A Lavallo to Follow.

More Than You Ever Need to Know About Me.

--I took my first shot at entrepreneurship as a kid, when someone who owed my father money settled the debt by giving him a hot dog vending cart. This business had it all...high margins, mass appeal, unmistakable glamour and an eager owner/ operator who would stop at nothing short of WORLD WEINER DOMINATION. One thing the business didn’t have was a permit. My 1st dream of mogul-dom? Bun and Done, baby.

--I started my career as a music attorney. Actually, I worked in radio, music retail, marketing and A&R before I went to law school, but after spending six figures on the education, I figured maybe I should do something legal-like. You know, for a goof.

--While working as a young attorney at a major record label in the late 90's, some friends of mine and I decided to start a business to take advantage of the growing digital market. A few months later, we raised $2 million en route to launching a digital music platform (which failed--it was a few years too soon), so we re-invented the business as a music and lifestyle marketing firm. Takeout Marketing was one of the first pure digital marketing companies in the entertainment sphere. The gut-wrenching process of starting and running a business pretty much ensures a vast amount of blogging material for me.

--We took our company public and it was a massive mistake. We took it private again several years later.

--I remember seeing Marc Andreessen on the cover of Time many years ago sitting barefoot on a throne. I said to myself "If THAT goofy dude can start a company, so can I".  So, I did.  Turns out Marc's now a billionaire.  Hey, if THAT goofy dude can be a billionaire...

--I truly love when people use the term "on the lam".  I'm even more delighted when animals say it.

--Things that irk me include using the word "utilized" when "used" is perfectly fine (although I must admit, one time I bought a utilized car 'from a guy'), and media members who answer their own questions when the question makes the answer obvious  ["Now, do I think nuclear waste spilling into kiddie pools is harmful to brain development? Of COURSE I do, Oprah."]. So, does it bother the seething hell out of me when I hear talking heads answer their own questions?  Of COURSE it does, Oprah.

--I have a black-belt in taekwondo (I actually stopped testing at 2nd Dan/ Degree). The reason I decided to get my black belt in the first place was because I read in Forbes that Bill Ford Jr. (he of the Ford Motors family) had one. Although I'm sure Bill is a wonderful guy, the fact that he was merely born into owning an NFL franchise makes me slightly resentful and feeling the need to out-do him.  Now if I can just figure out how to get my great-grandfather to start an iconic car company I’ll be done with Bill for good

--I have a strange gift for remembering the Billboard chart positions of pretty much any song I knew as a kid.

--My mother’s name is Rosemary. Do the math.

[Editor’s note:  If you were born after 1985, the aforementioned “math” will be far too difficult for you. The author is merely referring to the seminal 1960’s horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, wherein a young, waif-like Manhattan housewife is impregnated by the Prince of Darkness. By way of extension, the author is referring to himself as Satanic spawn. Either that, or Frank Sinatra is the author's father (another reference you won’t get if you didn’t know that Mia Farrow played Rosemary and at the time, she was married to…oh, forget it!]

--I have 2 dachshund pups named Olive and Rufus, who are either a constant source of comic gold or a constant source of real gold. My dogs are pirates.

 --I remember Patti Labelle had a sitcom in the early 90's. The artist known as Hammer (who must have recently lost the "MC" in a card game or something) was a guest star. Patti owned a bar and asked Mr. Hammer if he'd like to sit down, to which he replied: "Oh Patti, you know I'm too legit to sit."  I only wish I could have written a line that wonderfully dreadful (although "Bun and Done" comes awfully close).

 --I found Business School FAR more enjoyable than Law School.  You see, law school never presented the opportunity to give class presentations where I could suggest things such as Virgin should change its name to Pregnant so people would think they were getting much more value.

--My daughter Sabrina's laughter is the best song I've ever heard. Well, after Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone".  Oh c’mon, who are we kidding? The kid's laugh is a glorified farm-animal cackle compared to those glorious guitar solos.

--My plan for this blog? Besides teaming up with Oprah to raise awareness for the nuclear-waste-filled kiddie pools, I hope to share my random observations on business, marketing and life. I've (fortunately) had a very diverse and interesting career--law, marketing, entrepreneurship, running a public company--and life. I hope my insights will help or maybe even inspire other people. I will certainly post about starting and running a business, as well as marketing tips, insights and stories. And, really, who doesn’t like stories?

My door is open if you ever want to contact me.

[Editors note: This "door" Mr. Lavallo speaks of is a merely an electronic and/or metaphoric one. Please do not come to his office or Fifth Avenue Victorian mansion or else you will be in a sea of trouble.]

[Editors note: The "sea" referred to in the prior paragraph is not an actual body of water, but just another stupid metaphor Mr. Lavallo has chosen in his attempt to be top dog on the top ladder of blogging success. See, the fool can even mix his metaphors.]

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