From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Sports are the most valuable content and intellectual property in the world. MMA is the fastest growing sport and has the best business model in sports.
I realized that while others may not always do things precisely as I would, they might accomplish 80% or 90% of it, and that was acceptable. A defining moment came when I relinquished control over the marketing brochures, my annual pet project.
I think people need to understand that building a business is really, really difficult. That shouldn't put anyone off, but there's no easy road to riches.
I believe that success in business can be measured by if you enjoy what you are doing; create something that stands out; create something that everyone is really proud of.
We formalized making sure that the company culture and the employee happiness was priority number one, and everything else — including profits, revenue growth, and so on — was a byproduct of getting the culture right. Because our whole belief was that if we get the culture right, then most of the other stuff, including building our brand to be about the very best customer service, will happen naturally on its own.
We spent a lot of time explaining to our dealers who not to sell the bike to. Their mindset was just 'sell, sell, sell.' But we told them: no, don't sell it to people who don't need it, because they'll never love it.
If you have a national or multinational brand, your customers are as diverse as the human population. If you're smart, you realise that you need people in your business who can relate to all those different kinds of people. This is actually one of the smartest supports for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
I looked at it and thought, 'How can something this simple be so compelling?' It was compelling enough for me to take time out of the Consumer Electronics Show to go back and play over and over. I mean, I was hooked from the first time I played it.
Growth is like an elixir. It's exciting, it creates more and more growth, and it's a helluva lot of fun. Business is fun, it's a game. You're playing against others, and you want to win!
I realized then that I was inadvertently alienating our core audience — the surf community. Despite their understanding of the UGG brand, our advertising was sending the wrong message. This was when I truly grasped the essence of branding, advertising, and marketing.
You may become rich, engage in philanthropy and help a million people but the only way you can help a billion people is by building a profitable business. If you can't make a profit, you can't help a billion people – so go make a profit!
Either as a startup founder or a venture capital investor, you should not care about what others believe to be exciting or overhyped. Do your own primary research and make up your own mind.