Venture capital is released in stages. Economists describe it this way: “the infusion of capital occurs in stages, matching investment decisions based on information that arrives over time.”
William Sahlman explained the reason in 1990. “By staging capital the venture capitalists preserve the right to abandon a project whose prospects look dim.”
The musical Oklahoma! first opened under another title, Away We Go! It played out-of-town tryouts at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven from March 11, 1943, and then in Boston. Audiences were enthusiastic, and the reviews were only fair. Before Broadway, the creators restaged the big number “Oklahoma” and renamed the show after it. It opened on Broadway on March 31, 1943.
The Shubert in New Haven has hosted more than 600 pre-Broadway tryouts.
An American television series usually begins as a pilot, a single episode made to sell the show to a network. In the traditional cycle, each network hears about 500 pitches every summer, orders about 20 pilots, and chooses four to eight of them as series. By one estimate in Variety, only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television go on to become series.
The first pilot of Star Trek, “The Cage,” did not sell. NBC agreed to a second pilot, and that one became the series.
When a patient in an American hospital insists on leaving before the doctors agree, staff may ask the patient to sign a form saying the discharge is “against medical advice.” This happens about 500,000 times a year, 1% to 2% of all discharges.
Many clinicians assume this label protects them from liability. A 2017 article in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that “the claim is not supported by the available literature.”
In the federal government, the official who certifies a payment is called a certifying officer. Under the law, this person “is responsible for the existence and correctness of the facts in the payment voucher he signs.” The officer is also “personally liable for the amount of any illegal, improper, or incorrect payment.”
Relief is possible for errors made in good faith. In 2007 an office of the Defense Logistics Agency asked for relief on behalf of one of its certifying officers. It concerned four payments totaling $402.81, among them restaurant lunches and coffee cups. The Government Accountability Office denied it.
On September 9, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates sent a memo to federal prosecutors titled “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing.” It said that investigations of companies “should focus on individuals from the inception of the investigation.”
The memo set a condition for companies that wanted leniency. To receive any credit for cooperating, a company had to give prosecutors all relevant facts about the individuals involved, whatever their position or seniority.
Since the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, a candidate’s television and radio ads must include “a statement by the candidate that identifies the candidate and states that the candidate has approved the communication.” This is why almost every American campaign ad contains the sentence “I approve this message.” The rule is known as the “Stand By Your Ad” provision.
The goal was to discourage negative ads, because the candidate would have to own them personally. It did not work. Negative ads continued to grow, and some researchers found that the candidate’s statement made certain attack ads more persuasive.
In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox were one strike from winning their first championship since 1918. In the tenth inning the New York Mets tied it. Mookie Wilson hit a slow ground ball toward first base. Vin Scully called it on television: “Little roller up along first, behind the bag. It gets through Buckner.” The Mets won the game, and two days later the Series.
For years, Boston blamed first baseman Bill Buckner for the loss. He received death threats and moved his family to Idaho. In 2008 he came back to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch at the home opener. The crowd gave him a two-minute ovation. A Boston newspaper headline read “All Is Forgiven.”
Skin in the game. To have skin in the game is to carry a risk yourself, in money or otherwise, because you are involved in the goal. The phrase is often credited to Warren Buffett. William Safire disputed this and pointed to earlier uses. The earliest citation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1976.
Hero or goat. In sports, the goat is the player whose mistake is blamed for the loss. Merriam-Webster gives the example: “In the last inning, a home run can make you the hero, and a strikeout can make you the goat.”
Monday morning quarterback. This is someone who second-guesses. The phrase comes from a fan’s critical review of the weekend’s football game. Merriam-Webster dates it to 1931.
Federal Reserve rules require every large bank holding company to appoint one chief risk officer. The rule was approved on February 18, 2014, under the Dodd-Frank Act. Today it applies to companies with $100 billion or more in assets.
The officer has two bosses. “The chief risk officer must report directly to both the risk committee and chief executive officer of the company.”