Over the years, I've collected some famous quotes about attitudes and how they affect my life. I hold fast to the notion that values and attitudes dictate a lot about what happens around me. Essentially, these quotes promote the simple concept of being comfortable in one's own skin, being true to one's belief system and not being afraid of other people's opinions.

So here they are:

- Work like you don't need money,

- Love like you've never been hurt,

- Dance like nobody's watching,

- Sing like nobody's listening,

- Be surprised, like you were born yesterday,

- Tell the truth and you don't have to remember anything,

- Live like you were dying.

I don't usually just post a video in this blog, but once in a while, one comes along that reaches inside, takes a hold and doesn't let go.

Enjoy.

The first question I ask wannabe entrepreneurs when they tell me they come to me bright-eyed about starting a business.

There are the sources of inspiration, but I like digging deeper with the 5-Why-Method' - a well known system that consist of asking 'why?' 5 times to get to the truth.

In my experience, these are the reasons that are revealed at the fifth 'why?' asked (NB. They are in order of frequency and importance) :

- Money
- Power, independence, be my own boss
- Glory, recognition
- Pleasure, escapism, means to having fun
- Curiosity
- Sense of accomplishment
- Opportunities

Competition is a fascinating thing. It brings out the best and worst of us. It stimulates and forces us to be creative. And, in whatever form it is found, whether in a battlefield or in a game of cards, parties seek the  same goal : to win.

So I've developed a series of metrics for what I look for in my business competitors:

SALES
- # of consumers
- Volume of sales
- Territory
- Market share, potential and saturation points

MARKETING
- Client profile
- Marketing budget
- Brand power
- SWOT
- Price point / history

CORPORATE
- Life cycle
- Historical evolution
- # of employees
- Employee turnover rate
- Suppliers and relationships with them
- Financial situation / EBITDA

I've made a list of where my past ideas came from and what the sources of inspirations were at the moment I thought of these ideas. I should definitely surround myself of more of these creative spark plugs...

- Sources of frustration
- An unfulfilled need
- Impatience with uselessness
- A hatred for the same-old routine
- A desire to make this better and solve problems
- Need to control my destiny
- Completely unexpected or unrelated circumstances
- Applying an idea from a completely different industry
- Nature / Architecture / Design
- New cultures and new ways of thinking
- My quiet time
- My kids' innocent questions

In the past years, I've developed an expertise in defining, building, refining and testing digital strategies for significant companies and brands. Digital media strategies generate awareness, define Web 2.0 policies, build communities for stakeholder alignment, establish thought leadership and reach key constituents through all digital mediums. These are, at a very high level, the structure and processes I've seen that were effective in developing the optimal digital strategy roadmap.

STEP 1 : General education – what is out there ?Repository of knowledge

Market analysis and trends
- New technologies
- New consumer behavior / usage stats
- Competitive landscape
- How it affects Media / Other departments

In the form of
- Presentations
- Briefs, posts on intranet
- Studies

STEP 2 : Strategic assessment – where are we now ?
Current digital situation (high level)
- Yearly updates
- Renewals every year

Corporate
- Values, mission, vision
- SWOT
- Core competencies
- Brand promise / BHAG

Context / Market
- Trends
- 4Ps
- Revenue behaviors

Consumer segment
- Demographics / Personas
- Interests
- Life-phase / roles
- Consumer behavior

Competitors
- USPs

Capacities
- Innovation
- Budget

STEP 3 : Opportunity development – where can we go ?
Identification of viable opportunities

Use cases
- Scenario-driven
- Consumer-based

Investment criteria
- w/ M&A group

Considerations
- Budgeting
- Market

STEP 4 : Digital media mix – how can we get there ?
Find the best mix to accomplish selected options with:
- Functionalities
- Media reach
- Expected results
- Digital team’s capabilities

Develop roadmaps

Customization of monetization features

STEP 5 : R&D and Partners – who can help us get there ?
Buy vs Build vs Partnering

Based on preset criteria

Builds the funnel for future acquisitions

Test out new concepts without significant investments

I saw the 1939 classic movie 'The Wizard of Oz' again over the holidays and it struck me how current the film still is. It was originally meant as a political satire of the time, but it's messages can still be applied in today's society. I think the following quotes are self explanatory about today's distorted views on courage, love, knowledge, belief and beauty.


All about Courage

Cowardly Lion: Come on, get up and fight, you shivering junkyard!
[goes over to the Scarecrow]
Cowardly Lion: And put your hands up, you lopsided bag of hay!
Scarecrow: Now that's getting personal, Lion.
Tin Woodsman: Yes. Get up and teach him a lesson.
Scarecrow: Well, what's wrong with you teaching him?
Tin Woodsman: Well, I hardly know him.
--
Cowardly Lion: All right, I'll go in there for Dorothy. Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch, guards or no guards, I'll tear them apart. I may not come out alive, but I'm going in there. There's only one thing I want you fellows to do.
Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow: What's that?
Cowardly Lion: Talk me out of it.
--
Dorothy: Weren't you frightened?
Wizard of Oz: Frightened? Child, you're talking to a man who's laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified.
--
Wizard of Oz: You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate impression that just because you run away you have no courage; you're confusing courage with wisdom.
--
Cowardly Lion: Read what my medal says: Courage. Ain't it the truth? Ain't it the truth?

All about Love

"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world."
"I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart."
--
Wizard of Oz: A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.
--
Wizard of Oz: As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.
Tin Woodsman: But I still want one.
--
Tin Woodsman: Now I know I have a heart, because it's breaking

All about Knowledge

Dorothy: Now which way do we go?
Scarecrow: Pardon me, this way is a very nice way.
Dorothy: Who said that?
[Toto barks at scarecrow]
Dorothy: Don't be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don't talk.
Scarecrow: [points other way] It's pleasant down that way, too.
Dorothy: That's funny. Wasn't he pointing the other way?
Scarecrow: [points both ways] Of course, some people do go both ways.
--
(my favorite)
Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?
--
Dorothy: What would you do with a brain if you had one?
--
"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one."
--
"A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get."
--
Wizard of Oz: Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.
--
Scarecrow: The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Oh joy! Rapture! I got a brain! How can I ever thank you enough?
Wizard of Oz: You can't.

All about Beliefs

Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: Now, state your business.
Dorothy: We want to see the wizard!
Guardian of the Emerald City Gates: The wizard? But nobody can see the great Oz, nobody's *ever* seen the great Oz... even I've never seen him!
Dorothy: Well then, how do you know there is one?
--
Cowardly Lion: I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do, I *do* believe in spooks,

All about Beauty

Glinda, the Good Witch of the North: Only bad witches are ugly.