The Five

HISTORY OF THE FIVE

THE FIVE’s roots began when founder David Allen Ibsen left the confines of Madison Avenue for the freedom of consulting. Five Meetings Before Lunch was founded in 1998, and was our first attachment to the number FIVE. David took the name from a passage in Lewis Carroll’s Adventures of Alice & Wonderland where the Queen of Hearts said she could do “Six impossible things before breakfast.” Ever one to take on a challenge, David believed that with his early-to-rise lifestyle and ability to think and act quickly—he could easily accomplish Five Meetings Before Lunch. His consultancy has flourished, and grown up to be a successful market-driven business strategy firm, having engaged with over 100 emerging companies and established brands.

David started writing 5 Blogs Before Lunch in 2005 as an extension of his consulting practice. After winning several Webby Awards for Best Business Blog (beating out the likes of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Financial Times for the honor), and receiving more visitors than the population of Denmark, he decided to expand his world of marketing wit and wisdom to encompass all of the creative professions, and to create THE FIVE.

WHAT IS THE FIVE?

THE FIVE is for those who lean on their right brain. We keep you in the loop, and challenge you to go outside it. We’re a digital salon filled with wit and wisdom where innovators and creators congregate to explore the creative professions—discussing pop culture and business strategy; successful innovations and provocative ideas; consumerism and materialism.

We're a tribe of designers, writers, and visionaries—examining the limitlessness of creativity and discussing everything from advertising and marketing; publishing and entertainment; art and photography; architecture and fashion; film and web design.

THE FIVE is a sanctuary for the right brain impulses that stimulate creative thinking, and imagination. Some say we're like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, but with more logic to our riddles. We say we're where Mad Ave meets SoHo; Hollywood intersects Vine; and where Start-ups walk with Fashion Week.

WHY THE FIVE?

Five is a number, a numeral, and a glyph. Most of us have five fingers and five toes. Honey bees and hornets have five eyes. The workweek is five days-long, with each day hypothetically ending at five o’clock. Our brain can store five things in our short term memory. The Olympic Games use five interlocked rings. Muslims pray to Allah five times a day, and Christians believe in the five sacred wounds of Jesus Christ.

Aristotle proposed that the universe is made up of five classical elements: water, earth, air, fire and ether. Baskin Robbins may have 31 Flavors, but only five are my favorites. Five rhymes with cool things, like hive, jive, and Jony Ive. We believe we believe anyone deserves at least five minutes of our time.

But seriously, we were going to be THE SIX, but our designer thought that “5” would create a more interesting design. And, designer’s rule.