Corporate Thought

Richard discussed the importance of having three plans: Business Plan, Marketing Plan and Financial Plan. Read this for the basics of a plan. We discussed the idea of having concrete goals in uncomfortable settings and the benefits of a  micro goal. Don’t ask people what they do.  I have referenced this article in the past but it bear repeating.  27 questions to ask instead of What do You Do? The Art of War is the one book that Richard believes everyone needs to read.  This website contains side-by-side translation and commentary, cross references, and PDF and text downloads of the full book. Richard spoke of charting a course and mapping out getting from point A to point B.  This made me think about mind mapping, a tool which I employ regularly.  There are lots of technological solutions around mind mapping or you can use paper and pens or markers.  Here is a basic overview. Richard is a big believer in writing down his plans and goals.  There are lots of articles abou

In the introduction, I introduced Dana Todd as formerly The Queen of SEO.  I found this old interview with Dana about Search Engine Optimization. Dana talked about people missing live experiences because they are too busy with the technology.  She specifically referenced the idea of recording a live concert and watching through the tiny screen rather than absorbing it in real time.  Recording and watching live concerts on their iPhone as recording it...it is annoying and likely illegal. Dana is building an online marketplace in bespoke women’s clothing.  I mentioned that there are a lot of entrepreneurs entering the “online marketplace” space.  Apparently, there is significant growth in online marketplaces.  Dana spoke about the practice of Subud.  I knew nothing of it and started down a rabbit hole on it.  Start here if you are interested It is Moldova and it is in Eastern Europe.  I experienced major problems saying it correctly during the conversation. I mention

Lots of links in this episode: Including Gary Vaynerchuk including his old Youtube show Wine Library TV. The " iron man" book,  Finding My Voice by Mike Reilly. It turns out that the phrase “Welcome to the Thunderdome” from Mad Max has been uttered in numerous films and TV shows including Waiting,  and Superbad. The Poster of Old Yankee Stadium made of words that hangs in my office. Correction – My parents launched Vanmarc Shipping in 1974 not 1973.  Zack mentioned Scrivener which I use too -  Great for organizing longer form content. We spoke about companies legacy systems hampering technology innovation and adoption .  This is a great article about it. Merriam-Webster definition of Infotainment Zack lamented the handling of the Ryan Lochte scandal in Brazil by journalists. Here is a rundown on the story from USA Today We were talking about binge or marathon watching tv and how many subscribers Netflix had.  Not surprisingly, Netflix added 16 million new subscribers in the first

Please excuse the echo – we recorded this in a public room with some ambient noise and bare walls. Sheryl talked about the difference between structure and rules.  I found this great blog post about it.  The amazing book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan entered our conversation several times.  One of my favorites!   We lamented the growth of clickbait.  I found this interesting article questioning whether all clickbait is bad.   Sheryl uses Tailwind to plan her Pinterest and Ingram posts.  I told Sheryl about my love of the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard Experts and Monica Padman.  Sheryl described herself as a solopreneur and talked of some of the difficulty in using others especially with her content.  Here is an interesting article about entrepreneurs versus solopreneurs.  Sheryl mentioned how she uses templates in Canva in designing her content. Canva is a very robust product.  We struggled to come up

David mentioned Millard Fillmore – the 13th President of the United States (1850-1853) and the last President not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties.  We discussed the Iranian hostage situation which began in November 1979 and lasted not for 100 days but rather for 444 days.    That same link confirms that indeed, it was the start of the show Nightline (its original title was The Iran Crisis--America Held Hostage) whch was started to compete with the Tonight Show. The connection with tying a yellow ribbon Is through Penne Laingen, wife of one of the hostages, Bruce Laingen who told a reporter we could teach the Iranians that you can protest on the streets without being harmed and suggested they tie a yellow ribbon to nearby trees. From that interview, the ribbon slowly spread across the country and Ms. Laingen was asked to tie a yellow ribbon to the national Christmas tree.  I told Dave about Armchair Expert, with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman.  Dav

I spoke incorrectly referencing the USNS MERCY.  That hospital ship was enroute to Los Angeles.  The hospital ship berthing in New York was the USNS COMFORT.  Here is more information about the history of the USNS COMFORT. Laura mentioned turning off the water when brushing teeth.  I found this statistic about turning off the faucet: two gallons of water flow from a faucet each minute. Something as simple as turning off the water while brushing your teeth can save up to three or four gallons of water per person per day. That’s more than 1,000 gallons of water per year or enough for almost 100 four-minute showers.  We had a brief confused conversation about numerous authors.  Iwas referencing Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History and it’s episodes  on higher education.  I found this article. What followed was a list of other authors and books while I tried to explain Gladwell to Laura.  These included Tim Ferris, author of The 4 Hour Work Week and then Simon Sinek,

Please excuse some of the audio quality issues.  During the time of the pandemic, some of the niceties of recording studios are sacrificed for getting the information out timely. Chad and Lauren are reading Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and It’s All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson.  They essentially formed their own book club, as described by Lauren. – I found this great article about the growth of book clubs during the COVID-19 crisis.  Perhaps you will start your own book club.  https://bit.ly/2UWMZK0 Lauren and Chad spoke of some of the lessons they considered in discussing books together, including the use of the word “fair”.  I found this interesting article regarding defining “fair”.  https://bit.ly/2w4D7FI Lauren speaks about trust and honesty as a foundational element of building relationships.  I found these interesting conversation starters on the topic.  https://bit.ly/3dLgPtI Chad is reading 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell and related the m

A new podcast is coming this week - 31 Minutes with Kisha, Jim, Marc and Marcus plus an update on the Corporate Thought podcast with new episodes coming soon

Just a quick update that we are working on lots of great stuff at Corporate Thought and we will have new conversations, new events and lots of other things to tell you about soon!

Ruth is a realtor with Keller Williams Real Estate.   Once a musician, always a musician. Here is another example of musicians not working in music.   Ruth mentioned that Saying yes to one thing is saying no to another.   Ruth speaks extensively about being a survivor of domestic abuse and violence. Ruth said that every day she had to find something to hold onto. I found this article about finding things to hold onto. Ruth wrote a mantra on a yellow legal pad with a Sharpie Marker: GO HARD Go Hard when you are happy, when you are sad, when times are good, when times are bad.  Just Go Hard when you can’t get up or when you are up. You just Go Hard every day all the time do not stop. I mentioned Angela Duckworth and her book Grit to Ruth. Can you reinvent yourself? Apparently Yes! Article from Psychology Today  Entrepreneur Magazine 10 Ways to Reinvent Yourself when You’re Stuck in Life  Bold – Program from Gary Keller  and a video  The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holida

The dinner occurred at Virginia Beach Recording Arts which was formerly Thomas Crown Studios owned by Timbaland  It was part of the Corporate Thought A-HA! Dinner Series. The evening was generally about disruptive innovation, the term coined by Clayton Christensen and was attended by 8 thought leaders.    Collin spoke of mobile clean room labs or production facilities able to bring the facility to the product rather than the product to the facility.  John spoke of his people as being on the front line and expecting much of them in a service based business but rewarding them as well.  This led to a mention of Jesse Cole and the story of the Savannah Bananas. Harsh was “paralyzed” without his cellphone.  One of the features of the A-HA! Dinners is that cellphones are banned and we confiscate them during the event.  I found this article about cellphones at restaurants. Harsh mentioned Alvin Toffler books.  I admit I knew nothing about Alvin Toffler except his name referenced in the song Levon by Elton John. Now

A quick note about the episode dropping tomorrow!

Just a short hello and question about growing up. It hit me as I was driving past the home I grew up in.

We fail to recognize the impact of an entrepreneurial life upon our families, who often don’t sign up for the same lifestyle. We need to thank them often for all the do and for putting up with us.

Tonight the A-HA! Dinner is gathering a group of strangers for a conversation about adversity in life and in business. We are dining under the stars at a winery in Northern Virginia.

Show Notes Chris is the owner of a company called Prime 3 Software  Chris describes himself as a Reluctant Entrepreneur.  I found this article about the phenomenon.  https://bit.ly/2naaUII/  I also found this book, The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits Chris mentioned his prior employers labeling people as resources and found the idea abhorrent.  I found this interesting article about when people are referred to as resources and what to do about it:  https://bit.ly/2lap5gq We discuss quality, budget and schedule – three legged stool.  Chris is referring to the The Project Management Triangle is also known as the Triple Constraint, Iron Triangle and Project Triangle.  See here:  https://bit.ly/2l5aoLp It is true! Chesapeake, Virginia is the third most boring city in America.  The shipping industry is very old as we discuss.   There is a quick aside that “What do you do?” is a terrible first question. For more read this: https://www.themin

I read a short parable last night that I was previously unaware of and thought I would share it!

The first of the A-HA Dinners was held in New York and was a smash success.

Today is the first in a series of dinners with strangers centered around specific topics. Listen to learn more about what Corporate Thought is doing!

Today we move into a collaboration space in Norfolk called PerCOlator