StevenKrein.com

Duh! The easiest diagnosis for Obesity

I'm sitting on a plane on my way to Dallas and there are people to my left,
my right and behind me that have bellies dunlapping onto their trays.
They're eating so-called beef and cheese sandwiches and snacking on the
M&M's that came with this culinary delight.

John Candy and Chris Farley were two of my favorite comedians who, although
obese, didn't die from obesity. I am sure it did play some role in their
untimely deaths and in the early deaths of countless others .

The reason I'm writing about this is that in the March 20th issue of Time
magazine on p. 79 there is an article entitled 'New Ways to Think About Old
Diseases' that describes an effort by Dr. Jean-Pierre Despres of Laval
University in Quebec, who is championing another measure for obesity and
metabolic heath - waist circumference. Not that Body Mass Index (a measure
of height and weight) isn't helpful but he is urging doctors to start
including waistline size as a standard measure in every physical as a FIRST
WARNING SIGN.

I agree - waistline measured at the doctors office has got to help since
losing just 5 lbs can dramatically cut the risk of heart disease, the
number one killer in the US every year since 1900

The Health WisdomBlog

In anticipation of launching OrganizedWisdom in late April, we launched a new blog this week called The Health WisdomBlog (www.wisdomblog.com).  Check it out and let me know what you think!

This blog will be a source for daily health wisdom from those with a voice -- top celebrities, public figures and health advocates. Each post shares the inspirational story of one extraordinary person
with practical health tips and actionable wisdom that only comes from first-hand experience.

Our goal for each WisdomBlog post is to harness the magnetic attraction of compelling personal health stories to promote enhanced awareness of specific illnesses and diseases and help people make
better health decisions.

Take a look and tell me what you think in the comments link below.

Quadrupling the Value - NBC buys iVillage

You know the story - one of my best friends Dan and I started a little online marketing firm called Webstakes in 1996.  The company later changed it's name to Promotions.com. We grew the company from $0 - $27 million in revenue in only four years and raised approximately $46 million of angel, strategic and venture capital along the way.  We took the company public in 1999 and in sold it to iVillage in 2002 (when iVillage was trading at $2 per share)

NBC was one of our investors and also one of our largest clients.

Today, NBC announced it was buying iVillage for $600 million (which is $8.50 per share)

It's kind of neat for this to come full circle - I even got emails today from a few of my investors who were still holding some iVillage stock from our sale to them 3 years ago.  They thanked me for the quadruple in value they received since our transaction - the NBC deal at $8.50 per share is a 4x increase from the $2 iVillage was trading at when we did our transaction.

Too many chefs in the "packaging" kitchen

The secret to Apple's long-standing unique and brilliant packaging is that it's being led by 1 person (Steve Jobs), not a team of people who over-think, over-do and over-analyze everything. Apple's packaging is not dictated by the lawyers, nor a team of people who need to get their 2 cents in.

Check out this funny-if-you-get-it spoof on what would happen if Microsoft attempted to repackaging the ipod  - available on YouTube!

Happiness Buys Success

Are you happy?

Are you successful?

If you answered yes to both, which came first...happiness or success?

In a recent study detailed in December's issue of the Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association, scientists reviewed 225 studies involving 275,000 people and found that
chronically happy people are in general more successful in their
personal and professional lives. Check out "Happiness Buys Success". The study details:

"When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable," said Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Riverside. "Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions."

Previous research has often assumed that success and accomplishments bring happiness, Lyubomirsky and her colleagues write.  "We found that this isn't always true," Lyubomirsky said. "Positive affect is one attribute among several that can lead to success-oriented behaviors. Other resources, such as intelligence, family, expertise and physical fitness, can also play a role in peoples' successes."

Among the good things that come from happiness: positive perceptions of self and others, sociability, creativity, a strong immune system, and effective coping skills.

"Happy people are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life," Lyubomirsky said.