Tuesday, February 19, 2008

M&A Law Humor (yes, really)

I didn't think there would be such thing as this, but that was before a friend sent me this link: http://poison-pill.blogspot.com/. This is a humor blog about Marty Lipton, inventor of the famous "poison pill." All you corporate M&A fanboys and girls out there, knock yourselves out.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Forget Microhoo merger: sneaky squirrels!

At the risk of turning this blog into a Boing Boing imitator, this piece of science news just can't be ignored. Turns out that squirrels are even smarter than anyone believed. They stage fake burials of nuts in order to fool thieves. This incredible piece of news was picked up by one of my favorite blogs, 60 Second Science. Those rascally critters!

According to a study conducted by Dr. Michael Steele of Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, a fifth of all nut burials by gray squirrels were fakes. And if their store of nuts and acorns is under threat, they'll do even more faux burying to put their adversaries off the scent. But anyone who's ever tried to put up a bird feeder will find this evidence of squirrel intelligence unsurprising.

Microhoo merger: what's it all about Stevie?

Microsoft's $44B bid for Yahoo is a recipe intended to put a dent in Google's armor, right? That's what all the headlines are about. But what doesn't sell papers is this: there's enough business out there to build ten Google-sized companies over the next decade or so. The potential in pay per click advertising is that huge. So, why do we need a merger between these two behemoths? Because Microsoft doesn't have Yahoo's search and ad capabilities. As my wise business professor Bruce Greenwald once explained it to me, the smartest companies are the ones that take their attention away from hammering away at their competitors in head-to-head combat, and instead figure out how to grow and keep their customer base. And this is exactly what Microsoft and Yahoo are doing. By joining forces, they can carve out a large and profitable swath for themselves in the space that has made Google wealthy: online advertising.