This week, Buddy Media, a social enterprise software company, was acquired by cloud computing giant Salesforce.com for a staggering $689 million.
Shortly after he signed the deal, Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow made this inspiring YouTube video. Lazerow, who was born with a serious heart defect had a singular message to deliver: learn to live without fear.
Inspired by Ben Breedlove, a young man with hypertropic cardiomyopathy who shared his emotional but uplifting story in a wordless viral video, Lazerow uses an iPad to poignantly convey his powerful message.
When he was 18-months-old, Lazerow miraculously survived heart failure. Then at 19, he had to have an emergency heart valve replacement after his blood pressure fell to zero.
He explained in the video that the near-death experience changed his life entirely, helping him realize that he needed to start living fearlessly.
Lazerow, considered a thought leader on digital media, is a self-described "serial entrepreneur." Having already started four successful companies, he was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in the New York region for 2011.
“If you live without fear, anything is possible,” wrote Lazerow. “Is fear holding you back?”
The video is dedicated to Breedlove, who died shortly after publishing his video, as well as Jennifer Goodman Linn, the founder of Youfearless.com who died last year after a long battle with cancer.