Monthly Archives: September 2013

Marc-eting 101: Be Fearless, Get Ahead.

EntrepreneurBlogs1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marc Sampogna, Canopy’s Managing Director, was recently asked to give his best advice on being fearless and getting ahead. Check out what he had to say below.

The best advice I can offer to young entrepreneurs looking to succeed is to be proactive rather than reactive. Seeking out opportunities that can inspire and drive you versus waiting for them to be put in front of you is key. In addition, to be an entrepreneur is to uncover an idea, product or service that captures people’s attention in ways they never realized. That means, taking risks that you can validate and are calculated. Strategically sound individuals will succeed over those who just jump in blindly. Lastly, surround yourself with people smarter than yourself. If the people around you and their ideas or thinking don’t challenge you, then you are not maximizing potential. You should partner with those who can elicit a debate and shed new light on things that you may never have thought of. It will make your idea, product, and/or service that much stronger.

 
 

Let’s Be Frank: Are You An Entrepreneur?

goldfish-jumping-out-of-bowl

Getting there…

You walk around with an undeniable thirst to dream big.

You’re not deterred by roadblocks and naysayers. In fact, they add fuel to your fire.

You’re not thinking about going to Shark Tank and selling out on day 4.

Because you want to be pursued for “your idea”… not be the pursuer.

Your partners look to you for inspiration and you step up everyday.

You look in the mirror and the word “inventor” appears followed by a flashing light.

And suddenly you see an image of Elon Musk followed by his inventions Space X,

PayPal and Tesla Motors.

Congratulations you’ve made the jump.

 

Gardens On the Go

GardenPost

Rooftop gardens, typical. Green-roofed buses, a breath of fresh air. Marc Granen, a landscape artist from Spain, created a prototype of the first Phyto Kinetic garden, a fully functioning garden-on-the-go. Affixed to the bus’s roof utilizing lightweight steel, mesh, and foam systems, the rooftop garden is watered by the condensation collected from the air conditioning unit. Granen suggests that each system could create over 100,000 square-meters of air-purifying green space in metropolitan areas.

His primary goal is to reduce the heat island effect, increase biodiversity and green space, and help buses run more efficiently. The only downside of the garden is the extra weight that adds to the bus’s fuel costs. However, Granen says that the garden cools buses by 40 degrees, saving a significant amount of energy.

Granen’s design has been implemented on a tourist bus in Spain, carrying people to and from their campsites. Forward thinking, he hopes to “en-garden” thousands of buses in New York, L.A., Madrid, Tokyo, Berlin, Rio and Delhi.

What sparked our fire: The proactive measures artists are taking to add fresh air to our concrete jungles.

Where will gardens pop up next? In the subway? On top of taxis?

We’ll all float on

What if we could pioneer an unprecedented way of life with personal freedom, greater economic opportunity, and a 360-degree view of the ocean? These questions piqued the interest of The Seasteading Institute to begin pursuing a creative solution, floating cities. For five years, the organization has been conducting research on the likelihood of seasteads, the first permanent freestanding city at sea.

Using popular crowdfunding website, Indiegogo, The Seasteading Institute hopes to raise $20,000 to help sponsor research being conducted by DeltaSync’s, a multidisciplinary research and water architecture firm.

Known for their innovative approach to problems, as demonstrated in their Rotterdam floating pavilion project, DeltaSync will be conducting a study later this year to begin the design process and test the floating city’s feasibility. Some features they’re looking to incorporate include extreme energy conserving materials, urban architecture capable of evolutionary development, as well as food and water solutions that help clean the ocean.

With only 16 days left, check out the campaign to help fund their dream project!

What sparked our fire: The first, fully functioning floating city could be just a few years away.

Is the world ready for experimental civilizations?

Enjoy!

– Canopy Team

What If… Instagram Launched a Line of Sunglasses?

If Instagram made sunglasses, how would they look? What would they be called? How would they change your perspective? Here at Canopy, we have created a passion project by randomly pairing a consumer brand with a completely unrelated product to see what unfolds.

Our unfiltered approach to creative thinking allows us to bend the rules from time to time. Introducing our Instragram inspired line of sunglasses: #Filters…

Instragram allows users to capture, customize, and share all of life’s priceless moments. Instagram #Filters sunglasses transforms each moment into one that is truly one-of-a-kind.

Toaster: It’s getting hot in here!Toaster

Valencia: Como se llama bonita? Valencia

Brannan: Be sky high! Brannan

Kelvin: Thermodynamics just got sexy! Kelvin

1977: Vintage never goes out of style. 1977

Sutro: Focus on what you want! Sutro

Finally, add a personal touch by customizing your sunglasses case! sunglassescase

What sparked our fire?

The opportunity to view the world differently each day through a (digital turned physical) lens. An innovative perspective that makes every moment fashionable, fun, friendly and fantastical.

Do you have a unique brand/product combination you’d like to see brought to life? Write, tweet, insta or message us and we’ll take a crack at it!