Inspiration Log

This is a standalone resource where I make a laundry list of everything that inspires me.

If you haven't read the rest of my blog already, I'd recommend starting there. The rest of my blog posts are related to my work. This one has a strong mix of inspiration outside work, and it's also a work-in-progress.

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Books

Panchantantra

This is an ancient collection of children stories that had a huge impact on my life. Each story is interconnected to the next one and teaches kids about moral values like friendship and trust. My father narrated one story to me and my brother every night growing up. I can't find the original texts online but when I do, I'll link to it.

Horse Sense by Jack Trout

If you've read my piggybacking article, you know I'm a fan of this method to grow companies. You don't need to read the entire book to get the point.

Inside Intuit

They actually wrote a book about the early days. There are some direct marketing ads in there, and you can see how different Intuit was to everyone else that was building then.

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Companies

Uniqlo

Uniqlo's cost of goods sold makes up 53% of their total revenue. This is significantly higher than other fashion companies like Ralph Lauren or Zara, so they're a much better value for money. Marketing spend is only at 3%. Uniqlo made it's founder the wealthiest person in Japan. I like companies that operate like this.

Reformation

There tagline is "Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We're #2." Masterful copywriting. Uses the fewest possible words to get the message out.

ASUS

They make computers. Taiwanese company. ASUS blows out all other laptops I've ever used in my life. Customer service is excellent. To give you context: Asus will send someone home to fix things if all I do is send an email. On the other hand, Apple will force me to call someone and spend 2 hours trying to screenshare. And they might not even solve the problem. There are a thousand more features than my 16" Macbook Pro and surprisingly faster too than the 48GB Apple Silicon I have. I'm impressed by their engineering power and depth of service. But they're not easy to shop from.

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People

Diana Stegall

I enjoyed her podcast 'Land of Desire' about French history, culture, and food. The storytelling and production was the best I've ever seen. She currently works as a senior editor in tech.

Biswa

This is an Indian comedian. I wanted to try my hand at standup comedy, improv (or atleast bringing humor in marketing) and found a youtube playlist of him teaching comedy. It's not pretty to look at, but this is the only available version today.

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Quotes

Tur i oturen

This is a Swedish quote that literary translates to "luck in bad luck". It's like the lady that had a heart attack on a flight (bad luck) but there were 15 cardiac surgeons on the same flight since they were all heading to the same conference in LA so she was okay (good luck). I heard it on a podcast lately and thought it was cool enough to bookmark.

घमण्डी का कोई ईश्वर नहीं, ईर्ष्यालु का कोई पड़ोसी नहीं, क्रोधी का कोई मित्र नहीं

This is a Hindi (Indian) quote roughly translated to "The arrogant has no God,

the envious has no neighbor, and the angry has no friend". It comes from the faith I follow and I like to remind myself to walk this path. I think I got it from the Bhagwat Geeta but it's been years so I'm not sure.

We are the ones we've been waiting for

Who will do it? You could be the answer.