Blog / Leadership / Tips

Public speaking: one way to captivate audiences

Between my talks and seminars and the university courses I've taught, I get to speak in public a fair amount. We all know one of the main challenges of public speaking is keeping the audience engaged -- a bigger one being how to recapture an audience's attention if you lose it. Here's a trick that works every time. Although doing it can challenge you more than you think you can handle (another reason to do it) if you aren't comfortable with yourself. I learned it giving talks on entrepreneurship -- mainly talking about starting Submedia. Sometimes my talks required talking about troubling times -- when the company nearly went bankrupt, when the Board argued and fought, when we couldn't make important deadlines, when funding sources…

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July 12, 2012
Ten Years of Submedia’s New York City display!
Blog / Entrepreneurship

Ten Years of Submedia’s New York City display!

I wrote the other day about my six-month anniversary of burpees. A couple days before was a bigger anniversary -- the tenth anniversary of Submedia's Manhattan display in the PATH system. We launched June 18, 2002. I don't write that much about Submedia here, the company I co-founded in the late 90s, but it still pays my bills and I still work on developing the technology, relationship, and other things there. Pursuing that project got me out of academia and kindled my still-strong passion for entrepreneurship. The press covered it extensively. When I get back out behind China's government's repressive blocking of YouTube, I'll include some of the videos from the launch. I remember hearing some of the investors saw news about the launch in Asia…

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July 2, 2012
Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship

The U.S. has a “dysfunctional patent system”

The U.S. has "a dysfunctional patent system." Those aren't my words. They aren't the words of an ignorant person either. They are the words of U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner, one of the nation's most esteemed judges and faculty at University of Chicago. A patent dispute between Apple and Motorola prompted that description. Here's an article from a couple weeks ago -- Famous judge spikes Apple-Google case, calls patent system “dysfunctional” -- describing the case. Here's a recent article -- In bid for patent sanity, judge throws out entire Apple/Motorola case -- reporting that he threw out the case with prejudice. My thoughts I could write volumes on the problems with patents and copyright. The ideas have some merit and they probably once served widespread useful…

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June 28, 2012
Blog / Entrepreneurship / Leadership

Difficult lessons in leadership

You learn leadership through experience. I've had occasion to recall some of the most challenging and educational experiences of my development. I'm not proud of them. I wish they had never happened. But they formed me as much as anything. The painful experiences I co-founded Submedia in the late 90s. By the early 2000s we had nearly run out of money and were having trouble paying our debts. My PhD in physics, however useful for some things, hadn't prepared me for running a business. Neither did a childhood with little business training. Loneliness I don't know how my best attempts at leadership looked to others, but looking back, I think the best way I imagined to solve the problems was to work harder. I didn't…

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June 10, 2012
Human history, on a flash drive
Blog / Entrepreneurship

Human history, on a flash drive

A couple friends created the eVr1 Codex -- part accessory, part memory drive -- that stores a huge canon of literature so you can keep it with you at all times. I know both friends from business school classes. You can also see the California outdoor love of nature they share. Here's one of their products. Our Vision eVr1’s vision is to connect modern man with the long, global human story.  We achieve market leadership in sustainable goods that connect humankind to the web of life, while inspiring wonder & purpose in our employees & customers. Their outdoors-y love of nature is different than my physicist love of nature, but I'm pleased to say I'm on their Academic Board, so I'm helping choose the science…

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May 28, 2012
Entrepreneurship / Tips

Entrepreneurs: think twice before taking advice from venture capitalists

I wrote the following after reading this article from a venture capitalist giving advice to people thinking about starting companies. A lot of advice VCs give entrepreneurs seems to me versions of "make my job easier," like how to write a great business plan, how to pitch, etc. In this case, I see him asking entrepreneurs to improve the signal-to-noise ratio so he can have an easier time funding companies. Nothing wrong with trying to make your life easier, but he makes the article look like he's helping the entrepreneur, when he's writing it to help himself, discouraging some would-be entrepreneurs who might love starting a company even if it didn't make a VC money. For an entrepreneur who makes their business their life, leading…

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May 14, 2012
Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 2
Blog / Education / Entrepreneurship / Nature / Tips

Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 2

Following up yesterday's post on balance sheets and charts for using and producing energy and reporting our numbers to see if we can make them balance, let's look at carbon flows. People who don't know about carbon emissions, flows, and balance confuse simple ideas with each other. For example, some talk about how volcanoes and cows digestive systems produce tons of carbon and wonder why we should bother changing our practice. When you understand amounts and flows, you don't confuse unimportant effects for important ones, like business people who learn not to be penny wise and pound foolish. Below is a representation of where carbon is on the Earth. It's not exactly a balance sheet, though over time the total numbers have to add up.…

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May 13, 2012
Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 1
Blog / Education / Entrepreneurship / Nature

Business people should understand our effect on the environment better than anyone, part 1

People don't realize it, but business people have some of the best the skills to understand our effect on the environment. We should learn those skills from them. I didn't have much (any?) business experience when I co-founded my first company. I couldn't read a balance sheet or know accounting. My science background taught me to understand general and broad patterns, which don't suffice for running a company. Either the check clears or it doesn't. Business school taught me how to manage cash -- accounting, keeping and reading balance sheets, profits and losses, cash flows, and so on. Many people understand how we affect our environment worse than I understood how to understand a business. In other words, they just know information but not how…

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May 12, 2012
Blog / Education / Nature / Tips

One of the best books I’ve read on the environment, our impact on it, and what we can do about it

Imagine living your whole life nearsighted and one day you wear glasses for the first time -- everything going from fuzzy blobs to clear. Or you know after you get out of the pool and your ears have water in them? Imagine you heard like that for your whole life and suddenly they cleared and you could hear properly. Or you've been wearing gloves and for the first time you take them off and feel something directly. That feeling of experiencing something clearly instead of vaguely and indirectly is what reading the book Sustainable Energy -- Without the Hot Air is like. Like the Do The Math blog I've been enjoying and praising, a Cal Tech educated physicist wrote it. This author, David MacKay, has…

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May 11, 2012
The first step in strategy
Competition Demystified Strategy Decision Tree
Blog / Leadership

The first step in strategy

I've written before about strategy. I've been thinking about presenting it because of my talk at Columbia Business School on the 24th. This decision tree -- Figure 1.3 from Competition Demystified -- summarizes how to start creating your strategy. It's written in business lingo, but it applies to strategy in many other arenas, like politics, war, law, and some sports, for example. It applies to large businesses, for which the book was written, but it applies to entrepreneurial ventures too. I wouldn't get involved with a company that didn't understand the concepts. It requires you understand the concept of a sustainable competitive advantage -- the first decision point. It also requires you know understand the realm of strategy, as opposed to tactics. Overall, I find…

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March 19, 2012
Blog / Freedom

An essay on money

People don't talk about how much money they have in this country. I wrote the following essay on money for a class I'm taking. I hope it's not too much or too little information. I don't remember money concerning my family growing up. Sometimes we had more or less, but I don't think anyone called us spoiled when we did well. I don't think we felt hopeless when our block got free welfare food from the government for any child (bologna on white bread with bright yellow mustard). I don't remember us feeling particularly rich or poor or wondering where our next meal would come from. Nor did I feel we had anything we didn't earn. We had some feeling of sour grapes toward the…

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February 26, 2012
Choosing/Decision-Making / Entrepreneurship / Tips

Hopeless or worth it? When should you give up on a project going nowhere?

Discretion is the better part of valor yet quitters always lose. When do you give up on a project you love that's going nowhere and when do you give more to make it work? Both ideas make sense in different situations. I learned an answer that has worked well for me every time. Entrepreneurs face such questions all the time. Small companies often walk the line between abject failure and outstanding success. How long do you walk the line before giving up? The question arises everywhere. Do I stay in this relationship in the hopes it improves or give up? Do I keep working for this terrible boss who might get better or leave? The list goes on. You leave when you realize you can…

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February 22, 2012
Entrepreneurship / Freedom / NorthKorea

A kink in the armor: The Wall Street Journal on luxuries entering North Korea

In my series on North Korean strategy I wrote that I saw small-scale trade as one source of effective change. If trade comes from people in the country, as opposed to institutions or government, North Korean decision-makers will have a hard time stopping it. If it comes with information about the outside world, it can change ordinary North Koreans; perspective of it. The Wall Street Journal today reported on large increases in imports of luxury goods into North Korea, mainly from China. The North Korean leadership's appetite for imported luxuries, highlighted by three Lincoln limousines at Kim Jong Il's funeral, has spread to growing numbers of the country's elite, despite U.N. sanctions designed to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear-weapons program. An examination of U.N.…

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January 7, 2012
A brief history of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country
Entrepreneurship / Freedom / Leadership / NorthKorea

A brief history of Understanding North Korea: Demystifying the World’s Most Misunderstood Country

I wrote the following on Hacker News and thought it fit here. Last week I self-published my first book. My visit to North Korea last year amazed me at how much we base our impressions of North Korea on pre-conceived notions. I already blogged daily, but the experience affected me so much I started posting twice daily, one post on North Korea. Then Kim Jong Il died and tons of articles came out on North Korea, many or most had the same pre-conceived notions or assigned credit to the leaders that I thought were properties of the system, making understanding or achieving change difficult. Reading all those articles, I felt compelled to put my perspective out there. My posts on HN got high karma. I…

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January 1, 2012
Blog / Education / Freedom / Tips

Communications skills exercises, part IX: statements instead of questions

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] The principles People like people who improve their lives and make conversations interesting. When you first meet someone you tell each other about yourselves in how and about what you talk. Sometimes when you take an interest in someone's life or activities, you improve their lives. If people compliment you on your conversation skills, you probably do improve their lives by asking questions. Or if they are prompting you to ask questions, like talking about their kids or some other passion. In my…

3 Comments
December 2, 2011
Blog / Freedom / Leadership

An offer to the Freedombox community

My post on how Freedombox's pursuit of perfection is undermining its goals prompted some discussion. Hearing how people the Freedombox community wants to help end up supporting products we see as non-Free jolted my system. I believe constructive criticism helps, but my desire to contribute more led to the offer below. One person's response got me thinking about how I, as someone who doesn't write much software, can help. Diaspora is a decent example. They released something buggy, with minimal functionality, reasonably early on… yes, they were criticized for it’s quality at the time, but it got people using it (those who could get an invite / understand they go go elsewhere, anyway) and today they’re by far the largest free socnet alternative. Diaspora has…

8 Comments
November 13, 2011
Art / Blog / Creativity / Favorites

Union Square in Motion on NY1

Usually I keep the stories about art on the art page, but a two-minute news story on NY1 on Union Square in Motion gets special mention. The reporters did their research and spent time understanding the piece. Plus with the designers Coco && Breezy passing by and being interviewed, the exchange was amazing. Below is the news story and here is the link to the NY1 story online. The video features artists Jeanne Kelly and Josefina Santos, designers Coco && Breezy, and yours truly. Tina Redwine did the story for NY1. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NY1_USiM.mp4 New Yorkers walking through the Union Square subway station can see a temporary art exhibit that moves as the viewer moves. NY1's Transit reporter Tina Redwine filed the following report. Curiosity is the…

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November 6, 2011
Reminder: My next leadership seminar: This weekend at the New School
Awareness / Blog / Education / Leadership

Reminder: My next leadership seminar: This weekend at the New School

  This weekend! LEADERSHIP THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE In a two-day seminar, learn how to develop your personal leadership skills, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence by utilizing the latest advances in cognitive behavioral science, evolutionary psychology, and positive psychology. The course is open to all area leaders, b-school students, alumni, and colleagues. Below are the dates of the courses and a link that you can follow to sign up. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Schedule: Day One: Saturday, November 5, 2011  noon–5pm Day Two: Sunday, November 6, 2011 noon–5pm Top business schools and corporations are increasingly focusing on personal leadership, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence as foundations for leading others. However, many MBAs never had the opportunity to take a…

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October 31, 2011
Audio / Blog / Entrepreneurship

Audio interview: my first sale, with Coca-Cola

Following up last week's interview on sales lessons from a great failure, this week's interview covers the result of sticking with it after that failure: Submedia's first sale, which came with Coca-Cola signing as Submedia's début advertiser, as documented in the New York Times, for example, and elsewhere. I doubt Submedia could have achieved such a great success without first having gone through a spectacular failure at first. Small interface:[audio:https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/life_lesson_first_sale.mp3] Big interface:[videofile]https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/life_lesson_first_sale.mp3[/videofile]

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October 24, 2011
Reminder: My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School
Awareness / Blog / Education / Leadership

Reminder: My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School

  The next one is this weekend! LEADERSHIP THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE In a two-day seminar, learn how to develop your personal leadership skills, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence by utilizing the latest advances in cognitive behavioral science, evolutionary psychology, and positive psychology. The course is open to all area business school students, alumni, and colleagues. In the past the seminars have sold out quickly, as such we are currently offering two courses.  Below you will find the dates of the courses and a link that you can follow to sign up. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Schedule: (Note both sessions cover identical material) October session(consecutive Sundays): Day One: Sunday, October 23, 2011  noon–5pm Day Two: Sunday, October 30, 2011…

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October 17, 2011
Audio / Blog / Education / Entrepreneurship / Humor / Leadership

Audio interview: sales lessons from a great failure

Spectacular failures teach us our most valuable lessons. In this interview, I talk about my first, and most painful, sales failure growth experience. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die, but the meeting crept on. Afterward I didn't want to continue in business, let alone do any sales. The word I was looking for at 2:38 was condescension, by the way. My business partner's perspective -- that you win some and you lose some; we didn't win this one but the next would be better -- changed my life for the better as one of the major steps forward into business and entrepreneurship for me. So this anecdote marked the beginning of something very rewarding in my life. Since that meeting, especially with…

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October 17, 2011
Blog / Education

Audio interview: life lessons from academia: business school

If you've thought about business school or noticed unexpected changes in people you know who went there, this interview may interest you. I cover how I found and learned in business school different subjects than I expected -- like leadership, general management, negotiation, and so-called "soft skills." They began a process of increasing emotional awareness, self-awareness, and focus on emotions, motivations, and relationships. The result has been more reward overall, particularly in relationships. Before business school I focused more on facts and knowledge. Small interface: [audio:https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/life_lessons_business_school.mp3] Big interface: [videofile]https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/life_lessons_business_school.mp3[/videofile]

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October 10, 2011
My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School
Awareness / Blog / Education / Leadership

My next two leadership seminars: October 23,30 and November 5,6 at the New School

  LEADERSHIP THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE In a two-day seminar, learn how to develop your personal leadership skills, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence by utilizing the latest advances in cognitive behavioral science, evolutionary psychology, and positive psychology. The course is open to all area business school students, alumni, and colleagues. In the past the seminars have sold out quickly, as such we are currently offering two courses.  Below you will find the dates of the courses and a link that you can follow to sign up. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Schedule: (Note both sessions cover identical material) October session(consecutive Sundays): Day One: Sunday, October 23, 2011  noon–5pm Day Two: Sunday, October 30, 2011 noon–5pm November session(one weekend): Day One:…

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October 5, 2011
Blog / Education / Freedom / Tips

Communication skills exercises, part VIII: breaking the ice

[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don't see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you'll get more value than reading just this post.] For many people, meeting someone at all is a major challenge. Today's exercise gives you an all-purpose introduction you can use in all circumstances. It's simple, requires no preparation, won't come off like a line, and starts conversations. I'm not saying it solves everything. You still have to keep the conversation going, which the previous exercises are for. But, assuming you're reasonably well-groomed and your body language doesn't shock people, no one will think ill of you for introducing yourself this way. The…

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October 3, 2011

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