Roger James Hamilton's Blog, page 12
June 14, 2016
Is the chaos of your life related to the chaos of the world?
What does the chaos in your life, and the rising chaos in our world, have in common with this article from Scientific American? The story of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly: “As children, many of us learn about the wondrous process by which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. The story usually begins with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg.” “The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a ser...
Today Reid Hoffman sold his company, LinkedIn, to Microsoft for $26 billion in cash.
Today Reid Hoffman sold his company, LinkedIn, to Microsoft for $26 billion in cash. It’s a major milestone in his 23 year journey of “networking while not working” that began in 1993:
As Reid says, when he tried to start his first business after graduating “It was the beginning of the online revolution, in 1993. This was when America Online was starting to drop floppy disks to everybody to try to get people online.”
“I networked my way to a couple of different venture capitalists. They said,...
June 9, 2016
What will people say about you when you’re gone?
What will people say about you when you’re gone? Most of us don’t get the chance to find out. But one person did. In 1888, Alfred Nobel’s brother, Ludvig, died. A number of newspaper mistook Ludvig for Alfred, and so wrote an obituary on Alfred instead. A French obituary said “Le marchand de la mort eat mort” (“The merchant of death is dead.”) Alfred was shocked to see himself described in this way. So he thought about his life (he was 55 at the time). Were they justified tocall him “The merc...
June 8, 2016
William Tanuwijaya’s story will make you believe in luck!
Do you believe in luck? Here’s the incredible story of 34-year old William Tanuwijaya, who has created Indonesia’s first Billion dollar ‘Unicorn’, and the lucky set of coincidences that led to him raising $100 million when he most needed it…
When he became a teenager, Williams’ father sent him on a one way ticket from Sumatra to Jakarta with the family’s savings, hoping he’d end up with a better life.
William enrolled in a college and for three years worked 12 hour night shifts in an Internet...
June 7, 2016
The 10 Qualities of Entrepreneurs
The 10 Qualities of Entrepreneurs:
#1 – Vision: Being an entrepreneur is not being a follower. Be curious. Act first.
#2 – Confidence: Being an entrepreneur is an ongoing dance between confidence and paranoia.
#3 – Team Spirit: Collect a team who can do what you cannot do, beyond your skills.
#4 – Risk-taking: Take risks that will steer you, and avoid the risks that will sink you.
#5 – Fearless of Failure: Only by learning through your failures can you reach success.
#6 – Ability to Learn: Y...
June 6, 2016
What do you stand for? This week Muhammad Ali passed away. Here are Ali’s Top 10 stands.
What do you stand for? This week Muhammad Ali passed away. His life was an example of how the legacy we leave isn’t in the knocks we take, but in the stands we make. Here are Ali’s Top 10 stands:
Stand #1: He made a stand in 1954 when, as a 12 year-old Cassius Clay, his bike got stolen. He told the nearest policeman, Joe Martin, he wanted to “whup” the thief. Joe said “You better learn how to box first.” and then trained Cassius on how to box. Six weeks later, he won his first fight.
Stand #2...
What is your biggest driver? Neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp has found that there are seven human drivers, and one of them is your stand-out number one driver.
What is your biggest driver? Neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp has found that there are seven human drivers, and one of them is your stand-out number one driver.
Famous for his research on “laughter in non-human animals”, and featured in the documentary “Why Dogs Smile and Chimpanzees Cry”, Jaak has made his life work at Washington State University research into our neural pathways of emotion.
Jaak has found that our emotions are linked to activity in our brains. Not in our cerebral cortex, but de...
June 2, 2016
How has Oprah – at 62 years old – jumped from the 5th to 2nd richest self-made women in Forbes’ 2016 US Rich List out this week? By turning her problem into her profit.
How has Oprah – at 62 years old – jumped from the 5th to 2nd richest self-made women in Forbes’ 2016 US Rich List out this week? By turning her problem into her profit.
Throughout Oprah’s rise to fame, she has had a life-time battle, played out publicly. Oprah’s says her fight with her weight stemmed from abuse and abusive relationships:
“I was raped at 9 years old by a cousin, then again by another family member, and another family member,” Oprah has said. As a result of the abuse she was pr...
May 30, 2016
Would it surprise you to know Sweden is almost totally cashless? And the reason is related to ABBA?
Would it surprise you to know Sweden is almost totally cashless? And the reason is related to ABBA?
Björn Ulvaeus made his fortune as one of the four members of ABBA, but he’s now making history all over again by leading the cashless revolution.
It began after Björn’s son’s Stockholm apartment was burgled twice in 2008. As Björn remembers, “There was such a feeling of insecurity. It made me think: What would happen if this was a cashless society, and the robbers couldn’t sellwhat they stole?”...
May 24, 2016
A story from Vic Gundotra about Steve Jobs’ legendary attention to detail
A story from Vic Gundotra about Steve Jobs’ legendary attention to detail:
“One Sunday morning, January 6th, 2008 I was attending religious services when my cell phone vibrated. As discreetly as possible, I checked the phone and noticed that my phone said “Caller ID unknown”. I choose to ignore.
After services, as I was walking to my car with my family, I checked my cell phone messages. The message left was from Steve Jobs. “Vic, can you call me at home? I have something urgent to discuss” it...
