Red Pill Man of the Week – ending June 8, 2014

Red Pill Man of the Week

Vladimir Putin

The man is just tearing it up. As much as we did not want to include him in the list this week, due to the extensive coverage he is already getting, it was impossible to avoid.  He has been villainized by the mass media, demonised by Obama, blamed for everything from Ukraine to global warming to obesity in America and he just keeps on rolling, staying true to his vision.

He went to France for the D-Day celebrations, where world leaders, a day before, threatened him with more sanctions and vowed to isolate and humiliate him. When in France he stole the show. Every world leader had a one on one with him, from Merkel to Hollande and eventually Obama.

He was the focus of the celebration. Why? Because he held frame and showed no fear. When asked by the press about the G7 dinner being held with out him, his answer “bon appétit,” with a smile. When the French media got an exclusive interview, Putin crushed Hillary, made fun of EU countries who have surrendered their sovereignty to Brussels, and even chimed in on tradition, human rights and protecting children. Putin did not run away or hide from the powerful forces looking to discredit him, but faced everything and everyone head on and that is a lesson we can all learn.

Oh, he also sealed another monster major oil deal with Azerbaijan this week.

Runners Up:

Travis Kalanick

Travis’ Uber Technologies, the company that allows people to order taxis and private town cars via a smartphone app, raised $1.2 billion in a fundraising round this week that values the four-year-old startup at an astronomical $17 billion.  In his latest interview, Travis explained Uber’s appeal and why its a different kind of tech startup saying, “It’s not Pinterest where people are putting up pins. You’re changing the way cities work, and that’s fundamentally a third rail.”

He also went on to stick it to the taxi companies saying. “We’re in a political campaign, and the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi. Nobody likes him, he’s not a nice character, but he’s so woven into the political machinery and fabric that a lot of people owe him favors.”

Uber’s new financing is a record for technology startups in a direct investment round, according Bloomberg News, and positions the company at the front of a pack of Internet and mobile startups, such as Dropbox and Airbnb.

Rafael Nadal

The man is indestructible on the French Open clay, period.  Nadal beat Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4, to win his ninth French Open.  That is nine French Open titles.  Not much else to add, he is automatic on the clay surface at Roland Garros.

King Juan Carlos

The Spanish monarch reportedly expressed a desire to hand the throne while Prince Felipe was still a young man to stop him “withering” like Prince Charles…ZING!

The 76-year-old kong, who announced that it was time for “a younger generation to step into the front line,” is said to have been influenced in his decision to abdicate by the situation of the Prince of Wales, who at 65 is the oldest heir to the British throne for 300 years.

“I do not want my son to wither waiting like Prince Charles,” he reportedly told Rafael Spottorno, chief of the royal household, according to a report in Spain’s daily El Mundo newspaper.  New blood in the Spanish monarchy can perhaps be symbolic of better days to come for a country ravaged by EU austerity.

Craig Federighi

Apple Inc.’s software chief, Craig Federighi, is the “it” man to watch at the WWDC events. While the company is Tim Cook’s to run, Craig Federighi is becoming the public face of Apple.

Federighi was the star of the show bringing a new dimension to the Apple stage, a more earnest and a less uptight act, eliciting more laughs than in past Apple events.  He definitely had the attention of the audience and his smooth speaking style put Apple’s new software on display for the entire world to see.

Apple faces more competition than ever in a very competitive industry, and many doubted whether anyone could be as charismatic on stage as Steve Jobs…we may have just found the answer.

Blue Pill Man of the Week

Jan Koum

Can one tweet make you a beta blue pill man of the week.  In short, yes!

Just ask John Koum, co-founder and CEO of WhatsApp, who on Tuesday mocked Apple for “borrowing” features from his chat app. Koum tweeted his views several hours after Apple unveiled a revamped iMessage app for iPhones.

very flattering to see Apple “borrow” numerous WhatsApp features into iMessage in iOS 8 #innovation

— jan koum (@jankoum) June 2, 2014

The tweet obviously struck a chord among Koum’s Twitter followers. Within hours, it was retweeted by over 1000 times. For those of you who don’t use WhatsApp, Apple just added audio and video recording features that WhatsApp users have been able to use all along.

The messed up part about the tweet is that it made the newly minted billionaire, who sold a mobile chat to Facebook for $19 billion, look like a whiny loser.  You should be thanking the universe for such ridiculous fortune and grace, not tweeting bitterness.

The fact is that Whatspp did not invent audio or video recording on mobile.  Whatsapp did not even invent messaging.  The irony, however, remains that Mr. Koum now works for the largest copy cat company on the planet, who not only pawns user data to everyone one under the sun, but also copied features from just about every popular startup in existence…Snapchat, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube, the Winklevoss twins, Twitter again, MySpace, Twitter again, yada yada yada.

Be happy with your billions and call it day. Their is no need to even look remotely jealous or petty, that’s just blue bill behavior.