On All Things Magic: Marco Tempest

If you didn't see Marco Tempest at LeWeb11 yesterday, I am just so sorry for you!  He threw a few magical thoughts up on the massive screen behind him, like Goethe's excellent suggestion:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

He showed us how the brain wants to believe in the visual, filling in the blanks at times when it decides it knows what's going on, but it can be fooled. I really can't do his performance justice here, so I'll ask you to find a way to see him live. He's so very good.Check out his Ted Talk here.

Watch some of these great videos and you'll get an idea how he plays gently enough with your brain, then politely returns it where it was sitting lazily protected by your thick cranium, much improved and sparkling with new ideas.



That's the UMBRELLA trick.



That's the PENCIL trick.

Had enough? Pretty great eh? Better check this link.  He is doing a lot more wild stuff than this, but isn't it nice the way he turns our heads around to BELIEVE in the idea that you can do magic tricks with video and online and still TRUST him -- that it's not just some editing trick.  Wish the models they showed in adverts could be trusted not to be photoshopped up.



The PHOTOSHOPPED FEMALE trick.

LOréal at LeWeb11

LOréal is at LeWeb11 -- and I can't wait to hear more about what they are up to.  This great picture of Gwen Stefani is from their French site.


My dad worked in advertising and worked for Charles Revson at Revlon early in his career.  He also worked for Smirinoff Vodka.  He got all the free samples of makeup and vodka he could want -- and of course, my mom wore NO makeup and neither of them drank liquor!  I guess that is just the way it goes sometimes. Or "c'est la vie" as the French say.


Check out Gwen Stefani, the classic blonde, here:

Petzl: Where Innovation, Adventure and Safety Thrive

Before attending LeWeb11 in Paris to talk about start-ups and entrepreneurial passion, I was so lucky to catch up with Chris Blakely, the head of Petzl's training and research centre in Crolles, near Grenoble. For those who know and love Petzl, you likely know Crolles. And, I'm sure you know what incredible innovation takes place there, but for others, please take a look at this video to start with.



In the Petzl entrance lobby, there are many interesting artifacts, photos and facts about the company started by expert caver Fernand Petzl in 1975. You could spend hours there alone, but most our time was spent at the amazing research facility known as V.axess.

At V.axess Chris showed us three full-size mannequins dressed for action and sporting Petzl equipment which demonstrate the three product areas where they focus. The first is the caver, who may descend many hundreds of meters DOWN with a primary objective of exploration. The second is the climber who belays another climber, who would go UP into the mountains or up a rock gym climbing wall with Petzl equipment like the very famous "GRIGRI," invented 20 years ago.

The third mannequin has the most robust equipment, most protective clothing and with two independent systems, would be a representative of their industrial customer -- rescue and safety personnel or other industry workers who need to use harnesses and heavier equipment to do everything from helicopter rescues to industrial maintenance of those large windmills which dot the landscape.

You may notice the rope thickness and weight of the equipment goes from lighter to heavier as you go from caver to climber to industry safety personnel.

Equally exciting was the V.axess test facility. It may look like one big climbing gym to you with one wall full of holds any climber would love to spend the day ascending, but there are many more types of testing and training that take place there.  In fact, some is so leading edge, it's confidential and I can't write about it.

Other areas in the V.axess facility include simulated "burning buildings" where firefighters can practice quick exits using Petzl equipment when all other routes are unavailable. You'll be glad to know that Petzl will not sell that equipment without first getting a commitment from the firefighting team to training.

As Chris spoke with me, I got a better idea of what he and his team work on: innovation of current and classic products, improving something as well known the karabiner or GRIGRI, as well as introducing new solutions driven by their team and current clients' needs.  One of the most important "products" they provide, is training to their distributor network, who then in turn train those who sell Petzl equipment.

Chris gave us some interesting examples of his work day challenges -- finding out how "G force" the ropes and equipment used in helicopter rescue might be subject to, simulating it and ensuring those rescuers can rely on Petzl products in the worst conditions.

He walked us over to the main lobby where the original handmade equipment is on display.  Chris showed us how the original Petzl products were handmade (and many still are) and pointed out the devices created by their founder to manufacture karibiners and other equipment.  We could have spent many more hours learning about this fascinating "start-up" where a young man who loved exploring caves turned his passion into a great company known for innovation, adventure and safety.

Karl Lagerfeld Interview at LeWeb

The funny thing was … I didn’t expect him to have a German accent.  Of course, that’s crazy since he IS German, but he’s so much of a Parisien in his style and work and attitude.  I've heard Karl Lagerfeld in French many times, but didn't hear his accent in that language.  But the interview between Loic and Karl at LeWeb this morning was in English.   I did expect him to speak English well and he does speak it very well.   And very politely.   He was allegedly born in 1933,  but doesn’t like to talk about it.   That means in 1960, he was the same age as Zuckerberg is today.   And he's still fresh, innovative and creative as any young entrepreneur, 50 years later.

Mr. Lagerfeld has a perfectly gorgeous leather case – I think he said it was made by Celine --  for his many devices.  He opens it and there is a white iPad on top.  There’s a second level which he flips open to reveal four iPhones in black and white Karl Lagerfeld brand design.    What else?!  Also he has a bunch of black, white and silvery iPod Shuffles.  Some are shimmering.  He lives in a world of absolutely beautiful things.

I love watching his hands using his iPad and iPhone.  They are in black leather fingerless gloves with silver studs – as if they are two dangerous dogs, needing to be locked up. Chien Mechant!  But the gloves also reverberate with a medieval king’s style, he is a veritable Charlemagne planning a conquest.   How can you not love his clothes, the 1910 high white starched collar, the casual white ponytail?

He explains to Loic, showing off his iPhones, that he has certain friends set up to call certain phones and keeps things organized that way.  Loic ask something about the phones and he scolds him, “Of course I have more than four friends!” He’s a master of understatement.

He shows us how he uses the iPad to sketch and says it makes his drawings look even better than they might be on paper.  It feels a bit “like engraving” for him, he explains.  At first the application is not working, creating a Murphy’s Law moment, but he pushes on, and finally it works and he draws for us.  Earlier he had made a drawing of Steve Jobs and shows everyone.  It’s quite good.   It’s a treat to watch him at work.  It’s so simple, so private in public way, to see him simply draw, to watch him at work as an artist.

He explains he has hundreds of iPads ... did I get that right?  Yes, he uses them like journals for different projects, each dedicated to a different creative project.

This is when Loic asks to roll the video – the famous Apple commercial called Think Different.  At the end, Loic is excited to hear what Karl Lagerfeld has to say about it.  Instead of gushing, Karl jumps in with what seems wrong with it.  “There are no Frenchmen in it!”  as if this were an obvious design flaw.

Talking about ebooks, he says “I love paper” and talks about how ebooks are one more way to enjoy books, not replacements for real books, but an addition, as there was once only radio and then TV came along.  It did not stop radio. It was just one more new medium to be embraced.

Loic pushes him about being part of social media, joining things like Facebook or Twitter.  I happen to know he’s been on Twitter awhile and was very cool in adopting it a few years ago.  He is not particularly overwhelmed about such networks and says bluntly. “It’s not about being overly connected, it’s about being WELL connected.”

His demeanor is humble, artistic, funny, blunt.  He says outrageously funny things from a place of complete, “oh please!” honesty.   He makes us all look like liars, he has no need to dodge the honest truth, which most people sugarcoat.

He talks about how he sketches and draws every morning, that you find good ideas by keeping a hand in, making things.  Doing the physical work of drawing helps him find new ideas.  "You get good ideas by making things, not from machines."

Loic asks him about his “brand” – how he controls his brand.  He looks at him sheepishly, “I’m not a brand, I’m just me.”  He goes on, “I don’t like promotion, I don’t promote myself, I just AM myself.”

This is like Steve Jobs or any of the other folks in the Think Different video denying they are a brand.  Picasso “just being” Picasso was a world-changing phenomenon, (equally Karl) and of course he knows that and shows us that the boldest way to exist is to JUST BE YOURSELF.   All true innovators have faced that fact.  They figure out sooner or later that they are here on Earth to be uniquely themselves, which in the beginning of your life can make you very difficult to deal with.  Many people will dislike you, but there’s only one person you are here to be.  Be yourself.

He is an artist,  that is plainly obvious from the way he has no lack of courage about trying new things.   He mentions part of that is throwing away 95% of work he does.  He is the boldest innovator in the room.

I understand as we age, how easy it is to just ignore many of the new technologies in favor of the ones you know, learned years ago, which work fine for you.   Oh no, this is not Karl’s way.  He’s as cool as my teenager trying new things, finding new ways to work, collaborating with young people.    I suspect he has a skateboard hidden away in his room for early morning romps.

Getting old is mostly no fun, but Karl seems anything but old and is all about fun.  Gravity, seems an evil force that would have you slow down as you age, making every step and muscle sag, as it tries to yank you back into the ground, ashes to ashes, but Karl has his artistic curiosity, like a kid, to resist the common pull of gravity and fly high above the crowd, like one of the break dancers who soar through the air at the opening of the conference.