http://www.thesebastian.com/ A fresh look into Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Technology in the flat world en Serendipity 1.0-beta3 - http://www.s9y.org/ Mon, 25 Dec 2006 06:41:15 GMT http://www.thesebastian.com/templates/default/img/s9y_banner_small.png http://www.thesebastian.com/ 100 21 http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/30-Merry-Christmas.html Other http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/30-Merry-Christmas.html#comments http://www.thesebastian.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=30 0 http://www.thesebastian.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=30 nospam@example.com (Sebastian Brocher) <p>Just a quick note to wish y'all a <b>Merry Christmas</b> <img src="http://www.thesebastian.com/templates/default/img/emoticons/smile.png" alt=":-)" style="display: inline; vertical-align: bottom;" class="emoticon" /></p><p>I'll be back here for some more serious blogging when I get back from my vacations in Buenos Aires...</p> Sun, 24 Dec 2006 22:41:15 -0800 http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/30-guid.html http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/10-Warren-Buffet-makes-the-world-a-better-place.html Other http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/10-Warren-Buffet-makes-the-world-a-better-place.html#comments http://www.thesebastian.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=10 0 http://www.thesebastian.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=10 nospam@example.com (Sebastian Brocher) <br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffet" target="_blank">Warren Buffett</a> has <a target="_blank" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B2669E9E0%2D298C%2D4433%2DB48F%2D306E9A46400F%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo">announced</a> a few days ago his decision donating 10 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Hathaway" target="_blank">Berkshire Hathaway</a> class B shares to the <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm" target="_blank">Bill and Melinda Gates foundation</a>, 350,000 class B shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and yet another 350,000 class B shares to each of his sons foundations. Here are Warren's lovely <a target="_blank" href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/donate/webdonat.html">letters</a> to each of them describing the transaction mechanics and details.<br /><p>I have always had a deep admiration for Warren. His famous <a target="_blank" href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html">yearly letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders</a> have made history teaching generations on economics and investing. Warren had mentioned his plans to donate most of his fortune long time ago, but this makes it concrete today and in a way <i>he </i>could only do it (you should read the mechanics from the letters!). After this new event, Warren is not just someone I profoundly admire, but my guide and hero. He's made the world such a better place! And he has worked so hard all his life to achieve this. This is such a gift to humanity.</p><p>Just imagine how many lives this can save. Imagine how this helps eradicating diseases and other inequities in underdeveloped economies. This change is a historic one, and has inspired me <i>so</i> much. And I believe this inspiration will stay there for the rest of my life. I have bought and read four different newspapers publishing articles on it, just to collect them and remind myself on the true meaning of life whenever needed.</p><p>Also, all the implementation details about his decision are plain wonderful. The altruism behind it, the mechanics, the fact of donating so much to someone else's foundation, the timing, the impact, its all perfect. BTW, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders should also feel great! This helps me understanding why we are here and how we can make the world a better place. How we can make the world remind us for what we have given.</p><p>It seems I'm not the only one inspired by his decision. Jackie Chan has also announced he was inspired by Warren and will be <a target="_blank" href="http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=02f32d3d-341d-4cdb-8a4a-31c59166f13a&k=89080">donating half his fortune to charity</a> as well. I truly hope there will be plenty of other wealthy individuals and organizations to follow. Younger fellows like me will also hopefully get inspired and live accordingly. Having a meaningful conversation on this with a very close, good friend of mine, he quoted a philosopher saying something like <i>&quot;if a man does not find a reason he would give his life for, then he probably wont find a good reason to live either&quot;</i> (sorry, the reference and exact quote is missing ... please <a href="mailto:seb@thesebastian.com" target="_blank">e-mail me</a> if you have it). He also noted the correlation with a somehow more general species' preservation idea.</p><p>For an ending, I really think this will motivate me to work harder and smarter each single day of my life so that I can better help others and make a difference. Of course, I would never dare to compare myself with a genius like Warren, but I will surely make the best I can out of it. If we all do, our world can be such a better place to live. Generosity, uninterested giving is such a pleasure... Wouldn't you agree?</p> Wed, 28 Jun 2006 22:01:35 -0700 http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/10-guid.html http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/3-Students,-employees-and-employment-seekers-should-blog-too.html Other http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/3-Students,-employees-and-employment-seekers-should-blog-too.html#comments http://www.thesebastian.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=3 0 http://www.thesebastian.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=3 nospam@example.com (Sebastian Brocher) I forgot to mention them in my previous article. A blog is a fantastic tool to develop your network and boost your career. <a href="http://sem.weblogsinc.com/2006/06/11/search-engines-as-an-hr-tool/" target="_blank">Here is another reason why</a>. Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:14:39 -0700 http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/3-guid.html http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/1-A-new-blog-is-born.html Other http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/1-A-new-blog-is-born.html#comments http://www.thesebastian.com/wfwcomment.php?cid=1 1 http://www.thesebastian.com/rss.php?version=2.0&type=comments&cid=1 nospam@example.com (Sebastian Brocher) Welcome to my fresh, new blog on Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Technology. In the spirit of segmentation and orientation, and after thinking about it for a while, I have decided to segregate this content from my personal blog: <a href="http://www.chezsebas.blogspot.com" title="Chez Sebas" target="_blank">Chez Sebas</a>, which I intent to keep on a more personal level and mainly focused on my family, friends and other social activities.<br /> <br /> This space, on the other hand, should give me a better opportunity to overtly explore these fascinating business-related areas. My basic goals behind this new experiment are:<br /> <br /> <li>to research and learn while writing and sharing content</li><br /> <li>to closely relate and connect with an audience interested into these very specific topics</li><br /> <li>to initiate an open and rich community of like-minded individuals providing plenty of feedback and interaction while helping each other succeed</li><br /> <li>to make new friends and associates</li><br /> <li>to share exciting experiences</li><br /> <li>and I could go on and on...</li><br /> <br /> I hope you will like this new initiative and participate with your own thoughts and feedback through comments, tracebacks and e-mails. You may want to have a look at <a href="http://www.thesebastian.com/pages/aboutme.html">this page</a> to learn more about me.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to e-mail me at any time at <a href="mailto:seb@thesebastian.com">seb@thesebastian.com</a>, I would love to hear from you.<br /> <br /> To complement the ideas above, I have decided to make the contents of all articles posted on this blog licensed under a Creative Commons license which allows you to (certain conditions met) freely use the contents of this site, as opposite to the more traditional "All rights reserved" approach. For more details on the particular license model I have chosen, please <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br /> <br /> Thanks for visiting and, once again, I hope you will enjoy the site, keep coming back and let your friends know about it! Sun, 11 Jun 2006 23:57:37 -0700 http://www.thesebastian.com/archives/1-guid.html