5 billion in 2006, the industry's biggest burst of dealmaking since the dot-com bust clogged the financial spigot for entrepreneurs five years ago. A renewed interest in Internet start-ups, combined with expanding opportunities in the health care and alternative energy markets spurred a 12% increase from $22.8 billion invested in 2005, according to figures jointly released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:55 AM | Permalink

Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails requests your help in identifying Clean Air Champions for the 2007 Clean Air Awards.

For years, our region has been listed as one of the most polluted metropolitan areas in the country; however, our status has been improving thanks to the many businesses, individuals, agencies and organizations that go above and beyond to help make our region a healthier place to live and breathe.

If you know an individual or organization that has been working to improve air quality in our region, please nominate them for a Clean Air Award!

The awards will be presented at the 31st Annual Clean Air Awards Luncheon on May 24, 2007 at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento.

Visit www.sacbreathe.org for more information.

The nomination deadline is January 31, 2007. Nominations may be submitted as follows:

Mail to:
Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails
909 12th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Fax to: (916)444-6661

Email to: judyb@sacbreathe.org

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:14 AM | Permalink

Twenty-five (25) greater Sacramento area museums—more than ever before—will be offering free admission during the Ninth Annual Sacramento Museum Day presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums and proudly supported by Starbucks Coffee Company. Sacramento Museum Day takes place Saturday, February 3, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (all participating museums close at 5 p.m.). Free shuttle buses will serve many of the participating museums (all routes begin/end/transfer at the California Museum for History, Women & the Arts, which can be accessed via Regional Transit Light Rail – Archives Plaza station). For more details, visit

Do yourself a favor - check out some remarkable Sacramento venues. The price is right!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From Point-Travel

During the Gold Rush of 1849, Old Sacramento thrived as the largest trading center in California, today, as the capital city of California, Sacramento is just as busy.

In a way Sacramento is a 'western' version of Washington DC, with people in suites having meetings in 'classy' restaurants about 'important' issues. For the business traveler, Sacramento is the usual mix of business, pleasure and a few drinks at the bar.

For visitors, the area has a little more to offer. Main attractions include Old town Sacramento, a well-preserved 1800's era community, numerous museums, Cal Expo, Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, Arden Fair Mall and much more.

The historical Gold Rush city that has grown to become the capital of one of the richest lands in the world is one of those towns that is sure worth a visit.

I added the bold because I thought it was hysterical...people in suites (are they in suits too?). And do you need to wear a suit at the bar to have your usual few drinks at the bar if you are a business traveler?

No wonder Sacramento can't get any respect!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:17 PM | Permalink

I came across this on the web today and was horrified! CitySearch, through its local editor, Elizabeth Bucceri, lists the

Top Ten Experiences in Sacramento as:

From a popular landmark or attraction to a must-visit restaurant or bar, uncover Sacramento's ultimate top 10 experiences.

1. Arco Arena
1 Sports Pkwy, Sacramento, CA
Throw on your Chris Webber jersey, paint your face purple and "feel the roar" of the crowd as you cheer the Kings.

2. California State Capitol Museum
10th St & Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA
Pace around this grand building that houses the governing bodies of the Golden State.

3. Biba
2801 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA
Taste some of the best northern Italian cooking in the country at celebrity chef Biba Caggiano's award-winning restaurant.

4. Esquire Grill
1213 K St, Sacramento, CA
Sip a glass of wine while rubbing elbows with politicians like Gov. Schwarzenegger, known to frequent this classy eatery.

5. The Delta King
1000 Front St, Sacramento, CA
Climb aboard this historic riverboat and try not to look suspicious during the interactive murder-mystery show.

6. Pancake Circus
2101 Broadway, Sacramento, CA
You're not a local until you've joined the down, the out and just plain broke for cheap hotcakes at this longtime greasy spoon.

7. Sheraton Grand Sacramento
1230 J St., Sacramento, CA
Sip a cool martini while curled up on an overstuffed couch overlooking J Street, a prime spot for people-watching.

8. Zelda's Original Gourmet Pizza
1415 21ST St, Sacramento, CA
Dig into some of the best flaky, deep-dish pizza in town at this Sacramento institution.

You might also consider

The Melting Pot Dip Into Something Different. 6839 Lonetree Blvd Rocklin CA

Ciro's Pizza Cafe
We Deliver Award Winning Pizza To The Sacramento Area
7521 Old Auburn Rd Citrus Heights CA
www.cirospizza.com

Elizabeth, listed as the Citysearch Contributor, have you ever been to Sacramento? If so, how could you only find 8 - and frankly your selection results are unfathomable. Did you forget Music Circus, the Crocker, Tower Theatre, the Capitol, Land Park, Old Sacramento, Memorial Auditorium, the Julia Morgan House? And if you are going to list restaurants, how on earth did you leave out Frank Fats, an insitution of enormous proportions in town? I could go on.

SacEx readers: Let's gather our top ten list. Please send suggestions. Best list gets a free registration to the Sacramento Executive event on February 21st - which is a WEDNESDAY, not a Tuesday.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Mark March 7th on your calendars and sign up for a great new seminar on Angel investing to be taught by some of the pre-eminent figures in Angel investing in the Sacramento Region. The half-day seminar, sponsored by the Golden Capital Network

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
1:30 p.m.—6:30 p.m.
Granite Bay Golf Club

If you are interested in investing in local, high growth, private companies but don't think you know how to begin, this seminar will introduce you to the world of angel investing. You will have an opportunity to interact with experts and other participants in the local angel community. Registration is limited to 40 participants.

If you are a successful entrepreneur who has exited your businesses and has an interest in helping early stage companies; or you are a high net worth individual with senior business, technical or entrepreneur experience who now has the time and desire to invest in early stage companies; or you are simply an investor who is interested in learning more about the specifics of angel investing, this is an ideal opportunity for you to learn the ropes and meet some like-minded individuals.

Subjects covered include:

• An overview of angel investing
• Expected returns on angel investing
• Finding angel investing opportunities that are right for you
• Investment goals and portfolio strategies
• The mechanics of angel investing: how to do it
• Angels and advisors – bringing more than money to investments

This seminar features local experts in high growth ventures and early stage investment opportunities, including seasoned angel investors with diverse investment experience, tax and legal experts, and angel-financed entrepreneurs.

You can register on the Golden Capital website. ($30 pre-registration; $60 at the door, space permitting).

The sponsors include:

Merrill Lynch
Boutin Dentino
Sacramento Angels

In-Kind Sponsors:

Amplify Software – Online Registration Sponsor
LearningChange – Creative Design Sponsor
Morgan Dorado Public Relations – Public Relations Sponsor

Organizers:

DLA Piper US LLP
WorldBridge Partners
Morgan Dorado Public Relations
El Dorado Hills Technology Incubator

Supporting Organizations:

UC Davis CONNECT
The Sacramento Executive

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:10 AM | Permalink

At a recent meeting of the American Heart Association, Dr. Belardinelli of Lancisi Heart Insitute in Ancona, Italy said, "Waltzers had better uptake and less muscle fatigue than a group doing more traditional exercises and a control group that didn't exercise".

So, dancing under the stars is a good way of not journeying to the stars before your time! And how romantic. Suggestion for a cool Valentine's Day gift - waltz lessons with your spouse. When he complains (trust me if you give this to your wife, she won't complain), tell him it's for his health. Sounds much more fun than a treadmill to me.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:04 PM | Permalink

Welcome to a new blog - a welcome addition to the technology community in Sacramento.

Entrepreneurs Scott Hildebrand and Adam Kalsey have started SacStarts and here's what they have to say:

Introducing SacStarts 3 Jan 2007 The dinners that Scott and I have been organizing have been growing. We’ve met a pretty amazing group of people and the dinners have resulted in good business connections for a number of participants.

As Scott and I looked at what we wanted to get out of the dinners, the idea of building a startup community started to grow. We realized that all the entrepreneurs, small tech companies, and great tech folks in the area didn’t have anywhere to go to connect with each other. There’s events and organizations for larger companies and even a big-ass $150/year professional organization for entrepreneur types. There’s nothing wrong with those organizations and some of our participants are members of them as well. But they don’t fit the informal feel that we’ve come to admire from groups like Stirr and the Barcamp movement.

So we decided to do something about it and SacStarts was born.

We’ll be continuing to run the dinners (the next one is Thursday, February 22nd, RSVP on the site) and we’ll be adding on. A common complaint among people at the dinners is finding high-quality people to work with, so we’ll be launching a job board. The web site has a simple social networking component to it that will grow. There’s a couple of blogs that will focus on local tech startup news. And look for some larger events in the future.

If your business is looking to reach local startups and engineers, we also have sponsorship opportunities available. Just ask me about them.

I’m excited about the future growth of the Sacramento startup community and I’m hoping that SacStarts can help foster that growth.

Scott and Adam have both been very supportive of our efforts at the Sacramento Executive from the beginning. Scott, since we met at a Tuesday Group dinner long ago and Adam as the best commentor we have. These are two young, smart, entrepreneurial guys with lots of great ideas and passion to bring to the Sacramento Technology community. We need to embrace them and offer them all the support we can muster and all the advice they ask for. But we also need to listen to them because they are the voice of the future.

Great idea, great start and you have our full support, Scott and Adam.

Gillian Parrillo
Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Collaboration and peer production communities are changing how companies do business. Companies that adopt a strategy of collaborating with external entities will hold a competitive advantage over companies that try to do it all themselves.

Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams, authors of Wikinomics, see collaboration as a must do -

There are always more smart people outside your enterprise boundaries than there are inside.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:36 AM | Permalink

Nearly 57 years after the United States' Supreme Court struck down the segregation of students in public schools on the basis of race in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the California public school system continues to struggle with ethnic equality. Why?

The facts (according to the New York Times) - the ethnic breakdown of the general California population is Whites 44%; Hispanics 35%, Asians 12% and African Americans 7% (2% other or unknown). Freshman enrollment for the fall of 2006 at the University of California at Berkeley is Whites 29%, Hispanics 11%, Asians 46%, and African Americans 4% (10% other or unknown).

What can we conclude from these numbers? It's simple - equality. The various ethnic groups are not treated the same in our public school systems. I have a problem with Hispanics being under represented by more than a factor of three and African Americans by almost a factor of two. It's even worse at U.C.L.A and U.C. Irvine - just 2% of the student body at each school is African American.

Here's my problem - if our Hispanic and African American students are under represented in the universities, then it is logical to predict they will be under represented in the business and professional world. This portends only one thing - Hispanics and African Americans will continue to struggle to gain economic success in the United States. And that's not what the Surpreme Court intended in the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

I honestly believe that our country has not tried hard enough to bring about equality for all - whether it's race, gender or ethnicity. We owe it to our fellow citizens to break down all inequality barriers. And I think it starts with education.

Let's get moving Californians! Take action at the grass roots level and get involved with the local schools to make sure all children get a decent education. Gillian and I will discuss how we can make a difference in future posts. We'd like to hear your ideas!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:25 PM | Permalink

If 60 is the new 50, how come all the 60th Birthday Cards look exactly like Sympathy Cards?

Maybe 65 is the new 60 (with some oversight). The Civil Aviation Organization has ruled that a pilot can fly until age 65 as long as another pilot under 60 is in the cockpit.

If a member of Congress gets convicted of a crime, how come he (rarely she?) gets to keep their pension? Can anyone say, "Above the law"?

If we had the good idea to insert in the Afghani and Iraqi constitution a provision that requires 25% of the national representatives be female, why isn't that a good idea for America?

'Having five children in six years is the best training in the world for speaker of the House." Couldn't agree with you more, Nancy Pelosi.

If you have a face lift and you look 30, but your neck looks 70, what's the point?

What was wrong with shop in high school anyway? Are all our high school students headed for college? Aren't some people perfectly suited to fix our HVAC system? And isn't that a worthy job? And don't we need lots of these people? Can we stop insisting that all of our students need to take a physics class to graduate from High School?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 11:48 AM | Permalink

This is becoming a recurring theme for me.

Penny wise and pound foolish. That seems like a good description of the problem we have right now in terms of our prison system. Governor Schwarzenegger is asking for $10.9B to expand the prison system in California. The state's 33 prisons are bulging at the seams, filled to almost twice their capacity and the system is under orders from a federal judge to do something about the overcrowding or the court system will. Additionally, the healthcare services are so abyssmal that after multiple warnings to the state, with no improvement, a federal receiver is now running the show.

The Governor says that Californians have "lived in denial" about the crisis in the state's prisons and that due to this apathy, the State legislature lacks the will to address the ever-mounting problems.

I say that if we don't invest in an ounce of prevention early on to divert the future residents of the bulging Califorina prison system, then we get stuck with a bill for $10.9B. And then there's no money for the ounce of prevention.

Let's break the cycle once and for all and invest some real money in some real programs that reach out to the real intended audience.

Schwarzenegger said the prison problem is not "sexy," because it does not affect people's lives directly, as schools or transportation issues do. I say it affects everyone's lives because by not diverting future inmates and providing them opportunities to become useful members of society, we end up with a prison mess on our hands which takes dollars away from schools or transportation or environmental or other issues we care about.

We can't just keep locking them up....

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:07 AM | Permalink

From The Tao of Warren Buffett, co-authored by Mary Buffett and David Clark:

The great personal fortunes in this country weren't built on a portfolio of fifty companies. They were built by someone who identified one wonderful business.

This reminds me of another famous quote from Ben Franklin:

Put all of your eggs in one basket and mind that basket very well.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:17 PM | Permalink

From the Sacramento Business Journal:

Digital Music Group finished with the nation's second-worst ranking among companies that went public in 2006, tallying a 51 percent return on investment [a 49% loss from IPO price], according to an investment and financial planning Web site Wednesday.

The Sacramento-based online music provider (Nasdaq: DMGI) was saved from having the worst ranking, according to the Motley Fool, by Restore Medical (Nasdaq: REST), which gave investors just a 47 percent return. Another medical device maker, Cardica (Nasdaq: CRDC) had a 53 percent return.

Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq: RVBD) led among 2006 IPOs with a 215 percent return after going public on Sept. 21.

Digital Music stock closed Tuesday's trading at $4.06 per share. The company went public Feb. 2 and hit its high Feb. 7, trading at $10.42 per share.

Not good news for Sacramento's investors who were hoping for a home run. Disclosure: I would be one of those!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:06 AM | Permalink

There's a new website launching in Sacramento that provides information on things to do for families with preschoolers. PreschoolRock.com Sacramento focuses on fun and exciting things to do with young children in Sacramento. The site, the first local edition for PreSchoolRock.com, has hired a local correspondent, a long-term resident of Sacramento and mother of twin boy preschoolers, who reports on the advantages and disadvantages of many local sites. PreschoolRock.com Sacramento also includes a preschool listing and a listing of preschool parenting resources specific for the Sacramento area.

Check it out. Sacramento has some fabulous things to do with young children - especially fun for grandparents too!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Kennel Club(R) announced today the "Top 10" most popular AKC(R) registered dogs in Sacramento for 2006.

The AKC also announced today that the tiny Yorkshire Terrier is making news nationwide. The "Yorkie" has overtaken the beloved Golden Retriever to become the second most popular purebred dog in America according to AKC registration figures. The Labrador Retriever is the most popular purebred dog in the country once again -- a spot it has held since 1991.

Here's a look at Sacramento's favorite dogs as compared to the rest of the country:

SACRAMENTO 2006
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Dachshund
5. Golden Retriever
6. Chihuahua
7. Miniature Schnauzer
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10.Boston Terrier/Pug (tie)

NATIONWIDE 2006
1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Dachshund
7. Boxer
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10.Miniature Schnauzer

Local Statistical Snapshot

-- The Dachshund descends in popularity in Sacramento, moving from 2nd in 2005 to 4th this year.
-- The Yorkshire Terrier advances in popularity locally, as it has in many cities across the nation, moving from 3rd to 2nd to tie with the breed's national ranking.
-- The confident German Shepherd Dog, which held at 5th place last year, continues to gain admirers as it moves to 3rd.
-- The Pug makes a dramatic leap into Sacramento's top 10 after ranking 17th last year.

"The Boston Terrier, Pug and Chihuahua all show up on Sacramento's top 10, yet don't appear on the national list," said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. "Active Sacramento residents obviously appreciate smaller dogs that can be taken with them when they're on the go."

SOURCE American Kennel Club

As Sacramento residents become more urban, could they be choosing smaller dogs?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:20 AM | Permalink

The Sacramento Speakers' Series will host General Richard Myers (joint Chief for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan) tomorrow night. This should be a VERY interesting evening based on the timing of President Bush's planned troop surge and the overwhelming opposition to it.

Tickets are still on sale.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:04 PM | Permalink

An alphabetical list by Michael Dunne of the Sacramento Bee of the 10 best:

Biba, 2801 Capitol Ave., Sacramento; (916) 455-2422. Italian food at its best

Carpe Vino,1568 Lincoln Way, Auburn; (530) 823-0320. California and Mediterranean cuisine

Enotria Restaurant & Wine Bar, 1431 Del Paso Blvd. (at Arden Way), Sacramento; (916) 922-6792. Focusing on Mediterranean-Italian-California cuisine.

La Provence Restaurant & Terrace, 110 Diamond Creek Place, Roseville; (916) 789-2002. Flavors of France and the Mediterranean regions prepared with California style.

Lemon Grass, 601 Munroe St., Sacramento; (916) 486-4891. Vietnamese and Thai cuisine.

Mason's, 1116 15th St., Sacramento; (916) 492-1960. California cuisine and New American cooking.

Masque Ristorante, 3909 Park Drive, El Dorado Hills; (916) 933-8555. Italian.

Mulvaney's Building & Loan, 1215 19th St., Sacramento; (916) 441-6022. Using the best locally grown produce.

Restaurant 55 Degrees, 555 Capitol Mall, Sacramento; (916) 553-4100. French and Belgian cuisine meet California bounty.

Slocum House, 7992 California Ave., Fair Oaks; (916) 961-7211. New American cooking.

Taste, 9402 Main St., Plymouth; (209) 245-3463. Mediterranean and Caifornia inspired.

The Waterboy, 20th Street and Capitol Avenue, Sacramento; (916) 498-9891. Southern France and Northern Italy.

My favorite? No matter how far we roam, we always come back to Waterboy.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dear Dad,

The last time we got together, we debated whether or not America has the best health care in the world. Well, here's more fuel to my argument for the fattening up and dumbing down of America.

An excerpt from today's Parade Magazine "Is America Still No. 1?", by David Wallenchinksy:

In the realm of health, the United States has a contradictory record. We are first (with at least 20 other countries) in terms of our citizens having access to clean water and sanitation facilities. We spend more money per person on health care a year ($5,700) than any country, and a greater percentage of our gross domestic product (more than 15%) goes to health care. But are we getting our money's worth? Forty-three countries have more doctors per capita, including France, Switzerland, Mongolia and Lebanon. Forty-nine have more hospital beds per capita than the U.S. - the United Kingdom, Italy, and Ireland, for example. Thirty-three nations, including Cuba, have a lower infant death rate than the U.S., and 28 have a lower maternal death rate. We rank 30th in life expectancy for women and 28th for mean. In each of these health-related categories, the U.S. position has steadily declined over the last 20 years.

The U.S. used to be first in life expectancy for women who already have reached the age of 65. Now we are 20th. Part of the problem is that we consume more calories per capita than the citizens of any other nation, and we lead the world in the prevalence of obesity.

So Dad, what you say? Do we really have the best health care system in the world? Am I just blowing smoke, when I say Americans are getting dumber and fatter? We lead the world in obesity. Obesity causes diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.

Whew! This writing has taxed me. My sugar is low. It's time for another Big Mac!

Love,

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:47 AM | Permalink

Pierre and I spend a lot of time discussing how to make the most meaningful contribution to change the horrifying statistic that only 50% of 9th grade Hispanics will graduate from High School and 55% of African Americans. At the college level it gets even worse. In California, Hispanics are 35% of the general population, and African Americans are 7%. But at UC Davis, for example, only 13% of the student body is Hispanic and a mere 3% is African American.

If you feel bad, as we do, that these kids are 'lost' to the societies of which they should be full participants, you are accused of being a liberal. If you prefer, simply looking at the huge cost that this country will have to pay in the future to 'deal' with these kids who cannot become part of the economy of this country, you are probably a conservative. How do we, as liberals and conservatives, at least agree that we have a huge problem and come up with a solution? Sending these "underachievers/undereducated/underserved" to jail costs money. Having them on welfare, paying for their healthcare, costs money. We can debate the causes, the blame, all day long. But wouldn't it be better if we focused all that energy on finding a solution?

Today, I read that a recent article in The New York Times reported child psychologists have found by age 3, the average child of a middle-class professional has heard 500,000 words of encouragement and 80,000 words of discouragement. Among children in welfare families, the numbers were turned on their heads with 75,000 words of encouragement and 200,000 words of discouragement.

Maybe we could work on providing some encouragement to kids who hear 1/7 as much encouragement? Maybe we could put some encouragement in the lives of the parents of these kids so they can find the words within themselves for their children. That would be a start in my book.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From the New York Times

Relationship experts report that too many couples fail to ask each other critical questions before marrying. Here are a few key ones that couples should consider asking:

1) Have we discussed whether or not to have children, and if the answer is yes, who is going to be the primary care giver?

2) Do we have a clear idea of each other’s financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh?

3) Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?

4) Have we fully disclosed our health histories, both physical and mental?

5) Is my partner affectionate to the degree that I expect?

6) Can we comfortably and openly discuss our sexual needs, preferences and fears?

7) Will there be a television in the bedroom?

8) Do we truly listen to each other and fairly consider one another’s ideas and complaints?

9) Have we reached a clear understanding of each other’s spiritual beliefs and needs, and have we discussed when and how our children will be exposed to religious/moral education?

10) Do we like and respect each other’s friends?

11) Do we value and respect each other’s parents, and is either of us concerned about whether the parents will interfere with the relationship?

12) What does my family do that annoys you?

13) Are there some things that you and I are NOT prepared to give up in the marriage?

14) If one of us were to be offered a career opportunity in a location far from the other’s family, are we prepared to move?

15) Does each of us feel fully confident in the other’s commitment to the marriage and believe that the bond can survive whatever challenges we may face?

Guess this is a first marriage - no ex-spouse, stepchildren questions!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:28 AM | Permalink

My plan for 2007 is inspired by a card I received at Christmas from my friend Linda. I put it in a frame on my desk and look at it often. I think it's just about perfect.

Help a Stranger
Praise a Child
Light a Candle
Share your Love
Sing for Joy
Lend a Hand
Pray for Peace
Understand

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:44 AM | Permalink

From the Fresno Bee:

Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced Thursday that it is moving its headquarters to Sacramento. But company officials said they will continue to operate and expand the location in Fresno, where the company was founded in 2003.

Pacific Ethanol Chief Executive Neil Koehler said the shift to Sacramento was based on the need to “move our corporate headquarters to the center of political and economic power in California.” But he added that “our presence will continue to grow here in the Central Valley, and not decline.”

The ethanol production and marketing company, which went public in March 2005, also chose Sacramento for the city’s central location and its relative ease of access for air travel as compared with Fresno, said Bill Jones, Pacific Ethanol’s co-founder and chairman.

“Given the nature of our need to work with the government, and given the fact that Sacramento is a major metropolitan hub for transportation, locating an office there is not unusual,” said Jones, a Fresno-area rancher and former California Secretary of State. “But we’ll continue to be growing in Fresno,” he added. “My first and foremost commitment is to the Valley, where I was raised.” Jones said he will continue to work from the company’s Fresno office, where about 20 people work.

Pacific Ethanol posted its first profitable quarter in November, based not on production of the corn-based gasoline additive but on rising prices and sales volume for its ethanol marketing business. Pacific Ethanol opened its first plant in Madera in October and announced the same month that it had purchased a 42% stake in Colorado ethanol company Front Range Energy LLC. The two actions gave Pacific Ethanol the ability to produce about 60 million gallons of ethanol per year.

It has a second plant now under construction in Boardman, Ore., and has plans to build three more plants with a production capacity of 220 million gallons per year by 2008. By 2010, the company expects to increase total production capacity to 440 million gallons a year.

Pacific Ethanol also announced Thursday that it had signed a commitment letter providing for up to $325 million of senior secured credit. The company said $300 million of that will be used to finance construction of three new ethanol plants it expects to begin building this quarter, as well as the company’s plants in Madera and Boardman, Ore.. While Koehler would not say where the three new plants are to be built, he did say Thursday that “we’re building additional plants in the Central Valley.” “We are very committed to the economic development that we are bringing to the Central Valley,” he said. “That’s a huge part of our mission.”

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:31 PM | Permalink

Sacramento International's Terminal A has a new (and most welcome) restaurant. Vino Volo, a new restaurant and wine bar next to the boarding gates, opens today in Terminal A. The restaurant offers a big wine list, a tasting bar, small plates of food and lounge chairs.

Other Vino Volo wine bars have opened at Dulles International near Washington, D.C., and at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle. More coming soon to Baltimore Washington International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

So when the flight gets delayed, you can't get an upgrade, your seat is a middle seat, or other such normal woes of modern day travel, you will have some wine to go with the whine!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:30 AM | Permalink

There's a website called Digg. When you like a story, you Digg it...You send it to their website and then they aggregate and you can read the most (is this Digged, or Dugg, or what?) story.

So, yesterday Apple announced their new product - the iPhone. This is the product that everyone has been waiting for. This is the product that if it hadn't been announced would have sunk Apple's stock big time. But there it was, announced. And it was bigger and better than anyone thought. And everyone (Dugg, Digged, or what? It) and the Digg site almost came to a crashing halt.

The story goes that the developers of Digg had never envisioned a story that would get more than 10,000 Diggs...I think i am getting the lingo here..but now there are rumors that other 10,000+ stories have reached the site - Saddam Husssein's execution and Steve Irwin's death. So, maybe this is the first birth story that reached 10,000 diggs.

How does Steve Job's keep doing it...genius come to mind? Digg it??

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:21 PM | Permalink

This is a rant - apologies!

Maybe I am not getting it. Maybe United Airlines can really survive without one customer. That must be why they make it so difficult to do business with them. Maybe that's their strategic plan - to make sure that customers get such terrible customer service that they never even consider flying with United Airlines again. That is the only possible reason that every time I call them, which is only when I have tried every possible way to get to my destination without need of them, I have set up emergency services in advance to be outside my door because I know I am sure to have a heart attack, a stroke, or shoot myself because that would feel better than talking with them. Woops, I said talking to them, but that's a rare occurrence these days because they employ a voice recognition system that must have been developed by the same person who developed Home Depot's self-checkout system and the gates to heaven. Even when I scream agent at the top of my lungs and lots of other things that I can't repeat here, the voice continues for several minutes in a very good natured manner to ask for the same information I have already provided twenty times.

But there is worse to come. Be very sure you want to pass this machine's heavily guarded gates because next is India customer service. India, oh, I mean Global Customer Service is pure hell, it's pure HELL. You can easily spend an hour or two in HELL and make absolutely no progress, in fact, mostly you lose anything you might have had when you connected with them. Once in a while, for a second, you hope you might have moved forward an inch or two, only to have those hopes dashed with the "Let me confirm your request again" and learn that every vital statistic you have given them over the past two hours, every sad story, every creative way of solving your problem, has been completely ignored and you are only as far as having to help them respell your first name. I explain patiently, like I am not a crazy person "I want to use my Goodwill Certificates but you said I can only use them on the web, but your system doesn't allow me to do the transaction on the web, so I was thinking I could use the GOODWILL certificates by phone if your system won't allow me to use them on the web." Silence. "I mean that sounds logical, doesn't it?" I try. Goodwill, right! Four hours later, there is no supervisor to talk to, nothing to be done, and you are transferred to a number that either doesn't answer or you are back in a 3 hour wait to get back into HELL.

Customer service for United Airlines gets an A++ for stonewalling. They are great at stonewalling. We should put them into a position of dealing with North Korea, they would disarm in hours. Iran would beg us to come pick up anything we wanted just so they didn't have to deal with HELL again. Who needs a State Department? We can use United Airlines customer service? And it will work out fine, because pretty soon United will have stonewalled so many customers that there will be no more customers for them to stonewall and then they will be completely free to turn their entire staff into US Global Stonewalling.

Here's a tip. When the voice recognition guy that can't recognize any voices asks you if your travel is within the 50 United States, say No. You have to yell it several times. And then you pass to heaven, that's HEAVEN - International United Airlines staff, they are helpful, innovative, creative, polite and smart. And sometimes they help you even though all your travel is within the 50 United States. They have heard of HELL too!

Hey, United, 150,000 miles to use and I am giving them away like candy. Kim Jong Il, watch out, you're next. You can just give up when you hear that United Airlines trademark music. A Rhapsody in Blue (Blue for Depression). How apt! And sorry George Gershwin.

Gillian Parrillo
Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Caltech Beavers men's basketball team finally won a game on Saturday. The Beavers' logjam of losses burst the dam wide open against Bard College of New York in a butt kicking fashion - 81 -52.

The win ended a losing streak of 207 NCAA Divsion III games. The Beavers will attempt to break another logjam this month - 245 consecutive conference losses, dating back nearly 22 years.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:00 AM | Permalink

Thirteen months ago, I first reported on a Sacramento filmmaker's quest for funding so he could buy some time to sell the rights to his film Her Minor Thing , which was filmed in Sacramento. And then a few months later, we reported that foreign rights had been sold and US rights were close. So, here's the end of the story from filmmaker Jim Meyers:

Hi All, Happy New Year! Hope you're doing great. Don't forget that "HMT" comes out on DVD nationwide on Jan 16. The film will be available in Canada sometime thereafter.

I'll get some more info from our distributor soon, but I believe the film will be available pretty much everywhere (Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon, Best Buy, and lots of other big retailers). I know you can actually pre-order it on a lot of the web sites already.

If you get a chance, check out the fun new stuff we added to our MySpace page:

"behind-the-scenes" video
music
discussion forum
various other info

You can see all this and more, even if you're not a MySpace member, at: http://www.myspace.com/herminorthing

JANUARY 16! SEE THE FILM! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

I have seen it, shown it to friends, and have always really enjoyed it. Icing on the cake are all the scenes shot in Sacramento.

Not a home run, (major worldwide distribution into movie theaters, Academy awards, etc. etc.), but much better than a vast majority of films that are conceived and that's because the material is great and Jim just wouldn't take no for an answer. Passion and belief in your product can make all the difference.

Congratulations, Jim and all of those involved. Can't wait for the next movie! And check out the review yesterday in the New York Times:

The ongoing war of the sexes soars to new and hilarious heights in this tale of a successful twenty-five-year old professional lusted after by every man in the city after her boyfriend reveals on live television that she is a virgin. Pursued by men who long to be her first and flooded with advice from women who implore her to punish her boyfriend for his public blunder, the one time die-hard romantic soon finds her belief in love quickly fading. Estella Warren, Rachel Dratch, Kathy Griffin, and Victoria Jackson star in a film directed by Charlie Matthau. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:17 PM | Permalink

Selected quotes from a press release issued by the California Building Industry. You can read the whole document here.

Housing Construction is Likely to Level off This Year; Builder Incentives Expected to Taper off, Making First Quarter a Great Time to Buy; California’s housing production in 2007 is expected to continue taking a breather as the market slowly returns to historically normal levels after the frenetic pace of the early part of the decade.

CBIA Chief Economist Alan Nevin forecasts that housing starts for single-family homes, condominiums, and apartments should total between 155,000 and 170,000 this year, about the same or slightly lower than in 2006. Nevin noted that 2007 will still be a solid year for production.

“Keep this year’s forecast in perspective — we are returning to a normal market,” Nevin said. “Producing 155,000 to 170,000 units will be more than any year from 1991 to 2001 and could exceed production levels from 1990 and 2002 as well.”

Nevin expects production will be especially low in the first quarter as builders finish selling excess inventory, and expects construction to pick up later in the year. Nevin emphasized that the demand for the homes on the market today is not the same as the state’s chronic need for new housing to accommodate its growing population.

“We need to be building about 240,000 new homes, condos and apartments a year to meet the need for housing. The problem is that we need new homes in all price ranges, and given the ever-rising fees and constraints on housing, it’s all but impossible to meet the need in the entry-level market,” he said.

Nevin said that many of the high-rise condo complexes announced in recent years for the state’s urban centers will be put on hold until lenders and developers regain confidence in the market. He also forecasts that housing prices will remain soft to stable in most markets.

“We are already seeing signs of price stabilization as builders in some markets have sold most of their standing inventory. We expect that trend to accelerate after the first quarter. Because there’s still excess inventory, there are still significant concessions, which we expect will drop considerably later in the year. In other words, now is a great time to buy,” Nevin said.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:31 PM | Permalink

National Book award winner and author Joan Didion is heading to Broadway with her play "The Year of Magical Thinking". Didion, a native of Sacramento, will open her new play starring Vanessa Redgrave on March 6. The play, directed by internationally acclaimed playwright and director Sir David Hare, is scheduled for a 24-week engagement at the Booth Theatre. Tickets go on sale today.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:17 AM | Permalink

Yesterday, Gillian and I stopped by the local Borders book and music store. I wanted to pick up my next read – "Wikinomics", by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams. Gillian headed for the music section while I wandered over to the business section. After a few minutes, I found the book and went to look for Gillian.

The back quarter of the store was reserved for CD’s and DVDs. Along the far wall was a bank of listening stations. That’s where I found Gillian. She was listening intently to a track of a new CD release.

She explained that she really liked the track and would download it at home, preferring not to buy the entire CD from Borders.

At this point, I looked around the cavernous empty music section. Not one person in the area on a Saturday afternoon. I remarked to Gillian, “Borders has an old business model – trying to sell physical CDs that no one wants.” Over in the coffee shop area, the store was a beehive of activity. Every table was full with customers sipping lattes.

I wondered out loud to Gillian why the store didn’t partner with Starbucks (the owner of Seattle's Best Coffee brand) and offer the listening service at the tables while relaxing with the latte. Imagine the ability to search and download music to your iPod while sipping on your favorite latte in the store!

What a business opportunity! “Why isn’t it being done?” I asked Gillian. Gillian reminded me that two years ago this very idea was floated by one of the Sacramento Entrepreneur Academy student teams.

Well it’s time for this service. I’m convinced someone is going to make a lot of money with this idea.

We proceeded to the checkout line and made the purchase of "Wikinomics". The clerk gave me the receipt and pointed out the 25% off coupon for my next purchase of a Borders’ CD.

I threw the coupon away. Who buys CDs from Borders with a 25% discount? I didn’t even buy CDs from my neighborhood Tower Records at their going out of business sale with discounts up to 70%.

The coupon sealed the deal for me. I want to start a new company and provide in-store music download kiosk solutions for coffee lovers. Customers aren’t buying CDs anymore. The question is – will Borders change their business model, or go the way of Tower Records?

We went home to download the 99-cent track. And Borders lost another sale.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bob Shallit of the Sacramento Bee reported that local startup Revionics had received $2M in funding. Having been involved with the company for a few years, I sent an email to new CEO Todd Michaud. He told me that they will be issuing a press release in the next couple of weeks, but "good things are happening here."

So, as soon as we have the details, we will be publishing them. Revionics is a startup founded by Jeff Smith, a co-founder of KhiMetrics, a local company that was moved to Phoenix, but was recently acquired with a big payday for all concerned. Revionics is in a similar space but targets smaller customers. Keep a close eye on Revionics because they are one of the most promising startups in Sacramento, along with a handful of others including Coversant.

More soon

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:56 AM | Permalink

My weekends are made for reading. We subscribe to a number of print media publications. During the week my reading material stacks up and by Saturday, the pile is frequently several inches tall.

Today was no different. I sat down after my Saturday ritual - my wife makes fun of it, but I like it.

Walk the dogs early; go to the grocery store to buy the morning's breakfast goodies; cook; eat and then nestle down for a few hours of reading. Predictably, no less than fifteen minutes into the reading, I will find several outrageous articles. As I uncover them, I will read them out loud to Gillian. And together we will ponder how our world can be so crazy, and why we accept it so. Today was no exception.

The Dallas Business Journal published the annual list of highest paid Dallas-based executives of publicly traded companies. I scanned the list to see who I knew. Page one. The top 25 list. All men. I paused and shared my findings with Gillian. I asked her where the first woman would show up in the list.

Surely, we would find a woman soon. Oh, by the way, tops on the list - Bob Simpson, CEO of XTO Energy with $32M in compensation for the year. Not too shabby!

Page two. The next 25. No women. Gillian, can you believe not a single woman in the top 50. I asked Gillian to review the list. Clearly I must have missed a female name. Gillian reviewed the list. Nope. No women.

Page three. Well, what do you know! We found one. Number 53, Susan Byrne, "Chairman" and CEO of Westwood Holdings, a management investment firm. Ms. Byrne's compensation for the last year - $1.7 million.

Sadly, in the top 100 paid executives list, just three women. The first 52 in the list - all men, earning an aggregate $206 million for the year. Not one dollar earned by a woman. It's still a good old boys' network in corporate America. Don't let anyone fool you!

It's still a man's world! Shareholders - we need to hold corporations accountable. Why so few women?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:05 AM | Permalink

If you are looking for ways to distinguish your company when it comes to hiring new employees, consider embracing this great new trend:

More U.S. Bosses Giving Workers Time Off To Volunteer Employees are looking for companies that value philanthropy.

By Virginie Montet, Agence France-Presse
Dec. 26, 2006 -- An increasing number of U.S. companies encourage employees to volunteer their time cleaning coastlines, handing out food for the poor and other charitable work as a means of boosting their image and doing their part for the community. "Everybody does it, every big law firm has one now, every manufacturer," said Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs and author of "Who Really Cares," a book about charity in America. "Philanthropy is really motivated by trying to build a reputation in the community," he added.

The trend has become so popular that major companies are setting up special departments to coordinate volunteer work and are hiring "volunteer coordinators" or "directors of community relations." Employees who choose to take part in such programs are given time off in exchange.

IBM for its part has set up an online portal for employees and company retirees informing them of volunteer programs, which in some instances are beneficial to the company's image. Employees, for example, can download ready-made presentations to make at schools on such subjects as information technology or security on the Internet. "We marry our commitment to volunteerism and community service with our on-demand business strategy," said Diane Melley, director of IBM corporate community relations.

Volunteer work "takes this incredible wealth of talent that IBM has as a company and unleashes the power of all of those people to try to make a difference in their community around the world," Melley added. "It also enables our people to get the IBM brand out there and to spread some of our technology which is also very beneficial to the business."

Brooks said the phenomenon has become such that many companies can no longer afford not to engage in altruistic activities. "It's something they have to offer to highly educated employees," Brooks said. "To remain competitive, they have to do it."

Tim Riley, head of personnel at Forrester Research, a marketing firm that offers employees a day off for volunteer work, said he has noticed over the years that more and more people interviewing for a job ask whether the company has a volunteer program. "I think it reflects a shift in people, younger people that want to work in a company whose values are similar to their own," he said. Tammy Morreali, director of national community relations with PricewaterhouseCoopers, agrees. "It's a big priority for college students these days," she said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:10 AM | Permalink

Local startup, Coversant just got a great review for its product SoapBox in InfoWorld.

Verdict: SoapBox Server 2007 manages secure XMPP enterprise instant messaging across domains and platforms. It's easy to install and maintain, provides excellent value, while performance and scalability should satisfy large deployments. Moreover, the open source software development kits help coders produce custom XMPP-based collaboration applications.

You can read the whole review

These guys are doing it the old-fashioned way, developing products and selling them to fuel the company. In that way, they become a much better investment for outside investors - better level of investor, better terms. You're doing great Coversant, keep it up.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:07 AM | Permalink

Another example of tapping all of the young talent out there, on a parallel with TopCoder, Chipotle Mexican Grill launched a national competition to create an ad for its chain. The competition entitled "30 Seconds of Fame" was launched in September and offered a $20,000 first prize (shared equally between the students and the University). A team from Southern Methodist University in Dallas worked one weekend and came up with 12 short 30 second ideas, which they whittled down to 3 spots. When all the judging was over, the SMU team won first place and their piece entitled The Wall has been running on the 30 x 40 foot Astrovision screen at New York's Times Square since December 11th. Several of the spots were posted on YouTube.com where they generated millions of viewings in a 3-week period.

You can see the SMU spot and the spot from the University of Nebraska Lincoln that received the most views on YouTube and several other entries. Personally I think the University of Nebraska ad is plain mean even though I have a pretty mean sense of humor. But the SMU ad is plain clever.

We love the idea of finding and utilizing the talents of young students. Keep it up corporate America.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today, Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the U.S. House — second in line to the U.S. presidency — and the most powerful woman in U.S. political history! And she isn't alone - 50 Democratic women in the U.S. House, 11 in the U.S. Senate, and 46 in important statewide positions across the country, including governor.

Has the time come for women to move into a more equal role in political leadership, not to mention industry and philanthropy? For those of us who have worked so hard to make this happen - marching countless times in Washington, DC and through financial and political support of women and women-friendly candidates - we certainly hope so. So many of us believe that women would bring a more measured form of leadership at a much needed time.

Congratulations Nancy...and don't let the big boys take you down. Take heed from the women of HP.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:11 AM | Permalink

It is with extreme sadness that we learned last night the passing of Sacramento native Harry Fonseca on December 28, 2006.

Harry, born in 1946 in Sacramento, was of Nisenan Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese heritage. He studied at Sacramento City College and later with Frank LaPena at Sacramento State University.

Gillian and I discovered the wonderful artwork of Harry Fonseca at the Smithsonian Institute this past Thanksgiving holiday (see our November 30th post).

Recently, we purchased a house in Dallas and have been looking for contemporary artwork to complement our living space. We booked an April visit of the Santa Fe, New Mexico art galleries. Knowing that Harry has a studio in Santa Fe, we decided to put his studio on the must see list.

Unwittingly, last night we checked out his website in preparation of our visit, and saw the announcement of his passing.

Harry Fonseca was a great inspirational artist. Sacramento and beyond will miss this extraordinary talent.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:53 PM | Permalink

Looking for a great night out to hear a musical prodigy. Attend Lang Lang's concert at the Mondavi Center on January 19th at 8PM.

Acclaimed in the major concert halls of North America, Europe, and Asia, Lang Lang—at the age of 22—has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to connect with audiences on a deeply personal level and has established himself as one of the most exciting pianists of our time. He is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic and all “Big Five” American orchestras. He will perform works from his new album Memory, which features works by Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:40 AM | Permalink

From Bob Shallit, the Sacramento Bee's business columnist, comes his 2007 predictions. Every year, Bob writes his list and at the end of that year he grades his performance. We thought it would be fun to monitor his predictions independently and give our own grade. Sort of like an independent audit, SOC compliant. Hey, next year, we might do our own list, but Bob's been at it a long time, so he's tough competition!

Bob Shallit: A fearless look ahead If Bob Shallit's right, Greyhound will finally leave downtown; CalPERS will get into high-rises and the Kings; and Tower's founder will rise to the occasion By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist Published 12:00 am PST Monday, January 1, 2007 Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D5

It will be a year of high-rise promises fulfilled, finally. Of new international air service, finally. And of one fascinating little retail resurrection.

Straight to it, here's our fearless forecast for the local business scene in 2007.

• Airport officials have been lobbying for years to get nonstop service to Canada. We've been predicting it would happen. This year they get their wish, we get our prediction.

• Speaking of past predictions gone bad, we've long said downtown's Greyhound bus station would move. It's gone nowhere. This is the year. (At least we're consistent.)

• Condos, condos. We see progress in those bold plans to put high-rise condos in the downtown core. The most ambitious of the plans -- John Saca's, at Third and Capitol Mall -- will get additional funds from CalPERS and start to rise from the ground.

• Speaking of high-rise condos, the county will find a new developer to step in with plans for a tower on land it owns at Eighth and I streets, following home builder D.R. Horton's decision to back off from its plans there.

• High-rises in the burbs? Believe it. A local company will come forward with a bold plan for a condo tower along the Highway 50 corridor.

• It won't have a Parthenon-top, but an office building will rise this year at 500 Capitol Mall. Another office project is under way across the street. The market may be slow for a while. But George Tsakopoulos and his son, Angelo G. Tsakopoulos, are long-term players.

• Meanwhile, George's brother, Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, will pull the trigger on Phase II of Meridian Plaza. Construction of the 23-story office building at 15th and K streets will begin in the second half of the year.

• As for that retail resurrection, Tower Records founder Russ Solomon will open a new Sacramento store, with a winning combination of books, CDs and coffee. Resurrection Records will be a hit.

• Tough times continue for the newspaper business. Wild guess here but we're thinking the year will pass without any blockbuster acquisitions by The McClatchy Co.

• Sacramento officials will balk at backing Westfield Corp.'s plans for revitalizing Downtown Plaza. Council members will look at the plans, see a new Target store and maybe a grocery as the only significant changes and ask: Why do Westfield properties elsewhere get all the love?

• Speaking of downtown, look for a year of big changes on K street. Developer Joe Zeiden will completely make over the 700 block. Meanwhile, the Sacramento City Council will back plans for a crowd-drawing, CBS-owned TV studio on the east end of the mall.

• This will be the year for Old Sacramento to come alive, with construction finally beginning on the Orleans Hotel, Ebner Hotel and Magnolia Saloon projects.

• Local venture capital fund American River Ventures has a huge year. It will sell two of the companies in its portfolio -- its first "liquidity events" -- and will raise close to $200 million for its new fund.

• Fundraising also will be the theme at UC Davis. Look for the launch of a new capital campaign that will bring more luster to the campus.

• On the new-company front, look for a break-out year for Revionics Inc., a Sacramento-based maker of software that helps midsized retailers optimize prices. It completed a nearly $2 million financing round last week. It will triple its roster of customers, to more than 100, over the next 12 months.

• This should be a great year, too, for a couple of local publicly traded companies. BluePoint Energy in El Dorado Hills, which makes cogeneration units, will score a bunch of new sales (and see its stock price rise). Ditto for medical equipment maker Volcano Corp. in Rancho Cordova.

• Look for a sale, in the next month or two, of the sprawling Crystal Cream & Butter Co. site in downtown. The buyer will lease back a portion of the property to Crystal for a year but could start developing a mixed-use project on the rest of the land.

• Two huge state leasing deals will shake up the commercial real estate market. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will take more than 200,000 square feet of space along the Highway 50 corridor, and the California Highway Patrol will sign a similarly sized lease in West Sac.

• How about those Kings? Despite an awful 2006-2007 season, with no playoff appearances, a deal is struck for a new, privately funded arena that will keep the team right here. Anybody like the name "CalPERS arena?"

We like the exits for ARV, but a prediction on return would be great - Pierre had asked for a 20 bagger in his Christmas list. And a CalPERS arena, that's almost too crazy to not be true.

Happy 2007 everyone

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:20 PM | Permalink

Executives and entrepreneurs - take notice of what happened last night in Glendale, Arizona at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The powerhouse football team, the Oklahoma Sooners, fell as the overwhelming heavy favorite to the Boise State Broncos. How did this happen? Through pure passion, energy, positive attitude and teamwork.

The Broncos jumped out to a 28 - 10 lead. But the tide turned and with just 1:26 to go in the fourth quarter, the Sooners, down by eight, quickly marched down the field and scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie the score at 28.

After the ensuing kickoff, Boise State's quarterback, Jared Zabransky, made an apparent game-ending blunder by throwing an interception to Sooners' Marcus Walker who scampered untouched for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Just like that in a span of thirty seconds, undefeated Boise State went from leading by a touchdown to trailing by a touchdown. I was really down at this point. The clock had literally struck midnight (in Dallas) and the Cinderalla team's run was about to end. I was disheartened.

And then with seven seconds left, facing 4th down and 18 yards to go for a first down, with the ball at midfield, the unbelievable happened. On a razzle/dazzle play, ESPN called it a hook-and-ladder, Zabransky completed a pass to Drisan James at the 35, who then pitched the ball to Jerard Rabb who sprinted into the endzone. Amazingly, on the last possible play for Boise, against all odds, Zabransky and the Broncos tied the score.

Into overtime the game went tied at 35 - 35.

The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to start on defense. The Sooners scored a touchdown on the first play.

Again, against all odds, down to the last play, the Broncos faced a fourth down and five yards to go for the touchdown. With the quarterback Zabransky lined up wide to the left, the Sooners looked confused. I must admit, so was I. The center hiked to the running back Vinny Perretta, and on a bootleg to the right, Perretta threw a touchdown to Derek Schouman.

Trailing 42 - 41, Bronco's coach Chris Petersen decided to go for two in an attempt to win it all.

Zabransky lined up over the center, with three receivers set wide to the right. Zabransky faked a throw to the right. The Sooners bought the fake. Placing the ball on his left hip, Zabransky executed a perfect Statue of Liberty, handing off to Ian Johnson who went left into the endzone.

Boise State won 43 - 42 in the most exciting college football game I ever saw.

Zabransky's passion, energy, and don't quit attitude carried the team to victory.

The Boise State Broncos are THE national champions. A perfect season. 13 - 0.

A perfect ending. And a perfect lesson for executives and entrepreneurs.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:34 PM | Permalink

The Tao of Warren Buffett, co-authored by Mary Buffett and David Clark, provides words of wisdom in creating wealth with 125 quotations and interpretations. Quote 28 offers the following advice on managing your career:

"Managing your career is like investing - the degree of difficulty does not count. So you can save yourself money and pain by getting on the right train."

One not only needs to learn what kind of business to invest in but what kind to work in. If one goes to work for a company with poor long-term economics, then he can never expect to do really well because the company doesn't do well. Salaries will be below average and raises will be few and long between, and there is greater risk of losing your job because management will always be under pressure to cut costs.

But if you go to work for a company that has great long-term economics working in its favor, then the company will be awash in cash. This means higher salaries and tons of raises and promotions for a job well done. Plus there will be plenty of room for advancement as management looks for ways to spend all that free cash.

You want to work for a company that has high margins and makes lots of money. And you want to stay away from businesses that have low margins and lose money. One is a first-class train ride to Easy Street; the other is a long, slow, hard freight-train ride to Siberian nowhere.

This sage advice should be executed by all who want to excel in their professional career pursuits.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:48 AM | Permalink

Happy New Year to all of our readers, supporters, sponsors. We hope you garnered a nugget or two from last year's posts and get-togethers. And we hope to be of even more help and interest to you in 2007.

I was thinking recently of all the networking groups in town and I believe we are the only one that doesn't require you to be a member or pay a membership fee to attend our events - we just charge the fair cost of the event. And lots of people report finding the job of their dreams or the consultant that saved the company or other remarkable happenings at our events. That makes Pierre and I very happy as we started the Sacramento Executive to 'link executives to all that is great in Sacramento." And it seems like it is doing exactly what we planned...maybe even a little better than we planned, which doesn't happen so often anymore.

So, stick with us in 2007 and we will do our best to educate, illuminate, amuse, tempt, introduce, recommend, and challenge - and not precisely in that order.

Happy 2007 Sacramento Executives.

Here's a hokie card that sort of says it all!

"Top 10 Reasons
To Have a Happy New Year"
© HiCards All rights reserved.


Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:08 PM | Permalink