The entire venture capital industry essentially invests in failures, since the majority of the companies they fund eventually go under.Other industries have similar success rate, including the toy industry, the movie business, and the publishing industry. Consider book publishing: according to Nielsen Bookscan, of the approximately 1.2 million different books in print in 2004, only 25,000, or 2 percent, sold more than 5,000 copies, and the average book in the U.S., sells less than 500 copies. Publishers, toy makers, movie producers, and venture capitalist understand that the path to success is littered with failures.
Essentially, most individual's path are riddled with small and enormous failures. The key is being able to recover from them. For most successful people, the bottom is lined with rubber as opposed to concrete. When they hit bottom, they sink for a bit and then bouce back, tapping into the energy of the impact to propel them into another opportunity.
There is strong evidence that the ratio between our individual successes and failures stays the same. Therefore, if you want more successes, you 're going to have to be willing to live with more failures. Failure is the flip side of success, and you can't have one without the other.
- source: "What I Wish I knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Book Review: "What I wish I knew When I was 20" by Tina Seelig
I am not 20 years old anymore. I should be the same age than the author Tina Seelig, Professor at Stanford University. It is the kind of book I wish I read when I was twenty. Judge by yourself. Here is how the book begins:
"What would you do to earn money if all you had was five dollars and two hours?. This is the assignment I gave students in one of my classes at Stanford University."
They’re given from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday evening, and are told that they can use as much of that time as they want to come up with a money-making plan. However, once they open the envelope, they have two hours to generate as much money as possible. The students are encouraged to do the following:
What are some of the ideas people typically come up with when presented with a challenge of this sort?
When Seelig asks this question to most groups, someone usually shouts out, "Go to Las Vegas, or "Buy a lottery ticket". These folks would take a significant risk in return for a small chance at earning a bif reward.
People also usually say they would use the seed money to purchase start up materials for a lemonade stand or a car wash. This is fine if you want to make just a few dollars in the two hours. But if you want to create as much value as possible in those two hours you have to seriously challenge traditional assumptions.
In fact, Seelig explains that the teams that make the most money don’t use the five dollars at all. They realize that focusing on the money frames the problem too tightly: asking “What can I do with five dollars?” is too limiting.
Instead, they ask: “What can I do to make money in two hours if all I have are my observation skills–the ability to observe problems others are having–and my talents?” The winning teams typically bring in over $600 after asking themselves this question.
For example, one team identified a problem that is quite common in college towns: the long lines at popular restaurants on Saturday night. The team booked reservations at several restaurants; then, as the times for their reservations approached, they sold the reservations for up to twenty dollars to people who were happy not to have to wait in line.
Another team set up a stand in front of the student union where they offered to measure bicycle tire pressure for free. If the tires needed filling they would add air for a dollar. When they realized how appreciative people were of this service they decided to stop charging a dollar and ask for donations instead. What they found is that most people donated more than a dollar. Experimenting along the way, and adjusting their strategy accordingly, paid off!
The team that made the most money looked at their resources from a completely different lens. These students concluded that their most precious resource were the three minutes they were going to be given on Monday to give their presentation to the class.
They sold the three minutes to a company that wanted to recruit the students in the class. The team created a three minute “commercial” for the company and showed it to the students during their presentation time.
Dazzling, isn't it?
I don't know about you but it is blowing my mind right now, so imagine the kind of impact it can have on a 20 years old young adult starting her or his academic quest or career exploration. Would you have liked to read such a book when you were 20?
My son is studying in the US right now and will be 21 next month. I am sending this book to him for his 21st birthday.
I have also started to write a book myself a few years ago describing my thoughts about various issues of life such as education, career, marriage, and religion. I believe this is the most precious legacy I can give to my children. But I have to finish it first.....and go beyond the 2 chapters I wrote so far.... God help me.
"What would you do to earn money if all you had was five dollars and two hours?. This is the assignment I gave students in one of my classes at Stanford University."
They’re given from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday evening, and are told that they can use as much of that time as they want to come up with a money-making plan. However, once they open the envelope, they have two hours to generate as much money as possible. The students are encouraged to do the following:
- Identify opportunities.
- Challenge assumptions.
- Leverage their limited resources (time and money).
- Be creative.
What are some of the ideas people typically come up with when presented with a challenge of this sort?
When Seelig asks this question to most groups, someone usually shouts out, "Go to Las Vegas, or "Buy a lottery ticket". These folks would take a significant risk in return for a small chance at earning a bif reward.
People also usually say they would use the seed money to purchase start up materials for a lemonade stand or a car wash. This is fine if you want to make just a few dollars in the two hours. But if you want to create as much value as possible in those two hours you have to seriously challenge traditional assumptions.
In fact, Seelig explains that the teams that make the most money don’t use the five dollars at all. They realize that focusing on the money frames the problem too tightly: asking “What can I do with five dollars?” is too limiting.
Instead, they ask: “What can I do to make money in two hours if all I have are my observation skills–the ability to observe problems others are having–and my talents?” The winning teams typically bring in over $600 after asking themselves this question.
For example, one team identified a problem that is quite common in college towns: the long lines at popular restaurants on Saturday night. The team booked reservations at several restaurants; then, as the times for their reservations approached, they sold the reservations for up to twenty dollars to people who were happy not to have to wait in line.
Another team set up a stand in front of the student union where they offered to measure bicycle tire pressure for free. If the tires needed filling they would add air for a dollar. When they realized how appreciative people were of this service they decided to stop charging a dollar and ask for donations instead. What they found is that most people donated more than a dollar. Experimenting along the way, and adjusting their strategy accordingly, paid off!
The team that made the most money looked at their resources from a completely different lens. These students concluded that their most precious resource were the three minutes they were going to be given on Monday to give their presentation to the class.
They sold the three minutes to a company that wanted to recruit the students in the class. The team created a three minute “commercial” for the company and showed it to the students during their presentation time.
Dazzling, isn't it?
I don't know about you but it is blowing my mind right now, so imagine the kind of impact it can have on a 20 years old young adult starting her or his academic quest or career exploration. Would you have liked to read such a book when you were 20?
My son is studying in the US right now and will be 21 next month. I am sending this book to him for his 21st birthday.
I have also started to write a book myself a few years ago describing my thoughts about various issues of life such as education, career, marriage, and religion. I believe this is the most precious legacy I can give to my children. But I have to finish it first.....and go beyond the 2 chapters I wrote so far.... God help me.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The amazing story of the man who traded one red paper clip for a house !
The story of Kyle MacDonald has blown my mind. It shows once again the power of the human mind and is a great source of inspiration.
Judge by yourself.
From http://www.oneredpaperclip.com/
Judge by yourself.
From http://www.oneredpaperclip.com/
The One Red Paperclip Project
On July 12, 2005 I posted a picture of a red paperclip on my blog and in the barter section of craigslist and asked if anyone wanted to make a trade for something bigger or better. A few days later I traded the paperclip for a pen shaped like a fish. Then I traded the pen for a doorknob. And so on, each time trading for something bigger or better. Once all the dust settled, I'd made 14 trades and wound up with a house located at 503 Main Street in Kipling Saskatchewan.
It was an amazing year.
It was an amazing year.
Over the year of trading I met hundreds of awesome people, made many new friends and tried out new things. You get the idea. The experience was incredible. Some of the more ridiculous highlights:
- I was made mayor for the day of Kipling
- Dom and I were made honorary residents of Kipling for life
- I was given the key to the city.
- I received a Guinness World Record for Most Successful Internet Trade
- Kipling erected the World's Largest Red Paperclip, another Guinness Record
- Dom and I traveled to Japan to be surprise guests on one of those crazy Japanese shows.
- Another Japanese TV show made this.
- I was on stage with Alice Cooper at a concert in Fargo.
- The press had a field day
- I wrote a book about the adventure.
- Volkswagen Spain made a TV commercial based on the story
- I starred in a Mastercard commercial.
- Grolsch Beer made a TV commercial inspired by the story
I have since donated the house to the Town of Kipling, where along with the World's Largest Red Paperclip, it is a major tourist attraction and community asset.
Friday, January 7, 2011
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