Tag Archives: entrepreneurs

An Accidental Hit for The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry

On Thursday evening, The Hired Guns agency and Portfolio author Todd Henry hosted an event at the former’s fabulous offices to share content from Todd’s new book, The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice (on sale 7/7). Penned by the founder and CEO of Accidental Creative, a speaking and consulting firm, The Accidental Creative helps teams and individuals to prosper under pressure in today’s “create on demand” environments.

The audience was composed of executives, designers, managers and artists who specialize in advertising, publishing, investing, human resources, and a myriad of professional areas in between. All were eager to hear Todd’s thoughts on surrounding ourselves with the right combination of elements that can help us to create “accidentally,” on the spot and when it matters most.

Todd explained the dynamics of organizational creativity and the importance of building a rhythm that facilitates heightened creativity:

FOCUS: Reclaim your attention to your most critical work.

RELATIONSHIPS: Develop stimulating connections in order to grow continually.

ENERGY: Manage it effectively so that you are always ready to engage.

STIMULI: Turn off “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” and listen to a little Chopin. See what happens!

HOURS: Use time effectively rather than pushing yourself toward a creativity drain.

In this way, the author explained, we will create better atmospheres in which to create. Though many of us believe that there is simply no rhyme or reason to the process by which we (suddenly!) hit upon a brilliant thought, Todd has honed a system that teaches minds in all fields how to develop exceptional ideas regularly.

Next up, The Hired Guns will host a series of book club discussions and webinars with Todd Henry. In the meantime, check out this great video Todd made for the book:

The Accidental Creative: How To Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice from Accidental Creative on Vimeo.

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Some early buzz for EVIL PLANS

Everyone at Portfolio is really excited to be publishing Hugh MacLeod’s new book, EVIL PLANS: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination, which is on sale this week.

Ten years ago, cartoonist and pundit MacLeod came up with what he calls an “evil plan” – to get 10,000 people a year to buy his stuff on the Internet.  So he launched gapingvoid.com, which quickly gained him a reputation for witty cartoons and offbeat business advice. Now he has a very lucrative art business, tens of thousands of online fans, and a bestselling book (Ignore Everybody, 2009).  He has also spearheaded creative marketing campaigns for all kinds of companies, from Microsoft to a small South African winery. In EVIL PLANS, Hugh explains how others can find their own way to unify what they do for a living with whatever they truly love.

Some of our favorite bloggers were kind enough to share their thoughts and a few exclusive excerpts on their sites this week.  Here are some highlights:

Dan Pink shares a chapter on motivation
Jonathan Fields shares a section on success and failure
Pam Slim talks about why she found the book inspiring

You can hear more news about the book by following Hugh himself @Gapingvoid

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Why Andy Kessler supports layoffs

In an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal, Portfolio / Penguin author Andy Kessler presents a highly controversial argument — layoffs aren’t really bad for the overall economy.  In fact they are essential to getting rid of unproductive jobs, and making room for new and better jobs. As he writes:

“Like it or not, we are at the beginning of a decades-long trend. Beyond the demise of toll takers and stock traders, watch enrollment dwindle in law schools and medical schools. Watch the divergence in stock performance between companies that actually create and those that are in transition—just look at Apple, Netflix and Google over the last five years as compared to retailers and media.”

“But be warned that this economy is incredibly dynamic, and there is no quick fix for job creation when so much technology-driven job destruction is taking place. Fortunately, history shows that labor-saving machines haven’t decreased overall employment even when they have made certain jobs obsolete. Ultimately the economic growth created by new jobs always overwhelms the drag from jobs destroyed—if policy makers let it happen.”

Kessler provides more advice for start-ups that don’t just aim to be profitable, but to overturn entire industries in his new book EAT PEOPLE: And other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs (on sale now). The title and jacket alone are already grabbing lots of attention on their own.

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Pam Slim on the New York Times “You’re the Boss” Blog

It’s always great to see Escape from Cubicle Nation author Pam Slim in the headlines.  So we were thrilled this week when she showed up on the New York Times “You’re the Boss” blog discussing what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Starting your own business can be terrifying.  In a great Q&A with Adrianna Gardella, Pam discusses how to tackle the challenge.  She explains the power of small experiments, the best places to meet other entrepreneurs, and why sometimes the most productive thing to do is take a break and go have fun.

You can read the full interview here or follow Pam on twitter for more of her great advice!

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The Best Films About Entrepreneurs

You can tell it’s almost vacation time around our office, because there’s been a lot of talk about which movies we’re planning to watch over the holiday break.  Since this is a business blog (most of the time), I thought it’d be fun to get a list going of the best films about entrepreneurs.   Here’s a brief look at 3 of my favorite films about starting your own business.

What are yours?  Feel free to leave your suggestions or clips in our comments section.

BABY BOOM (1987)
When a corporate superstar inherits a baby from a distant relative, she relocates to a country farm and discovers high demand for her homemade applesauce.

SUNSHINE CLEANING (2008)
A single mom starts a crime scene clean-up service with her unreliable sister.

RISKY BUSINESS (1983)
A Chicago teenager raises cash to repair his car with the help of some unlikely “friends.”

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Cool jacket, sleeper book

In publishing, a “sleeper” is a book by a non-famous, first time author with huge potential.  We think we have a classic sleeper coming in May, with Pamela Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur.

Hats off to our art director Joseph Perez for this cool jacket, which features fantastic blurbs from Martha Beck, Seth Godin, Bob Sutton, John Jantsch, and Rich Sloan.

Escape from Cubicle Nation full jacket image

We’re also thrilled by this excellent advance review in Publishers Weekly:

Inspired by her successful blog of the same name, life coach Slim shows readers how to navigate the terrifying yet gratifying transition from corporate drone to entrepreneur.  She strikes a perfect balance between emotional encouragement and practical advice: “Hating your job intensely,” she writes, “is not a business plan.”  What’s here is: the nitty-gritty of getting a business off the ground, legal considerations, making the best use of social networking sites, the components of a business model, organized creative brainstorming, financial advice, shopping for self-paid insurance and benefits, and helpful anecdotes of real-life entrepreneurship.  With her humorous insights into corporate life and an appealing no-nonsense yet empathic tone, Slim deals swiftly and incisively with anxiety, fear and hesitation.  Readers will cheer as she teaches the tricks behind finding “what makes you purr”—what people will pay you to do, what you have a great passion for and what you are genetically encoded to do.  This is a standout in the start-your-own business genre.

You can check out Pam’s blog at www.escapefromcubiclenation.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pamslim.

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