Design and Decisions. Good Bad Ugly Beautiful.
What goes into decision making? Does it feel good or bad? Is it beautiful or ugly? Would you do it again? Ultimately, for me, it’s would I do it again? Yes or No. It’s a binary answer to a complex set of questions. Would I go back to a restaurant? Take someone out for date #2? Watch a film again? Buy a 2nd bottle of that same wine? Take a 2nd or last bite??
Lietains Riga Retains it’s Vess.
Day two in Riga, the capital of Latvia, sandwiched between Lithuania to the south and Estonia to the north. As recently as 1991, all formerly controlled by Russia. Lietains, in Latvian, is rainy, and Vess means cool. Today Sunday July 3, 2016 it rained (lija) all day, yet the charm and vess of Riga, Latvia never diminished! Just like while under Russian authority, the sparkle of Riga remained strong, even when soaking wet. Better, brighter and more beautiful days are here for this gem of a city. So after a hearty (and included) breakfast in the swanky cellar of this renovated, historic structure, the Royal Square Hotel, I borrowed an umbrella and headed off for my Lietains Riga adventure!
Off to Casablanca Whoopsie Hello Riga!
Our aloha pos system went down at my main gig, wedding and event venue NOVA 535 (ugg, hard drive crash, quickly fixed by fellow ESC member Justin Petro of Advanced Millennium Computers, he’s fabulous!!). Too bad the NRC team wasn’t as great as Justin, they got 50% right then I left, and well the crazy busy night we have every First Friday was rocky. The POS wasn’t returned to “good to go” condition as planned. Luckily my amazing brother Chris Novilla and big Nick Mazeika were there to lead our team NOVA and our 100s of partying guests to victory, rough night but they got things done! Bravo guys!!
This was followed by our sound system crashing at NOVA, (a HUGE thanks to Chuck Taylor of Production Source, [he’s the Gandalf of the AV world] for saving our arses, THANKS CHUCK!!). Plus my packing and the usual craziness inside the NOVAverse. My original plan of going Tampa Airport to JFK to Casablanca got scrapped yesterday due to bad weather around JFK.
My heart dropped upon seeing this delightful update…
Foundations of a Successful Business. May 5, 2016. Entrepreneur Social Club.
Many people start something, print business cards and think they are on their way to success. HOLD YOUR HORSES. Starting and growing a SUCCESSFUL business takes a whole lot of smart planning, tons of hard work, patience and good listening skills, plus some good luck along the way. So let’s start at the beginning.
Why are you starting this business? Read the Book Start with the Why. What problem are you solving? Find a niche, one that is focused on the customer (the demand) that you are solving the issue for. Go after and master a specific niche. Make sure that enough people are ready, willing and able to pay you for your solution.
Naming your business. Iamtheirwebguy.com is an example of a great name. Is your name clear? Does it describe what you do? Is it searchable?
Be consistent with your name, using the exact same name everywhere – website, social media and email. Business Cards are to be created by a seasoned PROFESSIONAL designer.
Rainmakers Join our Foolish Celebration during our weekly Entrepreneur Social Club gathering here at the historic downtown St. Pete venue NOVA 535. We meet every Thursday night, since 2009, most always at NOVA, occasionally offsite when NOVA 535 Unique Event Space is booked for a wedding or special event. Tonight is March 31st, and since I run the meetings, (tomorrow April 1st being my 48th birthday), I wanted to make this a 100% social event. No sit down meeting meeting, just music and drinks and laughter and friends and food and some QT with my fellow Entrepreneurs. Plus we had just met Architect Larry Ladelfa, of The Rainmakers, another club, a pure business one, last week. He said he’d bring his group here to check out the ESC and NOVA, and so here’s our story of just that! Remember, my birthday is on April 1st, yes April Fools day….you’ve been warned!
Queens, Cards and Illustrations. February 18, 2016
Every Thursday night, since 2009, we meet, most always at my historic venue NOVA 535 Unique Event Space, located in beautiful downtown St. Pete, Florida, for the Entrepreneur Social Club, aka the ESC. We spend the first 30-45 minutes drinking, socializing and schmoozing, in a fun, casual atmosphere, before we sit down for the meeting. Our rules are simple, NO religion NO politics, just come and enjoy a fun and productive couple of hours with like minded Entrepreneurs – from ideas and start-ups to Billion $ businesses. NO need to register, just check the MEETING LOCATION (most always at NOVA, occasionally offsite when NOVA 535 is booked for private wedding or event).
Every year I head out to Sin City, aka Las Vegas, aka Lost Wages, Nevada for the CES 2016. CES = Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest showcase (and getting larger every year) of everything in the tech and electronics industry. Health, Robotics, 3D Printing, Automotive, Entertainment, Phones, Gadgets, 8k HDTVs; I mean everything. For those of you who have never been to Las Vegas, huh, really? Gambling, strip clubs, pool parties, dining, dancing, drinking, shopping and entertainment options galore; plus world-class shows like Cirque du Soleil (amazing!!!) and newcomer Absinthe (incredible!! adults only), wow what a great way to spend a week networking and enjoying yourself. WORK CAN BE FUN…
By July I had enough of people, parties, planning, brides and booze, well maybe 4 out of 5, so I Googled, “Direct flights from Tampa to _____”. I was searching for a few days escape, somewhere within 1-3 hours flight, English speaking, with an easy in and out. Somewhere that offered lots of quiet green spaces, plenty of modern food, architecture, plus lots of conveniences and nightlife that I could enjoy without having to play host and run the show. A quick anonymous get-a-way to Washington DC was just the remedy I was seeking! Flight booked and packed and off to our nation’s capital – DC here I come!
Ok so I decided to do the ‘ol hop, skip and jump, from Cartagena, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador, finally jumping onto Peru as my final destination during my latest travels, during August 2015. So the “skip’ was here into Quito, the capital of Ecuador. I knew nada about Quito, just trusting my instincts, and so everything was a complete surprise. And what a pleasant surprise it was!
Books I Keep Recommending for the Beginning Entrepreneur.
I’ve noticed a common occurrence recently, I was finding people who wanted to follow their passions yet didn’t know how. See I was spending 5 weeks abroad, from Budapest to Bratislava to Vienna to Prague (where my father’s grandmother hails from) to Split and Dubrovnik with a quick stop in Mostar with superstar tour guide Marko – wow what an adventure that 24 hours was! Then off visiting my delightful pal from back in MBA grad school at the University of South Florida, super stud Olivier, in his hometown, the wild port city of Marseille. Afterwhich I went to hang with my best friend Drew Edwards, who married the beautiful, brilliant, lovely French Helene on the 4th of July 2015 (celebrating his loss of Independence – my words, really – haha) at my gorgeous unique wedding and event venue NOVA 535 here in beautiful sunny downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Congrats to Drew and Helene!! =D