Ten I-Rules to Live By

1. If you read about it in an investment banking report, it's probably too late

2. If you see it advertised on network television, it IS too late

3. Anyone using the phrase "get it", probably doesn't

4. Any business describing itself as a "dot com" is toast

5. Beware any company in which the suit-to-ponytail ratio is more than 5-1 in either direction

6. There is an indirect relationship between the number of times a region, other than Silicon Valley, refers to itself as the "Silicon Anything" and the number of semiconductors that will actually be manufactured there.

7. Never anthropomorphize an Internet brand; i.e., "Ask Jeeves"

8. Never convert nouns or adjectives to action verbs by adding "-ize" to the end of the word (see Rule 7)

9. Never mix colors and living organisms in the same company name

Good - "Red Hat"
Bad - "Pink Flamingoes"

10. Beware anyone or any firm who uses any of the following phrases:

"Dot com"
"I get it" or "We get it"
"Brick and mortar"
"Launch party"
"Let's rock 'n roll"