CHAPTER 1

How It All Began

Matthew was a dot-com boomer and one of my first businessclients. Young, savvy, well connected, supported by his family,and just plain gutsy, he gathered terrific people around him anddug in. Starting in the proverbial garage—in his case a right coastBrooklyn apartment—he used his computer programming skills tobuild a website for celebrity promotion and other hard-to-get content.Beginning in 1992, we worked and learned together intensively forseveral years and remain friends to this day. For a time he made moneyin a field that still had no clear revenue model, all the while garneringvisibility for his creative genius. His little company went from zeroto an estimated value of fifteen million dollars in one year. Whatdizzying excitement, seemingly endless possibilities; what FUN!

While he learned about online business, I learned about businessintuition on demand. There are many stories to tell about those timesin the Manhattan loft, including the emerging issue of intellectualproperty in digital environments. Some of those early questionscontinue to intrigue and plague, depending on your point of view.But for me, assessing potential strategic partnerships and preparingfor surprise stand out above the rest. Regardless of size or domain,these are issues faced by organizations every day, loaded with landmines and with potentialities for success.

A larger company was interested in partnering with Matthew'scompany. These discussions involved meetings, proposals,counterproposals, estimations of valuation in an emerging market,intellectual property rights, and ultimately selling a product whenthere was as yet no proven revenue model for the Internet, then calledthe World Wide Web. "Who'll be there?" became a favorite gameof ours during the negotiation process. "Who or what is the largercompany, and who will be there to represent them? Whom do youneed to bring with you to the next meeting to match their interestand agenda and personalities?" Using a few low-tech tools like makinglists, framing questions, and finding a buddy who was willing tosuspend disbelief for a moment and play these intuitive games, it wasamazing to see the real-world impact of what can be learned in sevenseconds or less. While I am typically not present for such negotiations,Matt hew invited me to attend the signing ceremony once negotiationsconcluded. What a hoot to discover how closely the blind intuitiveassessment matched the individuals once we met face-to-face!

Several interesting factors emerged. For example, there wasintuitive evidence that a key player at the negotiating table would soonbe leaving the larger organization, and as a result was less investedin the process than one might have imagined or expected if he werefully "in." He was in a hurry. This simple, unresearchable fact thatthe chief negotiating attorney was on his way out proved to be animportant tidbit for Matthew's company, resulting in a tactical shiftand successful conclusion to the negotiation. There were many otherfactors as well, naturally. The point here is the importance of surprisethat comes with the regular, intentional use of intuitive tools in thebusiness world.

A second key element emerged in Matthew's story, also based onsurprise, I received clear intuitive indications that Leo, Matthew'sco-founder and vice-president, was planning to leave their owncompany very soon as well; not just the attorney from the potentialpartner company. When I passed the information on to Matthewand suggested strongly he plan for Leo's departure, he dismissed theleaving as impossible since the two had built the company together.He just could not imagine making the business work without hissidekick and business partner.

Two months later Leo, the vice president of Matthew's company,was gone under rather unseemly circumstances. Matthew's heart wasbroken, but he was prepared in advance, even if still unbelieving. Icould not save him from the heartbreak, but I could help him save thecompany by preparing for a succession plan in the event Leo did leave.

In addition to the lesson for Matt hew, there was another importantlesson for me as a professional business intuitive: just becauselesson for me as a professional business intuitive: just because theinformation you receive is unwelcomed at the time, it doesn't meanyou are wrong. When you feel strongly about your gut feeling, stickto your guns and go with it!

That set of experiences was the start of a wild ride on my pathto the mastery of business intuition on demand, or what I like tocall Seven Second Decision Making. Since the time with Matthew, Ihave worked with publicly traded companies and sole proprietorshipentrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, politicians, artists, spiritualpractitioners, soft ware developers, the hospitality industry, and a hostof individuals trying to figure out their purpose in life.

There will be much more to say about strategic partnershipsand other challenges facing contemporary businesses, but first let'stackle the basics: what is intuition, and what in the world can...