Written by viktor on March 27th, 2008
There is strong correlation in the level of integrity one has and their net worth. An excellent example is Warren Buffet. He is one of the only Billionaires to make his billions investing in stocks through not only sound business fundamentals (value investing) but through strong moral judgements of character. Money is invested in corporations that are not only profitable but whose management possess high levels of integrity and respect for both their employees and shareholders.
Warren puts it very nicely in the following quote:
“You can’t make a good deal with a bad person”
-Warren Buffet
Warren Buffet is one of many examples that prove morality makes good business sense. The books by Thomas Stanley that document his research of Millionaires are filled with numerous examples. I am by no means saying that you should be “good” so that you can get money but that money is actually a bi-product of being good and having a high level of integrity.
We at cameesa possess a reverence for our customers, investors and anyone our company touches and hold them in the highest regard. Our product’s ultimate goal is to create opportunities for others that were not present before by leveraging community based business models. We believe in sustainable, team-oriented business models where everyone in the community benefits and that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We also believe that the only way to conduct business in today’s competitive landscape is with honesty and integrity. It is extremely hard for us to believe it can be conducted in any other fashion.
If any of the aforementioned beliefs are corrupted, the business should cease operations immediately regardless of growth or profitability because it won’t survive the test of time.
Written by viktor on March 22nd, 2008
I’ve always been interested in Hydro74’s illustration work and apparel designs. Joshua Smith (aka Hydro74) is an illustrator/designer based out of Florida that designs apparel for the likes Quiksilver, Burton, Billabong and countless others. I initially found his work at the online design shop youworkforthem.com. Intrigued I found Hydro74’s site and his great T-shirt designs for brand name clients in the skate, surf and snowboard industry. His work is edgy, intricate, with a gothic feel and dark undertones. It appears that more T-Shirt apparel shops are utilizing this sort of look and feel. The most notable being the apparel shop Affliction, popularized by fighters in both boxing and the mixed martial arts community. I don’t know if Affliction was directly or indirectly influenced by Hydro74’s work; however I do know Hydro74 was on the scene before there was an Affliction, creating T-shirts for the top skate and snowboard brands. I do think that Affliction has definitely popularized the look.
Written by andy on March 18th, 2008
Here at Cameesa, we are creating an online community to connect apparel designers and design lovers. However, we STRONGLY believe in the value of real human relationships.
Many web-based companies rely on tools like Google Ad-words to get the word out about their company. There are even companies who will help you to figure out the best way to utilize the money you spend on Ad-words.
All of this feels insincere. Like, you don’t really know your intended audience, but hope that if you throw enough money at Google, they will figure it out for you.
Rather than throwing money at Google, I would prefer to take those ad dollars and spend them on creating REAL relationships with people. When was the last time you heard someone say: “Once I saw that ad in the right column of the search page, I knew BusinessX was a great company“. But you can imagine that after meeting a company face to face, you might walk away being an instant brand ambassador.
Pictured here are two of the Cameesa street team best, out and about in Austin, TX for St. Patty’s Day. (Notice the random Cameesa business card found on the telephone pole.) Thanks for sending in the pic Jeff.
There are obvious limitations to this “old school” approach, such as time and reach, but this is how Cameesa is interested in reaching and educating the public. Although we are web-based, we are fortunate that a real community exists in the world today, who we are simply bringing together. We would like to meet them, too.
And it might already be working. That Cameesa business card found on the telephone pole above might have been the reason for the extra number of signups today.
That’s viral. That’s guerilla. My friend, that’s downright orangutan. That’s something that you just can’t buy.
Written by andy on March 17th, 2008
Literally. Yes, that is his leg.
Here is Qasar working on a super top secret document. Actually, it is just our investor deck.
At any rate, I have repeatedly been told: “you must remain agile and flexible in the early stages of your company”. Qasar obviously took the advice the wrong way, but I have found it to be incredibly true. You need to be able to move quickly, and change the way you do things, even your entire business model.
That is the true advantage of a startup over a massive company: the ability to react and move quickly.
Written by andy on March 13th, 2008
The Cameesa street team will be out and about prowling the streets of Austin, TX at SXSW this evening. Two of our locals, Justin and Jeff, will be representing.
You will know when you see them, cos they will probably be flashing this in your face:
