[whatok]

I don't agree with a lot of his political views but I'll trust him on the finance and economics front over a majority of politicians given that he worked for Salomon Brothers and arguably was an extremely well-accomplished mayor. Bloomberg is arguably a technology company delivering a product for the finance sector but he absolutely had the prerequisite domain knowledge to launch the company and propel it into what it is today.

[6stringmerc]

Oh I agree regarding the business savvy and intelligence to put out a successful product and maintain a market share. The guy did an absolutely fabulous job of it, and I'm not sure it could be replicated.

Although, having worked in municipal finance on the Street for a couple years (somewhat back office, somewhat deal support) I can honestly say that a lot of the systems and information in certain sectors is pretty dated. As in, not very good by modern standards. The MSRB is trying with EMMA - but because there's no fiscal / competitive reward like in Bloomberg's info providing case, rather it's for regulatory and market stability - but a lot of stuff was still pretty old school.

I've designed an "Information as a Service" program targeting some of the most lucrative sectors in public finance (construction, transportation, education, etc) but still haven't mastered the design / handshakes with needed sources (ex. Thompson Reuters) to really call it ready to debut. Another issue is finding the right price point - Bloomberg's got a racket going, I'd just want to hit a good spot where most businesses could afford access, or put it at a value premium where having the information before others (arranged/conditioned by the system) would be worth larger expense. Eh, good times!