History, Business, and Reading

I think the easiest way to gain knowledge and perspective is through reading. On a daily basis, I mostly read news/blogs and in the past couple months, I’ve made it a strict habit to grab a copy of the Wall Street Journal print edition just to get a pulse on the public markets outside of sports/technology. In terms of books, I don’t usually read too many fiction books and given my limited time lately, I try to stick to nonfiction books in areas like history, science, business, philosophy, etc.

One book in particular that I happened to pick up recently and think a lot of people would enjoy is “The Book of Entrepeneur’s Wisdom” by Peter Krass. Peter Krass is an excellent author who writes on business subjects like biographies of moguls/tycoons, business history, etc. (I actually read my first Peter Krass book when I was a junior in high school writing a thesis paper on Andrew Carnegie and Peter Krass was nice enough to let me interview him for my thesis paper.)

This book contains short essays written by some of the world’s most famous businessmen/innovators of all time. It contains the hard earned wisdom from household names like Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Carnegie, Conrad Hilton, Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, and the list goes on and on…. basically, a treasure trove of information, history, and wisdom. It’s all neatly compiled into one book — having such access to the written accounts and experiences of such people is fantastic. I really enjoyed the format as well — I get bored easily and it was refreshing to have a new style, tone, and author every 5-15 pages. Some of the essays do go into a lot of contextual advice which is probably inapplicable for many people/situations, but the vast majority of the reading is both inspirational and informative. This book is a must read.

Election ‘08 hits Downtown Philadelphia

Two days ago I was downtown in Philadelphia and it was absolutely nuts. Hillary Clinton was visiting. There were Obama and Clinton supporters all over. Volunteers were yelling for voter registration sign-ups and groups were walking around handing out posters/flyers. All around me were people with highly visible pins declaring their allegiances. It was exciting. I didn’t care who people were voting for. I just enjoyed the passion around me. The energy. The vibe. Downtown Philadelphia was bristling with people who were alive. It felt like something big was happening.

And I just saw this come through on Yahoo! News/Reuters (it made me chuckle a bit):

“With eight months to go before the U.S. presidential election, the candidates have raised almost $1 billion to fund their campaigns — more than the size of the economies of several African countries.“

That’s a hefty sum for this election. Looks like they’re playing high stakes politics.

I’m heartbroken by UCONN

1 point loss to a 13 seed in overtime.  There’s always next year, but my expectations are super high for everything and that includes the sports teams I root for.  I grew up rooting for a dominant UCONN, hopefully they’ll return to form soon.

Still excited for the tournament.

College Hoops Time. U-C-O-N-N

Every year March Madness comes around and every year it feels like my first time.  The excitement.  The new teams.  The old teams. The last second buzzer beaters.  And then there’s UCONN.  I grew up in Connecticut at a time when UCONN basketball was dominant.  I’m talking about guys like Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Rip Hamilton, etc.  The deep runs in the tournament every year, the nail biting wins over Duke, and the unforgettable 2004 championship wins by both the Mens and the Womens program.  I’m talking about the ever winning program led by Coach Jim Calhoun. It gives me a rush to watch these games and the competition is beautiful.  So while my UCONN pride blinds me, I still get a rush from every game and every beautiful display of pure basketball skills.  I even find myself appreciating the play and heart of teams I would never admit to rooting for.  I can’t wait to see how this one turns out.

Here’s a nostalgic relic from the 2004 championship run by both the mens and womens teams of UCONN..

Solicitations done right

Something really caught my eye today in my inbox. Among the typical daily solicitations I get for my company, I got a highly personalized solicitation from another business looking to work with us. Everything about the e-mail stood out: the subject, the e-mail itself, and the proposition offered to me. I could tell that someone put in effort to understand my business, someone took the time to play around with our products, and someone took the time to write a personalized e-mail. That person got a prompt reply from me and I’m excited to work with them. Now that’s solicitation done properly; that extra effort pays off in the end.

The Power of Live Music

Now that I’m not in school, I’m working like crazy on my company.  But this also means I have more time to travel, go out and have memorable/incredible experiences.  I had the chance to see my first notable live concert in about 3 years at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory.  Luckily for me, I saw one of the top 15 live acts in America as rated by Rolling Stone — Gogol Bordello. Wow is all I have to say.  I completely forgot about how powerful the experience of a live concert is.  I felt like I was 12 years old again.  I even remember my first live concert — the one hit wonder SR-71 with their hit “Right Now.”  I used to love going to concerts from all sorts of bands and just experiencing the energy of the band, the crowd, and the general atmosphere.  Gogol Bordello is just phenomenal.  They’re pretty insane and theatrical, but the performance that they give is worthy of praise.  The crowd fed off of their energy, which in turn made the band go even more intense, etc.  It was a positive feedback loop where the energy of the whole just amplified beyond words.  It got to the point where the crowd was exhausted and yet the band kept going and going and going.  The crowd just couldn’t keep up with the energy of the performers.

All in all, it was an awesome experience and I’m looking forward to my next concert.