There is something special about creating value and products on your own terms. Especially in a time when my generation wants to grow and have an intimate relationship with their brands digitally and offline. It doesn’t help that business analytics don’t have a way to measure social and culture impact. History shows us however, that when properly performed, the impact is felt in the bottom line. This is why being of the culture or student of the culture will always trump culture vultures. 

The infamous Ron Johnson once said: 

For most stores, moving from a transaction mind-set—“how do we sell more stuff?”—to a value-­creation mind-set will require a complete overhaul.  - Ron Johnson (HBR) 

I am bullish on retail in general. The job market is trending in the right direction (for some folks anyway). Nonetheless, the competition will be more fierce than ever making margin protection the number one rule to survival. Effective e-commerce over the next decade will separate the winners from the losers. The irony of the e-commerce and physical retail juxtaposition is the fact they are NOT mutually exclusive. I envision successful brands will be built upon omni channel distribution.

I was recently in Central America traveling across Guatemala and Belize with the astute marketer juliusbryant.  We decided to create some original content while we influenced the local culture with some of our own culture. Given the content of the post, it is only fitting that the photos below embrace two brands that are executing on quality, authenticity, and distribution through multiple channels.  

Lake Atitlán, Guatemala xx SocietySOP

Flores, Guatemala xx Surprise Party (Kevin xx Jabari)

Miami, FL xx SocietySOP

What is super interesting is the trend of some “non-digital” brands moving completely to the digital platforms where as digital brands ( buzzfeed buying a studio) are generating content in the offline world. 

So the real question is which of the two types of companies will accomplish the balance or pivot best? Tweet me at @JarenGlover

P.S.  I have been spending quite of a bit time learning about distributive systems, CoreOS, and Docker.

one love, 

Jaren Glover

This past weekend while doing my best to keep Saturday sacred, I found myself re-reading one of my favorite articles. I felt it would be a good transition, before focusing on some Dev-Ops learnings and after cleaning my email backlog (still behind).

After reflecting … 

One of the most intricate concepts I’ve come to digest is - our lives are actually just “one big unending stream of extenuating circumstances”.  Thus, resisting temptations and remaining resolute when “just this once” seems marginal is where one earns courage and integrity. Two critical life ingredients …  

If one doesn’t build that foundation, they typically end up repeating a vicious cycle of bad decisions. 

Now I haven’t seen it all but …

Please understand that there are  decisions in which deploying a margin cost analysis can lead you into a dark life.

Feel free to engage in the comment section or @GloveDotCom. 

P.S. “Food for thought or rather mind wine” below 

Here’s the 1 year return of the S&P500 after the 25 worst GDP prints of all time pic.twitter.com/OUDSQuIWB9

— marginal idea (@marginalidea)

June 29, 2014

It has been a while since my last blog. I have been focusing on how I can create value consistently while living at the intersection of software, economics, and culture.

I’ve come to the conclusion that having an opinion on future trends means absolutely nothing, if you are not willing to put your most valuable asset behind it. 

TIME - a non renewable resource + most valuable asset 

I can’t call myself an investor [$CMG + $YELP current top plays] if I’m not willing to put into action a plan to get the best ROI on my most important asset. Thus, I proceeded to take a derivative of the LIFE function to solve an optimization problem.  

Knocked out a few things:

• Built out the infrastructure for a simple web app 
• Start learning how I might automate the deployment of that app
• Conferences: one tech related the other volunteering 
• Increase my economics foundation via books + podcasts
• etc

At the end of the day one must understand that “the work that you put in today has a direct and absolute impact on the life you live tomorrow”.

Below I leave you with a jewel that was shared via Julius Bryant. He has the juice. HA

"Dreams without goals remain dreams and ultimately fuel disappointment … Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency" - Denzel 

Please dream big and often … 

- Glove

Software is Eating the World … Exhibit J Below 

Whats App > France’s Alstom’s Price [after pricing out cash] 

protect your neck and watch the trends …dollar dollar bill yall 

perspective …

A wise man once told me your brand is what others say it is, so execute accordingly. I recently read a great article from Forbes that talked about Rolex’s history of being the only company on the 100 most reputable companies list that exclusively produces a consumer product (i.e. only timepieces). In fact, they are the only company whose products do not interactive daily with consumers. The “average” person from my generation or any generation for that matter is not standing in line for the “new rolley”.  In other worlds, none of my friends were showing up to the school bus with the latest blue face Submariner.

So how do they consistently show up at the top of the list? Ariel does a great job of explaining his view on the topic.

“Rolex is so high on the list because they have been successful at retaining a core element of the Rolex ownership experience–that being that a Rolex is a sign of success and personal accomplishment.”

…

find that many consumers view a Rolex timepiece an item to reward themselves with upon achieving some level of personal success. That is distinct from a mere status item, which is about a consumer wearing or owning something that communicates success to others. 

They have continued executing on the above in spite of the high competition from competitors. I think everyone (esp. software engineers, product managers, and basically any forward thinker) can take a page from the Rolex’s handbook and focus on “extremely solid and unfaltering product ownership experience.” So while you create, understand that your legacy is being written with each product/software release. 

I can spell it, but I should probably Audemars …

P.S. Now only if they could keep a CEO. 

I promised in one of my previous posts I would recap my Bevel (thebevel)  experiences. I have lived with the products for about two months now.

There are two main questions I think need to be answered.

How did I adjust to a double edge shave? It took about 1.5 solid months for me to cement a routine that would consistently result in richer skin improvements and quality razor handling.

I am a 2nd generation anti razor/magic shaving/Andis clippers using 20 something year old. So, to say I was concerned would  be an understatement. 

"Don’t speak with the textures of the time" -Mr. West

Luckily for us Walker and Co didn’t follow those suits who can’t dress or provide a good shaving experience for us. 

Below is my process: 

1. Identify your grain direction (mine is CRAZY bidirectional)
2. Exfoliate…Exfoliate..wait did I mention to Exfoliate?
3. Take a Hot shower
4. Apply primer oil (massage into face) *let set for ~3mins* 
5. Wet shaving brush 
6. Whip shaving cream in a circle motion until it feels like cool whip (odd i know but you will feel it) ::pyrex motion © :: 
7. Input a fresh blade (replace blade every 2-3 shaves)
8. Lock elbow and shave with the grain … take your time don’t bend arm to curve to your skin contours 
9. I shave my cheeks first which leads to me having to re-wet the neck area
10. Shave neck + throat *be careful.. often a little blood..still learning*
11. Revisit shaved areas, re-wet with cream and shave any missed spots
12. Use cold water and exfoliate again removing excess shaving cream (stops white heads from showing up)
13. Add the spine-tingling magical restoring balm
14. Repeat every 1.5-2 days (my hair is course and comes back with a vengeance ..Bruce Willis style)
15. The following morning apply some more restoring balm to moisturize your face 

Does the cost justify the ends? As a man who over the last ~8 years felt like he never had a good shaving experience, I really appreciate the products and its convenience. It is hard enough to find a good barber while navigating the non-diverse areas Corporate America sends me. Then it is orders of magnitude harder to have a enjoyable shaving experience while traveling internationally. I recall having to smuggle “borrow” a butter knife from the lunch area in China, UK, and UAE just to shave with a chemical depilatory. So yea, I’m tired of living shaving as a second class citizen. 

Let’s start to say NO to the under managed and dusty "ethics" aisles at Walmart. 

Culture drives products. We have seen this play out many times without proper credit. CMOs need to take a look at the population projections. Below the U.S. Census has described what the future population will look like. 

Walker and Co. is creating products for us, by us (no pun). 

Customer Packaged Goods have yet to learn that ”Nothing Lasts Forever”. 

If you want to be an early ticket holder of The Monster Tour dates for two of music biggest stars, you better have your tech/app game right. Below is an excerpt explaining how you can get an early ticket:

UPDATE: AMEX holders can purchase tickets March 20 at 10 a.m. Facebook users pre-sale on March 22. Live Nation app pre-sale goes on sale March 27. General admission goes on sale March 29 at 10 a.m

Omni channel distribution via tech is here to stay …. if your app game is slacking you are indeed lacking. A new supplier is in town …yet another reason why I’m bullish on ALL mobile development. 

Word is bond … 

P.S. Just saw a special on how $SBUX and $JWN are both doubling down in the billions on “technology”.  Brad Jordan was right “damn it feels good to be a gangster engineer.