One year ago today, I was working as a Direct Marketing Manager at AIG in the Domestic Brokerage Group, while managing my domain investment business in the evening. I had a great job where I learned quite a bit about direct marketing, but my heart wasn’t into what I was doing. I wanted to pursue my domain investment business full time, and I wasn’t my happy self.
A little over a month later, on October 17, 2007, I tendered my resignation. On that day in October, AIG stock closed at $65.80/share on the New York Stock Exchange – which was up from the $49/share range it had been a few months before, during the tumultous times when AIG was being investigated by New York AG Eliot Spitzer. People believed that the company was strong and getting stronger. The investigation had made AIG more of a transparent company, which was good for everyone – so they thought and said.
Thankfully, I made what turned out to be a smart decision when I resigned. With the current fate of AIG still unknown (and some even suggesting they may face failure tomorrow), I am very thankful to have had the great opportunity to work for AIG for 2 and a half years, but I am even more thankful to have left. I am still feeling the pain of the plummeting stock price as I hold some shares, but I am not worried about losing my job. I feel badly for my colleagues at AIG, some who spent tens of years at the company.
I think Americans and corporate America became greedy these last few years. With banks and financial instutions giving loans and credit lines to anyone with a pulse, many Americans took advantage of this and now can hardly afford the overpriced homes where they live. “Bigger is better” is certainly the motto of many who bought the biggest homes and cars they couldn’t afford. “Real estate never loses value” is another mantra that people had in their heads when signing huge mortgage papers that ballooned in a couple years and required little money down. Financial instutions aren’t being reimbursed for these ugly mortgages, loans and lines of credit, and they too are now suffering.
Even those smart enough to not mortgage themselves to the hilt or put themselves in debt are facing problems or will face problems. The Federal Reserve will probably deflate the value of the dollar by helping to bail these companies out, or the federal government will raise taxes, impacting those who are doing well financially because they were smart.
All in all, this is a pretty bad day for everyone, but I am just glad I made the decision I did almost a year ago.
Bolt Bus is Awesome!
If you are exploring ways to get to New York City for TRAFFIC in September and you live in the northeast, I would recommend taking Bolt Bus, which is owned and operated by Greyhound. I just returned from a trip to Lowell, Massachusetts via Boston and took Bolt Bus to get their. Not only is the price just about the same as a trip on a Chinatown bus line, but they offer free WiFi to stay connected while on the road. Yes, I have a Blackberry to check email, but I was able to do other things wirelessly while on my way up north.
Bolt Bus has stops in Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC and New York City. Although they don’t operate out of New York’s Port Authority yet, it is still easy to find the bus. Once in New York, you can quickly grab a cab or jump on the train to get to the hotel in Brooklyn. If you want/need to stay connected while traveling to/from New York, I highly recommend taking Bolt Bus.
Red Bull in France
A few years ago, I met a cruise art auctioneer who was a few years older than I, but we got along well discussing art and investing while on a cruise. My dad and I became friendly with the guy and connected a few times after over email.
Long story short, while on the cruise, he told us that he and the company he founded owned the distribution rights to Red Bull in France, even though it was illegal to sell there, simply because cruise ships that had ports in France were allowed to load up on Red Bull at the port. At the time, I thought this was genius since competition for selling Red Bull in France was probably light, and he was still able to do well because of the ships that were able to add Red Bull to their stock.
Incidentally, I just read in the NY Post this morning that the EU turned over a law prohibiting Red Bull from being offered in France. This guy must be really happy today!
Public Service Announcement
Most people I’ve met through my blog balance their domain investments with a full time job. I was in the same position when I worked at AIG for two and a half years. I would work from 9-6, come home for dinner, and get to work on the computer managing my domain business. While this may be the way to be most productive with essentially two jobs, it isn’t the best thing for your health.
A little over a year and a half ago, I was told my cholesterol was pretty high and I needed to lower it or else I would probably have to take statins in a few years. Not wanting to do that, I began to run a bit with the encouragement of my fiancee (who is a runner). I wasn’t really overweight, but losing a few pounds wasn’t going to hurt. A few weeks after this, my father had a heart attack (from which he has now thankfully recovered almost fully). This really got my ass in gear, and I began to run more consistently – even running in a few 5k and 4 mile races.
In the last year and a half, I lost about 15lbs, lowered my bad cholesterol, and raised my good cholesterol, without really altering my diet too much (although I do watch what I eat a bit more). I try to workout about 4 times per week using the elliptical machine, treadmill or running in Central Park. I was lucky because I heeded the warning signs and was hopefully able to change my habits before it became too late.
I urge those of you who are essentially working two jobs to take some time to exercise and take care of yourself. I live in Manhattan, so I walk practically everywhere, but if I was still living in New Hampshire, I probably wouldn’t. I get some great domain ideas when I am working out, and I think it’s important to be physically in shape as well as mentally.
Cool SEO on Dating Website, but is it Invasive?
I did a Google search using a friend’s name today, and I saw a great search engine optimization concept. In the meta description on one of the first results for this person’s name, I saw a JLove.com link, with a meta description of “Meeting Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxx and an assortment of other fantastic Jewish singles is easy, it takes but a moment to upload your very own profile to get involved in Jewish dating!”
I think this is a cool approach to SEO in case a person is looking up someone they just met and perhaps want to get to know a little better. However, if I was performing a Google search of a potential job candidate, this could be perceived as being invasive. While many people aren’t shy about admitting they are involved in Internet dating (I have 2 married friends who met on Jdate), it seems inappropriate to use people’s names as search bait.
While I’ve noticed social networking companies like Friendster and MySpace using this cool technique, I question whether this invades users’ privacy, especially if they don’t even know the site is doing this.
Domain Investor Creates Valuable iPhone Application
Congratulations to fellow domain investor and fellow New Yorker Arlo Gilbert whose company iCall made news with their software, which allows users to reroute ongoing calls on their iPhone to their free VoIP service. This service has the potential to save users a ton of calling minutes. While the application is still being beta tested, it should be made available in the iPhone Apps store.
BTW, If you are looking for a job, iCall is hiring!