UPDATED MAY 3 2015

As you know,  Verizon Communications had James Earl Jones as their service spokesperson, but Rutger Hauer would be anchored with us in a much more powerful, artistic way. He has several charities through which he supports young filmmakers and actors, and he has a deep artistic foundation. Thus, we have offered a multi-million dollar package for the campaign and the sponsorships, whereby we will give him all artistic freedom.

Now you may ask, “why Rutger Hauer and not Brad Pitt?” Well, first of all, I know Rutger personally since 2006/2007. I first met him nearby our investment firm’s Park Avenue (NYC) offices where he was shooting a scene. Second, we don’t want just another campaign. We want to contribute to art and artists, and Rutger is passionate about that – in fact, it was his idea. Third, Rutger Hauer is of Dutch origin; he is seen by the Dutch population as among the most successful “export products” from the Netherlands, where we have a project going on.

For Rutger’s current involvement, please search his name in the “Blueprint“. 

Below are some 2007 pictures of Rutger, my two brothers, and me. We met up in Schiphol, the Netherlands where he was on his way to Venice. (I am the one in the grey suit. I lost weight since! Thank goodness)

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I was a hippie. I guess that I still am one, deep down. I am proud to admit it. I had hair down to the middle of my back, listened to some very weird music and sat around talking about ‘the guru’ and ‘peace’ and ‘the war’. Sadly, at least to my teenage mind, the sexual revolution had already been overthrown.

 

If you were born after 1978, you are part of the Generation Y, also known as the Millennials. I, unfortunately, am a little older than you. But, I do have a handful of kids that fall in that range, and I love watching how they communicate.

What an interesting idea: “Calling on a Customer”. How about: “My sales territory”. Or: “Our regional reach”.

 

If these sound familiar to you, OK. If they sound right to you then stand up, turn toward the wall and bang your head soundly into the sheetrock until you are crying. Why? Because, if you are still thinking in any way other than globally, you are missing out on your company’s true potential, and you SHOULD be crying.

We all have thought about it when watching one of those weird nature documentaries where one strange plant is completely dependent on some bizarre activity of a specific animal species and the animal needs the plant in order to survive. And you think “How could that happen? How did it get started?” Kind of like the Chicken or the Egg. Which came first?

Let’s face it: we all like to think that we work at innovative companies that are destined to conquer their current industry and eventually rule the world. But, the reality is far different.

If you have never read the breakthrough research on innovation by Dr. Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School, then you need to stop reading this and come back after you have read his works. His book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, explains clearly why huge, highly successful companies who literally OWN their industry fail to continue to be successful.

Introduction

More than 6.5 years ago (May 21, 2002) I sponsored the European Broadband Debate in the Library Theater Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The theater was a full-house with approximately 150 attendees; almost every self-respecting broadband professional was present. My company’s then Vice-CTO, Chris Rouse, and I also made presentations to introduce our company’s plans to connect approximately 2.5 million units in Holland to a new Fiber To The Home network. With that fact, we became the first company to set out such a bold ambition – long before KPN & Reggefiber were considering Fiber To The Home rollouts.

In 2007, while I was visiting my family in Europe, my nephew got me an avatar on his Nintendo Wii. The interactive experience through the virtual-reality aspect of the Wii was simply amazing. I tried the bowling game, but

In the last few years it has become quite fashionable for politicians, lawmakers and mayors to make statements such as “we need a next-generation communications infrastructure; the solution is to extend fiber-optics to homes and businesses because it will help our nation grow economically and be a competitive force.”

Granted, Fiber-To-The-Home/Office and Broadband Wireless Access embody the future of wired and wireless communications respectively, but

The majority of the analyses presented on this blog come from our company documents, which means that we present real issues that are part of our business model and strategic planning.

1.0 – In this multi-part introduction section, I intend to give a personal account, as founder of Angie Communications and author of this blog, on what, where, why, and when important decisions in our company’s history were made and what kind of events took place.