US economic problems hit my US partner

julianj

I'm feeling a bit despondent today.

For about 18 months I have been working on a new digital product aimed at the USA. For business reasons I won't say what it is.

After some searching for the right US partner to do the sales and marketing of it (it's somewhat innovative) I found a dynamic individual who I got on well with in NYC. He'd sold his successful business to a bigger company and was looking for a new challenge.

We bounced ideas off each other. His input improved the product.

For fairly obvious reasons, I didn't tell him about Peak Oil. You can imagine the conversations: "I hope we can hurry up with this project, before the US Economy collapses. By the way, don't get too fond of your dogs, you might have to eat them someday soon."

I did try to encourage him to diversify some of his money into other currencies earlier this year, and cut down his energy consumption.

Ominously I haven't been able to contact him for a few weeks; yesterday I received an email basically saying he can't continue with the project.

He is "heavily leveraged" in the property market and has, I think, reading between the lines, find a job quickly because he can't sell his properties (he had four, which I doubt he has been able to move).

I am upset, but I am also feeling a little guilty. Although I didn't know the US property market was going to plummet, I was more aware of it than him. Of course it would have been foolish of me to suggest to an acquaintance what he should do with his property, the financial turbulence might hit him really hard.

So the economic woes are not just in suburbia, but hitting what I would describe as a savvy, technocratic, middle-class media businessman.

There you are - my bad news for the day. A trouble shared is a trouble halved and all that.

MadMarcus · Tar Sands Joined: Feb 17, 2006 Posts: 59

julianj

Perhaps, but he lives in NYC - which wasn't suburbia when I last looked Smile

mmasters

Sorry to hear about that.
_________________
Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destory health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality.

syrac818 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 01, 2005 Posts: 113

abelardlindsay

Yeah sounds like some people I know. Guy I know owns two houses. Made the mistake of buying one before selling the other. I told him about a particular product I highly recommended that cost $50. He told me he would have to buy it the next bonus he gets! I had been ranting and raving to him to sell his house for the last 2 years. Guess he just got numb to it.

julianj

no, Syrac, I think he bought in to the consensus trance, like what 200 million plus Americans.

And a heck of a lot of Brits too.