The Creative Connector - Ideas in Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship » Just for Fun

A Delicious New York Culinary Blog

David Isserman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:30:57 +0000

A good friend and foodie, (and not to mention, recent Food Network alumna and soon to be founder of a gourmet catering business), has launched NYCulinarian, a blog that chronicles her culinary adventures throughout New York. Already, it has given me some excellent ideas on where to eat in the City and what to order. She is not shy on using her camera, so be warned — there are lots of savory photos accompanying each post.

TheyRule.net Connects Companies and Institutions

David Isserman — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:29:11 +0000

TheyRule.net is a site that maps the relationships between directors of top companies and institutions. My favorite map connects Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This site definitely shows the power of social networks (both online and offline).

A Recap of Favorite Posts, Interviews, and Links

David Isserman — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:10:07 +0000

As I continue to add new articles to TheCreativeConnector.com, I thought it would be fun to take a moment and highlight some of my favorite posts, links and interviews from this past year.

Posts:

Interviews:

Links:

How to save money running a startup (By Web Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis)
Essay About “Being Good” When Starting a Company (By Entrepreneur and Technology Evangelist Paul Graham)
Thoughts on Choosing Board Members (By Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson)
Orange’s Unlimited Web Page

Paris Hilton for Prez

David Isserman — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:14:37 +0000

What do you think about this energy policy? It seems to make sense to me.

Your Mom is Not a Valid Test Market

David Isserman — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:00:27 +0000

VCWear.com, which started as a joke by Andrew Hyde (StartupWeekend.com) and Matt Emmi (OneButtonLife.com), sells thought inspiring t-shirts poking fun at the venture capital industry and tech-entrepreneurs. New t-shirts can be “funded” for $500, which gives you:

Your shirt “made” and will be available for sale to everyone at $25
40% of all future revenue from your shirt ($10/shirt)
Your name/company info and “message to the world” on the shirt page
The shirt you chose to fund
Bonus “iFunded this shirt (over your startup)” shirt

Some of these are so clever, I may even decide to fund one!

I’ll Trade You my Beach House in St. Martin for Your Flat in London

David Isserman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:00:47 +0000

Recently, New York Magazine highlighted a popular new travel service for the luxury traveler…high-end home exchanges.

If you own a multi-million dollar home and are willing to trade it with others, this is a service that you must try. Properties can range from ranches, to beach houses, to ski lodges, to flats in New York and London. I just happened upon a very nice chateau in Normandy, France, which sleeps 12. (see photo above)

One company that arranges such exchanges is ExclusiveExchanges.com. On the Site, members can browse one of hundreds of other homes around the world. Listings describe desired swapping destinations. Most say “Open to All Offers”, but surprisingly some specifically request “No NYC Apartments”…

And if you’re wondering why these wealthy homeowners would allow strangers into their residences, the answer is that the homes being exchanged aren’t primary residences. They are typically vacation homes already setup to accommodate guests.

Think you’re rich?

David Isserman — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:00:34 +0000

Recently, Barron’s published an article titled, “Are you rich?”, in which Tom Sullivan explores the ins and outs of true wealth.

According to this article, you aren’t really rich until you have $25 million. Seems high, right?

It turns out that being truly wealthy has to do with retirement. With $25 million, you will be free of any financial worry when you retire and can easily create an annual income of $1 million.

The article breaks down true wealth into three categories:

Beer & Pretzels ($25-$50 million = 125,000 U.S. Households) — Allows you to live the high life…
Wine & Cheese ($50-$500 million = 49,000 U.S. Households) — Allows you to stop flying commercial airlines and buy vacation homes…
Caviar & Champagne ($500+ million = 1,400 U.S. Households) — Allows you to buy a palace and a mega yacht…

Even if you don’t fit into the Beer & Pretzels category (or any of those categories), don’t feel bad. A website run by Poke – the same group that made Unlimited for Orange (See An infinitely long webpage…because “Good Things Should Never End” ) – has created another website, Global Rich List, that helps you realize how fortunate you really are.

For example, let’s say you have an annual income of $100,000. Well, then you’d be the 39,615,049th richest person in the world! And if you visited Poke’s Rich-O-Meter, it would tell you that there are 5,952,586,436 people poorer than you.

So if you make $100,000, but still can’t afford to play with the Beer & Pretzels crowd, remember this…you’re still in the TOP 0.66% richest people in the world…

Scenes Around Boulder Colorado

David Isserman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:39:45 +0000

Today I took out my bike, pumped up the tires and made my inaugural ride for the season. Here are some photos I took along the way.

Starbucks on Pearl Street

Google’s Office

Sherpa Restaurant – Owned by Ex-Everest Guides

The Whole Foods Headquarters

A Hunger Strike

The St. Julien Hotel

Boulder is Home to Several Venture Capital Firms

The Pearl Street Mall

The Patagonia Store on Pearl Street

Folsom Field at the University of Colorado

Making a Statement at the University of Colorado

The Flatirons

A View Over Downtown Boulder

Beautiful Boulder Creek

Boulder Ranked ‘Smartest City’ in America

David Isserman — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:16:22 +0000

I knew I felt a change when I moved out to Boulder last April. At first, I thought maybe it was the lack of oxygen and high elevation. Or maybe it was living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains…

It turns out that according to Forbes Magazine, Boulder is ranked the smartest city in America. Out of our 279,897 residents age 25 and older,

52.92% have a bachelor’s degree or higher
3.97% have a Ph.D.
92.89% graduated from high school

Those that ranked just below us were:

2.) Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.
3.) Ithaca, N.Y.
4.) Ann Arbor, Mich.
5.) Corvallis, Ore.

Frozen at Grand Central Station in New York

David Isserman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:00:11 +0000

A great YouTube video that I stumbled across … here’s what happens when over 200 people freeze in place for 5 minutes in Grand Central Station.