In this video I introduce the How and Why of Samovar Tea Lounge. Learn about how it came to be, how we embrace the “negative space” of art, music, and business. Offering our customers a space out of time, our business may look like a tea company, or restaurant, but in fact is a company […]
Day: May 6, 2011
3 Encouraging Secrets to Starting a Business (or Not)
I often get emails from customers looking for “advice” on how to start a business, and looking for learnings I have to offer them. Below are my answers – enjoy! 1. What do you feel was the most important choice you made that contributed to the success of Samovar? My decision to start Samovar was […]
Zen & the Art of Life Management
Join me and my good friends, and role models Leo Babauta, author of the awesome blog Zen Habits, Four Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss, and VP of the San Francisco Zen Center, Susan O’Connell as we have tea, and connect on the meaning of life, zen, and how to live with joy in a world […]
Focusing on Negativity for a Meaningful Life
What is Zen?I noticed recently how little time we have for joyful thinking. By that I mean the simple ability to just daydream, bliss out, and savor the fun of a meandering mind. We spend so much time doing-doing-doing that it’s easy to fill life up with one task after another, non stop, never having […]
Tea Mavericks of America – Panel Discussion
(Complete video, approximately 1.5 hours) I recently had tea with these amazing guys, jointly responsible for making the tea market what it is today. Taking the time for tea and talk, these guys shared their experiences, insights, and their take on why tea is taking off today. CEO of Rishi Tea, Joshua Kaiser, Author James […]
Bargain Books + Free Wifi = Goodby Borders San Francisco
What’s interesting about this photo? How about the fact that this company is paying top San Francisco real estate dollar to sell bargain books, and all the while offering free wifi (where customers are capable of ordering the same bargain books cheaper from Amazon!)? What’s interesting is that they remained in business for so long […]
Business is Nothing – But Community (Part 2)
One of the funniest ironies about technology and improvement is that as we make giant technological leaps ever day, and get ever more “connected,” we are at the same time we are also getting more disconnected from each other and the world. Author Bill McKibbons wrote recently in Mother Jones Magazine that ever since 1956, […]
Business is Nothing – But Stories (Part 1)
We are born and we do a bunch of stuff and then we die. The stuff we do between birth and death is actually just a whole bunch of stories, and business is one outlet of those stories. How we interact with each other and our environment is the story of business. At the end […]
Thomas Edison’s Mastermind to-do List (GTD from 1888)
Over 100 years ago Thomas Edison posted his to do list via fountain pen to this journal. It’s awesome to see, and inspiring to say the least. Looks like not much has changed in how we “get things done.” Check out his projects on this list and get be ready to be really inspired.
YiXing Pouring
YiXing Pouring.