If I could pick any one interview question for hiring a business person, I would ask them to talk about the conflict in the Middle East. What's their perspective? Do they take a stance? Do they try to argue something that they have no education on? What do they think of the supposed "enemy? And the most important part of this question: Do they even consider the other side's perspective?

You'd be surprised, because many people don't. Especially here at Berkeley. The debates between two sides of an issue aren't because our students are open-minded, but rather because there's diversity. With so many college-aged students on a single campus, it just so happens that there are multiple sides of the debate. But it doesn't make any of them open-minded, educated, or enlightened in any way. You're also probably thinking, "Isn't a political discussion a good way to end a friendship?" My answer is absolutely, and that's why I think it would make for an excellent interview question. Even if the candidate was a Zionist Jew, I would argue the Palestinian perspective just to put their pride in check.

I first thought about this when I was in a model United Nations session. I was watching my colleagues representing other nations debate among each other, argue about issues without a goal and without a premise. Had they never learned the tactics from "How to Win Friends and Influence People"? I saw from a first-hand perspective why the UN doesn't seem to get anything done. People leave just as ignorant or educated as they were coming into the assembly. People argue their stances, boost their egos, claim victory, and do very little to actually help the situation. And it's ironic too, because everyone coming into the model UN wonders why nothing useful ever gets done.

Which makes me think that it's not so much an issue about policies and actions... it's about the method by which we negotiate and resolve conflict with each other. The most important part of this being, "does the other side even attempt to listen to and understand my perspective?" Have you ever been in a situation where two people were in a political debate, and you could tell that the person who wasn't talking was only thinking about what they would say next in rebuttal? It's good entertainment, but no conflict resolution. This directly applies to the business world - if you're negotiating something, even as simple as an employee's salary, can you think about the other person's feelings, needs, and concerns?

I'm not saying that talking politics is the best way to see if a candidate is any good, but I do think that it's a great way to screen out people who aren't open to learning and listening. I've started to run this test on friends too, because it tells me how good of a listener they are, and how much they care to understand alternative perspectives. Business gets very personal very fast, so put your people to the test before you bring them on your ship.

We hear about Israel all the time -- mainly in regards to the the conflicts they have with the Hezbollah and the Palestinians. And with the stories that the press and our un-informed citizens tell, Israel looks like nothing more than a war-hungry country. But there's a lot that we can learn about from Israel, and it's interesting to see that they're theoretically a startup that's been bootstrapped from the ground up.

I recently returned from a Taglit-Birthright trip to Israel, which is a free trip that brings young Jews ages 18-27 to Israel on a 10 day journey to observe history, culture, and current-day industry. It was the most exciting 10 days of my life, and I want to draw some parallels between Israel and software startups. Israelis have incredible passion, resourcefulness, and persistence, and personality traits that resemble a startup that's doing everything it can to stay afloat.

Let's start with passion. Israelis have an incredible love for their country -- something that I've never seen in America in the 19 years that I've lived here. And I think it comes down to one thing: Israelis understand and care about the cause they're fighting for, and that's merely the right to exist. And to take this a step further, all Israelis are drafted into the army. No "normal" person in the states would want to join the army. From my uninformed perspective, it seems like the U.S. Army recruits primarily from poorer neighborhoods, and that most of our country's leadership didn't have the opportunity to serve. In Israel, every political leader has served as a solder, so there's this incredible unity that immediately reminds me of a tech startup. The founding CEO did everything from marketing outreach to coding the core product, and it's understood that the CEO isn't just "making orders." Compare this to a big company, where the CEO may or may not have any technical experience, and makes strategic and product decisions that the programmers don't understand. Reminds me of America...

Next, Israelis are resourceful like no other. Paul Graham from Y-Combinator says being a good startup founder comes down to being "relentlessly resourceful", and Israel was just that. When I visited Tel Aviv, they were celebrating their 100th year of existence. Just 100 years ago, Tel Aviv was nothing more than sand dunes, but the immigrant Jews built it up to being the second most populated city in Israel (after Jerusalem), and is now dubbed "Silicon Wadi" because of its incredible hi-tech scene.

Another great example of relentless resourcefulness comes from the 6 day war: Israel was being attacked by 5 1/2 armies on all sides, and in a fight for their survival, the government raised over $30M from Jewish Americans. In fact, if it wasn't for Israel's relentless resourcefulness, the nation wouldn't be around today. And the same thing applies to web startups: as an entrepreneur, you need to leverage your network in ways you haven't before.

I'll finish this off with persistence. For thousands of years, Jews have been persecuted merely for being Jewish. And at last, they have a country that they could go home to. I compare this to entrepreneurs getting up from failed businesses. Even if things don't work out, you keep on going until you build something that's truly great. Ignore the naysayers, and do what's needed to ensure the success (and survival) of your enterprise. And that's precisely what the Jews did with Israel over the past century.

Eli Pariser, the founder of MoveOn.org, came to speak at my college today! Ends up that he was once a student here at Simon's Rock, the Early College. Like the rest of us, he finished with a 4 year degree before he turned 20, and had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Lucky enough, I was given the chance to introduce him to the audience :)

It was funny to hear that he interviewed here as a theater major and ran the school magazine that I cut funding on. Somehow, he shifted from being a liberal arts theater geek into being a leader of a huge non-profit. How did that happen? Completely accidentally. He didn't sit down with a few friends and decide to start a non-profit. He was a techie and set up an online petition calling for a non-military response to 9/11. Within a few weeks, half a million people signed the petition. By November, he was asked to join what is now MoveOn.org.

I found it especially interesting that he said:

"It's not all about a candidate. It's also a movement... Change cannot just be done by a president."

That goes to show that Americans (and organizations) love placing responsibility and blame on one person. Our president sucks not only because he's an inefficient leader, but also because he has an inadequate team. Whether or not you agree with his policies deserves a whole different argument, but it can be seen that he's failed at being the "CEO" of our country. If we want true change to happen, we can't just elect a new president. People who truly believe in an objective must continue to work with a leader to accomplish its necessary goals.

Image of Pariser with students in Simon's Rock College's Formal Lounge. Credit to Ryan Shepherd

We read about Eli Pariser in the news quite often. I've seen his name mentioned in Valleywag, the NY Times, and CNN dozens of times. Many people hate him and MoveOn.org for their views on politics. So I asked him, "how do you deal with people shit talking you all the time?" It comes down to fulfilling an objective. He isn't on this planet to be liked. He's working for a specific cause. I then asked whether or not he believes all press is good press. "OF COURSE NOT!" The point of having press for MoveOn.org is to spark discussion and to get the press going back and forth about those discussions. Looking at this from a marketing perspective, you're definitely getting 10X what you paid for when you spark the right questions. When the press continues to mention you over and over again for a question you asked or discussion you sparked, you're getting free coverage.

How about getting people to join a movement? He took psychology here at Simon's Rock with the same professor I took psychology class, and he was quick to mention cognitive dissonance and the "foot in the door technique."

"By making someone sign a petition, they're not just signing their name on a piece of paper. They're identifying themselves with a certain issue. They sign a petition, they volunteer, and they move up the ladder. A successful movement involves matriculating people up that ladder. It sometimes gets tricky because leaders need a balance between moving followers up the ladder VS finding a bigger base of supporters"

Does this quote remind you of anything? Running a business, duh! Back when I ran a dedicated server hosting business, my co-founders and I had to find the right balance between growth and maintenance. When to focus on current customers and when to focus on finding new customers. It's always an on-going conflict, and that's where staff recruiting comes in!

On another note, Pariser made a huge emphasis on listening to your followers. Take into account everything they say and let them help you lead. If he had it his way, he'd be running a site that did only what he wanted, but that would be impractical and inefficient. Even as a leader, you continue to learn.

Of course, Pariser hasn't had a perfect streak. We all hear about how he is the executive director at MoveOn.org, but he tried leading tens of other projects that didn't go anywhere. It's almost as if the press frames his life story as something that grew overnight. He developed as a person and he learned how to lead by managing many different campus projects, activities, and events.

I think it's safe to say that he's doing pretty well for himself... putting his personal finances aside, Eli Pariser is leading a project that has over 3 million members, that has raised over $100M, and is super passionate about the cause he's fighting for a cause he believes in.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, and Jessicamah.com. In her free time, she enjoys the prospect of being an underage angel investor while partying like a rock star.

On Monday, I headed to the Congressional Hearing in the Longworth building, then went to the Hart Senate Office Building to supposedly lobby senators into helping fight global climate change. A few thoughts came to mind:

1) Senators don't care about people from out-of-state. I tried to get a meeting with Seantor Baucus from Montana, and he turned me away. The receptionist gave me a few excuses, all contradicting each other. (there weren't enough seats for me and the two other Montana residents, the Senator was only stopping to say hi and bye...) I finally got a meeting with one of his staff members, and he gave me a straight answer. The Senator only wanted to meet only with people in his own state. Lame!

2) Senator Tim Johnson recently had a stroke and one of his staff members basicall spoke for him. I came to the meeting late because I was finishing up with Senator Baucus, and the staff member asked me, "OH! Are you our missing person from South Dakota?" I replied, "No, I'm actually from New York..." And immediately after my reply, he got up, shook our hands, handed us his business card, and led us out the door. Lamez0rs!!!

3) The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is a great speaker, but everything I heard from her speech sounded like 100% motivational talk. Everything a good politician should say, but there wasn't any content!

4) The formal dress? Not something I'm used to. The vibe you get in Washington is just so much more uptight compared to that of San Francisco.

5) It takes forever to make change. In startup culture, changes can be made in a heartbeat. In Washington, it can take years to make marginal improvements in our society.

The bottom line? I'm no politian. I love San Francisco and I love the startup culture. This experience has helped me realize how amazing the Bay Area really is.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

I'm reporting live from a congressional hearing on Energy Independence and Global Warming! The first two speakers were amazing at presenting a case to fight off global warming and energy dependency. Unfortunately, I was pretty unsatisfied with our third speaker. Throughout the conference, we were taught about public speaking. We were taught the art of persuasion. We were taught about choosing good representatives to present our case to political leaders. Yet somehow, a school girl from Alaska came to the Capitol steps unprepared. Everybody in the room felt so nervous as she spoke. Simply put, her arguement was mostly compromised of words such as "like" and "ummm" and "uhhh..." After a few minutes of terrible and unmotivating speaking, she broke down in tears. She couldn't get her grip together and there was an utter silence for a good 15 seconds before everybody applauded her in support. Then another 15 seconds go by, and she's back to her terrible public speaking.

LIVE from today's rally at the Capitol - Credit to SRManitou

When trying to convince government (or business) to take action, it's important to concentrate on what THEY want. This third speaker made the issue limited to her small town in Alaska. If I remember correctly, the speaker was referring to a town with a population of under 400 people. Sure, I sympathize with her. But for her to come to a congressional hearing unprepared? That just makes EVERYBODY look bad. Fine. She's just a college student trying to act on an issue important to her. To silence the criticisms I see coming, I'll give her an A for effort. More to come...

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

Yay, after many long hours of driving, I'm finally at Power Shift - a conference on combating global climate change.

I'm sitting in a panel that discusses fighting global change in local communities, and here are a few things I got out of it:

1) When making an argument for creating a sustainable world, make it relevant to the group of people you're talking to. How does it benefit them?

For example, this girl from Sugarland, Texas had a discussion with her mayor on how to create a sustainable city. Ended up that the mayor had many of the ideas she offered, but didn't want to make them public because it could possibly upset the large and powerful oil industry. To make it work, keep in mind how it may or may not benefit the individuals you're talking to.

2) Connections, connections, connections. Find allies and don't be afraid to ask them questions. Students always seem so freaking hostile towards business executives and government officials. There is some truth behind their thinking, but hostility doesn't solve problems. Once again, look at everything from THEIR perspective. Suck out as much info as you can and use it for your mutual benefit.

When I meet with founders and management at companies, I ask them about their business. I ask them about their ideas and why they do what they do. I ask them why they don't do X, and more often than not, they've thought of the idea and found a reason as to why it wouldn't work. (or they're in the process of implementing that X) At the end of the day, I give them good or bad press via my blog. :)

3) It's important to be able to measure everything. Set goals and measure your improvement by solid numbers. This way, you know what's most effective, what's best to invest more time and money into, etc...

For example, in regards to advertising, it's important to have necessary data: who's visiting your business, where are they coming from, etc… this is why TV advertising doesn't work. You have no way of distinguishing if your customer is coming from a TV ad or from word of mouth. Google AdWords, on the other hand, offers you control over everything. You can cap your spending to any amount of money, you can specify the physical location your visitors are from, you can specify certain keywords, etc…

4) Garnering support is all about targeting communities. Get huge groups of people excited about a common cause. I'll write tomorrow about their conference marketing… but I must say, it is borderline manipulative.

In a nutshell, the conference would recruit "campus coordinators" who would take charge of organizing the conference trip to Power Shift. Basically, the conference organizers made these campus coordinators feel super important and gave them the noble responsibility of bringing as many people as they could to this conference. Brilliant.

The bottom line? Everything about this conference has SO much to do with business, whether it be related to marketing, communications, etc… If you want to combat global climate change, be a doctor, be a fashion designer, or whatever - you're going to be using business related skills. If you want to help stop global climate change, look at the source: big and powerful corporations.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

TED is an amazing conference for technology, entertainment, and design. It basically brings together 1,000 fascinating thinkers and doers from around the world. (Credit to TED.com) I was first introduced to TED by Richard Yoo and Morris Miller, the founders and former management of Rackspace.com.

TED's Mission is to spread ideas. So I'm going to help them out and tell you guys about a TEDTalk I watched today about 10 ways our world may end. It's funny and so real.

Video can be viewed on bottom of my blog post. Without further delay, here's my summary on 10 ways our world may end:

10) Human Depression: The World Health Organization estimates that 1/5 people are clinically depressed. People are living longer and healthier, but how about happiness?

Solution: Give us mental health insurance!

9) Alien Invasion: There are estimated millions of planets in the milky way galaxy. Billions in our universe. There's a likelihood that we'll confront a group of living beings.

Solution: Get the State Department working on a plan to meet, greet, and negotiate with a more advancecd species. Colonize the milky way!

8 ) Ecosystem Collapse: We're living in a time with mass animal extinction. A lot of this is human caused.

Solution: Create huge biodiversity reserves. (Think Noah's Ark!)

7) Particle Accelerator Mishap: People are trying to make anti-matter and tiny black holes. Of course, hoping that they'll either destroy themselves or evaporate. What if they don't?

Solution: Stop doing accelerator experiments! Sorry, Johnny... no more making black holes!

6) Biotech Disaster: Biotechnologies can destroy our food supply.

Solution: Treat biotechnology with same security scrutiny we apply to nuclear engineering. OR just don't use biotechnology!

5) Reversal of Earth's Magnetic Fields: Happens every few thousand years. We lose the magnetic field around the earth for a good 100 years. In other words, we're gonna fry.

Solution: Replenish Ozone Layer. (It's working!)

4) Giant Solar Flare: Atmosphere has done well protecting us from sun flares. If other nearby stars have super solar flares, we're screwed.

Solution: Start terraforming Mars. Will take 300-500 years to do. No reason why we shouldn't start now :)

3) New Global Epidemic. Think Flu, Small Pox, Bubonic Plague, AIDS. '

Solution: Stop feeding our animals antibiotics.

2) Humans, meet a Rogue Black Hole: They're gobbling everything up, including light. Space is big, but if a black hole got within a billion miles of earth, we're screwed.

Solution: Hurry up and find another earth-like planet to inhabit!

1) A Really, Really Big Asteroid Heads for Earth: Petrankek says this isn't an if, but rather a when. An asteroid 5 miles wide would cause vast extinction. Estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter about 1/2 mile wide. Listed as #6 most likely cause of premature human death in America. (after homicide, car accidents, plane crash, etc...)

Solution: Put in more money for NASA's search for asteroids OR figure out way to blow up an asteroid or alter its trajectory.

Petrankek is basically thinks that the worst way we can react to all of this is by saying, "geeze, why think about an asteroid hitting us when we have human drama and profits to worry about?"

I'm personally thinking, "Why are we still alive?"

PS: This guy is NOT being paid to make this presentation. And in response to a reader's comment, this isn't as obvious as it seems if we're not taking any action.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

I just watched a documentary called "Maxed Out." The title immediately makes you think about credit cards and debt. Do I normally think about this? No! of course not. I got my first debit card at age 12 when I ran my first internet company. Because it was a debit card, I couldn't spend more than the few thousand dollars I already racked up in my account. My parents didn't know about this so obviously couldn't comment. I'm now 17 and have a real credit card, except my parents pay for it. I look at my statements but don't have to pay them. My parents don't think much either... they make sure that there's no identity theft and immediately pay 100% of what's owed.

Apparently, debt is a much bigger issue than I had originally thought. I was at the eBay LIVE conference watching Suzy Orman speak. She's amazing! She asked the audience how many of them are in credit card debt. I think I was the only one NOT to raise my hand. (My dad too, but he's just a middle class asian man who knows how to stay out of debt)

So back on topic. The movie talks about how the rich keep on getting richer, and the poor are always stuck in a viscious cycle of debt. They pay their minimums and have interest rates piling up on them.

Except not only is it a financial issue; it's a social issue. We're widening the gap between rich and poor. People are depressed. People are killing themselves over debt. People are fake killing themselves to get out of debt. People are killing their spouses to collect life insurance to pay debt. All of this sick crap over money. So, of course, college students and activists will urge the government to raise taxes for the rich to help out the poor.

Except these so-called activists left out a major detail: rich people have power and want to hold onto their "hard-earned" moola. Once again, we're stuck in a viscous cycle. Our entire society is so dependent on money and its something the poor are desperate for. If George Bush somehow decided to increase taxes for the rich, he might as well flush his biggest supporters right down the toilet. Either way, the politician is screwed because s/he can't satisfy both sides.

I'm not proposing a real solution because I don't know enough about this issue to make a smart comment. But maybe there are other solutions that aren't so obvious. Think tipping point! (an amazing book) Where slight changes in one thing can make dramatic improvements in something else. There was a great example in the book that talked about Subway crimes. Getting rid of the graffiti dramatically brought down the crime.

The poor often have at least minimum wage jobs. Our government decided back in February to slowly raise our federal minimum wage by a few dollars over the course of three-four years. Better education would be nice. Maybe we should have mandated courses or lectures as early as middle school that teach kids how to be financially responsible.

I'm making a similar point that I made back in my post about Global Warming: It's a difficult topic with a complicated solution. Fixing this will not be as easy as it first seems.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

There's so much talk about global warming. Al Gore comes out with a catchy movie and 60 minutes is all over it. I'm so interested in global warming that I decided to take a class about it in college.

A lot of my friends are scared. They think we'll be in deep shit within the next few decades if nothing is done. I have to agree. So what does global warming mean for the average citizen? People living in areas of unpredictable weather and/or by the coast will buy insurance. Soon enough, there may be more energy restrictions in buildings and vehicles. Thus, people will be forced to move towards buying solar/wind power and electric vehicles. Businesses will take action on all of these green matters for public relation purposes. All of this is already happening, and it may actually be quite good for businesses!

Even Mercedes is coming out with a new hybrid!

I know, I sound cruel. As bad as global warming is, it might be the best thing that can happen for the green entrepreneur! Toyota is making riches on its hybrid vehicles. (I even bought one last year!) Companies who bring alternative power sources to buildings are also beginning to make money. Corporations, such as Whole Foods, are telling the world about how they use solar power. Google is investing money into green startups. All of a sudden, people are supporting companies for taking action. How do we know if these companies really care about saving the environment? To be blunt, I don't think anybody really cares that much. As long as the companies have a positive brand image and are "saving the environment," I'm more likely to support them. This goes with anything else - if you see two items in a store, but one says they donate profits to charity, you're more likely to choose the product that seems to care about others. Beautiful marketing tactic.

This is especially interesting and possibly devastating for the insurance sector. I see one of two things that may happen to these guys: If global warming becomes even a bigger issue with little happening from a disaster standpoint, insurance companies will bank big time. On the other hand, our weather can get totally out of hand and screw up the insurance industry. Let's just keep our eyes on this.

It sickens me that our good friend George Bush would insist that mandatory emissions curbs like those contained in the Kyoto treaty would cost the U.S. economy too much. "I walked away from Kyoto because it would have damaged the American economy, it would have destroyed the American economy, it was a lousy deal for the American economy," he said in a July interview with British TV network ITV."

For companies such as IBM, GE, and Toyota, I see them banking out with new innovation. Sure, the gas endorsing companies will have problems. And doesn't Bush have family ties to the fuel industry? Naughty naughty.

Here's what I'm getting at: I hate global warming. I like entrepreneurship. I like money. I definitely think there's a way to lessen our global climate change WHILE banking out big time. (of course, depends on the industry you're innovating in) So no matter what happens from an environmental or political standpoint, there will always be room for entrepreneurs to make things better. OR of course, much much worse.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.

I love my readers, but sometimes, no matter what I say, I'll get criticized. I'll post my opinion about something and I'll get emails from people telling me what an arrogant piece of shit I am. I don't want to be like Disney (below) and write conservative posts that prevent myself from being interesting, but there are some posts that I've gotten so much crap for. Same with business. If I decide to concentrate focus on one thing versus another, I'll get shit for not taking on a great opportunity. Co-founders supposedly help with this problem.

A few months ago, I wrote a long post on how Elance.com failed and oDesk.com succeeded. oDesk loved it, Elance obviously hated it, and some readers thought I was being racist by mentioning "cheap indians." I'm in very friendly terms with the readers who pointed me out on that, but it's difficult to entertain and satisfy all.

I feel like this is what happens to the President on a daily basis. No, I don't like George Bush. But I do have sympathy (sorta) for him. For example, if he decides to ban gay marriage, people on both coasts will be pissed at him. Now lets say that he decides to be awesome and allow gay marriage. His fellow republicans and conservative middle america hillbillies won't be pleased. (and yes, I'll probably get nasty emails or comments for writing that last sentence)

My favorite favorite example of how leaders are always criticized is in 9/11 conspiracy theories. *sensitive topic ahead* - Nobody wanted planes to crash into the twin towers. Remember flight 93, the flight that crashed in the middle of nowhere? Supposedly, the people on the plane were heroes. In the conspiracy theories, the US Air Force shot down the plane in some way. Now here's where it gets interesting: Americans were bashing George Bush and the government for having shot down the plane with the idea that it was headed towards another important building of some sort. Yet other Americans were bashing George Bush and the government for not shooting down the planes that went into the World Trade Center. This comes to show that no matter what Gerogie poo does, he's screwed. Thank god I'm not the president!

Now for the counter argument. The common opinion is, if a leader sucks, he and his (company, government, group) will be criticized for the bad move. Google is a great company thats done so many incredible things. They don't get a lot of press. But recently, they've gotten a lot of bad press for not refunding moneys paid for Google Videos and for changing Grand Central phone numbers. Whether or not this is true, I haven't a clue. But the point is, everybody is out to get a leader or a big company on one bad step.

The next time we criticize someone, we should look at their reasoning and viewpoint to understand why they decided to do something in a certain way.

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She's currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, SimonsRockers.com, and Jessicamah.com.