Interview With Richard Reed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeORynrUakk

Innocent Excellence

Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright

The fathers of Innocent

Would you ever give up your job to start a 500 pounds capital company that makes smoothies?

This is what, in 1998, Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright did, they started the Innocent drinks company.

Driven by the idea that people could live a healthier life and that companies could be respectful of the environment, they created, with a 500 pounds stock of fruit, a selection of smoothies that they started selling at a music festival in London. By that time they were still not sure about giving up their jobs to start their “innocent” adventure and with an excellent marketing move they as the company's history reminds us “ We put up a big sign saying 'Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?' and put out a bin saying 'YES' and a bin saying 'NO' and asked people to put the empty bottle in the right bin. At the end of the weekend the 'YES' bin was full so we went in the next day and resigned”.

After having resigned they found a place in Sheperds Bush, London to base their headquarters, The Fruit Towers and started the company with the help of the american investor Maurice Pinto who invested 250000 pounds into the venture.

Since then, the company has been a continuous succes, experienced extensive growth and since 2002 to 2007 was the only company to appear in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 (the 100 fastest growing private companies in the UK) for five years consecutively.

The founders sold 58% of the shares to the Coca Cola Company raising around 90 million pounds.

The company has various challenges and aims and not small ones!

It aims to become the most sustainable company in the world but to do so there are a series of challenges that they have to face. In an interview Richard Reed states: “They can’t grow in the UK (bananas ndr). They’re coming on a boat, which will be running primarily on diesel, which emits CO2. So what do I do? To truly take carbon out of the business system, fruit from Costa Rica would have to stop. But that would mean no bananas. No bananas, no smoothies. Am I going to make that decision? No, I’m not. Am I going to find a way to get them here more efficiently? Absolutely right. We can all talk abut the little things and that’s the right place to start. But what happens when you get through that? That’s the bit I don’t know.”

This statement points out some of the biggest challenges that “green companies” have to face: business against environment, often is the issue.

What are they trying to do at Innocent is to merge the two things, like the ingredients of a fruit smoothie.....

The Ace Hotel Website

www.acehotel.com

And Some Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrywHXOJQgw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckzyIv6vh9o&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IMz3sk4RD0&feature=related

Tips From the Founder

1. Create intimacy. There's a right size for every company, so find your sweet spot. "I've learned it's better to have medium-sized hotels and keep them busy and packed all the time than to create a bigger one that isn't," Calderwood says.

2. Be inclusive. Ace Hotels is named after the ace in a deck of cards, which is both the highest and lowest card. "We try to offer something that appeals to everyone," he says. "Don't lose sight of people as individuals--that's how you keep people coming back."

3. Follow the golden rule. "Our approach has always been to think about what we find interesting and how we would want to be treated, and then make sure we stick to that," he says.

4. Be original. Just because something sounds crazy to everybody else doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. But don't jeopardize the bigger picture if it doesn't make financial sense. Because that really would be crazy. --J.W.

Ace Hotel, Unconventional Excellence

Alex Calderwood

Alex Calderwood started his company less than ten years ago but it has already become a symbol of excellence, at least in the US.

With no business background but a strong passion and dedication for what he was doing, together with his partners Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick in 1999 he started his first Ace Hotel in Seattle with a starting capital of less than $ 2 million raised with a mix of debt, investors and personal funds.

Unconventional as its founder, the Ace Hotel is filled with creativity and naivety, pieces of art and hi tech solutions. Every room has a high speed wifi connection and a flat screen tv, but you might sleep in a bunk bed and find beside the bible a copy of the Kamasutra.

The Seattle boutique hotel has only 28 rooms gained from an old building and transformed in bright rooms to which you can access by walking through narrow, arty-minimal corridors.

The Hotel was such a success that started having positive cash flows after the first year and maintained a successful performance during its second year as the occupancy rates were on the same levels of those of the most established hotels in town.

After the success of the first Ace Hotel Calderwood decided that times were mature to start expanding the business in other american locations. He opened in Portland, in 2002, in Palm Springs in 2009 and in Manhattan earlier this year.

Manhattan branch has been already a blast. Hotel reviewers have rated the Ace hotel as the most successful model for hotels in New York.

What is so special about the Ace hotels is that the experience is not merely limited to hospitality but the hotel itself becomes an attraction for the visitor who can enjoy an 100% experience which includes art, lifestyle and fashion. Yes, because Calderwood creates a link between his hotels and the local art and cultural community. In New York for instance, there's a dj set in the hotel bar and the hotel was given to young directors to shoot their movies.

Calderwood also created a barbershop which can be found in the Hotel and a line of limited Converse shoes which he also developed in Japan.

Below we report an some bits of an interview made by the Us magazine “Entrepreneur Magazine” with Calderwood, who explains us more in depth what Ace Hotel is.

You opened up two hotels during a downturn. Did anybody tell you that wasn't a good idea?
I think in any industry, if you are offering something special and have an understanding of your customer, in good times and bad, you'll adapt and prosper. We are flourishing because our positioning and our brand [coincided] with a shift in what people are looking for. If we had been a more generic product offering, I would have been more freaked out.

But your hotels were immediately successful. How did you achieve that? 
I can't give away my secret sauce! Ha--I wish I knew. But one thing that's served us well is that we've paid particular attention to embracing the local community. From the point we start, we build relationships with the community by reaching out to local vendors and artists, to get them as emotionally invested as possible. You try to become part of that fabric.

How does a hotel gel with a local community?
A hotel can be a catalyst for visitors to a new city. It's a place where locals and out-of-towners can interact, and often the people who want to stay at a property like Ace are curious about the local scene.

Ace's business model is very successful, yet you've said before you don't consider yourself a good business person. 
I didn't attend business school, so there are a lot of basic things that would have made the process easier if I'd known how to raise capital or anything about debt markets. I think my team and I would have made more money if we'd done things a more traditional way.

I think we're very entrepreneurial, though. What we're good at is taking assets that are either distressed or complicated--in some way not appropriate for traditional hotel operators--and embracing the challenges as opportunities to create value.



How so? 
In Portland, the building we bought had a smaller and older elevator, and there was a shared bathroom component. It's also on Stark Street, which is an area that, at the time, would probably have scared off more traditional operators. But we knew from our experience in Seattle that our core customers--creative professionals and cultural enthusiasts--would be open-minded to being in edgier locations. And in New York, we got the Breslin, a really amazing turn-of-the-century historical landmark in a small little neighborhood. You can overlook it because at the street level, it had become an area of wholesale knockoff goods, and it didn't look that pretty. But even if the culture's not quite there, you can tell when a place has good bones.



Can Ace foster that culture? 
To an extent. It takes time, but we do start by looking at the context of the building and the city. We try to create a sense of place in the city you're in. Every hotel is different, but there's a similarity of spirit in the design--an honesty of materials and a simple approach that celebrates the original architecture.


How else does Ace do things differently?
We're resourceful in the development process. When we take over these old buildings, we try to use as much of the existing architecture as possible. We don't do gut renovations. In all the hotels, we used what was there, so we have all these quirky room layouts. It drives our salespeople crazy. In New York, for instance, there are like 54 different room types. But we see that our customers enjoy it, because each time their room is a little bit different.

So there are benefits to not doing things the "right" way. 
Sure. We didn't come with any baggage of "this will or won't work," and it's served us well over time. I mean, financially, the [Seattle] building was a good purchase, but it was a very, very old building. We didn't think we would do more than one. I owned the Rudy's Barbershops with Wade, and we thought Seattle would benefit from this kind of hotel--so we said, "Let's just do it."

And you dove right in.
Yes. Naiveté had a lot to do with it, but I think that unconventionality is one of our strengths. As we've become a bigger company, we hear more and more that this isn't how we should do it. But I never [stop] asking, "Why not?" or being willing to experiment. Like with our turntables.

Turntables? 
I wanted to put turntables in our Portland hotel rooms, and there were a lot of questions about it--about the needles and what would happen if people stole the records. So I just said, "Let's try it with inexpensive records and charge them like a minibar item, and we'll keep the needles at the front desk." If it didn't work, it wouldn't be that big of an investment.

And? 
It's now a signature element of the company. We have turntables in three of the hotels, and we repeatedly get feedback about them. In fact, I just bumped into a boutique hotel operator who asked me if I'd mind if he put turntables in his rooms.

Is the company going through a transition phase?
Yes, we're completely restructuring. When we did Seattle and Portland, it was a small group and a design-build--but very satisfying. New York and Palm Springs were more conventional processes because we had development partners. We learned good things from both ways, and now we're rethinking the best way to blend both.



What's been the most difficult part of the process? 
Every business decision comes down to creating a positive working dynamic. We've been fortunate in finding really good talent, so the challenge will come in the next phases in doing more hotels, because it's not possible for me to be everywhere at the same time. We're discussing how to keep the same spirit because right now I'm involved in every aspect of the organization. That's going to have to shift, but I want to stay lean and mean and make sure the resources are focused on the creative side.

Will it be difficult to let go? 
It won't be terrible. I'm not the clearest communicator, so people who thrive here have to like figuring things out on their own. What I'm good at is finding talent on a lot of levels and giving people encouragement and latitude to be entrepreneurial. It may not end up exactly how I would have done it, but I can accept that.



How does the focus on the creative process help your business?
I love the art of business, and I work like any creative professional. Finding artists or even buildings is an organic process, so I'm always looking around, asking for recommendations. Last night I was reading a magazine and I ended up tabbing one of the artists. I don't have anything for him now, but he sounds interesting, and now his work is in my brain. Something will come up that he'll be perfect for.


You're going to make staying at an Ace hotel an immersive experience. 
Exactly. There's not a big expansion plan, but I visualize our business going deeper. We want a collection of hotels--but not a chain.



Any parting advice? 
Follow your instincts and do your own thing. What we do works for us, but if you're chasing after something, you've already set an expectation. In any creative field, it's fine to be inspired, but you should figure out your own spin.

I think that the direct words of who actually made and built the success of our story is the best way to transmit this to you; no commentaries could be better and could not communicate the same enthusiasm and excitement of the founder.

King Giorgio, The Story of Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani was born in 1934 in Piacenza, a province city 80 kilometres south of Milan.

His family was a low bourgeois family, his father was a public “yuppie” and his mother was coming from a family of home makers.

Life in Piacenza was easy and his family taught him the values of politesse and décor.

During the war, when Piacenza became one of the objectives of Allies bombings, Giorgio Armani almost lost his life when a friend playing with a bomb made it detonate killing one child and burning Armani all over his body. He had to spend more than a month in the hospital but luckily he was recovered.

After the war in 1949 his family moved to Milan and Giorgio who just finished his high school studies had quite a shock moving from quiet Piacenza to the crowded and noisy Milan.

As he stated “It was hard to leave the nature, the smell of the countryside, of the grass and of the courtyards”.

Driven by this sense of nostalgia Armani decided to follow medicine studies, determined to become a countryside doctor.

But when he was called to military service and had to spend two years in a military hospital he understood that being a doctor was not his path.

Returned to Milan he accepted a job as an assistant photographer in La Rinascente, a central Department Store in Piazza del Duomo.

After this experience he was moved to organize the windows and after a really short time he was already in chief of a menswear store.

In 1964 he was hired by Giorgio Cerutti to design the collection of Hitman the menswear brand of the firm.

After 9 years in Hitman Armani decides to leave and opens an atelier with his friend and boyfriend Sergio Galeotti with whom he will share his life until his death in 1984.

After 2 years they open the Giorgio Armani S.p.A. with a capital of 2500000 liras (approximately 800 pounds).

Since then Armani starts to experience a growth that year after year leads him to reach the nick-name of Re Giorgio (King Giorgio).

In 1979 he received the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award and founds the Giorgio Armani Corporation, the first step into the American market and launches a series of brands such as Mani, Armani Junior, Armani Accessories and Swimwear.

In the 80’s Armani sings the costumes (that he calls dresses) for a series of Hollywood cults such as The Untouchables, American Gigolo.

The link between Armani and Hollywood leads to enormous success and in 1982 Times dedicates his first page to the Italian stylist with the title: “Giorgio’s gorgeous style”.

In the 80’s Armani also demonstrate an outstanding entrepreneurial spirit by expanding his operations to Japan and by signing agreements with L’Oreal for the perfumes and Luxottica for the eyewear.

The basis built in the 80’s will lead to an incredible expansion of the brand Armani which in the years 2000 starts a process of renovation which leads to the creation of Armani Prive’, and an Armani Teathre.

In 2001 he also makes an important strategic decision for the company when he decides to acquire all the steps of the production line, to focus even more on the Made in Italy.

But Armani is not stopping and is planning to open the first Armani Hotel in Milan soon......

At the present time Armani has an estimated capital of 4.5 billion dollars.

Armani is our second example of stories of excellence and shows us further more how excellent creativity linked to excellent management can lead to a truth story of excellence.