peHUB First Read
* A question VCs should ask before investing: Would you want the company’s product if it were free?
* Joe Biden: “We misread the economy.”
* Heidi Moore: Is Wall Street pay really bouncing back, or are the bonuses bogus?
* Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower as oil tumbles, London falls early, European shares drop, the Nikkei loses 1.4% and Hong Kong also lowers.
* Farmworkers should head to… New York and San Francisco?
* The end of “too big to fail?”
* Factory explosion causes a nationwide Slim Jim shortage. Hopefully this will begin getting the attention it deserves, once the Michael Jackson memorial is over.
* Brooke Hammerling proves she is the queen of Silicon Valley PR, by getting a weekend wet kiss in the NY Times.
* Fred Wilson writes that a VC firm’s customer is the entrepreneur, while LPs are shareholders. Is it that clearly delineated? After all, LPs pay VC firm salaries and other expenses, even if the entrepreneurs all fail.
* Corporate carveouts reemerge (sub req.)
* Marshall has spotted some actual ads on Twitter.
* 3i Group has worked out a rescue package for VNU Business Media.
