Roger James Hamilton's Blog, page 13

Would you give all your money away? If so, where?

Would you give all your money away? If so, where? This is the extraordinary story of Chuck Feeney, who finally achieves his 34 year mission of going from $8 billion to broke this year.

2016 is the year his Foundation gives the last of his money away. In the process, he has become the hero of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who said “Chuck has set an example not only for people of my age but also younger generations. He will be an example 100 years from now or 200 years from now.”

“He is my her...

How fast are you disrupting your own company?

How fast are you disrupting your own company? This is the first picture of Uber’s self-driving car, taken today in Pittsburgh.

It’s taken just six years since Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp launched the first Uber App in June 2010, and today Uber is in over 60 countries and 400 cities around the world, with an estimated 500,000 drivers worldwide. That number is doubling every six months. Until Uber doesn’t need drivers anymore.

Uber has already disrupted the entire taxi caband car sharing m...

Of all the many entrepreneur lessons I have learned, one of the very best lessons came by accident, on a river in Sri Lanka.

Of all the many entrepreneur lessons I have learned, one of the very best lessons came by accident, on a river in Sri Lanka.

When I visited Sri Lanka, I went white water rafting. On the trip down the river, my raft drifted into a beautiful valley, and my guide pointed at the tea plantation on the hillside, the beautiful houses with amazing views, and the bustling town by the river.

“My father, this was all his.” he said

“Which part of it?” I asked

“All of it!” he said.

Thinking his Dad must be...

A story of what’s possible – In 1990 Jim Carrey, a broke, unknown 28-year-old comic in LA, decided to write a check to himself: For $10 million.

A story of what’s possible – In 1990 Jim Carrey, a broke, unknown 28-year-old comic in LA, decided to write a check to himself: For $10 million.

“I wrote myself a check for $10 million for ‘acting services rendered’, gave myself five years and dated it Thanksgiving 1995. I put it in my wallet and it deteriorated, and deteriorated.”

Jim went from year to year, check in pocket, striving to make the money he had committed to pay himself, without luck.

Then, in year 4 of the five years, at 32 years...

The key to overcoming anything

The key to overcoming anything:

It is in our darkest times that we find our greatest strength. Yesterday, one year on from the worst day of her life, Sheryl Sandberg, billionaire COO of Facebook, shared publicly for the first time how she faced adversity, and how you can to.

At an emotional commencement speech at UC Berkeley, Sheryl had this advice: “When tragedy or disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through absolutely anything. I promise you do. As the saying goes,...

This week Apple just invested a billion dollars in the youngest billion-dollar CEO in China, 33 year old Cheng Wei.

This week Apple just invested a billion dollars in the youngest billion-dollar CEO in China, 33 year old Cheng Wei.

Cheng Wei started his car-riding company (now known as “Didi Chuxing”) in June 2012 when he was 29 years old. Today, at only 33 years old, his four-year-old company is worth $20 billion after Apple’s investment, eclipsing the size of Uber in China.

How does a young 30-something grow a business that fast in four years? Here’s 3 steps out of the many Cheng Wei took that you can fo...

If your brain was a garden, would you take the time to pull out the weeds?

If your brain was a garden, would you take the time to pull out the weeds? Because scientists are now finding that’s exactly what your brain is. Knowing this can transform your potential right now.

Neuroscientist, Andrew Koob, studied why 90% of your brain cells aren’t neurons, but strange cells called ‘glial cells’. Andrew says “Originally, scientists didn’t think they did anything.”

“In the mid-19th century, glia were just being discovered, and researchers figured the glial cells simply hel...

Can you see order in chaos? Can you hear the signal in the noise?

Can you see order in chaos? Can you hear the signal in the noise?

Today 15 year old Canadian student, William Gadoury, hit the news for discovering an entire ancient Mayan City – by looking at the stars.

3 years ago, William got interested in Mayan cities when he learned about the end of the Mayan Calendar in 2012. As he began learning he said “I didn’t understand why the Maya built their citiesfar away from rivers, in remote areas, or in the mountain.”

So he began studying the patterns of the...

The 12 best reasons to be an entrepreneur

The 12 best reasons to be an entrepreneur:

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” ~ Peter Drucker

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” – Dr. Napoleon Hill

“I think if you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve got to dream big and then dream bigger.” ~ Howard Schultz “If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. S...

The most important decisions you make are often not what to do, but what not to do. Like the time singer James Blunt “prevented World War III”.

The most important decisions you make are often not what to do, but what not to do. Like the time singer James Blunt “prevented World War III”.

Before he became a hit singer, James was a Captain in the British Army. At a 1999 stand-off during the Kosovo War known as the “Incident at Pristina Airport”, he risked a court marshall by refusing an order from US General Wesley Clark, who was the NATO Supreme Commander in Europe, to attack the Russians and potentially sparking a World War III.

James...