Tuesday 30 December 2014

4 Unexpected Innovation Lessons from the Film 'Interstellar'

Article cover image
The new film 'Interstellar' is being hailed for helping to bring theoretical physics into the mainstream. But, it also communicates unexpected lessons about innovation that are vitally important to executives, entrepreneurs, scientists and others.

The Film

This weekend, I took time to watch the new film Interstellar, which was directed by Christopher Nolan and executive produced by the well-regarded theoretical physicistKip Thorne. The film tells the tale of a group of astronauts tasked with finding a new home for humanity after a series of disasters renders the Earth uninhabitable. The explorers travel through a wormhole that allows them to examine a series of planets located in another galaxy, and in the vicinity of a Black Hole (featured in the image above).
I don't want to spoil the film too much for those who haven't seen it. But, I will say that Interstellar is a challenging and though-provoking movie. And, for a science nerd like me, an intellectual feast. While the movie's plot could have been improved, its visual exploration of established and speculative physics such as Einstein's Theory of Relativity and quantum gravity were first-rate and highly engaging.

4 Unexpected Innovation Lessons from Interstellar

I've thought a lot about the science presented in the film, with the help of Kip Thorne's excellent new book, The Science of Interstellar. But, as I turned the movie over in my mind, I came to realize that it unexpectedly communicates a number of essential lessons about what it takes to innovate successfully. I've described four of them below. Warning: I'll reveal a few plot details from the movie, but nothing you wouldn't learn from watching trailers or reading (spoiler-lite) reviews.
Innovation Requires Diversity
The world inhabited by physicists, computer scientists, researchers and technology innovators is very homogenous. It's tough for women, African Americans, Native Americans and people from other non-white male groups to break in and succeed in these arenas. But, it's been proven that diversity is an innovation booster. Bringing diverse (and highly-qualified) teams together to tackle tough problems has many benefits.
Interstellar is refreshing in that it highlights the accomplishments and brain power of a diverse group of engineers, mathematicians and others, as noted by the famed scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. A female physicist does the hard work of solving an essential equation. An African American scientist is an essential member of the crew and provides much-needed insights that play a big role in the film.
If you want to innovate, it's essential seek out and incorporate diverse perspectives.
Innovation Requires Passion
The scientists and engineers in Interstellar are passionate because they know the results of their work will determine the fate of humanity. And, the film displays the fruits of their passion. Craft that can reach space without the aid of rockets, super smart, adaptive computers that can aid humans and save lives and many more innovations.
Passion. If you don't have it, innovation is almost impossible.
Innovation Requires Imagination
In the Interstellar trailer, Matthew McConaughey's character complains that humankind has lost its spark, it's willingness to imagine life beyond the planet's surface. And, in a scene I found shocking and disturbing, it was revealed that the government had published textbooks filled with lies and half truths about major scientific accomplishments. (Unfortunately, this really happens. Ugh.)
Yet, although most people in the film had long given up on imagining a better world and future, a few at a secretive and underfunded NASA never stopped looking out at the stars.
Without imagination (and hope), innovation is much harder to achieve.
Innovation Requires Luck
One can look at Interstellar in two ways:
  • The events of the movie were always going to happen (hint: the film's plot is a giant time loop)
  • Humanity got really, really lucky
I'm going to go with the second option because without a whole lot of luck (and skill), the wormhole that allows for interstellar travel would have never been discovered, for example.*
Anyone who has successfully built anything will tell you that without a little luck, they would have never made it. We can't control everything. Whether it's fair or not, good fortune plays a role in whether we're able to achieve what we set out to do.
If you're interested in innovation, science, the relationship between humans and technology and more, I highly recommend that you watch (and re-watch) this film. I'm sure you'll learn as much as I did.

“Your Product is a Piece of Sh#t”: How My Company Responded To This Tweet

Article cover image
Back in 2010, popular pizza chain Domino’s took a whole new approach to business following a major PR disaster set off by a highly inappropriate video shot by two employees on the job (which involved cheese being put up noses and onto pizzas). As part of its drastic shift in strategy, Domino’s reached out to customers with a survey asking for immediate and honest feedback on its product. Then, in a twist, it decided to make public some of the results, which were largely negative. Customers told the company that its pizza crust tasted like cardboard, its tomato sauce had the consistency of ketchup and that they felt frozen pizza was superior to Domino’s. Yikes.

Then, something amazing happened. Domino’s actually did something about it. It launched a campaign called Pizza Turnaround to reinvent its pizza “from the crust up.” The strategy worked. Within months of releasing its new and improved pie, Domino’s reported one of the largest quarterly same-store sales jumps ever recorded by a major fast-food chain. And since then, Domino’s has continued to foster open dialogue with its customers using a variety of emerging digital channels, like social media. (The brand currently has an impressive 10 million fans on Facebook.) The whole approach must be working—Domino’s, which was founded back in 1960, has seen its stock surge from $7.73 in 2009 to more than $70 in 2014.
The point here is that negative customer feedback is always painful but, when used right, it can be an invaluable asset in business. Bill Gates may have put it best years ago when he said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” The good news is that right now learning from customers is easier than it’s ever been. With the proliferation of social media, any business can engage in open dialogue with customers via networks like Facebook and Twitter, at a fraction of the cost of, say, putting together a massive customer focus group.
Recently, my own company unveiled a major makeover of a key piece of our core product—the Hootsuite dashboard. Users see the dashboard—which organizes multiple social media accounts into one screen—each and every time they log into Hootsuite.com. And, well, over the years, the UI had aged a bit. Since we launched in 2008, social media has grown much more sophisticated; we wanted a new dashboard to reflect this evolution. We also wanted to acknowledge and respond openly to the input we receive from our users.
So to kickstart the project, we first sorted through user feedback from one of our main company social media channels, our Hootsuite Twitter account, looking for some of the worst, most critical messages about the look of our dashboard. Then, instead of tucking them away in a file folder somewhere, we decided to bring them into the light. Our engineers and designers went to work addressing these issues, while our creative team put together a YouTube video to own up to our flaws. Inspired by comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s hilarious "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" segment, it should be good for a quick laugh.
After months of work, we launched our new dashboard several weeks ago, using the “Mean Tweets” video to promote the changes. We’ve received some great responses from our users, and also heard back from people who say they appreciate our modern and transparent approach. It’s a great lesson: openness, humility and transparency is really the only way to move forward. It’s something we’ll be keeping very much in mind as we roll out more improvements in the months ahead.
*****

Monday 29 December 2014

What I’ve Learned After One Year at a Startup

Article cover image
I made it folks. One year ago, I joined a Boulder, Colorado marketing technology company called Kapost. At the time, it seemed like a potentially risky move. I was recently engaged, leaving a company at which I felt secure, working with great people and for a great person. A year later, it's the least risky and best decision I've ever made.

Throughout this year I've been documenting my evolution as a new employee, sharing what I had learned after one month and four months, and my awe of the people I've worked with and for. This is another in that series, documenting lessons from this past year at Kapost.

You Can't Fear Change

For those following along at home, this is a recurring lesson. In fact, it's probably the number one theme. In the past year we've altered the way we do business (3-4 times by my count), adjusting appropriately as we learn what works/doesn't. We've grown from a company in the teens (I was employee 19 a year ago) to somewhere around 60 employees. I think. I honestly can't keep up. In my first post on this topic I bemoaned the construction of a cubicle wall that divided the room, however noting:
"...aside from whining about it in this post, I’m not throwing much of a fit, because I know this too will change.
If we continue to grow as rapidly as we have been – and as rapidly as the company is planning to – we literally will not be able to fit everyone in the office space we’re in now. There will be another move, and maybe we’ll return to an open, lively, & energetic workspace. The point is, change happens at breakneck speed at a startup and if venting in a blog post like I just did isn’t enough to help you keep moving, you’ll struggle to catch up."
It did change. We kept growing. We kept playing with the layout of our space. Now we're moving to a bigger space in a month or so and an even bigger space a few months after that. This constant adjusting of ideas - and in our case physical space - can't rattle you if you want to last in a startup
On a smaller scale, our marketing team has been under constant change this year. We're now at the largest we've ever been staff-wise, but we've had to get to that point by overcoming the departure of 6 marketers in the process. Sometimes we filled positions, sometimes we created new ones. If there's one thing our team knows, it's that the way things work now, sure as hell won't be the way they always work.
Fortunately, we're the kind of team that just keeps rolling.

You Can't Stop the "Up"

So, remember that part above where I said the marketing team lost some folks this year? Well, among them were our web designer, front end developer, marketing automation & Salesforce admin, and our director of marketing. Ridiculously talented people in critical positions. I can't stress that enough. In fact, the latter two were the ones who built Kapost's original marketing structure from the ground up. You don't just replace that overnight.
But despite these key setbacks, our marketing goals remained in place. We still had to produce and still had to produce more each month. So we did (for the most part). We found a way to keep momentum, because, well, we had to. In order for this company to grow, we as a company need to continue to produce, to innovate, to stretch ourselves to be the best version of Kapost we can be.
I'm proud to work at a company where that is not only a mandate but a common understanding and something we all push for. We all know, that as tough as things get, we'll keep going and keep this company booming. So far so good, and we're not stopping any time soon.

Don't Hire Jerks

Now you might be thinking "no shit, Coate", but the reason Kapost has been able to handle change, turnover, high demands from prospects, customers, board members, investors and so on is deeply rooted in an old SlideShare presentation by CEO Toby Murdock. On slide 5 Toby lists Kapost's cultural values.
Numbers 3-6 make up the part I have most commonly cited when people ask what I enjoy most about Kapost. It started with good people, it's grown with good people, and it will continue to grow with good people. As we've grown I've never questioned a hire. With very few exceptions, the people who have walked in the door have belonged, have been all-stars at what they do, and fit in as those they've always been a part of this.
I've also watched as wave after wave of new hires has been welcomed by those before them. There is no sense of "us vs. them", "originals vs. newbies". There's no overt favoritism solely toward longevity. Appreciation, sure, but I mean to say a person is able to walk in to Kapost and do a great job from day one, because they already have the trust of existing teammates.
The great part too, is that the awesome people that have left this company this year have been awesome to the company on the way out. Our marketing team survived a potentially treacherous transition period because none of those key departures left on a bitter note (awesome people are in high demand and they were demanded elsewhere is all), and were willing to do everything they could to make sure we could keep going in the interim, often going above and beyond what's typically expected.
So yeah. Don't hire jerks.

Style Doesn't Matter...

Referencing that SlideShare deck again, #7 reads "We evaluate by results." One of the joys of working for a startup is how freeform a lot of work tends to be. Goals are in place, along with general process guidelines (sometimes), and then it's "okay guys, go get 'em."
This is where innovation comes from - finding different ways to get somewhere. Experimentation has its place, so does unconventional thinking. There's no format, really. It's purely about getting things done, however that looks.
While I referred above to a unity among Kaposters, you wouldn't notice it directly by looking around the office. I see a diversity of workspace and clothing choices, of work styles and work schedules. We aren't a group of look-a-like do-a-likes but we're getting it done. There's something to be said for that.

...Though Apparently Neither Does Cleanliness

Kaposters. Dirty dishes in the bucket. Seriously.
Also, what's going on here?
Or here?
Clean up after yourselves, adult humans.
So that's year one for me. Hope you enjoyed reading my experiences this crazy year as much as I enjoyed having them.

5 Reasons to Quit a Job You Love

I felt like I was on the top of my game: I had a great boss, loved my team, was getting high profile projects, and visibility with senior leadership. So I did what any sensible person would do: I quit. That's what you would do right? After I put in my notice I started doubting myself and asking if I was crazy. Who leaves a job they love? Especially in a society of people who don't like their jobs? I do. And perhaps you should to. So when do you leave a job you love? Here are a few thoughts:

When the job no longer fits the vision you have for your career. Everything you do is either moving you closer or further away from your vision. While a position may have started out with the right alignment, you may have gained what you needed from that position. Understand the end game and think about what will take you there. Look at your target position and understand what makes a person successful in that position. It won't be a one-size-fits-all but most likely you will see some key traits and skills you should be proficient at. Maybe you need to lead a bigger team, or do a rotation in finance. Keep in mind, the road to your goal may not be a straight shot. Detours can be valuable for your career as well. Focus on making them strategic detours.
When you identify a gap in your toolkit that can't be filled where you are. As briefly mentioned above, if you identify a key trait you need to build, understand what options are out there for you. I have heard many people in the C-Suite mention doing time in sales or finance has helped make them successful in their positions. Understand the experiences that will help you round out your leadership and decision making and focus on finding a position that will support that.
When you are no longer growing or your job is so easy you are becoming complacent. If you aren't growing the probability of becoming complacent is high. While it's nice having an easy job for awhile, it's important to be developing and doing things that stretch you as a leader. You may be able to achieve this in your current position by asking for new responsibilities - perhaps even taking some of your boss' workload. However, if growth opportunities aren't sufficient enough you may need to consider a different job. Whatever you do, don't let complacency creep in because eventually someone will come in and outperform you and it will be a struggle to catch back up.
When you and the company no longer have value alignment. Companies change. This can especially be true when a new leader comes on board. Your job may still be great, but you may not have value alignment. This ultimately means you won't be as passionate about initiatives the company tackles. Some values speak to us and some don't. Cigna Health Care came out with a brand of "go you". The premise was "why aren't you living your dream today? Just go for it." That really spoke to me. Recently, I noticed their branding changed to "together we win." That does nothing for me, but obviously does for others. Does your company inspire you? Do you get excited about the work they are doing?
When you've outgrown your company. You may be a big fish in a small pond. Isn't that a wonderful feeling? You're the expert! People are dependent on you and you are highly regarded. BUT, you are no longer surrounded by people or challenges that are going to propel you forward as a leader. Or, you may have a vision that is bigger than what the company can support. If you have great ideas but the company doesn't have the infrastructure or willingness to implement, it's probably time to take your ideas to a company that aligns more with your vision.
If you read this list and feel like it's you, don't go in tomorrow and quit your job. Leaving a job should be strategic. Now you see the gap, it's time to define where you are going and understand which move will get you there. You want to avoid leaving a job on a whim and being a victim of impulsiveness. Justify your decision to leave, map out your plan and don't leave until you have found a good fit. While I still look back on my departure with a bit of bittersweet feelings, I can tell you leaving has challenged my thinking, expanded my skill-set and opened new doors of opportunity.

Thursday 25 December 2014

Cold Drinks or Tyre Cleaners


Today afternoon, I was buying newspaper from a bakery-cum-general merchandise shop in my locality in Bangalore. Another customer came and asked for a bottle of Pepsi. Shop owner gave him instead a bottle of Thumps Up. I told the shop owner, he asked for Pepsi and you are giving him thums up. He told me, customer will accept any one. I was perplexed. I asked the customer, is it so? He said yes, because I am buying it not for drinking but for some other purpose.

Now suspense was thicker. I could not hold myself. I enquired little more, during conversation he told me, he has bought this thumps up bottle to clean the car tyres. I could not believe him.
I simply followed him, and what I saw, one boy was cleaning the car of his owner. This man also got involved in cleaning the car with that boy. I asked him to show me literally how he is going to use thumps up for cleaning the car tyres. I asked his name, he was Ram Milan. He told me, Sir, you will have to wait, first we will clean the whole body then in last we will wipe the car tyre with thumps up.
I was ready to see the experiment from my own eyes, so simply I killed some 20 minutes reading the newspaper. Till then they had completely cleaned the car. Meanwhile the car owner also came. I told him, I am waiting to see some experiment; it will be an eye opener and lesson for my life. He started laughing, and told me that he is using all these cold drinks, pepsi, coca-cola and thumps etc. to give shining to the car tyres. He told, all cold drinks will work.
Now Ram Milan, took the bottle of thumps up, poured the drink in a mug and soaked it in a piece of cloth, and started wiping the outer side of the car tyres.I could not believe my eyes. To be fair with these cold drink companies, I can tell you it worked wonderfully. Tyres were looking brand new. Thums up!!
Owner quipped, new tyres!!
Now time was for me to take lesson, never to touch “Tyre Cleaners” in my life.
Do you get some lesson from this story? Am sure, at least you can give your car tyres a brand new look. Whether you will drink it or not, is your choice.
For cold drink companies, I have a simple question, what are you selling? Cold drink or “Tyre cleaner”?
A BIG Thums DOWN..

Symphony No. 9 ~ Beethoven


Listening To This Winderful Masterpiece Gave Me Goosebumbs..!
 Try It If You Have Patience

Friday 19 December 2014

The Genius of Wearing the Same Outfit Every Day




What do Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, our current president and Homer Simpson all have in common?

They've all worn the same outfit, pretty much every day.
                                            

Why? It isn’t a coincidence. Jobs and President Barack Obama, for example, are both part of the same-outfit club, but for different reasons. And both are logical, from both a scientific and business perspective.
The Science
If you notice, Obama wears a blue or gray suit all the time (when he wore a tan suit earlier this year, it nearly blew up the Internet). Why? Here’s the explanation he gave to famed writer Michael Lewis, via Vanity Fair:
“You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” Obama told Lewis. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
That logic is backed up with some pretty convincing science. Two college professors who have studied decision-making, Kathleen Vohs and Barry Schwartz, both foundthat a person has a limited amount of brain power in a day, so the more decisions they have to make, the weaker their decision-making process becomes.
"The mere act of thinking about whether you prefer A or B tires you out," Schwartz told The LA Times. "So if I give you something else that takes discipline, you can't do it -- you'll quit faster. If I have lifted weights in a gym, later trying to lift a 30-pound weight is impossible."
Vohs conducted a study where she asked a group of random people how many decisions they made that day, and then asked them a series of simple math questions. The more decisions they made in the day, the worse they did on the math questions.
Article cover image
Jobs’ Reason
Jobs, meanwhile, garnered the additional benefit of more brain power by choosing to wear primarily a black turtleneck, blue jeans and white shoes, but that wasn’t his main motivation. Instead, Forbes reports Jobs – one of the great marketers ever – did it to establish himself as a brand.
“It is also great to have a trademark look,” William Arruda, a branding expert, told Forbes. “It makes you memorable and distinctive.”
It makes sense, when you think about it. After all, who can’t picture Jobs without that iconic black turtleneck? Or Zuckerberg, with his gray shirt, portraying the ultimate irreverent, precocious 21st-century Internet entrepreneur? Or heck, even Bono, and his ever-present yellow shades?
For these people, that look has become part of their overall mystique. And that makes them more iconic, like a Homer Simpson, which people can recognize instantly.

28 Things I Learned In My Twenties

A few months ago I turned 30. The big 3-0. I didn’t celebrate it at all and I don’t really remember where exactly I was when it happened or what I did.

I think I was in a small town somewhere in Romania.
It’s so funny when that big moment is finally there and nothing really changes at all.
You’re still the exact same person you’ve been the day before and you don’t just magically change your life overnight.
When I was still young (I can finally and officially say that!!) I always pictured myself as a guy that settled down, that has a career going on and just does his thing every single day.
Or was that someone else’s vision? I don’t remember. Maybe…
But as you might have figured out by now already I haven’t settled down, I don’t have a family yet and I don’t even have a flat anymore.
Am I upset about it? No, not really.
I guess everything has its advantages and disadvantages.
Even though I didn’t change my personality overnight, I did realize that I learned quite a few lessons during the last few years.
And because I want to remember them (and not forget about the in the course of my life) I decided to write a blog post about the most important things I learned. Or the ones that came into my mind while I was thinking about it.
As you know, my blog is mostly about my personal notes to self gone public, lessons learned and the occasional spark of genius, you’ll also get the chance to read about the most important lessons I learned in my twenties.
So sit back, relax and enjoy the (free) show:
#1 Believing that you have a reputation will only hold you back.
Believing that you have a reputation will only hold you back from really experiencing and living a life you deeply care about. It will hold you back from doing the things you’d really like to do but people discourage you. Be it you parents, your teachers or that career counselor. Screw them! But most importantly: screw your reputation!
#2 We tend to forget that others have problems, too.
We all have heavy baggage to carry on our journey on planet earth. Unfortunately we tend to forget about this and wait for people to help us out when we might need some help. And because no one shows us love or helps us out we sometimes tend to stop showing love to others. Because nobody seems to care about us, we stop caring about others.
#3 If you want to change a bad relationship you have to be the one to take action.
Relationships are almost always complicated, be it between men and women or between friends. If there are tensions in a relationship and you don’t go the first step nobody else will. As a matter of fact most people will only talk about things but they won’t change anything. Why? See #3
#4 Screw your pride.
Same like reputation. It will only hold you back from doing the things you know you should be doing and screw up most of your relationships. He’s the one who has to make the first step. She has to call back. It’s been like this for ages. It’s the rules. So it has to be like this. You know what? Forget about the rules. That’s your ego talking and it’s complete BS!
#5 It's never a good time to change things.
There will never be a good time for change. It’s almost always a bad time to change things in your life. You might not have enough money. People might turn their backs on you and talk shit about you. You have to pay the bills. You have a mortgage. You have a gf/bf/spouse/kids and so on. Change will never be easy. But if you wait for change to magically happen you’ll most probably be waiting your life away…
#6 Creating things will help you to figure out what you really want in life.
If you wait until you have that perfect idea or until you know who you really are or what you really want to do with your life you will probably never start doing anything. You’ll be waiting for that perfect moment,that perfect idea or that perfect investment opportunity. But it’s only by starting to create things that you will figure yourself out and find your true purpose in life. So stop waiting and start creating.
#7 Our opportunities might be risks for others.
What might look like big opportunities for us are indeed very risky for others. So it makes a hell lot of sense to put ourselves in our opponent’s shoes first and try to consider their objections before we start talking to them.
#8 The world is guided by fear.
Everyone is afraid of taking risk. Every human interaction is guided by the fear of taking on a risk that might just be too big and not really worth the investment. Be it a potential customer, a potential investor, your bf/gf. They are all afraid of risk.
#9 No life decision will last forever.
Decisions are temporary. Every decision we take today only lasts until we take the next decision. So it’s not really worth it to procrastinate on decision making. The faster your decision making, the faster you get access to new decisions and new opportunities.
#10 Friends.
Sad but true: They come and go.
#11 Trust is the basis for everything in life.
It’s all about trust. If someone doesn’t trust you they will never do what you expect them to do. If people don’t trust you they won’t buy your products, they won’t hang out with you, they won’t call you back and they won’t make business with you. There’s no single human interaction that’s not based on trust.
#12 Honesty is the only way to connect with people.
People tend to feel when you’re being honest with them. They feel it when you’re a genuinely honest person, when you write down your honest words and speak the truth. Unfortunately people tend to put on so many masks and try to hide things from each other. And then they get all busy hiding things instead of just living their lives.
#13 Be human and admit your flaws.
People connect with people and not perfect machines. So put that mask away and be more human instead. Don’t be afraid to show your flaws. Be yourself. Be authentic. Be visible. Be transparent. Tell your story. And make sure that it's your own story you're telling and not someone else’s…
#14 Family.
Will always be there for you, no matter what. The only thing that really matters...
#15 Not having enough money can sometimes make you more creative.
If you have too much money you tend to become fat, lazy, inflexible and lack you creativity. If you don’t have enough money you start being creative, innovative and will try out all sorts of crazy things that you would otherwise not have tried. Not having enough money sometimes helps you find out what you’re really capable of doing.
#16 New is not always better.
Most of the time it’s worth it to invest some time and effort into fixing things. Otherwise you might just run into the same exact problem a few years later and you still don’t know how to fix it and it somehow becomes a vicious circle.
#17 Only by challenging yourself over and over again will you really grow.
#18 Nothing in life is really a waste of time.
Not the shitty job you worked at for many years. Not the bad relationship you’ve been in for many years. Not the money you lost in that one big deal. It really is like they always say: It’s either a blessing or a lesson.
#19 No book, blog, podcast or any human being can beat experiencing things.
There’s nothing that will ever replace experiencing things first hand. Never ever.
#20 Luck is predictable.
Luck only comes to the ones that go out there, show up over and over again and constantly expose themselves to luck. A lot of successful people will tell you they were just lucky. But what they won’t tell you is that it was just a matter of time until luck found them. They were constantly on the grind. They were not sitting on the couch waiting for luck to find them. They were hunting it down…
#21 We can learn so much about how to approach life from the perspective of kids.
Here are 14 things we can learn from kids.
#22 The best things in life are the things we never really planned.
So I just stopped making plans. The plans I made never really turned out as planned anyways. Moreover, having had a plan has usually made me somehow inflexible and not agile enough to exploit other opportunities ahead of me. It always felt like I had planned it and that’s the way it has to be done now…
#23 Happiness is about having enough.
Every time I visited a developing country I realized how much happier the people were compared to back home. They didn’t seem to have a lot but they looked happy. I guess the secret to being happy is to be able to tell yourself that you actually don’t need all of this crap. You don’t need that new jacket, that new pair of jeans, that new car, that house or whatsoever. I believe that the secret sauce to being a happy person lies in these three simple words: “I have enough”.
#24 The best way to learn things is to teach things.
I guess the moment you try to explain things to others you start to not only understand them a lot better but they somehow magically become a part of you.
#25 Being yourself fits you best.
I tried to be many different things but the one thing I’m really good at (and better than anybody else) is being myself. Am I a bit weird. Yes, I am. Do I care? No, I don't. Do I run around when I hold a presentation? Yes, I do. Did people tell me that I should stand still? Yes, they did. Do I follow their advice? No, I don’t. Why? Because that’s just not me…
#26 Creating things is not enough.
It doesn’t matter how cool the stuff you’re working on really is. It might be the coolest thing on planet earth but if you don’t push it, promote it and market the hell out of it nobody will even notice it.
#27 You have to lose yourself to find your true inner self.
I had to learn it the (mini) hard way. But it's true. You actually really have to lose yourself to find your true inner self. I still haven’t found it yet but I have the feeling that I’m on the right track.
#28 There is no such thing as overnight success.
Everything in life takes a hell lot of time. If we think we might be successful in one year, we won’t probably be successful until the third or the fourth year. Have funds that might last one year? Then cut your spending because it will probably take a lot longer than just this one year…
There are probably hundreds of other things I learned in addition to these, but I guess that's enough for now…