Friends of Dave #165: IDGAF
Subtle or not, sometimes the thing to do is just not care.
WARNING: While this intro alludes to the Democratic debates from this week, I assure you it is not political at all. It's about the art of not caring about what anyone else thinks. But if this still triggers you, please immediately skip the rest of this email and click >>HERE<<.
So a large part of the news cycle this week was centered on the Democratic debate held Wednesday in Nevada. It's getting down to crunch time and a once crowded stage is slowly getting whittled to a reasonable number of candidates.
New to mix was Michael Bloomberg. Most Americans know him as the late entry candidate who has pledged to take no political contributions and self fund his campaign with the clearly stated goal to beat the incumbent president. His slogan: "Mike will get it done."
Many remember him as first-Republican and then-Independent mayor of NYC. Some know him as the billionaire founder of the large, financial information and media behemoth that carries his name. Few know him as a favorite son of Boston, born to a bookkeeper and his wife into a humble, blue collar existence in Medford, MA.
The reviews immediately following the debate were not kind to Mr. Bloomberg. His performance was derided as lackluster at best, with the other candidates hitting him hard on past personal transgressions, controversial policies he implemented as mayor, release of his taxes and his extreme wealth.
The overwhelming majority of pundits concluded that he was either too arrogant or grossly unprepared for the debate stage, and, thus, is just a rich guy who is not a serious, viable candidate.
But if you asked Bloomberg his thoughts post debate, here's what I believe he would candidly and succinctly say: IDGAF.
I will go so far as saying that I wouldn't be surprised if he soon shows up at campaign stops with that acronym on a blue hat. Seriously.
Given today's tumultuous climate, why should Bloomberg care about what everyone else thinks? Why should he answer pointed questions from other candidates? Why should he respond to the outrage? Why should he pander to the media? Will any of that help him achieve his ultimate goal?
He's got the most money (literally, F-you money) -- so much that he has no donors or special interests to appease. All he has to do is wait for the other candidates to run out. He has his own media company -- so he doesn't need anyone to spin anything for him. He also can dig up and publish dirt on any one of them in a second. And Bloomberg's real stated opponent, who also DGAF, has not responded to any major allegations or inquiries when asked -- so why should he?
Most importantly, Bloomberg did not become a self made billionaire by ever GAF. Why should he start now?
You do not have to like him or agree with his politics to see a lesson here: if you strongly believe in the vision you have to accomplish something and you have a sound strategy to get it done, do not give a f**k about what anyone else says or thinks. Plain and simple.
Ultimately, if you win, you win. And if you lose, well, at least you tried. But you cannot do either if you spend all of your time trying to satisfy other people or worrying about what everyone else thinks. Your slogan just needs to be: I will get it done.
That's the biggest thing I took away from the Wednesday debate. And I think we all need to be reminded about this from time to time....
With that, onto the rest of the issue. Have a great weekend my Friends.
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k
Apologies to some of the long time readers here -- I"m pretty sure I included this somewhere in a previous issue, but I could not find it. Most of us struggle throughout our lives by caring about what other people think in certain situations where we really shouldn't. In concert with the preamble, there is definitely a subtle art to not giving a f** k (and if you are easily offended by the "F" word -- it would be good to stay away from this one).
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Fairly quick and easy read on how content marketing is fueling the rise in sales enablement strategies.
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And The Last Word....
How Bezos built his data machine — www.bbc.co.uk
Amazon gets the details of all the retailers and all the shopping that takes place. What you look at, what you look at but don’t buy, what you look at next, how you pay, how you prefer your shipping. All of that rich data.
This is a long read but an important one. PBS Frontline ran a two hour special report this week called "Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos" -- much of the same content was covered there, so you if you'd rather watch than check out a long read, I highly recommend finding it on demand.
Very clear that Bezos (who I did not realize began his career at DE Shaw) knew early on that a focus on collecting data to enable a better customer experience, combined with a IDGAF attitude, would be the key to Amazon's success.