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Back to the Future We Love
Ringtone set to the Back to the Future theme? Check.
Wearing a dark red t-shirt that reads, “Hill Valley High School Alumni 1985” with a bulldog on it? Check.
Wearing Calvin Klein underwear and faded blue jeans? Check.
Started my car’s engine and proceeded to say, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads“? Check.
Listened to Alan Silvestri’s soundtrack to Back to the Future: Part II in the car this morning? Check.
Rode a real-life hoverboard made by Hendo Hover in the year 2015? Check!
(ABC 6 WPVI-TV)
Happy Back to the Future Day everyone!
While Pepsi Perfect is currently working out how to salvage its dynamite promotion idea to sell the futuristic beverage of choice for Marty McFly on October 21, 2015, let’s celebrate the amazing franchise of Back to the Future. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Bob Gale and starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson, Claudia Wells (and Elisabeth Shue), this time traveling science-fiction phenomenon and pop culture epic is the epitome of the best of what a “B-movie” can be. It’s original, has action, is funny, has heart and feels bigger than a something we see on a screen (like a 3-D Jaws…).
It aces every category!
Back to the Future captured our imaginations, our dreams and electrified the idea that anything is possible. We can choose to make our future bright and everything we want, just as long as we’re willing to stand-up to and battle the Biff Tannens of the world. When I was younger, my family and I visited Universal Studios and we rode in and experienced the Back to the Future ride in Orlando, Florida. Waiting in line was actually fun, especially when we got prepped about out mission in Doc Brown’s lab. And “experience” is the key word with this trilogy and it’s one of the reasons why this series remains so meaningful to us after all these years. It was so much more than just movies from the ’80s.
The Back to the Future trilogy really does underscore “the power of love.”
Now, the time has come to see the future…on October 21, 2015.
And Nike, the day has literally come to power-lace our heart strings!
P.S. Come on Cubbies!
Hovering Above
Kickstarter is modern venture capitalism in a nutshell.
“In a nutshell” could very easily be a company name on Kickstarter, which only underscores the imaginative space this website gives its aspiring businessmen and businesswomen to pursue. After searching through its digital catalog of ideas that need a preset minimum investment to formally charge its voluntary investors and proceed with producing a particular product(s), it’s evident that people have passions and consumer goods that are both logical and illogical.
And that’s fantastic.
Why?
Because only the marketplace validates or denies value. It’s up to consumers and this is where the excitement lies. People no longer have to be employed on Wall Street or understand the complexities of the stock exchange to fund start-ups. All you need is a laptop, a tablet or a smartphone and a little money. And depending on the monetary donation, there’s a corresponding reward. A person’s support could be as minimal as $5 or as large as thousands of dollars.
Fortunately, the pop culture geniuses at Hendo Hoverboards created a Kickstarter campaign last year that centered on the world’s first hoverboard in the year 2015. Movie buffs will remember that this is the year Marty McFly rode that famous hoverboard in Back to the Future Part II, which was the nostalgic effect they hoped to have on visitors to their fundraising page. It worked with viral-like popularity.
They were funded.
Stories were written about the Hendo Hoverboard in major publications, like Fortune, Smithsonian, Business Insider, the Today Show and more. The mission was to give investors of varying ages and backgrounds the thrill of a lifetime and to introduce people to its multipurpose hovering technologies being developed by Arx Pax, the company behind Hendo Hoverboards. While their primary focuses beyond the hoverboard are not yet ready for the public, their ambitions are certainly within the realm of a future reality.
Luckily, I found this Kickstarter campaign and made a modest investment that included a ride on the aforementioned hoverboard. The entire experience (from researching the company’s mission to its supremely clever marketing to the crazy awesome ride) was first-class. Beginning the morning in their office with a handshake from its co-founder Greg Henderson and discussions with their enthusiastic (and thankful) employees, my time spent in the unassuming Los Gatos, California business park last Friday was eye-opening into the exciting dynamics of a genuine tech start-up.
The marketing strategies are changing in exciting ways, the storytelling aspect of a company is becoming more prevalent and the value of viral content through social media is extending the reach of before unknown firms to individuals who may not have joined together on a business venture otherwise.
Here is the Hendo Hoverboard Kickstarter video.
Welcome to the future.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 