India Mimics Germany; Driving Sales in August; AirBNB Success; Doubling EBITDA
July 28, 2011GoDaddy Founder Keynoting Growth Summit; Rule #7; Cyber-Bullies
August 16, 2011The Future; 15 Best New Cities for Business; Summer Thriller
"…keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
NOTE: going into August the insights will be a little thin – taking a break from writing
Where the Future Is — in case you missed this cool graphic produced by Fortune magazine, it visually shows which parts of the globe have the youngest population and most GDP growth per capita – two demographic factors you dismiss at your peril. Make sure you click on the "see more" to the right of the graphic or you'll miss the real hot spots.
15 Best New Cities for Business — and the graphic highlights 15 cities — Vancouver, Salt Lake, Austin, Bogota, San Jose, Santiago, Warsaw, Stockholm, Lagos, Doha, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Chengou, Chongqing, and Melbourne (where we would live if we didn't live in Barcelona). click on each city and Fortune's graphic provides additional insights – again, play around with it for a few minutes and plot your next global move – or at least improve your knowledge of geography!
Best Way to Expand Globally — however, don't let the allure of hot prospects drive your expansion decisions. The best way to diversify globally (better than diversifying your product or service – best to focus and then march around the globe) is to go to some of your best customers and ask them where they are doing business in other parts of the world and follow them there – that way you have revenue day one when you enter a new country.
Glimpse Into the Future — and if you're looking for "A Thriller" to read this month while vacationing, read Steven Pressfield's new book The Profession. It's about a bunch of mercenary warriors in the year 2032 – fiction that comes way too close to fact if we're not careful. What happens when security needs outweigh our thirst for freedom.
As goes GM…? — I'm not sure that GM is the global barometer they once were, but today they reported earnings that blew past estimates — $2.5 billion for the quarter. However, GM's stock must double in price for the US to just breakeven on its bailout – Goldman would never have structured such a bad deal as the taxpayers received! More glimpses into the future.
