Josh Linkner's Blog, page 27

4 Lessons From a 15-Year-Old Entrepreneur

The Define Fruit-Infused Water Bottle is all the rage.

According to the product’s website, it is a “Beautifully-designed, eco-friendly water bottle that allows you to take delicious, nutrient-rich, fruit-infused water to go. Allowing limitless combinations of fresh fruit, teas and herbs, the bottle provides a great alternative to plain water and removes the temptation of sugary drinks. Give up your plain water habit and define what’s in your water bottle.”

It is a fresh product idea that has al...

What Would MacGyver Do?

In the late 1980s, millions of us tuned in to witness Angus MacGyver’s ability to always find a creative way to get out of a jam.

Regularly finding himself in an impossible life-or-death situation, he managed to come out on top through grit and resourcefulness. Instead of panicking, he’d simply figure out a way to solve the complex problem with the limited resources at his disposal, often relying on the bare necessities — duct tape and his trusty Swiss army knife.

MacGyver’s ability to conquer...

When? Not If.

In the early days of the Internet, less than 2% of companies had a corporate website. To put your brochure on the web at that time was cutting-edge and bold. Launching a website was a newsworthy event; an opportunity to shine over your competition.

I know this intimately, because the company I founded back in 1995 — GlobalLink New Media — was a website development firm. I would cold-call potential customers and ask, “Have you ever heard of the Internet?” My question and subsequent description...

Wow Fewer Customers Instead of Trying to Please Them All

When Greg Koch and Steve Wagner founded Stone Brewing, they could have ended up like thousands of start-up failures. They could have launched a me-too product and tried to compete head to head with the industry leaders.

Instead, they decided to stick it to the man.

Their beer was unapologetically different. It was bold and irreverent. The company named one of their first brews Arrogant Bastard Ale, which carried a challenging warning on the label: “This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t...

Correct The Overcorrect

When the crooks at Enron, Tyco and Worldcom committed fraud and marred their shareholders with huge losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission rightfully swooped in to prevent future cons.

The problem is that the corrective measure came in the form of legislation known as Sarbanes-Oxley, which became a stranglehold on business. It was a broad-based, sweeping regulation that undoubtedly was well-intentioned but ended up significantly hampering the competitiveness of U.S. businesses and cont...

Feed The Right Wolf

There’s a powerful American Indian fable that has never been more relevant: One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.”

“The other is good,” he continued. “It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolen...

7 Tips to Maximize Productivity

We all share a mutual enemy — the 24-hour clock.

Considering we each have exactly the same amount of time per day, why do some people generate unimaginable productivity and results while others fall so woefully short? Embrace these best practices, and you’ll get more done in record time:

Plan ahead. Rather than racing through life in reaction mode, get a grasp on your calendar by planning ahead. Take 15 minutes each Sunday night to review the upcoming week. Craft your schedule in a way that wor...

Go The Distance For Your Calling

Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw is serious about his work. As the only neurosurgeon at Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, he is on call 330 days per year. He’s deeply committed to helping people and saving lives, regularly embracing a “whatever it takes approach.”

This resolve was put to the test a few weeks ago, in the midst of the polar vortex that has been wreaking havoc on communities in the U.S. ever since the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. Having just completed a surgery at a neighboring...

Changing Your Soundtrack

Earlier this month, the 56th annual Grammy ceremony awarded Thomas Newman a Grammy for the score he composed for the James Bond movie Skyfall.

It was a brilliant work, enhancing the emotions throughout the intense journey of Agent 007. Newman’s masterpiece was the connective tissue that stitched together scenes and characters, allowing us to savor all 143 minutes of the film.

While the soundtrack was a significant aspect of the overall production, most of us who saw the movie could not hum a si...

Conquering with Humor

There are many ways to fight the people and organizations that are working to hold you back. Standing up to the schoolyard bully and fighting head-on is certainly one approach. Counter-attacks, hitting your enemy at their point of weakness, and peaceful protest are all proven strategies. One of my favorites –and often overlooked — is using humor to defuse a combative situation.

As the Olympic games began in Sochi, anti-gay sentiment reached a heightened state. Last week, the mayor of Sochi tol...