Two years ago I tried to update my Typepad blog with a card, it just wouldn't work So, I got busy. I tried again, and no matter what card I used, I couldn't get it to work. Just now, I tried it, and it worked fine. What was I doing wrong? Don't know. But I was doing something wrong, but I kept on doing it. The result was I didn't write a blog for two years. Another example was some mornings I would bake some eggs for my daughter. I would use baking paper so the eggs wouldn't stick to... Continue reading

Interesting Things Happen When You Do Interesting Things. It’s an equation, an unwritten law, and a universal truth all rolled into one. The more interesting things you put out there, the more interesting things come back to you. There is no doubt, that you can’t outspend your rivals. You can’t out resource them. You can’t work any longer hours than you currently are. But you can be more interesting than them. You don’t have to have a meeting to agree on what pantone colour the coffee cups should be, or whether you can use humour on Twitter. Like, how funny... Continue reading

1, Samey idea. 2, Have no story. Or tell it poorly. 3, Have nothing you want to change. 4, Do it on your own. 5, Have co-founders with the same skill sets. 6, Tiny market. 7, No vision. 8, Choose cool over useful. 9, No focus. 10, Too stubborn. 11, Not stubborn enough. 12, Raise too little money.

 13, Spend too much. 14, Too early/Too late. 15, Hire a**holes. 16, Don’t build a team. 17, Don’t answer a need. 18, Fight each other. 19, Believe your own hype. 20, Stop innovating. 21, Don’t do the work. 22, Quit. 23, Never... Continue reading

We tend to work the way we do because that is how we have always done it, that is how everyone does it. We all follow a well-beaten path. But how we are currently working might not be the best way to get the most done. Some food for thought: An experiment in the 1940’s measured men loading pig iron onto train freight cars at The Bethlehem Steel Company. Each man didn’t stop until they managed 12 1/2 tons. By noon, they were exhausted and could do no more. The next day, they were told to load the pig iron... Continue reading

It supplies your inner drive. It fuels innovation. It finds you your best people. It keeps them with you when other companies come poaching. They will. It keeps you staying true, when it would be easy to compromise. It stops you from quitting, when times get tough. And, they will. Purpose gives you a reason to fight like you have never fought before. And to keep on fighting. With everything you have. Nothing spared. The kid in the school yard that you shouldn’t fight is the one you have insulted his mother. He knows why he is going to kick... Continue reading

I am no expert at this by any means. But here are some things to consider. 1, Find the slowest money you can find. 2, Split shares. A, Voting. B, Non-Voting 3, Sell Non-Voting. 4, Work like crazy to keep promises. Don’t make promises you can’t deliver on. 5, When raising money, ask for advice. When you need advice, ask for money. 6, Use investors for their wisdom as much as their money. 7, Meet up often. Have dinner with them. (I need to do this more) 8, Make sure they use your product, your service. Do they have an... Continue reading

(Pic from the amazing @campovida, home to Do USA. Pic by @jessiewebster) When I lived in London, I used to ride by a wine shop. Each day it changed the chalkboard outside the shop.I could feel their energy. I could feel their passion for wine. Just from them changing it everyday, I got the fact that they were bursting with love of wine. When I went into the shop, they were as expected. They were full of young students who loved, like really loved, wine. Their knowledge was amazing. And they just wanted to share it. I became a regular... Continue reading

Building a mountain is expensive. Making a million cars is not cheap either. Mind you, nor is building a zillion houses. This summer I stood on the edge of a mountain in North Wales just seconds from taking a zip wire down to the bottom. From the edge, I could see a great business. He had used existing assets that were largely unused and got them to do something. Building a zip-wire across a mountain costs nothing compared with building a mountain. And in a way, he was just doing what Airbnb or Uber have done. Find assets that are... Continue reading

I use an app on my phone called Clear. It’s super simple. I make all my notes on it, from what I read, from what I hear, then I go back to it and use what I have learnt. Keeping notes is good. The brain is for thinking, not remembering all the stuff you have seen or heard. Here’s what I wrote down on my trip to LA. Guy Webster has new book out. Met him at Do USA. Top human and photographer. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Shots-Legends-Hollywood-Photography/dp/1608872408 If you love simple but beautiful design for your house, Tom Kundig is a top talent.... Continue reading

It has taken us 7 years just to get to the start line. Two weeks ago, there was a list of the 21 best brands in Wales. The Do Lectures found itself on that list along with Gareth Bale and W.R.U. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/21-very-coolest-brands-wales-9456825 This week Seth Godin put up a list of Templates for Organic and Viral Growth. Along with Airbnb lists, Farmers Markets, Alcoholics Anonymous, The Do Lectures was on it too. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/07/templates-for-organic-and-viral-growth.html It has taken 7 years for the Do Lectures to get to the point that it has started to get some recognition. It has taken 7 years... Continue reading

I don’t have as many chickens as I did last week. The chickens are free range. And yup, you guessed it, so is the fox. After the most recent visit by the fox, I thought it was time to go and get an electric fence. Or build a big chicken coop with high-sided fences. But then I remembered visiting someone who just used radio 4 to protect his hens. The voices were enough to spook the fox. I thought it was clever. But a part of me thought that was far too simple to work. So I never tried it.... Continue reading

Myths are powerful. They are seminal storytellers of events that may or may not have happened. The most powerful are semi-believable, but contain some element of wonder and magic. What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It’s hard to dream up a myth, like you can think up some marketing campaign: They can feel forced. They can feel like they are selling something. And so they don’t get shared. The best ones just happen all by themselves. And when they do, they will be shared. And they can really help build your... Continue reading

How To Build A Great Brand With Very Little Money'. Feb 19th. London. £300. There has never been a better time to start a brand. There has never been a cheaper time, either. But when everyone has the same free tools as you, how do you stand out? The answer is simple enough: By learning how to use those tools with greater skill than anyone else. This workshop will give you some key insights into this. How do you beat Goliath? It won’t be by out-spending them. But it will be by out-thinking them. It will also come from understanding... Continue reading

Pareto’s Law is named after an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It is also known as the 80-20 rule, which Richard Koch wrote about in his brilliant book. The thinking is this: If you run a business, 80% of your business probably comes from 20% of your customers. If you are a creative person, 80% of your awards/ recognition/income will come from 20% of your output. So how can knowing this principle help you manage your time? Well, start by looking at your day. See where you spend most of your time. The likelihood is you will find out you spend... Continue reading

1, Stop hiring the awkward ones. 2, Chase the numbers, not the change. 3, Stop innovating. 4, Only back sure fire things. 5, Stop trusting the team. 6, Make slow decisions. 7, Forget why you started. 8, Oust the founder. 9, Let success steal your hunger. 10, Stop socialising together. My Do Workshop. How to build a great brand with very little money. Wales (June 26th) London (Sept 11) My Book. Do Purpose. Related articles Your Energy Is Limited. How to Spend It Well. The Invisible Chair Continue reading

Most people didn’t notice it. But for 3 days the red chair stood on the stage in full view of everyone while 24 amazing speakers delivered some incredible life-affirming talks. It wasn’t supposed to be there. It was only there because the first speaker had problems with a tripod, so he borrowed the chair to have something to put his old camera on. But, there it stayed. No one questioned its right to be there. Why should they? It was there from the beginning so it was meant to be there, right? Roald Dahl wrote: “Above all, watch with glittering... Continue reading

My Book At Hiut Denim Co, we are learning to Vlog. We are learning by making one each day. This is day 3. Young Huw is shooting, editing and re-shooting all on the fly. He is super keen. But right now, not super experienced. And yes, there are some very, very good Vloggers out there. So why bother unless you can be better than them, right? Just look at Casey Neistat. He is on fire at the moment. Ze Frank posts rarely post these days. But, when he does, it’s pure gold. And those Jack’s gap twins, oh boy they... Continue reading

It takes time to build something great. It takes relentless energy too. Come monday morning 5.50am my alarm goes off, and the week begins. And my energy goes toward pushing forward my labours of love: The Hiut Denim Co and The Do Lectures. It helps I love them deeply, they matter to me. Having a purpose is a multiplier of energy. It drive me forward. I know why. I don't go home at night and think to myself 'What the hell am I doing?' I try to look after my energy in other ways too. I run. I do yoga.... Continue reading

Here are some weaknesses of the iconic Do Lectures Wales: 1, It is hard to get to. It takes place on the far western edge of Wales. 2, The Wifi is woeful. 3, It lasts for 3 days. And 3 nights. 4, 150 people is its limit. 5, You have to camp. Here are some strengths: 1, As it takes so long to get to, speakers stay for the entire time. 2, People have to put their phones down and talk to each other. 3, First day, awkward. Second day, ice broken. Third night, 4 am camp fire pals.. 4,... Continue reading

I don't think you can separate jeans and music. Hiut Denim Co has made jeans for some great musicians from The Stranglers to the Arctic Monkeys. We briefed Weareknit, an uber cool technology company that makes ideas come to life, to make that link even stronger in this crazy digital world. This is what they come up with. The Internet of radio. It allows our followers on Twitter to chose the music that the factory listens to. All our Twitter followers have to do is write: #hiutmusic followed by the name of the artist and the track. And that's it.... Continue reading

After The Do Lectures last year, I had some help from an attendee in packing up mattresses into black bin bags. We got talking. Her view on The Do Lectures was it was amazing. But she thought we would have problems with it. And those problems were how were we going to keep it small. Because it was so amazing. And he belief was one day, word would get out. She had lots of ideas with what we could do with it. Mind you, as it I found out later, she had over 40 patents to her name, so having... Continue reading

Stories are important. They have a power to change things. Stories are how we learn. They can change how we do things. They explain complex things simply. They inspire us. They spark our imagination. They often have a moral to share. With each great story comes life’s important lessons. About determination, about struggle,about what drives us, about why we never gave up. When you have heard a great story, you seldom forget it. They stay with you. The Do Lectures. Remarkable stories from remarkable people. Do Wales. June 4th-7th. [email protected] My Book: http://thedobook.co/products/do-purpose-why-brands-with-a-purpose-do-better-and-matter-more Photo by Andrew Paynter. Related articles The... Continue reading

The other week I found myself in Lisbon at Monocles Quality of Life Conference. I can recommend both wholeheartedly. I had a great time. Anyway, I was at brunch on the Sunday with everyone saying goodbye to people they had just got to know. Then I started to chat to someone. It turns out they worked at Airbnb. I had briefly met one of the founders the previous night, so I figured a team of them was there. I was right. I soon got introduced to a couple of more. One of them wanted to show me a bag he... Continue reading

How do you get big on Twitter? How do you get big on Instagram? The answer is to be there before others get there. Just like a train, get there early For those who don’t know it, Periscope is a live streaming video free app. It looks like it will be huge. But it is early days. But here is the thing. If you want to big on Periscope, don’t wait till wait it gets big. Do your learning when not many people are there. Work stuff out. Get good at it. And as you work it out, you will... Continue reading

Great things don’t come from comfort zones. Great things don’t come from the mainstream. Great things come from the edge. From the fringe. From the weird. From the odd. The mainstream adopts things. The mainstream doesn’t create things. Want to think different? Leave your norm. Turn off the Auto Pilot. And head to crazy. Do Wales. June 4th-7th. [email protected] My Book: http://thedobook.co/products/do-purpose-why-brands-with-a-purpose-do-better-and-matter-more Photo by Andrew Paynter. Related articles The lies we tell our ideas. Invest 30 minutes in 'You' today. Continue reading