Date: Nov 16, 2008 | Author: Santiago B. | Categories: Entrepreneurship

In this world, there is no sure recipe to succeed. But making sure we fail is quite easy and we can do it ourselves, without help from anyone.
A few years ago I read the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. I did not like it at all. The basic philosophy can be summed up in that “when a person really wants something, the whole universe conspires so she/he can realize her/his dream.” It is, in short, the prototypical “you can”, carried to the extreme.
This week I wrote a post on the impact of the financial crisis. In a comment, with great diplomacy Ines (which by one of those coincidences happens to be my mom!) objected to my vision of the crisis as an opportunity, assimilating it to that kind of philosophy.
I acknowledge I may have sounded like that, but nothing is further from my way of thinking. This is a world that in general conspires so that most people do not have what we want. It is almost never true that “if you want to, you can”.
Both the “if you want, you can” and its logically equivalent “If you can not is because you do not want to” are cruel oversimplifications. They generate false expectations, then put the blame on us when we fail.
In my view there is, however, a very important rule that is almost universal: “If you DO NOT want, you can NOT”.
What this rule says is quite different from the other two. It states that something good never occurs without the power of the will to make it happen. The will is not enough, but it is essential.
Tags: Crisis, El Alquimista, Financial Crisis, Ines Hercovich, Meaning, Motivation, Officenet, Opportunities, Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist, Voluntarism, You can
Date: Nov 13, 2008 | Author: Santiago B. | Categories: Entrepreneurship, General

This week Officenet won the Mercurio Award, given by the Argentine Marketing Association, in the Technology category. This award recognizes the companies with best marketing in the country. For me this is the best prize of all because it wasn’t won thanks to me but despite me! more…
Tags: Andy Freire, Awards, Federico Cavada, Gabriel Edelberg, Leo Piccioli, Marketing, Mercurio Award, Officenet, Sebastian Paschmann
Date: Sep 23, 2008 | Author: Santiago B. | Categories: Entrepreneurship, General
Given what has been happening in the last few days, the title might lead you to believe I am writing about Lehman Brothers or AIG. But I am not. Today I will tell you about an idea I had many years ago for Officenet that I always loved and failed miserably.
Date: Aug 11, 2008 | Author: Santiago B. | Categories: General
Staples has sent from the US one of the Olympic Torches. We will have it today and tomorrow at our Argentina office and the rest of the week in Brazil.
Then it will continue traveling to the other Staples operations around the World.
With Leo we got this picture with the Torch to celebrate this special moment.!
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