tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52176746996820830262024-02-19T01:11:57.960-05:00Peter GascaPGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-80104125345011743502014-11-23T09:37:00.003-05:002014-11-23T09:40:34.924-05:00The Perfect SEO Optimized Site<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5k9vwIwEjK95lmI80Fmzmggenai9FOgS0EfZQBXJ-XEdykmXCPtTHoNcNgxmRVKiyVj9XmD5KqcbtoMEk6-sDJ8OYkFpyrOk7FkQ0WcSKpNOemydHARsCA4lYxKe5syhMJ6zEXyZraA/s1600/SEO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5k9vwIwEjK95lmI80Fmzmggenai9FOgS0EfZQBXJ-XEdykmXCPtTHoNcNgxmRVKiyVj9XmD5KqcbtoMEk6-sDJ8OYkFpyrOk7FkQ0WcSKpNOemydHARsCA4lYxKe5syhMJ6zEXyZraA/s1600/SEO.jpg" height="131" width="200" /></a></div>
Everyone once in a while when I find a good piece of information, I like to park it here for future reference. This inforgraphic is a great breakdown of how to fully optimize your webpage and content for SEO, based on Google's algorithms. Check it out at <a href="http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/11/21/how-to-structure-a-perfect-seo-optimized-page/" target="_blank">QuickSprout</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/11/21/how-to-structure-a-perfect-seo-optimized-page/"><img alt="How to Structure a Perfect SEO Optimized Page" border="0" src="http://quicksprout.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/How-to-Structure-a-Perfect-SEO-Optimized-Page-2.jpg" title="How to Structure a Perfect SEO Optimized Page" /></a></div>
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Courtesy of: <a href="http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/11/21/how-to-structure-a-perfect-seo-optimized-page/">Quick Sprout</a></div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-81483875373089747252014-11-10T23:30:00.001-05:002014-11-10T23:30:20.669-05:00President Urges Net Neutrality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnjiuHzLn_36uZw_azSJe_XcxWvZG5TN1ykvFRUmjSXza-fWRrB6OA8zJzw4bAPzMWZgU_M8v9NGuns6HZNe7NQG-P5QmIZ2S1Yth_9p58zLtsDj7fsi2zdBjSgfT6sCLsPj3WT9gaFM/s1600/McCain_Net_Neutrality_350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnjiuHzLn_36uZw_azSJe_XcxWvZG5TN1ykvFRUmjSXza-fWRrB6OA8zJzw4bAPzMWZgU_M8v9NGuns6HZNe7NQG-P5QmIZ2S1Yth_9p58zLtsDj7fsi2zdBjSgfT6sCLsPj3WT9gaFM/s1600/McCain_Net_Neutrality_350.jpg" height="168" width="200" /></a></div>
The fight for Net Neutrality continues. Like him or not, I am happy to see President Obama come out in full support. And for more information, <a href="http://www.petergasca.com/2014/09/internet-slow-down-day.html" target="_blank">check out this post</a> with links to sites where you can join the fight to keep the internet free and fair for everyone. Cheers.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152946534454238">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse">The White House</a>.</div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-71531082332834085862014-10-06T13:51:00.001-04:002014-10-06T13:51:29.204-04:00YIncubator Paul Graham Give Entrepreneurs Great Advice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Paul Graham from <a href="http://www.ycombinator.com/" target="_blank">YIncubator</a> is a legend when it comes to startups. So when he speaks, we should all listen. He spoke recently to a class of Stanford students, the transcript of which can be found on his website here. Business Insider <a href="https://twitter.com/ajs" target="_blank">Alyson Shontell</a> at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_357776616"></span>Business insider<span id="goog_357776617"></span></a> did a great job summarizing it, however, so below is her piece repurposed. Enjoy!</span></div>
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His main point: Startups are counterintuitive. If you want to start one, there are six unusual things you should realize about running a company.<br />
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"Startups are so weird that if you trust your instincts, you'll make a lot of mistakes," Graham writes.<br />
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Here are the main points he makes:<br />
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<li><b>While you shouldn't always trust your instincts about how to run a startup, you should trust your instincts when it comes to hiring people</b>. "One of the most common mistakes young founders make is not to do that enough," Graham says. If you feel someone is a jerk or your gut says something with someone is off, listen.</li>
<li><b>Don't be an expert on startups, be an expert on users</b>. Graham thinks learning too much about how startups are typically run can be dangerous, because it can make it tempting to "play house" and go through the motions of running a company (raising money, getting a big office, hiring lots of people) before you actually have a viable business. Graham points out that Mark Zuckerberg was not a startup expert when he started Facebook, he just knew the user base really well.</li>
<li><b>You can't gamify a startup</b>. While you may be able to get ahead in school or at a corporation by "gaming" the system or sucking up to a teacher or boss, there are no corners you can cut with a startup. "There is no boss to trick, only users," says Graham. He warns that sometimes, investors can be tricked or gamed and they'll give questionable startups cash. But this only wastes the founder's time because if a business idea isn't strong, it will fail anyway.</li>
<li><b>Startups take over your life more than you can possibly imagine</b>. "Startups are all-consuming," Graham writes. Startups are even difficult to run once they become big companies, like Google and Facebook. Graham notes that Page has been running Google since he was 25 and probably still feels like he hasn't had a chance to rest.</li>
<li><b>More on that same thought</b>: "Starting a successful startup is similar to having kids in that it's like a button you push that changes your life irrevocably," Graham says.</li>
<li><b>It's almost impossible to tell if you're the type of person who's up for a startup before you try</b>. "Starting a startup will change you a lot," says Graham. "What you're trying to estimate is not just what type of person you are, but what you could grow into, and who can do that?"</li>
<li><b>Don't try to think up a startup idea</b>. "It's how Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook all got started," Graham says. "None of these companies were even meant to be companies at first. They were all just side projects. The best startups almost have to start as side projects, because great ideas tend to be such outliers that your conscious mind would reject them as ideas for companies."</li>
<li><b>His ultimate startup advice</b>: learn everything you possibly can. "At its best, starting a startup is merely an ulterior motive for curiosity," says Graham. "So here is the ultimate advice for young would-be startup founders, boiled down to two words: just learn."</li>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-61656096505112373322014-10-03T09:15:00.001-04:002014-10-03T09:16:00.018-04:00#MusicFriday Radiohead Unplugged in Paris 2003These guys are just great. Found this digging around looking for my Friday music inspiration. Enjoy!<br /><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eWZdi4Atr-U" width="459"></iframe>PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-85463304600906440112014-10-02T10:00:00.000-04:002014-10-03T09:04:45.153-04:00Five Year Anniversary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There is nothing like an anniversary to make you reflect on the last few years. More important, a five year anniversary has special meaning to me, as it represents a time frame in my life when I have typically changed careers, moved to a new place, or picked up a new hobby. I follow fairly closely to the "Seven Year Itch" philosophy, with the exception that my time frame is five years.<br />
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This anniversary is different, however, as it is the five year anniversary of my marriage to my amazing wife. Unlike five year itches of the past, I have no urge to move, uproot or change wives. In fact, unlike anything that has happened to me in the past, I feel that after five years, this marriage is stronger than it was. </div>
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It helps that it doesn't feel like five years.</div>
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I am going to therefore use this benchmark in my life to make a few changes in my other life. I've always enjoyed writing, and now that I have an audience at <a href="http://www.inc.com/author/peter-gasca" target="_blank">Inc</a> and <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/author/peter-gasca" target="_blank">Entrepreneur</a> who will listen to my incessant ramblings about business and entrepreneurship, that which I enjoy and, for the most part, pays the bills, I would like to turn this blog back into what it was originally intended for ... an outlet for my personal and creative musings. </div>
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I don't anticipate getting a readership here, but that wasn't originally the purpose. I won't use pictures (unless necessary for me job my memory about something), and I won't follow the typical 400 word, bullet pointed format that we all demand of our blogs these days. My goal is to make this blog a diary of sorts, for me and my children. </div>
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I've already started to document my times with <a href="http://www.yumbev.com/" target="_blank">Yumbev</a>, the startup craft brewery idea I hatched and have been working with Startup.SC to refine, and I will make it a more honest depiction of the trials and tribulations of startup entrepreneurship. </div>
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I will use this space to also curate some of the better stuff on the web I find. Again, in an effort to make it more entertaining for anyone who does chose to follow it.</div>
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So, happy anniversary to my wonderful wife. Tebya lyublyu!</div>
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Cheers!</div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-50375413994031285152014-09-23T11:40:00.001-04:002014-09-23T11:40:56.757-04:00Be The Bacon Not The Bread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLz-sAu03oUxUnFhObFBQSRSQOl_e2p02065VIo9As6mMN5Lb2iWMcodLDY3N_GEFVydC-bwQ3huLk-sxP1INGk0a9PiFLksviL_eswffxSA8j0NyasnI_teYpc02ILhfCIc4G4T3If0/s1600/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27bab970b-500wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLz-sAu03oUxUnFhObFBQSRSQOl_e2p02065VIo9As6mMN5Lb2iWMcodLDY3N_GEFVydC-bwQ3huLk-sxP1INGk0a9PiFLksviL_eswffxSA8j0NyasnI_teYpc02ILhfCIc4G4T3If0/s1600/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27bab970b-500wi.jpg" height="140" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">As the business behind <a href="http://www.yumbev.com/" target="_blank">Yumbev</a> continues to take form, I am reminded that the "idea" behind the business, or the reason it is profoundly exciting, is probably the most important thing to consider. I know the concept can work, but even great execution is pointless if you, your team and the consumers are not excited about the product. This was hammered home with a recently <a href="http://avc.com/2014/09/reblog-minimum-viable-personality/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AVc+%28A+VC%29" target="_blank">post</a> by <a href="http://www.avc.com/" target="_blank">Fred Wilson</a>. I have re-posted below. Cheers!</span></div>
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<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MINIMUM VIABLE PERSONALITY</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MOST IMPORTANT STEP FOR BUILD PRODUCT IS BUILD PRODUCT.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">SECOND MOST IMPORTANT IS BUILD PERSONALITY FOR PRODUCT.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NO HAVE PERSONALITY? PRODUCT BORING, NO ONE WANT.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27bab970b.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: auto 1px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-image: url(http://avc.com/wp-content/themes/avc/images/link-underline-bg.png); background-position: 0px 92%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: auto 1px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #648cb4; display: inline; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="BREADORBACON" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27bab970b" src="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27bab970b-500wi.jpg" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 236, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px -3px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="BREADORBACON" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PERSONALITY BETTER THAN MARKETING</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHEN CHOOSE PRODUCT, HUMANS ONLY CARE ABOUT DOES WORK, AND IS INTERESTING.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">WORLD ALREADY FULL OF THINGS DO WORK. MOST BORING.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PERSONALITY = INTERESTING. INTERESTING = CARE. CARE = TALK. </span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">EVERYONE CARE AND TALK ABOUT PRODUCT? YOU WIN.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5e878970c.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: auto 1px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-image: url(http://avc.com/wp-content/themes/avc/images/link-underline-bg.png); background-position: 0px 92%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: auto 1px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #648cb4; display: inline; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="CAREPLUSTALKISWIN" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5e878970c" src="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5e878970c-500wi.jpg" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 236, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px -3px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="CAREPLUSTALKISWIN" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">SELL TO FRIENDS, NOT STRANGERS</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PERSONALITY MAKE PRODUCT FRIEND. YOU HELP FRIEND. YOU FORGIVE WHEN FRIEND NOT PERFECT. YOU WANT FRIEND WIN.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BORING STRANGER?… YOU NOT.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PERSONALITY IS API FOR LOYALTY. NO ONE CARE WHICH BORING STRANGER IS NEXT. BUT ALWAYS WANT FRIEND NEXT. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27b0d970b.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: auto 1px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-image: url(http://avc.com/wp-content/themes/avc/images/link-underline-bg.png); background-position: 0px 92%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: auto 1px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #648cb4; display: inline; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="LOYALTYPORT" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27b0d970b" src="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27b0d970b-500wi.jpg" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 236, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px -3px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="LOYALTYPORT" /></span></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">PERSONALITY MAKE MEANING</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CAN PET ROCK. PET DOG BETTER. PET DOG HAVE MEANING.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BORING PRODUCT IS ROCK. NO HAVE MEANING. INTERACT WITH PERSONALITY DIFFERENT. HAVE MEANING.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">INTERESTING PRODUCT THAT GIVE FRIENDS MEANING = MOST WIN OF ALL.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5ea4a970c.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: auto 1px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-image: url(http://avc.com/wp-content/themes/avc/images/link-underline-bg.png); background-position: 0px 92%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: auto 1px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #648cb4; display: inline; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="NOTAROCK" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5ea4a970c" src="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015435c5ea4a970c-500wi.jpg" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 236, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px -3px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="NOTAROCK" /></span></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HOW NOT BE BORING</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HAVE PERSONALITY EASY. ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS:</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. HOW YOU CHANGE CUSTOMER’S LIFE? </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. WHAT YOU STAND FOR?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. WHO OR WHAT YOU HATE?</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NOW HAVE MISSION, VALUES, ENEMY. THAT ENOUGH FOR MINIMUM VIABLE PERSONALITY.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">KEEP IN BRAIN WHEN WRITE, TALK, BLOG, TWEET. ITERATE. IMPROVE WHAT WORK. DELETE WHAT NOT. PERSONALITY GROW.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NO BE CHICKEN</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CHICKEN LIVE IN CAGE. NO CAN HAVE PERSONALITY INSIDE CAGE. </span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">LAST STEP IS SMASH CAGE, LIGHT BARN ON FIRE.</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #33393a; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">DO THAT, YOU WIN.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27a24970b.jpg" style="-webkit-background-size: auto 1px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://avc.com/wp-content/themes/avc/images/link-underline-bg.png); background-position: 0px 92%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: auto 1px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #648cb4; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="CHICKENWIN" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27a24970b" src="http://avc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/6a00d83451b2c969e2015391f27a24970b-500wi.jpg" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(232, 236, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px -3px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="CHICKENWIN" /></a></div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-55386558395083752392014-09-17T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-20T06:55:32.477-04:00When A Big Idea Needs To Be Bigger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday, we had our first cohort meeting for Startup.SC. The purpose of the meeting, as well will be the purpose of every subsequent meeting for the next two months, is to gauge progress and assure we are meeting benchmarks in our pitch presentation in November. While I am still comfortable with where Yumbev is, I am behind where it should be.<br />
<a name='more'></a>One of the biggest issues is where to start. As with any complicated machine, there are several levers that need to be pulled, while simultaneously watching a number of gears and gauges to see where the machine is heading. Compounding the progress is time constraints, though as any entrepreneur will tell you, is nothing more than an excuse. And, to a certain degree, this is true in my case.<br />
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Compounding the compounding of issues, I heard a spectacular podcast today called <a href="http://hearstartup.com/" target="_blank">Startup</a>, created by Alex Bloomburg, the produced of Planet Money and contributor to <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/contributors/alex-blumberg" target="_blank">This American Life</a>. In the podcast, Alex is documenting, via this new podcast, his decision to branch out into his own entrepreneurial venture and create a business producing, what else, podcasts.<br />
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If you have the opportunity, check out the podcast. Episode one is great because he lands the opportunity to meet with one of the most prolific angel investors in Silicon Valley, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sacca" target="_blank">Chris Sacca</a> ... and he subsequently bombs, in an epic manner, his pitch. Luckily, he is given amazing tips (which if you are readying yourself for a pitch is a must-listen) on how to improve.<br />
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The most profound part for me, however, was in the episode two, when he gets the redemption opportunity to meet with Chris Sacca's partner, Matt Mazzeo, and pitch his idea again. This time, Alex is prepared, and he has hyped his idea to such a grandiose idea that he himself is unsure about how he is going to pull it off. He is convinced that this idea, which he could not imagine being any bigger, would ever fly. At the end of the meeting, he is shocked by what Matt tells him.<br />
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His idea is not big enough.</div>
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And there it is. As I am crafting this idea for Yumbev to "do for craft beer what Starbucks did for coffee", as grand as that is, I am not convinced it is big enough. There has to be more to it than just brewing and selling beer. Granted, I want to change consumers' preference for beer on a grander scale ... but how?<br />
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Therein lies the challenge to consider and lose sleep over the next few days. More than likely, it will come to me, as most ideas do, over a pint of craft beer, then scribbled on a bar napkin and shoved into my pocket. </div>
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Anyway, The Startup podcast is such a good listen, I've embedded episode one for your convenience below.<br />
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Enjoy, and remember ... think BIG(GER)!<br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-62319238786228182892014-09-10T07:00:00.000-04:002014-09-13T08:01:17.015-04:00Internet Slow Down Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have trumpeted the call to <a href="http://www.petergasca.com/2014/05/3-calls-to-action-for-net-neutrality.html" target="_blank">step up for Net Neutrality</a> on a <a href="http://www.petergasca.com/2014/01/who-killed-net-neutrality.html" target="_blank">few occasions</a>, but today we again need to draw attention to the threat the cable companies pose to our internet freedoms. Check out the the "<a href="https://www.battleforthenet.com/sept10th/" target="_blank">Join the Battle for Net Neutrality</a>" site and do one of the following:<script async="" src="//widget.battleforthenet.com/widget.min.js"></script><br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-60622156118164521862014-09-08T06:53:00.000-04:002014-09-20T06:54:05.564-04:00Inaugural Startup Meeting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The inaugural meeting of our cohort in Startup.SC was a great. The other four teams have amazing idea, and of all five, Yumbev is the only without an MVP (minimum viable product). It is, in fact, the only company that is still at idea stage. It is also the only plan that, thus far, is an asset based company, although I can completely foresee that merging or morphing or transitioning into something different/better/who knows.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The project manager, Jason Greene, is a great guy, bringing with him years of military experience and discipline that startups truly need. In these early stages of a business, it is so easy to get distracted with the ten thousand or so to-do list items and the myriad of thoughts, ideas and doubts streaming in your subconscious. Jason is here to make sure that we stay on target.<br />
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Laid in front of us is two intense months of developing a pitch deck and a pitch, and a weekly meeting in which we will all have the lovely privileged of presenting both to our peers and invited guests. It is during these two months that we will stumble and stutter, be laughed at and laugh at others, be supportive and attack like a true devil's advocate. Much like boot camp, we are but privates in a small army of startups, with as much or even more naivety and bravado than a true army PFC. I fully anticipate in the coming weeks that this confidence and childlike enthusiasm and excitement will be beat into a well disciplined and professional pitch that will inspire even the most timid investor to consider.<br />
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At least that's the plan.<br />
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For now, however, we have a strict time line with clear and concise deliverables to attack. For me and Yumbev, our next steps are to find and curate the team with whom we will grow this company into one of the larger companies in the country ... or give every drop of sweat trying.<br />
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Since I like laying ground work for any offensive (to continue with the military theme), one of my priorities is to develop a logo and identity, and eventually a landing page for this endeavor, so that I can then make business cards and begin to schedule meetings. It is a difficult task, considering that I am not completely sure of what this beast will look like yet. Regardless, we'll hammer that out this week, at least a "Phase I Identity", knowing full well that this is not how it will look in a year or two.<br />
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Meetings are Tuesdays, so until then ... cheers.</div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-12757985034616365362014-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-20T06:52:40.977-04:00Validating a Startup Idea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEpfpJtab5urLSgQe_gK5gsMD5FJfs3AuA75jIjCzcAwb8LUh4ypNwtyNVPGG8S-FwQ13K9eexqQnQaLN6w02Ouk9JQOv306Usmu21vMIehh9SIUp9tJR556e3Fwyrj6nNbEhbJ2HXbY/s1600/beer37.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEpfpJtab5urLSgQe_gK5gsMD5FJfs3AuA75jIjCzcAwb8LUh4ypNwtyNVPGG8S-FwQ13K9eexqQnQaLN6w02Ouk9JQOv306Usmu21vMIehh9SIUp9tJR556e3Fwyrj6nNbEhbJ2HXbY/s1600/beer37.gif" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
The genesis behind Yumbev is simple: Craft beer is really good. Not many people understand how much better it is. Help more people appreciate good craft beer.<br />
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Of course, coming up with the idea is easy. The follow up is a little more tricky.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The concept behind Yumbev, as well as the goal of <a href="http://www.startup.sc/" target="_blank">Startup.SC</a>, is to create a scalable business that can reach $10 million, fast. For a small brewery, reaching that goal is a lofty idea. Just staying in business for more than a year is probably a more realistic goal.<br />
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To be honest, I have never been one to set my goals on a small business, so the idea creating something much larger and scalable has always been much more appealing. From the outside looking in, the craft beer industry seemed primed for a business model that somehow leveraged the fundamentals of brewing and the uniqueness and draw of independent and local branding to create a company that could grow beyond one brewery.<br />
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Outside of the behemoth US brewers (AB Imbev, Coors, and Miller), even the largest craft breweries operate no more than two breweries, with the vast majority operating one. With 3300-plus craft breweries strung across the country, it means there is an immense amount of fragmentation and, if you look at the industry as a whole, redundancy.<br />
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That's where the idea of Yumbev was spawned. How can you create a chain, or franchise, or holdings of breweries who maintain their independent identities while consolidating redundant overhead, leverage inventory economies of scale, and better focus marketing and promotion dollars? Frankly, I am actually shocked that it has not happened yet.<br />
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Of course there is <a href="http://www.gordonbiersch.com/beer/hand-crafted-beers" target="_blank">Gordon Biersch</a>, and smaller examples such as <a href="http://www.libertytaproom.com/" target="_blank">Liberty Tap Room</a>, with four locations around South Carolina. There are undoubtedly more and, probably, more planned, so why not be at the forefront of this movement?<br />
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The idea is just an idea at this point. It requires a great deal more thought and planning. With the help of Startup.SC, I am excited for not only the resources they bring but the motivation they create. It is time to move the idea forward.<br />
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See also <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237455" target="_blank">Inc.com:Validate Your Business Idea -- Quickly -- With These 5 Steps</a></div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-22763774192693430772014-09-05T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-20T06:50:40.030-04:00Brewing an Idea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The idea for Yumbev was actually quite easily concocted. The incredible growth of the craft beer industry, paired with my love for home brewing and all things craft beer, made the idea of opening a brewery business something on the back burner of my mind for many years. As I watched the industry grow and blossom and firsthand took part in partaking in and tasting as many craft beers as I could lay my hands on, the desire grew stronger. There was just one problem.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The primary thing holding me back from venturing into my own brewery business was the fact that my life over the last few years was anything but settled. From business school to working overseas to returning to the US and starting a company, there was never an opportune time.<br />
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Of course, with little more than home brewing experience, I also lacked any necessary prowess of brewing beer on a commercial scale. I had been brewing since 2012, although my interest goes back ten or so years when my brother first gifted me a home brewing book and DVD, which for many years say on my shelf gathering dust. That year, my wife, probably tired of my relentless complaining that I wanted to try home brewing but never had the time or motivation, bought me a <a href="http://www.mrbeer.com/" target="_blank">Mr. Beer</a> kit to get started. After that, it was on.<br />
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I brewed a few Mr. Beer extract beers, carefully analyzing and learning the skills of the trade, or at least as much as an extract beer kit could provide. Shortly after, I moved to all grain, doing one and three gallon batches, experimenting and carefully noting results along the way. Over the period of a few months, I had most of the equipment necessary to do a small batch every week. After that I was hooked.<br />
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That's when I wrote the first draft of the Yumbev business plan, which like my first home brewing book sat on the shelf for a few years.<br />
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In 2013, I divested the interest in the company I founded seven years earlier, <a href="http://www.wildcreations.com/" target="_blank">Wild Creations</a>. While I was still running the company, I was getting restless and fidgety. For the most part, my career has been broken into five to seven years gaps, perhaps my own personal "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_seven-year_itch" target="_blank">seven year itch</a>", and this was no different. I started following craft beer news and even set up my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/yumbev" target="_blank">Yumbev Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/yumbev" target="_blank">Twitter</a> accounts to curate news.<br />
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The next logical step was to get started.<br />
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When the announcement asking for business submissions be turned in for the first round of the <a href="http://www.startup.sc/">Startup.SC</a> small business incubator, I filled out an application with the proposal and crossed my fingers.<br />
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Which brings me to now, with the opportunity to leverage the amazing team at Startup.SC to make this dream a reality. It is going to be a long road, and the business plan is still being hatched, but the motivation is now stronger than ever.<br />
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I can only hope that it is contagious enough to attract the right set of people to join in.<br />
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Cheers!<br />
<br /></div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-80118423772797700412014-09-03T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-20T06:49:22.661-04:00Starting Up With Startup.SC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today was an extraordinary day. The business concept that has been swirling around in my head for well over two years has been accepted to the <a href="http://www.startup.sc/">Startup.SC</a> business incubator. The idea, Yumbev, is a unique craft brewery business model that I hope capitalizes on the tremendous growth in the industry and South Carolina's recently changed legislation (not my 30 second pitch). The idea, which I drafted into a business plan a couple of years ago and which has accompanied me in a purple file folder collecting notes on napkins and articles torn from magazines, is something of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hairy_Audacious_Goal" target="_blank">BHAG</a> but one I know could work. Luckily, the team at Startup.SC believes in it, so it now appears that dream is going to be put to the test. .<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
With the business plan "semi" completed, this opportunity has clearly accelerated implementation greatly. The goal over the next one to two months will be to complete the business plan, formalize the founding team, identify key action items and prepare for the investor road show. There is a ton of work to do, but I am extremely excited for the opportunity to take make this dream a reality with the incredible group of professionals at Startup.SC. A great many thanks goes to the their founder, Mike Schroll and their team and the partners that have made this business incubator a reality. I am grateful for their consideration and confidence, and it is my unfettered priority to live up to their high expectations.<br />
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In this space, it is my goal to document the progress of Yumbev, good and bad, to serve as 1) a history of the business from the absolute beginning and 2) a learning experience for other aspiring entrepreneurs. For certain, there will be learning lessons along the way, and as I have had so many people in my life provide feedback along my path, I hope to do the same for others.<br />
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Stay tuned for many and frequent updates.</div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-31708193025475140472014-07-03T16:00:00.000-04:002014-07-06T15:39:01.166-04:00Happy Independence Eve: Newcastle Ad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEklunZSbj7xvwNg0XqYadcMFdCY98GazX3FMn0SniBo1A6am3-KuzqUU82YnSM2eC1QBXFfBDVoKub4aizyBkezDKpE69On4rQ1D7D8yiRMAW3tv2fed4aNUFtKDzPXJL2Iv2DjtMi6s/s1600/independence-eve-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEklunZSbj7xvwNg0XqYadcMFdCY98GazX3FMn0SniBo1A6am3-KuzqUU82YnSM2eC1QBXFfBDVoKub4aizyBkezDKpE69On4rQ1D7D8yiRMAW3tv2fed4aNUFtKDzPXJL2Iv2DjtMi6s/s1600/independence-eve-1.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
@NewCastle new #IfWeWon ad campaign is brilliant. I love good ad campaigns. I love great ad campaigns better. Newcastle certainly has one in their Independence Day Eve campaign, starring British greats <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenMerchant" target="_blank">Stephen Merchant</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizabethHurley" target="_blank">Elizabeth Hurley</a>. Entertaining, comical and in true-British tradition, self-deprecating. What I find even more interesting is the angst and anger of some Americans toward the campaign (see the "Apology" video below). Lighten up. We won. That's what matters. If nothing else, this campaign gives you a reason (regardless of how valid) to grab a Newcastle and toast a day early. I will. Cheers!<br />
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Happy Independence Eve, America!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bfmPLlQYbyE" width="560"></iframe>
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Stephen Merchant Presents: If We Won<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/h1YvJBwC4xQ?list=PLIxY25X_it-zY-3878b_yJOJxwan6ErOz" width="560"></iframe>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/ZacharyQuinto" target="_blank">Zachary Quinto</a> Presents<br />
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Names of Things: If We Won<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/c8ZCVuZ1Mpc" width="560"></iframe>
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Elizabeth Hurley Gets Vulgar<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gblpUFqw_Wc" width="560"></iframe>
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Elizabeth Hurley Apologies ... for not apologizing.<br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-15876364326936456352014-07-02T11:45:00.000-04:002014-07-06T15:43:22.711-04:00Why Hobby Lobby Matters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">[Video] Nice job @IamJohnOliver. Nailed the #HobbyLobby issue. Best quote, “If you really want to be treated like people, corporations, then guess what, paying for things you don’t like is what it feels like to be one.” </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">I've said a couple of times, the Supreme Court decision that corporations can opt out of mandated health care obligations on religious grounds just tastes bad ... really, really bad.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">I'll start by saying that I don't think businesses should be required to provide health care for employees in the first place. It's an archaic practice that was started by accident during WWII, when wages were flat and businesses started offering insurance as an incentive. After WWII, as the economy flourished and the middle class continued to grow, businesses no longer needed to offer insurance, but the fed provided tax incentives to businesses to continue the practice. It eventually stuck, and as we know now became the apparatus by which the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was able to mandate medicine.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Corporations, however, should no more be in the business of supplying health insurance as they would car insurance, homeowner's insurance, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">This legal precedent ultimately has nothing to do with the ACA, socialized medicine, or whatever. It really strikes at a much more troubling issue: prejudice on the grounds of religion. Forget for now the fact that the ruling has furthered the rights of corporations to act as people ... evidently, now religious, church-going people ... what it has done is potentially brought religion back into our laws. Bad idea.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">And if you argue that the US was founded on Christian values, yadda yadda, I would shoot back that it was founded on "religious" values. We are a country of many, many different religions, so if we are to create laws that cater to religious beliefs, upon which religious foundations will you base them? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">For this reason, we don't allow religion to influence our laws (for the most part). Instead, we elect people to represent our views and make laws accordingly. If you don't vote, then you can't complain. Truly. This is how you create change. Of course, people unfortunately lose from time to time ... that sucks ... really ... but as the old saying goes, "you can't please all the people all the time."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">We saw this recently with the law in Arizona that allowed businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community if their sexual preference was not in line with the business's religious beliefs. Eventually, better-minded people prevailed, and the law was struck down. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">Discrimination on any grounds is just plain bad.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">But this is the Supreme Court that has handed down this decision. A decision that was voted for by an all white male majority, seemingly placing discrimination rights at the feet of corporations. The precedent is dangerous, because as US citizens, we have the right to call out, "What about me? What about my religion?". And how will this reconcile itself with civic rights laws? Where will the madness end?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">I do believe that in today's hyper connected and social environment, we as a culture and as a people tend to error on the right thing to do. We have the freedom to speak with our wallets, and for the most part, we can leave our place of vocation if we are unhappy. We have choice and remarkable access to information to help us make informed decisions. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 20px;">It takes time, in some cases an entire generation, but eventually, we get things right. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">This is the Supreme Court, however, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.</span><br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-42454912162715364482014-07-01T11:30:00.000-04:002014-07-01T13:29:15.429-04:00[Infographic] Five Reasons Your Content Doesn't Go Viral<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aQberQO9yoeA2MANFOaWE6DYPHeZZ9852AfAPBxuyPporBYMnjAyW_x4AR1XKZsCNgBzcYSWx_DQArP8kGGiE3TUpDoHDMqxZpcsiCoyf61AGXgWuNHiP-XqSP4C2QvwXw7FcTDZimA/s1600/viral-marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aQberQO9yoeA2MANFOaWE6DYPHeZZ9852AfAPBxuyPporBYMnjAyW_x4AR1XKZsCNgBzcYSWx_DQArP8kGGiE3TUpDoHDMqxZpcsiCoyf61AGXgWuNHiP-XqSP4C2QvwXw7FcTDZimA/s1600/viral-marketing.jpg" height="125" width="200" /></a></div>
Creating great content for your business is hard enough, but getting it in front of others is a whole other challenge. If you spend a good amount of time creating great content, you should understand how to distribute it properly to get the attention and draw people to your business. While being in people's "grill" is good, having material go viral is even better, as it is typically shared by trusted friends and families. Below is a great inforgraphic from <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2014/25443/five-reasons-your-awesome-content-isnt-going-viral-infographic?adref=nlt070114" target="_blank">MarketingProfessionals.com</a> <span id="goog_2030686692"></span><span id="goog_2030686693"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>explaining how to get more "virality" from your online content. NOTE: This blog post is not intended to be an example. Cheers! <br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/Veronica_Jarski" target="_blank">Veronic Jarski</a>, MarketingProfessionals.com<br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-35389293252535609652014-06-25T10:30:00.000-04:002014-06-25T14:08:10.734-04:00Control Your Career - Learn To Code<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I was an early adopter of the coding movement (translation: I was one of the young geeks who spent hours on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64" target="_blank">Commodore 64</a> typing lines of "if-then" code that would spit out my name). Unfortunately, I didn't stick with it, and I have often regretted not staying current with the basics of coding over the years. More frustrating than anything is the fact that I can't make seemingly easy changes and customization to any of my own <a href="http://www.wildcreations.com/" target="_blank">websites</a> without pulling my hair out.<br />
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I may be in the minority among people my age, but I believe strongly that we should understand how to code, or at least how it works. I also feel that schools should be leading this charge and instilling a basic understanding of coding at the elementary school level, much like <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/23/should-cursive-writing-be-required-a-n-c-bill-would-mandate-it/" target="_blank">cursive</a> and reading. <br />
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As technology continues to become completely entwined in our lives, understanding how the technologies we use work will provide a distinct competitive advantage over those who know little or nothing about it. And, for what it's worth, using electronics is not akin to understanding how they work.<br />
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For this reason, I've been taking a few lessons online, thanks to some good friends at <a href="http://coworkmyr.com/" target="_blank">CoWork MYR</a> who have turned me on to a few sites for beginners like me. For those inclined to take the self-taught approach and learn a little coding, below are a few resources I have utilized and found useful.<br />
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- <a href="http://www.codeacademy.com/" target="_blank">Code Academy</a>: Free website with a great set of resources.<br />
- <a href="http://udemy.com/" target="_blank">Udemy</a>: With numerous online classes that cover many topics, there are a few good coding courses. Most are pay as you go, but keep your eye open for frequent discount coupon codes.<br />
- <a href="http://www.treehouse.com/" target="_blank">Tree House</a>: Very easy to follow video tutorials with work spaces you can use to follow along.<br />
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By now means are these the only resources. A simple <a href="http://lmgtfy.com/?q=learn+to+code" target="_blank">Google search</a> will result in numerous resources, though I have include a few below from a great resource I found. <br />
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- <a href="http://girldevelopit.com/" target="_blank">GirlDevelopIt.com</a>: An international nonprofit that provides mentorship and instruction, committed to making sure women of all ages, races, education levels, income, and upbringing can build confidence in their skill set to develop web and mobile applications.<br />
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- <a href="http://udacity.com/" target="_blank">Udacity.com</a>: Stanford University’s Udacity is one of many sites that make college courses—including Introduction to Computer Science—available online for free.<br />
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- <a href="http://computerclubhouse.org/" target="_blank">ComputerClubhouse.org</a>: Helping more than 25,000 young people from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies every year.<br />
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- <a href="http://coderdojo.com/" target="_blank">CoderDojo.com</a>: Through CoderDojo’s volunteer-led sessions, young people can learn to code, go on tours of tech companies and hear guest speakers.<br />
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- <a href="http://codeschool.com/">CodeSchool.com</a>: Offers online courses in a wide range of programming languages, design and web tools.<br />
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- <a href="http://girlswhocode.com/" target="_blank">GirlsWhoCode.com</a>: Geared specifically toward 13 to 17 year old girls, pairs instruction and mentorship to “educate, inspire and equip” students to pursue their engineering and tech dreams.<br />
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- <a href="http://blackgirlscode.com/" target="_blank">BlackGirlsCode.com</a>: Aims to help address the “dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions” through workshops for young girls of color.<br />
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- <a href="http://generalassemb.ly/" target="_blank">GeneralAssemb.ly</a>: Offers a variety of coding courses at their campuses across the globe. Additionally, their free online platform, Dash, teaches HTML, CSS and Javascript through fun projects on a simple interface that is accessible from your web browser.<br />
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And, from <a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank">TED</a>: Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab: Coding isn’t just for computer whizzes — it’s for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled talk Resnick outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just “read” new technologies — but also create them. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-82919030170440514322014-06-17T10:49:00.000-04:002014-06-17T10:49:20.682-04:00The Skinny on Public Relations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I love the concept of public relations. Its such a powerful, affordable and effective tool to promote your business ... if you use it right. Check out this <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/25389/the-skinny-on-pr-and-how-to-make-it-work-for-you?adref=nlt061714" target="_blank">article</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/wendymarx" target="_blank">Wendy Marx</a> of <a href="http://marxcommunications.com/" target="_blank">Marx Communications</a>, which provides a few great tips for forging your PR strategy. It's a great place to start.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<b>The Skinny on PR and How to Make It Work for You</b><br />
<b>By Wendy Marx</b><br />
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People often think you buy PR like you order a pizza: on demand, with all the seasonings and toppings you want.<br />
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But PR can't be boxed. A service business, it's dependent in part on the media and others to tell its story, and on marketing and word-of-mouth to make the story hum. It's also affected by world events: If there's a major terrorism outbreak, your story about launching a new gizmo may get buried—or not told at all.<br />
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In the age search engines, PR has also had to adjust its perspective: Not only earned media but also owned media (the content you create and publish) matters now, including social media.<br />
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To help you navigate this new world of PR, here's a road map to understanding its contours and features—along with tips on how to get some of that PR yourself.<br />
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<b>Public relations is NOT advertising and journalists are NOT stenographers.</b><br />
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A reporter is not going to jump at the chance to write about your company, nor do so in exacting detail. A reporter needs news, not a puff piece.<br />
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<i>Instead</i>: Show, don't tell. Let's say you're a leadership consultancy. Can you comment on leadership changes in the news? Discuss a major company's new hiring practices? Focus on demonstrating your expertise, not just shouting about it from the rafters.<br />
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<b>PR people are NOT in cahoots with journalists</b><br />
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PR people don't normally see media copy before publication. After all, reporters are writing a story, not serving your company.<br />
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<i>Instead</i>: Ask a reporter whether he or she wants to fact-check anything with you. Some will agree to that. Provide a reporter with a written recap of any interviews, particularly if the subject matter is complicated or confusing. Offer a Q&A or fact sheet that quickly and easily covers the material. Create visuals, where possible, to illustrate your story.<br />
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<b>Public Relations is NOT Based on the idea that a PR strategy is created out of thin air</b><br />
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Public relations, like journalism, is based on fact, not fiction. For a PR person to do his job, facts and a story line are requirements. For example, don't expect to build a PR strategy for a survey until you have the survey results.<br />
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<i>Instead</i>: Facts in hand, build a strategy for each campaign. Develop a story line with supporting facts. Determine the best venues and ways to tell your story that will reach your key targets. List the content and people needed to make everything happen.<br />
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<b>Public Relations is NOT simply about getting the media to write about you</b><br />
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Today, there are multiple nonpaid ways to get your story told—via article writing, webinars, speaking, social media, video, whitepapers, infographics, e-books, newsletters, blogs… The only limiting factor is your imagination.<br />
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So although it's useful from a credibility perspective to have the media showcase your thought leadership and knowledge, you don't have to (nor should you) depend only on them.<br />
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Here are three essential tips to help you tell your story—both to the media and to customers and prospects:<br />
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<li><b>Develop story ideas people care about</b>. Most trade publications are eager for good content to publish that is not self-promotional. If you can broaden your sphere of influence, pitch your story idea to general business outlets; some, including Businessweek and Forbes, take high-quality, non-self-promotional contributions. Underscore "high quality." And don't forget you can easily publish articles yourself via a blog, website, or newsletter.</li>
<li><b>Get your happy clients to tell your story</b>. Nothing beats a satisfied customer's telling your story, which is why smart companies include client testimonials on their sites, even if the customer wants to remain anonymous. If you can name your customer, even better.</li>
<li><b>Develop content that people are eager to consume</b>. Marketo is one company that is a master at this. A virtual content machine, the lead gen company produces reams of free, quality content to help its B2B audience be better marketers. HubSpot is another great creator of educational content. You don't, however, have to launch a content blitz. Begin with an explanatory article or two about your industry that informs and doesn't just sell. Let people know you care and understand their challenges; that will be the first step to a dialogue—and, ultimately, a winning relationship. </li>
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So next time you call for some of that good old-time PR, remember that PR is not something you buy at the counter or order by phone. Ensure your public relations is tailored to your company's needs and audience, and educate—don't sell. Only then can public relations establish your bona fides and endear you to prospects.<br />
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- Wendy Marx is president of Marx Communications, an award-winning B2B PR agency that turns companies and their executives into thought leaders.</div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-27383922141921041402014-06-04T08:30:00.000-04:002014-06-04T17:34:04.830-04:00Our Net Neutrality Savior?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Is @IamJohnOliver our #NetNeutrality Savior? <br />
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I've written about net neutrality and expressed my concerns over its impending elimination on a couple of occasions (<a href="http://www.petergasca.com/2014/01/who-killed-net-neutrality.html" target="_blank">first</a> and <a href="http://www.petergasca.com/2014/05/3-calls-to-action-for-net-neutrality.html" target="_blank">second</a>). While I have tried to stress the importance that we all stand against big corporations and the FCC to keep the net neutral, it's often difficult to express this passion in text. <br />
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Enter, <a href="http://www.iamjohnoliver.com/" target="_blank">John Oliver</a>. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>For those of your who don't know John Oliver, he is an English comedian best known (for now, anyway) for as the English bloke on the <a href="http://thedailyshow.cc.com/news-team/john-oliver" target="_blank">Daily Show with John Stewart</a>. Quite Honestly, I haven't seen a better explanation and call to action (and comic relief) than this clip from his new HBO show, <a href="http://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver#/" target="_blank">The Last Week</a>. It's worthy of watching the entire 13 minute clip below. </div>
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He also provides a link and a passionate (if you want to call it that) call to action ... which evidently crashed the FCC website (<a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnoliver" target="_blank">@IAmJohnOliver</a>):</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Whoops. It seems that you've all crashed part of the FCC website. I hope you're proud of yourselves. <a href="http://t.co/pBve6cNxRD">http://t.co/pBve6cNxRD</a><br />
— John Oliver (@iamjohnoliver) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnoliver/statuses/473865227654934528">June 3, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Check the video out here:<br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-57575032037024820312014-06-02T15:48:00.001-04:002014-06-04T17:34:27.213-04:0010 Tips to Change the World from a Navy Seal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Every year at this time, I love to watch the university commencement speeches. Some entertain magically through uncanny <a href="http://youtu.be/ml5fXP_-FFA" target="_blank">wit and satire</a> while others move you to tears. All are full of insightful nuggets of wisdom and get you pumped up to face the challenges of an uncertain tomorrow -- just as any commencement should do. This year, the <a href="http://www.graduationwisdom.com/speeches/2014-commencement-speakers-graduation-list-announced.htm" target="_blank">2014 lineup was very impressive</a>, and but one speech stood out, by Naval Admiral William H. McRaven at the University of Texas. Check it out below.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The speech, which is embedded at the end of this post, is 20 minutes long but worth it. The transcript is below if, like me, you don't have the patience. Cheers!<br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">The University’s slogan is,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">“What starts here changes the world.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">I have to admit—I kinda like it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">“What starts here changes the world.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">That’s a lot of folks.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people—and each one of those folks changed the lives of another ten people—just ten—then in five generations—125 years—the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">800 million people—think of it—over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world—8 billion people.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">If you think it’s hard to change the lives of ten people—change their lives forever—you’re wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the ten soldiers in his squad are saved from close-in ambush.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500 pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn—were also saved. And their children’s children—were saved.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Generations were saved by one decision—by one person.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is…what will the world look like after you change it?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Well, I am confident that it will look much, much better, but if you will humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that may help you on your way to a better a world.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you ever served a day in uniform.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">It matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation, or your social status.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Our struggles in this world are similar and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward—changing ourselves and the world around us—will apply equally to all.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Basic SEAL training is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">It is six months of being constantly harassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a Navy SEAL.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But, the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an environment of constant stress, chaos, failure and hardships.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">To me basic SEAL training was a life time of challenges crammed into six months.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">So, here are the ten lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack—rack—that’s Navy talk for bed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">It was a simple task—mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle hardened SEALs—but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">During SEAL training the students are broken down into boat crews. Each crew is seven students—three on each side of a small rubber boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surfzone and paddle several miles down the coast.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously tossed back on the beach.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">You can’t change the world alone—you will need some help— and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Over a few weeks of difficult training my SEAL class which started with 150 men was down to just 35. There were now six boat crews of seven men each.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of the the little guys—the munchkin crew we called them—no one was over about 5-foot five.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the mid-west.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">They out paddled, out-ran, and out swam all the other boat crews.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">The big men in the other boat crews would always make good natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the Nation and the world, always had the last laugh— swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and do a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed and your belt buckle shiny and void of any smudges.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">But it seemed that no matter how much effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform or polishing your belt buckle—- it just wasn’t good enough.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">The instructors would find “something” wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">The effect was known as a “sugar cookie.” You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day—cold, wet and sandy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">There were many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right—it was unappreciated.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Those students didn’t make it through training.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">It’s just the way life is sometimes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events—long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics—something designed to test your mettle.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Every event had standards—times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to—a “circus.”</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics—designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">No one wanted a circus.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">A circus meant that for that day you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue—and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult—and more circuses were likely.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But at some time during SEAL training, everyone—everyone—made the circus list.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students-—who did two hours of extra calisthenics—got stronger and stronger.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The pain of the circuses built inner strength-built physical resiliency.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Life is filled with circuses.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10-foot high wall, a 30-foot cargo net, and a barbed wire crawl to name a few.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three level 30 foot tower at one end and a one level tower at the other. In between was a 200-foot long rope.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">You had to climb the three tiered tower and once at the top, you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began training in 1977.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The record seemed unbeatable, until one day, a student decided to go down the slide for life—head first.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">It was a dangerous move—seemingly foolish, and fraught with risk. Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the training.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Without hesitation—the student slid down the rope—perilously fast, instead of several minutes, it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had broken the record.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island which lies off the coast of San Diego.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The waters off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One—is the night swim.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark—at least not recently.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position—stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you—then summons up all your strength and punch him in the snout and he will turn and swim away.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>So, if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">As Navy SEALs one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during basic training.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles—underwater—using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their target.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">During the entire swim, even well below the surface there is some light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water above you.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But as you approach the ship, which is tied to a pier, the light begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the moonlight—it blocks the surrounding street lamps—it blocks all ambient light.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel—the centerline and the deepest part of the ship.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">This is your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship—where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship’s machinery is deafening and where it is easy to get disoriented and fail.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of the mission—is the time when you must be calm, composed—when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The ninth week of training is referred to as “Hell Week.” It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment and—one special day at the Mud Flats—the Mud Flats are an area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slue’s—a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some “egregious infraction of the rules” was ordered into the mud.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit—just five men and we could get out of the oppressive cold.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Looking around the mud flat it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up—eight more hours of bone chilling cold.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything and then, one voice began to echo through the night—one voice raised in song.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing—but the singing persisted.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">And somehow—the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person—Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan—Malala—one person can change the world by giving people hope.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">All you have to do to quit—is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT—and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Just ring the bell.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b>If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">To the graduating class of 2014, you are moments away from graduating. Moments away from beginning your journey through life. Moments away from starting to change the world—for the better.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">It will not be easy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">But, YOU are the class of 2014—the class that can affect the lives of 800 million people in the next century.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Start each day with a task completed.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Find someone to help you through life.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Respect everyone.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often, but if you take take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up—if you do these things, then next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today and—what started here will indeed have changed the world—for the better.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Thank you very much. Hook ‘em horns.</span><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-45161696732939089952014-05-23T09:48:00.001-04:002014-05-23T10:30:50.617-04:00MusicFri: John Williams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the way to school every day, my son and I play a game. Whether we pretend to imagine ourselves in a Minecraft or Star Wars world as we drive or play "I Spy", we find something to chat about. This morning, he wanted to hear the Star Wars "Light Side" and "Dark Side" themes, so we pulled it up on YouTube and pumped it through the car. I'm sure he heard and pictured Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in his head, but I envisioned John Williams on a pedestal gesticulating to the rich tones and triumphant tympani. It has been a very long time since I sat and listened to the theme by itself, without the visual distraction of bright lasers and childhood emotions teeming in me. It was amazing.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm sure I'm not that only person </span>who has ever noticed the symphonic brilliance of John Williams, but conveying this to an eight year old proved to be a bit difficult. I tried to explain to my son that the bold sounds he was hearing, the very same ones that so clearly disseminating between "light" and "dark", were actually composed by a human being. That is, these notes, the tempo, the chemistry between the instruments and the the profound emotions the whole creates, were at one time nothing more than a sound in one person's head. These notes were written down on a piece of paper, everything from the selection of the instrument to the specific timing of every precussion beat and symbol, were at one time ... nothing. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One person, dreamed it up. One person wrote it down. One person created it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
John Williams. One of the greatest composers of a generation. Dare I say, of all time. </div>
<div>
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<div>
Of course, a conversation with an eight year old really couldn't get past imaginary light saber battles while the music coursed through the cabin of the car. I guess I'll have to wait a few more years until he can appreciate the work of John Williams. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Until then, here's some very preliminary psych-up music for December 2015.</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/-bzWSJG93P8">http://youtu.be/-bzWSJG93P8</a></div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-88518443811656511852014-05-07T10:00:00.000-04:002014-05-07T10:17:20.879-04:003 Calls To Action for Net Neutrality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you aren't aware of "<a href="http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-101" target="_blank">net neutrality</a>" or how it affects you, it is now time you take notice. First, consider the Internet like a huge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn" target="_blank">Autobahn</a> of data traffic. There are no speed limits. There are no tolls. Data is free to flow from any starting point to you without discrimination. In other words, when you open your web browser, whether you are accessing a <a href="http://www.wildcreations.com/" target="_blank">small company's website</a> or <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a>, data from each is not hindered by a third party. It's a remarkable freedom we have enjoyed since the beginning of the Internet, and one that is greatly responsible for the massive number of innovations we have seen over the past years.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, that freedom may end, and we need to act.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
To continue the analogy, imagine that the data freeway has off-ramps to your house. These off-ramps are controlled by your cable or telephone company. By law, they have to provide you equal access to all data coming through the freeway, and since they are a regulated duopoly (most of us only two options for service providers, which we accept rather than having 10 cable boxes in our yard), their prices are set. <br />
<br />
All of this is regulated by the <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/" target="_blank">Federal Communications Commission, or FCC</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.petergasca.com/2014/01/who-killed-net-neutrality.html" target="_blank">Earlier this year</a>, a US federal court limited the ability of the FCC to regulate the off-ramps to your home, allowing telephone and cable providers to potentially create traffic lanes of slow and high speed data and sell them to the highest bidder. <br />
<br />
According to <a href="http://avc.com/" target="_blank">technology venture capitalist, Fred Wilson</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The FCC has responded to a court ruling by proposing a convoluted set of rules that will allow fast lanes, slow lanes, and what’s even worse, no lanes. The FCC’s proposal will allow the telcos and cable companies that provide the last mile connection to your home or office to prioritize some bits over others. That’s how they create the fast lane and the slow lane. It also allows discrimination in which they can decide not to allow your bits through at all, creating a “no lane”.</blockquote>
What does this mean? <br />
<br />
Companies like Netflix could pay to be in the fast lane, allowing you to indulge in weekend-long marathons of <a href="http://www.inc.com/peter-gasca/5-leadership-lessons-from-the-house-of-cards.html" target="_blank">House of Cards</a> without interruptions and buffering. It also means that bootstrapped start-ups, without the resources to access the fast lane, would be relegated to the slow lane or, possibly, no lane at all to your home or business.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Personally, I have rarely had a problem accessing Netflix, YouTube or even Amazon. I interpret this move as less about allowing consumers to better access popular sites and more the ability of large corporations to limit the access to their smaller competitors. <br />
<br />
You decide, but ultimately it will hurt all of us.<br />
<br />
Here's what we need to do (again, from Fred Wilson).<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sign this <a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-true-net-neutrality-protect-freedom-information-united-states/9sxxdBgy" target="_blank">White House Petition</a> before May 15th "voicing" your stance against allowing cable and telco companies to sell the off ramp to your house to the highest bidder.</li>
<li>Show your support to Internet activists who are building the opposition to fast lanes and slow lanes. These include <a href="http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-101" target="_blank">Net Neutrality 101</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fightfortheftr" target="_blank">Fight for the Future</a>.</li>
<li>You need to watch the FCC’s proposed rules that will be aired to the public on May 15th to see if they are going to consider “reclassification”. If they do not, we all need to rise up and go into action against these proposed rules. Because without “reclassification”, the FCC really cannot protect us from the last mile duopolies who are hell bent to build these lanes on the Internet and destroy the golden era of Internet innovation that we have experienced over the past twenty years. We cannot allow that to happen.</li>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-52581047470125117992014-05-05T12:33:00.000-04:002014-07-01T11:17:30.166-04:00[Infographic] Best Times To Post on Social Media<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnJM2oK2Jmmxmqf-dFEAS6WhdcKwx1IGtk7EJQTUP_ieBqccydlz4ABK1QwzEiIgtkMbTwi_hra1_vmkFtfuTtmyesk6G_hEPal5j5JlWQ-S9lm5B-hsJ1FUp0ECPHeObomGsezTAwZw/s1600/bigstock-Social-Media-Background-29670617-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnJM2oK2Jmmxmqf-dFEAS6WhdcKwx1IGtk7EJQTUP_ieBqccydlz4ABK1QwzEiIgtkMbTwi_hra1_vmkFtfuTtmyesk6G_hEPal5j5JlWQ-S9lm5B-hsJ1FUp0ECPHeObomGsezTAwZw/s1600/bigstock-Social-Media-Background-29670617-300x300.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
I found an interesting article in <a href="hthttp://m.entrepreneur.com/article/232969#%7CgigyaMobileDialog" target="_blank">Entrepreneur.com</a> about the best and worst times to post to social media. For obvious reasons, the worst is late at night/early in the morning, but I was a bit surprised about how the most optimal times vary among the social media sites. I've posted the summary of the best times and the accompanying info-graphic below. If you have a different experience with these or other social media sites, please share.<br />
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<b>Blog: </b>Monday, Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m.<br />
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<b>Twitter: </b>On weekends from 1 p.m.-3 p.m.<br />
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<b>LinkedIn: </b>7 a.m.-8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.-6 p.m.<br />
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<b>Google+: </b>9 a.m.-11 a.m.<br />
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<b>Facebook: </b>Weekdays 6 a.m.- 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.-5 p.m.<br />
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<b>Pinterest: </b>On Saturday from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and 8 p.m.-11 p.m.<br />
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It's also worthy to point out that most serial content creators post the same material <a href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-case-for-reposting-content" target="_blank">multiple times throughout the day</a> in order to reach a greater variety of people. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_3EIugGm1vZi7pV4lkWxl1Z0WfjSIX3LeohyjNI46VfdislkeErIHKOdvwulLg3sTjE-2jUs9GKN7G6DVqNHhDOLAYRGpjVDXWhISA3QckP9i1J1Nr8K3lSAADxGaEIw572L0yB2U3E/s1600/1397237125-guide-best-times-post-social-media-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_3EIugGm1vZi7pV4lkWxl1Z0WfjSIX3LeohyjNI46VfdislkeErIHKOdvwulLg3sTjE-2jUs9GKN7G6DVqNHhDOLAYRGpjVDXWhISA3QckP9i1J1Nr8K3lSAADxGaEIw572L0yB2U3E/s1600/1397237125-guide-best-times-post-social-media-infographic.jpg" /></a></div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-68848451355731180872014-04-24T10:00:00.000-04:002014-04-24T11:33:59.618-04:00Mighty Amazon-Mart<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOHNsjkWh2dV3t9HqB3Fu3lY81IVNgmsAs6_aW3ZsxukoJZF690eqGS7YYyN4c7-5Re48o2pkhowosqH2EuCkOFjm9f3Y90qiONOe_tEZsdI8H_xD8fGyJLyEZgJ2BGlCT6heFNEp70U/s1600/amazon-sears_Rd.1-600x509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOHNsjkWh2dV3t9HqB3Fu3lY81IVNgmsAs6_aW3ZsxukoJZF690eqGS7YYyN4c7-5Re48o2pkhowosqH2EuCkOFjm9f3Y90qiONOe_tEZsdI8H_xD8fGyJLyEZgJ2BGlCT6heFNEp70U/s1600/amazon-sears_Rd.1-600x509.jpg" height="169" width="200" /></a></div>
I have opined often about the <a href="http://blog.petergasca.com/2011/10/walmart-next-tech-giant-rip-strip-malls.html" target="_blank">demise of retail</a> as we know it today. <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a> and now <a href="http://walmart.com/">Walmart.com</a> have created a service that allows one to open an app from your phone, see numerous variations in price and quality, review valuable feedback, click a button and have it on your doorstep in two days (soon to be one?). No more loading kids in the car, dealing with dirty store bathrooms, or waiting behind people who shouldn't be in the express line. <br />
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This is a remarkable evolution of the retail shopping experience, and love it or hate it (most hate it), it's only going to get more profound. </div>
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Of course, one way to <a href="http://www.inc.com/peter-gasca/5-ways-small-retailers-can-compete-win.html" target="_blank">differentiate yourself is by creating an outstanding and unique in-store experience</a>, but the long-game doesn't favor that strategy. Some believe that a complete overhaul of the retail business model is necessary, but <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3008059/ron-johnsons-5-key-mistakes-jc-penney-his-own-words" target="_blank">JC Penney's attempt reinvent their business model lasted only one year before they pulled the plug on the CEO (for good reason)</a>.<br />
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As online retail becomes more prominent, another way traditional retailers might survive is to act more like ... wait for it ... Walmart. (*GASP!*). Indeed. Walmart sees the writing on the wall and is transitioning to a strategy that considers their 4500 locations first as distribution centers and second as retail stores.</div>
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<b>Set forth with a strategy to have a strong online presence that is backed up by a retail operation</b>. It's not that far fetched ... consider Amazon.<br />
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<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/robinlewis/" target="_blank">Robin Lewis</a> at <a href="http://www.forbes.com/" target="_blank">Forbes</a> makes a compelling argument for why <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/robinlewis/2014/04/17/will-amazon-acquire-sears-why-not/" target="_blank">Amazon should consider acquiring Sears and K-Mart.</a> Although the appeal of entering the brick-and-mortar fray sounds about as appealing as diving with dead fish, Walmart has a significant competitive advantage over Amazon with 4500 "distribution centers" across the US already. A strategic move like buying Sears/K-Mart not only makes sense for Amazon, it may be necessary for it's long term future.</div>
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Here are the take-aways from Mr. Lewis's article:</div>
<div>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
April 17, 2014<br />
<b>Why Amazon Should Acquire Sears</b></blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
For Amazon </blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Amazon would acquire roughly 2,400 U.S. stores (or “buildings”), overnight (1,300 Sears, 1,100 Kmart), providing convenience of proximity for pick up and returns and competing with Walmart’s 4,500 stores that double as distribution centers</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The real estate assets would be the primary reason for Amazon’s interest in acquiring Sears Holdings (SHLD +5.33%). However, there are several other valuable assets and operations, which Amazon could enhance and grow.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Amazon might be able to cut an incredible deal, at least far less costly in time and capital, than building or leasing its own nationwide distribution centers/stores. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Amazon could also acquire Kenmore appliances, Craftsman tools, and DieHard batteries, iconic brands that can be re-energized. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Amazon has mastered “Big Data” (its database is estimated to be larger than that of the Pentagon) and has the ability to guide customized or “localized” assortments into each of the store locations based on local consumer preferences. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
As Sears:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A sale is a potentially profitable exit strategy. Eddie Lampert has been managing the business into liquidation, including methodically selling, leasing (partial or in total), and/or closing Sears and Kmart locations. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sears Holdings revenues of the combined businesses were around $50 billion with about 3500 stores in 2005. Revenues and profits have dropped steadily, to $36 billion in 2013, with a loss of about $1.4 billion last year. The stock price hit a high in 2007 at $192 per share; today, a share of Sears Holdings is hovering around $30. One analyst said if the stock drops to around $20 per share, Sears would be “one stop on the way to liquidation.”</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Right now, the “whole” of Sears/K-Mart is still more valuable than the sum of each of the last few remaining assets, and it is not going to get better. </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You say, ‘How sad!’ But, get over it. If Sears and KMart aren’t discarded in this kind of a deal, at some point in the very near future, they will end up in the <b>trash bin of history</b>. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Amazon, a little-known brand just a decade ago, is becoming the new American icon. Maybe acquiring these two fading American icons is a more dignified way to put them to rest than the blunt harshness of liquidation.</blockquote>
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<span id="goog_1393553122"></span><span id="goog_1393553123"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-64624770844379194912014-04-22T11:25:00.000-04:002014-04-22T11:25:40.163-04:00SME Advice - Marketing Automation [Inforgraphic]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvua56kz-4p3Ki6Dx7L-joU_QHKi3o1G-_pptL6RT-3er0N67KjDA_yx2s8_s-_DP-hrKj_6x6M2wKc6bCnsXoX2JT_bgSxW_H6OOlOwyxPAy8UeWEjLmKCa7Zba6sPnyPiCRUJ89TaJ0/s1600/MktServices.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvua56kz-4p3Ki6Dx7L-joU_QHKi3o1G-_pptL6RT-3er0N67KjDA_yx2s8_s-_DP-hrKj_6x6M2wKc6bCnsXoX2JT_bgSxW_H6OOlOwyxPAy8UeWEjLmKCa7Zba6sPnyPiCRUJ89TaJ0/s1600/MktServices.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
There are numerous marketing services for small businesses. As a small business owner, I've always been hesitant to engage in them because 1) they are expensive, 2) I typically didn't feel we had the resources and capabilities to fully benefit from them, 3) it was difficult to measure the ROI, and 4) they are expensive. With that said, I do feel strongly about the need to outsource to professionals in areas there they are better equipped and experienced at performing certain critical tasks, and marketing is definitely one of those tasks. How do you find the best service?<br />
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This article by <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/authors/1657/ayaz-nanji" target="_blank">Ayaz Nanji</a> in <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/24963/the-top-rated-marketing-automation-products?adref=nl042214" target="_blank">MarketingPros.com</a> does a nice job of breaking down a few of the best marketing automation services by the size of your organization. The details are below. If you are considering a service like this, this may help validate your decision.<br />
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Overview of his article: </div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Analysis was done by looking at 400 in-depth reviews from authenticated end-users and the results of over 10,000 comparisons performed on the company websites.</li>
<li>The analysis did not include products focused on a single aspect of marketing automation (e.g., just landing page management), but rather on multifaceted tools. </li>
<li>Most of the software suites examined have a range of capabilities for demand generation, including email campaign management, landing pages, and lead scoring.</li>
<li><div>
Most software products examined have many of the same core offerings, though each also has its own additional capabilities (such as SEO or e-commerce tools), so the results are meant to be broad indicators of sentiment rather than the the best match for every business.</div>
</li>
<li><div>
The results can be found in <a href="http://www.trustradius.com/guides/ma" target="_blank">Marketing Automation Software</a>, <a href="http://www.trustradius.com/" target="_blank">TrustRadius</a> found the best marketing. </div>
</li>
</ul>
Below, key findings from the report by market segment.</div>
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<b>Small Businesses (1-50 Employees)</b></div>
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<b>Mid Sized Businesses (51-500 Employees) </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyl-f5M6go25hkCA-ELxC1qLXhUDRlgaFvpX9UB2NQWUVZfAS2jbrh1Anr9awMPnn8Z_HcCB3Zogr9IPgj7PfpIzoTJKriR80txqhw-I74vQv9OJfg_s3WC6REu4pxI8bPplgNgpdlrPE/s1600/mid-trustmap-trustradius-220414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyl-f5M6go25hkCA-ELxC1qLXhUDRlgaFvpX9UB2NQWUVZfAS2jbrh1Anr9awMPnn8Z_HcCB3Zogr9IPgj7PfpIzoTJKriR80txqhw-I74vQv9OJfg_s3WC6REu4pxI8bPplgNgpdlrPE/s1600/mid-trustmap-trustradius-220414.jpg" height="313" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Large Enterprises (501+ Employees)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_W6P-Jom-0BqFRi-M_CLR1QW8deNRv9onE6AqUs9s6yNYb2wwT5ErZTUU-kncPpS5NEdqR07bWRSCg5YapUIWUI8xq4xeg6IzFw_5zSo2wk2wI4BDdy2_0WjfCkCJObFzudT4oUamno8/s1600/enterprise-trustmap-trustradius-220414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_W6P-Jom-0BqFRi-M_CLR1QW8deNRv9onE6AqUs9s6yNYb2wwT5ErZTUU-kncPpS5NEdqR07bWRSCg5YapUIWUI8xq4xeg6IzFw_5zSo2wk2wI4BDdy2_0WjfCkCJObFzudT4oUamno8/s1600/enterprise-trustmap-trustradius-220414.jpg" height="313" width="320" /></a></div>
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We've used <a href="http://www.infusionsoft.com/" target="_blank">InfusionSoft</a> in the past and found it very useful, and I personally review <a href="http://www.hubspot.com/" target="_blank">HubSpot</a> regularly and find the information there invaluable. Do you have any experience with any of these services? Please share in the comments below.<br />
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For what it's worth, Ayaz has a number of useful articles covering many different marketing topics. Check them out <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/authors/1657/ayaz-nanji" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217674699682083026.post-22825172163597516052014-04-21T09:30:00.000-04:002014-04-21T17:02:06.502-04:00Bitcoin: The Emperor's New Clothes?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For whatever reason, I've been seeing a great deal of news recently about <a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/" target="_blank">Bitcoin</a>, or digital currently. Confused about Bitcoin? Yeah, me too, so I decided to conduct a little investigation. Below are some of the interesting resources and facts I found providing (for the most part) easy to understand details of this digital currency. I'm still leery of the idea and the concept ... mostly because I don't completely understand how this will be a secure way of transacting business ... but I am nonetheless very interested in where it's heading. If you'd like to learn more, check out the information below, and feel free to share if you find it useful.<br />
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For starters, if you want to know about Bitcoin, go directly to the source (<a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">Bitcoin.org</a>):<br />
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From what I've gathered, one of the most important concepts behind digital currency is that it removes the issue of "trust", essentially creating an open-source ledger that allows anyone and everyone transacting in the currency to clearly and <u>instantly</u> create a record of the transaction, exchanging, if you will, digital title to the money. It does all of this by eliminating the need for a "middleman" or broker, in most cases, a bank.<br />
<br />
Interestingly:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>3% of global GDP is derived from fraudulent credit card/banking transactions</li>
<li>When transferring money, an individual can spend as much as 10% of the money being transferred on costs and fees (credit card fees run in the 3-4% range per transaction)</li>
</ul>
The cost savings alone would be monumental.<br />
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Freakonomics further explains in their podcast below entitled, "<a href="http://freakonomics.com/2014/03/27/why-everybody-who-doesnt-hate-bitcoin-loves-it-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/" target="_blank">Why Everyone Who Doesn't Hate Bitcoin Loves It</a>", how Bitcoin eliminates the issue of the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_fault_tolerance">Bezantine General's Problem</a>".<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="54" src="http://www.wnyc.org/widgets/ondemand_player/#file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wnyc.org%2Faudio%2Fxspf%2F360037%2F;containerClass= wnyc;backgroundColor=%2377B023;downloadedColor=%23bbd891;progressBorderColor=%23bbd891;progressColor=%23ffffff" width="300"></iframe><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEC31cUPitU-aOiYgPTISAbgifP7mUqZTcMOQidNRfmMKyp0VBat6VwtZxQYBUQXR-uyTKbIZFLgQS508Di9s6UPyMEWtX2dScQqnF2vHtPBZmNmhoFztf7ZnlC4thPSbfDT5z6FqlnGE/s1600/apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEC31cUPitU-aOiYgPTISAbgifP7mUqZTcMOQidNRfmMKyp0VBat6VwtZxQYBUQXR-uyTKbIZFLgQS508Di9s6UPyMEWtX2dScQqnF2vHtPBZmNmhoFztf7ZnlC4thPSbfDT5z6FqlnGE/s1600/apple.jpg" height="199" width="200" /></a>This article, entitled "<a href="https://medium.com/future-of-currency/73b4257ac833" target="_blank">Explain Bitcoin like I'm Five</a>", does a great job of drawing the analogy between exchanging Bitcoins online and exchanging a red apple with a friend at the part. It's useful, even if still a little difficult to digest (pun intended).<br />
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A couple of other interesting facts about Bitcoin:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Only 21M Bitcoins will ever be made</li>
<li>Coins can be created virtually online, by anyone, through a free software that allows individuals to "mine" new coins.</li>
<li>Of course, mining Bitcoins is very difficult, applying complicated mathematical computations to create just one. In fact, it has been estimated that the energy consumed to create Bitcoins is the equivalent of the amount used to power 3M homes. </li>
</ul>
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And, if you like Mashable (who doesn't?), then check out this short video explanation.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZT26y_l-jtI?list=PLSKUhDnoJjYn0TV9V84C4Wr2DjKPc492c" width="560"></iframe>
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A longer video for those with a little more attention span can be found here.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VDO7TDMlxsY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Feedback about Bitcoin? Please share in the comments.</div>
PGascahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09764293592961325323noreply@blogger.com0