I just got off the phone with someone who wanted my help getting networked into the Santa Barbara business community. Little did I know when the call began, that it would end up being the worst networking call in which I have ever partaken. Continue reading
I do not often write blog entries which reference other blog articles. However, I recently came across a truly delightful post entitled, Jeffrey Aaronson’s Improbable Journey with Steve Jobs, the Guy Who Changed His World (and Ours).
Jeffrey Aaronson is a noted artist and photojournalist who befriended a young Mr. Jobs at the beginning of Steve’s amazing journey.
Entrepreneurs win by changing the Rules of the Game, rather than by trying to best Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) at their own game.
Seth Epstein, Founder and CEO of SocialStay and former Founder of FUEL, understands the power of changing the rules. Early in his career, he devised a clever strategy for making a splash at the Broadcast Design Association tradeshow, one of the most significant gatherings in the motion graphics industry.
While hundreds of BDCs each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting to fool the market as to their relevance by investing in garish tradeshow booth monstrosities, Seth played by his own rules.
While he understood that some of his competitors’ booths were impressive, he also realized that most would not generate enough sales to recoup their booth’s cost. With an investment of less than $10,000, FUEL became the talk of the show and generated enough hype to land several new clients. Continue reading
In 1266, the Emperor of China, Kublai Khan, granted the Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, a life-saving letter of recommendation. The reference was in the form of a gold tablet that stated, “By the strength of the eternal Heaven, holy be the Khan’s name. Let him that pays him not reverence be killed.”
The tablet allowed Marco Polo and his fellow travelers to transverse nearly 7,500 miles unmolested during their three-year return trip to Italy. This golden reference effectively communicated the Emperor’s sentiments in absentia.
Although it may be a bit much to ask your Referencers to provide you with a golden tablet, you should strive to obtain similarly impactful references.
In an episode of the popular 1990’s TV sitcom Seinfeld, Kramer, played by Michael Richards, begins “working” at the fictional Brandt – Leland Investment Firm by simply showing up, attending meetings and acting as if he is part of the team.
Although the plot was obviously devised for comic effect, it serves to illustrate that non-conventional methods of infiltrating Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) are often effective. The key is to avoid the adverse fate suffered by Kramer at the conclusion of this particular episode.