David Carr, Who Ya Gonna Call? Ranjit Mathoda!

Two weeks ago, in his "Media Equation" column about Barack Obama's effective use of social networking, David Carr needed an expert to quote who could put things into proper historical perspective. Carr called Ranjit Mathoda, who had written an essay on his blog on that very subject, and who gave Carr an insightful analysis:

“Thomas Jefferson used newspapers to win the presidency, F.D.R. used radio to change the way he governed, J.F.K. was the first president to understand television, and Howard Dean saw the value of the Web for raising money,” said Ranjit Mathoda, a lawyer and money manager who blogs at Mathoda.com. “But Senator Barack Obama understood that you could use the Web to lower the cost of building a political brand, create a sense of connection and engagement, and dispense with the command and control method of governing to allow people to self-organize to do the work.”

Good quote! Can you blame Carr for calling Mathoda less than two weeks later, for a quote on another column? In tomorrow's "Media Equation," Mathoda makes a return appearance, this time talking about the power of Google:

“The most powerful form of advertising is to be exceptional,” said Ranjit Mathoda, an investor and technologist who blogs at Mathoda.com. “Google has created an ecosystem that perpetuates itself by being useful.”

You know what's useful? Ranjit Mathoda! One week he's a lawyer and money manager, the next he's an investor and technologist! That sort of career morphing is very handy when it comes to talking to the press on a variety of topics.

And guess what? According to Mathoda's website, he's a bunch of other things, too:

I’ve attended the University of Illinois (where I barely escaped graduating with degrees in Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science and Economics), Babson College (where I graduated with degrees in Finance and Operations Research), and Boston College Law School (where I obtained a juris doctorate).

I worked for the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on a world trade treaty issue, at the once great law firm of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison on corporate matters, and for many years at the law firm of McGuireWoods on commercial real estate and corporate transactions. I’ve been the primary outside legal counsel to clients such as production company SekretAgent Productions and wireless startup Voce Wireless.

I paint, writes stories and poems, read about a book a day, dabble in designing clever things that may not change the world, and have spent the last year studying the world’s best investment managers in excruciating amounts of detail for purposes that will become clear in the fullness of time.

To be sure, that bio doesn't exactly explain how Mathoda has earned the various titles Carr has given him in print -- for instance, while he's clearly a lawyer, he doesn't say anything about being an investor or money manager or technologist, unless a "technologist" is a fancy word for someone with a website.

Still reporters should take note. If you need an expert quote quickly and painlessly, Mathoda's your man. Next week is probably good, because at the moment, Carr seems to prefer quoting him only every other week.