Starting in the 1970's many symphony orchestras began using "blind auditions" to hire musicians. Applicants performed behind a screen which shielded them from the judge's view. Since this practice began, the number of woman in American orchestras increased from about 10% to 35%. Studies conducted since then attribute about 50% of this increase to the use of blind auditions.

If you had asked these orchestras what criteria they were using to select musicians back then, I'm sure they would have told you that they were hiring the "best qualified candidates." And yet we now know that there was a clear, although possibly unconscious, bias in their selection process.

Putting aside the merits of Ms. Pao's particular case, the notion that Silicon Valley has been hiring and promoting the "best qualified candidates" all along has no real supporting evidence. You could argue that technology firms do the best they can with the information available to them. But, that's not a valid argument to maintain the status quo.

There are over 8,000 financial institutions in the US right now. I guarantee that if you look locally, you will find a community bank or credit union that meets your needs and provides all the services of the "big guys."

These institutions are our defense against "to big to fail."

If you move your money to one of these banks you may find that the teller even knows your name when you visit a branch.

Okay, I get it. I really didn't want to sound as if I was defending ASCAP. The post I responded to said that a small business owner could be fined tens of thousands of dollars and be put out of business by turning on a portable radio behind the counter. That simply isn't true.

There are plenty of bad things that ASCAP does that I don't think we need to resort to exaggerations like that.

Okay, I'll give you that. A single person couldn't do it on their own. You need a group of investors and you need to hire experienced people. I guess my point was that there are no artificial barriers to entry.

I've been directly involved in the creation of two banks in my career and indirectly involved in a half-dozen more. Detail vary, but you generally need to raise less than $10 million. You also need a lot of patience. New banks take years to start making money.