50 Cent Has a Case Against Taco Bell

While I typically abhor these ridiculous lawsuits where the plaintiff is simply trying to pocket some money off of the larger, more innovative powerhouse. Most recently, with the RIMM vs. Patent Troll case we saw a holding company trying to bilk huge amounts of money out of RIMM. In that particular case, I felt the patent-holder was due a more moderate amount, and technology is really nothing without the will and action to do something, which RIMM definitely did.

Now in this case with Taco Bell, Taco Bell definitely was unfair in its use of 50 Cent’s brand. Taco Bell is promoting their 79, 89, and 99 cents price menu which feature various snacks all below 1 dollar. To promote it, they released an open letter to various media outlets requesting that 50 Cent change his name for a day to something like “79 Cent”.

Now this open letter would be fine given that 50 Cent was involved in the marketing plan and was going to receive his fair share of publicity as well as payment, but they did all of this without written express notice by 50 Cent. Despite 50 Cent’s major loss of street cred (which Rick Ross can speak to) for looking like a corporate chump, Curtis Jackson owns the right to his ‘50 Cent’ brand.

For his damages, Curtis Jackson is looking for $4 million, which depending on the value of his brand, this seems justified. So please, Taco Bell, the next time you plan to exploit someone, be sure to ask them first, and expect to have to pay for it.

Better yet, just write an open letter to a presidential candidate or public figure, and ask Barack Obama to change his name to Barack Chalupa Obama to take away all of that negative press from the whole Hussein thing and possibly garner some of the latin vote in the Presidential Election.

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The housing bill on the table in the House and Senate will be bailing out the Fannies and Freddies and giving local governments $500 billion to restore and refurbish foreclosed homes.

Tis a Beautiful Time for a Startup Company

Besides the great opportunity in the mortgage market, this is an even better time to look at starting a business in the associated recovery industry.

Roofing prices are at an all-time high, painting, tiling and even cleaning are much needed jobs and “thanks” to recent immigration legislation prices have gone sky high.

For those of you a bit worried about starting a new company duri g tough economic times, think of it this way…

Right now people expect you to fail and most likely you will, but with the low expectations and minimal loss proposition (how much worse can other get) you have an enormous upside as well.

People are more willing to try a new company or business of the price is right and if you can take hold of market share now while other businesses are contracting, by the time the economy turns around you’ll be in the perfect position. Your business will be growing the other guys will be shrinking.

Starting a new business in tough economic times like these takes fortitude and resourcefulness. The great entrepreneurs know when to act and when to watch and now is a great time to act.

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Startup Ideas Are All Around You

One of the best techniques I’ve found for coming up with ideas for a startup are to take a look at the world around you. What are your daily struggles or obstacles in your everyday life? Personally I hate that my iPhone doesn’t sync wirelessly, but I have to manually plug it in. I hate that I can’t book doctor’s reservations online but have to call. I hate that I have to check my voicemails. All of these problems are opportunities for entrepreneurs to step in and solve my problems, which I’ll happily pay for.

Take a look at your daily routine, what are your biggest sticking points? Maybe it’s commuting to work — why not devise a better telecommuting solution. Big or small annoying to downright unlivable, ideas can come from anything, it’s just up to you to seize the opportunity and make something of it.

What To Do With Your Startup Ideas?

How do you know what is a good startup idea? A bad startup idea? Like the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a stupid question, except there are stupid ideas. And when I say stupid, I mean there are such things as simply a new, novel-product and an idea that can launch a real business.

Identifying whether your idea is just a product or a full-fledged business can be a little confusing. The main thing you should concentrate on is the market-size. How many people are going to be buying your product/service/etc.? And based on this response, how much money will it cost you? And how big of a company (do you want to) can you build around this?

If you have invented a better way to cut your own hair, and want to sell it to 200,000 people, and only want to make it a family-owned business, then that’s great. But if you’re looking to build an empire on your new haircutting system, you better have a pretty extensive idea. Perhaps you plan to introduce a commercial version of your product to barber shops or beauty salons and offer courses and training on it and completely phase out the conventional system or haircutting.

Startup Ideas Should Make You Feel Good Inside

Whatever your idea is, you just have to be happy with it and see true potential. At the end of the day, you’re going to be your biggest cheerleader, so make sure the final idea you’re sticking with is a good one, because there are going to be a lot of cold, lonely nights that will have you questioning what you’ve just spent the last 2 years of your life doing.

And remember, if pigs can fly, then your idea for a great startup can come to you!

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