Six things I learned growing up with Neil Patrick Harris

My first memories of friendship are with Neil Patrick Harris back when we were like 2 or 3 years old and I sure enjoyed watching him host the Oscars last night. It was the first Oscars awards show that I’ve watched in many years, as I find I only watch these things when Neil’s hosting them. Frankly, I let the DVR get an hour into the broadcast and then I pretty much fast forwarded through the program to when Neil would come up on screen, so I’m not sure you can count me as having been one of the show’s thirty-five million viewers.

Here are the Top 6 Things I Learned from NPH:

1. Be a perfectionist in every thing you do. Neil and I used to spend hours acting out scenes and sketches together growing up. One time we did a Jeopardy sketch over the school’s intercom and when we got done, he was so disappointed in my “Dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun,” Jeopardy melody I’d done in the background. I’d done my best, but my pitch isn’t exactly perfect. But Neil was always a perfectionist (and an amazing talent with a great voice, unlike his third-grade sketch partner). Fast forward thirty years and Neil’s traded up from yours truly to Jack Black to back him up on his bits.

2. Have a playbook. Neil told me fifteen years ago that he wanted to get one more great TV series that would survive at least five years and then go into syndication, paying him and the others involved in it residuals forever. He told me five years ago that he wanted to become a “personality” and host his own TV show(s). Anybody who’s followed me for the last fifteen years knows how often I preach having a playbook for your portfolio.

3. Work harder than anybody else. Neil’s probably the hardest working person I know. You know how much travel time, preparation time, promotion time and so on that it takes to become the kind of success Neil’s attained in the competitive environment he’s in? He’s put in the time, paid his dues and he’s always had the talent to get him there too.

4. Take smart risks. You don’t get to host the Oscars being timid. Neil’s leapt into comedic roles, dramatics roles, and live hosting award and talk shows taking risks every step along the way. The only way to get where you want in your career is to hit the ground running, taking every chance you get to further it.

5. There’s no limit to your upside. I told Neil the other day that I still think of him singing Annie tunes whenever we sing “Tomorrow” to my daughter putting her to bed at night, and it’s still strange to see my little old childhood best friend singing and dancing on the Oscars. And I’d told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that seeing Neil reach the levels of success he’s had over the last thirty years of his career kept me believing in my own potential along the way of my career path from answering phones for a stock broker to hedge fund manager to TV anchor to my current writer/app entrepreneur/investor pursuits.

6. Careers and success take many years to build sustainably. How many childhood actors get lost in their own fame and money only to lose both? How many flash-in-the-pans celebrities have come and gone during Neil’s thirty year career? Neil’s own success has at times been fleeting such as when Doogie Howser was canceled or a few years later when the Broadway play, Assassins, that Neil had spent months preparing for, had to be postponed after 9/11. Here’s a little anecdote to underscore this bullet point –Neil approached The Presidents of the United States when they were big to ask them about having Neil direct their next music video. I guess they just pretty much rejected the whole idea. NPH was disappointed, but that blip didn’t matter to Neil’s career path, did it? Talent, hard word, vision, and all these other traits kept Neil’s long-term career path heading steadily higher. I’m looking forward to Neil becoming an Oscar-award winner of his own right.

I’m proud to have friends that I’ve known my whole life and I’m proud to have surrounded myself with people I admire and learn things from. Count me among the millions of adoring Neil Patrick Harris fans around the world in large part because he’s one of them.

For more on this topic, join me talking live about this on Scutify.

—-

As for the markets, well, stocks are mixed in the early going. I’ve got a few new ideas and a couple triggers I might pull this week, so stay tuned here on Trading Deck.

And it sure looks to me like the $BABA chart says it’s a long way down if the stock breaks below the $85ish range, no? I’m not chartist (and I’m more bullish than bearish on $BABA and have no position in it) but I sure think that’s an ugly technical set-up there, eh?

$TLSA looks like it’s topped out. What would get it to its old and then new highs anytime soon? “Tesla (TSLA) Stock Lower Today After Price Target Cut and Negative Analyst Note”

Spending on Data Centers is growing exponentially and $AAPL‘s latest $2BB investment in such data centers is going to help fuel growth for switch, storage, app suppliers like $CSCO, $NTAP,$FFIV etc.