A cow with a plastic tank strapped to its back to collect methane at Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology.

Side bar…I find this picture funny as hell!!!

I’m sure this is for a great cause and I have nothing against giving to charities…but I wonder how many meals could’ve been purchased with just half of the budget from this campaign? (more…)

Please peep the expression of the guy third from the right!!! 

I can’t front, I would be the same way…how about yourself?

 

This has to be one of, if not the most, creative street vendor ever!  Please peep how the clear plastic bags of air above him are suppose to be the dreams…FREAKIN’ GENUIS!!!

However, there’s some truth to be found in this product since we all have the power to define what’s in the bag to represent our dreams. 

I’m not sure who created this ad, but I think it was an advertising company named Kaizen.

I LOVE UNEXPECTED GROWTH MOMENTS!!!
I thought it was really dope when I discovered that Kaizen is also the name of a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life.

Flogos are taking your marketing to the skies, and then some.  It’ll shape your logotype into a “cloudy” mixture of soap-based foam and helium – and send it off to drift for miles, as high as 6 kilometers up.

Any form can be made (of any color) and almost any specified location covered. The company seems to maintain that “flogo” shapes are environmentally friendly (they just evaporate after a while, and airplanes will fly through them like through any cloud.

(more…)

…if you believe in the notion that everybody wants the same body. (more…)

This is the world’s first solar-powered ferris wheel located at Pacific Park along the Santa Monica Pier in California.  Even with 160,000 lights, the new ferris wheel is 75 percent more energy efficient than the one it replaced.

Now would it be correct to assume that the corporate heads of the energy companies are fully aware of this shift and now are trying to get all they can before their time is up?

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something.  It’s as simple as that.  A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week. But today.  The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”

Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s

This undated photo provided by Dunkin’ Donuts shows a recent online ad featuring Rachael Ray.  Dunkin’ Donuts has chosen to cancel the online advertisement after complaints of the scarf she wore in the ad offers symbolic support for terrorism.

This is proving the point of the art exhibition in the previous post “thought challenging art.”  There are no winners when we have knee jerk reactions which allow the weak and closed minded to set the pace.

I hate the fact that they’re still getting press on this dumbness!!!

The three most important lessons I learned were all from the same book, The Intelligent Investor.  It was written first by (Benjamin) Graham in 1949.  They appear in chapters 8 and chapters 20.

The first is, to look at stocks as pieces of businesses, not as little items on a chart that move around, not as ticker symbols, not as something that might split next week or next month or something of the sort.  But, rather, to look at the business, value the business, divide by the shares outstanding, and decide whether you really want to own a piece of that business at that price.

The second one was his commentary about your attitude toward the stock market.  That it is there to serve you rather than to instruct you, and he used the famous Mr. Market example of that.  That attitude is fundamental to making money in stocks over time.

And the final item he talked about was margin of safety. When you buy a stock that you think is worth 10 dollars, you don’t pay $9.95 for it, because you can’t be that precise in estimating its value.  So you leave a considerable margin of safety for both what you don’t understand and for the vagaries of the future.

And those three ideas, which I learned when I was 19 years old, have been the bedrock of everything I’ve done since.

- Warren Buffett

Adam Osborne was a pioneer in the computer book industry.  He founded Osborne Publishing in 1972, specializing in easy-to-follow computer manuals.  By 1977 Osborne had over 40 titles in its catalog.  In 1979 he sold his company to McGraw Hill for a rumored $3 million, using the money to launch Osborne Computer.

In 1981, Adam Osborne introduced the first portable computer, the Osborne 1.  The computer weighed 23.5 pounds and cost $1,795, just over half the cost of a computer from other manufacturers with comparable features.  The computer ran the popular CP/M operating system and featured a full keyboard and a tiny 5″ built-in monochrome monitor.  The company shipped over 10,000 computers a month and was considered a huge success, earning $6 million in 1981 and by the next year into the $68 million range.

One version of the story says that Osborne Computers collapsed when Adam bragged to the media about two advanced computers the corporation was working on and destroyed the consumer demand for the Osborne 1.  The result was inventory glut and the company was forced to file bankruptcy.  But later research turned up that the machine Osborne had boasted of shipped and put the company back on track until a single executive built up massive debt trying to complete the assembly of older inventory.

 

Knowing what’s being sold in the first 3-5 seconds is a key factor that I’ve always found to be true in effective marketing.

Just because some people think that there’s a sucker born every minute…they don’t have to be so blatant about it.

 

The great thing is that you get to decide who the joke is on!!!

“When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity.  You have the choice.  You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser.  The choice is yours and yours alone.  Refuse to throw in the towel.  Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel.  It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.”

- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

 

This is a great example of someone knowing the core values of their targeted market.

Uhmm, and staying true to who I am…this would be the best roll of quarters spent since Pac-man!!!

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.  Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary.”

- Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder

“Most of entrepreneurship, for me, is about instinct and intuition.  Many times I have been asked by someone considering a new venture if he should go for it.  But an entrepreneur knows instinctively when to go for it.”

- Michael Dell, Founder and Chairman, Dell

The perfect invention for all of us who burn the midnight oil trying to get out our dreams. 

I want to direct this message to all those who desire to make a living doing it their own way. First let me say that I’m all for being in a category of one. All those who know me will agree that I have no problem with the spotlight being on me. When you’re attempting to do it your own way, I believe it’s your responsibility to stand out from the crowd. If not, how else would you get noticed?

However, don’t get too caught up in being so unique that you no longer have a use. It’s equally and/or more YOUR responsibility to present yourself in a manner which you can be used.

One of the most influential college tours to date, Break into the Music, will return to North Carolina Central University for its third annual conference on April 9, 2008.

I will have the honor of speaking on a panel discussing the works of W.E.B. Dubois’ theory of the Talented Tenth. This is a town hall discussion with some of the most influential people in Entertainment, Politics, Education, and Religion that also will be discussing other key issues affecting America today.

If you’re in the area, join me and others at the B.N. Duke Auditorium from 4:40pm to 5:00pm.

See complete schedule at www.breakintothemusic.net/schedule

This three-dimensional face scanner will be used to register individual details of passengers at airports.  It represents the latest technology available from Siemens.

Now if they could only do something where I wouldn’t have to take off my shoes!

I guess the boundaries of product placement  has no bounds.  You can now find scantily dressed mannequins standing in suggestive poses in the mens’ and ladies’ bathrooms at Portugal’s Eight Avenue mall.

Now I’m all for innovation, but I’m more into creating positive thought associations.  This point of sales location is…uhmm…not so good to me.  I’m sure I wouldn’t be thinking is that the new 08 Spring line in that situation.  However, I do commend whoever thought of the idea and had the confidence to sell it.

Esthetically…I dig it!

I’ve often use the example, “if someone can sell a Pet Rock, you can sell anything,” when speaking to budding entrepreneurs. Well, someone has proven my point!

Think about those focus group sessions!  Who did they determine would want to give Pee & Poo as a gift?  And what does the person think of whom they’re giving Pee & Poo as a gift  Imagine them saying, “Uhmm…I saw this Pee & Poo and thought of you.”

What fascinates me the most about this product is trying to figure out the inspiration.  Did the thought come when changing a diaper or right before a flush?  Maybe it was while walking a dog or attempting to put a positive spin on cleaning bed pans at a hospital.  Either way, I commend them for taking their thought from concept to completion.

Now for all those who continue to doubt themselves, just always remember what someone did with Pee & Poo!!!

This is a great example of how business should be done!

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jay-Z is close to reaching a $150 million deal with Live Nation Inc., that will give the concert promoter a stake in virtually every aspect of the rapper and entrepreneur’s career, according to news reports.

The contract covers Jay-Z’s music and music-related businesses for the next 10 years, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites late Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the agreement.

As part of the arrangement, Jay-Z would get a $25 million upfront payment, plus advance payments of $10 million per album for a minimum of three albums and $25 million toward concert tours.  The company would also pay $20 million in exchange for publishing, licensing and other rights.

Live Nation was also expected to commit $50 million to finance Jay-Z’s investments and his entertainment venture, to be called Roc Nation, which is expected to include his own record label, music publishing, talent consulting and managing projects.

“I’ve turned into the Rolling Stones of hip-hop,” Jay-Z told the Times.

Like I told you before Jay, you inspire me!

“I never would have started JetBlue unless I had the experience of starting another airline and I guarantee that I never would have started JetBlue at J.F.K. airport if I had listened to the experts, who said that you can’t put a low-fare, customer-centric airline in New York.  But I knew we could do it, and I had a wealth of experience behind me that I trusted to make JetBlue a reality.” – David Neeleman, JetBlue founder

I think this is dead on and most entrepreneurs can relate to having a so called expert tell them that their dream won’t work. Never listen to the naysayer!

This is a well written (and long) article by Jessica Seid, a staff writer at CNNMoney.com, that I often share with my start-up clients.  I relate to most of the tips as it pertains to my entrepreneur journey, especially tip #9.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Starting a business from scratch is the ultimate gamble, so before you throw in all of your chips, take some advice from a former airline executive who built a small business out of helping others build theirs.  Some 464,000 people on average start new businesses each month, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.  But according to the Small Business Administration, only two-thirds of new businesses last at least two years, and 44 percent survive for at least four years.  So for those who have already gone down the entrepreneurial road or are just thinking about it, Neil Anderson, president of The Courage Group, a services firm for entrepreneurs, offers these tips for avoiding the start up graveyard. (more…)