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April 26th, 2008

I’ve fallen into the Lifestream!

Posted by Ted in Thoughts

5+ months. Way too long for an update to the blog. Many of the things I would like to talk about I cannot share due to my daily work at Millions of Us. There are so many amazing things coming this summer to virtual worlds.

Lately, I’ve found my thoughts taking seed in conversations on sites like twitter.com, and over the last few weeks, friendfeed.com.

I’ve embedded my FriendFeed here, because it may be months again when I find time to update this site! FF is definitely a place worth exploring. Add me when you are there!

November 13th, 2007

20 years ago - Joshua Tree

Posted by Ted in Disaster Response, Thoughts, Video

Yeah, I was a 20-something — about 20 years ago.

I just got a big flashback reminder of those “golden years” earlier today with the announcement of U2 remastering Joshua Tree - a quintessential masterpiece I rocked out to in my first (and hopefully not last) IPO, Good Guys.

Those summer days in the late 80’s were where I refined the fine craft of salesmanship: greeting, establishing rapport, qualifying (today known as being an active listener and asking great questions), presenting, proving value, overcoming objections, and closing the sale. We’d have a chance to do 20-30 transactions a day. The sales cycles are longer now — 2-5 months, not 20-50 minutes, and the value of each sale is substantially higher. In my 22 years of selling, I’ve come to realize zeros are just placeholders, and at the end of the day we are rewarded for solving a problem or meeting a need.

There still is a great need to end world hunger. Have a look at freerice.com. It is a very clever site that will donate grains of rice for each successful word definition you answer correctly. You will have a chance to stretch your mind, learn new words and word meanings, and I think you will be amazed at how fast you can fill a bowl up to feed a starving person somewhere in the world.

Here’s is a great clip from iLike with Bono singing “Wave of Sorrow”, which was conceived during the recording of Joshua Tree, but was just recently completed, and will be included in the remastered Joshua Tree. It is an incredible story of Bono’s first hand experience of Ethiopia during the famine of 1984-85. Have a listen:

September 11th, 2007

Singapore’s Merlion

Posted by Ted in Running, Thoughts, Video

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A little tourist stop after a hot run!
September 7th, 2007

Businesses in Virtual Worlds - State of Play V

Posted by Ted in Millions of Us, Thoughts, Video

I am hoping to see some video from the conference panel I was on last month in Singapore: “Building Businesses in Virtual Worlds”.

Hopefully more forthcoming. For now, here is an intro to my colleagues that were on the panel.

September 6th, 2007

Service Business

After coming back from my travels in Asia, I have been introduced to some amazing opportunities. It is easy to see the allure in them. I’ve decided to take a step back, recalibrate, and focus on the core business we have while planning the strategy for Asia 2008.

Our client’s satisfaction is the core of our success. 

September 4th, 2007

Singapore Morning Run

Posted by Ted in Millions of Us, Running, Thoughts, Video

I've got a ton of video from my two week biz dev trip to Asia. Here is the first of many as I rolled through Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul.

One common thread among all three cities on this trip: humidity!

August 13th, 2007

The Perseids sent me a reminder

Posted by Ted in Thoughts

I’ve had the good fortune to have experienced the 90’s dotcom wave first hand, and I know that without tenacity, (what a friend in Japan calls Ketsudan), the moment can be fleeting for a start-up. My head has been down in my work for 10 months now, taking a very deep dive with virtual worlds and social media. Lately, as I prepare for an Asian 3-country tour, I have been averaging 35-40 hours a sleep a week - there’s just too much to cover, and the business is still moving forward extraordinarily fast.

Running every other day has helped me try to stay in tune with the world around me, even as my brain becomes possessed with the virtual. I have been sensing the changing of the season on my sunset runs. Summer has begun to wane ever so slightly. The air smells different. The afternoon light is also changing accompanied with the slightest hints from the foliage.

As the Earth slides across the path of a comet’s tail in the late days of summer, we have the chance to experience the world before media. The Perseid Meteor Shower has been known to humanity for a few thousand years.

When I stepped out tonight and looked up to the sky, a few stars became a dozen, then tens of stars, hundreds, then thousands. Being in the city, the glare knocked out the deepest sky, but I could still appreciate the evening.

There on my back, looking up into the heavens, a few flashes of light raced south across the sky.

August 4th, 2007

Happy Drunk

Posted by Ted in Thoughts, Video

Had a restful fun day with the family. Great 14 mile run across the East Bay hills, and ended the day at a BBQ with some friends. Sometimes we make things too complicated. Life is good.
July 30th, 2007

Lumiere video - Chicago: July 2007

Posted by Ted in Thoughts, Video

In homage to the Lumiere Brothers who were some of the earliest filmmakers, Andreas from solitude.dk made a call for submissions to the videoblogging community to replicate the conditions in which they filmed. Notably: less than one minute (most were about 45 seconds long); fixed camera; no zoom; no sound; no editing; and no effects.

Here a my Lumiere video, recorded in Chicago July 29, 2007

July 27th, 2007

Breaking Down Walls

Posted by Ted in Millions of Us, Thoughts, Video

Millions of Us has been growing very fast. Yes, we’ve got growing pains, but this also means we get to break through some walls!
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