In these times of uncertainty, I just can't seem to stop reading and looking to the Founders (and making these images for posts) as a reminder of fundamental principles.
And after his recent attack on ournalists, I can only hope our President-Elect would take time to do something of the same.
In times of great national insecurity I, like many, often turn to the Founders words for guidance. I don't do this because the Founders were always right. And I certainly know that they could not foresee most of the evolution of our nation and its modern benefits and challenges. I look to the Founders because they thought, read and wrote both broadly and deeply. They used that knowledge to not only found a nation suitable for their present, but also one that could evolve and endure. They designed our new nation with an unsentimental eye towards to the foibles and limits of man; the resulting Republic has survived assault foreign and domestic.
Post-Election 2016, I have again spent some additional time with history, and came across this Jefferson quote. It has become a source of both comfort and resolve:
While the quote itself comes from one of the most controversial of Jefferson writings (the 1798 Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions), its sentiment is nevertheless sound. In the US, when facing challenging times or threats, we do not turn solely to hope or prayer, or even to powerful individuals, to save the day. Instead, we rely upon those processes and institutions - especially our own Constitution - as forged by the Founders and honed through 240+ years of experience to continue our Republic's sometimes erratic, but unrelenting, march toward greater and shared prosperity, equality, and justice.
Hold our leaders to their oaths to defend that Constitution, and this too shall pass.
JARuppert
As a student of history sitting here with my books and dusty documents penned by the Founders, I'm glad I voted on the right side of history.
Or should I say HERstory.
JARuppert
Always an interesting time at The Ruppert Co., LLC and High Mountain Ventures.
Got in early to work on a proposal / conference call for a Regulation CF crowdfunded real estate investment trust (REIT) to build affordable housing in Columbus Southside.
Rudely interrupted by a wholly unfounded and factually-inaccurate Republican Party FEC Complaint that the Ohio Democratic Party and I were seemingly undermining the core of American Democracy.
Try to do some good, but people still callin' me bad.
I'll keep moving. And WIN.
JARuppert
This election had me thinking of a little guidance written by Thomas Jefferson about his hated cousin and political rival, John Randolph of Roanoke (who I found out yesterday is a many-removed cousin of my own):
“[C]aution to all honest and prudent men, to sacrifice a little of self-confidence and to go with their friends although they sometimes think they are going wrong.”
JARuppert
We have Change.org.
Thomas Jefferson had the petition process through the American Philosophical Society - a loose coalition of the early American educated elite and educational institutions.
Just added this to my collection - an original of the APS's appeal to Congress to repeal the tax and tariff on imported books and paper. The tariff was intended to protect American printers and paper manufacturers from foreign competition.
In the end - like most tariffs - it hurt the intended beneficiaries. The tariffs become a de facto tax on domestic printers who needed to use imported paper, and, more importantly, on readers.
As Thomas Jefferson put it, books "locked up in libraries can be of no avail to the practical man when he wishes a recurrence to them for the uses of life."
The plea fell on deaf ears, however, and the tariffs remained in place for several decades to come.
JARuppert
Excited to be asked to become a Wefunder "Scout" today.
I've been a strong proponent of opening opportunities in private companies and startups to non-accredited investors.
With JOBS Act Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), small business and startups can raise debt or equity from an ever-widening circle of supporters.
WeFunder is the leader in this space, and I look forward to spotting Ohio (and other) companies that are right and ready for crowdfunding and guiding them through the process.
Off to find the next unicorn!
JARuppert
When recently quasi-pitching a somewhat out-there startup idea to a friend, he initially responded with, "Wait, aren't you a lawyer? WTF?"
Yes, I am a lawyer. A good one. You can learn more about my firm here: theruppertco.com.
But I also love to build things. Impactful organizations. Amazing teams. Sustainable businesses. A disruptive product from an idea.
I also love to help others do the same thing by providing counsel and guidance; a critical eye; a sympathetic ear; and an occasional infusion of capital.
To that end, I founded High Mountain Ventures, LLC (HMV) in 2012. My intent? Apply the model of some of the greatest investment funds, VCs, angels and entrepreneurs to the progressive world. And never wait for opportunity to come, but to create it.
Here's a little video to intro you to HMV's foundational objectives and goals:
So, I am a lawyer+. What that "+" may encompass is yet to be defined. But I know it will be DISRUPTIVE, INEVITABLE, EFFICIENT and SUSTAINABLE.
Obtained the May 1, 1826 VIRGINIAN newspaper as delivered to Thomas Jefferson's Lynchburg retreat, Poplar Forest (a couple months before TJ's death at Monticello).
Fascinating content - loads of lotteries (just as many fools born back then); sales of beaver hats and custom clothes for dandies; reports of politics and breaches of sacred marriage proposals; and - horribly - even ads for sales of people.
For me, the most relevant content is the ad for Dr. Drisden's Celebrated Rheumatic Powders, a certain cure for rheumatism and gout.
JARuppert
My hackathon team built a "Bot Law School" in an hour late last night @TBDLaw.
It's designed for the non-coding attorney to build bots to answer legal questions through QnA markup and decision trees. Code/machine language coming later.
You can see the results of our quick test work here:http://www.lawascode.org
You can borrow or add to the Github repository here:https://github.com/colarusso/lawascode
What is TBDLaw?
Here's how it is described at TBDLaw.co:
Far more than an Un-Conference, TBD Law is a unique mix of summit, retreat, design-thinking workshop and hackathon. Designed by LexThink founder Matt Homann, TBD Law is about collaboration, connection and creativity, not CLE.
TBD Law is for a curated group of lawyers who've moved their practices past their peers'. If you've made the list, you're already ahead of the curve. TBD Law will help you stay there. If you think you're one of them, fill out the form below and we'll talk. .
Nobody wins in the race to be first to be second. At TBD Law, you'll build your future with lawyers who will push you out of your comfort zone instead of pushing you back towards the status quo.
I'm ready to immerse myself in a room with folks who are smarter than me; more talented; and see the future.
Maybe some of it will rub off...
Stay tuned.
JAR
Received this in today’s mail.
United State Senate January 22, 1817 printing of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson’s December 16, 1793 report on the restrictions of commerce of the United States in foreign countries (a little delay in the printing!)
With so much recent discussion of free trade (Jefferson wanted open markets), the document is fascinating for some of the basic trade principles laid out by the first Secretary of State for the new US government.
Here is a sample (you can see the rest in the document pictures):
“Where a nation imposes high duties on our productions, or prohibits them altogether, it may be proper to do the same by theirs, first burdening or excluding those productions, which they bring here in competition, with our own of the same kind; selecting next much manufactures as we take from them in greatest quantity, and which, at the same time we could the soonest furnish ourselves, or obtain from other countries; imposing upon them duties lighter at first, but heavier and heavier afterwards, as other channels of supply open.”
Solid. Even today.
The best fireworks are those sparked in the mind and leading to action.
JARuppert - July 4, 2016
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ORIGINAL POST FROM MY BLOG AT HIGHMTNVENTURES.COM
Very helpful tool from WSJ.com - The Startup Stock Tracker: http://graphics.wsj.com/tech-startup-stocks-to-watch/
Always fascinating to watch the institutional ETF / mutual fund "biggies" (ex: Fidelity ContraFund) move into the private company space. Their valuation and subsequent adjustment of startup valuation often lays bare the delta between the Wall Street and SF Bay business models and stories.
The truth may rest somewhere in the middle.
Three-week live performance of the High Mountain Ventures Python-based trading algorithm "G6" versus the S&P 500 SPY Benchmark:
Algorithm: +47.8%
$SPY: -3.9%
Source: Quantopian
Conclusion: Not
A combo of two of the finest - The Aspen Institute (Ideas Festival) & John author John Meacham Thomas Jefferson:
Some favorite thoughts from the talk:
“[H]e is immortal, yet because of his flaws and his sins and his failures...he was not all that he could be...but no politician, no human being ever is. Despite his shortcomings and all the inevitable disappointments and mistakes, he left America and the world a better place than it had been when he found it.”
“That he failed to live a perfect live or deliver on the promise of the Declaration...that he has been condemned as a hypocrite...in the eyes of history are to my mind reasons engage with him...not excoriate.”
“Jefferson provided the poetry of the Revolution.”
“Jefferson was against federal power until he wielded it.”
JARuppert
Full post can be found on Medium by clicking below:
Some thoughts on Medium about the 4th, Jefferson and his "mangled" Declaration of Independence:
JARuppert
Jeffrey A. Ruppert - Columbus & Franklin, Ohio
