Category: Blog
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How the Banking Credit Card Fiasco Affects YOUR Business
I was nervous yesterday as I called one of the major credit card companies I use for business. I was expecting a very overworked and underpaid representative telling me there was absolutely nothing they could do for me. Two years ago I took advantage of a two-year interest-free credit card balance transfer, that had just…
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Remember the Little Things in Life
This Thanksgiving, here are two unrelated stories for you. First Story: last night I finished reading 1491, by Charles C. Mann and what America was really like before Columbus “discovered” it. Fascinating read about the real history and how well developed, populated and civilized the American Continents were. One of the coolest things was Mann’s well…
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The Importance of Taking Your Biz Carbon Negative
Yesterday morning I was listening to Al Gore on CNN being grilled on all the hoopla around climate change: Is it really man-made? (Today less Americans think so than a few years ago.) Are environmentalists hypocritical for changing their position on nuclear power? What about ClimateGate? (The recent stolen e-mails from scientists in regards to…
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How to Manage the Too Busy to Fail Syndrome
I did not want to write this week’s ezine. Being on the “road”, raising a round of capital for the company, an investor meeting today to get ready for, finish negotiations on a TV show partnership, get ready for meetings, coaching and mentoring at Columbia University tomorrow, teaching in the evening… blah, blah, blah. It…
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How’s YOUR QA?
I woke up and nearly jumped off the table. A stranger was putting needles into me. Still confused, as I must have fallen asleep yesterday while waiting over 30 minutes for my acupuncturist to start working on me, I asked the stranger why they were doing this and not my acupuncturist. She stammered, “she’s busy…
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Sure You Have the Right Business Model??
“Stefan, may I speak to you a second?” “Sure, Tre, what’s up?” “Your personal story you just shared, really hit home for me. I was on the other side of what happened to you. I was the driver.” This past Saturday I had just finished presenting to a group of participants in the Defy Ventures…
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Top 5 Ways to Get That Big Meeting
“Watch this, Stefan.” John then picked up the phone and called a CEO of a Fortune 50 company, whom he did not know. When the CEO’s administrator answered, John said, “I’ll be in Paris next week and about 5 minutes from your office. I’d be happy to stop by and speak to [the CEO] for…
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Avoiding Risk: The Opposite of Being an Entrepreneur?
Recently I was at a business networking event in New York. And a man was doing a good job presenting his product to the audience. It was high-end with nice “green” features that he was hired to design for his client, who operates in a very competitive industry. But there was no indication of the…
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The Importance of Consistency for Success
In the early 90s I met Tom Schutte. Tom is president of Pratt Institute here in New York. Each morning we would see each other at the gym. He would be there at 7AM sharp swimming his laps for one hour. Every day. No matter where he was or if it was snowing. When he…
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Seven Steps to Attracting Your Billionaire Angel Investor
The first time I met John I was really surprised. He was introduced to me from an investor in my new company at the time and John was an old friend of his. What surprised me about John how human he was. He was in his late sixties and somewhat stubborn and opinionated. But not…