Fabolous hits the Brooklyn Bridge... (5 Min Video)

Contribution per FabolousVevo..

Fabolous hits the Brooklyn Bridge, an iconic setting in this VEVO GO Show performance of "Y'all Don't Hear Me Tho." See more VEVO GO Shows at VEVO.com.

 

“Eat with me if you hungry dawg, but then again how loyal is a hungry dawg?  That’s saying hunger make your dog eat you alive, you either starve to death or you eat to survive.”-Fabolous

“When you take a chance, ever wonder who you took it from?  I’m from Brooklyn son, got no problem taking nothing, so I figured I could take nothing and make it something.”-Fabolous

Success in negotiation depends on the level of preparation...

“Everyone wants something without having any idea how to obtain it, and the really intriguing aspect of the situation is that nobody quite knows how to achieve what he desires.  But because I know what I want and what the others are capable of I am completely prepared.” – Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859)

How bad do you want it? (Short Film)

Contribution per T.R.U.T.H...

Albert Einstein on finding the meaning of life in work...

"My dear children: I rejoice to see you before me today, happy youth of a sunny and fortunate land. Bear in mind that the wonderful things that you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labour in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honour it, and add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common. If you always keep that in mind you will find meaning in life and work and acquire the right attitude towards other nations and ages." - (Albert Einstein talking to a group of school children. 1934.)

Welcome to the Kobe System.... Attack Fast Attack Strong... (3 Videos)

Contribution per Nike Basketball and HypeBeast   ....

In Nike Basketball’s newest campaign, Kobe Bryant steps beyond his role as a basketball superstar and into the role of a motivational speaker. Learning from his own lessons of success on the court, Kobe inspires some of the most accomplished business, entertainment and sports leaders across the globe to reach for even greater success in their own lives. Bryant’s winning philosophy is grounded in his proven ability to adapt to succeed as a player and also reflected in his revolutionary new signature shoe, the Nike Kobe VII System Supreme. Shot in Hollywood, this latest commercial spot was directed by Jody Hill, known for his role as co-creator and executive producer of the HBO series Eastbound & Down. The campaign was produced by Wieden + Kennedy of Portland.
  
Where do you go from the top? You go over the top. The #KobeSystem: Success for the Successful is Kobe's winning, results-oriented philosophy on how to adapt to succeed. You're Welcome.

      

What does Kobe Bryant know about stand-up? Everything. The #KobeSystem puts in work on and off court.

The #KobeSystem is where the successful find more success. You don't have to listen to us, though. Take their word for it.

RZA Speaks on Kanye West's Work Ethic... (3min Video)

 Contribution per HypeBeast and Hypetrack  ....

After working with Kanye West on his most recent solo album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, well-respected artist and Wu-Tang member RZA sat down with the Red Bull Music Academy to shed some insight into Kanye’s day-to-day process while recording. From being there first hand, as the Grammy Award-winner rigorously worked with his team in a variety of facets, watch and listen as the renowned emcee/producer offers high praise regarding one of the most talented and hardest working artists in music. 

Daymond John Stripes speaks on Risk, Inspiration, Turn Offs, Obstacles, and Vacations...

Contribution per Jump OFF TV ....

Daymond John, CEO and Founder of FUBU the leading urban streetwear brand. He is also the managing partner for Coogi™, Heatherette™, Drunkn Monkey™, Ether™ and Kappa USA.

Why Experience is King...

An excerpt from The Hustler's Notebook written by JK Allen...


Why Experience is King

Just think… how many books have you read that you loved, found highly impacting, but never applied the knowledge to your life. Essentially, overtime, the wealth of knowledge deteriorates because it wasn’t put to use. But if you put into practice what you learn, not just theorize it, your horizons broaden at all angles. Your perspective expands, increasing your practical intelligence (street smarts) and increasing the value you can offer to the world.

The day of the armchair learner is upon us. They think they know it all…but they only know it in theory. They haven’t put a thing into practice. They profess in a regurgitating fashion because they haven’t lived it or tasted it or experienced it. I think many of us fall in line with this from time to time (I admit). But this is a wakeup call to us all. Let’s pay attention to what we learn…put it into practice…so we can then profess it with new angles, which is only discovered by experience. Why is that…

…because experience is king.

Street Smarts is Supreme...

An excerpt from The Hustler's Notebook written by JK Allen...

Street Smarts is Supreme

Street smarts is knowledge obtained through life experience. It’s a social form of intelligence that controls our social awareness: having keen judgment and making quick decisions. We simply can’t establish the qualities that make up street smarts in any other way than experiencing life; learning from our actions and their causes and effects.

Putting the information into practices broadens your knowledge and widens your perspective. It’s the information you learn and act upon that shapes your attitude, extends our thresholds; increasing your value.

Street smart people…

    …may not possess a plethora of ‘likely unneeded’ data, but they have 
                  the chops to learn and execute on the fly.
    …aren’t set on theories, but trial and error of real life application or action.
    …rely on their intuition to guide them. They trust their gut.

Street smarts is supreme because it’s what makes up your intangible qualities. A street smart person has the ability to make connections between different pieces of information and situations…it’s being savvy.

Street smarts is…

    …practical intelligence.
    …common sense-based.
    ….attitude and skill.

 

Powerful Beyond Measure... (6 Min Video)

Based on the original Motivational Video by Eric Horner, this version has been redesigned and completely re-edited by Nick Dufton...

For Entrepreneurs, "Crazy" Is A Compliment... (3 Min Video)

"If your not told your crazy, you are not thinking BIG ENOUGH!"- Linda Rottenberg

Contribution per Insights on making ideas happen ....The Behance Team...

About this presentation:

As the CEO and Co-Founder of Endeavor, Linda Rottenberg works with entrepreneurs around the world on a daily basis, helping them grow their businesses for maximum impact. In this 99% talk, Rottenberg shares tips for new entrepreneurs and addresses some of the key challenges that creative startups face.

Cumbia Hop ... Colombian Street Dance... (2 Min Video)

Contribution per BadBoy Entertainment, Sean Combs,  and Powered by Evolution Interactive...

Check out this Colombian street dance video by Arturo Almanza and music by DJ Fresh. Every Friday night in the heart of Bogotá, they close off a part of 7th Avenue so the community can celebrate street art, dance, and street culture!!

It Takes Time...

An excerpt from Daniel Freeman’s Rise & Grind on Time…

It’s hard to be patient when you don’t know exactly how long to be patient.  I get it and even though this post will try to help you cope with it, I don’t know if it will.  No Business is built in a day but since most of us grew up where entertainers just go from nothing to something most of our ideas of how to get that empire are skewed.  So many of you will quit when your first business doesn’t work out that you will say a typical Suckerism of maybe it wasn’t meant to be.  Truthfully you believe money will just come to you in a concert with how hard you work, BUT IT WON’T!

I’ll say this from the start so you don’t get lost.  Everything you do will take more time than you thought.  Money and success will never come to you in the timetable you have set for them.  Even if it came 1 week after you started it will still feel like it was 1 week to long.  By nature when you start a business you think it will pop, but this is a tough ass balloon and it takes a ton of work and mistakes to come up with a way that works.  The race is for those who endure and keep creating through disappointment and struggle.  The reason why you see so many people who tried and failed is because they stopped trying and pretty much thought that was the best they had. 

When I started my first business I was around 8 or so.  I sold candy, burritos, and whatever I could out of my pocket. I then moved on to clothes, beepers, rims and whatever I could get my hands on.  I then moved onto Condoms, t-shirts and whatever I could get my hands on. See the key is I sold whatever I could get my hands on and I wasn’t stuck to any one product primarily because I wanted to make money.  I was lucky to go through that kind of training because I never fell in love with product as I really wanted to make money.  So when something took too long I didn’t feel bad I thought it was slow cooking or maybe I had to push it to the back for a better time. 

I learned patience through my own trials and tribulations of trying to make money.  Since most of you cats don’t like any form of struggle you guys pack up to fast and go back to the plantation. Its best if you don’t think about time at all when you start because it will disappoint you like a fat person who check s the scale after one workout.  Think of it like growing up as it took 18yrs for you to be considered an adult and so it will be with business. 

It will take time and there’s nothing you can do about it but stick to it!

Albert Einstein on the liberation from the self...

"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive." -(Albert Einstein, 1954)

50 Cent interview with the Wall Street Journal... (10 Min Video)

A cornrow-less Curtis Jackson sits down to talk business with The Wall Street Journal. 50 Cent talks about SMS Audio, Street King, and the evolution of the music business.

Lao Tzu on control...

“Intelligent control appears as uncontrol or freedom.
      And for that reason it is generally intelligent control.
           Unintelligent control appears as external domination

                 And it is for that reason it is really unintelligent control

                     Intelligent control exerts influence without appearing to do so.
                           Unintelligent control tries to influence by making a show of force.”

You must play to win....

An excerpt from Entrepreneur turned VC, Mark Susters blog: Both Sides of the Table...

One attribute that I believe most VCs look for in entrepreneurs is competitiveness.  I know I do.  I like to work with people who hate to lose.  Anyone who has ever been around me when I’ve lost at anything I care about will tell you I’m not pleasant.  I’m not a poor loser at all.  It’s just that I stew on it.  I don’t recover easily.  I lose sleep.  If I have any angle of changing the outcome I will.  I replay things in my mind about why I lost and I try to correct my mistakes.  

I look for people who share this obsession about winning.  If you stumble on to a really good idea believe me it will get competitive really quickly.  It amazes me how quickly a modest success story gets replicated and any initial product / market advantages get narrowed.  You can’t accept simply ceding part of the market to someone else because it’s big.  You need to fight for every inch.  Every win.

The trait spills over from personal life to business and back again.  My wife finds it curious.  Family scrabble games are fun – but I still want to win.  We played against her parents and I was focused.  I wanted to take them down!  Poker night is social, but if I’m playing, it’s to take your money.   GuitarHero is seriously chilled out way to hang out with friends.  But even more so if my score is higher than yours.  I ran a marathon with my colleague in 2003 – I’m still bummed that he beat me even though he was clearly more athletic.  For me winning IS the fun.

I know that people who aren’t competitive always find competitive people slightly distasteful.  They feel that there’s something egalitarian about everybody getting a trophy.  They complain that trying to win at everything is in being over zealous and is unnecessary.  Maybe.  Anyway, I’m sure this will play out in the comments section – it won’t be the first time I’ve heard it.

It is what it is. But I want to work with people who thrive on winning.  I look for that fighting spirit in those that present to me. Entrepreneurs play to win and they take losing seriously.  Think Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t have some sleepless nights about Twitter despite having more than 350 million users himself?  Think Yelp doesn’t wake up daily thinking about how to crush FourSquare?  Think Marc Benioff is content with being a billionaire?  I’m sure he seethes at any losses to Larry Ellison.

Steve Jobs is famously known for being obsessive about people not leaking Apple information prior to announcements (unless it’s intentional.)  It is rumored (and much debated) that Jobs dropped McGraw Hill (the book publisher) from any iPad announcements because their CEO went on CNBC the day before and talked about the iPad.  Certainly sounds plausible to me.  You don’t like leaks? Send a message and people will think twice next time.

leo the lipDon’t take it from me.  Take it from Leo “The Lip” – “nice guys finish last.”  Steve Jobs isn’t a “nice guy.”  Nor are Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Marc Benioff, Larry Ellison, Tom Siebel, Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller or any number of people you’ll find who built empires.

I’m not looking for people to be mean and certainly not unethical.  Just people who play to win – every time.

Tough times are a reason to get serious...

An excerpt from The Trophy Generation by retail marketing leader Jordan Zimmerman ...

...These are extremely tough times, not only in the United States, but also in the rest of the world. Be assured that nobody asked for this, and that you are not the only ones who have been dealt some bad cards. Thank God that you are just beginning your careers, and that you have your youth and your energy as resources. If you make a point of feeling more than grateful, every single day, that you live in the Land of Opportunity (and you do!), you will have a fighting chance of making something of yourself.

Let me give you some perspective here. People who are bone-tired, who had the best intentions and who worked really hard for a very long time, have woken up to learn that everything, and I mean absolutely everything, that they had built up in terms of financial security was gone. People have lost homes. People have lost their jobs. They have lost their marriages. And they’ve lost their children. That’s the world you’re walking into. That’s reality. And yes, you’re right, that’s not fair.

Now, for some people, tough times are a reason to give up and just scream for help. These people are waiting for their uncle to arrange a job interview, or for the government to write a check, or for Mom and Dad to swoop in and fix everything, or for the winning lottery number to come up, or for their big break in reality TV. I hope and pray you’re not in that group.

For other people, tough times are a reason to get serious, to pay closer attention, to bring your game up a notch or three, to finally feel restless and dissatisfied enough with your surroundings to take MASSIVE ACTION and change your own world, because no one else is going to change it for you. I do hope you choose to be in that group.

And by the way, if you really do admire people like Mark Zuckerberg, or Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates, you should know that none of them were wait-to-see-what-happens kind of guys. During tough times, they all took their spot in that second group. They all got kicked in the balls. They all responded to adversity by taking action. So the word to write down in big letters here, and look at every day, is: PERSEVERE. You have dream again. You have to try again. You have to have a never-quit attitude.

One thing is certain. At some point, you are going to get sucker-punched, and it is going to hurt. It doesn’t matter whether or not the hit you took was “fair” – no one promised that it would be – but whether you get up off the floor. Even if you get knocked down 10 times, make damn sure you get up 11 times. Take action!

Once you learn to do that, once you start dusting yourself off and decide to start creating newer and better ways to win the next time around, do me a favor … don’t make the mistake of focusing only on the money. Focus on the relationships. Focus on who you can help. Focus on delivering value, and you will be on the right track. Remember that your self-worth should never, ever be tied to your net worth. They are two very different things … although if you want to survive and thrive in this world, you will need to build both...

The Ten Most Innovative Businessmen of all time...

Contribution per New Entrance Media and MyComeUp.com .... Where coming up means everything!!

Strategy 101 - The indirect over the direct approach...

“When, in the course of studying a long series of military campaigns, I first came to perceive the superiority of the indirect over the direct approach, I was looking  merely for light upon strategy.  With deepened reflection, however, I began to realize that the indirect approach had a much wider application- that it was a low of life in all spheres: a truth of philosophy.  Its fulfillment was seen to be the key to practical achievement in dealing with any problem where the human factor dominates and a conflict of will tends to spring from an underlying concern for all interests.  In all such cases, the direct assault of new ideas provokes a stubborn resistance, thus intensifying the difficulty of producing  a change of outlook.  Conversation is achieved more easily and rapidly by unsuspected infiltration of a different idea or by an argument that turns the flank of instinctive opposition.  The indirect approach is as fundamental to the realm of politics as to the realm of sex.  In commerce, the suggestion that there is a bargain to be secured is far more important than any direct appeal to buy.  And in any sphere, it is proverbial that the surest way of gaining a superior’s acceptance of a new idea is to weaken resistance before attempting to overcome it; and the effect is best attained by drawing the other party out of his defenses.” – B. H. Liddell Hart  (Strategy)