War fatigue. Charity fatigue. Famine fatigue. Compassion fatigue. Just like every other fatigue that is out there we can suffer from rioting fatigue. The images have been spread far and wide, I am currently in Australia where the rioting has been branded ‘civil unrest’. I have contacts in America who thought I was back in London and emailed to see if I was okay. We have had open letters to David Cameron’s parents. We have had the comedy of rioters vs photoshop. We have had the the angel volunteers via riotcleanup. We have had those who are raising money for those who want to raise money for something nice for Ashraf and those who want to Keep Aaron Cutting. So many people, have said so much that it is easy just to start to switch off but, seriously, what the hell is going on?
Like many I have heard the racist arguments referring to rioters as “ethnic dole-ite scum” (when a millionaire’s daughter and a school mentor got arrested for looting). I have equally read Nina Power’s Guardian article entitled, ‘There is a context to London’s riots that can’t be ignored‘. So much has been said and, in all honesty, there is an element of truth in most of it as people speak from their own perspective.
We can hunt these kids down and we can lock them up but, in my opinion, this will cause a greater number of young people to rise up en-mass with an even bigger revolt. Maybe not this week, or next week, but at some point. I have heard many comments referring to consumerism and greed and how are young people want what they can’t have or can’t afford as a symbol of status and so they take it. Perhaps it is even the taking of the object that adds to the status. Nevertheless, in my opinion there is this deep, deep feeling of dissatisfaction, of emptiness, a lack of vision, a lack of understanding of worth and potential.
It took a very personal, powerful event in my life for me to realise that we ‘live life, once’. I truly believe that if we can grasp the reality of the concept that we live this life only once then we will realise that our potential knows no bounds. This potential is not based upon what we have or have not got. Our potential is not based upon where we were educated, our upbringing or the mistakes that our parents or even government may have made. But when we grasp the reality of the fact that we are on planet earth, merely once – dreams are within our reach, ambition is endless and our potential is unlimited.
Imagine a country in which the very same young people who put effort, energy, attention, drive and focus into rioting and looting placed the same amount of energy and dedication into the discovery of their potential. We would see new businesses, new opportunities, new employment, new world records, new sports champions, new olympic hopefuls and on and on.
Of course these are my thoughts, based upon my belief of what could truly happen if understood that we are not futile but grasp the power of our potential with both hands and not stop. I don’t know how we get there, I don’t know how we educate, how re-educate, from the ground up. These things I don’t know.
The one thing that I do know is that humanity has been created with awesome potential and if we could just tap into that, in these young people then something damn well powerful could take place.
Remember my blog post about Kyle MacDonald’s Storebuyout.com Well, I and many others received the following email this week:
Here’s a video of a chat we had with Hercules.
The original sales receipt is currently being auctioned to help buy
Hercules the store of his dreams. Please spread the word!
http://cgi.ebay.com/
have fun,
Kyle
So, currently the auction stands at $1,025 with the reserve not met. I can’t wait to see what happens. Whether this receipt is sold for heaps or it isn’t I love Kyle’s approach to the world and there is heaps to learn from him so check out www.storebuyout.com and get learning!
We all know Alex Tew, in fact, many of us are green with envy whenever his name is mentioned. Alex Tew is the guy who created milliondollarhomepage and made a million dollars in the process. Alex has also had a number of other viral successes including donothingfor2minutes.com
What some of you may or may not know is that Alex Tew has moved to American to become Product Manager of Monkey Inferno which, according to it’s website is a ‘place where we dream up cool internet projects, develop them, nurture them into successful businesses’. How cool?!
But there is more, Monkey Inferno, is self-funded by Michael and Xochi Birch who sold Bebo in 2008 for a cool $850million! Basically, what this means is that Monkey Inferno can a) never go bust and will b) never need investment.
Alex Tew is a genuinely nice guy who dreams up big ideas and ensures that they happen in practice. I cannot think of a more perfect fit for Alex to be working with Monkey Inferno. A massive congratulations to you Alex!
I am pretty sure that Alex Tew + Monkey Inferno will = a shit load of cool stuff!
All of the above, must be true, it is on Alex’s Twitter bio: @tewy
I read an article in the L.A Times this morning that, in all honesty, excited the heck out of me! Here is THAT article: MySpace owner preparing for a re-model
Yes, the article was about MySpace, the company that was sold for bagillions to Murdoch and was sold to Tim & Chris Vanderhook for a fraction of the price. Myspace, the social networking site that millions of people, like sheep, left and flocked to MySpace leaving it in the great big social networking bin in the sky. You know, Myspace, who now have Justin Timberlake as an investor.
Say what?! Exactly.
I recently wrote about Google and how they have had many a failed social networking sites before they got it right with Google+. You can read that life-changing (jokes) blog here: Blog about Google and how crap they were at social networking until they launched Google+ which now has over 10million users.
People love shiny brand new stuff, especially when it is talked about all over the web. New stuff + being talked about all over the web = lots of people getting on board with that new stuff.
MySpace is old, yeah. But, music fans still have their MySpace profile. Justin Timberlake brings an edge of coolness and these guys are well versed in the power of social media. All that is needed is one freakin’ good idea, some crazy, awesome, kick-ass content that will bring music fans back to MySpace and will re-invigorate a new passion for this social networking site. I just know it.
Of course, I have an idea that I would love to talk to Tim & Chris Vanderhook about. I would love to talk to them about the music based concept that I put together called Rock Control, which fell on it’s feet because of lack of investment. I don’t bagillions of their cash I just want to see if they believe in the potential of Rock Control, in the same way that I do, in the same way that Kevin Roberts Global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi did right here.
So, if you can hook me up with Tim & Chris Vanderhook then I will love you forever, not only that, a world of goodness will also come your way!
I am currently in Australia, just outside Melbourne, a friend invited me to stay at his place so that I can get my head down and focus, day and night, on a new startup. Ironically, it was when I was in Australia seven months ago, for Christmas and New Year that I was watching TV and came up with the idea for my brand new startup and now I am very nearly ready for launch, but, pre-startup jitters are setting in.
I have spent a significant amount of time working in social media, working with brands in order to come up with ideas in order to raise their profile online. Indeed, I have worked with a number of brands this year whilst, at the same time, I have been working on my startup – getting the website right, getting the concept right and developing the right relationships and contacts in order to get ready for launch. It has been an extremely exciting time.
Very soon I am about to launch a startup that will be the biggest thing I have ever done in my life. As many people who have followed my work are aware, I have had projects that have been successful and projects that have failed. The successful projects have brought about an awesome groundswell of positive encouragement and the ideas that have not worked out have bought about some criticism, both of which I equally value.
Irrespective of what response I have got I have worked hard, really hard, because I know without a shadow of a doubt that my life is about something, I have a goal that I want to achieve. If I launch an idea that fails I get off my ass and I learn, I learn hard and fast and I put that learning into place for next time. I have six years worth of experience which has lead me to launch my next idea.
I am jittery. It’s the pre-startup nerves. The website is looking good. I have learnt from past mistakes and I have implemented a strategy. One of the major mistakes that I have previously made is that I have come up with what many have called ‘good ideas’ but these ideas did not have any strong income or revenue stream. This time I have an idea that is based around a good idea and a strong revenue stream. So, with all this in place, you may be wondering why so jittery?
Well, there comes a point in a startup where you do everything that you can do. You build the website, you create the brand, you do all the behind the scenes work – setting up the business and so on. But, at some point, you get to launch and everything that you work on, that you believe in, is placed in the hands of the public and, in some ways, success or failure is their call. It comes down to the fundamentals…. Is there a need for this product. However, it is not simply about need, it is about exposure, it is about getting the marketing out about your product in order to find those individuals who are passionate about it and who do want to get involved. Obviously, I have a plan in place for that too!
All I can say is that I am jittery, but excited. I have worked hard on this business and I know that, at this point in my life I am exactly where I should be. Everything just feels ‘right’ and that is the most positive confirmation that I can get that I should keep going for this business with everything that I have.
I am jittery, but I am excited and I can’t wait to tell you about this business, very soon!