Entrepreneurship, self-actualization and social responsibility

I put up a new About page today to clarify IBC’s purpose and scope. Here it is, in all its gory:

Indie Breakfast Club explores the intersection of entrepreneurship, self-actualization and social responsibility.

Most of us spend 70-80% of our waking hours “working”, so why not make that work productive, fulfilling, useful to others and fun?

In the near term, our goal is pass along one or two on-topic nuggets a day (tips, insight and inspiration) to spark thinking, dialog and action.

Longer term, we hope to extrapolate a useful framework (and maybe some tools) to help people “self-actualize” (reach their potential).

A tall order? Maybe. But we think it’s attainable. Please stick around and participate in the exploration… who knows what’ we’ll discover together?

This is a project of Oliver Sweatman, a keen student of entrepreneurship, self-actualization and social responsibility currently living in New York City.

I also massaged IBC’s tagline (you know how I love to do that). It now reads: “Vitality for creative professionals intent on positive change.”

And now for our viral trailer (actually, it seems to be working as subscriptions to IBC are increasing faster than the price of gas):

*Sign up to receive IBC via email or RSS. If you like what you read, please tell a friend or two about us. Thanks!*

IBC launches “Responsible? Brands” group on Flickr

So we took Rauschenberg’s advice to heart and kicked off a little experiment this afternoon.

It’s called “Responsible? Brands” and it’s a still-very-embryonic-photo-group on Flickr. The welcome message reads:

“Thanks for stopping by… Are you interested in socially-responsible brands? A healthier lifestyle? If yes & yes, as you roam the streets of your city/town/hamlet (make it a project this weekend!), snap some photos of responsible(?) brands in action and submit them here so we can keep tabs on what these companies are up to… thanks!

What a tireless, enthusiastic bunch we are….

Spread the IBC word, if you please

We’re gradually upping the ante here at Indie Breakfast Club, posting more often and digging deeper into what it means to be an entrepreneur or creative professional with a social conscience.

If you like what you’re reading, please spread the word to friends and contacts who might also enjoy IBC’s content, blueberry waffles and all.

Click here to sign up for our daily email (it’s tasty!). And here for our recent Malin & Goetz Q&A if you missed that.

Poking around Flickr

Manhattan bridge 2 - Originally uploaded by Oliver Sweatman

I spent the afternoon poking around Flickr, checking out other power Flickr users and Flickr groups to see how IBC might partake in the magic.

I started by cleaning up my personal Flickr “photostream”, including creating several “sets” to aid navigation (Vermont, NYC, etc). This took some time, but served as a good Flickr immersion session.

Next, I’m thinking about how Indie Breakfast Club (this riveting blog) might benefit from having a Flickr pool. For example, it might be fun to see images of emerging brands from around the world… stay tuned.

IBC narrows focus to emerging brands

Instead of trying to offer tips to and inspire the emerging brand community AND flesh out my worldview (e.g. my thoughts on religion, global warming, foreign affairs, etc) in the same blog, I have decided to separate and focus these two distinctly different initiatives.

From here on in, Indie Breakfast Club will run under the banner: “what’s working for the best emerging brands, and what isn’t” (we will soon decide what “best” means). And my hair-brained worldview project will move to another newly-minted WordPress blog, “The Worldview Project”.

Signing off on an upbeat note, this past week was the best week so far for Indie Breakfast Club in terms of site traffic. Thanks for sticking with me; I am determined to bring you more value. As always, your feedback is welcome - anything that you think will make IBC stronger.

I smell water, just over that horizon line…

I doubt there’s another blog out there that has changed its tagline as often as we’ve changed ours here at IBC. A dubious honor…

Back in March ‘07, we started out with “fermented mare’s milk for the indie horde”. Remember that one?

For the past few weeks, it’s been: “entrepreneurship. self-actualization. positive change.” (I do like this one.)

But, like a Tibetan Ass searching for water on the dry plains [such a thing actually exists], I’m now heading towards: “emerging brands. design & innovation. conscious capitalism.” [what you see up above].

This doesn’t mean I’m going to neglect self-actualization - just the opposite, I’ll weave it in every chance I get. But I’m not sure it should be in our tagline.

I also loaded a new green banner today.

Any thoughts on either from the peanut gallery?

IBC catches its tail…

I’m taking IBC back to the early days. In other words, this blog is going to re-focus on emerging brands and entrepreneurship.

So the re-revised About section now reads:

“IBC (this blog) is a place for people in the emerging brand community - entrepreneurs, investors, advisers, service professionals - to come and exchange tips, insight, ideas, inspiration, connections and opportunities. We’re passionate about indie spirit, authentic brands, working smarter, better design and positive change. Welcome.”

What do you think?

IBC tries to crack some big nuts, in time for b’fast

IBC is evolving…

Truthfully, we’re this close to throwing in the towel on our day job(s) so we can pursue this adventure full-time.

We can’t seem to resist the immediacy of the medium and feel we have some important material to discover, think about & relay back to you, hopefully serving up some fun and inspiration along the way.

Anyway, here’s the copy from our new About section:

“Globally-minded? Culturally-curious? Concerned about where things are headed? IBC aims for critical thinking around big hairy issues, tips for self-actualization, and inspiration for affecting positive change. Keep us honest and enter the fray… “

The site look’n feel has changed a bit (another WordPress template) - take a quick visit if you haven’t been in a while.

OK, fire away if you have any feedback at this stage…

Last thing: we put up three posts today (vs. our usual one) & we’re praying that our email subscribers don’t get three emails in the morning. If that happens, please accept our apologies; we’ll find a fix.

Update on Indie Breakfast Club

Indie Breakfast Club just turned one (celebrated by a quiet dinner at RICE), so we took some time to reflect on the past year and think about how things might unfold in the future…

We’ll be brief.While we enjoy the medium (hitting “publish” is fun) and our traffic keeps going up (March ‘08 was our best to date), we now feel the need to get more focused. So that’s where things are headed. From here on in, you’ll find fewer personal rants and hopefully more insight and intelligent discussion on subjects we think are important.

This means less on emerging brands (sorry) and more on worldview development, whole-systems thinking, creativity, culture, consciousness, sustainability and affecting positive change. Of course we’ll go out of our way to spotlight indie spirit when we see it, because nothing inspires us more than “the little guy” trying to change the world.

We’re looking forward to this new phase of Indie Breakfast Club and hope that you’ll stick around to shape the discussion.

JC Report launches, plus a call for more responsible fashion

I’m delighted to announce the launch of JC Report’s new web site.

I’ve been an avid reader of the JC Report since its launch in ‘02 and jumped at the opportunity last fall to work with the company’s founder on strategy, marketing and financial matters.

Six months later, after intense collaboration with a fantastic team of staff and advisers, it’s exciting to see a number of exciting new growth initiatives come to life, starting with the new web site.

JC Report’s mission is to become the most sought-after service and community offering filtered global fashion and style intelligence and connections to discerning readers worldwide.

I always find it inspiring to see mavericks with lean resources like JC Report tackle big incumbents like Conde Nast and Fairchild - the free market at its finest. (There’s also nothing like a horde of well-heeled, powerful competitors to up the ante on strong vision development, planning, alignment and execution.)

As an aside, I must say here that I often wonder about the role that fashion and style play in our lives…

On the one hand, I appreciate the creativity, design, excitement, allure, power and sense of identity attendant to fashion and style.

On the other hand, fashion and style - and the marketing machines behind them - clearly fuel our hyper-consumptive culture - e.g. fast fashion, must-have items, that’s so last season.

Fashion companies have also historically been laggards when it comes to sustainable business practices, with some notable exceptions (some of which we’ll feature here soon).

My hope is that JC Report and other influential fashion players - media, retailers and brands - will assume leadership roles to help foster a more responsible, sustainable fashion and style ethos, one that helps wean the Western world off the manufactured “need” to buy, buy, buy.

Perhaps the greatest cause for optimism comes from today’s younger consumers, who increasingly expect brands, media included, to demonstrate sound environmental stewardship.

News Flash: Indie Breakfast Club’s tagline, which changes like the wind, is now “seeking fulfillment and positive change through entrepreneurship”.

Auditing our green journey

Assuming you’re taking one, do you remember what sparked your green journey?

For us, it was Inconvenient Truth (summer ‘06), Manufactured Landscapes (early ‘07) and Lohas 11 (spring ‘07) - we came away determined to make a difference.

It’s been almost a year and it feels like time to take stock of our efforts. How are things going?

Well, here are some things we’re doing as part of a general effort to be more responsible citizens/consumers:

• Bike or walk to meetings (yes, even when it’s pissing with rain!)
• Use a Brita Filter instead of bottled water (our crude math tells us this saves over 100 plastic bottles a year)
• Print stuff only when absolutely necessary (hardly ever, it turns out)
• Use reusable canvas vs. plastic bags when grocery shopping
• Use natural house-cleaning and personal care products (the crystal rock deodorant hasn’t won us over yet however…)

Some props for raising capital

While we wait patiently for the Q&As and re-skinning of this blog to materialize, here are a few good resources for those of you raising capital (from VCs or angels):

How to put together an effective PowerPoint presentation for investors

How to write a compelling Executive Summary

The ins & outs of term sheets (excellent resource)

Now it’s time to venture out and make the most of the fashion circus before it moves off to London:

Rodarte at Matthew Marks

Matthew Williamson at Socialista

Colette/Married to the Mob/Jalouse at Beatrice

Then off to Vermont for some fresh air and clearer thinking…

While we have the podium, we’re looking forward to Lohas and Gel this year. Lohas 11 rocked our world in ‘07 and it’s time for more.

P.S. Did you notice that we blew out our Categories? In the midst of conducting open-heart surgery on the blog a few nights ago after a visit to Appellation Wine & Spirits, they vanished! This means some laborious re-tagging is in order. Btw, we’re looking for an ace intern!

More banter while we wait for the Q&As…

Thanks for all the feedback on the tag-line, folks (see previous post). We’re overwhelmed sorting through it all…

For now, we’re going to keep the tag-line as is, although there’s something about #2 that holds promise: “the place where indies get some play”.

“Play”, we think, is a fitting choice of words given our propensity to accept inducements in exchange for coverage in this widely read, influential blog. Worth a revisit in spring.

In the meantime, having ducked out of the fashion scene for years, we’re dipping back in this week while we wait for the Q&As to come rolling in.

See some of the evidence here.

Now, some feedback, please

Readers, I must ask a question of you: in preparation for my covey/quiver (take your pick) of Q&As taking flight next week, which tag-line do you prefer:

1. A saucy Q&A, every other day
2. A place where indies get some play
3. The emerging brand marketplace, served hot’n fresh

Come on, weigh in on this one for me; if I don’t get 10 responses by Saturday evening, I’ll have a bout of self-doubt, never a good thing.

Btw, on some days, with you lot, I feel like I’m biking through Central Park with a bunch of drafters behind me. Hah, take that!

Gone fishing…

Readers, things are taking shape! Just wait until you see the polish Sweden’s going to put on this humble little blog…

In the meantime, I’ve been all over town, pushing my wares on a host of unsuspecting parties. See some of the evidence in my new flickr pool.

I’ll leave you with something a friend told me this afternoon over some eBoost and green tea at Lure Fish Bar: “the worst thing you can ever do is be a consultant: you end up giving everything away for free!”.

I’m off again, this time on my Electra. Yes, it’s a little flashy, but the seat is comfy as hell and I like the wide, leather-gripped handlebars.