Tuesday, March 08, 2011

People with PASSION can change the World (Steve Jobs Video)

Steve Jobs believes that people with PASSION can change the world for the better. I couldn't agree more. In this masterful presentation introducing Apple's Think Different campaign, he posits: Those people who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones who actually do.

He hits the nail on the head with this powerful statement: Values and core values. Those things shouldn't ever change.

And then he shows us Apple's core values by showing the first THINK DIFFERENT commercial.

If you haven't seen the original TV spot he plays it at the end of his speech so don't flip the channel too quickly or you will be missing out.

Mixergy Interview with Unity Stoakes - Defining Your Mission and Working with Like Minded Souls

In this one hour interview with Mixergy's founder Andrew Warner, I share my personal experience building start-ups over the past 15 years. Andrew being the curious and passionate interviewer that he is dug in deep with lots of good questions which focused mainly on how to attract great talent and inspiring people to join your movement. Despite me looking like "haircut boy" and being blinded out by afternoon sunshine, I think the interview worked at pulling out some helpful tips useful to any start-up looking to grow a successful venture and go big.

Some of the key lessons we discussed in depth in the video:

1) Mapping out and defining your personal mission on paper
2) Making a list of those you want on your team as advisors, investors, mentors
3) Finding out how you can get access to those individuals via your own connections
4) The importance of building relationships overtime and establishing trust over time
5) The importance of asking for advice
6) You have the choice so why not stand for something big and focus on meaningful work
7) How going green virtually is more than building efficient companies, but is a about building a happy and healthy culture and environment for your team to thrive
8) Setting big goals and making them happen
9) The importance of having a billion dollar board member (someone who has built a company from scratch and scaled it to over a billion in revenue)
10) Not being afraid to ask...

Hopefully there's some practical wisdom in the session you may be able to use to help you. And as always, feel free to connect and ask questions anytime...