Ivanka Trump
Hey peoples,
Sorry I have been away for a week long vacation with my family. However while you were in class I was miserable on an airplane. The Dominican Republic is farther away than you think. I’m going to get on my posts, including a review of a book I read (Yes I had time to read a book on vacation). It’s called “The Trump Card” and is basically an autobiography from Ivanka Trump, Donald’s daughter. Girl is absolutely amazing… Get excited for the review.
-Brad
I could spend all day looking at “The Big Picture” on Boston.com. The Big Picture is an accumulation of large high quality pictures from photographers around the world. Tonight when I checked the site, one of the first things I noticed was a picture commemorating Veterans day. The title of the group of pictures was “Armistice Day Remembrances”. The collection of pictures were mostly from Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. They included pictures of mourners and cemetaries. Most of the touching pictures were of military members in mourning. Everyone knows the age old picture of someone looking at the vietnam war memorial remebering his long lost friend. Everyone remebers the scenes of Omaha beach from the movie Saving Private Ryan. What people tend to forget is that these aren’t distant occurances and photographs that have been forgotten. These pictures are still being taken, and The Big Picture shows us how today amazing images are being taken. I especially liked this set of images because it instilled a sense of patriotism. The photos reflected the sacrifice of men and women who have died for their countries. Politics aside it is evident in these photos that they died for what they believed in and left behind people who loved them. In this case a picture is worth much more than a thousand words. One photo that grabbed my attention was of President Obama walking through Arlington National cemetary. People can say what they want about him and his handling of the Iraq war, but this photo proves it all. This is a man who understands the consequences of the executive branch.
The next set of pictures that caught my attention were of interest to me because they pertained to the conflicts from around the world, particularly in Pakistan, and Afghanistan. These pictures, titled “Conflict in Pakistan”, highlighted some of the more obvious emotions that surround conflict. One of the pictures that jumped out at me was of the victims of a suicide attack in pakistan last month. These are the pictures that people don’t see everyday. There is blood and guts, there are innocent people dieine if not dead, and there are people trying to do anything they can to help. This is the reality of suicide bombers. They are cowards, in every sense of the word. I wishn the media would let the American public see carnage more often. Before I could see this picture I had to click a button allowing myself to see “objectionable content”… Did these men have the option of seeing “objectionable content” that day. I’m tired of people with weak stomachs. The world is a tough, fucked up place… If you can’t handle it, then you need to get over it.
It was morning in the Mojave desert. I had just woken up and once again I was of the first out of my sleeping bag lacing my boots. I had a meal ready to eat or an MRE in my pack that I pulled out for breakfast. The water in my canteen tasted warm and slimy, but it was water none the less. “I feel like shit” I said to Dinuno, my best friend. “Yeah, we all do” he said. We were all Marines, 1 1/2 months into a training package called Mojave Viper. Within 6 weeks we would be flying into Iraq on a chopper ready to do battle against insurgents.
“Flak up” our platoon sergeant yelled out, and we all jumped up and threw on our 40 pound bullet proof vests. We put on our kevlar helmets or “bullet bouncers” and our brass knuckled fighting gloves. I threw on my Oakleys, packed a dip in my mouth and picked up my M-16 rifle. We stepped off that morning into another fake Iraqi city in the million mile desert that is the Mojave. The town was surreal, complete with mosques, farmers out walking goats, women and children drinking tea and praying. Cars driving by filled with families, all of which were hired actors that the United States pays to attack Marines for training purposes. That day we were briefed that their were snipers in the building windows, it would be an exciting manhunt, and Marines were sure to get hurt, at least in our pretend training world.
“Man, I really feel like shit” I told my team leader. “Are you going to fucking die?” he asked me as if to say, “Man up, stop being a bitch”. So I kept walking, until I couldn’t hold my gun up anymore. “I’m going to throw up I told him and fell to the ground”. From their I was dragged into the shade of a building where dizzyness set in and I was treated as one of the “Weak bitches” we refer to. When a Marine is acting like a bitch we cast them aside and ridicule them until they start acting like a Marine. I was treated this way, and sent to go see our Corpsman, or doctor as you would call him.
He asked if I was ok and I replied “Yes” because I wasn’t one to complain. I had an indescribable urge to go to the bathroom, and dug a hole where I tried, but nothing came. I walked back into the tend where I blacked out and woke up face down covered in puss that I had thrown up. Months later I would come to realize that this was the exact moment my appendix had burst. At the time I didn’t realize and within the hour I would tell the docs I was alright and ask if I could get back to training. They let me go as if saying in their heads, this kid needs to act like a man. On the 50 foot walk back to my men who were taking a break in a shaded building, my vision blurred and by the time I got to them I was unresponsive. “Are you alright” they asked me, but I fell to the sand in all my armour. “Corpsman up!” they yelled to get me some help. I felt them slapping my face, but I was going blind. I couldn’t answer them, and my body was shaking and convulcing uncontrollably. Within 5 minutes my men were cutting my clothes off and throwing me into the back of a humvee, something was wrong.
Before taking me to a hospital they wanted our Major to see me. He had to make sure for himself that one of his Marines needed medical help and wasn’t faking injury. This man was an ex head of the secret service. He had done 3 tours in Iraq, and was responsible for saving dozens of men and women from the top floors of the World Trade Centers on 9/11. He was not the person that anyone would want to admit weakness to. “Are you ok son?” he asked and patted me on the back, but I was out of breath. I walked into the communication tent they had set up in the desert and collapsed. The next thing I knew I was in a van going down a dirt road, being driven to Pendleton Naval hospital. Mouthfulls of puss were falling down my chin as I was vomitting up the effects of a burst appendix. I was crying, beggin the Staff Sergeant driving me to get me there asap and not stop at red lights. He understood and blew through every red light, passing every car, he knew I was dyeing.
When he got to the hospital he yelled “Run in” and I staggered into the doors and checked in telling them “I need help now”, covered in tears. As with any emergency room they didn’t listen, and I was taken after people there for common colds. At one point I staggered into a restroom and began punching the mirrors and doors screaming “Fuck you”. My hands were battered and with 170 pounds of anger the hospital finally got the point. They plugged me with IV’s and put me in a bed, which I immediately had bowel failure in. The next few hours would be a complete catastrophe. They had know idea one of my organs had burst, and my stomach was growing to the size of a pregnant woman’s filled with puss. The battery acid that leaked out of my appendix was killing my other organs. One and a half days later the doctors deemed that from my blood count they had to go in. They told me I was going to the Operating room and I was excited. “Can you make a small hole” I asked the surgeon. He said “Sure I’ll make a small hole.
The surgeon sliced me open from 2 inches above my belly button, and I popped. 2 liters of puss fell onto the table with my intestines which were completely filled. There was a tube in my left nostril that went into my intestines, and a tube in my right nostril that was leading into my stomach. They were attempting to suck as muych fluid out of my organs as possible. The surgeon took out my intestines and began milking them from one end to the other to clear out the puss. All of my vital organs were at this point completely gray, dead, and void of blood. My body was dead, and the only thing keeping me breathing was a machine plugging my throat. Around 1 AM my mother would get a call from the surgeons in California. “Is he going to die” she asked him, and he Told her “The next three hours will let us know, he’s in very bad shape”.
“Brad, your family is here” the intensive care nurses said. I opened my eyes a day later and my family was walking into the glass bubble that would be my home for the next few months.
A few days later they would lift up the covers and I’d see it. I was completely awake, looking down a 13 inch scar at the organs of my body. I was so infected that their was no way they could close me up. They needed to leave me open for five days so that they could go in each day, and clean me out through more washing surgeries. My skin was stretched so far apart you could place your hands completely into the mess of blood and guts. the clear material of a salin bag was placed over my organs, and the edges of my skin were placed atop that. It was like looking through a glass window into your body.
It would take me about a month to leave the hospital of which Iwouldn’t be able to eat for 3 1/2 weeks. I went from 170 pounds to about 125. I had to learn how to go to the bathroom and walk again. I went home for a month to heal and begged the Marines to let me go to Iraq with them. I would return after a month to the 120 degree Mojave Desert, still bleeding from the incision down my belly. Four days after returning, scra tissue from the first 3 surgeries would wrap around my intestines. My intestines would then become completely blocked at which point I would vomit up my own feces. I was taken once again out of a comatose fall to the sand, to a hospital in the desert. The would ambulance me back to Pendleton where I would be sliced open down the original scar. Pieces of my intestines were then removed, and I began another bout of healing. My men left for Iraq without me. The Military would give me 0 percent dissability and then somehow lose my medical record. The world would go on and with the exception of my family, knowone would have any idea what happened to me in the summer of 2008.
Posting this week…
I find myself rambling when I find a topic I am passionate about because I am trying to get my voice across. This week I wrote about my frustration with classes that have wasted my time. I tried to stress that I am not some disgruntled student upset with a few classes, rather a product of a silly system of education. I also blogged about shyness and how it breeds insecurity. I blogged about email signatures because as you guys know I’m all about external appearances. I also blogged about WIGGIO which is acompany started by a young college aged guy. These posts are intended to motivate people to get going, and start structuring themselves and their education. But know one will read it anyways because know one reads my masslive blog other than classmates who have to… sigh : /
Alright,
So Scott asked us to go back to our house / place of worship and blog about blogging while watching some news sites and their coverage of politics. Here is my take on this subject as an OUTSIDER… I call myself an outsider because I have no friggen gosh darn, cotton picken idea what is going on with regards to blogging about politics in Western mass.. I have no idea who ANY of these persons are or what they stand for… So here is my experience…
So what I did was click these sites hoping to find something good to blog about… And what I got, was nothing too interesting. BIG SHOCK. I ended up figuring out who the winners were on a more national perspective. I saw commercials on TV for who was winning a specific election. I also Saw adds online for who was winning… And I blogged about that experience. The website themselves didn’t have anything too interesting…
So here is what I learned… and, not to blow smoke up your ass Scott, I did learn a bit about blogging. I learned that people who blog, do it during events. Although I wasn’t particularly engaged in the topic, (partly because some girl in the blog got me interested in the biggest loser (a show about fat slobs) ) I did realize that blogging is the CURRENT best way to translate information via an online form…
People from our class were disseminating information and although there was a delay of a few seconds it was pretty cool. I could click on Links that Scott was sending, and talk some legit smack. I was influencing discussion by replying to people. I also direct messaged the hell of of some people… or what I call (DM ed the H out of) them. People were so scared of my blogging that they ran for cover, and couldn’t find any…
On a serious note, I had a hard time following the political blogging because I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I seemed to be out of the loop on this one because I really couldn’t grasp how blogging was too effective. I guess in most cases I would assume that if their were a close vote I was interested in, I could wait until the next morning to hear the results.
Two years ago Apple lost the word computer from its name. At this point the Ipod and the Iphone started driving Apple computer sales through the roof. In a New York Times News article, The company’s chief executive Steve Jobs said:
“The Macintosh has a lot of momentum now, It is outpacing the industry.”
The article does a good job of showing Apple’s projected momentum with progressing more quickly than Microsoft. It also uses block quotes to adequately show how confident Jobs is of his products. It also highlighted some of Apples newest characteristics such as the elimination of the verb interface on an Iphone. Meaning that in the past, a user would have to click on an item like a photo, and then choose an action. With Apple’s interface users can do the action simultaneously. The piece does a good job at showing the PC companies distrust in Apple contrasted by its chief executive’s confidence.
I remember the excitement I felt when I was graduating Andover High School in 2006. I was excited to start from the beginning, and reach every goal that I desired. I thought at that moment, that I was invincible. For many of my peers, college graduation will be the same. It will be an opportunity at starting a new career and creating new long lasting relationships. They will plan on entering the working world, getting an apartment, and raking in money.
NY Times Op-ed columnist Bob Herbert described Maggie Mertens, a Smith College graduate, as a young intelligent woman struggling to reach post collegiate success. Mertens had applied for at least 50 new jobs, from which she had no replies. Eventually an opportunity presented itself for her to work in Washington in an unpaid position.
A family offered her a room in their house in exchange for free babysitting and she accepted. To make spending money she picked up a part time job at the local grocery store. On top of this she was working over 40 hours a week for the unpaid internship in Washington. Mertens is just one of hundreds of thousands of students graduating college this year in the U.S. that didn’t expect the harsh reality of employment today.
While jobs are becoming scarce, students are offering to work for less. More often than not students are beginning to work for free under the guise of a future “great experience with recommendations”.
Director of the office of Career Counseling at Williams College John Noble says:
“Certain industries, such as the media, TV, radio and so on, have always exploited recent graduates, giving them a chance to get into a very competitive field in exchange for making them work for no — or low — pay. But now this is spreading to many other industries.”
And it continues that career service counselors are having a harder time finding jobs for students. For students and recent graduates that can’t afford a free internship, anxiety and obligations are crippling.
Ryan Durkin owner of the successful internet company CampusLIVE uses handfuls of unpaid interns every semester from Amherst Massachusetts’s five college area. The interns represent the company, creating marketing plans and developing business models. Durkin sees interns as a way for the company to learn about their student consumers, and do on the ground research.
Durkin says:
“Because we don’t pay our interns they aren’t held to the time standards of paid employees. But they are crucial to our success. They see working here as a way for them to learn about business in the real world. They also know that we will take care of them in terms of helping with resumes and writing recommendations. We also know our interns here on a personal level”
While the owners and interns of CampusLIVE seem to work in a mutually beneficial manner, I can’t help but wonder what the rest of the working world is like. The G.D.P. has expanded in the past quarter, but is not signaling a recovery within the job market. So the question students have is “what will my future bring?” If we have done everything asked of us by working hard, and getting a good education, what more do employers want?
I have been setting myself up to compete with my peers since graduating high school in 2006, but I wonder if it will be enough. So I look forward to college graduation with optimism that a company will see something in me that they desire. The problem is that so will the other 4 thousand graduates around me.
Alright so Yesterday I saw this post on BarstoolSports.com about a man who is sueing Axe body products because he had been using the products and had yet to find a girlfriend. I wondered if it were a joke, so I went out searching for the story, where it started, and how it progressed.
On October 21st Funtoosh.com printed this article.
This post came out on October 28 via Facebook.
This post came out on October 30th from http://web.orange.co.uk.
On November 1st, http://naruto.viz.com linked the site.
At first I was finding sites that had the story on it, and were only a couple days old. Most of the sites seemed to have a shortened version from the facebook version that had been posted almost a week ago. The article printed 2 weeks ago shows me that the story has been around for a while. This does lead me to believe however that the story itself is spreading due to the comedic integrity of these websites. I do not see a credible site that is covering or adding to the story.
The problem that I am having with the class is this…
I feel that my audience is not responding and that the blog does not represent myself or the audience I would want to talk with. Plain and simply put, the Masslive community is not the Umass or 21 and under community. I think the only way that a blog can be successful is with a user base who cares to read the articles. That being said, maybe mine isn’t of interest to Masslive because I do not write standard articles.
I like the idea of a blog that reflects our personality, with actual people reading it who don’t have to sign up through Masslive to comment. On blogs such as this one, friends can comment and don’t need to sign up. This promoted discussion and dispersal of my stories in the past. I just don’t see how Masslive and me can work together.
Alright people,
I am the man and everyone knows it. That being said, know one cares. I might think that people should care, but the truth is that they do not. They don’t want to listen, because they want to talk.
People love talking about themselves. They like feeling important, and that their opinions matter. They like thinking that they are right. They like thinking they are the next best thing. They like being perceived as cool. People like mattering. They like giving advice. They love giving opinions. Is this making sense? People like talking.
Recently I got into an argument with people I am close with because they were tired of hearing me talk about myself. At first, I wanted to stick up for myself by saying “You’re just jealous”. But what I realized was that they weren’t upset with me because I talked about myself, they were angry that I didn’t care or let them talk about themselves.
My brother is the perfect example of this, and its something that he learned towards the end of college. In pretty much every aspect of his life, he destroys people. If you are reading this, chances are he is smarter, faster, and more capable than you in most ways. But he would never tell you that, or make you feel that way. He does not talk about his day before you talk about yours. He doesn’t even try to one-up you with a better story. And until you meet someone like this you won’t realize why. But the reason is that they don’t need to prove themselves to you or anyone. Which brings me to the next point.
If you find yourself to be someone who is constantly talking about themselves, its probably because you want to show people and prove to them that you are in some way superior. This in itself is a poor way to lead anything in your life. You lead men in business, the military, sports and every other facet by showing them that you are strong, capable, but most of all, one of them. If people think that they are on your level, they will acknowledge your strong points and respect you. You can’t lead without respect.
Cocky people brag. Confident people lead.
Alright peoples, So I had intended to give you some sweet recaps of the show “Shark Tank” but the season finale had crept up on me and I didn’t even know it. So what I’m going to do is tell you about the people on the show, and let you motivate yourself. I’m going to start with Robert Herjavec.
Herjavec defines the idea of Rags to Riches… He is the son of Croatian immigrants. When he was a little boy, his mother lost everything they had when a “smooth talking” vacuum salesman ruined their lives. Herjavec then decided that he and his mother would never be taken advantage of again, and he started working, HARD. He started waiting tables every night, and guess what he realized that big money was in technology.
He then launched BRAK systems, which became Canada’s top provider of internet security. In 2000 he sold that company to AT&T for… are we ready for this people… over $100 million. And guess what, once people know your name… they realize that you are valuable. He was then asked to help negotiate the sale of another company, which he sold for… wait for it. Wait for it… $225 million.
What else do you do when you own hundreds of millions of dollars… You start your own corporation, in his case, The Herjavec Group. Then you buy a 50,000 square foot mansion and rent it out to Michael Buble, Mick Jagger, and Aerosmith for band practices. And when you want to have fun, you tae one of your private jets to a private island off of Miami.
Get involved in Internet Companies that have potential for growth and make money. If it’s a cool company but it won’t make money, it’s not a cool company. Then work your buns off to make it a success, and enjoy the good life.
Viva la Herjavec!
Let’s assume that you already have a working business model, and you are planning ahead regarding the future of your company. Boris Revsin, a successful 23 year old member of an advisory board for a company points thinks that Keith Ferrazzi says it best… “People LOVE to think that their input is valuable”. An advisory board is simple a group of carefully chosen persons that work towards advising the board of directors and management of a corporation. Understand that advisors are not paid for their participation. Also understand that advisors, are not your friends, they are people who know the business of building a business.
Advisors help you, the entrepreneur; understand scalability, development, sales, marketing, and strategy. Ryan Durkin puts it best, “Advisors are vital to organizations. As an entrepreneur, I am constantly looking for people with the correct skill sets who may be able to help”. You need to be aware of the expertise’s of the different people you meet. Advisors are basically teachers. They teach you how to lead by objectively looking in. Advisors want the company to be a success because they pride themselves on being part of that success. The only way to do this, is for that advisor to be objective and tell you what he or she thinks need be done.
Most importantly, advisory boards help you when it comes to credibility. Venture capitalists want nothing more than to hear about the diverse group of people you are working with and their experience. It’s a simple concept… Businesses want to hear that you are working with members of Coca-Cola’s board of directors, not your best friend Mike who lives in your basement. Investors do not want to see your excel spreadsheet that you started with financial expectations on them. Investors want to see a legitimate financial model, that your board of advisors and you put together. You’ll want to find the people that know how good business financial models are put together, and ask them for help.
Now that you know why an advisory board is important, think about how you are going to create your own. Like I said before, advisors aren’t your hometown friends. They are the persons that you have spent a long while cultivating. You can’t just walk up to someone and ask them to be on your advising board. You need to make 100 percent sure that they have faith in your basic business structure, and then you need to convince them that they are the key to you furthering the company. Listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you… DO NOT, ever think about giving someone investment in your company, or paying them until their advising works out. You don’t offer anything to anyone unless they contribute.
Some of the most important advisors you can get on your board are ones with connections and interest. Ryan Durkin explains, “Other advisors help guide us towards “exit.” That means they help us meet people who may be interested in partnering with our company, or potentially acquiring us.” If you have a business up and running you should be thinking about where it will end. Creating a timeline is pointless, but having an expectation for where you want it to go, is key. And understanding that you need help getting your business to that level is even more important.
Alright people, I’m sorry I’ve been away for the week doing lots of Marine training…
I was just eating my daily Burrito in the dining common at Umass when I realized that I was surrounded by people who aren’t going anywhere in life. One guy was having a hard time getting out a sentence about how he “saw a ladybug this morning” or something along those lines. Anyways, the biggest tip off to me that these individuals were not going to do anything worthwhile was their clothing, particularly… The flat brimmed hat with the shiny gold stickers on them. I will write an entire post later on about why the flat brimmed G-Unit hat = complete “I’m a loser” status, but that is not the topic of this conversation. I want to talk about clothing and how it portrays you as someone who is SERIOUS or A GOOF.
I always get asked the question, “Am I overdoing it? Should I wear heels? etc etc…”
Lets get one thing straight… You can barely EVER overdue it. and if you have confidence and people can see that confidence, there is no such thing as overdoing it. Let’s break this down by tearing apart guys clothing, and then girls
There is a famous saying and remember it…
“Always dress for the job you want, not for the one you have.”
Young entrepreneur Ryan Durkin says “I prefer white Arrow shirts with striped dark pants. White shirts. Dark pants. Always.” Here is What you should wear if you work in a business environment, and there is no room for debate about this matter…
1. Black pants. Not khaki. Khaki is so casual that it looks like you might be going golfing or to hang out at an uncles funeral. Just don’t do it. Business men don’t respect it. Trump doesn’t do it, neither should you.
2. Black shoes. Not ANY other color. Don’t look like a fool because you never learned how to match. Buy some nice flat black shoes, hopefully leather, and keep them clean. And ladies, I know nothing about you, but come on… I know it hurts, but do the heels…
3. Black belt. I’m not explaining this one but make sure it has a small buckle.
4. WHITE COLLARED LONG SLEEVE SHIRT. I am talking about the no bull white collared shirt that you could throw a tie on. And most of all… Make sure that your WHITE shirt is tight fitting. There is nothing worse than bagginess. It has got to be tucked in.
5. Dark ties. If you are going to throw a tie on, which you shouldn’t do too often, make sure it’s dark. Know one wants to see that your a Red Sox fan because of your tie. Dark colors that compliment the rest of the outfit. Please don’t do pink. Pink looks weak. Plain and simple.
6. No Hats. If you attempt putting on a hat with the nice clothing, then give up on life, because you’re a loser. I remember my prom and the kid who seemed cool because he rocked a G-Unit hat with his tux… I thought he was the man. Now that kid still lives in town, I’m pretty sure he sells drugs, and last I heard he was spending way too much time around horses…
Conor White Sullivan is the founder and chief executive officer of Localocracy.org. He is also a senior at Umass Amherst. Localocracy is a start-up company interested in engaging citizens with grassroot problems within their local communities. The idea is that citizens can have a much greater impact on their local government, than larger government.
Although Conor is only 21 he has already spent time as a community organizer, and political campaign field coordinator. The guy is going to be a President someday. He wanted to make a difference in politics and business… Instead of holding protests (which are lame, and don’t work)… Instead of writing up petitions and getting signatures… Instead of simply blogging and twittering… Instead of writing a letter to his Congressman… Conor decided that he could create a company that would affect the nation on a local scale. You can check out his website, and see that it is in its preliminary stages. He’s workig with web development teams to make the thing look and work in an elite manner.
Check out this guy’s presentation on his company here.
The things I talk about on this blog are a culmination of other people’s thoughts and my take on why they are important. Most of the points I am trying to convey are my brother Ryan Durkin’s and friend Boris Revsin’s ideas about success. They learned these values from someone else, who learned it from someone else… Point is… You learn it too.
“Three step program to STOP talking, and START doing” – Boris Revsin
Step 1 – Do a Friend Test
Step 2 – Write it down
Step 3 – Network
Let’s get into it… You can not succeed alone. If you think that you can, then turn off the computer now and go hang out by yourself, because you are wasting your time reading this. You can not start up anything with the hopes that it will be successful by yourself. Trump couldn’t do it alone, Jay-Z couldn’t do it alone.
1. The Friend Test – You need to realize who can affect your situation, put together a list of 20 friends (not family). Once you have that list put together you need to get on the phone and call them. Tell them your idea and ask them up front to give you honest feedback. If they tell you that your idea needs work, then ask why, and record everything. If the general consensus among these 20 friends is that the idea is something you need to go for, then you need to get typing.
2. Write it Down – Two programs you need to use gents… Microsoft word, and Excell. (By the way you should have a Gmail account, because that is what professional society uses… get off of yahoo or hotmail if you have one, but that is another story for another day).
Start an Excel sheet with All of your contacts. Include their name, title, company position, email, cellphone… Etc… And keep this information on a backup drive incase your computer crashes!
Start a separate excell sheet with all the expected costs of starting the project. Boris Revsin explains…
If you don’t know exactly – guess. If you don’t know at all – pick a new idea.
If you are serious about starting something, you won’t be clueless. That’s just how it is.
Then, get on Microsoft Word and type out the business structure that you are trying to convey. Tell the reader what you are trying to do, why you are doing it, and why others need you to do it.
Lastly, create some sort of timeline. You will need to measure successes based on meeting certain goals. And keep your feet on the ground while you are typing. Don’t project more than a month away… You know nothing about financial planning! Own up to it. Investors and anyone that is slightly more business oriented than you will be able to see through your arrogance. Revsin explains…
Seriously, if you are a student in college and you’re showing me a 5-year financial plan: I will slap you for wasting time. Nobody, not even VC’s, actually buy these things. Save your typing hand for when you’re in the (un)lucky position of actually NEEDING to bullshit an investor.
3. Network – If you’ve done all of the above they will see that you are serious. Without these materials you can’t be taken seriously, just think about it. Now you need to begin an intensive plan for networking. Write down everything about every new person you meet. Ask for business cards, above all… Learn how to stay in touch with people.
Boris Revsin is a successful 23 year old entrepreneur, and a Umass Alum. He is a co founder of a nationally recognized website CampusLIVE.com among other interesting endeavors. When people have a conversation with Boris they come away knowing a few things about him.
1. He is confident
2. He knows his stuff
3. You can trust his work ethic
Boris is someone who knows the value of reading. He reads books about business and relationships that teach him how to cultivate both. His reviews of various books can be found on his blog titled Winning in business
I recommend the blog “Winning in Business” to anyone who is between the ages of 20 and 26.
I just found out about a new format for public speakers to present something. Its called Ignite, and what happens is pretty simple. A speaker is given 5 minutes to present with a slide show of 20 slides that rotates every 15 seconds. What this means is that the speaker is forced to spend time wisely, and getting sidetracked is not an option. Local TV station ACTV filmed Boris Revsin, one of the founders of CampusLIVE, as he boootstrapped CampusLIVE. Here’s the link, the guy is 23 years old… Then comment on your thoughts…
What is different and what is the same, seems to be an odd question given the subject matter of these three posts.
What do Evan Williams (co-creator of Twitter), Richard Heene (co-conspirator of balloon boy) and Michael Jackson costumes have in common? Really, nothing so that can’t be what this assignment is about… It must be about the style of the posts and the scope of the subject. We have a gossip filled business article, a gossipy halloween article, and a media crazed gossip article. All of the posts mention something about gossip.
In the case of Twitter, I guess some hard charging business successes felt the need to poke fun at Twitters worth. Evan Williams is completely right. Today’s internet revolved around the spread of information to the masses. Twitter is a marketer’s dream. Gossip.
Then the halloween story is complete gossip / group consensus gone crazy. The author is trying to tell us what costumes are not cool because they will be over done…
Sarah Palin = still funny, she’s hot
Max from the Wild things = Are you crazy… KNOW ONE wants to be that. Absolutely know one. The book is about a kid who falls asleep, and then dreams about a monster, and wakes up… theres no moral to the story. Everyone hates it.
Jackson = the nice famous Pedophile, which equals funny.
Balloon Boy = Amazing how horrible it is. I’m going to be balloon boy, and I pray to god that there is an entire army of us flying around on Halloween night.
Don Draper from madmen = Know one knows or cares who the hell that is…
Overall I am disgusted by the halloween costume story. Its horrible… Poor work whoever wrote it.
The Balloon boy story… is way too long. Plain and simple, the thing is just too long. I’m tired of it, I don’t want to read it. I actually didn’t read it all I was so upset. There is nothing Hollywood or famouse about anything that anyone involved in this case has done.
So… these three posts have absolutely nothing in common other than being completely not worthwhile and unnewsworthy… The first post about Twitter is the closest thing to actual news, but its still littered with gossip. The halloween blog was just not worthwhile because it was some random person who clearly has some love problem with this “mad man” character. She’s upset because her favorite book where the wild things are has been made into a movie, and she’s clearly a Michael Jackson fan. Then whoever wrote the balloon boy story should just take a weeks vacation. The reason why anyone would give that story more momentum is beyond me… There is a saying, give the people what they want… Well if what they want is balloon boy… Then kill the people and flee to Mexico.
And those are the three blogs.
Hey Guys,
I’m back from Marine Training. I spent three days up in Ethan Allen Vermont doing squad tactics… I’m overwhelmed with work, so I’ll be on my blog on Masslive tomorrow doing posts when I get a chance.
Thanks
There is one thing I want to do on my blog that mirrors Barstool… I want to have a format, instead of randomness… Does anyone have any ideas? I am going to start this tomorrow I have decided… Providing that someone is actually reading this masslive blog of mine, which I dont think anyone is… haha, we will see
Get this Book – I will post a review by a friend of the book if I haven’t reviewed it myself…
Remember the Name – I will highlight a standout UMASS alum or student who I think will matter someday…
Business TV – I will review shows like SharkTANK and TRUMP….
Realize Your Potential – In this section I will go over a basic concept that a young entrepreneur must learn, like how EVERYONE is a narcicist. Knowone cares about how you are doing, they want to talk about themselves…
Pic O’The Day – A funny picture, related to something relevant, (space filler)
What do you guys think?
Thought # 1
Alright so I think I have blog posts on masslive, but I cannot find them. And if I am looking for them and can’t find them then how is someone else supposed to find them?
Thought # 2
I think I may change my voice on the blog because I seem too arrogant. I dont want to look back on it in a couple years and say “Brad, what were you thinking”
We all now the deal… You are born, you go to school, you get a job and work for someone, you get married, you have kids, you make them go to school, and then you die. We also all think that we are special. Everyone has been a student of the month, everyone has a trophy, everyone has a resume. And, when you ask your friends if they are going to be rich, they will answer “Yes” and give you a look like you are crazy for having thought that they might not be. The fact of the matter is that 1 percent of those living in this country are rich, 5 percent are comfortable, and the other 94 percent are to say the most, breathing. To those 94 percent, some will tell you that love is the key to happiness. There are those in this percentage however like myself, that will admit, for lack of humility that they key to happiness is money.
It will not come easy, it will take hard work beyond what is normal, but I am completely confident that I will be in an elite class of move-makers, because I will not accept anything less. There is a show that has aired for persons who want a few things out of life… To change the world, and to make money doing it. These people do not accept being an employee, rather employing. Young entrepreneur Ryan Durkin describes this show as “The best show on Television”.
On August 9th 2009, ABC premiered a news television show called “Shark Tank”. The show’s producer Mark Burnett modeled the American version of the show after an already successful similar show in Japan. The show Shark Tank is set in a dark boardroom surrounded by tanks filled with massive sharks, which sets the scene that there will be a feeding frenzy in the boardroom. Entrepreneurs then stand before five multimillionaire tycoons and pitch a business idea. The entrepreneurs offer a percentage of their company for a certain investment from the tycoons or sharks. The sharks then make counteroffers to the entrepreneur and try to buy into the business model presented to them. The show is a venture capitalist’s dream.
The tycoons are… Robert Herjavec, who made over 100 Million dollars selling his IT security firm. Kevin O’Leary, who sold his company to Mattel for 3.7 Billion dollars. Barbara Corcoran, a self made real estate tycoon who sold her company for over 70 Million. Kevin Harrington, who makes tens of millions yearly in the infomercial business. And Daymond John,founder of Fubu a company that has made over 6 Billion Dollars… In total the 5 sharks are worth over 10 Billion US Dollars, also known as $10,000,000,000.00
Umass young web developer and entrepreneur Mike Miklavic describes the show saying “There are very few business shows on TV these days and Shark Tank is both amusing and informative.” The show teaches young entrepreneurs the value of preparation while pitching an idea. Miklavic explains that those on the show had better “Come prepared… The sharks are business veterans and if you don’t come prepared, you will be eaten alive.” This can be seen time again and again. If entrepreneurs don’t have a solid business model or proven income the sharks laugh them out of the boardroom penniless. Some entrepreneurs vastly overestimate their own companies worth, and the sharks explain why. Ryan Durkin says that “Seeing young entrepreneurs going head to head with investors is fun and gives us the opportunity to see how they operate.”
A typical show usually progresses as follows… “Hi, my name is Brad Durkin and I have created a robotic arm than ties people shoes, I am offering 20 percent of my company for $500,000 dollars, here is how it works…” The entrepreneur then gives a 
presentation on the product, whereas the sharks then but it and begin questioning. If the sharks want to invest they then battle each other for investment. “I’ll give you the $500,000 dollars but I want 51 percent of the company” they may say. Then another shark might say “Hold on, I want the company, and I’ll give you $600,000 for 75 percent”. The entrepreneur can then make counteroffers until a verbal deal is made. The one thing that the entrepreneur does not want to here is “I’m out”. When a shark says “I’m out” it means that they have lost interest in the person or the idea and will not invest. Sometimes entrepreneurs walk out of the boardroom with nothing. This typically happens when the entrepreneur is too greedy and wants more investment that the sharks feel he or she is worth.
While many deals made are done so with emphatic future promise, some entrepreneurs on the show are (pun intended) ripped apart by the sharks. Miklavic explains “They do have some losers on the show. But the sharks need to slaughter people every once in awhile.” These moments typically make for good television. Sometimes tensions in the boardroom run high because their is legitimate real tension throughout the conversations. The sharks are literally investing their own money and 
risk in the entrepreneur’s on the show. On a recent episode the sharks discovered that one of the entrepreneurs pitching an idea for a granola bar he had created was bankrupt. One of the sharks then continued to demean the entrepreneur and go as far as to call him “radioactive”. Ryan Durkin pointed out that “Sometimes people are too emotional about their business. Too many people on the show throw their emotions on the table in the wrong way. It’s okay to be passionate, but revealing all of their cards too quickly is simply a poor decision.”
Its safe to say that Shark tank mixes Donald Trump’s business knowledge with Simon Cowell’s brutal honesty. Durkin admits “I’m hoping they add Trump as a celebrity guest one of these days. It would be the biggest hit ever. I’d love to see how he truly operates in a deal.” Shark Tank is an exciting ride for anyone that wants to learn about some of the aspects that make a good entrepreneur. Durkin explains that, “It’s fun operating companies and taking them to the next level. Being in charge of your future is motivational and I wish more people took the risk early on when they can.”
Has it become simpler people? You can live, work, make money, and then die. Or you can live, work harder, own, make more money, and then die. Come up with a plan now. Set yourself up for success. Take risks, be prepared to fail. Work tirelessly at getting to the next level. Accept failures when they come but learn from them and try something new.
Shark Tank is on ABC at 8 pm on Tuesday nights.
My next Umass student Highlight is going to be on Boris Revsin and his blog “Winning in Business”
Boris is a Umass student who has excelled in the business world at the age of 22. He has worked as the Head of Operations for the Amherst-based web-development firm JaredWeb, Inc and as a Project Manager for eNilsson, a consulting firm attached to the 2008 Mitt Romney Presidential Campaign. Boris also developed the “Five Brothers Blog”, which is one of the most popular campaign blogs ever created. He has also been honored as an “Emerging Entrepreneur” by Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development.
Boris keeps a blog where he urges readers to “realize their potential”
I’m also going to do a quick profile on CampusLIVE.com and focus on the creators and the site’s initial beginnings. Few know that CampusLIVE.com began as Umasslinks.com. When I was a freshman at Umass I used to check out the site to see pictures of Umass’s drunk students after the weekend. Today the site is completely redesigned, but could not be so succesffull had it not been for its initial site launch. Jared Stenquist is the owner and creator of the popular Umass website.
A Umass student named Connor White-Sullivan has created an organization called Localocracy. Localocracy was invented as a way for people to discuss local politics and to get engaged with their surrounding grassroot campaigns. The site is designed to connect local people to their environment. I’m going to do a story on Connor’s company and Connor himself as a young startup.
Dale Carnegie has written one of the best selling self help books ever written. Young entrepreneurs swear that the book is the guide to communicating with people. The book discusses in clear detail how to make people like you, Ways to avoid arguments, and how to change people without offending them. I will personally read the book and give partial explanations of my understandings of the book.
SHARK TANK is a new show on ABC, in which a entrepreneur pitches a business idea to five multimillionaire’s in an attempt to get funding for their project. The millionaires (sharks) then decide how much the idea is worth and bid amongst each other for the idea. The show teaches young entrepreneurs about equity and what it takes to actual start something worth while. Every week I will be reviewing the show, and individual contestants from the show itself.
Here are my preliminary Ideas for my leaders blog
Monday – Review of Shark Tank
Wednesday -Review of book
Friday – Student Highlight
Saturday and Sunday – Innovative Ideas
El Prez, the owner of Barstoolsports.com is a professional blogger. His website, Barstoolsports.com receives millions and millions of hits every month. Users are attracted to his blog because of its hilarity. What began as a Boston based blog has now stretched to New York City. The writer has named himself El Prez, and his fiance whom he talks about daily is nicknamed “the first lady”. He has no employees, and no visible interns that he often refers to. I began following the site about a year ago, and here is my experience as a reader…
First and foremost the site’s tagline is “for the common man, by the common man”. Lets first assume that the common man is a sports addicted, straight guy who likes watching grandmas fall down stairs, and videos of last years Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot. If we can assume that this describes the common man, we can understand the alure of this site and why a man would frequent the site multiple times a day at work or at home. For reasons of disclosure I will tell you that the person who showed me the site and got me into it was a woman, who is a daily reader of the site. Content being acceptable or not, the blogger is witty, hilarious and will make you laugh even if you don’t want to.
Every morning one of the first posts of the day is called “Wake up with” This is the post where El Prez posts roughly 25 pictures of a drop dead gorgeous celebrity or model. There is no nudity on the site, although there is some implied. Agree with it or not, we all know sex sells, and men in the tens of thousands sign on in the morning to see who she is, and why El Prez thinks she deserves to be the “Wake up with”
There is also a “Rate the newest Sex Scandal Teacher” where he takes a sex scandal teacher which surprisingly there are thousands of, and explains what happened, and most of the time blames the kid for being wrong… and then grades the teacher on their effort, sometimes the teachers get an A. The guy might be going straight to hell or heaven if god has a sense of humor… everyone knows this… but everyone reads on…
Then for the rest of the day the blog is on cruise control… As he does this for a full time job, he puts up whatever he wants whenever he wants. He gets hundreds of emails a day from readers so he will post some of the funnier ones and his response to them. He posts about the New England sports very seriously and his hatred for Yankees fans. He posts videos of people being shoved out of moving cars, and sometimes out of hot air balloons. The man is a legend and celebrity around Boston. It is safe to say by now he has so much user submitted content that he doesn’t need to search for himself.
One part of the site is called the “Smokeshow of the day” where he highlights one girl from new england, many of which are Umass students, and explains why they are gorgeouse. I have had friends be smokeshows of the day, some girls loved that they were on the site, others have emailed him threatening to sue because of the hundreds of facebook requests they get. These girls just need to calm down, plain and simple…
A funny daily post is “Does this ____ get this guy laid” It’s self explandatory, but heres how it works… Readers and fans see something funny around Boston, like a man walking around wearing high heels, or a guy with a tattoo of Mr. Rogers on their leg… Then these fans take a picture of this awkward guy on their camera phone and send it in to El Prez. El Prez then posts the picture and asks the thousands of readers… “Does this tattoo get this guy laid” and will explain why he think yes or no. The readers vote 1 if they think so, or 10 if they dont think so… Its a way of engaging the viewers and the pictures are absolutely hilarious, you have no idea how many crazy looking people are roaming the alleys and parks in Boston.
It’s safe to say that El Prez deals with controversy, all of which he laughs off. When biker gangs, nambla, and any organization send him hate mail he posts it on the site with his remarks about the letter which are always hilarious. Sometimes he doodles drawings and then prints them on T-shirts which he sells on the site. I paid 25 dollars for my Barstool T-Shirt, because he admitted that his fiance wanted more flowers for the wedding and he needed T-shirt money.
This past year he went through a hiring process and found a blogger with his same style. Today the site has expanded to New York City where it is taking off like wild fire. Hate him or love him, he’s got an audience and money rolling in. Either way, the site is hilarious…
Alright, so I’m trying to pick a beat for my journalism class. For those of you who don’t know what a “beat” is… It is basically an area of interest. Journalists always have beats or something that interests them. The Sports writers don’t typically cover burning fires and saving kittens. The political analysts likewise don’t often write technology reviews. I think something that is important though is actually caring about the topic, even if it may be a harder beat to cover than something terribly easy. I could choose to cover health related issues, but lets face it, there are probably over 4,000 diseases at Umass alone, walking among us like students. So here is what I am interested in…
Entrepreneurship and Steller students
What I mean by that is those students at Umass that are doing great things. I would liken my beat to Chronicle’s “High Five” I like finding students who are motivated and driven and highlighting them. By motivated and driven I do not mean athletic, unless that individual is actually a prodigy. I am interested in the students at Umass that are going to change the world, particularly the ones who are going to get rich when doing so… I want to seek out the go-getters and connect with them. It doesn’t sound easy, but its actually worth my while. You can learn a lot about success by studying others success. This beat also will allow me to talk about other problems that I see in today’s society regarding performance. I’m talking about how every young person in the world thinks they are going to be rich. They don’t know how, and they think they can figure it out later. Fact of the matter is, if someone wants to be rich they need to start young, in college and set themselves up for success. People with rich parents who rely on their parents are going know where because the rest of the world can smell it. People who are shy… quiet… boring… only into sports… lazy… drink too much… smoke weed… do drugs… don’t respect themselves… are racist… steal… have no plans… and skip class… are going no where.
My beat, is finding the great people at this school, and helping those who aren’t great realize why they aren’t.
Journalism has taken on an entirely new identity today than it had when I was younger. It evolves to fit the culture and time of which its words are about. 70 years ago when Pearl Harbor was attacked their weren’t many videos that anyone could see of the actual attack. There were some black and white after shots that were taken and it was in printed newspaper that the world learned of what happened. On 9/11 the world watched on live television as the U.S. was attacked. Journalists and media sources today are figuring out ways to make journalism come alive to the readers and viewers. The paper product while still in existence is phasing out as consumers have transitioned to electronic versions of news and broadcast journalism. The older news used to come as a package, a consumer got a little bit of everything. Today we can find our niche as readers of news and focus on specifics. To some, journalism is sports, to others journalism is gossip. Journalists today are authors, and as long as someone is reading, they may consider themselves journalists. This isn’t to say that legitimate news journalists are equivalent to the writer of barstool. Every group has their professionals.
