Daniel Lubetzky

A recent article in the New York Times, readjusts the typical focus on Steve Jobs and the evaluation of his career that we have been seeing over the past days since his resignation.  This article deems Jobs a role model, for his unique talent as an innovator.  Jobs’s fresh thinking, and creative way of looking at things were key components to his success and a source of inspiration for all leaders and companies across various sectors.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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By Adeena Schlussel

Check out this great video from the Smart CMO series, featuring Daniel and his poignant insights on marketing and packaging your brand!

You know that a field must be hot when even fraudulent scammers start adopting its tone and position themselves as such. You used to get scams offering you millions of dollars from a despot in Nigeria or a corrupt official looking for a partner in crime.

Now check out the email I got: they want to donate their life-savings for my charitable/humanitarian good work!

You were recently recommended to me by a Journalist (Chris Hondros) who gave me your email address. Before the Journalist was killed, he told me about you and your humanitarian wiliness when I was sharing my thoughts with him about donating my entire wealth to a kind hearted person for humanitarian work.

My name is Mrs Eman Abdul-aziz, I am a widow living in Libya. I seem to have become very heart-broken after my entire family was killed by armed forces loyal to Gadhafi.

I have intentions to donate my entire savings to you for charity use. Please acknowledge my email for more details about me and my donation. my email is : mrsemanabdul-aziz11@nba2k.cn

Sincerely,

Mrs Eman Abdul-aziz

I realized social entrepreneurship was hot when corporate marketing departments tried to position their campaigns as "corporate social responsibility." But nothing can attest to the trend of people wanting to make a difference like the compliment that these scammers pay us!

One of the reasons that Teach for America is so successful is that the organization harnesses young passion.  Venture for America (a program that we learned about from a great previous intern, Liz) hinges on a similar concept, only VFA places fresh college grads in start up environments in struggling parts of the country.   The idea is that the start-ups get inexpensive talent and passion, while the grads get hands on experience that will benefit their careers for the years to come. Venture for America seems like a great idea and it will be interesting to see its impact.

By Adeena Schlussel

A recent article in the Economist teaches the management secrets of the Barca (the Barcelona soccer team) and illustrates how they can be applied to achieve success in overall business management.  Keys to success include feeding team members morals and values, growing talent as opposed to buying it, and listening to your consumers.  Barca’s success in these areas has made the team a powerful, beloved, and profitable brand.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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NewHope 360 featured Daniel earlier this month, recognizing his generous spirit and acute leadership skills that we see each day.  The article conveys that these attributes have granted KIND success in its growth, in being named Entrepreneur of 2010, and in Do the KIND Thing.  Read more below!

by Adeena Schlussel

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This video from Muhammad Yunus  describing a joint venture with Dannon is inspiring in many ways. It explains in such simple terms how a business model can be used to achieve social benefits in a sustainable and deep way.  It highlights how food companies, including major multinationals, can sincerely and effectively improve the world.  And it showcases one of the greatest leaders of the 21^st century: Yunus is so charismatic, so down to earth, so creative, so engaging, so effective in infecting all he touches with his vision for positive change.

This piece is worth reading.  It aptly captures Howard Schultz and also one of my favorite restaurants in NYC, Barney Greengrass.

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This great New York Times article illustrates that marrying business and social objectives result in a double win.  As depicted in this article, Pepsi does a great job of embodying this philosophy.

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This anonymous quote was shared by Devin Schain, a serial entrepreneur:

“What looks like a cloud to one person…is an opportunity to sell umbrellas to another.”

Devin also shared these great mantras:

“Make sure your team knows they’re working with you, not for you.”

“I will take an ‘A Person’ and a ‘B idea’ over an ‘A idea’ and a ‘B person’.”

“Growth and personal mastery leads to happiness.  You want to be in the sweet spot between skill and challenge.”