Erlend Wilhelmsen

A friend died today

The good ones. It's true. Christianne was a good person. She loved life. She had a great family. Great friends.She enjoyed work. She didn't win the battle, but the won the price. The best person. It is not an easy one to win.

Rest in peace Christianne. We love you.

Mistakes made in 2009

• Thinking that my perception of reality was indeed reality. It was not. It was my reality alone.
• Believing that I had the data I needed to make a good decision. I was wrong and made a bad decision.
• Spending a lot of energy on something I knew could not succeed. Did that twice.
• Exerting emotional energy on non-sense. Did that many times.
• Staying in my comfort zone. It is not where lessons are learned.
• Taking far too few videos of Torsten - my son. He won't think much of it, but I do. Maybe he'll forget.
• Working on the December 24th. Yes, I did it. I will probably do that again. Never learn. Passion wins.

Make mistakes

If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing interesting stuff. How many work hours do you think you have left in life? 500,000? Sounds like a lot? Do the math. What are you going to do about it? Leave a legacy or just pass?

The best entrepreneurs make a lot of mistakes. Look at Morten Lund. Felix Dennis. Branson.

I talked to some young Internet entrepreneurs today. They asked what I thought about trying something different. I wish they didn't ask. I wish they just did it. If it doesn't work, they'll know withing days. They can re-group in 5 minutes. It's wonderful. The Internet. Truth. So fast.

Keep up the pace. You don't have forever.

IKEA rocks the branded entertainment world with season II of Easy To Assemble

Yes, I'm biased. Fabric Interactive's team did the design work for IKEA's Easy To Assemble Season II: Co-Worker of the Year. But the truth is that I think that this is one of the best examples of how to do premium branded entertainment that's actually cool!

I think Illeana Douglas has done something pretty unique with this show. I've seen season II and it's comedy. If you like "The Office" you'll like Easy To Assemble. In fact, I think this show has broad appeal and it can work well world-wide.

From a long-term branding standpoint, IKEA stores everywhere should benefit from this. This show was shot at the IKEA Burbank location, which seems to be celebrity central. If you're a tourist visiting Los Angeles, maybe IKEA Burbank should be on your map?

So what's the impact on IKEA furniture sales? Will this help IKEA sell more tables and chairs? It's a bit early to tell. However, Easy To Assemble is not about selling another chair tomorrow. This is smart long-term branding. It's about positioning: IKEA is cool. IKEA pokes fun at itself.

If you manage this brand, you want to keep IKEA relevant and anchored in current pop-culture. You know that advertising - in the traditional sense - don't play well in the social media stream, so trying new concepts that has the potential to break barriers is important. IKEA must be seen as a smart and innovative brand that dares to do things differently. That's how you get the attention of the 18-24 crowd and they are the next customers for IKEA.

I believe IKEA is smart to do this. Today, you have to try new marketing approaches to keep your brand and product relevant and interesting. Hey Target: You got something cooking?

Building a new house in Los Angeles

We just finished construction on a house in LA. Lessons:

• Your architect matters. Make sure your project is a priority.
• Los Angeles City won't tell you what you need to know - until you've talked to them 3 times.
• Nothing in the city code will make sense. Don't fight it. That is "normal."
• Pick a contractor that will be focused on your project.
• Work with a contractor that needs your project to be amazing. (Young and hungry).
• The last 4 weeks are 12 weeks. Finishes takes a lot of time.

Our architect was Jeffrey Birkmeyer. His design is superb. We love it. We also worked with an amazing contractor. His name is Nir and his company is Los Angeles Construction. Get in touch if you want to use them for you project.

Here's an "almost done" picture: