This past weekend my wife Katie and I finally sat down and watched Moneyball. It’s an excellent movie, and I don’t want to give too much away, but here’s the general theme of the movie:

If you can’t win in your present circumstances, change the game.

Which reminds me of Apple. By all accounts, they’ve “lost” the PC war, in the sense that there will never be more people with an Apple computer than a Windows computer. So what has Apple decided to do? Change the game completely.

A recent article on CNN Money states that if you include tablets as computers, Apple’s sales now dwarf everyone in the computer industry.

Here is the breakdown of computer industry market share when the iPad is included:

Apple is moving their focus to “post-pc devices” such as the iPad because they understand two things:

A) They can’t win the PC war (at least in a numbers game)

B) Tablets are the future of computing.

As writer Marco Arment prophetically said almost two years ago, there isn’t a “tablet” market… only an iPad market.

So if you can’t win, change the game.  Think differently about the situation you’re in and don’t be afraid to take chances. Whatever you do, don’t settle for the status quo.

Here’s a special holiday image for our friends and family at New Ink Design. We’ve got a big announcement planned for tomorrow to bring in the new year so stay tuned!

Look closely…

Starting a business is dangerous. Making something out of nothing (and convincing people to do it with you) isn’t the easiest way to make a living, but after a year of owning a business I’m convinced it’s one of the most rewarding.  New Ink Design turns one this month and I couldn’t be more excited about where we’re heading. But before I move forward, I took a moment to look back.

Here are three things I’ve learned after a year of business: 

Start with why

Simon Sinek’s TED talk changed my life. In it, he argues that it is the company’s that focus on why they exist, not what they do that are truly successful. I can talk about technology until I’m blue in the face, but few will care.

If you really want to change the world, talk about why you exist. For New Ink Design, we’ve realized that our purpose is to leave people better than we find them. This results in websites, videos, apps and the like that truly enrich people’s lives. That’s where we’re heading.

If you start with why you exist, people will listen. If you start with what you do, they’ll snooze.

Don’t Settle

The first year of business is filled with milestones. First client, first check, first employee and so on. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype early on and take on any client that wants your work and any employee that wants to work with you. Don’t settle. If you are doing quality work, you as the leader of the business need to act as the general editor of the clients you take on, the employees you hire and the work that you do.

Find your focus and stick to it.

Family First

This is a hard one for me, because I’ve certainly failed here several times. When you start a new business, it requires everything you have. YOU are the customer service department. YOU are the sales team. YOU are the leader. YOU are the one at fault if it all falls apart.

While New Ink Design has been very blessed and very successful, I haven’t always balanced that success with my husbandry duties. More than once I’ve simply done the minimum rather than going the extra mile. The takeaway? Carve out time that’s family-only. No phones, no computers and no business talk. For Katie and I that has meant going for walks, watching our favorite shows and being sure to always have date night at least one a week.

Learn, grow, repeat.

Stay tuned for some huge updates from New Ink Design over the next 7 days… we’re finally ready to talk!

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood…“

-Daniel Burnham

This image is a preview of a brand new video we shot this week for New Ink Design. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results and can’t wait to share it with you… it really captures the raw emotion and passion to change the world this company was founded on.

The video and our completely revamped website will both launch next week along with several huge announcements for the company. Things are getting very big very soon and we can’t wait to bring you along!

If you would like an early look at this video, just click here and let me know and we’ll send you a private link… you won’t be disappointed.

One of my favorite things about the iPhone is the ability to customize your home screen’s look and feel. So, I thought I’d take a moment every month to share what I have on my home screen and perhaps catch a glimpse what you have on yours…

Some notable apps in the dock folder include Reminders, Alien Blue (Reddit), Twitter and Spotify (among others).