The Modern Entrepreneur

Whether you are well versed in litigation, or the complexities of our legal system or not, having a general understanding of the legal implications surrounding your business or industry is extremely important. The litigious society and governmental regulatory environment we are experiencing today is more impactful and visible than any other time in our history. The list of potential legal issues and liabilities for any small business owner has never been more significant, and impacts the way companies are run and structured. The entertainment industry is experiencing growth, but is becoming more and more complicated, with distribution issues, social networking issues, etc. all related to copyrights, trademarks, patents, and licensing. These legal issues have always been around, but they have become complex and economically impactful with the evolution and growth of technology, media, and society. One other industry under serious legal scrutiny is the financial institutions and the regulations of funds and banks, because the recent financial crisis has finally revealed the serious fraud issues that have become common practice over the past decade.
Being a diligent and vigilant entrepreneur in this environment requires you to stay apprised of the legal issues and changes within your industry. Doing so can help minimize risk and liability, and be able to grow and adapt your company without any shocks or surprises which could bring it crashing down over night.
Whether you have major legal resources, friends as lawyers, or neither, being ignorant to the legal and political landscape is just bad business sense. Regardless of resources or not, todays technologically connected, globalized society, there are ample amounts of free legal resources online to make sure you are up to date. Recently I have been listening to legal podcasts online, which have increased my awareness and knowledge of the legal issues surrounding the Entertainment and financial industries.
There are an abundance of materials, from online legal platforms such as leagalzoom.com, to government websites, to free podcasts available on individual websites or Itunes. I utilized the podcasts which were both available free online and on Itunes, these podcast last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I utilized the Entertainment Law Podcast by Gordon P. Firemark, the Trademark & Copyright Law forum by Thomson Compumark, and the Clayton UTZ podcast which deals with hedge funds legal issues.
Gordon P. Firemark is a well renound Entertainment Lawyer, who uses his podcast platform to engage a variety of issues across the entertainment industry, utilizing news, legal cases, and special guests for insights and analysis. In his episode Law update 20 on May 11, 2011 titled Tattoos and Topiaries, there was a variety of interesting examples and insights. This episode talked about the Bratz dolls property rights, copyright infringements for the movie Alien vs Predators and more. Perhaps the most interesting example deals with the copyright infringement case involving Mike Tysons tattoo artist Victor Whitmill and the use of his design in the second rendition of the Hangover. These stories and examples really give you a good idea of the scope of protection required in todays legal environment.
The second podcast I utilized was the podcast titled : “Technology agreements that work”. This podcast really gave me a good in depth analysis, regarding the evaluations, drafting, negotiations, and enforcement of complex technology agreements. This really applies to all businesses, but technology agreements can involve many people and have many contingencies which are important so that you business can produce assets instead of liabilities.
The third podcast was one produced by and Australian Law firm Clayton Utz, in a series of podcasts that discuss the issues surrounding insolvent hedge funds and equity funds around the world. Podcast 3: “Riding the wave of insolvency, narrated by Jennifer Ball a partner in the firm, addresses the major issues with certain funds around the world, utilizing legal and business experts around the world. In this they highlight the importance of certain regulations that need to be changed, as well as the major issues of locating and distributing funds, which have become increasingly adept at hiding and allocating their funds in offshore accounts around the world.

There are plenty of resources out there, both free and costly, regardless, ignorance is not bliss when it comes to lawsuits and your business. The idea is that it is necessary to stay up to date on your knowledge of the evolving legal landscape, and keeping your personal life and business in line with such expectations and ideals.

Funding any entrepreneurial venture has become increasingly litigious and complicated, especially with the credit markets and banks tightening their lending policies since the Financial meltdown of 2008. Hedge funds and private equity firms have had to pick up some of the slack, where credit is dry, such firms look for opportunities to capitalize with favorable deals and the use of leverage. Leverage and high demands of return by investment firms has led to many more contracts becoming increasingly more specific and complex among Financiers, Business partners, project contractors, etc. Such complex agreements, along with the volatility and uncertainties throughout the investment industry is making for and even for difficult time when disputes reach the courtroom.
Many hedge funds and equity firms run things properly and ethically and do not create any problems within the industry. Some are powerful enough and have enough capital to create seismic shift throughout the markets. Some are just run by crooks and swindlers who feel they can do as they please with investor’s funds. Those few rotten funds, run by shady executive have brought quite a bit of attention and shame recently, whether it has been by defrauding longtime investors of their life savings in a ponzi scheme, inflating their books, offshore tax shelters, or downright not living up to their contracts or agreements.
A few of these cases provide examples of how you should and should not handle such legal situations. I feel in many cases, lawsuits can be avoided, obviously by being open and ethical, but if a lawsuit is threatened, you should do everything within your power to make sure it gets worked on outside of court to limit the negative press toward your firm or business. In the case of the Aramid Entertainment fund manager David Molner this has not worked. David Molner and one of his top Movie investors are now embroiled in a serious lawsuit which has been filed in both New York and L.A. because other investors are now concerned, with the funds value being depressed by hidden offshore accounts and shareholder suspicion which has limited the funds effectiveness to conduct normal business.
Another example of this, is the lawsuit between Shawn Carter (Jay-z) and Highland Capital management, a hedge fund out of Dallas, Texas. The firm secured a loan of around $52,000,000 dollars to buy and renovate a Boutique Hotel in the Chelsea district of New York. Highland Capital defaulted on the loan as they lost funds and could not live up to their bargain, effectively sabotaging Jay-z’s plans for the hotel, and the money already invested in to the project! Yes it is understandable if for outside factors that you default, however this company has a history of holding investors hostage and not delivering on contracted agreements.
All hedge funds need to operate more openly and ethically, by creating a comforting and straight forward environment for successful investing. Some firms have shown their inability to do this, and their complete disregard for the clients money they manage. If you want to have a successful investment company it is imperative that you conduct business in a manner that is productive and transparent, not secretive and shady.

The evolution of social media has really affected the way businesses grow, operate, and interact with their customers and fans. Social media and the ability to connect on a whole new level with consumers and proven clientele has changed the entire Marketing and media landscape for good! Every industry from hotels, to large corporations, small businesses and projects have their own unique ability to target their market and grow. All business owners can utilize and quantify the information they gather to address customer concerns, meet certain demands, and engage their brand on a whole new level. Aside from the immense effect social media has had on the Marketing aspects of growing a company, it has revolutionized the entire way entrepreneurs and CEO’s react and develop their company’s identity and brand through crowdsourcing and crowd funding.
The crowdsourcing phenomenon has given entrepreneur’s an
unprecedented resource with the ability to tailor your company exactly how your consumers and you find best. Websites like Kickstarter, Talenthouse, LaunchHub, Kiva, Media predict, Ideas culture, and TwitterOpera among many other emerging sites, which allow entrepreneurs to literally source and connect with random willing consumers for anything. The majority of the projects solicit Financing, creative direction, logo design, marketing strategy, to even contracting jobs. In some cases “the crowd” has financed and directed entire movies, and in at least one case the consumers designed and created and entire restaurant and bar! The possibilities are endless now that companies and small businesses have the ability to access data and receive feedback almost instantaneously! Some shows on CNBC, ESPN, are even utilizing it these days to direct questions in interviews and drive polls and content amongst the media. “The Crowd” has spoken and no matter whether your business in private or public consumer and clientele relations will be changed forever!

I met Tom Herter by sheer chance, he and his partners just happened to be staying at our hotel in Indianapolis during the weekend of the Indianapolis 500 closing a new deal with the NFL for their company Eye Level Interactive. As a young Entrepreneur or business professional, you need to take any and every opportunity to expand your network and showcase your talents and abilities. I had noticed Mr. Herter’s Super Bowl ring and NFL Players Association blazer and decided to inquire. It just so happened that Mr. Herter Lives in Orlando, Florida, where I just moved, soo we immediately hit it off. He gave me his information and we have talked and emailed multiple times since. I met with Mr. Herter and his assistant this past Friday July 22, 2011 to discuss his new company as well as the historic day in which the NFL labor negotiations had ended.
Mr. Herter is the Vice president of the NFL players association in Florida and had won 2 Super Bowls both as a Player and a coach. He also owns several businesses including Pak Mail franchises, an Arena Football team, Champion sports training facility, and now he is Vice President of Eye Level Interactive. We spoke about the intense nature of the NFL negotiations and what it took to get such a long and arduous deal signed off and sealed. He believed that the solidarity and unity of the players and owners was essential, for the sheer fact that both sides were at least on the same page with their constituents and knew what each side was looking for. The mutual respect and mutual benefit were also key factors in the negotiations, respect was crucial to the players who had earned it, and both sides understood that the popularity of their sport was at an all time high and there was too much money to be lost by both sides had they let their ego’s get the best of them! This insight into one of the most historic labor negotiations in recent memory was amazing. But I was most interested in my potential role with Eye level Interactive.
Mr. Herter explained to me his role with Eye level, which was to open the door to licensing negotiations. Eye Level has patented E-reader barcode tag, which is a new social marketing application on Consumers cell phones, which can connect consumers with their favorite companies and brands through one click. The main goal of the meeting was to see if I could get involved in this brand new company, which was founded in January and has already generated over $200 million in revenue. The company only has a few employees and I wanted to continue to grow my network, get involved on the ground floor to learn and maximize my potential, and then utilize my connections and network to be a viable asset to this new company. I began by expressing my interest in all new businesses when I first met Mr. Herter, expressing my love and passion for investing. I also showed my appreciation and intrigue for new and promising technologies, which is why I believe Mr. Herter wanted to get together and discuss this potential. Little did I know, he really wanted me to work for Eye Level, which only has about 6 employees as of now. I knew that my affiliation with certain entities and my connections with the IRL, Mountain Dew, Simon malls, and Live Nation would be appreciated and could be used as leverage when discussing my potential role. My knowledge of Marketing and Finance also helped me significantly, but when I began to spit out ideas and potential clients for the company he was very excited and even offered me a huge percentage of commissions. Utilizing my experiences and connections we had an amazing meeting and conversation, which will hopefully lead to some great deals and tremendous personal growth, thanks to my negotiating and social tactics.

People too often go through life’s great experiences and difficulties, asking themselves why. To often people are ignorant to their abilities, they shy away from opportunities, and disregard wisdom imparted from our elders feeling it does not apply. The world and society revolves and moves in cycles with people constantly repeating the same mistakes, not learning from the mistakes of our predecessors. This fact is something that separates the successful from the unsuccessful, and the Happy from the Unhappy.

The people who are truly happy in life generally have been successful doing something they love or enjoy, and if happiness is not enough, monetary success often relieves many of their burdens, which can facilitate more success and happiness. In the Book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki He talks about the importance of learning from the Rich and what they have done right in order to be successful. Each person has his or her own definition of success, and it may not be monetary. The path to success is never certain or clearly defined, however listening and learning from those who have had previous success is crucial, not just understanding what they did right but learning from what they did wrong. This pro-active approach is often why generations Rich and wealthy elude the trappings of fiscal irresponsibility and the rat race that represents the monotony of working society today. The successful understand this and put emphasis on education and hard work, not just in school, but in society and business which is something not taught in school. In today’s world the resources, principles, and ideas are there regardless if you are wealthy or not. Being able to analyze, understand and apply the principles that have been successful to your individual circumstance is significant in order to remove the habits and attitudes which have mired complacent people in a constant maze of normalcy.

There are many examples of people and principles that Rich Dad Poor Dad has generalized into a philosophy of principles and ideals that work. But it matters most how you apply these principles individually. Russell Simmons has Five rules for getting “Super Rich”, which he has tried to preach to his children as well as the youth of America in his new book “Super Rich: A Guide to having it All”. Russell Simmons was a self made Entrepreneur, who followed his heart and his passion so that he could not only set him self apart from the rat race of life, but be successful and happy doing something he loves. He started out loving music with the creation of Deaf Jam records, and his Business acumen grew as he gained experience eventually creating a huge business empire, something he credits to following his principles and surrounding himself with the right people. He believes the people you surround yourself with is the most important thing whether you are learning for them or they are working for you, the quality of your human capital in your life is crucial.
“Russell Simmons top Principles for Super Richness”
1. Give your talents until they cant live without it
2. Relentlessly pursue your goals without appearing Needy
3. If you don’t love it leave it alone
4. Let go of the results: people often overanalyze the results and not the work itself, if you have quality work you will often have quality results.
5. Get open: Live with an open mind.

Life, history, and experience, all play a huge role in learning about the realities of society and success. There are many human and physical tools out their for people to learn from. Just because your parents, friends, or even yourself are not or have not been successful is not a reason for you to not try or carry on the tradition. It is a reason to go out in the world gain experience learn from positive influences and mold your own reality of success and gratification much the way Russell Simmons, and many others have done before and after him.

Part of being an Entrepreneur is marching at the beat of your own drum, following your own instincts, insights, and the voice in the back of your head that knows where your life should be headed, not where some Corporation wants to direct your life. Nigel Marsh a writer and motivational speaker gave an inspiring speech at the TED conference in Sydney in 2010. His message was simply “Balance your life, Balance your career”.

Marsh, like most people around the world, was living and imbalanced life with the most skewed portion of his life more heavily imbalanced toward his work and career. Corporate America is designed to try and get the most out of their employees in terms of time and efficiency. Entrepreneurs and those in corporate America need to have a better understanding what is truly valuable in life and the reason why most people work so hard.

The point is whether in life or business you must take a personal inventory on what is truly important in life and what your true motivation is for success and what you are willing to do for your goals and what you are willing to sacrifice for what is important. If you Find Balance in your life, you will find more happiness, meaning, and satisfaction for what you are doing in your career or business. This is especially important for Entrepreneurs because often times they can become over consumed by their business and goal and forget the reason they are doing them. It is understandable that you will be passionate about your business and it may take up a significant amount of time, however it is important to realize that timing is crucial for balance. Thus you must make the time and learn to say no and take control of what matters, and if you do not have a family and your business is everything and that makes you happy, then live at the office! But if your family and marriage are negatively affected it may be time to re-assess your goals and outlook on life.

Brands have always been a part of Business since the beginning of the industrial age. Companies, and famous influencers have always been able to promote their brand and thus increase the financial capital of their business. Entrepreneurs, celebrities, and politician have also utilized their exposure in order to increase the human capital of their personal brands and individual reputations. A prime example of this would be Donald Trump, who has spent years developing a personal brand around his persona and human capital, first by building wealth through business then exploiting his name to create a worldwide brand of consumer products, television shows, resorts, real estate, etc.
Obviously Trump's brand took years and a lot hard work to create, a quality, which is still important today in order to create a colossal brand such as Donald Trump, Coca-Cola, Ralph Lauren, or even Google. However the difference is, that today there are so many resources with the advancement, accessibility, and availability of technology such as smart phones, tablets, and smart tv’s, Social media and the evolution of established media through this technology has changed the game forever. Perhaps the best example of this would be the last presidential election. Barrack Obama was a seemingly unknown and inexperienced congressman who had a sparse political track record. Ten years ago Obama would have remained and unknown and would have been shuffled out of the political picture in the primaries. With the use of modern technology and social media, the Obama camp produced an unprecedented campaign, which built a personal political brand seemingly overnight. Thus it is important more than ever to begin utilizing modern resources to promote your personal brand in order to boost your human capital, whether your aspirations are to be President of the country, CEO of a company, or even just a viable job applicant in todays society.
Regardless of your aspirations human capital is often one of the most overlooked asset classes, mostly because it is not definitively measured because it is an asset that is quite tangible and circumstantial. No matter what your position in life, your experiences, talents, insight, and personal vision are of some value, which is why it is important to work hard, pursue knowledge, and promote your abilities to the fullest extent. It is also important not just to promote your abilities through modern technology, but manage and regulate the use of this technology because it can hurt your human capital as much as it can help it. It is important to utilize the modern resources such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. in order to promote your personal brand, unique ideas, and stay connected. It is even more important to do so in a smart and strategic way by promoting yourself in a positive light.