James arthur how to save a life

Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to watch TV or play Nintendo on weekdays. This was a real problem, because of the handful of things that mattered to 8-year-old Brian, saving a fictional princess from an evil turtle named “Bowser” topped the list. advertisement advertisement The first time I played Super Mario Brothers–which just so happened to be the first time I played any video game–was on my eighth birthday. I usually had the attention span of a gnat, but I was hooked immediately; my parents swear that I screamed out, “Later!” when they called me in for cake. I’d found something I cared about more. Entrepreneurs’ main task is to make people care: customers, cofounders, investors– everyone. The problem is most peoples’ default state is to not care. You’re reading this, but I could lose you at any second. You owe me nothing. Each sentence is a transaction: I write something interesting, you read … [Read more...] about The Storytelling Secret Entrepreneurs Can (Still) Learn From Super Mario Brothers

The holidays are a great time to catch up on reading, and think beyond day-to-day issues. Here are 10 of our favorite business and productivity books from 2015 that will help you see larger trends–and your own career–in a new light. advertisement advertisement 1. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Tech writer Ashlee Vance gained access to serial entrepreneur Elon Musk without promising to make him look good, and this biography paints a delightfully nuanced picture. At times he’s a “sci-fi version of P.T. Barnum,” talking of saving humanity while he’s got dessert lingering on his face. Other times, he’s “the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted.” The American economy has long grown based on the dreams of unreasonable people, and Vance argues that Musk is the next in that line. 2. The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute It’s hard … [Read more...] about The 10 Best Business And Productivity Books Of 2015

At Proof, a 15-person seed-stage startup where I work on the marketing team, we all wear a lot of hats. We spend time on everything from customer support to interviewing candidates to assembling desks—in addition to our time-intensive primary roles. advertisement advertisement We’re a busy batch, so we’re always on the lookout for ways to streamline our processes. At the beginning of the year, we diagnosed a major issue that was slowing us down: we were having too many ineffective—and often unnecessary—meetings. Over the past few months, we implemented several rules and best practices to have fewer meetings and make the meetings we do have more productive. The result? We’ve saved hundreds of person-hours. Here are four of the strategies we implemented. They might not all work for your company, but even if you pick and choose a few that make sense, I hope it helps free up the amount of time you spend in your own conference room. 1. Require … [Read more...] about 4 things you should do if you want to cut back on your meeting time

To prepare for his haunting role in The Pianist, actor Adrien Brody broke up with his girlfriend, lost 30 pounds, sold his car, gave up his New York apartment, and moved to Europe with just two bags. He also studied piano and dialects and stopped socializing. Brody ended up winning the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, although he told The Guardian that his mental health suffered the following year. advertisement advertisement We often hear how extreme preparation gives film stars and Olympic athletes a winning edge. In business, however, the lines are blurrier. Starting a company without any planning is dangerous. And launching a major project with zero forethought is rarely a wise move. At the same time, spending too much time getting your ducks in a row can slow down innovation, or prevent you from taking action in the first place. There’s a sweet spot between action and preparation—and it looks a little different for everyone. Here’s … [Read more...] about How to draw the line between preparation and procrastination

If the members of the assembled group don’t look instantly familiar, give it a moment. Over there is Whoopi Goldberg’s spiritual sherpa, who reunited Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore across the mortal divide in Ghost. Oh, and she’s joined by Will Smith’s legendary Bagger Vance, the mysterious golf-whisperer who caddies Matt Damon to both athletic and romantic breakthroughs. And across from them is Morgan Freeman’s paradigm-shifting chauffeur from Driving Miss Daisy, the one who helps an old lady discover that prejudice exists. advertisement advertisement These are but three of the life-lesson dispensers attending Magical Negro Rehab in the first episode of Netflix’s new sketch show Astronomy Club. It’s the sketch the studio deployed last month to tease the series’ imminent arrival. (All episodes are available to stream as of today.) The clip not only announces that this is a sketch show created by and starring eight comedians … [Read more...] about Netflix’s ‘Astronomy Club’ is an A+ sketch show skewering Hollywood’s “C+” on race