The Espresso: Edition 94
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Wednesday May 18 2011

Letter from the Editor - Edition 94

Plan B

In a recent speech that I was delivering on 'Mojo' somebody talked about their dream and whether they should have a Plan B. I told the story of legendary jazz musician Wynton Marsalis . Marsalis is probably the greatest jazz musician of the modern era. As a little boy trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and become a jazz musician. His mama said 'yo don't wanna to do that otherwise yo gunna end up poor' so he went to his dad and asked what to do. His dad said 'the only piece of advice that i can give you is DO NOT have something to fall back on because to do what you want to do is going to be very, very, very hard and you're going to have to give it everything, if you have something to fall back on....you're going to fall back'! This is a poignant lesson for anyone who is going to chase their dreams. If you are going to move into unchartered territory with an original idea, then you are going to have to work very, very, very hard to make your dream a reality and to convince the stinkers that you can make it work. If you take on the entrepreneurial spirit the same principal applies. To have a fallback plan means that you are going to fall back. Having a fall back plan means that in your heart you are not putting everything into it because in your heart your not sure if it will work. Part of your conscious mind is elsewhere and not on getting the job done. One of the worlds greatest road cyclists Britain's Mark Cavendish is renowned for how many tour stage wins he has won at pro tours around the world. After winning a stage at the Tour De France last year he was asked who his greatest competitor would be in competing for the green jersey. He said "I don't know! If I worry about my competitors then it means I have less energy and attention put on the main job which is winning the race". He said "All I'm worried about right now is getting across the line first, I haven't got time or energy to worry about anyone else". The same thing applies to fallback plans. If your going to have a fall back plan then your going to fall back.

Health

Gymtastic

We have been following entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-loannou since he created EasyJet in the UK. He has since done the same thing with holiday cruise lining and now he has moved on to the fitness industry. Stellios is claiming to create a brand new category in fitness clubs called EasyGyms (surprise surprise). Currently only in the UK in very select spots he is about to roll out these gyms where you pay for the stuff you need and not the stuff that you don't. His premise is that people pay expensive fitness club membership fee's for things like swimming pools, spas and other add ons which they never use. Instead Stelios offers very competitive prices, no up front contracts and classes are pay as you go. Stelios is creating a fitness model where you pay for what you use rather than what is provided. An interesting model and knowing how well this entrepreneur has done so far its sure to be a rip-roaring success and one which is certain to be mimicked around the world. 

Art

Sewn into Culture

Levi's came to our attention last year when we talked about their cool television commercial which told the story of troubled times for the youth of America. Keeping with story telling and film, Levi's have just  launched their Levi's Film Workshop . Its a temporary venue in Los Angeles which aims to be a free venue for collaboration and creative production that celebrates the craft of filmmaking. Its housed inside the Geffin Contemporary Moca Building. Anyone is invited to use the workshop equipment, edit suites and other resources free of charge. Naturally the films are then uploaded to create a film workshop and platform for young creatives to express themselves. It's a very clever way for Levi's to imbed themselves in todays culture and whats more it has nothing to do with their product, it's all to do with their 'vibe'. 

Living

Name Your Space

In the past The Espresso has covered stories on minimisation and customisation. Here is a unique concept that surely must be a sign of things to come. Canadian architectural firm Sweeny Sterling Finlayson and co have created a new modular design for living spaces that allows them to adapt when needed. Called the FlexNatur , this condo is built with a combination of incremental squares where you can change the size of your residence depending on your needs. You can refigure your apartment to suit your needs at the time. There are raised floors for example that can be reconfigured without penetrating into the concrete sub-structure. Walls and ceilings plus your utilities are done in such a way that they can be moved painlessly in order to be reconfigured to suit how you would like your unit to look and feel. When you live there you can buy living space in increments and combine or divide up those increments to suit your current lifestyle need. So rather than how it is currently where what you see is what you get, this way if your circumstances change so does your living habitat. Amazing, innovate and we can't wait to see more of it. 

Technology

Print That Call

The Espresso is unashamedly part of the Apple tribe and when we saw this concept we thought it was pretty cool. We haven't used it so we don't know how well it works but we just thought we would share it. The concept is that there is a new dock that you can attach to your iPhone to make it an instant printer. This means that you can actually take a photo and print it from your iPhone immediately. At this stage it's only a concept by designer Mac Funamizu. It prints polaroid style prints straight from your phone. Its called Sophie . Apparently it fits snugly around your iPhone and the prints emerge from the bottom. Who knows whether they can create a need for this concept or not but it's great to watch the innovations around iPhone and iPad as they unroll. 

Retail

Full Body Scan

My Best Fit is setting up kiosks in malls across the States offering a free 20 second full body scan to allow you, the shopper to work out exactly what clothes size fits you best. Essentially stores sign up to the My Best Fit online shopping guide. You step into the booth fully dressed and then a vertical wand rotates around you to scan you and give you (via powerful radio waves) your measurements and also a shopping directory of stores that have clothes that will fit you best. You can filter the result by brand, style, retailer or price. The stores pay a fee when their products appear in the results however a store can not pay to be there. It must be going well because brands like Levis, DKNY, Eddie Bower, Lee and Old Navy plus The Gap have already signed up. Sounds bit like CSI meets Confessions of a Shopaholic. 
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