My biggest mistake (at least in terms of income avoided) was not believing in the world wide web in 1994.

It’s not like I didn’t know about it. I had written a book called “Best of the Net”. I’d even written the cover story for some now-defunct magazine on how to surf the internet. But in those days, the Net referred to Archie and Veronica and the online services… there was no real browser, no search engines to speak of, just a bunch of conferences and some guys in the Valley.

Not only did I ignore it, I actively ignored it. I didn’t register hundreds of domain names or build out the website for Yoyodyne beyond much of a placeholder. Instead of expanding my online game show/promotions company into the web, we focused on Microsoft’s Chicago service and Apple’s eWorld. Sigh.

Instead of building a search engine, I wrote a book called The Smiley Dictionary. Earnings to date: $10,000 or so.

I’m going into all this painful detail to let you know what an idiot I was. How many clues were just sitting there, how much access I had, how deliberate I was in ignoring them.

Why?

I think the answer is simple: Because the rules of this new business didn’t match the rules of my existing business.

Businesses live in ecosystems. A series of rules and assumptions that, taken together, make a thriving mechanism

Example: The oil ecosystem involves prospecting, drilling, transporting, refining, etc. If you don’t understand the role of automobiles or plastics in the oil industry, then you don’t understand the industry. You don’t ‘get it.’ On the other hand, if you understand the ecosystem of automobiles and of oil, then the ecosystem of windmills on homes and hydrogen in cars may be just too weird to grasp.

The ecosystem of the worldwide web was just being filled in. It had some assumptions clearly laid out (no money to view the content) and some waiting to be sketched in (can attention turn into cash?). But for someone in the business of selling books and internet content, this seemed impossible. Different rules, rules I didn’t understand and couldn’t accept.

And that’s where we get stuck. We get stuck because we believe that the rules of our ecosystem are permanent and transferable. In fact, they are almost always temporary and rarely transferable.

My approach now is simple: take a look at the rules of the new ecosystem. Do they make sense? Is it possible they’ll come to pass? If they do, what happens to you?

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/lesson-learned.html

We have posted most of our videos on youtube, click on the link and please give us your feedback:

Phase 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8n9ldzS6Ms

Phase 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMigpCZPAzI&feature=channel and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-MeggyFs78&feature=channel

Phase 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4I8eJJOKw&feature=channel

(I will keep the blog on line or the next few months).

Here is what I think of the wines:

1. Mas la Plana: I was expecting a rich, full bodied experience, and thought this wine is a little bland for a Cabernet. As the previous note on the wines says, it lacks the fruit. Frankly, all that I could remember was the wine kept on rolling under my tongue. I did not enjoy the wine on its own, but it may go well with some kind of food – have to explore a little more to pin point what’s the missing piece.
2. Brunello: As expected. No surprise there. Actually, excuse my ignorance, but if I were to be blindfolded, I probably can’t tell the Brunello from another cab.
3. Margaux: This was quite an experience. The first thing I noticed after the refreshing fruiting scents, is the supple tennins. The flavour of this wine is so rich that it is very enjoyable on its own. The most memorable and unique part of the wine for me is its loooooooooooooooooooooong lingering after taste, which lasted even after the class ended. It was a sweet tickle on the back of my throat – reminds me of licorice root, quite pleasurable.

Thanks again to all who contributed to make this experience happen. It would not be possible without you.

To end, I have a few photos from today’s class.

Edit:

I forgot to ask a question about foie gras…

Has anyone ever tried pan searing foie gras? It sounds counter-intuitive, but it brings out a lot of the flavours. The trick is to get a REALLY HOT flat pan, and pop the sliced foie gras in for a split second so that the surface gets caramelized. One split second  – because any longer would melt the stuff, practically wasting it. The caramelization really draws out the sweet aroma of the liquor, very very nice to have on a thin, crisp toast.

That’s all.

Have a good weekend!

James

well-being

The Movie is edited from parts of a 2006 feature-length Japanese anime film, Tekkonkinkreet, directed by Michael Arias and animated by Studio 4°C. It was adapted from Black and White, a three-volume seinen manga series by Taiyō Matsumoto. Tekkon Kinkreet won the prestigious Best Film Award at the 2006 Mainichi Film Awards. It was also named the Number 1 film of 2006 in the annual “Best of” roundup by the New York Museum of Modern Art’s Artforum magazine. In 2008, it received ‘best original story’ and ‘best art direction’ from the Tokyo International Anime Fair. It won the 2008 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

Mas La Plana, Torres, Gran Corona, Spain, 1994 

Brunello di Montalcino, Silvio Nardi, Italy, 2003 (more about the character of Brunello at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino)

and

THE KING OF RED WINES:

Chateau Margaux

Premier Grand Cru Classe, France, 2004 (more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_Margaux)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-MeggyFs78