Haven’t heard that term in a while, eh, and not like we all have it all figured out.
We had a conversation with a successful serial entrepreneur recently, who began by filling us in on his history:
Started and built his first business: sold it. Started and built another business: acquired. Was about to undertake his next startup when his wife told him that he was going to be a dad for the first time – and not to a singleton.Read More...
According to all reports, we’re in the midst of a Great Resignation. People are leaving their jobs in great numbers, but what it is actually all about?
“Workers aren’t just looking for higher pay, more time off, or more days at home (though those things would surely help in the short term). They’re actually questioning the whole meaning of the daily grind. Why do we put so much of ourselves into our careers? And are we getting a fair deal from our employers in return for all this stress and heartache?,” said Inc. “The period of prolonged uncertainty of a year and a half is going to make people consider their priorities on many, many levels, including the work they do.”Read More...
The Memorial Day Weekend is fast approaching – the official kick off of summer, despite the fact that the official start of the season is still a few weeks away. Given all of the restrictions on our movements and impediments to travel, and since different rules apply in different places, we know that many of you can’t or aren’t traveling and perhaps haven’t been able to go see friends and loved ones for quite some time now, but not to worry: in the event that we’re ever in a lockdown situation again, Google is on the case.
As Futurism says, “they’re now debuting a new video chat system they’re calling “Project Starline,”… a dystopic 3D prison-style video chat… So basically, they’ve re-invented the virtual prison visitation phone booth.”Read More...
To hear the Wall Street Journal tell it, you’d think that the stay at home economy is here to stay.
Frankly, we’re not convinced that the votes are all in yet.
While amusement parks, movie theatres, gyms and many restaurants, et al have closed or have been permanently shuttered, are those verticals truly gone forever? Movie theatre sales had been down for quite some time, thanks streaming services, what to speak of the fact that many A list actors found it incumbent upon themselves to take political stances and lost a good part of their fanbase prior to this flu. The common folk expressed their opinions in box office receipts.Read More...
‘The New Normal,’ ‘Zoom me,’ ‘let’s do a screen share.’ There’s no doubt that the patois – and much of our behavior – has changed in the last several months, but some things don’t, such as the importance of ‘getting out there’ and networking and staying connected.
There’s no excuse not to. You may be sitting at home, but let’s be honest: you have the world at your fingertips, so instead of wasting even more time on TikTok (and head’s up: Apple Caught China-Owned TikTok Spying on Millions of iPhone Users) or posting yet again to the gram or checking out what everyone else is doing, one of the most invigorating activities in which you can engage is meeting new people. Here are a few suggestions for doing that:
Events these days are taking place virtually. Find the ones that appeal to you and participate. Ok, so you’re having a bad hair day. Most of the world has been having a bad hair three months, so don a cap, post your photo instead, and even post simply your name or initial, if you must. But remember: the web – and video conferencing – is visual. Fine to retreat behind a little black box, but at some point – especially during introductions – remember that the importance of networking is to literally show your face.
Find online networking groups in your areas of interest. While in some events, you can participate in the chat only and are more or less a fly on the wall, there are those in which the attendees are actively engaged with each other and the host, en masse, or in breakout rooms. Good way to meet new people, and since people from all over the country and all over the world have the ability to participate, these are opportunities you might not have ordinarily gotten. Ever.
Behave yourself. Play nice with the other kids/attendees. Participate, but refrain from using this as an opportunity to get up on a soap box or your high horse. People are participating because they want to reach out, not be shut out or shouted down.
If you’re participating because you have a particular need – looking for work, employees, investors, whatever – don’t start with that or use your agenda to monopolize the conversation. Find out who everyone is first. Participants usually also post their emails or LinkedIn information in the chat – which you can save. Establish a relationship first, and continue the conversations later – or via email or phone call or LinkedIn chat or a separate video chat. Just because it’s a video conference doesn’t mean you need to get in everyone’s faces.
Participate in online activities, too. Trust us, there’s something for everyone out there – chess, yoga, cooking, karaoke, even cocktail hours. You name it, you can find it. Good time to develop an interest or pursue one that you’ve been putting off – and you never know who you meet that way. As for the cocktail hours: you may be holed up in your apartment, but no reason why you should have to imbibe alone.
Good ice breaker rather than the usual, ‘who are you and what do you do?’ Try, ‘so where in the world are you at the moment?’ Many people are away from their usual home base. Always interesting to know where they’ve gone off to and how that has altered their lives. It’s a much more interesting way to connect in this age of the New Normal.
LinkedIn. You may have a ton of connections, some of whom you know and some of whom you decided to connect with out of the blue for whatever reason and for whatever reason, they accepted. Good time to check in with some of those connections. Say hello. See how they’re doing and what they’re doing. Not everyone updates their profile all the time, so you never know what might have changed. Drop them a note. Or look for people/former coworkers with whom you might have lost touch. You might even want to look at some of your connections’ second degrees and perhaps introduce yourself to them. You at least know someone in common: that second degree may also have common interests or be able to help you push the envelope forward a bit – or vice versa.
We are admittedly a compulsive networker, as we enjoy meeting new people and you just never know whom you might encounter just by showing up, even if it means moving just a bit out of your comfort zone. It can be energizing. It can be thought-provoking. It may help you to look at something you’ve been thinking about/stressing over with a new perspective. If you’re working on something/need something in particular, it might even help you to move the needle forward.Read More...
Post-Covid Tech: The Tipping Points and the Breaking Point
Om Malik did an excellent piece recently entitled The Inevitable has happened. And in a hurry, on fairly recent past crises and the opportunity zones that they created for technology. Head’s up, people: take note of this current crisis, especially since we’re still in medias res and observing first-hand where the shortfalls are. Case in point: The Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020.
If you look closely enough, you’ll almost always find a silver lining somewhere, and so it goes with the Wuhan Flu. That said, as happens whenever it comes to silver, there are invariably some spots that are tarnished. Still, if you’ve tired of all of the Daily Corona Death Count stories, here are some points you might have missed, including a few silver linings: