2highbehind

My team

There are lots of things you take for granted in life. The sun that comes up every day, the plants that grow and feed you etc. For me as an entrepreneur life is full of adventure and uncertainty, the team I work with helps me to deal with all the risk and danger of not making it to the next level. Yesterday I realized how grateful I am with my team and the way we work together at IIP. It took me two years and the support of great people to have the team IIP works with today. Each one of them is a gem and helps IIP with 100% + effort to become a significant player in the media industry. I believe that the people make the difference at the end of the day and how lucky can one be? A BIG THANK YOU to all of those that help me put IIP on the map and deliver a solution that will impact the way we do business in the media industry.

Missing people you love

Being away from things brings head space, but also makes you realize how much you miss people that are not in your life anymore. They went on, died or live far away. This year two of my 'business angels' died and being so damn busy I hardly find the time to think about them, I feel they are still with me, but just notice that in little things I learned from them. Saying goodbye can be hard and fun at the same time. N.E.R.D.

Thoughts on the music for free debate

Why would something that can be replicated at almost no cost be free? Why would only something that is tangible or produced in a physical format be valuable?

I believe that we should transform into a world that has a virtual economy for most of it's presence. One that doesn't pollute, one that is infinite and reproduction is so easy we all have enough of what we perceive as valuable.

Music is made by professionals, by people that make an effort to entertain others. They need to get paid in order to feed their kids, live with a roof above their heads, smoke and so forth. If not these people cannot continue to do what they love and believe in. In some form they should get paid for what they create.

Why did banks get this right, they transformed from a physical business (Checks, cash etc.) to an almost 100% digital business and their curve is up most of the time? Why does the fact that what they do digital is still perceived as valuable? Maybe it's not the best comparison, but think about it? I was thinking of the impact of technology on the way we behave. Imagine we invent a jacket that makes us invisible and we would go out shopping. Everything we put under the jacket becomes invisible and the shop owner sees his/her business decline and doesn't have a F%^&* clue whats going on. After two years we all have these jackets and nothing is safe anymore. Before we know it retail organizations lobby and try to stop the technology that makes things invisible, smart business people start selling detection products and before we know it we all have to pay a invisibility tax.

My point is that we should all pay for music, maybe a bit less than we did buying CD's or other physical products that carry cost of distribution, resources and production, but digital also has a cost.The prize should be set in a frame of acceptance. The acceptance that value is created at the source, the person that made the music you, me and everybody loves to listen to. Wanting these things for free is tempting, but not very realistic and fair.

B.I.B.

After spending a week in Portugal, today back in business and working my way through emails and phone calls. Maybe I should be going more often, at IIP we had the best week of our existence and we signed more music than ever before. Being away from day to day hassle is always good and gives the mind a bit of down time. New insights in life and business always come to me when switching of and I love it ;-)

Summer 2008 has started in Amsterdam

Waking up every morning with the sun shining and hearing the boats in the canals is one of the best things Amsterdam has to offer. The sun brings out the best in Amsterdam, what a joy ;-)