#AnimeNYC2019 - Wisdom from the Great Danny Choo
Anime NYC has been a staple in NYC for at least 2-3 years in regards to anime’ and manga. Region 99 has taken pictures of cosplay and focused on the latest and greatest in anime-inspired video games, and various authors in the manga, anime, and voice-over business and while that will always be recorded by the wondrous staff here, we, from time to time, manage to hear the gems (wisdom) dropped from game changers within the industry.
All in all, to this day, I still can’t understand how, despite running after NYC ComicCon, this event still draws in a wild, dedicated audience of hard core anime’ and manga followers and provide us patrons with the most awesome experience ever. Leftfield Media’s creator, Peter Tartara has clearly created an awesome experience unlike any other in this genre and I really left AnimeNYC thinking….did AnimeNYC just beat NYC Comic Con? I’ll leave that to you to decide.
As for me, I’m only focused on the ‘Gems’; those precious wonderful nuggets of wisdom provided by the greats in the industry. This article is one of them……
The Wisdom of Danny Choo
The Legendary Danny Choo: Creator of the Smart Doll
I’ve seen his products before at AnimeNYC. His dolls made an impression that encompassed AnimeNYC and Toy Fair NYC and took customers by storm. Anime inspired and a ‘bountiful’ figure that would make ‘He-Man’ and ‘Woody’ turn their heads, creator Danny Choo created a 2-foot figure that has become a worldwide sensation. The ever lovely SmartDoll is a pop culture iconic piece of anime and its popularity is growing. As his bio states, born in the UK and currently residing in Tokyo, Danny is an engineer, website manager, product manager, producer, writer and all around Good Guy as he has provided countless fans with a product that transcends all ethnicities, genres and ages:
Danny Choo @ AnimeNYC Panel
Region 99 had the privilege to listen to ‘The Legend’ @ the Anime NYC panel dubbed: ‘Things You Must Know To Startup Your Own Anime’ Business’ and as Danny walked onstage to an overpacked crowd, ‘The crowd fell very still. As he spoke, his words resonated with the audience and paralleled that to the mighty Gary Vee. He saw the hunger in our eyes as we followed his rhetoric and as he captivated us for an hour, his speech paralleled that of a big brother; providing us with hope, a ‘never give up mentality’, and empowered us with the ability to achieve our dreams. His diction told us to never be afraid of the trials and tribulations that come with being an entrepreneur.
I managed to listen to these gems as he spoke, and as I wrote down every word, I managed to remember some of the most important parts of his discourse:
1. The Comfort Zone – Being comfortable is one of the most dangerous spaces in becoming an entrepreneur. This hazard zone is indeed treacherous because it prevents you from becoming '“The Great” you were meant to be. Having a great job, paying your bills on time, even settling with that life of mediocrity is enough to say, I’m good right here and I don’t need anything else, which could prevent you from achieving more.
An animated book summary of Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson. Video by OnePercentBetter.
Danny’s dialogue here equals that to the book, Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson. Too much to say about the book here, but in summation, the book discusses the story of two mice and two individuals who had an almost endless supply of cheese. One day, the cheese disappears. The mice realizing that the cheese would never reappear left their ‘comfort zone’ in search for more cheese whereas the other individuals, hoped and assumed the cheese would reappear and so stayed in their environment. Unfortunately for the individuals, the cheese never reappeared and were forced to find more, but with complaints along the journey. One of the many parables I learned in that book was to never settle in life. Being comfortable could be hazardous to your health. If you’re starting as an entrepreneur, making a little money is great, but you should always be willing to ‘venture out to achieve even more’. After all, Amazon first started out selling used textbooks and now they’re vying for a ‘Jedi satellite’ contract (which they lost to Microsoft for).
Never Chase the Dollar !!!
2. Sharing is Caring – In summation, don’t do if for the money. Do it for the love. There will be times that doing something for the people and the love of the people is better than the dollar. To translate Danny Choo’s words: in another way: Don’t Chase the Dollar, Chase the Dream.
3. Show Love….Get Love…From Your Employees - If you really want to build a great product for you customers, you must show love, unconditionally, to the people who bought into your dream…your workers. I feel they are your first customers, because they were the one’s who listened to your words and were ‘sold’ on the vision. By being great to them, they will always assist you in creating great products.
Blue Ocean Strategy By Harvard Business Review.
4. Chart a Course for the Blue Ocean – In business, the Blue Ocean is considered the marketplace that transcends the hustle and bustle of a competitive market. In a blue ocean marketplace, competitors that sell the same product, don’t exist. Those who are part of the blue ocean in business have very little competition and are able to use their business strategies to succeed in a very empty marketplace. For future entrepreneurs, this is the ecosystem you need to be successful in before the ocean of success undergoes a bloody red color (fierce competition - red ocean).
Aside from these parables, Danny C. provided a number of ‘gems’ that any entrepreneur should listen to. As they were immense in number, it would be too great to place in this article. However, I was able to place his speech on our podcast if you ever need additional wisdom from one of the Gems.
