Young, Black, talented and making moves.... Lebron James

I came across this article on the Wall Street Journal and could not help but feel proud and inspired. Not only is Lebron James a force to be reckoned with on the Basketball court, he is also making major business moves and realising "value" from his talent. Read the WSJ story below.   

By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN

Basketball star LeBron James is joining forces with renowned hedge-fund manager John Henryand veteran Hollywood producer Tom Werner in a deal that brings together one of the biggest stars in sports and two of the world's most renowned teams.

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LeBron James is averaging 26.6 points per game for the Miami Heat this season.

The deal between Mr. James and Fenway Sports Group will give Mr. James a minority interest in the soccer club Liverpool, which FSG owns. FSG, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, is partnering with Mr. James's sports-marketing firm, LRMR Branding & Marketing to become the exclusive world-wide representative for Mr. James.

The deal marks the first time that a professional athlete at the top of his game has taken an ownership interest in a team with the size and reach of Liverpool, which is one of the most popular and powerful sports franchises in the world.

It also adds yet another dimension for Boston-based FSG, which became a global operation last October when it bought Liverpool for $488 million. The company was founded as New England Sports Ventures nine years ago after Messrs. Henry and Werner bought the Red Sox and 80% of regional sports channel New England Sports Network. In 2007 Fenway became 50% owner of the Nascar auto-racing team Roush Fenway Racing.

Its subsidiary, Fenway Sports Management, has since become a leading sports-marketing firm, selling $60 million in sponsorships annually for properties FSG owns or represents. By teaming up with Mr. James, Fenway will be representing the commercial interests of an individual sports star for the first time.

"We're not interested in talent or athlete representation but we think he is one of the most remarkable athletes of his time," Mr. Werner said in an interview Tuesday. "We believe we can open doors for LeBron and LeBron can open doors for us."

Executives involved with the deal declined to comment on the financial terms, but a person familiar with the details said FSG would receive a small commission on any deals it landed for Mr. James.

Mr. James said he was "humbled" by the deal and looked forward to donning a red Liverpool jersey and visiting Anfield, the team's legendary stadium.

"The first time I stepped on an NBA court I became a businessman," said Mr. James, who is 26 years old. "This is a great opportunity for me."

Maverick Carter, chief executive of LRMR and a high-school teammate of Mr. James, said partnering with Fenway was essential for them to gain access to international business opportunities that go beyond the typical athlete endorsement deals.

"These guys have unmatched skills when it come to marketing and selling on a global basis," Mr. Carter said of Fenway.

In addition to his $15.8 million salary from the Miami Heat, Mr. James earns an estimated $30 million annually from endorsements with such blue-chip companies as McDonald's, Nike, and Coca-Cola. His image took a major hit last summer when he was criticized by the media and NBA Commissioner David Stern for teaming up with ESPN to create "The Decision," an hour-long special during which he announced his choice to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

His new team has stumbled at times this season, leaving many to wonder if Mr. James will ever fulfill his promise and begin winning championships in the style of global stars like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

According to executives involved with the transaction, the deal was conceived by Paul Wachter, a director of Time Warner who advised Messrs. Henry and Werner on their acquisition of the Red Sox before the 2002 season. Mr. Wachter has also grown close with Mr. Carter, who expressed his desire to build Mr. James' portfolio internationally and find opportunities for the Miami Heat star to gain equity in companies throughout the world. So far, Mr. James's commercial interests have largely been limited to his endorsement deals.

David Carter, who teaches about the sports business at the University of Southern California, said Mr. James was taking a risk by signing on with a company that had never represented an athlete before. He added that the opportunity to invest in Fenway properties like Liverpool was essential for Mr. James to mitigate that risk.

Mr. James didn't indicate what he wanted to do with his additional earnings, though he has never been shy about his desire to become as dominant in the business world as he is on the basketball court.

Mr. James wants to pursue partnerships similar to his deal with hip-hop impresario Dr. Dre. The pair last year launched a line of high-performance sports headphones known as PowerBeats. Coincidentally, Mr. James and Dr. Dre met Fenway Red Sox executives on Opening Day at Fenway Park in 2010 in a promotional event for the headphones.

In the fall, Mr. Wachter suggested LRMR begin discussions with Fenway Sports, which had just purchased Liverpool and were in the process of transforming themselves into an international company.

"One group was building a global powerhouse, and the other was looking to do things differently to really move the needle," Mr. Wachter said.

The parties gathered in February in Omaha at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway and realized their goals for global expansion were similar.

"Without purchasing Liverpool, we never would have been able to have this conversation," Mr. Werner said.

According to Deloitte's 2010 Football Money League report, Liverpool is the world's eighth-biggest soccer team by revenue, with $320 million in revenue during the 2009-10 season. Liverpool and Manchester United have won 18 top division championships, the most among English teams, and both are wildly popular in Asia, where Liverpool will tour this summer.

"Eighteen championships," Mr. James said. "I see myself trying to do the same things they have."

NBA Commissioner David Stern said of the deal, "I think it is terrific that through this partnership and their newly acquired interest in Liverpool FC, LeBron and Maverick Carter will not only enhance their opportunities from the global sports marketplace but also gain a deeper understanding of all that is involved in the operation and valuation of sports franchises."

Write to Matthew Futterman at matthew.futterman@wsj.com

The day the dollar died..

This is an interesting take on where the world could be going. Check this out here.
Although this video is mostly fictional, it makes one think about the future of world economics. Especially, given that South was recently included in the emerging markets club, BRIC, making it BRICSA. 

How does the understanding of these dynamics affect the way Entrepreneurs make decisions regarding the future of their business and which countries to do business with?  

Entrepreneurial Insomnia

Is insomnia a pre-requisite to Entrepreneurial success?

I frequently wonder about the number of hours of each day that truly successful business people dedicate to sleep? And how these hours correlate with their success as entrepreneurs?

A brief skim through a few autobiographies of some of the worlds most successful entrepreneurs shows that most of them value the quality of sleep, instead of the number of hours spent sleeping. Simply put, it is more important to have good quality sleep than it is to have many hours of sleep. For instance,Sir Richard Branson depends more on frequent, quality, one-to-two hour power naps than the traditionally purported eight hours of daily sleep concept.

There are some other factors which contribute to this quality sleep phenomena, such as a healthy diet and exercise, as well as putting in a decent days hard work (so as to tire out the body and thus enduce a deeper sleep episode).

So, i figure that it becomes intuitive that too many hours of sleep may actually be a deterrent to the scale of entrepreneurial achievement (including my own).
From this then, the choice i`ve made is to sleep well (quality) and sleep less (quantity) - with an average of 5-6 hours an evening instead of 8 hours every night, combined with a diligent diet and exercise regime.
Lets see how this translates itself in terms of my productivity and growth of my business.


-Posted using LP's IPad.

Happy New Year - 2011 - WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Hi,

Were already 5 days into the new year, and i was just wondering how many of us have already started working on our resolutions and how many of these, sometimes improbable, resolutions have already been broken?
Personally, i have a few B.H.A.G's (Big-Hairy-Audacious-Goals) that i have set out for myself for 2011. These include, at a very high level:

1. Travel - I plan to increase my traveling activities this year, both locally and internationally. Ideally i would like to visit four (new) foreign countries and travel within south africa atleat once every two months.   
2. Health and fitness - I plan to make the gym a regular part of my life, getting into the gym atleast 4 times a week. 
3. Career and work - The central theme with regards to work will be / is FOCUS and FUN. I plan to rid myself of all activities and actions that do not directly support or strengthen my career and work life, but will only work on projects that will guarantee that i have tons of FUN while doing them.   
4. Relationships - The idea here is to network and meet new people at every opportunity possible!! With regards to existing relationships, i intend to strengthen certain relationships and friendships, but will certainly have to let go of others. Even this aspect of my life will be focused to some extent, as i intend to shape my circle into one that includes only those people who have my best interests at heart. (Easier said than done though.)  

In a nutshell, these are my personal overaching goals for this year. The common thread with all these is "development and improvement" of my entrepreneurial abilities and activities. 

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?  

Time

What is the value of time?
Being young,I think the value of time is never truly appreciated.I mean,how many days in the last month can you truly account for? How many hours of your day seem to just disappear without explanation? In fact, how many hours of your day can you account for-in terms of the value that you've ascribed to those hours?
Personally, i am somewhat unhappy with the way in which my time is allocated and spent,overall. Don't get me wrong, I think that have been able to use most of my time in a productive and value creating way. But,when I do a simple analysis the total use if my time, it becomes clear to me that I could so much more if only I allocated my time more efficiently.
After all, all the time that is unaccounted for is "lost" forever,and nothing,not money,the universe or God, can bring that time back.

LP


-Posted using LP's IPad.

No easy way out

If your gonna be an entrepreneur, make sure your body,mind and soul is prepared for it. The only thing that can prepare you for life as an entrepreneur,is actually living as an entrepreneur,no matter what.

Although filled with many challenges and hard times,the eventual success and personal fulfillment will bring joy that is comparable to nothing else.

Enjoy the ride and trust the process.

- Posted using BlogPress from LP's IPad.

JAY-Z and WARREN BUFFET on the FORBES Cover!!

This is my favourite Forbes cover of all time!!

 My favorite investor and my favorite musician on the cover of one of the most successful magazines in the world. The most inspiring thing about the cover for me, is that the individuals on it both began from the most modern of beginnings, discovered their talent and uniqueness from an early age, worked their "asses" off and eventually made successes of themselves. Notice how they`re both ENTREPRENEURS!!! 

Read the full Forbes interview here.  Very inspiring.   

Now, what i would like to see happen is a similar local Magazine cover. Maybe Tokyo Sexwale, with DJ Fresh or Maggz, on the cover of the Financial mail magazine....would`nt that be interesting?