Peter Gasca

Try or die not knowing.

Posts Tagged: Business

Five Years … and Counting!

1 year ago | Tags: WildCreations Anniversary Wild Creations Business Milestones

2007 Original Catalog

By Peter Gasca, Co-Founder and CEO Wild Creations

Last week marked the five year anniversary for Wild Creations! And, like any proud parent, all I can do is ask myself … Where did the time go???

When my business partner and Wild Creations’ Co-Founder, Rhett Power, and I started this business in March 2007, we of course had big aspirations. Our goal was not to run a company simply to “make a living” for each of our families, but instead to establish and nurture an exciting and adventurous business that attracted partners who shared our passion for life and desire to make an impact. It seemed a pretty straight forward and altruistic goal. Really, what could go wrong?

Source: wildcreationsfrogblog.blogspot.com

Coastal Carolina Presentation

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1 year ago | Tags: Coastal Carolina Education Innovation Technology Business

In response to many requests for the presentation given for the Coastal Carolina Wall College Global Business Forum key note, I’ve included it here. You may also find the PDF link at www.PeterGasca.com. Enjoy!

Moving Beyond Hand Buzzers

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1 year ago | Tags: Apps Business Design Innovation Technology Toys

I read a great article in Fast Company’s Co.Design by contributing author Hellen Walters, who writes about the “4 Elements That Make A Good User Experience Into Something Great”. As the title implies, product design is critical for not only function but also to set expectations for “what we expect (the product) to do, and then, ideally, get the hell out of our way until we need it again”. Apple products, such as the iPod, are great examples. Apple was the first to introduce a music player that was intuitive, attractive (red anyone?), and didn’t scare the Belarus out of you! For us working in the toy industry (and especially for us integrating more technology into our designs), these concepts are as important as ever and should be a part of the design team’s tattoo collection.

Source: fastcodesign.com

NY Toy Fair 2012

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1 year ago | Tags: New York NY TF12 Toy Fair TIA Toy Fair TIA Toys Business

The Toy Industry Association (TIA) Toy Fair in NY concluded this past weekend, and after our fourth year attending, I can say it went by pretty much as planned. Much of the product development and new partnerships we are working on will not be ready until the summer (most likely for A.S.T.R.A. in Baltimore, MD), so this trip for me was to showcase our partnership with the Flipoutz and SnapTagz brands as well as an expedition to see new products and meet industry friends and associates. And, while I can’t say too much about what I took away (I don’t want to give away too much here), suffice it to say … it was a great trip!

How To Instill Purpose

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Leadership Entrepreneurship

I am a firm believer in the “soft” management skills. I believe too many business managers, myself included from time to time, lose focus when leading a business team toward a goal. Sometimes, it’s good to remove focus on every day tasks to focus on the big picture vision of the company, and determine if the course that is set is the best course for the time. This requires the ability to instill purpose in those who are working in concert toward this end goal. The article, “How To Instill Purpose”, by John Baldoni, a blog contributor for Harvard Business School, was a great read for a Monday morning, and reminded me what I needed to re-focus my energy toward.

4 S’s of Entrepreneurs

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Entrepreneurship MBA

Anyone who has gone to business school knows that professors love to teach about quadrants. It would even appear that all business problems would actually fall into one of these four quadrants, and following the footnoted text would solve any business issue that arises. I jest, but in a sincerity, these quadrants, like so many other frameworks learned at the McDonough School of Business, actually help create a foundation upon which to build the skills of an entrepreneur. In fact, I’ve actually developed my own framework, from which I think I can base much of the success we’ve had at Wild Creations.

Asian GenConnect

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Technology Mobile Asia | Notes: 29

The statistics are staggering. Between growth in Asia and the empowerment of young generations, the influence of technology on our lives, and our businesses, is a force more powerful than we can imagine. According to Advertising Age, here are some very interesting statistics:

Who Took My Bandwidth?

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Technology

Netflix made the news again today, but for a completely different reason than irking its customers. According to Venture Beat:

Netflix accounts for 28% of ALL bandwidth usage nationally.
Neflix peaked at 32% of downstream traffic this year.
Neflix, HTTP, YouTube and BitTorrent account for 64.4% of all bandwith consumption!

More interestingly, there continues to be a rapid shift of traffic away from desktops (PCs) to set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and smart devices. Only 45% of internet traffic on fixed networks goes to desktop computers!

All I can say is … wow. Netflix may have lost 800,000 subscribers since “Quickster-gate”, but they were on the right track. Streaming is the future. For now, however, stop streaming video and slowing down my email!

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Social Media | Notes: 4

Brick and mortar stores are indeed threatened these days by many obstacles, namely the internet, but instead of fighting, success may just rest in compromise … or just giving in altogether. A great article by Convince&Convert got me thinking.

Calling All Moms

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1 year ago | Tags: Social Media Business

Moms are increasingly moving online, which means retailers need to follow. According to eMarketer Digital Intellegence:

- 23 Million moms with children under 18 in the household currently use Facebook at least once per month.

- This represents 2/3 of all online moms in the country!

- Overall, 26.5 million moms with children are active social media users

- This represents 79.2% of all online moms.

- In 2011, online moms make up 17.9% of ALL US social media users!

Take away: If you sell to moms, and you have any hopes of growing a business, or heck even staying in business, you must be online and active with social media! There are moms waiting!

CNN Money

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1 year ago | Tags: Wild Creations Business

Very proud of the article in CNN Money recently. Entrepreneurs and business managers are having a tough time battling not only the economy but banks to find financing for growth.

In the end, it comes down to risk and perseverance. It’s not easy to run a business in these economic times, but sometimes, it’s best to be aggressive while everyone else is retreating!

Modern Day Paper Route

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1 year ago | Tags: Kidzforce Business Innovation Flipoutz

This weekend, we introduced publicly, Kidzforce, a new opportunity for young and ambitious kids to learn the skills necessary to help them become future business leaders, and make a few bucks along the way. I personally am excited about this program because aside from mowing neighbors’ lawns or babysitting, there are very few programs these days that provide real life job experience. Of course, we still have programs such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, which provide valuable life lessons to prepare young children for the real world, but nothing that provides the depth of field for entrepreneurship. I had such an opportunity as a kid, and looking back, it taught me the single most important lesson I’ve learned in my professional career.

TRU or False

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Toys Retail Innovation

Is Toys-R-Us looking for a new model? I was reading a blog post recently from one of the most respected toy insiders in the industry, Richard Gottlieb (Toys R Us and Neil Friedman: What it really meant!), and it got me thinking …

R.I.P. Strip Malls

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Innovation Technology

An interesting thing happened as I drove to the store recently. Shopping centers are changing. I know, a revelation, right? But then I read an interesting article, Walmart-Your Friendly Neighborhood Grocer, and it got me thinking.

Bring Manufacturing Home

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1 year ago | Tags: Business Manufacturing

There’s been a great deal of discussion about the manufacturing in Asia, especially when it comes to the toy industry. These articles, HBR Blog - Is Manufacturing Making A Comeback? and S&B - Manufacturing’s Wake-Up Call are great support for bringing this expertise back to the US.