George Clooney is charming, wry, funny and beautiful in Up in the Air. This is a very powerful film, not quite an indie film and not quite a studio offering either.

It is snappy and well written with great direction and some terrific performances.

Someone will win an Oscar somewhere associated with this film.

The film did disturb me. It made corporate layoffs feel sinister and ugly – which they are - but they did seem so mechanical and outsourced. Laying someone off is the biggest failure in management. That is how I always felt. You hired them because you believed in your plan. When you fire someone it is very painful and the worst thing ever to do in business. It is ultimately your failure not the employee being fired.

Corporate layoffs are the main reason I will never go work for a big company again.

Public companies get judged by artificial means, quarterly earnings and mostly by faceless analysts who have never worked and managed a P/L center before themselves.

I prefer to start up companies; provide growth capital; hire people; and see companies grow.

For the most part, the Washington Capitals are a growth company. SnagFilms is a growth company. Revolution Money is a growth company as a few examples.

We want to be empathetic employers. We want to try and keep our employees engaged and to grow and provide good career paths and jobs for folks.

This was a very powerful film with an interesting twist at the end for so many pretty people. There were no winners in life at the end. The film’s motto should have been “Life is short and then you will die. Have a nice day.” But the actors are so good you feel good about feeling bad and empty if that makes any sense?