In 2008 we launched CSQ. Enter The Great Recession. My editor’s note for our debut edition was built upon the lobster shell analogy discussed in temple during the High Holy Days in 2007 (a little irony there). The basis of the concept is that lobsters are confined to the structure and size of their shell. That said, as they grow, they become very uncomfortable. The shell cannot expand. When the lobster gets big enough, it breaks the shell, leaving itself exposed to nature and the risks that come with a lack of protection until the shell grows back – bigger than before. Rinse and repeat.
Needless to say, this is about as accurate a metaphor for entrepreneurship, or life in general, as there is. We business owners essentially brave the unknown (though there are plenty of networks, mentors, wells of content, and bar talks out there to conjure up some real advice and tutelage). Despite those helping hands and curious minds, we set out on this journey alone. It’s hard and it’s uncomfortable, and every minute of every day requires growth. While some days are a little easier and some days a little more challenging, this cycle of growth is what invigorates us as we strive for bigger and better, like the lobster.
Starting with this edition, we celebrate 10 years of hard work, struggle, success, support, challenges, and lessons learned. Through it all we’ve managed to strive in a world of counterintuition related to anything in print, and built one heck of a community regaling the folks in the so-called upper rung, along the way. Our connection to these men and women—the hardest in the world to access—has afforded us an opportunity to share their stories and inspire through action. And they have. We are proud to be the platform that supports these efforts of dealmaking, prospecting, partnering, donating, and overall exposing the noteworthy individuals and organizations making a difference, and leading by example.
As we toast to the past decade and our expansion to New York, we also take time to celebrate those in this edition, as we always do, who now represent both Los Angeles and New York. It is these Visionary and NextGen leaders who inspire us yet again through their bodies of work professionally and the care they exhibit for their communities personally.
Gracing our Los Angeles cover is Steven F. Udvar-Házy, whose story of entrepreneurial success was built on the dream of a better life—built around freedom, not communism—and a childhood passion. Udvar-Házy has spent the better part of four decades not just championing an industry, but pioneering one. His passion for aviation, coupled with his intuition for the business, has fueled his journey as he has founded and run a pair of billion-dollar companies.
On the New York front, we have Charles S. Cohen, a real estate mogul who has quadrupled the size of the company’s portfolio since taking control, owning and operating commercial real estate and design centers in New York, Miami, Houston, and Los Angeles (the Pacific Design Center). Beyond his real estate acumen and success, Cohen is passionate about cinema—specifically the independent, foreign, and classic varieties—and has turned that passion into a mini media empire via The Cohen Media Group. Beyond real estate and cinema, Cohen has noted passions for hotels, wine, and men’s fashion, all of which fit perfectly under the umbrella of his Curated Lifestyle Collection.
Udvar-Házy and Cohen are two salient examples of what CSQ strives to identify and acknowledge. Leaders of industry and champions of the community, they are but two of the many men and women within this edition—on both coasts—making a difference in the world for so many around them.
David L. Wurth
Founder & Publisher
