“Float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee.”
—Muhammad Ali
Life
You will learn how to live your best life and how this life can give you great business ideas!
Inventiveness and creativity in business are the products of a life that challenges you, that is fun and full of surprises, and that helps develop and fulfill you. The methods in this book serve to generate great entrepreneurial ideas, and they will, above all, help you establish a life bursting with adventure and inner fulfillment. Your next big idea starts with the next phase in your personal life, one full of new insights and perspectives. You will no longer identify with your “old life,” and this totally new journey will make you truly happy.
Love
You will understand how a single idea can lead you to very special people, and how it can move your life forward!
Ideas are means of transportation. One single idea, one single new insight, can lead you to unexpected places, make your passion and zeal visible to others, and facilitate situations that you would otherwise never experience. In this newly found world, completely new acquaintances are waiting. Living your dreams is attractive; it balances you and helps you understand what you really need in life. It’s a special blessing if you find a “significant other” while doing something you love; it guarantees an intersection of interests and values right from the start of the acquaintance.
Business
Your ideas will shape your business!
Creative ways of thinking are the neural highways and the traffic hubs for your success in business. You arrive at the business of your life via both right and wrong ideas. Regardless, life is an unforgettable journey. But a single idea completely changed my life as a man and a businessman.
Friendship
You will become a friend to many!
Your business idea can connect people, both on your own team and within a target group. A single idea may explode into innumerable new social contacts. Your idea will become the motor of your social environment. As this environment of friendships and contacts evolves, so will you. Using the example of my story, and the underlying friendship between my three co-founders and me, we’ll talk about the importance of those people that you truly let into your life.
Fitness
You’re going to get really strong!
Fitness means leading a life in which you maximize your physical and mental potential. Your business idea will only become as good as your physical assets can propel it. We’ll look at the basic elements of really good, healthy fitness training, and we’ll draw the unmistakable parallels between sports, creativity, and business. I’ve written this book since I not only want you to get in shape at your desk but also in the rest of your life!
Health
Health is freedom! If you want more from life, you have to look after yourself more. Your health is the basis for every step, and enables the mental and temporal freedom you need to develop ingenious ideas.
Finances
Money becomes a tool that you’ll truly master! Without money, the best idea is no good, so we will take a close look at what happens to the money that flows into and out of your ideas. We’ll set clear parameters and develop rules for healthy monetary growth.
Time
Your days become unique. Once you understand how to truly live, time becomes your most valuable resource. Sure, you can earn back lost money, correct mistakes, and apologize to people. But you’ll never get your time back. Wasted time shows the greatest disrespect to your own potential. To ensure that you get the maximum value per invested unit of time, I will summarize some effective productivity systems. But remember, sometimes the most productive thing to do is to pause (see Health).
Then and Now
1986
Born in Bonn, Germany as the second of six boys. My parents are actors. Creativity and artistry are integral parts of my earliest childhood years.
1993
I’m in grade school and sell the candy I collect during Halloween—a pretty sweet business model. My Italian grandmother takes over much of my upbringing, while my parents work long and hard. I come to understand the value of family, religion, and respect, and I observe the kind of authentic, independent work that makes dreams come true. Even today, I’ll still call and visit my grandmother regularly—an indescribably good feeling.
1997
I attend an all-boy Catholic high school where I learn Latin. (WTF?!) Prayers before each class and mass every Tuesday. Sports are also very important. I learn discipline, order, diligence, pack mentality, and way too little math.
2000
I’m thirteen years old during the big mobile phone hype of the late ’90s, so I try to import 800 super cheap phones from China to Germany using the money my grandma gave me for my First Communion (meant to go into my college savings fund). The phones never arrive. The money’s gone. I close my import/export business and learn one of the most important entrepreneurial lessons: fall down, get back up, and rethink everything. So, I continue my research and find a supplier who actually delivers cheap cell phones. Although I don’t buy anything (my communion money is gone), I understand that other aspiring entrepreneurs would like to make quick profits, so I sell the phone supplier’s contact info to kids from the neighborhood. Suddenly I am getting real money for a piece of paper with an email address written on it. My entrepreneurial thinking changes forever.
2006
I graduate from high school with a primary focus on sports (one of my passions) and English (which I speak fluently, thanks to my Canadian father). I’ve hardly attended school during the last two years—not out of laziness, but rather pure efficiency: I optimized the inputs while still ensuring the right outcome.
2012
I finish my studies in international business and management in Miami, FL. The college system in the United States has been good to me—a really great experience. I’ve built two companies with my three best friends in my 140-square-foot college dorm. One of these companies is NEONSPLASH–Paint-Party®, a crazy idea that will later become our first real international success! Back then, we filled every bottle of paint ourselves. After graduation, I’m nominated for the Young Business Alumni “Hall of Fame” Award.