Middle Eastern family businesses are fascinating. The region is full of examples of first generation entrepreneurs that come from humble beginnings and have created mega business empires through inventiveness, speed and uncanny business acumen. Knowing that many have achieved these feats in the absence of even the most basic financial, organizational and technological tools makes their meteoric rise even more astounding. Today, brands such as Al-Futtaim, Alshaya and Al Naboodah are beacons of progress, drivers of local and regional economies, and increasingly important players on the global stage.  [continue reading...]

On September 4, 1888 George Eastman registered the name Kodak, which he jointly developed with his mother. Later that year the first Kodak camera emerged on the market. The pictures it took were a scant 2 ½ inches in diameter, but as they say the rest is history. What the Kodak brand stood for over time was so powerful and globally ubiquitous that it became synonymous with American ingenuity and the popularization of complex technology for the common man. There were times when you could travel to the farthest reaches of the globe and easily spot the yellow and red Kodak film boxes at remote bodegas as well as the finest emporiums. It was most likely alongside a sign for Coca-Cola, the other principal American export to the world for most of the 20th Century. [continue reading...]

Devices and services are coming together at a fast clip, changing the way people get everyday things done. We can now stream any type of content from our tablet, use our phones to pay at checkout, turn appliances on and off remotely and even let the utility company decide when to turn on the air conditioner. When you think about it, the smarting of products is changing the most mundane of chores–and with that– established notions of what brands stand for:. Your phone now does what your credit card did, your tablet replaces your DVR, your laptop is a universal remote control and utilities double as financial advisors. [continue reading...]

I consider myself to be a fairly environmentally conscious person. I live in New York and don't have a car, so that's a common vice that's easy for me to do without. I'm the guy the girl in the deli recognizes as "no bag" for my morning bagel. I routinely transport groceries home in a bag I brought with me. Admittedly, it's my wife who schlepps the empty cans back to the supermarket, but if she forgets to do so then I can rest assured that the can-collector will come around with his shopping cart and pull them out of the bin. In New York there are microeconomies subsisting on deposit currency, so I know those cans and bottles are not going into the waste stream. [continue reading...]

This is such an exciting time because the interplay of everyday existence with technology allows for greater intimacy with the world around us. The ability to take our life with us wherever we go via a small mobile device has and will continue to revolutionize the way we live, the way we act and how we feel. [continue reading...]