She’s selling lingerie.

What do I know about lingerie…NOTHING!

But I do know something about people. And I know that smart is not everything. Nor is CV. The fact that you went to a good school and can crunch the numbers is worth something, but not everything.

Stunningly, the sharks know all this.

They’re just trying to get information. Catalina is arguing with the experts. Believing since she went to Stanford, got an MBA and a law degree, she knows what’s going on.

But Catalina is clueless.

The world has changed. Smart means something. But not as much as personality. People want to work with those who are warm and understanding and realistic, and that’s got nothing to do with what school you went to.

Now my point is not to denigrate education. Nor to say intelligence is irrelevant. But everything you need to know you cannot learn from books. And people can be really smart in some things, and totally ignorant in others.

Meanwhile, people are so busy trying to get rich that they’ve got no passion for the underlying product, they only care about money and success. The goal is to get VC cash more than to build a business. And I could say this is what’s wrong with America, but my point is really that just because you did not go to the best school, just because you’re not the smartest person on the block, that does not mean you can’t be successful and rich.

And happy.

The story of the last two decades is the traditional path no longer works. “Professional” is not the highest rank in our society. That’s right, you can work hard in high school, even grind your way through a good college to get into an even better graduate school, but that’ll just give you a ticket to the middle. Which is fine if that’s where you want to be. But if you want to win, if you want to dominate…

You have to learn so much that never is taught in schools.

Where do you learn it?

Primarily from your parents.

If you’re lucky, a mentor. Unfortunately that term is bandied about by the same creeps who believe education entitles them to win. In reality a mentor is someone you bump into who helps you out out of the goodness of their heart, who you have a relationship with who you don’t step on. How often do we see this? Very rarely. It’s a dog eat dog world. Few are altruistic.

So the truth is you’re on your own. And drive counts. But not as much as charisma, charm and the ability to get along.

I’ve got to give Mark Burnett credit. Just when I was about to give up on “Shark Tank,” because of the endless formula, he switched it up.

Catalina did not come in an outfit. She was not out of “Let’s Make A Deal.” But she couldn’t see the Sharks were not Monty Hall, that investors want to make money, they don’t do it out of the goodness of their heart, you’ve got to appeal to them.

And Catalina did not. Her numbers were insane. She believed since one person invested in her business at an obscene valuation, everyone else would. She’s been winning her whole life, she expected to win in the Tank, after all, she’s a bigger shark than they are.

But what she found out was no one was interested.

That’s what happens more often than not. You put your heart and soul into a product, a song, a business. You convince yourself you’re a winner. And when you hear no, you get angry, you double down, you believe in yourself even more, you’re gonna prove everybody wrong.

Good luck with that.

A true winner learns. Changes. Pivots. Realizes their mistakes.

It’s never too late for you to change your personality, to learn how to play the game of life.

But that would require you to acknowledge you’re wrong.

Are you up to it?

Probably not if you’ve won at the game of education.

But education is not the game of life.

Season 6 Episode 22 Week 21: Echo Valley Meats, EmazingLights, AquaVault, and Naja – Cable subscription verification required

Apple – Live- March 2015 Special Event

You’re gonna have an Apple Watch.

Just maybe not this one.

Christy Turlington Burns is the opposite of nerd culture, and models are only skin-deep, but I get it, you’ve got to appeal to the fashionistas if you’re gonna sell timepieces. Still, couldn’t you get someone younger who has something to say?

But what blew me away was the opening, the store in China in a place I’ve never heard of, called West Lake.

I wanna go there. China, that is. Oh, I know that the miracle has stalled, that the country is faced with so many issues, but it’s the bleeding edge of culture, transition is oh-so-fast, and the music business is ignoring it.

Oh, cut the crap with the piracy thing. Have you toured there? Where there are so many people it dwarfs America? Of course not, because you’re myopic.

Apple is not myopic.

That’s what impressed me. The ability to see beyond.

Kind of like the elimination of ports in the new MacBook.

How come Apple consistently gets this right when in the cultural industries we can’t stop lamenting the death of the past. Come on, from “Life” magazine to record stores everybody keeps bitching that we’re losing something as we go forward. But not only is Apple trashing the past, it’s jumping into the future. Come on, in a wireless device do you really need to plug stuff in? The news has been littered with stories of needing to purchase expensive adapters. But in time you will attach nothing to your laptop, you’ll even charge it wirelessly, that’s coming. But in music, we’re still focused on selling CDs because of the amount of revenue. How about encouraging people to sign up for music subscriptions? Oh yeah, Beats, or whatever they’re gonna call it, is gonna fail, just like it did in its initial, pre-Apple incarnation, because you can’t charge for what is available for free. When Doug Morris protests freemium, it’s like Grandpa Simpson yelling at the movie screen, he just doesn’t
get it, he looks ignorant, Daniel Ek runs circles around him. That’s the story of today’s internet, you hook them for free and then… Didn’t that cause the sky high valuation of WhatsApp and Snapchat? But count on the music industry to avoid this…believing if we can just go back to the past, we can win.

At least HBO is going into the future.

The real story is you can cancel the TV portion of your cable, but you’re gonna pay the same amount anyway, just for internet. Watching this presentation made me want to call Time Warner and cancel HBO, the new app is much more usable, but I know TW is gonna give me some bundle talk and will actually tell me my rate will go up if I drop HBO. Hell, my rate went down when I added voice-calling.

But at least HBO realizes it’s got to play to the customer, got to face reality, whereas even at this late date the music industry is about placating the middleman, i.e. physical retail.

As for the MacBook… How come Apple can hook us with “Making Of” videos and we don’t even do this in the music industry. That’s right, Apple is playing to the hard core fan, because that’s who spends the lion’s share of the money, that’s who the evangelist is. The hard core fan watches all the bootleg videos on YouTube, you can cut off the flow of information, but only to spite your face. Why can’t we learn how Pharrell wrote “Blurred Lines” without him having to testify in court?

As for the Apple Watch…

It’s about functionality. That’s what those in the entertainment industry cannot understand, usability comes first. This is why I must laud HBO and castigate its competitors. To protect your business model you’re making it difficult to consume…your customers, your lifeblood, revolt. The truth is the Apple Watch has so much functionality that you’re gonna be addicted to yours.

You didn’t need a smartphone.

Furthermore, the smartphone was bigger when cellphones had been shrinking.

The Apple Watch is geeky and too big, but that was the size they focused on for functionality.

Is this the final iteration?

OF COURSE NOT!

The original iPod held only 5 gigs, used a hard drive and had a scroll wheel that actually scrolled.

Mere months later they doubled the storage. They eventually shrunk it. They went to flash storage. Then they killed it with the iPhone.

This is just the beginning of the story. Apple has to see which model people want to buy. Remember the original iMac, which came in one color and then many and then was killed and only came in one flavor in a new design?

You make mistakes when you move forward and take risks. The pros adjust.

Apple will adjust.

And don’t you understand, the fact that you’ve got to use the Watch with the iPhone is a FEATURE! It’s about getting you into their ecosystem, locking you in, the same way iTunes locked you into the iPod/Apple system and its seamless sync/operation got you to purchase more Apple product. Of course there will be imitators, but Apple was there first! And there’s a first mover advantage.

Oh, that’s right, there was the Pebble and some Android watches… But their functionality was so low it’s laughable. Apple is about getting the category right.

But, 18 hours is too low for battery life. I frequently stay up longer than that in a day, I don’t want my watch to die.

But I’m gonna buy one. Because I’ve learned over time that the first iteration now works. And by delaying, I’m just gonna lose usage, lose happiness, be left out. So, I’ll throw down four hundred bucks and then throw down the same amount a year or two later, that’s the way it works, you get a new phone every two years, right?

And forget all that b.s. about the old phones being good enough. The iPhone 6 has Apple Pay, you want to be able to pay with your watch, right?

You do.

These are all things you’re gonna do in the future. Use your wristwatch like a Dick Tracy device, eliminate all that wasted energy removing your smartphone from your pocket…

Forget all the hogwash in the news. Those are jaded pricks who are all about finance. Who even cares if the Watch is a failure in its initial incarnation. So was the Mac, and one can argue the iPod was too. But then they were refined and took hold.

Steve Jobs’s genius was such that he got us to buy the first time out, upon announcement. This is a big change. Something the music business used to have, with bands, we bought the next record without hearing it first. Now we don’t even expect the next record to be any good.

But also like the bands of yore, Apple is in it for the long haul. And with a small seamless team, you can perform miracles.

Do they miss Steve Jobs?

OF COURSE!

There’s no charisma in the presentations. And I don’t have faith the company will continue to sustain its bleeding edge position.

But they’re trying.

And I applaud them for it.

And if you watch this presentation, you’ll be bored a bit, but you’ll also be wowed.

Steve Jobs may be dead, but the reality distortion field lives.

If you don’t want one of those MacBooks…

If you’re not thinking about a Watch…

You’re just an Apple-hating Luddite.

I get it, you’re smart and need to be an individual.

Or you’re cheap and believe in “good enough.”

But Apple has got a core audience so large, it’s made them the world’s most valuable company. Criticize all you want, but isn’t that what you’re looking for, world domination?

Bands used to achieve this.

But now they’re me-too operations whored out to corporations.

I’m cutting out the middleman, I’m going straight to the end goal, I’m a believer in Apple more than any of the musical acts.

Because I revere intelligence and the ability to risk.

I know these people. Some literally, most figuratively. The ones who weren’t the quarterback, weren’t popular, but stayed in school knowing it was their only way out.

They’re changing the world.

Remember when bands did this?

One track can build a reputation and cement a career.

Chris Whitley’s “Living With The Law” was released in 1991, almost a decade before the Napster era, when if radio didn’t play it most people didn’t know it. There was no YouTube clip to click, no free Spotify tier, you had to buy it to know it, or know someone who played it for you, otherwise it’s like it didn’t even exist.

As great as Chris Whitley was, what made that debut so haunting and striking was Malcolm Burn’s production, it was like the record was cut in the next room over, but there was no door, you could hear it, feel it, you wanted to get closer but there was no access, only mystery, who cut this? And, this also being the pre-internet era we didn’t know much about Chris Whitley, we were in the dark, all we had were these songs.

And “Big Sky Country” is not the only great track on “Living With The Law,” I point you especially to “Poison Girl,” and be sure to listen to the opening, title cut, “Living With The Law,” which is anything but a single, what balls to start the record with something other than a hit.

But next up was the killer, “Big Sky Country.”

Kind of like “Royals,” you’re enraptured by “Big Sky Country” from the very first note. It’s a missive from another world that you just want to inhabit, something music used to strive for before everybody was looking for endorsements and was more interested in being a celebrity than being a musician.

Now when this is over, over and through
When all the changes have come and passed

Mmm… He’s talking about the future, in a world that’s positively focused on the present. And what is it that’s going to happen in the interim? Is he in trouble, is it law trouble or love trouble or… We just don’t know.

I want to meet you in the Big Sky Country

Montana owns that moniker, but Whitley seems to be referencing a state of mind more than a particular place. Well, somewhere where the law doesn’t interfere, where you can stretch out and be yourself.

I wanna prove, mama, love can last, yes

Can it? I don’t know. But there was that article in the “New York Times” that said women look forward, but men are all about regret, they concentrate on the one that got away. The love burns on in their heart.

Like hallelujah in the Big Sky Country

This is the line you remember. The expression of exuberance.

And there are more words, but there’s also guitar-playing, ethereal slide while the title is sung over and over again, allowing you to ponder…the song, the place, the playing… You can do nothing but queue this track up again.

And it’s stuck in your head. It certainly plays whenever you think of Montana.

And it’s private, it’s yours, but you’re also a member of a club. Those who know “Big Sky Country” and those who don’t.

And if you don’t, WELCOME TO YOUR INITIATION!

Rhinofy-Big Sky Country

1. Opportunities come from relationships.

It’s who you know. And who you know doesn’t have to be the top dog. And the people you know today might climb the ladder tomorrow, or be gone just as quickly. Which is why your relationships must be varied and…you must continue to invest, meeting new people. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you don’t know people, you’re never gonna get ahead, you’re gonna have trouble paying the bills, or you’re going to be a drone at the corporation bitching about your boss.

2. Winners take risks.

J. couldn’t get a loan to start his skate shop. He asked everybody he knew and raised a bit of capital, dropped out of college and started. J. believed in himself. He felt he could sell, and you sell by nurturing relationships and spending money, investing in good will.

3. You make your own opportunities.

Japan ordered pants J. wasn’t making. They saw a patch from his shop on the leg of a famous snowboarder and assumed they were available. J. said yes, then figured it out.

4. Connections will get you in the door, but they won’t get you much further.

S.’s father knew a famous Wall Street titan. This delivered him a job in the basement, wiring funds around the world.

5. Your c.v. means something on Wall Street.

S. asked for a promotion to trader. The boss said he didn’t go to Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth or Princeton so he should forget about it.

6. Spin is everything.

S. hated his job in his basement, but rather than bitch he spun the story as one of hunger, a huge desire to move on up. The boss said no.

7. Be persistent.

S. asked again, soon thereafter. The boss gave him some numbers. S. acted on them.

8. Sales skills count.

P. talks to some of his financial customers five times a day. If you’ve got social anxiety, the Street is no place for you to reside.

9. Nothing is forever.

The other J. had to make a career switch when the internet destroyed his business.

10. Margins are everything.

You can’t make it in physical retail if the internet sellers collapse your margins. Passion will only get you so far, at the end of the day you’ve got to make money.

11. The hinterlands may deliver a great lifestyle, but little cash.

The third J. was told he’d be a millionaire if only he moved his business to the city.

12. Winners get opportunities out of the blue.

A&M called the first J. with an offer, that he actually turned down. But J. nurtured the relationship and it paid dividends down the road.

13. All fathers are the same.

M. wants his daughter to have a good career after college, he helps open doors for her.

14. The music business looks easy to outsiders, but the truth is you’re working 24/7 and can be fired any time.

15. He who goes the extra mile gets the benefit of the doubt.

S. went above and beyond the call of duty, therefore he not only got kudos, but little crap. S. did it not for the dividend, but because that’s his personality. People know when you’re working it, when you expect a payoff.

16. Misinformation reigns.

Despite living in the information society, more people know less and those who control the talking points win. I don’t mind if you’re a Republican, but I do mind when everything you’re basing your opinion on is wrong.

17. Not every millennial lives for technology.

A. got an iPhone reluctantly, only because he can iMessage from his no cell service household. His goal is to be the last person to upgrade it.

18. The lowliest workers are the nicest.

The house-cleaning lady hopped in her car and picked up D. after the lifts were closed, not begrudgingly, but eagerly. Why is it those at the bottom are the least cynical and the most compassionate?

19. Gourmet food is everywhere.

20. Most college campuses look the same.

21. The locals look different.

22. I want to go back.

Eating breakfast I perused the brochures for Montana. Turns out there’s this road from Jellystone to Red Lodge that scales the mountains and hugs their edges that scares me to drive but I want to experience.

Flathead Lake is the largest fresh body of water…well, somewhere out west.

Sitting in the waiting room at the Bozeman Yellowstone airport the big screens played this documentary on the building of the Fort Peck Dam during the Depression. I was so fascinated I was bummed when my flight took off.

We know so little but want to know so much.

At least I do.

P.S. Turns out you can watch the Fort Peck Dam documentary on YouTube:

Fort Peck Dam: Taming the Mighty Missouri

But the funny thing is I probably won’t finish it at home, because in the big city it’s all hustle and bustle, you’re time-challenged, whereas in the Big Sky Country you can lay back and experience life, and isn’t life for the living?

P.P.S. The Beartooth Highway

The Beartooth Highway, from Yellowstone to Red Lodge