December 2007

The founder of GoDaddy has had tremendous success online as a domain registrar, he risked everything he earned from the sale of his company Parsons Technology, turning his 64 million dollar buyout to what will soon be a billion dollar company. Without further ado, here is his top 10 keys (suggestions) for success in 2008.

10: Never listen to advertising experts

The reason for GoDaddy’s success is doing everything that it was told not to do by agencies, the more people say you shouldn’t do something, the more you should do it. People generally fear change, they don’t want to make waves so becoming an agent of change is the only way to get any type of attention no matter your field.

9: Surround yourself with beautiful, intelligent and successful women

Half of the world’s population is female yet if you attend enough board meetings, you will quickly realize that these statistics don’t hold true in the executive world (sadly). I would easily argue that women are our smarter half and a company without at least 50% of the top management that isn’t one is missing out on huge opportunities.

8: Take care of your employees and give to charity

Employees leave a company because of stress but if you provide a good working environment that is fun, challenging and rewarding, even at lower pay then a competitor, they will stay with you. Charity is also always a great thing, once you can afford to do so.

7: It’s never too late to get a motorcycle but always wear your safety gear

I got my motorcycle license a few years back, the freedom that you experience driving on the road is tremendous, cars are so boxed that I got to the point where I actually hated being inside of one. Driving a motorcycle gives you instant feedback about the environment, the flexibility to move on a dime and just pure pleasure of the open road… something lost in cars and trucks.

6: Earn a Ph.D. in International Relations so you can become the head of ICANN

A degree is only worth as much as you do with it, ICANN is just about the most useless organization out there, they are experts at conducting meetings in exotic locations that produce absolutely nothing. Each time somebody registers a domain, they send a few cents to these guys who wine and dine on our efforts and provide anything but leadership or vision for the online industry.

5: Figure out what “Brad” does in GoDaddy

An inside joke but if you have an employee or somebody who really serves no value to your company, no matter your affiliation, time to let them go unless you can afford to do otherwise. Same goes with software and hardware, if it doesn’t have a use, then there is no purpose in supporting it any longer.

4: Figure out what “Yahoo” actually does

Yahoo use to be known as a search engine, now it’s morphed into a huge conglomerate but unlike General Electric, they are experts at buying up overpriced companies then shutting them down. They lack a vision, purpose and to be quite frank, are headed for the same fate as AOL… oblivion.

3: Let the devil within you come out every once in a while

Living life on the straight and narrow is nice but it’s good to get out of your shell or comfort zone every once in a while. When was the last time you did something crazy? If you can’t remember, time to do it again.

2: Never, ever, buy a Zune

Hmmm… let me see, Microsoft is an expert at creating loss leaders, they have the Xbox franchise which looses money hand over fist, more software packages then I can count which do little but offer pale imitations of other software products and are sitting on a huge pile of cash. Microsoft has their operating system (XP) that is their backbone and Office, otherwise, everything else has been a dismal failure… why? Well, they got too much money and I think they fear loosing it, so instead of making waves inside of new industries, they are stuck taking cautious approaches towards everything… which leads to mediocrity. If you aren’t in an industry to shake it up, don’t go into it… the Zune (so far) is no different. Let me put this another way, if you own stock in Microsoft, how much has it grown over the past few years compared to a company that does take chances such as Google?

1: Be Godaddy’est in everything you do

The definition of Godaddy’est is simply the ability to live on the fine edge between decency and absurdity. It’s a fine line between being labeled a mad man vs a crazy man, if you live your life on that edge, sometimes you get burned but more often then not, you will progress faster. Take chances, take risks and more importantly, enjoy the trip while it lasts.

The Bottom Line

Follow your gut, more often then not, it will prove right.

Buzvia: GoDaddy,  GoDaddy Radio, Bob Parsons Personal Site, ZipitLive: GoDaddy Reseller

I believe we do our entire planet wrong by not realizing how vast the sandbox we all reside in actually is. There is an entire universe, across endless dimensions that evolves at it’s own rhythm completely out of our control and most peoples thoughts. To the universe, our entire solar system has even less value then we place on the the bacteria that lives under our toe nails… harsh? Well, this is the reality that most of us ignore to acknowledge and accept.

The value of life in the universe

If you look at enough images from outer space, even looking up at the stars, you cannot help but be overwhelmed not only at the grand scale of things but at it’s mind boggling vastness. Can you even imagine how far the distance of 15 billion light years actually is or even how a million years is simply a blink in the eye of the universe? It’s absolutely incredible! The moon spins around the earth, the solar system around the sun and if you go large enough, our entire solar system, one of billions, simply rotates around an enormous black hole that is in the middle of our galaxy. All this happens everyday regardless of whether life exists or not. To the universe, a rock is has the same value as life, absolutely none. It doesn’t care, it has no consciousness nor reason for being, it simply is.

Astronomy pictures of the Day

NASA and JPL release a picture of the day on their site, illustrating the beauty of the universe we are lucky enough to inhabit and igniting the imagination as to what could be, here are a few great pictures to expand your mind.

A Beautiful Boomerang Nebula
Credit: Hubble Heritage Team, J. Biretta (STScI) et al., (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA

This symmetric cloud dubbed the Boomerang Nebula was created by a high-speed wind of gas and dust blowing from an aging central star at speeds of nearly 600,000 kilometers per hour. The rapid expansion has cooled molecules in the nebular gas to about one degree above absolute zero - colder than even the cosmic background radiation - making it the coldest known region in the distant Universe. Shining with light from the central star reflected by dust, the frigid Boomerang Nebula is believed to be a star or stellar system evolving toward the planetary nebula phase. This Hubble image was recorded using polarizing filters (analogous to polaroid sunglasses) and color coded by the angle associated with the polarized light. The gorgeous result traces the small dust particles responsible for polarizing and scattering the light. The Boomerang Nebula spans about one light year and lies about 5,000 light years away toward the constellation Centaurus.

The Strange Trailing Side of Saturn’s Iapetus
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

What has happened to Saturn’s moon Iapetus? Vast sections of this strange world are dark as coal, while others are as bright as ice. The composition of the dark material is unknown, but infrared spectra indicate that it possibly contains some dark form of carbon. Iapetus also has an unusual equatorial ridge that makes it appear like a walnut. To help better understand this mysterious moon, NASA directed the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn to swoop within 2,000 kilometers just last month. Pictured above, from about 75,000 kilometers out, Cassini’s trajectory allowed unprecedented imaging of the hemisphere of Iapetus that is always trailing. A huge impact crater seen in the south spans a tremendous 450 kilometers and appears superposed on an older crater of similar size. The dark material is seen increasingly coating the easternmost part of Iapetus, darkening craters and highlands alike. Close inspection indicates that the dark coating typically faces the moon’s equator. Whether Iapetus’ colors are the result of unusual episodes of internal volcanism or external splattering remains unknown. This and other images from Cassini’s Iapetus flyby are being studied for even greater clues.

Sun Storm: A Coronal Mass Ejection
Credit: SOHO Consortium, ESA, NASA

What’s happening to our Sun? Another Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)! The Sun-orbiting SOHO spacecraft has imaged many erupting filaments lifting off the active solar surface and blasting enormous bubbles of magnetic plasma into space. Direct light from the sun is blocked in the inner part of the above image, taken in 2002, and replaced by a simultaneous image of the Sun in ultraviolet light. The field of view extends over two million kilometers from the solar surface. While hints of these explosive events, called coronal mass ejections or CMEs, were discovered by spacecraft in the early 70s, this dramatic image is part of a detailed record of this CME’s development from the presently operating SOHO spacecraft. Near the minimum of the solar activity cycle CMEs occur about once a week, but near solar maximum rates of two or more per day are typical. Strong CMEs may profoundly influence space weather. Those directed toward our planet can have serious effects.

Massive Stars in Open Cluster Pismis 24
Credit: NASA, ESA and J. M. Apellániz (IAA, Spain).

How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of our Sun, making it a record holder. This star is the brightest object located just to the right of the gas front in the above image. Close inspection of images taken recently with the Hubble Space Telescope, however, have shown that Pismis 24-1 derives its brilliant luminosity not from a single star but from three at least. Component stars would still remain near 100 solar masses, making them among the more massive stars currently on record. Toward the image left, stars are still forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357, including several that appear to be breaking out and illuminating a spectacular cocoon.

Earth at Night
Credit: C. Mayhew & R. Simmon (NASA/GSFC), NOAA/NGDC, DMSP Digital Archive

This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth’s surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The above image is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting DMSP satellites.

Z Machine Sets Unexpected Earth Temperature Record
Credit: Z Machine Collaboration, Sandia National Lab, Lockheed Martin, NNSA, DOE

Why is this plasma so hot? Physicists aren’t sure. What is known for sure is that the Z Machine running at Sandia National Laboratories created a plasma that was unexpectedly hot. The plasma reached a temperature in excess of two billion Kelvin, making it arguably the hottest human made thing ever in the history of the Earth and, for a brief time, hotter than the interiors of stars. The Z Machine experiment, pictured above, purposely creates high temperatures by focusing 20 million amps of electricity into a small region further confined by a magnetic field. Vertical wires give the Z Machine its name. During the unexpected powerful contained explosion, the Z machine released about 80 times the world’s entire electrical power usage for a brief fraction of a second. Experiments with the Z Machine are helping to explain the physics of Solar flares, design more efficient nuclear fusion plants, test materials under extreme heat, and gather data for the computer modeling of nuclear explosions.

Wisps Surrounding the Horsehead Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory

The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion is not alone. A deep exposure shows that the dark familiar shaped indentation, visible just below center, is part of a vast complex of absorbing dust and glowing gas. To bring out details of the Horsehead’s pasture, amateur astronomers at the Star Shadow Remote Observatory in New Mexico, USA fixed a small telescope on the region for over seven hours filtering out all but a very specific color of red light emitted by hydrogen. They then added the image to a full color frame taken over three hours. The resulting spectacular picture details an intricate tapestry of gaseous wisps and dust-laden filaments that were created and sculpted over eons by stellar winds and ancient supernovas. The Horsehead Nebula lies 1,500 light years distant towards the constellation of Orion. Two stars from the Orion’s Belt can be found in the above image.

The Bottom Line

We are surrounded by beauty, from the smallest living things to the largest. The price of entry is simply opening your eyes and mind to the possibilities that exists around us.

Buzvia: NASA Picture of the Day

One of my fondest memories growing up was watching home improvement shows on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. There is something fascinating about watching others fix, design and build things that never seems to get dull. In a half hour, a kitchen floor could be tiled and basic plumbing installed along with pot lights by a small crew of carpenters… usually right in the thick of it was Bob Vila!

Background Information about Bob Vila

During the 80s and 90s, there was no missing Bob Vila, he was everywhere it seems, from guest appearances on Tim Allen’s “Tool Time with Tim Taylor” to guest appearances on many other television shows and even starting in a series of his own series. It all began in 1946 when he was born into a Cuban family as Robert J. Vila in Miami, Florida. He later attended the University of Florida to receive a BS in Journalism followed by a stint at the Boston Architectural Center.

Bob Vila the businessman

Bob Vila traveled Europe for two years after receiving his BS in Journalism, after his studies at the Boston Architectural Center he began his own business renovating houses and designing living spaces for clients in the local Boston area. He enjoyed success in this endeavor and this lead to him receiving a number of awards.

Bob Vila’s co-hosting gig

After winning the “Heritage House of 1978” award from Better Homes and Gardens, Bob Vila was subsequently hired as a co-host of the popular show “This Old House” with Norm Abram, himself a very accomplished master carpenter. Norm had the gift of making everything look so damn easy to build and Bob Vila had the ability to make even the most mundane aspects of carpentry a must-see, together they where a fantastic combination. Bob Vila stayed with “This Old House” for 11 years before parting ways with Norm in 1989 to begin his own series, the cause of this legendary break-up is still a hotly debated topic. One rumor that seems to have the most legs is that Bob Vila was increasingly using the notoriety of the show to propel himself and this caused some friction with the producers, including Norm.

Bob Vila’s takes control

Whether by chance or planning, Bob Vila saw the writing on the wall after leaving “This Old House” and decided to begin his own show called “Bob Vila’s Home Again” whose popularity propelled him into popular culture stardom. He became the official spokesperson for anything “carpentry” related with Sears under the brand “Craftsman Tool” and the show had a catchy theme that showed entire home projects over multiple segments. I remember watching his shows vividly, especially one in which he was building a sunken greenhouse. It was odd because he always had the people who owned the house pay the work site a visit to show progress and to receive feedback but on this project, he never did this. It was later revealed by him that this was actually his house (he was the client), a nice personal touch that won him many fans. As his popularity peaked in the 90s, he wrote several books about architecture and home improvements. In 2005, he renamed his show “Bob Vila” and began selling his own brand of tools with himself being the personality behind them. He also produced “Guide to Historic Homes of America” and “In Search of Palladio” but they never reached the fame of his self-titled shows. He now the undisputed king of the home improvement empire, stretching his influence around the world that will last for generations to come.

Bob Vila the Humanitarian

Bob Vila has had a profound effect on the entire Home Improvement craze that swept the United States beginning in the 1990s, he enjoyed tremendous success but always gave back to both his fans and communities. He did a number of speaking gigs and gives a helping hand with a number of charities such as Habitat for Humanity, The Hemingway Preservation Foundation and even his very own foundation, aptly called the “Vila Foundation”. He is married and has three children.

The Bottom Line

Notice how Bob Vila became incredibly successful after he decided to take control over his destiny, there is no reason why you can’t do the same!

Buzvia: Bob Vila on Wikipedia, Bob Vila’s Official Site, NNDB’s Bob Vila Profile

I believe that if we all lived our lives like an open book, then we would better understand one another as hiding things from others simply breeds suspicion. We are all human, we all have emotions and everyday struggles. I am no different then anybody else in this world but I think memory fades with time, hence why I am recording this now. Two years ago now, my youngest sister died.

Summers by the pool

My most happy memory of the time I spent with my sister Dominique and my other sister Melanie was in our family pool during the summer months. In Canada we have two months break from school, a relic of our countries earlier harvesting days, which we always took full advantage of. It was the 1980s and early 1990s where, every summer, we would alternate from jumping off the diving board and roasting on the hot sun on the concrete slabs surrounding the pool. News of wearing sunscreen hadn’t hit the mass market yet so we where burnt like toast just about everyday, oddly enough, I don’t remember getting that many sunburns. Our complexion darkened to the point where even today, I am far darker then most of the people I have the pleasure of spending time with. We would have contests all summer long with my parents, drinking his cold water under the shade of the Oak tree right next to the pool talking. Who can hold their breath the longest, who can swim the most laps, who can make the biggest splash and the list went on. In hindsight, we where actually quite a bunch of competitive kids trying to best one another. The fact that I was a few years older then either of my sisters made no difference, we wanted to be better then the other. I remember we use to play a monster game where I, as the oldest, was the monster… I would make lots of splashes and they would have to go from one end of the pool to the other without me catching them. We also had a slide which provided hours of fun as well. It was really a great time for the entire family. We would always beg our parents to join us in the pool and usually they did later in the afternoon. I think the fact that we where all very young and ignorant of the world around us made that time that much better, we had no worries, no pressures nor much to think about during those summer months other then two straight months of playing. The summers are also when we would visit or be visited by our extended family, it was the one time year that everybody had time off to meet up. Summers have been special ever since.

Lessons two years on

Well, it’s been two years now, the emotions aren’t gone at all, nor would I want it any other way. I do have to credit my sisters death for putting the fire under my ass to make things happen faster then would have otherwise been. Facing mortality makes you realize that our time on this Earth is rather limited and can be taken away at any time. I decided long ago that I would not live a life of regrets, wishing I did this instead of that, trying to re-visit the past etc. , not sure where this came from but so far, it has served me very well. I live in two kinds of worlds as a result, one that is short term where I make key decisions right away, wasting as little time debating them as possible, taking steps immediately to make them become reality while the other is trying to plan out my future. Sometimes it’s difficult to decide where a decision goes though, long term or short but regardless, I waste as little time debating this as well. Live is about living it, trying to get as much out of it as possible before it’s taken away by your actions or those of somebody else.

The Bottom Line

Christmas is as much about celebration as reflection.

We are brought up by our society to aspire to the 9-5 lifestyle, so much so, that our entire educational system is established towards achieving this “goal”. Start a family after getting married and work for somebody else is how most people go through their entire life. I am here to tell you there are alternatives to this “normal”.

Religious Boundaries

I respect the role of religion in many peoples lives but the number one boundary that most people create within their mind is that imposed upon them by their religion. I believe religion was created by humans as a way of dealing with the dismal reality that not only do we not matter but there is no rhyme or reason for our existence. It must have began when we developed around the same time as our self-conscience. I am not saying religion is bad, quite the opposite, many people use religion as their moral backbone, but what I am saying is that if that religion closes off your mind about other possibilities, experiences and adventures then I think you need to re-evaluate your faith. Think about it, would a God create all of us to live a life that is but a fraction of what it could be? If I created a human, I would have given them the sense of adventure, exploration and an open mind… expecting them to eek out every second of their existence towards experiencing ALL their senses to the maximum. Not going into a house to worship me or to ask me constantly for my guidance. If I wanted mindless slaves, I would have created robots, but God instead created humans even it it means questioning their origins and significance. God gave us a mind, use it! God gave us a body, use it! God gave us life, LIVE IT! To do anything less then this I would take as an insult upon my creations. You don’t show your faith by going to church every Sunday, you don’t do it by spreading His word as he isn’t running in an election of any kind nor do you show it by living a life of limits, you show your faith by using everything He created you with. Believing is God is your choice, I am not here to convince you otherwise, but what I am saying is wouldn’t a God take more joy in a creation that was constantly expanding and questioning everything around them instead of this mindless obedience to doctrine? When you cease to question yourself and your beliefs, you begin shutting down your mind from other possibilities and this to me, is truly sad.

Societal Boundaries

Who told you that you must go to university in order to get a good paying job? who told you that having a family is the only way towards achieving self-fulfillment? More importantly, who told you that you must dedicate the prime of your life working for somebody else? Society. Well, I am a citizen of the world, as such, I want to live all around the world, in different societies there are different internal compasses that reflect outward. If you where born in a Muslim Middle Eastern nomadic tribe then the expectations and ways towards achieving great success are very different then if you where born in the heart of New York. For the nomadic tribe, carrying salt tables by camel to and from the mines would be essentially how you would live out your life while for the New Yorker, living among millions of people all trying to get through yet another crazy day would be your fate. What am I saying? Well, in our own world, the self-perceived societal boundaries are incredibly flexible, you CAN change them. Sure, going against the grain will be hard, imagine being a nomadic tribesman wanting to move to New York and work in a brokerage firm on the 100th floor of a prestigious building… the odds are stacked against him but where there is a will, there will be a way. You, Me, Us, we all have the ability to modify societal beliefs and impositions (boundaries) at will, sadly, most of us never go beyond getting our toes wet.

Life’s Boundaries

Imagine a life where people where completely free to think, act and do as they wished, free from religious and societal boundaries… it’s either excessively Utopian or an absolute Hell depending on your pre-dispositional beliefs. You see the problem of living outside of boundaries is that others may do the same, which leads to a very scary scenario. My mind is “all there” but not everybody has the internal strength nor physical ability to deal with the pressures that living in a boundless life has. This breads guilt, envy, resentment for some while for others they become sources of inspiration, motivation and fulfillment. This would create two groups of people, with some cross-flow between them as we aren’t always in the same emotional, physical nor intellectual state throughout our lives. One group would become increasingly depressed and go into a downward spiral, incapable of living with the knowledge that they must create their own structure in life that, at the end of the day, meant nothing anyways. The other group would become increasingly euphoric, always trying to best one another by climbing the highest mountains faster, swimming deeper and so forth. Basically, being an extreme type A personality surrounded by other extreme type A personalities is no better then being and among type F personalities… the result is the same. Without fear, you don’t live a long life but with too much fear, you don’t get out to experience life neither. Either way, life without meaning begins and ends in the same manner regardless of how you choose to live it. This is why, we have religion and societal barriers that the vast majority of people live by as the alternative is simply too much to cope with.

The Bottom Line

Life with boundaries is as liberating as it’s frightning

Over the years, I have studied the Branson way of “Virgin” business and here is the top 10 list that he, so far, has never released as to why he has become such a successful entrepreneur.

10. Keep things small

Keep the size of the companies small, his average is about 60 employees per company, if they get too big, break them up into smaller pieces. This does a number of things, first, it keeps the company nimble and still personalized as everybody knows everybody else on a first hand basis. Secondly, it keeps things manageable, if there is a problem, the risks are minimal for the entire “Virgin Group” both financially and in reputability. Like Sir Richard Branson says, he always pays off the debts of defunct Virgin companies should things go bust which is difficult if you have one huge company with billions in receivership and tens of thousands made redundant.

9. Be ethical

Don’t participate in underhanded business activities such as kickbacks, bribes and sabotage. As a businessperson, the only thing you have to stand on is your business ethics and reputation, once this is tarnished, it’s an uphill battle to regain it. People tend to remember the dramatic and negative about people even if they represent but a small portion of a positive image.

8. Give others a vested interest

Sir Richard Branson has a unique method of building up his conglomerate of companies, he creates partnerships on usually a 50/50 basis. As such, each party has a direct interest in success of the new Virgin brand. This works in several ways for the entrepreneur who wishes to buy into this type of arrangement. Firstly, Virgin has a lot of companies so you may instantly have a customer with another part of the conglomerate, for instance, the in-flight entertainment for Virgin Atlantic may also be used for Virgin Trains. Secondly, Virgin has huge cash reserve, so getting additional funding (seeking it from Angels, Vcs and banks) is far easier when you can say “Oh, by the way, you do know Virgin is a partner in this company right?” Lastly, people work harder when they have a direct vested interest in something, an employee will work 40 hours a week but the founder behind the company has no problem pulling in twice those hours off the clock. This internal motivation usually makes the difference between boom or bust.

7. Follow your gut

Businesses must evolve to stay competitive, if you have a gut feeling to do something that doesn’t show up in the numbers yet, well, DO IT! Nobody knows a company like the founder or executive committee that was there since it all began, competitors, segways and even the market demands are in a constant state of flux. If you want to run a company strictly by the numbers, become an accountant, otherwise, follow your gut more often then not, it will prove right.

6. “Sue the Bastards” - Sir Richard Branson

If somebody is being unfair, tainting your image and reputation or simply not paying their bills after multiple tries to solve a problem, sue them. A friend told me once that there is business and there is personal, you may be great friends with a person who may be one of your suppliers or providers but don’t let that get in the way of running your business. If somebody isn’t treating you right, solve it before things get worse, and yes, they will get worse. I have taken my fair share of people to court, I think it’s a great way towards dispute resolution.

5. Mistakes aren’t a BIG deal

No matter what type of business, there will be some mistakes made, you simply cannot afford to go through the world of business walking on egg shells. No matter the size of the mistake or who it affects, admit to it and move on. Trying to push a mistake under the rug will simply allow it to grow into a bigger problem and eventually, it may get legs of it’s own. I liken the role of an entrepreneur to that of a fireman, you spend your day putting out fires before they become unmanageable, whether this is kicking the sales force back into shape or making sure internal politics don’t get out of hand.

4. Think long term

If you are starting a business with a quick payout then you should stick to your job at McDonald’s flipping burgers. Businesses need to be run for the long term, this is the only way you can attract investment and maintain your sanity through the years. Decisions are a lot easier to make when you can envision their effect a few years down the road then how they will immediately impact your bottom line. Todays investment will result in tomorrows revenue.

3. Don’t cash-out!

Your company just made a huge profit this year, what do you do? No… don’t go on a vacation splurging all this away, look at areas in your company that would benefit from additional investment or even better, consider acquisitions or new areas you wish to create change into. The bottom line is that profits are great mechanisms to further boost future influence, don’t take this cash out and waste it! This is a gift to be taken seriously and shared, not to be squandered at the casino

2. Customers come first

Let’s face it, a business without customers is a dead business. It’s tough to get new customers and even tougher to get repeated business from them, always appreciate them! There is something very wrong when a company begins to take it’s customer base for granted and begins exploiting them. I have seen this time and again, most of the time, the company goes under once all these under-handed activities either become known or the staff themselves get tired of becoming the customers punching bag. Let me repeat, if you want a successful business, you must appreciate each and every customer who ultimately buys into your idea. EVERY ONE!

1. Have Fun!

Life is about having fun, and business shouldn’t be any different, if you don’t enjoy your position in life, change it before it changes you. We are all very lucky to be given the gift of life by our parents, we need to show that appreciation by learning and exploring the world around us. You run a business, great! This is a tool to give you more freedom then the average worker, but be sure to get as much learnings out of it as you possibly can.

The Bottom Line

There is much we can all learn from Sir Richard Branson, hopefully this glimpse into his keys of management opens the doors of possibility for you.

From the small mining town of Sudbury, Ontario to the global success of “Jeopardy!”, how ambition can lead to great things no matter where you are from!Alex Trebek’s Background

Alex Trebek was born on July 22nd, 1940 as Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek in the small mining town of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He left the small town to received a degree in philosophy from the University of Ottawa.

Alex Trebek’s Canadian Television Persona

Alex Trebek began a career on television as a newscaster for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) reporting on everything under the sun. In 1964, at the age of 24, he hosted several high school quiz shows under the “Reach for the Top” moniker but his first televised quiz show for Canadian television was called “Jackpot!”.

Alex Trebek’s American Television Persona

Pursuing opportunities when they came, he went to the United States in 1973 to become a host for the NBC quiz show “The Wizard of Odds”. At that time, and still true to this day, many Canadians feel the need to enter the American mainstream media in order to further their career. In 1974 he hosted the game show “High Rollers” and in 1982 he hosted “Starcade”, “Battlestars” and “Pitfal” but his huge breakthrough came when he was selected to become the host of a new show called “Jeopardy!”. He later stated that he doubted the shows success beyond the first few seasons but he needed the money, neither did he predict that it would have had such a huge impact on education as it has.

Alex Trebek’s Global Television Persona

He began hosting “Jeopardy!” in 1982 and has been the only host for that show from then on. Alex Trebek didn’t rest with the success of “Jeopardy!”, he also went on to host two other shows, the first “Classic Concentration” and the other “To Tell the Truth”, both of which where a great success in addition to a few stints on the side. Being the host for “Jeopardy!” lead to him becoming a global television icon through syndication around the world. The fact that his name is now synonymous with the word “Jeopardy!” is a testament to his great success as a host and his abilities to win over a crowd. He also became a regular on the cameo circuit, showing up in a host of movies and television shows such as “The X-Files”, “Family Guy”, “Cheers” and even the teenage drama “Beverly Hills 90210”.

Alex Trebek on “Jeopardy!”

Alex Trebek’s Achievements

He has received a number of awards, from the “Outstanding Game Show Host” Emmy Award to a star on both Canada’s and Hollywood’s “Walk of Fame”. Alex Trebek also hosted a number of charity events and still to this day hosts many events for the National Geographic Society including the annual spelling bee. He is also an active spokesperson for the World Vision Inc., running in many of their commercials as both a host and member. Alex Trebek is also a spokesperson for the USO (United Service Organization) which helps soldiers and other military personnel to burn of some steam through recreation and counseling.

Trivia

Alex Trebek has a deep passion for breeding and racing thoroughbred horses, owning his own 700 acre ranch. He is also an accomplished wine aficionado, owning his own vineyards called “Creston Vineyards”. In 2001 he shaved his mustache that was part of his persona for over 30 years.

The Bottom Line

If he can achieve amazing success coming from a small mining town, there is no reason that you can’t too!

Buzvia: Alex Trebek has heart attack, Wikipedia, National Geographic Society, World Vision, Who Is Alex Trebek?, United Service Organization

Life is about adventure and learning about oneself, about 6 months ago I was on a remote beach in Cape Tribulation, Australia right before the tourist flow and this is what it was like.

How I got there

I rented a room from a great family in Cairns who gave me a ride up to Cape Tribulation, I planned on going there for a week before leaving Canada about 5 months prior simply to see what is was like to actually live on a beach for a week. The roads where not bad but one thing I learned quickly about Australia is that in the outback, there aren’t any straight roads. Past Cape Tribulation is pure off-road dirt roads, south is relatively paved but still rough. After taking too many bends to count and starting to get nauseated, we finally arrived! This place, that I so feared never arriving to was finally a reality. The family stayed there for a day then we parted ways.

Survival: Shelter, Food and Fire

In any survival situation, the first priority is shelter, the elements, even in a tropical area can be extremely grueling. This wasn’t anywhere near a survival situation and I had more cans of beans and peanuts, my staple for a week, to last me easily twice that long. At night, there was a communal camp fire but after coming from a night-shift position I took temporarily, to say my hours where screwed up was an understatement. Being use to waking up at 6pm and going to bed around 8am… well, you get the idea. I went from rarely seeing sunlight to being basked in it full time! Back to the story, after checking-in, I got my tent set-up and jumped right into the waves.

The Beach!

Coming from Canada with it’s polluted waterways, Australia was amazing! I never got tired of heading to the beach every few weekends just to BE THERE. There is something extremely peaceful and yet adventurous about the beach. The beaches North and South of Cairns aren’t bad but they sure as hell aren’t a Cape Tribulation Beach! Beautiful white sand, waves full of sea urchins and jellyfish, nothing comes close! This beach was everything I imagined it would be and more. Well, I soon realized that Cape Tribulation had two tides, the first high-tide was around 11am and the second 11pm. I was also surprised by the complete lack of mosquitoes, the constant sea breeze and salt water sure did a number on them.

What to do on a remote beach?

As this wasn’t a survival situation, I had basically all day to do as I wished. About 95% of the time, I had the entire few kilometers of beach to myself, what I mean by myself is exactly that, no other humans in sight! Backpackers where busy getting over their hangovers or their sunrise mates, most people would walk on the beach then the rest of the day, disappear like I would have if I had been in such a remote place with a lover. The fact that this was the off-season just made things that much better in my opinion. At night it was freezing as I caught a fever which took the first few days to combat and during the day it was easily over 30 degrees with full humidity. I kinda wished it was rougher, this was too easy an adventure for me! I spent my days walking up and down the beach, doing some great photography and in between, going up to the coral reef that outlined the Cape Tribulation beach about 100 meters out. Laying around in the afternoons under a palm tree and taking a nap soon became a good habit of mine. The beach is really a cool place, each tide would being in some interesting creatures, one day, it was a huge lobster and another day interesting shells. Regardless, compared to the modern monotony of the cities most of us inhabit, the beach is always different!

Realizations

What do you realize when you have an entire week to just relax and think? Well, quite a bit, this isn’t a confessional but what I will say is that time “off” like this is vitally important to allow your brain to wind down the recuperate. Much like a muscle that worked very hard, a few days to recover pay huge dividends. Things that once seems unsurmountable begin to make sense, the various mental blocks that get created just dissolve away and better yet, alignments in life can be re-orientated.

Next Time…

Now that I know what it’s like to be a beach bum for a week, next time I want something with more of a survival tone to it. I would like to spend a month, yes, an entire month with nothing but a hatchet, netting and an emergency pack full of food just in case my hunting / fishing skills aren’t where they should be. I have a few tropical islands that are sufficiently remote to accomplish this goal with the timing is right in my life. I want to challenge myself, would I actually be able to live off my wit in the face of nature herself? I am confident I could but I have never tested this out and I am eager to get my feet wet. I have found during my travels that it takes about a week for the brain to realize “yes, you are really here” followed by a week of “what the heck are you doing here” then a few more weeks for the reality to be fully accepted. I have many other outdoor survival adventures I want to try as well in different areas of our vast planet, and I look forward towards turning them into a reality. This is something that every human should live through.

The Bottom Line

Life is about living it!

In the world of strongmen, the legend of Bill Kazmaier lives on due to his incredible super human strength and his ability to get a crowd hyped up as he impressed them with his raw power.

Bill Kazmaier’s early years

Bill Kazmaier was born in Burlington, Wisconsin on December 30th, 1953. He played football for the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 1973 season but then left for the pursuit of powerlifting.

Bill Kazmaier’s brute strength achievements

To say that he was a powerful man is an understatement, he was known to have dumbbell curled 100 pounds 41 times in a row with one arm, curling 315 pounds 15 times and even became the first man to ever do all of MacGlashen stones! Here are more impressive numbers, he was able to do a 925 pound squat with an injury and performed a 907 pound deadlift! He also performed regularly as part of his training 900 pound triple squats and 633 pound triple bench presses! At this time, there where no bench shirts or suits that are used by many powerlifters today, this was just raw power.

A few years later, in 1979, he won both the American Powerlifting Championship and IPF (International Powerlifting Federation) championship. Bill Kazmaier’s incredible strength blew away the competition when he was the first person to ever bench press over 300kg (661 pounds) in competition and achieved an incredible career best of 1 100kg (2 425 pounds) in raw powerlifting without the use of a powerlifting shirt.

Following this success, Bill Kazmaier was invited to compete in the Worlds Strongest Man competition, which he won 3 times in a row (1980, 1981, 1982). He so much dominated the field that he wasn’t invited back until several years later where he placed a respectable 2nd (1988) and 4rd (1989). He had suffered a major pectoral tear that required him to retire away from strength based competition for a few years.

Bill Kazmaier: later in life

Bill Kazmaier later dabbed in the world of wrestling who, like Andre the Giant, could have easily torn his competitors to shreds but decided instead to play the game, never winning a championship and loosing several times. This is a testament to his ability to not take himself too seriously. He even played briefly for the Green Bay Packers and opened a gym which closed in 2005.

Bill Kazmaier Trivia

He was known for his varacious apetite, at over 300 pounds, he could eat just about anybody under the table, nowhere was this more impressive then his ability to consume a thousand goldfish in one shot in which he would simply drink out an aquarium.

Bill Kazmaier Multimedia Tribute

The Bottom Line

Bill Kazmaier was to powerlifting what Arnold Schwarzenegger was to bodybuilding, both giants in their respective fields.

Buzvia: Bill Kazmaier profile on bodybuildingdotcom and Bill Kazmaier on Wikipedia

See also: LegendaryLife Profile: Mariusz Pudzianowski 

Even in big companies where many staff, contractors and third parties play a vital role in keeping everything moving forward, there is always, except in partnerships, that sole entrepreneur trying to make sense of everything before it blows up.

Entrepreneur = Train Engineer

Startups are like a train, usually going completely out of control, where there is but one engineer at the helm who, somehow, keeps things relatively going in one direction. This direction, the vision of the entrepreneur, is very difficult to communicate to others as usually, this deep passion or inner desire simply cannot be transplanted. Of all the entrepreneurs I call friends, they all have this solitary road that sort of links all of us together regardless of market, success or expertise. This solitary road is like a proofing ground, that must be vanquished in order to proceed further into the quest of hoped success. Things don’t always work the way originally envisioned but the proofing ground pays dividends with ever future venture that the entrepreneurs chooses to undertake. Sometimes an entrepreneur hits a land mine with the first few steps, other times, only after great investments in time and money does this happen.

Opportunity Clairvoyants

You can teach somebody how to draw, you can show somebody how to change a tire on their car but you cannot without herculean effort, teach somebody to see opportunity even where there are none. Like clairvoyants of bygone days, entrepreneurs have the instant ability to see and project a business opportunity in just about everything. Like a bodybuilder who can do one tonne squats after years of training, the muscles within the entrepreneurs mind have re-orientated themselves into vast arrays of entanae that are able to pick out and analyze data at an incredible rate. Not to say they are any better then the layman’s reasoning, it’s just that they have developed this ability at a higher level. Most of them have also developed the ability to organize their lives around their businesses and, most importantly, become expert negotiators and sales people. When your living depends on your wits, the opportunity honing devices come fast and furious!

Are entrepreneurs like Superman or Superwoman?

Hmmm… no. We entrepreneurs are like everybody else, sure, the majority of us are obsessive about the next opportunity, if you talk to us long enough over a few years, you will notice that entrepreneurs are always on the “verge” of some breakthrough or another. “Strike while the iron is hot” sounds nice but for entrepreneurs, the iron always seems to be hot! It never has time to cool down! We aren’t like Superman or Superwoman though, we get sick and go through life’s tribulations like everybody else but the scale is different depending on which swing up or down they are currently on. Entrepreneurs life can be seen as a roller coaster, one minute everything is going perfectly then, like a rock getting stuck in the chucks of a skateboarder, everything goes to hell.

Motivation comes from within

Passion or motivation comes from deep inside entrepreneurs, for some, it’s the desire for vast riches while for others it’s simply a method of seeking approval from others or proving them wrong. Regardless of where the passion comes from, it’s there in abundant quantities regardless of how a venture or business goes. It’s like that stain on a shirt that simply will not go away, the motivation to keep working on something even while it’s going downhill is insatiable.

So why is the road a solitary one?

Well, an entrepreneur is a mad scientist of sorts, they have a little organism in a petri dish that they want to see mature into a beautiful being. The hours of careful attention and spirited thought that are involved with this process make a 40 hour workweek sound like child’s play. This comes at a cost, some entrepreneurs are able to find balance but just as many get swamped into their work like a black hole sucking the light out of the universe. The hours, days, months, years FLY by but what entrepreneurs must realize is that unlike a time machine, you cannot go back and relive those lost times that are just as important as the venture itself.

The Bottom Line

Entrepreneurship is an adventure that lasts a lifetime regardless of outcomes.

I realized something a few days ago that I hadn’t thought of previously, do people buy something because a corporation is selling it or because of the people running the place?

What is a Corporation

A corporation is a legal entity that, as one documentary I saw a while back put it, was equivalent to a psychopath hell-bent on making profits at any cost. The reason people set-up a corporation is normally two fold, the first is legal protection in case of lawsuits which isn’t possible under a sole proprietorship and the second, to make money. If you don’t want to make money, then a non-profit designation is for you but if you have very long term objectives of one day drinking a martini on your personal comet, well, a corporation is needed.

Who runs the corporation?

Left to it’s own devices, a corporation will by definition become ruthless in the pursuit of wealth, leaving many on the wayside. The job of the CEO, or more apt, the face of the corporation, is to reign in the profit beasts. Now, if your corporation is run by an accountant, there probably won’t be much difference but if it’s run by the founder, usually things are much more humanized then otherwise possible. Take for instance General Electric. Who runs that place? I haven’t a clue, it’s just some huge corporation that builds everything from sink plugs to jet engines. Same goes with Exxon, IBM, Johnson and Johnson and the list goes on. Now, if I say Apple, you will probably instantly say “Steve Jobs”, how about Microsoft? Bill Gates, Virgin? Richard Branson, Disney? Walt Disney in his cryogenic tomb. WHY IS THIS?

Brand of the Founder

I believe that there is something special that happens when a corporation is run from scratch by the founder throughout their lifespan. For instance, Ford has been run by distant relatives and stock holders for so long that it has lost the “synonymousity” that it once had with Henry Ford. Sames goes with the now Eatons, a huge retail empire in Canada that once dominated but has since been sold too many times to count. In these cases, the kids where unable to maintain the spirit or vision that their father had for the corporation. We actually saw this happen with Apple for a brief period of time when Steve Jobs was essentially kicked out, what happened? Apple went to the brink of extinction until he triumphantly returned. There is something special that only the founder of a corporation, who has managed it’s growth like a well pruned Bonsai Tree that simply cannot be taught or passed on very well. Now for another question, do you buy an Apple computer because of Steve Jobs or because of Apple?

Synonymous Founder

Apple is a good example of hype generated by it’s founders, I doubt people run to the stores and wait for days to get their hands on the latest Vista operating system, but they will for the iPhone! Why? Sames goes with Richard Branson who is basically a demi-god in the UK, are people buying something from his 350+ companies because of HIM or because of Virgin? In these cases, the company has become the persona of it’s founder and vice versa. This may cause some big problems in the future because, although a Corporation has an indefinite lifespan, humans do not. Bill Gates for some reason never was able to become a body double of his corporation and Steve Ballmer even less so.

Corporation vs Human

Humans have emotion, passion and desires, corporations have simply the bottom line. They seem like such different things but somehow, a few select executives and CEOs have managed to turn the two into one. Another great example is Micheal Dell, he built Dell Computers into a vast empire and once he left to become a “sabbatical chairman”, his company floundered. He had to return, much like Steve Jobs decades earlier, to pick back up the pieces and begin pruning his corporation once again. I find it

What does this all mean?

Anybody can run a corporation, but it takes a very magic touch indeed to be able to actually BECOME the corporation, where the company and the person behind it (usually the founder) are one. If you are able to achieve this goal, then you really have reached a peak that few have ever climbed.

The Bottom Line

There is a human behind every corporation, but not necessarily a corporation behind every human.

I don’t normally read books as I got too many other things to get done on a daily basis to be bothered but after receiving this book and letting it sit on the shelf for a week… I decided to read a few chapters. Little did I know that over the next two days I would read through nearly all the books 400 pages!

Richard Branson grew up in a somewhat eccentric family that was focused on self-empowerment. Sure he almost drowned as a child but that is the way things where in those times after the war. He has dyslexia so he learned very quickly that schooling wasn’t in his future, with it’s daily mental torments and beatings. He tried various entrepreneurial ventures from growing Christmas Trees to a Student magazine but he never gave up no matter how hard things became.

His first major success was with him selling records, the student magazine was a hand to mouth existence but he seemed to enjoy that. He has a philosophy, like mine, that profits should be re-invested into a company, not taken out. If that means the entrepreneur doesn’t get paid or further re-negotiations need to be done with the bank to accomplish this, so be it. After the mail order business grew larger, he opened a store, then another, then another while opening a recording studio and signing artists. His first major signing success was Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield which allowed him to fund his other ventures. This lead to him signing the likes of Phil Collins, Janet Jackson and the Sex Pistols. What I found interesting is that he spent the vast majority of his live in absolute poverty, sure he had a house and girlfriends but really, he was always a few months away from bankruptcy on a continual basis. He lived on the edge thanks to bankers who, although he didn’t like dealing with, gave him just enough cash flow to keep things afloat a little longer.

Richard Branson had a number of failures along the way, he had to put some friendships on the line and although he faced death several times, always tried to get the most out of the live he had been given. At any time, a bank could have called a loan on him and he would have failed to achieve the great success he now enjoys today. He never gave up on his dreams, did anything he could to make them happen, from putting EVERYTHING he had on the line to given away a wedding present (car) in order to seal a deal. I find it astonishing that through all this, he kept his relaxed attitude, I wonder if this attitude is the result of all the stress that was created in his life for all those years. He was on the brink, but even there, he took new responsibilities and ventures on. He started with nothing and now has a conglomerate worth close to 25 Billion dollars, not bad!

After reading this book, which I highly recommend, I can easily say this his motto is “you only got one life, live it to it’s full potential”. If more people lived this way, the world would be a far more enjoyable place! I found these two video that summarizes the book rather well. You can order the book for yourself by clicking on this link: Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way