Maybe you saw the headlines that Google and YouTube had to pay a fine, paltry for them, for collecting kids’ personal information. From the headline, I didn’t think it seemed like such a big deal, as much as I value privacy, as much as I avoid Google, and as much as I value protecting helpless people from predatory entities. But reading the article, I saw how much they used the[…] Keep reading →

20 years ago tomorrow, we filed the first patent for the technology that eventually became the basis for my first venture, Submedia. Entrepreneurship gave me an escape from the path academia laid out for me that I loved at first but no longer wanted. Working on an invention, a business plan, and so on reinvigorated me. I didn’t know it would help lead to my latest book, Initiative, hence “Over[…] Keep reading →

How to get rich in America in two easy steps: Find something that people like but suspect or know is unhealthy. Sell a product or service that makes them feel it’s healthy. Examples: High fat and keto diets: I’m not saying they’re unhealthy, but a lot of people think they are. They like the food. So selling the diet will make money. Supplements: As far as I know, none of[…] Keep reading →

Years ago I’d write business ideas as I came up with them. I don’t remember how long ago I posted the last one, but one of them ended up getting a large number of posts by people considering doing it. Readers of my latest book Initiative, which I recommend reading, know the principle The idea of a lifetime comes once a month, so why hoard ideas? Doing them takes the[…] Keep reading →

Dr. Hamilton interviewed me on her radio show, “Enabling People To Take Initiative with Joshua Spodek.” Here are her episode notes: As much as curiosity breeds creativity, many still struggle in taking the initiative and ownership of their ideas. In the entrepreneurial world, an idea-generating culture is what most aim for. Joshua Spodek, the bestselling author of Leadership Step by Step, helps people to spark ideas that may bring down[…] Keep reading →

Chatting about my upcoming book, Initiative, a friend and fellow blogger, Joe Byerly of From The Green Notebook, asked if people could learn to take initiative. I saw his question as rhetorical, since he’d read an advance copy, so he knew I’d taught just that, but he wanted to see how I’d answer. A lot of people believe you can’t. First, there’s a big reason why, independent of the answer,[…] Keep reading →

Various stages of satisfaction come with finishing a book — signing with a publisher, finishing a first draft, reaching copy editing (meaning no more substantive edits), seeing it type set, getting your first reviews from prominent writers, seeing the cover, and so on. Seeing it for sale at a retailer is one of the biggest. Since my last blog post, Initiative has appeared on Barnes and Noble and Amazon for[…] Keep reading →