Trumped

 Tom Peters had an eye-catching little blurb over on his blog the other day.

A $10,000 investment in "Mr Trump's empire" in 1994 when it went public would result in a valuation of $636 today. (Source: NY Times/Business Day 0706.2007)

Well, I'm sure that anyone who "follows" Trump at all will know that his empire is always on the verge of something or other, so it's no surprise that investing in Trump turned out to have been not so wise.

I'm actually no stranger in bad $10,000 investments, although mine have been closer to home. They've been in places where I've worked: Wang, Genuity.

All I can say about these is "carry forward loss".

I wouldn't have considered investing in Trump for a New York minute.

While I do find him mildly entertaining on occasion, and I'm quite sure he's a highly intelligent man, overall I am put off by oversized, self-promoting egos.

Speaking of which, I also saw recently that The Apprentice, which was supposedly going off the air, is coming back for a few more rounds.

Now, other than the first season, when I have to admit I was riveted, I haven't spent much time watching The Apprentice. I'll catch a few episodes, but, frankly, all those eager-beaver, "Mr. Trump" asskissers start to all look and sound alike.

But I can think of an idea that would really revitalize the show for me.

Have The Donald himself take on The Apprentice tasks. Have Trump come up with the idea and the all-but-the-face-out-front execution and see how he fares. No, you couldn't have him selling lemonade in Central Park. His celebrity draw would bias the results. But you can have him be the mastermind, the brains behind the idea and see how good the idea was.

For those tasks where "a panel of experts" picks the winning team when there's no objective "made more money" to go by, have them blindly and objectively pick the best product idea, ad, whatever - without knowing which one Trump had a hand in.

I'd love to sit there and watch the look on Donald Trump's face as one of the experts said "this is the lamest idea I've ever heard."

Now that would be worth tuning in for.

How about it, Mr. Trump. Wall Street might not love you, but TV - more or less - does. You're always looking for the biggest, the best, the shiniest, the greatest. Are you up for the task? Do you think you have what it takes to be the next apprentice?