Money Talking

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Uber Worth More Than $40 Billion. Come Again? Jan 16, 2015

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These have been good times for technology companies like Uber, AirBnb, Lyft and Instacart: they've found plenty of willing investors anxious to fill their coffers with capital. And each funding round has raised their valuations to the point where some wonder where we're headed. This week on Money Talking, why today's companies aren't like their dot com predecessors.

Bitcoin’s Young and Wild Days May Be Coming to An End Jan 09, 2015

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New York State plans to issue new rules in the first quarter of 2015 for the buying and selling of bitcoins, the digital currency made up of bits and bytes, instead of dollars and cents. Bitcoin entrepreneurs have been operating with little to no regulation since the currency first proliferated online in 2009. Money has been made (and lost), but for many, bitcoin and digital currency is confusing, and has a reputation for disappearing money or illicit activity.

Pioneers of the digital age have been predicting a turn toward digital currencies for at least two decades. Say goodbye to change rattling in pockets and thick billfolds. In fact, maybe no more wallets at all. If you're scratching your head wondering what this is all about, it's because there is still a long list of unanswered questions about how bitcoin will work when the real world collides with the digital one.

That's where Ben Lawsky comes in. He's the Superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, the agency that regulates banks and other organizations involved in money transfers. After his office proposed draft rules for virtual currencies and received over 3,000 public comments, Lawsky thinks he's found a balance that puts in place consumer protections without stifling innovation.

This week, Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, sits down with Lawsky to discuss his optimism about the future of e-currencies like bitcoin, including money transfers with low fees and and encryption systems that prevent sharing personal information during transactions. But he also has concerns about a currency that's traded outside the purview of governing authorities, a valid fear given that many of bitcoin's early users were illegal actors.

And then later, as the new year gets underway, some advice on how to be less distracted in 2015 by Ned Hallowell, author of the new book from the Harvard Business Review , Driven to Distraction at Work.

How to Be Less Distracted in 2015 Jan 08, 2015

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The New Year always ushers in another opportunity to take a stab at a few things that seem to be dragging us down. But which things should we focus on? Maybe the answer is in the question. The modern world has given us infinite choices: Everything is on demand all the time; everyone can reach us in fractions of seconds. Our technology buzzes, rings, pings, vibrates and blinks all day, every day. And that doesn't say anything about the human disruptions: The co-workers who barge in on us; the family members who drop by unannounced. We live in a world riddled with distractions and many of us lack the tools to deal with it.

And screens. Everywhere, the screens. Even in those moments when we're waiting for something or somebody, we don't take a minute for a deep thought; we practically seek out distraction.

"We’re conditioned to bring out our iPhone, open up a laptop, look up at the television screen," said Ned Hallowell, a psychologist and author of the new book from from the Harvard Business Review Press, Driven to Distraction at Work. "I’m not saying let’s go back to a world without screens. I’m just saying what we have to do is put ourselves in charge of them and not let them be in charge of us."

Hallowel says we need to recognize that we have more control over our lives that we tend to think.

"We haven't learned how to recreate boundaries," he said. "You do have demands from other forces. But no one forces you to check your email at 3:00 a.m."

Don't pick up the phone every time it rings. Try not to get anxious from those blinking message lights. And realized, the brain is incapable of what we typically think of as multitasking. According to Hallowell, once you take back control, the rest can be handled by taking care of your brain:

Sleep. "People say 'I'm too busy. I've got to stay up late.' Most of the time they're staying up late screen-sucking." Eat. "Eating right doesn't take time. It just takes selection." Exercise. "People say, 'I don't have time to exercise.' My answer is 'you don't have time not to.'" Meditation. "It only takes a few minutes, a couple of times a day. It's a way of cleaning up your brain.

At the office, he suggests a quick burst of exercise will do the trick. Take a walk. Do some pushups even. And find some people along the way. Positive human contact is the universal antidote for clearing the mind, resetting your focus and slowing the world down for just a little while.

It may sound like easy advice, but committing to it could make a difference.

Back to the Future – Cold War Style Dec 19, 2014

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The Russian economy is reeling from the effects of plummeting oil prices and U.S. led sanctions tied to its aggression in Ukraine. The value of the ruble is plunging despite efforts by the Russian central bank to stabilize the currency.

The U.S. publicly accused North Korea of being behind the cyber attack of Sony Pictures that resulted in hundreds of embarrassing leaked emails and the cancellation of the release of The Interview. Turns out, North Korea was not amused by a plot line that contemplates the assassination of its leader, Kim Jong-un.

And finally, Cuba! In a historic move, President Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic ties after a 50-year embargo. It took Washington and the rest of the country by surprise.

Russia, North Korea and Cuba – three Cold War-era adversaries dominating the news cycle exactly 25 years after the Berlin Wall fell.

This week, Joe Nocera of The New York Times and Rana Froohar of Time magazine join Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, to discuss what's at stake for the U.S.

Telling Co-Workers: "Get Off My Back" Dec 18, 2014

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It's never been easier to be productive. Giant leaps in technology have given us tools and gadgets that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. They keep us on time and on point with laser-like focus on our objectives. Our lives run with enough precision to impress a Swiss watchmaker.

But you're shaking your head. That's not you? Okay, it's not me either.

That rosy scenario is one of the real ironies of the age we live in. It's true that we have the tools to run things efficiently, but so often if feels like they've overwhelmed us. Technology puts us just one blinking, unread message away from everybody who wants us for something whenever they want it.

And that last part is critical. Too often, our productivity is sabotaged by the needs of others – especially at the office.

"The reason that that memo doesn't get finished or you don't work on the long-term, important project," said Dorie Clark, "is that you're so constantly responding to stimuli that you can't think for the hour or two that you need to get it done." Clark is a business professor at Duke University and author of the Harvard Business Review article, "Stop People from Wasting Your Time."

"We have to try to impose a structure so that they're more respectful of our time," she said, referring to our colleagues. And there are few things we can do to take back control of our day and our productivity.

First, insist on an agenda for all meetings. Too often people schedule meetings without a clear sense of what they want to accomplish. The sessions drift from the original purpose and eat away at our time.

Second, limit the number of times you check email throughout the day. There is nothing as oppressive as an overactive inbox. Clark suggests only checking email in a few discrete blocks of time and dealing with everything at once.

And finally, remember your own power at work.

"We don't really recognize that we have agency," said Clark. The habits of our colleagues don't have to be our habits. Take control of your time and manage it to maximize productivity.

"The most important thing to remember is that it's about prioritization," said Clark. There are times when something truly critical warrants an interruption. "So the reason we limit the trivial stuff is to make room for what's really important and most meaningful in our lives."

Listen to the complete interview with Clark above or subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the button on the right.

A Good Week for Insider Trading Dec 12, 2014

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Prosecuting insider trading cases just got a lot harder after an appeals court this week overturned the convictions of two former hedge fund traders.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the circuit judge provided “erroneous” jury instructions and that prosecutors provided insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict in the trial of Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson. Both were convicted in 2012.

It’s a blow for U.S. Attorney Preet Bahrara who had racked up 89 insider trading convictions. The ruling could call into doubt previous verdicts as well as future prosecutions of insider trading.

“Today’s decision by the Court of Appeals interprets the securities laws in a way that will limit the ability to prosecute people who trade on leaked inside information,” said Bahrara in a statement.

This week on Money Talking, what the decision means for the future of prosecuting behavior on Wall Street.

And then the car hailing service Uber: Sued in California; sued in Portland; banned in parts of India; ordered to cease operations in Spain and Thailand. But users (and investors) still love it. Can regulators and elected officials put the brakes on Uber?

Looking ahead, the dramatic fall in oil prices and the "hack from hell."

Clicking Your Way Through the Grocery Aisle Dec 05, 2014

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Lugging groceries around this pedestrian city is a feature of New York living. When Fresh Direct and others began offering home delivery, residents embraced them with enthusiasm, even when frustrated by the extra cost and narrower selection.

But now, some new players want to get in on the action.

Amazon doesn't just want to sell New Yorkers all the gifts on their holiday lists. It also wants to sell the milk and cookies for Santa. Long the purveyor of practically everything, Amazon wants to widen its offerings to include fresh produce – milk, cheese and eggs – delivered right to your door. Or, for residents of Brooklyn (where the company is currently delivering) kale, quinoa and gluten-free bread.

But other companies are also gearing up to compete with Fresh Direct. Fairway has partnered with Instacart to offer grocery delivery. Boxed.com sells and delivers bulk dry goods. And Google, where consumers search for nutrition facts and recipes, is joining the fray with its new Google Express same day service.

Reporter Sally Herships experimented with a few of these services for WNYC's Money Talking. Amazon delivered her items as promised with only a few raspberries squished. When she tried to order from Google, it was a complete fail as the world's biggest search engine currently doesn't offer delivery to her Brooklyn neighborhood.

While this holiday season may be a food fight for online retailers in New York, hopefully for the rest of us, it will promise a few days away from the office.

Continuing a series with the Harvard Business Review looking at how to survive the workplace, Charlie Herman, host of Money Talking, talks with Peter Bregman, author of the Harvard Business Review article, "What to Do on Your First Day Back from Vacation." Bregman says, don't get distracted by the small, anxiety-inducing tasks like dealing with email buildup.

"Before you do anything, you should pause for a moment and think about what is it that is most important for the organization to accomplish," said Bregman. "You want to reconnect with the vision of the organization. You want to reconnect with the strategy."

Returning from vacation can be overwhelming and Bregman has worked out a radical strategy for maintaining those good vacation feelings.

"Take lunch or pause for an hour – a whole hour – and maybe have lunch with someone you like and have a conversation with them," he said. "That's one way of bringing that vacation feeling back. It slows you down enough to remind you that you're a human being."

Keeping Those Good Vacation Vibes, the Answer Isn't in Your Inbox Dec 04, 2014

Show notes

There are few moments as euphoric as those right after the last conference call, the final meeting or that instant when you flip the switch on your email to automatically tell the world that from this point forward, you are on vacation. You're gone. Off to the beach, the slopes, the national parks or a foreign cities. At the very least, it's a few extra days with family and friends while the rest of the world is stuck in the grind. Whether it's a week or a just a few days, the point is to breathe slower, sleep later and leave the stress of the office behind.

But then it ends. It always ends. And the path back can be ugly.

All those good vacation vibes are wiped out in the few short seconds it takes to scroll past the first hundred emails; our anxiety rises as we page down and start imagining the monumental effort ahead.

But maybe we can take more control over the transition back to work.

Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, a leadership consulting firm and author of the Harvard Business Review article, "What to Do on Your First Day Back from Vacation."

"Before you do anything, you should pause for a moment and think about what is it that is most important for the organization to accomplish," Bregman tells Charlie Herman, host of WNYC's Money Talking. "You want to reconnect with the vision of the organization. You want to reconnect with the strategy."

In other words, don't get lost in the small, transactional aspects of the job, like your inbox. It's only going to recreate the anxiety you went on vacation to escape. You'll get to those eventually.

Bregman says that for him, a successful transition back to work starts with "knowing what will move the business forward and me forward and then filtering everything that I do through that lens."

Best Business Books for 2014 Nov 28, 2014

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It's said that to get a sense of someone's priorities, take a look at their reading list.

And if business books are what you prefer to read, then, at least according to Amazon, this year’s list of the best business titles should offer insight.

"There's a definite Silicon Valley angle that comes out," said Chris Schluep, the business and investing editor at Amazon.com, tells Charlie Herman, host of WNYC’s Money Talking.

Schluep is one of six editors at Amazon responsible for picking the 100 best books across all categories. Their “best of the year" lists are editorially curated without concern for how well the books sold, how much traffic they generated or how customers rated them.

On Schluep’s list, it's easy to spot the innovation thread: there’s The Innovators by Walter Isaacson, Flash Boys by Michael Lewis and Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

The context might be technology, finance or entrepreneurship, but all these books are about thinking differently, thinking creatively, breaking the mold of established wisdom.

"Two years ago, I thought every book was about the brain," said Schluep. "And now it's more about the mind and how people think."

But novel ideas don't substitute for good storytelling. Flash Boys is his number one business book of the year because Lewis spins a fascinating tale with strong characters who work the obscure field of high-frequency trading. People like advice, but they love stories.

Another book on Schluep’s list (and several other compilations as well) is Capital, the door-stopping economics tome from Thomas Piketty. The densely packed book got a lot of attention for the author's views on income inequality and his bold call for government intervention. But Schluep said, "the first two-thirds are set for non-business minds.” Writing a business book for a wider audience is a big factor in the selection process at Amazon.

At the other end of the spectrum is #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the Nasty Gal fashion retailer.

"It's a rags to riches story," said Schluep. "She's trying to speak to people – especially women – to act and follow their gut, but also to get very serious. And if you don't get serious, you're really not going anywhere."

Then, Money Talking talks to one of the authors on the list: Peter Thiel, best known as a founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook.

In 2012, he gave a series of lectures at Stanford, which he later refined and published in Zero to One. Still a prominent venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, Thiel's thoughts on innovation, disruption and capitalism veer away from the establishment in a big way.

"Peter Thiel's book was all about how competition is for losers," said Schluep.

The innovative spirit of many of this year's great business books is captured in the full title of Thiel's book: Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future.

Congress' Unfinished Business: Terrorism Insurance Nov 21, 2014

Show notes

Republicans will control both houses of Congress starting this January. But before that happens, the current Congress has some unfinished business.

One of those issues is deciding whether or not to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA. Passed shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, it provided a federal guarantee to cover losses sustained from a terrorist attack once they exceed certain thresholds.

The original intent of the program was to give insurance companies time to develop pricing models that accurately assess the risk of a terrorist attack. Over time, the program would wind down as the burden shifted back to insurers.

But TRIA was extended twice – in 2005 and 2007 – and is now set to expire again on December 31.

The Senate passed a reauthorization bill 96-3 last summer to keep the program largely intact. But House Financial Services Chairman, Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican supports a different version that raises the cost threshold before the government intervenes.

This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with WNYC's Ilya Marritz who's been covering the fight in Congress about why the stakes are so high for the real estate industry in New York.

After that, a conversation about annual employee reviews. Nikki Waller from The Wall Street Journal discusses new approaches companies are taking to evaluate employee performance.

And Sheila Heen, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review and co-author of Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well, examines how employees can – and should – take more control over the feedback process.

"One way to get coaching is to ask a very specific question,” said Heen. “'What’s one thing I’m doing or failing to do that you think is getting in my way or that you think would improve things?'"

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