When you're building a company, there are many factors that affect your success, but none are as important as the people who surround you. To quote Patti Smith, "The People Have The Power"! The people make the company. You may have the greatest idea in the world, but if you don't have the right team, it will be difficult to create success.

If you ever meet me in a professional setting, you may notice my black notebook and black-ink pen. I carry it around like an evangelical Christian does his copy of the Bible. There are four reasons:

Recently, Sir James Dyson, the founder of the Dyson Company and the inventor of sleek household appliances, said that he doesn't believe in branding. "We're only as good as our latest product," Dyson said. "I don't believe in brand at all."

If I asked you to move a brick wall, how would you do it? Would you slam your weight against it until it began to budge? Would you get a digger, rip it out of the ground, and drop it in its new location? Would you tell me it's impossible?

As a rule, and with only rare exceptions, I don't buy public stocks. I prefer to limit my equity investments to early stage start-ups. Thus, I won't be buying Facebook shares when they go public soon. However, I am very bullish on the company. As big as Facebook is today, I believe that it will become a much, much bigger and more valuable company over time, and I suspect that folks who buy its stock will do well. Here are my reasons why:

Is it possible the concept of truly commerce-enabled interactive television is nothing more than a myth? From my perspective -- specifically that of a consumer -- I'm starting to think that's the case.

The ad-tech industry has forgotten how to speak English. As MediaPost editor in chief Joe Mandese said, "the exclusionary nature of online media always talking to itself only divides the world of marketing, advertising and media services." I doubt anyone disagrees.

Agencies continue to look for a new model for the future. There are two reasons for this. First, agency fees have been under attack for years. The other issue is people. The war for top talent is fierce. One upstart agency -- Ignited, full-service shop based in Los Angeles -- is addressing both of these issues in a new way.

In any given moment, we are surrounded, in vast quantities: millions upon millions of them, crowding and jostling for our attention. Some people become overwhelmed by them. Some try to create relationships with them. Some people ignore them totally. But sometimes the ideas that envelop us cannot be ignored.

Like many others trying to figure out what will happen at this year's TV upfront, I spent the morning at the annual IRTS Newsmaker Breakfast: The Media Buyers, timed to coincide with the beginning of the upfront. This year's panel was comprised of some of the top media buyers in the U.S.: Initiative's Kris Magel, Starcom's Mike Rosen, UM's David Cohen and Digitas' Stephanie Sarofian. As in past years, the media buyer panel was moderated by media economist and industry luminary Jack Myers.