I am a new contributor to this site and I hope you like my work. I am very familiar with WordPress but I am not a comedian. This is a probationary article so it was mailed in with HTML tags. More about me some other time. Now I just want to explain what I find to be inconsistent narratives. Sometimes you folks accuse the CEO of being incompetent and an idiot. Other times you say she is the root of all evil that has befallen TWiT and is in control of everything. Those two opinions can not co-exist.
So I Offer you four possible theorems:
Theory 1: A CEO
This is the theory TD.N’s readership does not want to hear. According to this interpretation, everything Leo has said about Lisa is true. She started out doing the books and became invaluable to the company. She turned the company into a major network and built the studio. She is a prodigy and possesses amazing business skills. Without her, Leo would be nowhere. She has negotiated deals very few of her peers could have done. She saved the company money by bringing sales in-house. It was her, not Leo’s, idea to negotiate ownership of the radio shows podcast rights. She often butts heads with Leo on issues and makes major decisions.
Proponents:
Mike Elgan, Divorce Attorney, Scooterx, Padre, Glenn, Dan, Mick, Snell, Beckee, Effendun, Josh
Theory 2: A Whatever
This is the least interesting, salacious or far fetched scenario. According to this viewpoint, Leo is a highly intelligent man who runs the business. He fully understands sales, media, bookkeeping, advertising and how to run a company. He does not have time for details like paying bills so he had Lisa do that. Because she is his girlfriend (if you like her) or Whore (If you hate her) Leo did what many people do across the world. They gave family a job. Her main function is as the buffer between Leo and the staff. This also serves the charade that Leo is doing TWiT for the fans and doesn’t care or know about the money. Leo is loose with superlatives and just as he made Elgan News Director, he made her CEO. In actuality they are meaningless titles bestowed by Leo. We will use new show ideas as an example of how this relationship works – She will meet with a host about a prospective show and later summarize the meeting for Leo who will make the decision. At most she gets to whisper in his hear and make minor decisions. She double-checks everything with Leo.
Proponents:
Leo, Lisa, Jeff_N, Dan, Brushwood, JuRY, Dr_mom, Christina Warren, Elise Hu, Carly
Theory 3: A Moron
As in theory 2, this hypothesis allows for two ways to look at the girlfriend/whore option based on your personal feelings. It is virtually the exact same thought process as #2 except for her initial qualifications. In #3 it is assumed she is a moron and incapable of anything. She is a huge detriment to the company and what little input she does have is wrong. Whenever Leo makes a bad decision i.e. Lanigan, Tom, PadreSJ, Elgan, leasing-the-studio, etc, she never does anything but agree. She works 15 hours a week and most of that time is spent browsing the internet and playing pretend CEO. She enjoys walking back & forth in heels.
Proponents:
Captain Juno, Eric Lanigan, TWiT Staff, insuranceGuy, Richardya, Damon Wayans, ihategoogelplus, Emojit3ch, Dvorak, Sarah, Houdini7, Ring Central Guy, Collin
Theory 4: A Witch
This is the one that most of the people who hate her adhere to. They believe she is a money grubbing harlot. She cares about nothing and no one aside from money, including Laporte himself. She enjoys firing people and ruining lives. Everything bad about Leo is a result of her. She is trying to kill Leo by feeding him to death.
Proponents:
Helloworld, NY Critic, Lkalif, @leolaportesucks, TWiT Uncovered, J.S., Adam, Amber, Chad J, Radford, iYaz
The combinations and variations are endless and the level are infinite so you may well have your own theory made up of some of these theories.
The main difference between 3 and 4 is also, who is to blame. If you go by #3 then you blame #soup and not #salad
Richard Yes» Quote comment
I was left out as a Theory #3 proponent….
John» Quote comment
Thanks Insurance Guy. I enjoy hearing different opinions. I listen to podcasts from CNN, Democracy Now, ABC, NBC, and heaven help me, Fox News (fortunately they are short).
a disillusioned twit fan» Quote comment
>> Sometimes you folks accuse the CEO of being incompetent and an idiot. Other times you say she is the root of all evil that has befallen TWiT and is in control of everything. Those two opinions can not co-exist.
I think it’s a big mistake to pigeonhole anyone into specified prejudices, and using extremes like ‘all’ or ‘everything’ just makes any argument even less valid. Also, why can’t two, often inter-related, opinions be applied?
People are very complex and there’s usually no singular definition to discriminate anyone in an accurate way. I think Lisa is both incompetent and evil. but at the same time I don’t think there’s any indication she’s an idiot or the source of ‘all’ the problems TWIT is undergoing.
thoughtpolyp» Quote comment
I honestly think she is:
Theory 2: A Whatever
Why? Because I may have not dealt with Leo before, but this type as a small business owner is a dime a dozen.
HE created The Tech Guy. HE created TWiT. HE negotiated his radio deals. HE decided on who gets fired/fired.
I think he hired Lisa because to get advertisers who will be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can’t present yourself as a one-person shop. He had to give the impression there’s a CEO running the show, and Leo’s just an employee.
But the CEO title is completely powerless, because there’s no board of directors – no way to oust Leo – and even if they could get rid of Leo, they wouldn’t because he’s likely got his name all over contracts no advertiser or the public would ever see.
I also think Leo figured he could basically “pay” for his girlfriend by giving her a job, and the best paying one at TWiT besides his. This way, she has her “own” money, and Leo can avoid paying out of his pocket to support a girlfriend (which would be out of disposable income after tax) and he can use her salary as tax writeoffs for the business in general. Would not shock me if Lisa wasn’t getting a $400-500k annual salary to be CEO, if not more.
I really do think Lisa is there for show, and was chosen for arbitrary reason, like Elgum was (not a threat whatsoever to Leo, but is robotic enough to do the boring news job he’s given).
I do think Lisa’s aware of her place in Leo’s plan as well, and that’s part of the deal – she gets safety in supporting his plan to get big advertisers by being a phony CEO, and he gets a screwbuddy and someone to do the dirty work for him. She’s not a robot like Elgummo, but she doesn’t really have the final say, behind the scenes.
Scott» Quote comment
Wasn’t she screwing that lighting guy friend of Alex Lindsay when the brick house was being built?
Jake ryan» Quote comment
I subscribe to #1 but I do believe that she knows nothing about network programming and content. She needs to stay out of making those decisions. She should stick to the business side and let Leo make content and program decisions.
And she should stop treating him like a baby. Stop trying to reign him in. Let Leo be himself. Twit is nothing without Leo.
Leoflub» Quote comment
4 most accurate. She doesn’t seem to care about people. She has average intelligence. She has little self-confidence. Was an ugly duckling in school and now feels the need to prove how awesome she is. I don’t know if she’s always been this way, but there is zero compassion or remorse in her for anything.
Jeff Stewart» Quote comment
…..don’t forget, Jennifer is in the wings, waiting for her half, in the end (and I do mean end) the HO should be scared shitless in the shithouse…..this will not end pretty………
Delusional» Quote comment
I don’t know California divorce law, but I was under the impression Jennifer can force the sale of twit and take half of the proceeds. I wish she would do that.
Jeff Stewart» Quote comment