Robert M

What are you creating? #Onelife

@BarneySantos 💀

Met a politician yesterday at an event Politician: I’m going 2 have a fundraiser at Blvd MRKT you should come Me: oh no way I didn’t know, I’ll talk 2 the owner 2 get more details Politician’s friend: he’s the owner Politician: can we have a fundraiser at your place? Me: 😐

Two men set out to build a building. One lays the foundation for a 10-story building and finishes the entire building in nine months. The other lays the foundation for a 100-story building and it takes him the entire nine months just to build the first few floors. The first “being ahead” mocks the second for taking so long. He decides he wants to build his building into a 100-story building to prove how good of a builder he is. So he tries to add stories on top. He gets to 15-16 stories and then the foundation begins to crack. He starts reinforcing things. But no matter what, he feels he can’t put anymore on top. Over time, the second guy keeps building and passes the first man. Two years later the second man completes his 100-story building despite barely having his foundation finished by the time the first man finishes his entire building. The first man, goes to a mentor to ask his advice on growing his building taller. The mentor tells him “you need to tear down this building or start another one new” He says “and waste all the time I spent building this one? Can’t I just add it on top if I just knew how?” The mentor replies “there’s a lesson here: The fastest way to build a 10-story building isn’t the fastest way to a 100-story building. Your desire to grow fast ruined your ability to grow big.” ** A lot of entrepreneurs build businesses as though it’s a race. And sometimes they reach their goals. Then they see someone with bigger goals and a bigger business. They then try to build their business into that business. But they can’t. Because the fastest route to a $10M business is often not the fastest route to a $100M business. Sometimes big things take time. And often that’s what makes them worth pursuing. Don’t compare a sky scraper to a townhouse six months into building.

In 2000, Blockbuster was the movie rental king with 60,000 stores and 9,000 employees. Reed Hastings and I, on the other hand, were just two Silicon Valley geeks with a DVD-rental-by-mail idea. We’d been struggling since 1998 to find a way to make it work, and by the summer of 2000, we were finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Our no-due-dates, no-late-fees subscription model was a hit. Customers were pouring in and the company was growing like crazy. Running a subscription business takes a lot of cash, since you pay acquisition costs up front while the revenue comes in over time. But it was the height of the internet boom. Cash was plentiful. Until suddenly it wasn’t. Over a few short months, the internet bubble finally popped. The .com at the end of our name had been a badge of honor; now it was three scarlet letters. And with customers flooding in, cash was flying out. We’d spent more than $50 million getting to this point, and now it looked like our success was going to bankrupt us. Luckily, there is a Silicon Valley play book for this. It’s called “pursue strategic alternatives”—code for “sell, and sell fast.” The obvious strategic alternative for us was Blockbuster. Which is why, just a few weeks later, you’d have found me, Reed, and our CFO Barry McCarthy sitting at a giant conference table on the 37th floor of the Blockbuster headquarters in Dallas, getting ready to pitch Blockbuster. The pitch was simple. We would join forces with Blockbuster. We would run the online business. They would run the stores. We would jointly develop a blended model. And everyone would live happily ever after. And it was going great. They were leaning in. They asked good questions. Until they asked the most important question of all: “How much?” Now, we had rehearsed this. We figured we were $50 million in the hole... so let’s go with that! Reed leaned forward confidently and told them: “Fifty Million Dollars.” There was perfect silence. Their words were “we’ll consider it,” but we could tell they were fighting to suppress laughter. After that, the meeting went downhill fast. Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Or, as my father used to tell me, “sometimes, the only way out is through.” We knew there was no easy way out. We struggled for years. But we eventually did make it through. We had our IPO. We passed Blockbuster in revenue. And today, the company that Blockbuster could have purchased in 2000 for $50 million, has a market cap exceeding $150 billion. And that company with 9000 stores? Now it’s got just one. But what’s the lesson to take from this? There’s certainly an inspiring one: It’s possible for a handful of people, with no prior experience in the video business, to take down a 6 billion dollar category-leading company. But I think the more important lesson—one that Blockbuster learned too late—is simply this: If you are unwilling to disrupt your business, there will always be someone willing to do it for you.

@CBSSportsCBB @UCLAMBB One of the best UCLA basket all memories I’ve ever had. Watched it in Buenos Aires with a group of 3 UCLA alum. Grown men may or may not have been crying. Collision was amazing!

.@UCLAMBB scoring the last 11 points of the Bruins' Sweet 16 matchup against Gonzaga is still one of the best come-from-behind performances in NCAA Tournament history 😱

When a child starts learning on how to walk and falls down 40 times, they never think or say to themselves - "maybe this is not for me". Hard times never last forever. #MondayMotivation

Whatever you want to accomplish, visualize yourself doing it. It will help you transform "I wish" to "I can." Combine that with hard work, determination & persistence and you will be unstoppable. #MondayMotivation

Quality of your life will be determined by quality of your thoughts. When you are motivated, hard work becomes passion, obstacles go away, failure becomes opportunity to learn, and adversity turns into great success. Stay motivated. #MondayMotivation

@PRandTech Signed up for mariachi singing class w/a classical trained tenor. First question out of his mouth... Who's my favorite rancheras singing? You mean besides Jose Alfredo Jimenez and Javier Solis. Say no more😅😅😅 Our people hold us to the highest of standards & I'm here for it 🙌🏽

Just got accepted by my classical guitar teacher! 💙 As part of the process he asked: What are two issues in today's modern Jazz and Flamenco? Today he called back with "ok, we start Monday"

@PRandTech This, asking "how are you", and asking about the weather... backdoor had a great skit on it..youtu.be/DhU1zYFSgx8

Every Monday people ask "how was your weekend" on our weekly calls. I always want to reply "short." How do y'all reply to this question?

Housing collapse imminent...20% tumble w/in the next year. RE friends... Is this reality? Speculation investors? forbes.com/sites/jonathan…

China and the semiconductor industry in shambles... come again @PeterZeihan .. 👜 of what 😂😂😂?!? Just savage and I'm here for it: youtu.be/tochLfjWuM4

Try not to focus on what you don't have. Just focus on on the things that you can control. Start with what you have. Start from where you are. Start. Now. #MondayMotivation

@BorrachinhaMMA This is what the stock market needs ⚡⚡⚡

🥤👍

@PRandTech @Codie_Sanchez 😂😂😂

@robthemarketer @Codie_Sanchez They're not ready for that convo.

What is a weird but common habit found in successful people?

If only you could see how well you’re doing through the eyes of those who envy you…

@PRandTech @Codie_Sanchez What's a word doc? You mean Google Sheets 🤔

@Codie_Sanchez They can't convert a word doc to PDF

Who's ready for the inflation report tomorrow 🥲🥲🥲

Make sure you are increasing traffic and getting new leads through SEO! Increase your sales by having a good SEO! 🥳🥳 Message us now to get started. #DigitalMarketing #SmallBusiness #Success #Marketing #Ecommerce #Entrepreneur #MarketingTips #BusinessTips

Stop wasting your time and energy wishing things were different. There are situations we cannot control. Stop complaining and start doing. #MondayMotivation

We pay for every lesson with either time or money. And we use the currency we value least.