a (re)introduction

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An Introduction

I started bootstrap | economist because I had a lot of ideas and I wanted to set them free on the web. I have been sharing parts of my life online for years, but this was my first time not hiding behind corporate firewalls and forum moderators. I had been keeping an offline journal for several months prior to starting bootstrap | economist, and realized that if I published my thoughts I would have an opportunity to help others and not just myself.

On the bus yesterday morning, I caught Michael Arrington’s notice that he was ranting on new media publishing politics.

And writing good content is only half the battle. You have to figure out the complex, dynamic web of politics between bloggers and mainstream media before you post to know where to get support. And you’ll need support in the form of links from other prominent bloggers. An early push can take a post and make it a headline on TechMeme, which leads to page views and notice by sponsors. But since blogging is almost by definition a conversation between bloggers, fights tend to break out over emotional issues. Cliques develop. Can you count on them to support you down the road?
- Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

I learned this lesson early on when Michael’s incredibly popular weblog, TechCrunch errantly credited me as the designer of FlashElementTD, an addictive web game I used to pass the slow days at work. When the story was published, I saw an immediate spike in traffic to my blog; which at the time was located at davidlitsky.com, and how quickly their posts were syndicated throughout the web. I subscribe to the Charles Foster Kane philosophy of “trying everything to see what works” and took an inch of a gesture and made myself an unwelcome guest by using their comment system as a soapbox for my perceived-to-be brash opinions. One of many mistakes that I chalk up to my entrepreneurial spirit.

But as I face new challenges in my career as a blogger with a full time job, I have recognized that I face different challenges than many of the other bloggers in this expansive social network. I am a financial risk manager for an east coast bank which provides me with an opportunity to meet numerous entrepreneurs across a wide range of industries, but because of regulation to protect our customers’ privacy, I choose not to speak about my experiences.

A few weeks ago, I re-read a May 2006 interview between then Risk Management Association (RMA) President and CEO Maury Hartigan, and RMA Board Member Bharat Masrani. At the time, Mr. Masrani was vice chair and chief risk officer of TD Bank Financial Group. In the interview, Mr. Masrani speaks about the risk of negative publicity which has the potential to cause a decline in the firm’s value, liquidity and customers. This risk; also known as reputational risk, is derived by all other risks that a firm identifies and manages including, but not limited to credit risk, market risk, operational risk, and regulatory & legal risk. When asked if there are any observable metrics or criteria in the area of reputational risk, Mr. Masrani responded:

My first answer is a simple one, and it’s a good test. Let’s say the bank undertakes a particular activity, in lending or management or in selling or manufacturing or trading a product. If that activity appeared on the front page of a business journal, would the bank be able to stand up and say, “You know what? I’m comfortable with that.” That’s what I would call the newspaper headline type of test. Am I going to be proud when this is announced? Am I going to be comfortable if this appears in print?

This particular quote reminded me of my eighteen (18) months as a risk manager for the Delta Rho chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. A rewarding but thankless job, it was up to the risk management committee to identify and mitigate the high-risk behaviors of college-aged men that “just want to have a good time”. As an undergraduate student, most of us are self-absorbed and may not fully understand the consequences of our actions, and how they may negatively affect our organization.

But I digress. When I started blogging, I was appalled by what people were saying about members of their community. Although at the time it acceptable for me to use my words as inauspicious instruments, I chose to bite my tongue if I had nothing nice to say. This came off as creepy, weird, and fake to my friends that had brought me into the blogging community, but I felt that my reputation was more important to me than a few cheap links that would do very little to sustain the growth of my blog. I went against the grain, but as noted biographer and historian David McCullough says,

We need leaders, and not just political leaders. We need leaders in every field, in every institution, in all kinds of situations. We need to be educating our young people to be leaders. And unfortunately, that’s fallen out of fashion.

Posted on March 20th, 2008 | By: bootstrap economist | Filed under Banking, Personal Finance, Web Technologies

One Response to “a (re)introduction”

1. bootstrap | economist » Blog Archive » My bootstrap business experiment Says:
   May 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm

   [...] One week ago I had lunch with my marketing and technology infrastructure advisor, and he asked me to describe the name “bootstrap | economist” in my own words. While in my mind I knew exactly why I chose the name bootstrap | economist, I found it challenging to accurately portray my thoughts in words and syllables. I rediscovered a post I made in March discussing my reasons for starting bootstrap | economist, but found that it lacked explanation of how I chose the name: I started bootstrap | economist because I had a lot of ideas and I wanted to set them free on the web. I have been sharing parts of my life online for years, but this was my first time not hiding behind corporate firewalls and forum moderators. I had been keeping an offline journal for several months prior to starting bootstrap | economist, and realized that if I published my thoughts I would have an opportunity to help others and not just myself. a (re)introduction [...]

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