Maverick Miles & Musings
Happy New Year!
We had a great showing for our annual M3 Summit held this year in Jamaica. We conducted a little experiment with Villa living and having multiple Mavericks in the same place with common areas. It ended up being really cool except for team flags being stolen within hours of being outside their villas.
So many amazing highlights from Jamaica.
For me personally, the day we went to Chris Blackwells’ private farm, Pantrepant, was really extraordinary.
The allure of Pantrepant’s comes from the isolation and the feeling you are stepping back 300 years in history. In 1989, after selling Island records for $300 million, Pantrepant became a home and private retreat for Chris. The secluded 2,500 acres, river, natural water hole and wildlife was the perfect backdrop for a place he could unwind with friends such as Bono, Grace Jones and Bob Marley’s family.
The Mavericks got the opportunity to hang in the private swimming hole, after which they came back to an amazing farm-to-table meal. A few of us hung back for the chance to engage in some really candid and uncensored conversations with Chris. Those kind of ‘chance’ encounters that come about in authentic ways, something beyond a keynote presentations, get me really excited.
Chris jetted back from New York a day early just to be there with Mavericks. He has never really liked the spotlight so we didn’t get a chance to do a full-blown Q&A presentation for everyone but he did share a pretty funny Bono story. He said he’s never seen anything like it. It happened once 20 years ago and then again 4 months ago. Bono played his whole album for Chris and did a singing voice over for him. Almost Karaoke-like.
The passing of a Freedom Fighter
While we were having dinner we found out Nelson Mandela had passed away.
We held a revered, moment of silence to honor this great man. It was especially poignant for me since I had just returned from South Africa a few months previously. I told the group about a flight I shared with one of the most prominent architects in South Africa, Loyanda Mphalwa.
He was in the ANC and was picked up for demonstrations against apartheid. Before being given any attorneys or due process, he was tortured and forced to make a confession against his friends. But when the time came for his trial he would not confess. So back into jail he went for 5 years this time. It was at Robben Island outside Cape Town, the same jail where Nelson Mandela spent so much time.
My seat-mate told me he could have come out 2 different ways from prison. One being bitter and broken or more resolute and convinced that apartheid needed to be ended. It’s a pretty incredible story of how meaning drives our lives. His name is Luyanda Mpaphway and today he’s one of the most prominent architects in South Africa designing embassies and other iconic buildings. I asked him if he had confessed, did he believe he would be where he is today and he told me flat out – ‘NO’.
As “chance” would have it, Austin Bisnow, a musician I know from DC was at the farm with Chris. And a friend of Austin’s, Adam Schmalholz – better known as IN-Q, was there also. He’s a LA-based, actor, teacher, songwriter, and award winning spoken word artist. He has been featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and has written for some of today’s biggest pop stars. There is no doubt – The man’s got talent. I asked Adam if he’d be willing to do a spoken word performance for us and he agreed. It was truly one of those amazing and powerful moments in time/space for everyone. In fact, as Adam talked about birds flying during one stanza, a whole flock of white birds exploded over the horizon at just that moment.
It was a quick spur-of-the-moment performance, one that Alex Kane captured on audio if you want to listen or re-listen to this powerful message here: www.Maverick1000.com/spokenword
Chris Blackwell
After jumping back on the bus, we got ready for the Pato Pool Party with International Reggae Star Pato Banton!
Many of the Mavericks still have “Pato and Yanik Come Again” stuck in their heads. I love Pato, and performing with him while sharing his message and music with the Mavericks was really special.
But even more special was what this created…
Unknown to me, Damien Zamora (Maverick #154), is a huge fan of Pato. He had gone to see him perform multiple times, which spurred a plan. Pato also happens to be a minister, which inspired a little seed of an idea to have Nikki and Damien get engaged (and maybe even married) be planted.
Sophia went to work on incorporating an engagement into the ‘Jamaica-me Crazy’ Race, during which and Black team was told to stay back for some ‘cheating’ that went on. Well, by the time they arrived at our villa, we had planted a ring at the bottom of our pool. There were extra points if a Grandmother dove for the object and Nikki just happened to be the only grandmother. So in she went and Damien proposed there by the side of the pool. It was awesome!
The best part is they decided to get married the next day on the sunset Catamaran cruise with Pato officiating the wedding. Yes our very first Maverick wedding! That’s pretty epic and incredible. Damien told me later on that I helped make his dream come true. There were only 2 people he’d love to marry him and those were the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Pato Banton. Pretty cool and wonderful that Damien and Nikki would want to share that moment with the Mavericks. It’s incredible how Maverick has become more like a family than anything else.
I know when I left Jamaica I was a bit sad but I knew we’d be back.
Just in the same way that Chris Blackwell truly loves Jamaica and wants to showcase it, I feel like even after a few days on the island we’ve grown extremely fond of the place. I think you’ll be seeing some more ways for Mavericks to be involved and help light even more entrepreneurial fires there. Jason Katzenback #XX and I were having some ongoing conversations about using his ‘Amazing Selling Machine’ training to help indigenous communities like the Rastafarian village we visited get their products out to the world via Amazon. And also use locally trained tech teams to do the behind-the-scenes work.
All these little ripples and impact pieces are coming together, in fact, that’s part of my…
New Year’s World Resolutions
I don’t how many Mavericks make New Year’s resolutions but I’ve never really done it. I believe you don’t need to wait for a calendar to turn over in order to change your actions. You can do it daily. (In fact, that was one of the pieces I presented on at our annual M3 Summit in Jamaica. You can see a detailed explanation of my “Return Path to Joy, Happiness and Bliss” here – www.YanikSilver.com/returnpath along with a v2.0 of a daily worksheet.)
But I have had a big idea brewing, so instead of New Year’s resolutions, I jotted down this in my journal at 12:02 AM, Jan 1, 2014:
What if instead of New Year’s resolutions we started thinking about ‘New World Resolutions’. Some way that we were going to have an impact on creating a whole New Earth. What would you contribute?
The best part is you couldn’t break your resolution because it’s a lifelong journey and encompasses your entire life’s mission, if you choose it right. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this and one of my favorite books this year has been “The Great Work of Your Life” by Stephen Cope. (Read it!)
It’s not exactly a business book but really important. Written by the Director of the Institute for Extraordinary Living at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, it’s a book that uses the 2,000 year old class Bhagavad Gita to help you ascertain your true path or Dharma.
Part of the message of this book is doing the work that you will put your entire heart and soul into. In doing this, you don’t need to worry about the success or failure of the outcome. It’s about finding your unique contribution and living it. I’ve repeatability underlined quotes in this book and have put lots of notes in the margins.
If you were to peek in my journal, you would see I wrote…
“Mine is co-creating business models, catalyzing and connecting entrepreneurs to solve the biggest social issues and global causes. 100 by the year 2100.”
Not quite a full sentence – so elaborating a little more something like…
I connect Mavericks entrepreneurs and visionary leaders to co-create innovative business models and new ideas to solve 100 of the world’s most impactful issues by the year 2100.
That’s a pretty tall order, one that I’m willing to put forth my resources, energy and talents towards. Something I think everything I do can line up against.
Why?
It’s not just an altruistic feel-good goal but a legitimate business model I’m calling Evolved Enterprise™
Business in the 21st century can be leveraged as a multiplier for good…co-creating something great. The Evolved Enterprise™ serves all stakeholders delivering an exceptional customer experience, team alignment, cause-related impact, greater meaning and even increased profits.
And I wrote “Give 100%. Fulfilling your destiny of greatness”
The 100% part stems from something I’m not that keen to admit: I don’t think I’ve ever truly given 100%. I can see an interesting pattern looking back on my life. For instance in college, I’d go out the night before a big exam, come in last into the lecture hall, borrow a pencil and be the first one out. Even with that – I’d still get a solid B. And with my businesses, I’ve always done well and overdelivered but I’ve never given my everything. If I’m being totally honest, it’s probably because that leaves a little room to justify results if they are not what you hoped for.
Now as I mentioned before, echoing the Great Work of Your Life book – by putting your full essence behind something, you let go of the outcome because your full effort is reward by itself.
Looking at my unique abilities, resources, network, R&D, etc. everything’s been leading up to connecting the dots. And this Evolved Enterprise™ year 2100 project is it.
As I’ve said numerous times, I believe Mavericks are on an interconnected Destiny of Greatness and through the unique collisions of big ideas and incredible individuals, we can co-create something meaningful. For some reason, we’ve been drawn together and perhaps it’s to uncover our biggest contribution yet.
With 2014 starting off – my immediate focus is on making sure you are getting 10X – 100X in value from Maverick.
Among other enhancements, you’ll see a new 40/40 Foresight Group coming together to assist you. I’m calling it the 40/40 Foresight Group because you’ve heard the expression Hindsight is 20/20 but with the 40/40 group you don’t know what you don’t know until you need it.
We’ve put together experts and insiders that will assist Mavericks in opening new sales channels (ie. online banners, mobile, direct mail, radio, etc), giving insight as needed while you continue to grow in culture, operations, etc. We are also working with a few key partners who will help with business exits. You’ll be able to get ‘Office Hours’ with different Maverick members and a few of my friends like Cameron Herold, grew 1-800-Got Junk from $3M – $100M+ as COO, Brian Kurtz, mailed over 1.3 Billion direct mail pieces, Ryan Holiday, responsible for some of the biggest PR influxes for authors and experts, Oren Klaff, author ‘Pitch Anything’ and has raised over $400MM for deals done, etc. I’ll be sharing full details soon. (Note: if you’d like to provide office hours and think you fit this – let us know.)
On a bigger picture side of supporting your Destiny of Greatness, your 3X Retreats will be focused around 3 major areas 21st century visionaries & Mavericks need:
|
Grow |
Lead |
Innovate |
| Predictable Sales | Culture | Creativity |
| Brand Building | Strategy | Astonishment Architecture™ |
| Maverick Moguls (i.e. Empire Building like Russell Simmons, Richard Branson, etc) | Mission and Vision | Gamification |
| Licensing and Leverage | Hero’s Journey | Blue Ocean Innovation |
| Story Selling | Evolved Enterprise™ | New Business Model Generation |
| Communities of Zealots and Super Fans | Operations & Traction | |
| Digital Demand Generation |
The annual M3 Summit will be about re-inventing yourself.
I’m also highly focused with the advisory board on a new Maverick Impact Fund 2.0 and how we can create a more direct and sustainable giving through the fund.
As you can tell, there are quite a few big things happening on our continuing journey together – thanks so much for being part of it. Make sure you block out dates for all the events, adventures, experiences and retreats for 2014. www.Maverick1000.com/calendar
All the best!
Yanik
P.S. Know this guy?
Here’s How to Get Invited to a Private Yoga Session and Q&A with Hip-Hop Mogul, Russell Simmons
As an advocate for Maverick1000, we want to reward you with something pretty extraordinary…
During the next 3X Multiplier Retreat (May 6-8, 2014 in Los Angeles) we’ve arranged an opportunity to hang with Russell Simmons for a private meeting, Yoga session and uncensored Q&A.
Russell is a true mogul and empire builder. He is probably best known for partnering with Rick Rubin to create Def Jam Records, and signing artists like the Beastie Boys, L.L. Cool J, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. In 1999, he sold his stake in Def Jam Records for $100 million.
Not content to stay with one endeavor, Russell created other ventures including Phat Farm clothing company, television shows, a management company, a magazine and an advertising agency. And in 2004, he sold Phat Farm for $140 million.
Even better, he fits the Maverick mold. Russell is also an active philanthropist. He helped found the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, the Rush Philanthropic Organization and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. He’s a strict vegan and yoga enthusiast – so that’s why we’re going to be taking part in one of his favorite activities instead of a boring keynote.
Maverick is making a sizable contribution to his Rush Foundation, which supports education and the arts for underserved communities. But the stipulation is that Russell prefers a very small group to allow for intimate interactions during the yoga experience. We have 20 spots currently available (at some we’ll fill you in on how you can sign up) but for now we’re giving away 3 spots as the prize for the next referral contest.
All you have to do is refer friends or colleagues that you think are a good fit for Maverick1000 membership and you could be 1 of 20 people to partake in this exclusive experience with Russell.
Here’s how you can win your spot for the Yoga session and Q&A:
Grand Prize Winner #1 – Russell Simmons VIP experience: You’ll get to attend the Yoga experience and Q&A as my co-host. That means after the yoga session when it’s time for Q&A – it’ll be you and me in front of the room with Russell asking questions and getting his insights. Plus, I want to make sure that your 3X Retreat is even better by upgrading your room at the event hotel in LA. (To qualify for the upgrade, you need to bring in a minimum of 3 new members.)
The Grand Prize is pretty simple – if you bring in the most new members during the contest you win. And if there’s a tie, we’ll hold a run-off for the winner.
Winner #2: VIP experience with Russell: For every new member you refer, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of these 3 spots at the Russell Simmons Yoga experience. So the more members you bring in the more chances you’ll have to win!
Winner #3: Your Friends & Colleagues Can Win Too!
We want to reward the new members you bring in, too. So every new Maverick1000 member that’s referred in will automatically be entered into a random draw to win a spot here. Not only do you get the chance to change their lives, but also help them have another incredible experience.
Here’s Where to Send Your Referrals:
A personal endorsement and recommendation goes a long way so please just introduce your referrals to our DNA Decoder, Ian Lingwood – ian@maverick1000.com. Ian’s job is to make sure new members are the right fit and have the Maverick DNA. And Ian cannot even take a credit card, so it’s never a hard-sell.
Just a reminder about the criteria of Maverick1000 members. We’re only looking for successful entrepreneurs with $1M+ businesses, who are innovative game changers in some way. Plus, the higher caliber the people you refer – the stronger and more powerful the entire Maverick network becomes!
And if you want to make sure to get one of the 20 spots for this event by making a donation, let us know and we’ll reserve your spot!
