ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ric Elias - Entrepreneur
Ric Elias is the CEO of Red Ventures, a marketing services company that grew out of Elias' long experience in business.

Why you should listen

Born in Puerto Rico, Ric Elias came to the United States for college knowing little English, as he writes in his online bio . So what did he do? "I adjusted my schedule and took only classes that dealt with numbers my entire first year," he says. "I'd always been decent at math, and things like calculus and accounting were non-lingual. I was able to buy some time to improve my English skills." His facility with numbers has led to a wide-ranging career in business and finance.

Elias is the CEO and co-founder of Red Ventures, a firm that helps large service companies acquire new customers online. He began his career in General Electric Co.'s Aerospace Division, then worked at the marketing services company CUC International (later known as Cendant). Prior to founding Red Ventures, Ric served as president of Spark Network Services, a promotion and data company held by Cendant.

"I'm a frustrated athlete," says Elias. "To me, business is the Olympics for non-athletes. It comes down to loving competition; figuring out whom we should compete against and how to beat them."

More profile about the speaker
Ric Elias | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed

Ric Elias: Três coisas que descobri quando meu avião caiu

Filmed:
7,721,543 views

Ric Elias estava em um assento na primeira fila no voo 1549, o avião que caiu no rio Hudson, em Nova Iorque em janeiro de 2009. O que passou pela sua mente quando o avião desceu desgovernado? No TED, ele conta sua história ao público pela primeira vez.
- Entrepreneur
Ric Elias is the CEO of Red Ventures, a marketing services company that grew out of Elias' long experience in business. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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Imagine a big explosion
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Imaginem uma grande explosão
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as you climb through 3,000 ft.
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ao subir a 3 mil pés.
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Imagine a plane full of smoke.
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Imaginem um avião cheio de fumaça.
00:25
Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack,
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Imaginem um motor
fazendo clack, clack, clack,
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clack, clack, clack, clack.
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clack, clack, clack, clack.
00:29
It sounds scary.
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Parece assustador.
00:31
Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.
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Bom, eu estava em um assento especial
naquele dia. Meu assento era o 1D.
00:34
I was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants.
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Eu era o único que podia falar
com os comissários de bordo.
00:37
So I looked at them right away,
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Então eu logo olhei para eles,
00:39
and they said, "No problem. We probably hit some birds."
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e eles disseram, "Está tudo bem.
Devemos ter atingido um pássaro."
00:42
The pilot had already turned the plane around,
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O piloto já tinha virado o avião de volta,
00:44
and we weren't that far.
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e não estávamos muito longe.
00:46
You could see Manhattan.
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Dava para ver Manhattan.
00:48
Two minutes later,
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Alguns minutos mais tarde,
três coisas aconteceram ao mesmo tempo.
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three things happened at the same time.
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00:53
The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River.
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O piloto alinha o avião com o Rio Hudson.
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That's usually not the route.
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O que não é a rota normal.
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(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:01
He turns off the engines.
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Ele desliga os motores.
01:04
Now imagine being in a plane with no sound.
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Agora imaginem estar
em um avião sem barulho.
01:07
And then he says three words --
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E então ele diz três palavras –
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the most unemotional three words I've ever heard.
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as três palavras
mais impassíveis que já ouvi.
01:12
He says, "Brace for impact."
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Ele diz: "Preparar para impacto".
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I didn't have to talk to the flight attendant anymore.
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Não precisei mais falar
com a comissária de bordo.
01:18
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:21
I could see in her eyes,
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Eu podia ver nos olhos dela,
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it was terror. Life was over.
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era terror. A vida acabou.
01:26
Now I want to share with you three things I learned about myself that day.
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Quero compartilhar três coisas sobre mim
que descobri naquele dia.
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I learned that it all changes in an instant.
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Entendi que tudo muda em um instante.
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We have this bucket list,
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Nós temos esta lista de desejos,
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we have these things we want to do in life,
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temos estas coisas
que queremos fazer na vida,
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and I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to that I didn't,
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e pensei em todas as pessoas
com queria falar, mas não falei,
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all the fences I wanted to mend,
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todas as cercas que queria ter consertado,
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all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did.
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todas as experiências
que queria ter e que nunca tive.
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As I thought about that later on,
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Quando eu pensei sobre isso depois,
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I came up with a saying,
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Eu inventei um ditado,
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which is, "I collect bad wines."
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que é: "Coleciono vinhos ruins".
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Because if the wine is ready and the person is there, I'm opening it.
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Porque se o vinho está a disposição
e a pessoa está ali, eu vou abri-lo.
01:58
I no longer want to postpone anything in life.
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Não quero adiar mais nada na vida.
02:01
And that urgency, that purpose,
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E aquela urgência, aquela intenção,
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has really changed my life.
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realmente mudou a minha vida.
02:06
The second thing I learned that day --
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A segunda coisa que aprendi naquele dia...
02:08
and this is as we clear the George Washington Bridge,
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E isso foi enquanto evitávamos
a Ponte George Washington,
02:11
which was by not a lot --
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o que não foi por muito –
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I thought about, wow,
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eu pensei, nossa,
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I really feel one real regret.
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eu tenho um grande arrependimento.
02:18
I've lived a good life.
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Vivi uma boa vida.
02:20
In my own humanity and mistakes,
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Em minha própria condição humana e erros,
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I've tried to get better at everything I tried.
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Tentei ficar melhor
em tudo que tentei fazer.
02:24
But in my humanity,
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Mas em minha condição humana,
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I also allow my ego to get in.
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eu também deixo meu ego controlar.
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And I regretted the time I wasted
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E me arrependi de perder tempo
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on things that did not matter
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em coisas desnecessárias
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with people that matter.
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com pessoas que são importantes.
02:35
And I thought about my relationship with my wife,
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E pensei no meu relacionamento
com minha mulher,
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with my friends, with people.
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com meus amigos, com as pessoas.
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And after, as I reflected on that,
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E depois, enquanto refletia sobre isso,
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I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life.
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Eu decidi eliminar a energia
negativa da minha vida.
02:45
It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.
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Não é perfeito, mas está bem melhor.
02:47
I've not had a fight with my wife in two years.
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Não brigo com minha mulher em dois anos.
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It feels great.
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É uma sensação ótima.
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I no longer try to be right;
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Já não tento mais estar certo;
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I choose to be happy.
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eu prefiro ser feliz.
02:56
The third thing I learned --
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A terceira coisa que aprendi;
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and this is as your mental clock
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e isto é como se fosse seu relógio mental
03:00
starts going, "15, 14, 13."
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faz: "15, 14, 13".
03:02
You can see the water coming.
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Dá para ver a água vindo.
03:04
I'm saying, "Please blow up."
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Eu digo: "Por favor, exploda.”
03:06
I don't want this thing to break in 20 pieces
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Eu não quero que isso
se parta em 20 pedaços
03:08
like you've seen in those documentaries.
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como já viram em documentários.
03:11
And as we're coming down,
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E enquanto estávamos caindo,
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I had a sense of, wow,
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Eu tive uma sensação de, nossa,
03:15
dying is not scary.
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morrer não é assustador.
03:18
It's almost like we've been preparing for it our whole lives.
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É como se estivéssemos nos preparando
para isso por toda a vidas.
03:21
But it was very sad.
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Mas era muito triste.
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I didn't want to go; I love my life.
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Eu não queria ir; eu amo a minha vida.
03:26
And that sadness
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E aquela tristeza
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really framed in one thought,
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resumida em um pensamento,
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which is, I only wish for one thing.
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que é, eu só desejo uma coisa.
03:33
I only wish I could see my kids grow up.
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Eu apenas queria ver
os meus filhos crescerem.
03:37
About a month later, I was at a performance by my daughter --
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Um mês depois, fui ver minha filha
no teatrinho da escola
03:40
first-grader, not much artistic talent ...
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primeira série,
sem muito talento artístico...
03:43
... yet.
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(Risos)
03:45
(Laughter)
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... ainda.
03:47
And I'm bawling, I'm crying,
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E eu grito, eu choro,
03:49
like a little kid.
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como uma criança pequena.
03:52
And it made all the sense in the world to me.
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E tudo isto fazia sentido para mim.
03:55
I realized at that point,
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E entendi naquele momento,
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by connecting those two dots,
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que ao ligar esses dois pontos,
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that the only thing that matters in my life
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que a única coisa importante na minha vida
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is being a great dad.
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é ser um grande pai.
04:03
Above all, above all,
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Sobretudo, sobretudo,
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the only goal I have in life
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o único objetivo que tenho na vida
04:08
is to be a good dad.
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é ser um bom pai.
04:10
I was given the gift of a miracle,
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Foi-me dado um milagre de presente,
04:12
of not dying that day.
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de não morrer naquele dia.
04:14
I was given another gift,
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E ganhei um outro presente,
04:16
which was to be able to see into the future
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que foi ser capaz de olhar no futuro
04:18
and come back
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e voltar
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and live differently.
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e viver uma vida diferente.
04:22
I challenge you guys that are flying today,
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Desafio todos vocês que vão voar hoje,
04:25
imagine the same thing happens on your plane --
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a imaginarem a mesma coisa
acontecendo com o seu avião;
04:28
and please don't --
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e por favor não;
04:30
but imagine, and how would you change?
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mas imaginem, e como vocês mudariam?
04:32
What would you get done that you're waiting to get done
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O que fariam que estão
esperando para fazer
04:35
because you think you'll be here forever?
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porque acham que vão ficar
aqui para sempre?
04:37
How would you change your relationships
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Como mudariam os seus relacionamentos
04:39
and the negative energy in them?
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e as suas energias negativas?
04:41
And more than anything, are you being the best parent you can?
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E mais que tudo, estão sendo
os melhores pais possíveis?
04:44
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
04:46
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Nadja Nathan
Reviewed by Belucio Haibara

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ric Elias - Entrepreneur
Ric Elias is the CEO of Red Ventures, a marketing services company that grew out of Elias' long experience in business.

Why you should listen

Born in Puerto Rico, Ric Elias came to the United States for college knowing little English, as he writes in his online bio . So what did he do? "I adjusted my schedule and took only classes that dealt with numbers my entire first year," he says. "I'd always been decent at math, and things like calculus and accounting were non-lingual. I was able to buy some time to improve my English skills." His facility with numbers has led to a wide-ranging career in business and finance.

Elias is the CEO and co-founder of Red Ventures, a firm that helps large service companies acquire new customers online. He began his career in General Electric Co.'s Aerospace Division, then worked at the marketing services company CUC International (later known as Cendant). Prior to founding Red Ventures, Ric served as president of Spark Network Services, a promotion and data company held by Cendant.

"I'm a frustrated athlete," says Elias. "To me, business is the Olympics for non-athletes. It comes down to loving competition; figuring out whom we should compete against and how to beat them."

More profile about the speaker
Ric Elias | Speaker | TED.com