Pretty amazing Howard Schultz profile from 60 minutes below (12 minute video)
Schultz talks about how he went from living in public housing and selling his blood to get through college, to creating a $29 billion corporation that doubles sales every 3 years. He also dives into some of the unique marketing practices Starbucks used to create such a dominant brand, and how how he managed to get investors back in 1987.
Pretty interesting background on the creator of Red Bull. Austrian entrepreneur and former marketing executive Dietrich Mateschitz actually discovered the drink in Thailand, which was previous called Krating Daeng (see below)
Dietrich found the concoction to be a great deterrent against jet lag during business trips, and thus used his marketing skills to change the flavor a bit and launch it globally, after realizing these revitalizing syrups did very well in Asia.
Krating Daeng drink creator Chaelo Yoovidhya, who Dietrich partnered with for all the secret ingredients, is now the wealthiest person in Thailand with an estimated net worth of $4 Billion.
More on Dietrich, founder of Red Bull HERE.
Wanted to share a great video biography piece on Dave Thomas of Wendy’s which aired recently on CNBC.
I couldn’t find the full video online yet but have added the short bio below:
Interesting to see Dave learned the ropes from none other than Colonel Sanders of KFC
If you can catch the full CNBC video currently airing, it has some great information into the highly competitive burger business during the 80′s and strong rivalry between Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King.
Also detailed is the famous “Wheres the Beef” marketing campaign, which became a prominent phrase and was even mentioned during in the 1984 presidential election.
For more on Dave click HERE.
Wealth comes in many forms. Below is the inspiring story of the life of start-up social entrepreneur Scott Harrison. Scott started the non profit Charity:Water, which provides clean drinking water to people in Liberia.
Scott describes his reasons for starting the charity and his success in launching and branding it.
Branding Charity Water
Scott’s Reinvention
more on Charity Water HERE.
Anyone who has spent a few minutes sitting in one of those massage chairs located in Brookstone can appreciate the struggle Singaporean entrepreneur Ron Sim took building his company OSIM International. OSIM is one of the largest producers of luxury massage chairs in the world with past sales of over a billion annually (his net worth is valued at over $250 million).
The son of a taxi driver and housecleaner, Ron got his start selling prawn noodles door to door (earned 50 cents a day), and later took jobs ranging from a construction worker to an encyclopedia salesman (Sim’s rise to wealth is quite similar to Jean Paul Dejoria).
This varied past employment allowed Sim to start his first company, the R. Sim Trading Company, selling everything from kitchen items to wooden massagers.
However this company crashed during the 1985 recession.
Sim learned [Read more...]
Recently back from a trip to Canada, I wanted to include some business advice from our entrepreneurial friends up north. I could not find a better example than Quebec born Guy Laliberte, the CEO of Cirque du Soleil, whose story is most fascinating (he is one of the wealthiest men in Canada).
Guy actually dropped out of college to become a sidewalk performer before creating the extremely profitable branded Circus.
As talented a performer as he was, his major abilities were his superb social skills and marketing intelligence. These skills allowed him to network with other performers (the initial group were performers he met on the street) as well as to build a sustaining brand (in the cut throat entertainment business).
Guy eventually partnered with another successful Canadian, Gilles Ste-Croix (click link for interview with Gilles) and Cirque du Soleil was born.
Above is a short video from Marketing Hall of Legends in which Guy describes the fundamentals of marketing that worked in his business.
The below video is a very informational, entertaining, and funny presentation from Seth Godin, the creator of Squidoo.com (one of the 500 most visited sites in the world) and author of Free Prize Inside (Forbes business book of the year in 2004).
This is excellent information for anyone interested in marketing and advertising, or more specifically how to “get your idea to spread”. He touches on specific examples from cars, to soymilk to dvds and the success of people like Steve Jobs and bands like Pearl Jam.
Seth also dissects how people make purchasing decisions despite having more choices and less time. He stresses that what gets purchased is what is remarkable, in other words “worth making a remark about” and also that, when it comes to marketing being safe is risky.
The below link is an entertaining brief interview by Men’s Fitness with Mike Repole, the co-founder of Glaceau Vitamin water, which was bought out by Coca-Cola for 4.1 Billion Dollars in 2007. Repole discusses his “coaching” style, and also what he looks for in an employee. A great read for anyone interested in brand development or marketing. You can read the interview HERE . Read more about Coca-Cola’s acquisition HERE .
Enovative Kontrol System’s Derek Zobrist and Gabe Ayala generously offered their seasoned business advice and various experiences in this interview below which I conducted recently. Derek and Enovative were awarded the Emerging Entrepreneur Award of 2010 by Entrepreneur Magazine, which is well deserved. Click Image below to enlarge Entrepreneur Magazine article. Among other accolades, Entrepreneur [...]
One of the funniest books I have read this year by far was The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort. The book details Jordan’s rise to wealth (and subsequent fall that sent him straight into prison) as the owner of the notorious brokerage firm Statton Oakmont. At one time his book was optioned with [...]
Really interesting video below on what motivates people based on research conducted by MIT.
Even though WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was probably the worst movie I have ever seen, Spike Jonze’s rise to wealth is truly remarkable (and he HAS made some great films like BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ADAPTATION etc). This video below gives a comprehensive look at his talents and entrepreneurial career. Most interesting to note is [...]
If you are looking for books this Black Friday to buy for yourself or friends, take a look at this article from the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal Article located HERE It lists the specific books which successful business men and CEOs used to help improve their entreprise, and the aspects of the book’s [...]
Below is a quick, very informative video detailing the history and various acquisitions of News Corp since it’s inception. Most interesting to notice is that the company’s origins came from Australia, and it’s first American asset was the San Antonio Express News. CEO/Chairman Rupert Murdoch then bought The National Star, New York Post, and 50% [...]
There is a common saying that “a dog is a man’s best friend”. However, man’s new best friend undoubtedly has to be the George Foreman Grill. Everyone knows heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman promoted the product, and therefore receives all the recognition and fame (supposedly Hulk Hogan was originally offered the gig but passed on [...]
