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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Picking back up on a SIGCIS thread from a few years ago, on the history of “unicorn” as an odd term to apply to a tech company, I just saw this amazing headline "Bird Races to Become the First Scooter Unicorn" on Bloomberg.com. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-29/sequoia-said-to-value-scooter-company-bird-at-1-billion">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-29/sequoia-said-to-value-scooter-company-bird-at-1-billion</a> I am going to look for a way to work it into something I write, and perhaps in a few years it will earn its proper place as a distillation of our historic moment not unlike “Peace in Our Time” or “Dewey Defeats Truman.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Beyond the whole idea of rival billion-dollar scooter companies, I now can’t stop thinking about a bird chasing a unicorn riding a scooter. Or maybe the bird is on a scooter, trying to catch up to a galloping unicorn as it approaches a checkered flag. Or the bird might be hovering over a cauldron, trying to turn itself into a scootering unicorn via a hurriedly cast spell of transformation. There are so many possible readings.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I know this is somewhat tangential to list business, but I just couldn’t resist sharing it given the growing sense of doom hovering over most other news stories, including the global financial turmoil I visited Bloomberg to check on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tom<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>