I was thinking about this the other day. Follow my course of thought. It leads to an interesting conclusion.

Life plays tricks on you and there’s no better tricks than ones that are performed in the daytime:

- You’re born into this world with tons of energy, growing every day.

- In the beginning, your time is totally unstructured…

- Then you go to school, where it becomes increasingly structured until the age of 18.

- At 18, you go to college. Sure, there’s structure, but you’re relatively free to do what you what you want… a brief respite

- This leads to work, usually as an employee. Again, you’re following directions.

- It just gets more structured as you move along… marriage, kids, then retirement.

- Retirement sounds nice, but what happens when you move into your 70’s…

- Structure in a nursing home, senior assisted living center, or your kids house. Doesn’t sound too great.

Now, corporations were created to increase profits and they allowed for the continuing efficiency of business and society. The manifestation of corporate structure also materially weakened the independence and muted the free will that resides within every human soul.

We now have the Internet. Has anyone realized that the Internet is acting as a counterweight to the ruthless corporation? At times, it’s now more efficient for projects to be created independently. Who needs the bureaucracy and capital that the corporation brings? More often than not, it’s a burden. Ok, 50/50.

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?

The public markets have followed this rule time and again. Ever wonder why Monday has been given the lofty nickname “Merger Monday”? It’s not a coincidence.

Companies announce mergers on Monday because it’s usually news just so great that the commentators need to comment throughout the entire week. Of course, if the company wants to take part in a coverup regarding bad earnigs, or an ill-advised acquisition, it will do it right before the weekend, usually Friday at 5:30 EST. After all, it is called Black Friday.

Let’s just say that this is an exceptionally slow weekend, with the Memorial Day barbecue acting as the absolute capper. Any news that broke this Friday (or even Wednesday or Thursday) must really be hoping for an atypically efficient public death and burial.

For instance, it looks like Google purchased Feedburner for $100mm. Was it embarrassed at the price (not likely), or did it just not want to add fuel to a growing public that is concerned by Google’s lock on the world’s information?

People, it’s the latter. More on that after the barbecue.

…oh, and I also like the logo that TechJuicer put together. Here it is:

Some of the more profound posts of the week, in reverse order:

1. China decided to infuse $3bb into Blackstone. capitalAI gives you the inside look…

2. Never miss a performance where Shrek and Spiderman are mentioned in the same lesson…

3. The pre-op on Facebook’s Social Operating System. capitalAI has yet to add to the post-op discussion, but will at some point. When the hangover is gone.

4. If you ever had brain-freeze and couldn’t come up with an idea worth a dime, check out these great business ideas.

The way innovation takes place these days is almost comical. The innovation process is like a catchphrase that people bandy about to highlight their own ignorance. The fact is that innovation, like any other process, is difficult, time-consuming, and does not necessarily mean that you will achieve greater business returns.

Sure, it would be nice if every innovative business idea achieved economic returns that were positive. Often, the returns are negative.

In any case, here’s a 5 step process for making your innovation goals successful. It doesn’t mean you’ll achieve positive economic returns, just positive innovative returns.

Use this as a guide, not as a bible:

1. Identify The Issue - If you don’t identify the issue, you can’t identify the problem. Sure, you can work on processes like brainstorming, etc… but you need to know what you’re trying to solve. If your business revolves around launching blogs and you’re discussing E = MC^2, you’re either very smart or very off point.

2. The Timetable - Innovation can’t be an open-ended process. You’ve identified the issue and realized that you now need a solution. Solve it, but on a timetable.

3. Flatten Hierarchy - So you’ve now identified the issue and the timetable by which you need the answer. Flatten the hierarchy. The best ideas may come from the people in the trenches. The ones you never listen to. Listen to them.

4. Research - It’s not enough to brainstorm and come up with a bunch of ideas. Rate the ideas, massage them, move them from here to there. Give them meaning and feeling and see where they lead you in terms of practical usefulness. Above all, scour the marketplace and see how they compare.

5. Act - There’s nothing more worthless than innovation without participation. Act on your findings and move forward with a solution, any solution. Do the A/B hypothesis, test multiple scenarios, and make sure you’ve identified and encapsulated your metrics of success.

Otherwise, you can continue to twiddle your thumbs like the rest of the world. You could always say “I should have.” It may make you feel better.

In a somewhat surprise announcement, Nokia announced that it’s coming out with a phone that can detect lightning (using FM and GPS receivers to detect EM waves emitting from lightning).

Ok, here’s a list of a few things that I’d find useful. If the phone can do any one of these, I’d be absolutely hooked.

1. Alien Alert - This would alert me to possible UFO sightings, as well as the ability to identify if the person I’m shaking hands with is really human.

2. Liar Detection - When I’m talking with someone, are they telling me the truth? This would be absolutely essential when trying to determine the appropriate price for the used car purchase.

3. Calculate the Tip - Sure you can use the calculator function, but what if it was voice activated. Now that would save some precious seconds.

4. Watch TV - I don’t just mean any typical, standard channel. I mean, call up any program at any time, sort of like TIVO. I also want this at the nice standard rate of 30 frames per second.

5. Browse Web - Browse the web the way I browse it on my computer. I know that’s not really possible, but I can keep on hoping.

In the meantime, we’ll have to live with this list of amazing things that you never knew your cellphone could do.

With any new venture, whether it’s at the point of business idea or at the point of business execution, you need to assess whether you’re stepping towards or away from success. That’s not always an easy process and sometimes you need to be brutally honest with yourself in order to make the right analysis.

It’s pretty funny. At this point, I’ve been writing the blog for almost three weeks and I think that I’ve done farely well in the process. If you look at Technorati, my blog already has a so-called Authority of 11, I’ve had a daily high of over 100 unique visitors coming to the site, and I’ve started to accomplish my goal of refining my own thought process and helping others do the same.

After all, that’s what this really is about. I don’t need to sift through the Internet and troll for the latest commotion about business ideas, personal finance, technology, and finance. Sure I do it as part of my job, but why would I want to spend countless hours trying to encapsulate that information in a well-defined, concise, and to-the-point post. It’s already in my head, and writing is a lot of work and not economically worth it — I’ve earned a whopping $2.07 in the month of May (this turns to negative cash flow if you consider my hosting fees of $6.95).

I could have done better hawking Baby Ruth’s on the local street corner.

However, I measure success by a different metric. When I hear a colleague or a friend that’s read the blog and they’re ready to challenge my thoughts, or just question me about my position, it’s all worth it.

I’ve done what any blog is supposed to do. Ideate and instigate.

Not in any particular order.

The current image of the hedge fund and/or private equity fund leaves me a bit mystified. It’s as if all the politicians and his merry men decided to gang up on an industry that’s been around for a very long time and serves a demonstrably good purpose in the public and private financial markets.

I’ve been a staunch supporter, not only because I’ve seen it from the inside, but because we have well-functioning markets and my 401(k) thanks them for that. Let’s look at the world of hedge funds for a moment. Sure they may pull down billions in fees (not earnings, as the press would have you believe) and we can all be jealous of that, but many of them also make a lot of money, FOR THEIR INVESTORS.

To summarize, hedge funds (and I use the term almost interchangeably with private equity funds) are partnerships where somewhat wealthy people fund a General Partner with a certain amount of cash. The general partner then takes that money and invests it. If it’s a hedge fund, the money may be locked up for one to three years. If it’s a private equity fund, it may be locked up for five to ten years.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the different types of hedge funds:

Long Only - Only trades the long side of the market and is not particularly well-hedged against a market downturn. Can trade options to minimize the risk.

Long/Short - Trades both sides of the market and holds long positions as well as short positions. Doesn’t care which side of the market it sits on, as long as it’s the winning side.

Market Neutral - Trades both sides of the market and tries to keep the long and short sides of the portfolio of equal value. Hence, the term “market neutral.” It doesn’t care which way the market jumps.

Arbitrage - There’s a whole range of opportunities that this fund can take advantage of. It could be statistical arbitrage, risk arbitrage, etc…

Leveraged Buy-out - Takes a small amount of cash and buys businesses with vast sums of borrowed money. Pays down the debt and is left with a valuable asset.

So you ask, why am I pointing any of this out?

Because based on current market trends, they will one day buy your business and make a fabulous attempt to rule the world!

Here’s a list of 20 great things you can do in your spare time, and also change the world in the process…

1. Come up with a better Second Life. The load time is slow, the graphics are annoying, and the world is filled with gambling and pornography. Build something better and folks will come.

2. Figure out how to stop the elderly from getting bilked out of their money. It happens every day. Seniors will pay for it. Just read the article.

3. Profit from rising gas prices. This can include delivery of gas directly to cars for bulk discounts, full-service stations instead of self-service, or some sort of alternative fuel that gets people around cheaper. Yes, I think I did discuss alternative energy at one point.

4. Immigration - This is merely the backbone to the history of economic growth in America. The recent wave of immigrants has brought tens of millions. Figure out what type of services they need and offer it to them.

5. Web Hosting - Isn’t that business a commodity? Sure. But it’s also subscription-based and very sticky. Figure out how to get in the game and you can earn some sorely needed cash.

6. Paris Hilton - Figure out how to capitalize on her character, or countless others like Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, etc… As I’ve mentioned before, celebrities are very popular.

7. YouTube - Create something funny, interesting, or memorable. Make sure viewers will want to send it to their friends, and you have yourself a hit. Do it a few times, and you have yourself the making of a hit. Do it multiple times, and you’ll get acquired by CBS.

8. Personal Finance - Figure out what makes people tick and offer up some irreverential advice. Make it topical, interesting, but not too technical. Otherwise, you’ll end up in the same trashbin that sites like Pfblog find themselves in: Irrelevance.

9. Start Small - In today’s world, you shouldn’t be spending more than a few thousand dollars to test your startup. Even that’s too much. This blog was started for a meager $100.

10. Skype - Figure out what type of programs people on Skype want, and build it. Leverage the platform. It’s there to be leveraged.

11. The same advice goes for Amazon, eBay, MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, and any other open platform that you can think of. It’s open for a reason.

12. Provide the Plumbing - Cisco didn’t become a multi-billion dollar business because it went direct to consumer. It provided the plumbing so that you and I (the suckers) could try to make things happen. Levi Strauss made his money because he sold his pants to the gold rush masses. Now, that’s the way to make a fortune.

13. Beauty - There’s a whole world out there for beauty products (with unbelievable margins, btw). Can you name the one site where every woman goes to get their makeup? I can’t.

14. iPhone - Figure out a way to accessorize this phone through technology or product and you’ll have it made. After all, this will be one of the most successful phone launches ever.

15. Keep Your Day Job - This is much more profitable than not keeping it.

16. Identity Theft - This is one of the greatest potential revenue sources out there. Figure out a way to protect customers and you’ll have figured out the path to riches. Maybe send out confusing bytes of information so hackers trade and sell fake info. Now that would be interesting!

17. Baby Boomers - They’re growing (not just in waist size) and they’re still spending. While they supposedly have lots of cash, have you ever really been impressed with their spendthrift habits? In any case, financial services, anything government funded, and senior agility business (as I call the senior mental and physical exercise business) are all the rage. Get involved. There may be a few dimes left over for you and me.

18. Cell Phone Advertising - We all know that the online advertising market is now something like $40bb. The cell phone advertising market is set to grow, exponentially. Figure out a way to build something meaningful and get involved in a close repeat of the online advertising buyout history.

19. Real Estate 2.0 - Start buying and selling domain names. This is where all the action is and you wouldn’t believe the cash flows that you can achieve from this business. If only you could take out a mortgage on this? Hmmm…

20. Re-read this post and and the rest of my blog to find really great business ideas.

That should take a few minutes.