Celebrities Archives - Diane Hamilton

Thinkers50 Radar List Announced: Top Minds From Around the Globe

Dr. Diane Hamilton, CEO of Tonerra, was recently chosen for the prestigious 2020 class of Thinkers50 Radar. Thinkers50, based in London, is dubbed “the Oscars of Management Thinking” by the Financial Times. Thinkers50, launched in 2001, is the world’s most reliable resource for identifying, ranking and sharing the leading management ideas of our age. The list is published every two years and remains the premier ranking of its kind. The radar list is focused on 30 of the top minds from around the globe to watch in the coming year for their innovative ideas that will make the world a better place.

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Entrepreneurs and Celebrities Use Kickstarter for Funding

Kickstarter has been a successful crowdfunding option for potential entrepreneurs to garner cash. However it has not been without some issues. According to The Wall Street Journal article The Trouble With Kickstarter, “The only thing worse than having to watch your friend’s arty movie is having to pay for it too.” Aside from the problems associated with pestering friends to donate, there have been some successful ventures thanks to this site. The following list contains some of names of celebrities who have used the site:

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The PayPal Mafia: What is a Serial Entrepreneur?

The PayPal Mafia refers to a group of individuals who created multiple companies that created a frenzy of growth in the Silicon Valley. The entrepreneurs created PayPal before they set out to develop other multiple successful technology-based companies. These men are serial entrepreneurs or individuals who, “continuously come up with new ideas and starts new businesses. As opposed to a typical entrepreneur, who will often come up with an idea, start the company, and then see it through and play an important role in the day to day functioning of the new company, a serial entrepreneur will often come up with the idea and get things started, but then give responsibility to someone else and move on to a new idea and a new venture.”

To learn more about some of the individuals associated with the PayPal Mafia check out the following members and how their initial success led to other serial successes:

Peter Thiel – aka the “don” of the PayPal Mafia – was the founder of PayPal. Investments in Facebook also helped to sky rocket his earnings. Thiel urges young people to skip school and create companies instead.
Max Levchin – was the CTO for PayPal and continued with his success investing in Yelp, a company co-founded by Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman.
David Sacks – was the COO for PayPal and later founded Yammer and Geni.
Roelof Botha – was the CFO for PayPal and invested in Youtube, Facebook, Xoom and other profitable ventures.
Steve Chen and Jawed Karim (engineers for PayPal), and Chad Hurley (web designer) – founded YouTube.
Elon Musk – was forced out of PayPal but found success with Tesla Motors.
Eric M. Jackson – wrote The PayPal Wars and became CEO of WND Books,
Premal Shah – was a product manager at PayPal and later founded Kiva.org.
Reid Hoffman – was an Executive VP with PayPal before later creating Linkedin.

For a more complete list of the PayPal Mafia members and their accomplishments, click here.

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Generation Ali Passes the Torch to Millennial Generation

Muhammad Ali has been called the most recognizable man on earth. While he is still considered the champ from his boxing days, he has continued to inspire people around the world. His belief that others can achieve greatness led to his most recent venture the Generation Ali Global Citizenship Scholarship Program. This program, due to launch December 7, 2012, is aimed at the millennial generation. According to the Generation Ali site, the program is about “Fostering tomorrow’s leaders to achieve personal greatness, contribute positively to their communities, and change the world for the better.”

According to Alltech, Donald Lassere, president of the Muhammad Ali Center stated, “Muhammad Ali has proven that one person can be a spark that lights the flame of inspiration and change the world. Generation Ali will take up the torch and continue Muhammad’s legacy by inspiring a new generation of leaders to create better lives, better nations, and a better world.”

In order to apply for this program, applicants must

Be a high school senior or graduate or post-secondary undergraduate.

Plan to enroll or are currently enrolled in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited United States two- or four-year college, university or vocational technical school.

U.S. and international students encouraged to apply.

Ali’s Facebook site shows a graphic that mentions $10,000 scholarships. Ali stated, “This is it! The Greatest Scholarship of All Time is here! Start spreading the word. Online application starts December 7th! U.S. and international students encouraged to apply.”

Sheldon Cooper is in an EQ Stupor

The Big Bang Theories’ Sheldon Cooper is a classic example of why it is important to have a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). In the TV sitcom, Sheldon demonstrates what it is like to have a high IQ without a corresponding high EQ. Daniel Goleman wrote about why this may be problematic in his book Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter More than IQ.

Sheldon is a very intelligent human being. This is something that he constantly points out to nearly everyone he meets. However, his high IQ is not tempered with interpersonal skills. Having strong intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are an important part of having a well-developed EQ. Sheldon may be an over-exaggeration of someone that lacks these skills, but we have all met book-smart people who just do not seem to understand how to interact with others.

Some companies’ yearly performance reviews may consider how employees demonstrate “concern for impact”. In other words, the company want employees to be aware of how they came across to other people. Any employee that has to deal with other people on a daily basis must learn to see themselves as other see them. What may seem as perfectly acceptable behavior to an individual may come across as offensive to someone else. Companies are placing more importance on developing individuals’ EQ levels and hiring people that have already developed interpersonal skills.

Sheldon is almost robotic in his lack of people skills. He does things because he has been taught that “it is the social convention” to do so. For people who see any part of their personality in the Sheldon character, I recommend reading Goleman’s book. I also think that it is important to read books about how to improve EQ levels. There are some sites on the Internet that help people improve emotional intelligence. Check out the following links: