Capitalism is built on ROI, or return on investment. Corporations exist to maximize value to shareholders. Even small businesses have to produce ROI for the owners in order to make sense. This whole system started from a place where the best way to maximize shareholder value, in the very beginning, was to create value for […]
How Elon Musk is Changing the World
I believe sustainable energy production and electric vehicles are two of the most important frontiers of the next 25 years (and probably beyond). The more I learn about Elon Musk and his companies, the more I believe he might just be the man to lead us into a new historical era in the same way […]
How Coca-Cola Could Build the Future (And Why They Probably Won’t)
The Coca-Cola Company was founded on January 29th, 1892 in Atlanta, GA, six years after John Pemberton first asked some of his friends to sample his new concoction. According to Coke’s autobiography, the company sold about 9 servings per day at 5¢ per serving for the first year. Today, the company sells 1.9 billion servings […]
A Responsible Consumer’s Guide to Clothing
I’ve waxed poetic on the importance of making principled decisions in our purchases. But let’s get practical because researching brands is a huge pain in the tush. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Sustainable, responsible brands embrace at least two (and preferrably more) of the following: Oeko-Tex Certified Bluesign Certified Fair trade Certified 100% Organic […]
A Responsible Consumer’s Manifesto
As consumers we have powers and responsibilities: Vote with dollars – make principled purchases that reflect your beliefs and the way you think the world should work Buy more of less – use dollars to purchase smaller amounts of high quality goods (and the corollary, of course, is not purchasing large amounts of low quality, […]
Problems Worth Solving (Or, an alternative to Follow Your Passion)
“Find a job (or start a business) where you can work on problems worth solving,” often receives a bit of a blank stare in return. So instead of convincing you that it makes sense, here’s a list of problems I think are worth solving (they might be different from yours) to illustrate the kind of […]
100% Electric
BMW just came out swinging, staking their claim in the rush to win the coming electric car war. They say they’ll work to make 100% of their models at least partially electric within the next 10 years. Think about that: a traditional automobile company saying it will make a serious move towards 100% electric or […]
The Growth Zone
In your comfort zone, you know exactly what to expect. It’s safe, it’s routine. It’s where you are when you’re doing that thing for the 10,000th time. It’s where you go to flow. In your danger zone, you have no idea what to expect. You’re on high alert, unable to focus on anything but making […]
Perception is Everything
You mean one thing. You say one thing. Your words are interpreted through personal filters. You control only two of these. Make sure you tailor the message to the audience.
Say What You Mean
At the end of a post on choosing family, I thought about adding a “PS: I know everyone’s definition of family is different. Maybe your family treats your horribly. Maybe you can’t have kids. Maybe your friends are your famiy. This post stands in all of those scenarios.” But here’s the thing: for the right […]