iphone

Ok, it's the most hyped product of the past decade. It also lives up to--and in my opinion--exceeds the hype. This is a truly innovative product, born out of Apple's brilliant design sense, but also it's ability to pay attention to serving its customers. I admit I was skeptical, having fallen victim to the Newton and other Apple "breakthroughs". But it's hard to say enough good things about this product. Mine works great--and adds a whole new dimension to my ability to relate to the world (not to mention to find myself in it with maps). I am a Blackbery addict and the Apple keyboard is a significant transition. I can't--yet--type nearly as fast on it. But my Blackberry doesn't sing to me the way my iphone can or store my pictures or access the Internet nearly as well For now, I'll carry both--along with my Mac Book Pro, which has become my traveling assistant, allowing me to record notes in every meeting I am in, access relevant data just when I need, and......write this post. If you have any doubts about whether an ipod is worth the investment, I strongly suggest you set the aside, unless you are one of those few people who hasn't even joined the digital age--and in which case you a certainly not going to be reading this.

Public Humiliation

Do you ever just wish you could crawl under a rug? I do some times. Tonight I was at a dinner attended by some of tthe nation's leading economists, including Edmund Phelps, the most recent winner of the Nobel prize in economics. These were all people I respect and admire for their work. Toward the end of the evening, I wanted to make a point about how the British seem to embrace and value the notion of entrepreneurship, at least in their public discourse, more than we do here in the U.S. So I piped up and, in front of the whole group, noted that the new prime minister of the U.K., Gordon Brown, won election in part because of his public support of entrepreneurship. Except that when the words came out of my mouth I said, for reasons unbeknownst to me, that the new prime minister was John Major. Oops. I could rationalize and blame this on jet lag. The conference was in LA and I had just flown in from New York. But I was seriously embarrassed. I think the only thing you can do in these situations is to shrug and try to exercise grace and humility. But it's no fun saying something foolish in a room of smart people.

Getting Started

This is my first blog post. It's an interesting time for me to get started. The front page of today's Wall Street Journal features a story about the saga of rahodeb--the online pseudonym of John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods. Mackey used this name for eight years as cover to post messages online promoting his company and attacking his primary competitor. While any entrepreneur might admire Mackey's competitive drive, few I know would admire his dishonesty and lack of integrity.

My hope, with this blog, is to be as open and straightforward as possible about the issues I face as CEO and about my ongoing effort to learn more about, and better understand, the secrets of entrepreneurial success.

I am in a special position to do this as the CEO of Mansueto Ventures, the company that publishes Inc. and Fast Company magazines. Both of our print publications--and their sister online operations, inc.com and fastcompany.com--are dedicated to exploring innovation and entrepreneurship. This mission sets them apart from traditional financial publications, whose news judgment is shaped by other factors, most notably the impact of a business development on the stock market and the sizeof the business institution involved. I will write more about this as this blog evolves.

The important thing about our publications--and our company--is that we daily strive to adopt the business practices that we write about. In order words, our goal is to walk the talk.

This is easier said than done--and the point of this blog is to describe our struggle in as much detail as possible in the hopes that other entrepreneurs and innovators can learn from it.

Along the way, I'll write about my own personal struggles, as well as the discussions I have with other business leaders and experts in the fields that our publications explore. For if I have one advantage over other CEOs in my position, it is almost instant access to some of the leading business minds in the U.S. and around the world. Let's see whether I can take advantage of that as I guide my own company forward.

Philosophy of Life

A good way to go through life: make an attempt to regard every insult directed your way as a complement.