The power of Martha

Martha Stewart is a brilliant woman. During the nineties, her image was ingrained in our subconscious. Before Martha came around, when we thought of cooking and home decorating we thought of…well, nobody.

But all of a sudden, there she was, in Kmart aisles, on TV, in hundreds of magazines and dozens of books. Martha was as ubiquitous as Nike shoes. Her transition into super stardom seemed to be part of the natural order of things.

It certainly didn’t happen by accident. Martha Stewart had been slowly climbing to the top for decades. Her success was the result of anger, deviousness, and unrelenting determination. She was despised by nearly everyone she knew because, quite frankly, she deserved to be. This woman treated human beings like garbage and spewed profanities as if her mouth were a trash can. Some thought she had a mental disorder.

In the 2002 biography, Martha Inc.: The Incredible Story of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, author Christopher Byron attempts to explain Martha’s erratic behavior and how that behavior both helped and harmed her. It is a fascinating portrait. The domestic diva pretty much concocted her own fame.

The woman is cold, intimidating, and has never demonstrated an ability to empathize with other human beings, yet she continues to draw millions of devoted fans, fans who are smitten with the image Martha created for them; a symbol of utter domestic perfection, something which Martha makes seemingly possible.

Why Spielberg’s dreams work

Steven Spielberg is not only a gifted film director, he’s a phenomenal entrepreneur. During his youth, he probably never imagined he would become one of America’s most powerful figures. And it certainly didn’t happen over night. Spielberg’s storytelling skills are unquestionably innate; his business skills were developed over the years as he worked for various studios.

He learned from Universal Pictures honchos Lew Wasserman and Sid Sheinberg the art of the deal. Partnered with producer (and nascent film industry titan) George Lucas and Paramount for “Indiana Jones.” Founded Amblin Entertainment and produced numerous film and television projects. Formed a lucrative franchise, “Back to the Future,” with his former protege, Robert Zemeckis.

All of this culminated in 1994 with the creation of DreamWorks SKG, a major studio he co-founded with media moguls Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

Recently, Spielberg’s entrepreneurial insight has become more and more evident, especially with the success of DreamWorks’ “Disturbia,” an iTunes generation thriller that, surprisingly, topped the box-office for three weekends in a row. Spielberg clearly took a risk, and it payed off more than the studio analysts could ever have anticipated.

See also his relatively new relationship with former Bruckheimer team member Michael Bay. Spielberg is executive producer of Bay’s next event flick, “Transformers.” Although “Transformers” is an instant draw for the twentysomethings who grew up watching the 80s cartoon series, producing a feature film based on it is still a risky move; kids today have never heard of it, and if you recall, Bay’s last film, “The Island” (also a DreamWorks production), was a massive flop.

What Spielberg has done with Bay is remarkable. Look at Bay’s unimpressive repertoire of films. This is the guy who gave us the “Saving Private Ryan” meets “Titantic” bomb, “Pearl Harbor,” “Bad Boys II,” and “Armageddon.” But Spielberg obviously saw some potential in Bay, and perhaps found something of a kinship with a fellow grown-up kid. I think we can safely predict that this partnership will pay off.

So, overall, a few key things to learn from Spielberg as an entrepreneur:

1) The importance of risk-taking

2) The importance of strong, lasting relationships

3) The importance of trusting your instincts

The secret? Good entrepreneurial thinking

Why did Americans need a book called “The Secret” to explain to them the power of thought? And why is it called a secret?

I’ve watched the DVD and read the book by Rhonda Byrne. It’s inspiring, yes. I would recommend it, without hesitation, to anyone who needs a little guidance. But the notion that we can change our lives through positive thinking isn’t a secret — it’s common sense.

Byrne, practically overnight, became the nation’s self-help deity. But what she is, more than anything else, is a brilliant entrepreneur.

This woman gathered philosophers, motivational speakers, and quantum physicists, assembled a team of filmmakers to interview them and produce a DVD, developed an amazing marketing plan to sell it, sold millions of copies, got Oprah’s attention, and now, well, we can safely assume that everyone in the world knows what “The Secret” is.

Byrne must have had one hell of a vision board.

Learn a little from Jobs and Gates

Even if you have no interest in the computer industry, it’s worth watching D5’s recent discussion with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to gain a little insight into the minds of these two geniuses. Despite their rivalry, their respect and admiration for each other are evident. They talk about teamwork, innovation and the future. You can download the free video podcast from iTunes or visit All Things Digital.

Here’s some wisdom from Jobs:

“People say you have to have a lot of passion for what you’re doing and it’s totally true. And the reason is because it’s so hard that if you don’t, any rational person would give up.”

“If you really look at the ones that ended up, you know, being ’successful’ in the eyes of society and the ones that didn’t, oftentimes, it’s the ones [who] were successful loved what they did so they could persevere when it got really tough. “

Hard work pays off

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

– Frank Lloyd Wright

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. One crucial difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t is that those who are — Bill Gates, Jerry Bruckheimer, Mark Burnett, and anyone else who has been on Time’s 100 list — are willing to work hard. They accomplish more in one day than many of us do in a month.

They also surround themselves with people who are just as driven as they are. Look around you. Are your friends and co-workers positive role-models who are maximizing their potential? Or are they people who have carved a career out of misery?

Listen, I’m guilty of succumbing to laziness from time to time. I’m not afraid to admit that. But I refuse to make a life out of it. The bottom line is, success isn’t achieved by sitting on your ass.

Crazy for change

In a very insightful article in Ode magazine, Anita Roddick writes:

“Revolutionaries, activists and change-makers of every stripe — just like entrepreneurs — lead because they cannot follow something with which they do not agree or which limits their imaginations. They change the world because their passion and conviction won’t allow them not to.”

Roddick precisely articulates what I’ve always believed. I agree with her, too, when she says that change “requires a willingness to be perceived as crazy.” Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg and even the fictitious movie character Jerry Maguire — these people all, at some point, were considered insane.

And where would they be today if they had listened to the naysayers?

Novel shakes up Bird

My former screenwriting professor, James Dalessandro, has struck gold. Brad Bird, director of Pixar’s The Incredibles and the upcoming Ratatouille, is reportedly in negotiations to helm the adaptation of his novel, 1906. The novel is a fictitious spin on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Dalessandro’s screenplay was initially in the hands of Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson but got stuck in development hell.

I was a student in Dalessandro’s advanced screenwriting class in 2003. He was always eager to talk about his experiences in Hollywood and the studio system. Although most of his screenplays have never been produced, he is a good writer with an innate understanding of story and an incredible amount of passion for the writing life.

I absorbed from him the tiny, seemingly inconsequential but highly crucial details that make a screenplay work. But the most important thing I learned from him was the power of networking. Dalessandro is direct, brutally honest, and very opinionated. That’s what got him this far. He’s a middle-aged man with the tenacity of a twenty-year-old who’s just gotten his big break.

But this man got his break long ago, and he’s remained in that battlefield called Tinseltown because his love of storytelling is far too great to give up. I have no doubt that Dalessandro’s film will shake this town up.