The juxtaposition of nature and opinionated architecture is beautifully done here. Photo by Merve Çevik (merveceranphoto). If there were a deepdream filter to turn transform this scene into a modern day LA equivalent, it might look something like this: Continue reading Osaka Castle, Japan
Finite players play to beat the people around them. Infinite players play to be better than themselves. I could’ve been reading an article analyzing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Except I wasn’t. ENTER: Simon Sinek I was listening to Sinek (he was talking at Google) use game theory to describe the kinds of ‘games’ companies engage in: finite games, where the objective is to win … Continue reading Why Organizations Win, According to Musk, Sinek, and Paul Graham
I walked into -157 degrees Fahrenheit. And stayed there for two minutes. I didn’t have a trace of thermal clothing or even a shirt. You can see in the video that I walked in willingly. Want to understand how cold -157 Fahrenheit (-105 Celsius) is? The coldest recorded temperature on Earth is -148 Fahrenheit (minus 100 Celsius) somewhere between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji on … Continue reading I’ve done what Kobe Bryant and LeBron James reportedly do. And I’m not a fan.
I am a biohacker and I’ve been biohacking for over a decade now. Being a practitioner for that long means that I’ve had to chart my way through the unavoidable messiness and realities of everyday life as an entrepreneur. I travel frequently for work. I speak at conferences. I hang at after-conference parties. Rarely do the lives of entrepreneurs drown in a sea of sameness. … Continue reading How to beat jet lag with biohacking
“Can we call her Sandy instead?” The first time we heard that question from someone considering Ivy for their hotel, we froze. And a second later, cheerfully refused to change Ivy’s name. Naturally, we are attached to Ivy as the name for our smartconcierge. More importantly though, we are proud of the results driven by the consistent persona and the thinking that led to the … Continue reading Why the world’s busiest smartconcierge, Ivy, is a woman
This isn’t pretty. In April 2016, McKinsey Global Institute looked at how digitization has taken hold across various industries in the US economy. They looked at 27 different indicators and grouped them into three categories: organizations’ spend on buying the latest tech assets (computers, servers, software, etc), how these assets are used across the organization, and how employees integrate these tools in their day-to-day tasks. … Continue reading How digitally advanced are we?
Sierra Mar – the dining experience at Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California. Image copyright and credit: Yingtingx (I’ve been collecting beautiful images for inspiration since 2010. Check the archives under vwls.) Continue reading The perch
Los Angeles International Airport. Terminal 4. LA based photographer, Mike Kelley, created this image as part of a series, Life Cycles, that “explores the creation, use, and destruction of aircraft…The images were created entirely from above, opposite to our usual experience of seeing aircraft from below or within.” The entire series is worth a look. Check out this version of LAX in 1972: https://i.imgur.com/4Sv3vJc.png Image … Continue reading Up above
Could there be a better place to watch the night sky and sip your wine? Yet another hotel in a stunning location – this is the Sorrel River Ranch Resort and Spa, Utah. Image credit: Sorrel River Ranch Resort and Spa, Utah — (I’ve been collecting beautiful images for inspiration since 2010. Check the archives under vwls.) Continue reading Ranch life
Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof Nutrition, plans to live until at least 180 years. It isn’t a wayward claim – Asprey has been saying this for a long time and routinely asks his podcasts guests “how long do you plan to live?” How does he plan to live that long? Is it possible to plan at all? It may be, through biohacking: the art … Continue reading How entrepreneurs can biohack their way to better results
Location advantage: 6000 feet, on a glacier. The only way to get to Sheldon Chalet, Denali National Park, Alaska is through a helicopter ride from the nearest town, Talkeetna. Image credit/copyright: Totement. Follow their work at https://www.instagram.com/totement/ (I’ve been collecting beautiful images for inspiration since 2010. Check the archives under vwls.) Continue reading Starry Nights
We are incredibly lucky in the hotel industry – location advantage is just one of several that we have to be thankful for. This is the Walliser Stube restaurant at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Eloise. Have you been there? Image: Room with a view. Copyright with Aimee Hernandez Photography. Print for sale at https://aimhernandez.smugmug.com/Prints/i-dTc7Lf9/A — (I’ve been collecting beautiful images for inspiration since 2010. Check … Continue reading Room with a view
Efficiency, often, isn’t the right goal for me. It probably may not be the right one for you either. When I say this, I’m clearly not talking of lap times in a car racing game, or how quickly you can stack and unstack cups. Routine tasks beg for optimization – and consequently create a critical difference between productivity and efficiency. I’m not going to dive … Continue reading Why efficiency is overrated
I’m in the business of helping craft guest experiences in the hospitality industry. Without fail, I draw hoteliers’ and hospitality leaders’ attention when I tell them what I do. Why? For years now, guest experiences have been considered central to a hotel’s success. And within the realm of guest experiences, authenticity has been the lodestar. I’d bet that if our industry leaders are asked to … Continue reading Why authenticity is overrated
A week ago, I was in Austin, Texas. Hospitality Upgrade hosted their annual Executive Vendor Summit for the 15th year in a row. Since its inception, The Summit has been an invitation only event. This was my first time. And what an honor it was to be asked to attend; not only becauseGo Moment was invited as a hotel technology company on the rise. Friends … Continue reading Where ideas take flight and inspirations land
Image credit: https://www.behance.net/gallery/75813403/Various-Personal-Work Charlie Davis’ illustrations exemplify the tethering of complex layers (vectors, free hand drawing and then layers) with the relative simplicity of the scene. Davis “is always looking to tell a story filled with lots of warmth, exaggeration, and shapes that stray from reality.” Artist: Charlie Davis. Illustrator/Designer based in London. More about the artist here: https://theblog.adobe.com/artist-spotlight-charlie-davis/ — (Beautiful images are inspiring; I’ve … Continue reading Designing Warmth
…a million out of 10 million, said Tony Robbins once. Who can disagree with that truism? Numbers tell a story – or at least a part of it. We produce enough food for the 7 billion people on Earth. And yet, 805 million remain undernourished on a daily basis. At Go Moment, mostly this year, we have helped provide over 12,000 meals to hungry children. … Continue reading If you don’t give a dime out of a dollar, you won’t give…
The worlds of Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (XR) are moving fast, relative to Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Here’s a quick summary from What really is the difference between AR/MR/VR/XR?: VR is immersing people into a completely virtual environment AR is creating an overlay of virtual content, but can’t interact with the environment MR is a mixed of virtual reality and … Continue reading Immerse
I want to ask entrepreneurs to estimate how much time, energy, mindspace you have spent raising capital. Have you tracked your efforts? Not by how much capital you have raised, but by the number of hours spent raising capital or thinking about it. The US sees 8,000-10,000 yearly VC deals. If these are anything like the ones in my network, founders expect to spend around … Continue reading Are STOs the new IPOs?
Two days ago, I spoke at the Stay Boutique Live Trifecta event at Los Angeles. Organized by the Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA), the Trifecta brings together an eclectic mix of boutique/lifestyle hotel owners, representatives, consultants and industry publications. As the CEO of Go Moment, I was honored to have been invited to lead a workshop and to be amidst the discussions. It was … Continue reading What’s happening at independent hotels
