"I was getting Ds and Fs and the world was telling me I was a loser. My teachers were telling me I was a loser, my friend's parents wouldn't tell me to face that I was a loser but I could see it in their eye.

They didn't think I would be successful because the game I played unlike today's game, in the 80's, early 90's was school was the way out." — Gary Vaynerchuk.

The author of the quote above is now of the most prominent businessmen in the world. His company, Vayner Media attracts all kinds of big conglomerations that are seeking some assistance with their marketing strategy so that they keep up to current trends and stay in the game.

“You have to market in the year that you live in.” You can often hear him say.

A few years ago, he was recounting the story of trying to convince a huge mega-franchise called Blockbuster to purchase a little crazy thing called Netflix, for a more than reasonable sum of money.

Here’s their response: We’ll pass.

Looking at what Netflix represents today in relationship to a few millions at the beginning of a trend, it becomes clear that they missed on the mother of all steals.

The world is changing fast, and it will change even faster as we hit the bell curve, so you either move fast or the wave passes you by.

As the infamous expression goes: Adapt or die. And if you don’t believe me ask yourself this:

When is the last time you went to the Blockbuster to rent a movie?

Location, Location, Location

In 1974, Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, was asked to speak to the MBA class at university of Texas at Austin. My friend was a student in that class. After a powerful and inspiring talk, the class adjourned and the students asked Ray if he would join them at their favorite hangout to have a few beers. Ray graciously accepted.

“What business am I in?” Ray asked, once the group all had their beers in hand. No one answered, so Ray asked the question again. "What business do you think I am in?”

The students laughed, and finally someone said, “Ray, who in the world doesn't know that you’re in the hamburger business.”

Ray chuckled. “That is what I thought you would say.” He paused and then quickly said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m not in the hamburger business. My business is real estate.” — Robert Kiyosaki

In the past century location, location, location was the Rosetta stone upon the which business were built, and to some degree it's still as valid today, mostly for location-based business such as coffee shops, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels… They all depend on their strategic placement.

Nowadays however, you can find are all sorts of independent businesses literally at your finger tips, you can even hire someone to pick up your groceries if you want to.

You need time, someone else needs money, and so you enter in a mutually beneficial voluntary exchange. This phenomenon has been in a constant rise in the last years, one can even say that it’s making entrepreneurship cool again.

You see, with the rise of social networking the game has changed, you are a musician/entrepreneur, you’re a writer/entrepreneur, a software engineer/entrepreneur. You are your own brand.

But it wasn’t always like that.

Talking about social networks, if you indulge me a curious observation, it’s funny to look back how even in the movie The Social Network there was ironically a scene where Napster founder Sean Parker (character played by Justin Timberlake) confessed that he was entrepreneur, only to cause this reaction.. "So, unemployed?"

It’s easy to forget but entrepreneurship had a seriously bad rep barely a few years ago, it was almost a dirty word. The opening quote of this post is a prime example of that.

Back then the name of the game was playing it safe. Get a degree, get a job, get a house, a Rolex when you’re fifty, and off you go. Nothing to worry about.

Or so we were told.

Everywhere you looked, tap your home equity, tap your home equity... Even in TV shows: Tap your freakin’ home equity! But I guess that’s what you get when you take your financial advice from a desperate housewife who above all, is purely fictional.

These days everyone is an entrepreneur, form the Uber driver that takes you to the airport, to the host that sublets you the apartment to the freelance designer that makes your logos... But it wasn’t always like that. A case can be argued that the economic crisis has played a part in paving the way to mass adoption because necessity is the mother of invention, and that with every action there is an opposite reaction.

Strange Times

I decided to leave Spain early, in 2008 to be exact. Back in the good ol' days when the economic crisis was still a conspiracy theory. But shortly thereafter they did in fact finally admit that we've entered recession, and from there the game plan was clear.

It's only a temporary situation, they said. "Everything is gonna be back to normal in six months".

Wait! Where have we heard this thing before?

Let me quote something for you, see if it sounds familiar:

Step one: Deny the fact all together (We are not lying about WMDs; There is no economic crisis; Don’t be ridiculous, no one is spying on you...)

You've heard the spiel, I'm sure.

Step2: Accept the fact but claim that it would be only temporary (We will leave Iraq in less than 6 months; The crisis will be over in less than 6 months, this is nothing but a temporary measure...)

And step 3: Accept the fact and deny all responsibility.

Be that as it may, I wasn't gonna stick around to watch it occur, I've seen that movie before, and as you can see, it's not a good movie. And as all bad movies go, the ending was very predictable.

Only that for me, it wasn't about the ending, it was about the sub-plot, and more importantly about the extras.

The part they had to play is a very difficult one, it’s emotionally draining: Denial, frustration and constant complaints about the very things that they not only ferociously denied, but loudly ridiculed.

Combine that with the inability to find solutions and there you sit, completely helpless.

Helpless but hopeful, hopeful that the protests will bring change, that the new president will bring change, that the other candidate will bring change, that the new fringe party will bring change, and finally end up too tired and worn out to react when it matters the most...

But I was wrong. There was an alternative ending to the story.

I was wrong because I never stopped to entertain the thought that necessity is the mother of all inventions. Some people invent and react positively to the situation, and some complain and let their emotions get the best of them.

Whenever that happens try to surround yourself with the first group.

That was several years ago and since then I’ve spent some considerable time in all continents to learn about myself and about the world. While I was gone, many of my friends and acquaintances back in Spain now all have location independent jobs.

In a way, they all became entrepreneurs, they started taking control of their own lives, they embraced they very same thing they were taught to dread.

But for that to happen a solid chunk of time had to pass in order to make it okay for them to let go of the emotional baggage and for change to outweigh the old narrative.

And more importantly to watch other people embrace the new trends so they can stop fearing them.

Timing is the New Location.

While it’s important to be ahead of the curve, it’s also equally important not to be 200 steps ahead of the customers.

And since we’re on the subject of timing and location, we must recall that the largest real estate agency on the planet Airbnb was about to fail back in 2009. Look at them now! Currently, Airbnb ranks third on the list of venture capital backed start-ups that have a value that is counted in Billions.

What changed? Crowd mentality. People are now ready for this, they weren’t in 2009.

Steemit also has timing as a great asset, Bitcoin paved the way and dealt with a lot of the fears, the judgment, and the thousands of people constantly predicting it’s imminent demise. Now crypto-currencies are a reality of everyday life, and as time passes, public adoption will only grow further.

The timing is great not only on the currency aspect. Look around, there has never been a time with more bloggers, freelance artists than the era we live in. Add to that the social aspect of having millions of people around the world who just want to tell their story.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget what we have when we’re busy doing other things.

I for one, I’m happy to be here and enjoy this beautiful experience, and if you ask me, this is just the beginning, and I hope that one day, we can look back at this time as the opening chapter of something revolutionary.

I hope you will be there too!

We Shall Meet There

Image Sources: 1 – 2 – 3– 4– 5