Integrated Entrepreneurship

You may not know this about Simplero, but we don't think of ourselves as a software company. We're more like a lab looking to redefine entrepreneurship.

So much of the talk in business is about all the rational stuff. The what and the how. The numbers and the strategies. But we all know there's so much more to life than that. So why do we tend to check that at the door when it comes to business? 

Love is what makes the world go round. The same should be the case in business.  

If we're not do…

Other people have figured shit out. What I mean by that is that (almost) everything you want to accomplish in life, someone else already has. You can learn from them.

That's not news. That's what we all do around here. And Tony Robbins has long said "success leaves clues". You can learn their strategies. 

But, to me, what's much more interesting than learning strategies from people is to learn ways of being.

Imagine what it's like to be some person that has achieved what you dream of. Maybe i…

I'm back home in New York after an exciting trip to Los Angeles. It's good to be home (which, incidentally, is the hook in one of my songs.)

I’ve long been a fan of Meyer-Briggs. It’s a simple system for describing people along four main axes: introvert/extrovert, intuitive/sensing, thinking/feeling, perceiving/judging.

Since I first got to know the system many years ago, it spoke to me. It’s so simple and it's so easy to grasp, and it’s super easy to assess yourself and other people without h…

I've just taken a vacation for a week, hence the missing newsletter last week.

I rarely go on vacation. I think last time I went somewhere just to take a vacation was 5 days in Miami in March 2014!

I always have this resistance towards going before leaving. Then once I'm in the car toward the airport, I'm fine.

There are many reasons for the resistance. See if you can relate.

First, I'm introverted, so I have a slight resistance to meeting new people. For example, I'd much rather watch a TV …

As you've probably heard, I've been getting into music recently, writing, singing, producing, and, occasionally, performing. And in doing so, I've fallen into the classic trap more than once.

Which trap, you ask?

The trap of acquiring tools instead of making music.

The thing is, I'm busy. I've got lots of things on my plate. Hiring, leading, coding, marketing, serving, there's enough to keep me busy. So what do you do when you don't have the time to actually sit your ass down in the chair and…

When I started Simplero back in 2009, I started by writing just one piece: The part that could charge people's credit cards for a product in a single payment, or in installments. That was it. Everything else, I was doing using some other tool. This was the part that was most painful in my existing setup, and so I started there. 

Later on, I added email marketing, then member sites, then landing pages, and so on. One piece at a time.

It's one of the questions I ask almost all the time, with any…

I was listening to Ram Dass on Experiments in Truth again a few months ago. I first heard the program several years ago, but it's one audio that I like to revisit from time to time. You don't have to listen to the whole thing, you can just dive in anywhere and pick up nuggets. He's so great, so funny.

So I was listening to him talk about how his spiritual teacher had said he's the kind of person that needs to be constantly moving around, or he'll grow moss. Or something to that effect. I'm para…

Honestly, teaching is one of the most beautiful things you can do in life. It carries with it so many benefits.

As you may know, I recently started taking on a few coaching clients again, after about a 4-year hiatus. And I'm so glad I did. And my new Calvin Show is a great way to share some of my accumulated wisdom as well.

What's so great about it?

• It forces you to clarify your thoughts, your understanding, which will inevitably deepen your own understanding
• You get to experience the joy …

Ciao,

Oh, boy. I'm a little hesitant to share this, because, (a) it's just embarrassing, and (b) I feel like I've shared enough music-related stuff recently, but here goes.

Sometimes it just seems like we have so much resistance towards what we really want.

Since I started playing the piano around age 9 or so, I've dreamt of a grand piano. And I've never owned one. Why? I'm not sure. Excuses are aplenty. Money. Space. Blah.

In 2012 while we were still living in India, I came across a music s…

Tell me. Have you ever had that experience that you wanted something, but it wasn't happening. Then the moment you got really clear on exactly what you wanted, it just happened?

Here's a story where I did this: After Burning Man in 2014, I really got into mixing drinks, "mixology", as they called it. I'd read 10 books, I'd started to learn the classics, stocked up on equipment, learn my way around the world. But I knew I wanted some hands-on practical learning as well, not just from books and v…