David Bronstein
Recent Success Stories
Choosing Start-Ups Over School
NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY - MONDAY, OCTOBER 7th, 2013.
Last year, Hongwei Liu, 22, dropped out of school. At first, he didn’t tell his parents. Until he took the leap, Liu was studying engineering at the University of Waterloo, but he found that more and more of his time was wrapped up in a non-academic challenge. GPS technology in cars, and Google Maps on cellphones, among other services, point lost travellers in the right direction. But, Liu says, no one had created a service to help people navigate the great indoors. Three years after he and his co-founders launched MappedIn, which now builds interactive maps and apps that replace clunky, static boards in shopping malls, Liu’s team has grown to 13 employees (median age 23) and is worth millions.
Liu is part of a generation of young entrepreneurs who, inspired by success stories like Facebook’s, which famously emerged from a Harvard dorm room, aren’t waiting to earn degrees before launching businesses. Some drop out while they build their businesses, others take an extra year to wrap up their degrees, and still others simply do both at the same time...
Messy Toddler Inspires Couple To Invent Spill-Proof Bowl That Will Put Him Through College
LORI WEISS - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2013.
As any parent knows, the “Uh-Oh” stage of a toddler’s life means a lot of “Oh No’s” for Moms and Dads. That was the case for Melinda Shepard, as her young son, Aidan, would carry his snack bowl around the house and she’d find herself slipping on wet Cheerios everywhere she stepped.
“There are a lot of parents,” Melinda said, “who won’t let their kids leave the kitchen table with a snack, but I picked my battles and that wasn’t one of them. So instead of finding money under the sofa when I was cleaning, I’d find Aidan’s snacks. And unfortunately, sometimes the bugs found them too. Everywhere Aidan went, there was pretty much a trail of little treats.”
Melinda was convinced that there had to be a better way for her to give her son the freedom he craved, but relieve herself of the constant clean up. So, she went where most of us go these days when we need information -- to the Internet -- in search of what seemed like the impossible, an unspillable snack bowl...
Grumpy Cat Inc.: How An Arizona Cat Won The Internet And Its Owners Profited
HAYLEY RINGLE - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th, 2013.
A Reddit photo and YouTube video of a cute little cat with an eternal frown has turned Grumpy Cat into an Internet sensation and created a fast-growing business for the owner’s family in Arizona.
The cat’s sullen photo, which first appeared online a year ago, spawned an endorsement deal with Friskies this week. But that’s just the latest profitable Grumpy Cat venture in a long line. The cat also lays claim to a New York Times best-selling book, a coffee “Grumppuccino” drink and lots of other merchandise. A feature film is even in the works.
On the heels of all that, Grumpy Cat will make her first Arizona public appearance Sunday at a book signing at the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. (See details at end of story).
So how did Grumpy Cat owner Tabatha Bundesen, 28, who lives just northwest of Phoenix in Morristown, turn this frowning feline into a cash cow?
She can thank her brother Bryan Bundesen, an Ohio cable maintenance technician, who originally posted the photo and YouTube video last September when he visited his sister and met Tardar Sauce, Grumpy Cat’s actual name...
Drop Outs Who Became Millionaires
YAHOO FINANCE - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11th, 2013
When it comes to success, all you need is sheer will and perseverance. Let’s take a leaf out of these millionaires’ books and see if success really needs a college degree.
Walt Disney - The maker of the adorable Mickey Mouse dropped out of school at the age of 16 and went on to become the most fascinating and well-known film producers of the world. With an average of 3 Disney films produced every year, the Walt Disney Company earns annual revenue of a whopping USD 35 billion.
Henry Ford - Do you own a Ford car? If yes, then you’d be pleased to know that its founder Henry Ford was a dropout as well. He ran away from home at the age of 17 and began his career as an apprentice in a garage. Today, with a multi-billion dollar company, Henry Ford is one of the richest people in the world.
Milton Hershey - Milton Hershey went on to become one of the most loved chocolate makers, with education only till the fourth grade. Now with his internationally marketed chocolate, one hardly associates his success to education...
Secrets Of Self-Made Millionaires
DANIEL BORTZ - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12th, 2013
Do you dream of becoming rich but aren't sure how to make your millions--or better yet, billions? Who better to ask than the rich themselves about how they climbed their way to the top?
Steve Siebold did. He's spent the last 30 years interviewing the world's wealthiest people.
Siebold, author of How Rich People Think, spoke with U.S. News about what the rich have in common, how self-made millionaires attained their wealth, and why now is the best time to strike it rich.
Excerpts:
What sparked your fascination with the rich?
I was a broke college student in 1984 and I wanted to be rich. But I didn't feel like I was getting the information I needed from my college business classes. In a lot of the classes, the business professors seemed to put down the rich, and that didn't make sense to me. So I started looking for outside sources until I found a millionaire to interview.
Was he difficult to find?
Yes, because I didn't know any millionaires and I was just a kid. I was probably 19 years old. And I found the rich don't really like to flaunt their wealth. Most of the rich, in my experience, aren't like Donald Trump--they're the polar opposite...
Meet John Bitove
GRANT ROBERTSON - FRIDAY, MARCH 28th, 2008
It is 9:15 on a snowy Monday night and John Bitove has spent the entire day in meetings. Now liberated, he arrives in the hotel lounge full of vigour. But his mood quickly deflates. "Ohhhh," he groans as he scans the room. "Should've gone to Hoops."
He is standing in the bar of the Fairmont Château Laurier, a polished staging ground for Old Ottawa power, a haunt of ministers and mandarins. Which is to say, it's as comfortable as an old shoe to Bitove. But he wants none of it tonight. The only prime ministers at Hoops are stuffed inside the cash register, but the place is guaranteed to be showing the basketball game. The two TVs behind the bar here at the Château look as though they haven't seen action since Trudeau.
"This is fine," Bitove decides regretfully, as he settles himself at a table with his back to the bar. We're not here to watch TV anyway. We're here to talk about it.
Less than 12 hours from now, Bitove will appear in front of Canada's broadcast regulator with an unusual request: He will ask for permission to launch a new national television network, HDTV Networks Inc. No one has done this before-Canada's biggest commercial broadcasters have been forged through decades of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies and buyouts-and in many ways, Bitove's is a long-shot bid...
Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM
JENNIFER COHEN - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2008
Rise and shine! Morning time just became your new best friend. Love it or hate it, utilizing the morning hours before work may be the key to a successful and healthy lifestyle. That’s right, early rising is a common trait found in many CEOs, government officials, and other influential people. Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5 a.m.; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4 am and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney wakes at 4:30am just to name a few. I know what you’re thinking – you do your best work at night. Not so fast. According to Inc. Magazine, morning people have been found to be more proactive and more productive. In addition, the health benefits for those with a life before work go on and on. Let’s explore 5 of the things successful people do before 8 am.
1. Exercise. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Most people that work out daily, work out in the morning. Whether it’s a morning yoga session or a trip to the gym, exercising before work gives you a boost of energy for the day and that deserved sense of accomplishment. Anyone can tackle a pile of paperwork after 200 ab reps! Morning workouts also eliminate the possibility of flaking out on your cardio after a long day at work. Even if you aren’t bright eyed and bushy tailed at the thought of a 5 am jog, try waking up 15 minutes early for a quick bedside set of pushups or stretching...
How Rich People Think Differently From The Poor
MANDI WOODRUFF - FRIDAY, AUGUST 31st, 2012
World's richest woman Gina Rinehart is enduring a media firestorm over an article in which she takes the "jealous" middle class to task for "drinking, or smoking and socializing" rather than working to earn their own fortune.
What if she has a point?
Steve Siebold, author of "How Rich People Think," spent nearly three decades interviewing millionaires around the world to find out what separates them from everyone else.
It had little to do with money itself, he told Business Insider. It was about their mentality.
"[The middle class] tells people to be happy with what they have," he said. "And on the whole, most people are steeped in fear when it comes to money."
Hi, I'm David Bronstein
The King of late night television and the producer of the hit television series, American Stripper. Everywhere I go, people are always imitating the shtick I do on my crazy shows, “It’s One on One and Discrete!”. I am always flattered, and I am often mimicked in top comedy clubs, like Yuk Yuks. “If that’s not flattery, then what is?”
