Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Looptail by Bruce Poon Tip

Looptail is the new book by Bruce Poon Tip. founder of G Adventures.  It's his story about how the company was formed by an idea and a couple of credit cards.  The book gives some pointers about how to run a company using the Looptail, a process in which you get what you give.



Looptail is indeed a fascinating look at Bruce Poon Tip and the formation of his travel company, G Adventures (formerly GAP).  He doesn't pull any punches about the difficulties he encountered growing up facing prejudice after his family moved to Canada, the difficulties he faced while starting up his travel company and the difficulties he ran up against from the travel industry in forming a company that ran against the grain of basic tourist packaged trips.  He even encounters resistance from his own workers as he tries to bring forward his vision as to how the company should run, one that goes beyond mere numbers.

It is a story that can be shared from many entrepreneurs who started up companies that ran against the grain.  You have to convince yourself that your idea will work,  You have to convince family and friends that you're not irrational.  You have to convince people and financial institutions that your idea is worth funding and you have to convince those you hire at first that the company will succeed and prosper.  Bruce Poon Tip tells his story in a very entertaining and insightful manner, such that the book reads like a can't-put-down thriller.



What do you do when you're told that your ship, carrying 154 passengers, crew and staff, is sinking off the Antarctic and the world is watching your every move?  How would you react if you were offered $70 million for your company?  Could you manage an escape if you were arrested and held prisoner in Burma? How Poon Tip handles these instances and many more gives great insights into what made him successful.  The book also shows other aspects of his career such as the best ways to give back to communities all over the world and how to deal with employee issues, including handling the bottom 10% of  workers who are most involved in the company's extra-curricular activities but do the least actual work.  He makes it clear that being unpopular (to the point of actual threats) comes with the territory when you're trying to take your company in a new direction and shake employees out of their comfort zone.

Bruce Poon Tip writes, "To me, someone creating a company isn't any different than an artist who writes a song or creates a painting or a magnificent sculpture. Art is about putting your ideas, thoughts, heart and soul into your work."  He definitely put all those elements into Looptail, a book that is recommended for anyone looking for insights into how to run a successful business while maintaining one's positive karma.  It is not your typical book but, then again, Bruce Poon Tip isn't your typical person.  Read Looptail and find out why.

Bruce and myself at the beach






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Thursday, 27 June 2013

Memorizing the Forbes Top 10 Celebrities

Forbes released it's list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities.  A fun mental exercise to boost your brain power is to memorize the top 10 celebrities on the list in a way where you can recite them from top to bottom or bottom to top.

You can refer to the original article on this topic for a list of the top 10 Corporations.

The Top 10

A a reminder, here are the links to every number which you will associate with the people on the list.

They are:

1. sun
2. shoe
3. tree
4. door
5. hive
6. sticks
7. heaven
8. skate
9. wine
10. hen


Now, we'll take a look at  the Top 10 Forbes Celebrities list (as of June 2013).

They are:

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Lady Gaga
3. Steven Spielberg
4. Beyonce Knowles
5. Madonna
6. Taylor Swift
7. Jon Bon Jovi
8. Roger Federer
9. Justin Bieber
10. Ellen Degeneres


Now, let's link the celebrity with the memory aid for each number.

1. Oprah Winfrey/sun - Imagine Oprah Winfrey, #1, in bedazzling sunlight



2. Lady Gaga/shoe - Imagine Lady Gaga with bizarre shoes (not hard to do!)



3. Steven Spielberg/tree - Imagine Steven Spielberg chased up a tree by his Jurassic Park dinosaurs

4. Beyonce/door - Imagine opening your front door and there's Beyonce with a singing telegram!

5. Madonna/hive - Imagine Madonna with a beard of bees under a bee hive



6. Taylor Swift/stick - Imagine Taylor Swift beating off photographers and her ex-boyfriends with a stck

7. Jon Bon Jovi/heaven - Imagine Jon Bon Jovi as an angel in heaven (easy if you're a huge fan!)



8. Roger Federer/skate - Imagine Roger Federer skating on the tennis court as he plays at Wimbledon in wintry conditions

9. Justin Bieber/wine - Imagine Justin Bieber drinking a lot of wine and making the headines (again) the next day




10. Ellen Degeneres/hen - Imagine Ellen Degeneres either holding or interviewing a hen






After you create these images, you'll find it very easy to recite the list from the top or bottom and to instantly recall any number. Quick, what's number 7?  Heaven - Jon Bon Jovi.

With the links, you can substitute other words for the numbers, such as one-gun or eight-gate but any word will do.  Hve fun with the exercise and use it for any top 10 list that you can find useful!


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