This is quite a bit off topic for me but I’ve been itching to talk about Dolce Luna for some time (I’ll try to circle back to something relevant… after I get to talk about their scrumptious pastries first).

My wife and I met the owner, Luna Chu, a few years ago when we were photographing a wedding at the Presidio in San Francisco. I could pontificate for quite a while about how creative and beautiful her wedding cakes and pastries are, but I’ll let her portfolio speak for itself. After the wedding, we had the distinct pleasure of trying out some of her cookies—she sent a package to us in Santa Barbara as a “thank you” for giving her a few photographs to use in her portfolio. The gesture was extremely generous and very appreciated. Plus, the cookies were incredible.

So what’s the point? Well, for one, the wedding was in 2003. Despite the time that has passed, and the fact that we haven’t had an opportunity to work with Luna since, I still remember her attention to detail, her creativity, how pleasurable it was to work with her, her generosity, and, of course, how amazing her cakes and pastries tasted. I’ll probably remember her work and her company for as long as my mind is controlled by my taste buds, and far more vividly than my recollections of the hundred or so other confectioners I have worked with over the years.

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I think everything in business boils down to passion. I believe Luna has a deep passion for her business and every single pastry she creates. You can see it in the external creativity and presentation, and you can definitely taste it with each bite. I would guess that passion is probably a huge part of her success. I can guarantee, however, that her passion is the primary reason why I often feel the urge to tell people about this “specialty desserts boutique” nearly 400 miles away from me.

So try to be passionate about everything you do. …and try some of her cookies!

TAGS: Passion | Strategy | Cake | Pastry

Chew on the following for a moment or two:

“There can be no real democracy when we have a massive concentration of capital and power in the hands of the few; when multinational corporations challenge the power of democratically elected representatives; when organized criminals can buy off police officers, judges, and politicians; when monopolization of the media erodes fundamental freedoms.”

The quote comes from a very interesting article Jack Yan from the Persuader Blog brought to my attention. The article appears in the February 10, 2006 issue of the Daily Star, a Lebanese daily publication: “Socialist Agenda Can Realize Promise of Globalization“

TAGS: Democracy | Capitalism | Socialism | Globalization | IMF | WTO

Mosey on over to CSR Wire today and find a link to a sustainable business practices survey.

“The Survey Central announces the launch of a new online survey for sustainable business practices.

“Building a sustainable future starts with you and survey participants have an opportunity to directly influence the way companies and organizations develop products, policies, and services.”

TAGS: CSR | Sustainable | Business | Social Enterprise

Hmmm. I guess I fail to see how the following is a plausible solution:

New Anti-Spam Tactic: Charge ‘em From: Wired News

“Two of the world’s biggest e-mail account providers, Yahoo and America Online, plan to introduce a service that would charge senders a fee to route their e-mail directly to a user’s mailbox without first passing through junk mail filters.”

Shouldn’t the crap-mail recipient be charging the spammers to flood their inboxes? Is this really an attempt to keep spammers at bay or just another revenue stream? I definitely think it sounds odd and wonder whether or not Yahoo!, et. al. plan on forking over the revenue to their subscribers. You know, as compensation for allowing unfettered access to their inbox. Sheesh.

TAGS: Spam | Yahoo! | AOL | Email | Privacy

Check out a great article by Jeremy Siegel on Yahoo! Finance called, India vs. China: Who Has the Edge? Here’s a clip introducing the article:

“China and India are likely to be the dominant economic powers by the middle of this century but in many respects they are remarkably different.

“Here and in my next column I will analyze the prospects for economic growth and investment in these two emerging giants based in part on a two-week tour of India I just completed and a visit to China eighteen months earlier.”

TAGS: China | India | Outsourcing | MBA

Via Rob at Business Pundit, check out Businessweek’s summary of the business issues covered in President Bush’s recent State of the Union address.

Those of you that follow this blog regularly are probably aware that I will be traveling through China for a few weeks in late June. The trip is part of the final class I need to take in order to complete my MBA, and accordingly, I will be traveling with 30 or so of my classmates as well as two professors.

Rather than squeezing a full quarter of material into a two and a half week trip to China, we’ll be doing quite a bit of legwork before we leave the US. The class now has a website (calpolymbatrip.com) through which we’ll explore various topics, post comments, and reflect on the trip while we are traveling. The site was launched less than a week ago yet several very interesting discussions have cropped up. I’d encourage anyone interested in China (business, ethics, the future, human rights, etc.) to visit the site regularly.

TAGS: China | Cal Poly | MBA | Business | Ethics | Education

I stumbled across the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship while reading Jeff Cornwall’s post about Rural Entrepreneurial Economic Development Successes and thought I would pass it on. Jeff’s post points specifically to “programs that are having success in supporting rural entrepreneurial economic development.”

There’s a blurb at the top that gives a very brief overview including the overall theme of exploring “trends driving the innovation economy.” Following are the topics being discussed:

• Public Opinion on America’s Innovation Future
• Georgia’s Entrepreneur-Friendly Communities
• Entrepreneurship and Rural Revitalization
• Additional programs target angel investors

Despite the focus on a localized business community, I found the description for Georgia’s Entrepreneur-Friendly Communities to be the most interesting:

“Designated communities have sent their community leaders through a training process, and have established a system that allows them to map local assets and identify entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses. The process provides them with tools and resources that help identify what local business owners need, and to design effective strategies for assisting them, or if necessary, getting out of the way. This program is an interesting model for getting community leaders and elected officials more engaged in promoting entrepreneurship.”

TAGS: Entrepreneur | Kauffman Foundation | Innovation | Innovation