Alex Banayan is an author, venture capitalist, and a student at the University of Southern California.

Bad News: the blog hasn’t been updated for a few months now. Sorry folks!

Good News: I’ve been ridiculously busy working on some pretty exciting stuff. The book is making amazing progress (big news to come) and I am now working with San Francisco-based venture capital firm Alsop Louie Partners. Within a single month I was traveling between seven different cities across the country– and this is coming from a kid who hadn’t flown in a plane without his parents just a year ago.

Toto, I’ve a feeling we aren’t in Kansas anymore.

More details to come about what I’m doing with Alsop Louie (and the crazy story of how a 19-year-old became an associate at a venture capital firm). In the meantime, here is an article that ended up on the cover of the USC newspaper when word broke out about my new venture capital gig:

DAILY TROJAN: Banayan gets quick start in venture capital world

For a guy who was studying as a pre-med just a year ago, this is the most exhilerating, and humbling, experience of my life.

Carpe Diem!

Back in the 20th century, the tricky part to becoming a writer was the question: How will my writing get published? In the 21st century, with blogs and self-published books, anyone can become a writer. Now, the tricky question is: How do I get my writing read?

Here is a simple rule to follow whenever you’re thinking of writing new content…

Ask yourself:

1. Will this be informative?
2. Will this be surprising?
3. Will this be inspiring?

If you answer “not really” to all three of those questions– don’t write it.

Whatever you are writing better teach me something new, surprise me, or inspire me. Simple as that.

Marcus Tullius Cicero—what a guy. He was an ancient Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, orator, political theorist, and all around genius. One of the most profound, yet confusing, things he has ever said was, “No one can give you better advice than yourself.” Interesting.

Drawing motivation from Cicero, and some inspiration from Mike Markkula (Apple’s 3^rd co-founder), I’ve prescribed myself some much-needed advice.

This is personal and written for me in mind, however I do believe others may pick up something useful here or there. Here it is…

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The Banayan Marketing Philosophy

100 years

With everything we create, we will ask ourselves, “Will this still be great in 100 years?” Don’t succumb to fads and hype. Stay classic.

Think bigger

The only thing worse than failure is mediocrity. There is always a way to make something bigger– we just need to strip away our preconceived notions. Everything that seems “larger than life” was just willed together by human beings who wanted it that way. It’s all invented.

Impute

Human beings judge everything– from the box our products are packaged in, to the crispness of our paper, to the cleanliness of our bathrooms, to the quality of socks we are wearing. We may have the best intentions and we may have the best products, but if we present something in a half-assed manner, it will be perceived as half-assed. As Mike Markkula wrote, “If we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”

Chances are you’ve probably seen someone walking around with an unusually shaped pair of canvas shoes. They might have been a solid color, or maybe they were a little more out there. Either way, if you are anything like me, you can’t help but notice the freakin’ tidal wave TOMS has made within the past five years. With the simple idea of “for every pair you buy, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need,” the brand has spread across the country like a true idea-virus should.

Now, what I find interesting is how fast TOMS grew. The company was founded in 2006 and by 2010 they were giving away their millionth shoe. Holy shit. And on top of that, the company was started buy a 20-something bachelor living on a boat in Venice Beach. That is just awesome.

Even cooler is the story of how the company was founded. In an article with CNNMoney, Blake shared that:

In 2002 my sister and I teamed up to compete on the CBS reality show The Amazing Race. We didn’t win, but my travels during the show led me back to Argentina in 2006. On my visit I saw lots of kids with no shoes who were suffering from injuries to their feet. I decided a business would be the most sustainable way to help, so I founded TOMS which is short for a “better tomorrow.” For each pair of shoes sold — TOMS are based on the classic alpargata style worn in Argentina — we donate a pair to a child in need.

After learning about how fast they grew, plus being interested in the whole social aspect of the company, I couldn’t wait to start reading the book Start Something That Matters, written by Blake himself.

In the book (which can easily be read in a day or two), Blake tells his story in more depth than I’ve ever heard it before. And that is a good thing. His story is not just inspiring, it is also a kick-ass case study for anyone interested in starting their own business, non-profit, or any kind of social project. Blake went from idea to 10,000 shoes sold in less than a year. For the mere $14 this book costs on Amazon, you can’t afford NOT to buy it– seriously.

With Blake’s new book, you are going to get that extra edge that you need to get up, go out, and– you guessed it– start something that matters.

#####Get a free copy of Blake’s new book#####

As a gift from the folks at TOMS to the readers of my blog, they mailed me free copies of the book to give out to you! Head over to my facebook page and “like” my status about TOMS and you could win a free copy of the book! Yup, that easy.