7 Questions and 7 answers to find out about your ideas in terms of the Entrepreneurial Mindset and your Frustrations with the status quo. Please answer the questions in this survey. It will help you clarify your thinking and it will help me know you better.
*Originally posted to facebook
I know that all of you have lives of your own to lead with jobs to keep, families to raise, and places to be, but in spite of everything, you still found the time to click the “Like” (or the late “Become a fan”) button at the top of my page. I want to express my gratitude and thanks to all of you because last week my fan page reached 25,000 fans!
Whenever you connect with someone like me, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robins, or anyone in the field, you are acknowledging the power of intention and it’s ability to create peace, unity, and abundance for all, even on Facebook. By taking this one small, simple action, you are not only propagating my message and me, you are also propagating a mindset of abundance, unity, and peace.
Thank you all for being one of the very special people who have set their intention toward a greater purpose, happiness, freedom, and possibility! You are truly special, and I am glad to be a part of your day. Suggest an empowering Facebook page to a friend today, even if it’s not mine, and help to bring someone a step closer to their goals and greater purpose!
Humbly yours,
Mark Victor Hansen
P.S. Perhaps in a thousand years, the next time we reach 8/9/10, there will be 25 million of us with the intention of creating peace, unity, and abundance for all. It is here. It is available. It is possible… and it’s waiting for you to take action!
"We need entrepreneurs now more than ever," says Isaac Tigrett, founder of Hard Rock Cafe and a jury member for the contest. "People of influence should do everything possible to empower entrepreneurs -- that's what the Perfect Pitch is all about."
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 10, 2010
PerfectBusiness, an LA-based network of entrepreneurs, investors and business experts, has launched their 2nd annual online pitch contest, taking place now until August 26, 2010, at The Perfect Pitch 2010 (http://www.ThePerfectPitch.com).
The online contest is open to business ideas across all sectors, including: products & innovations, green businesses, service companies, internet, software, entertainment and bricks & mortar businesses. Every submission is reviewed by an influential jury of angel and venture capital investors representing more than $10 billion in capital.
"The Perfect Pitch provides a rare chance for people without funds or connections to get their business or product innovation in front of more than 100 influential funders and executives," says Dan Bliss, founder of the Perfect Pitch Competition and the PerfectBusiness Summit.
Last year's winner secured $500K in funding after being flown to the entrepreneur conference hosted by PerfectBusiness, where he presented his ideas to an audience that included Virgin founder Richard Branson and more than 500 VCs, angel investors and entrepreneurs. Hundreds of other entrepreneurs raised funds and secured business partners at the event.
This year's Top 3 winners will be flown to the nation's largest entrepreneur summit, the PerfectBusiness Summit 2010, to take place this October 7th-8th in Las Vegas. Once there, they will present their ideas to more than 2,000 business leaders, funders and strategic partners, including:
- John Paul DeJoria, founder of John Paul Mitchell and Patron
- Gavin Maloof, Owner of Palms Casino and NBA's Sacramento Kings
- Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappo's
- Isaac Tigrett, Founder of Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues
- Brad Hunstable, President & Founder, UStream.TV
- Josh Stein, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a $6B VC fund
- Gina Bianchini, Co-Founder, Ning
Sir Richard Branson, the keynote speaker at last year's conference, said: "What the people in this room are doing is creating things that will make a difference to other people's lives."
About PerfectBusiness
PerfectBusiness.com is a network of entrepreneurs, investors and business experts who have come together to encourage entrepreneurship and help launch new businesses. The company introduces entrepreneurs to new business contacts while answering their toughest questions and providing start-up resources, videos and professional business planning software. Members can pitch their new ideas or existing businesses to accredited venture capitalists and angel investors to raise the capital they need.For more information go to:
PerfectBusiness Summit 2010###
Recently it seems there has been a proliferation of social enterprises. Indeed, just last week a good friend of mine enthusiastically told me about a new venture an associate of his is working on. After listening patiently to my friend, then checking out this agency’s website, I asked him “so, what makes this a social enterprise?”
To my chagrin, I have found myself asking this question a lot lately.
Grammatically, the word social modifies entrepreneur, indicating a social entrepreneur is one whose entrepreneurial activity is social in nature. I think about the word social as referring to social welfare, be it poverty alleviation, environmental protection, or any type of intervention that benefits humanity in what has traditionally been thought of as a charitable way.
With so many new ventures founded every day, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for me to decipher what the social purposes of some initiatives are. This is a significant problem for the social enterprise movement.
There is tremendous good will associated with an agency identifying itself as a social enterprise, as well there should be. At its best, social enterprise is the harmonious marriage of free market principles and charitable values. But as social entrepreneurship grows in popularity it is imperative that the concept of social entrepreneurship not get oversaturated and rendered meaningless.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is great for profit-seeking organizations that choose to augment their profit-based mission with a goal of marginal social impact, or at least a commitment to doing less harm. I have no problem with CSR. But it seems some of these new so-called social enterprises are really just companies like any other with a CSR scheme baked in from the get-go. In my book, a CSR policy does not make a venture a social enterprise.
My approach to social enterprise is heavy on the societal impact. Social entrepreneurship is a strategy to do more good on a large scale on an ongoing basis. It is the social that modifies the entrepreneur, not the other way around.
I am not arguing that social entrepreneurs should not aim to profit from their work. Indeed, profits can be a positive externality of a social enterprise. But for social entrepreneurship to truly be a world changing platform, it is essential that the social enterprise community insist new social ventures provide a clearly discernable public value.
Just as for-profits focus on profit first, a social enterprise must primarily focus on social value. A social enterprise that is profitable but provides dubious social impact is simply a for-profit corporation.
The sustainability and growth potential of free-market corporate financial structures can scale effective social interventions in a way traditional charity models have failed. But as social entrepreneurship continues to grow in popularity, the social enterprise community needs to be wary of the small “s” big “E” companies polluting the social enterprise space, risking sullying the long-term viability of the social enterprise concept and the good will associated with it.
Photo credit: claudiogennari
Tags: -->
Being a student and an entrepreneur is hard, sort of. You are torn between spending more time on your studies and more time on your business. Sometimes the decision is easy if you realize that your startup is more important to you than your studies, especially because you realize that studies aren’t the end of the world, and in some cases, studies just result in a really expensive piece of paper.
Running a business while in school get hairy, that’s why our CEO dropped out of college and our Lead Evangelist is taking a year off. When you love your business and would do anything for it, you don’t want to do much work other than work for your business.
The five classes, twice a week, just seem burdensome when you are working 50+ hour weeks, burning the midnight oil, managing a team, and handling the stresses of a startup.
There have been some smart entrepreneurs that have been able to juggle school and work, but most of the great ones stopped or finished school before their business could really take flight.
With our custom dress shirt startup, we were looking to do much more than just moonlight. We wanted to make the highest quality dress shirts with the most fashionable styles, and we wanted to change the way men were shopping too.
As students, we wouldn’t simply be able to pick up and move out to Shanghai, and make sure the dress shirt linings on all of our co-creations were proper, and that our monograms were reading properly too.
Perhaps we will return to school at some point, but right now, we need to have all of our focus and energy on making the best custom men’s dress shirts startup out there.
Carmel, IN – Locally-based Entrepreneurship Advancement Center will hold its first ever Community Business Plan Competition. The competition is open to individuals, families, teams of two or more, and existing businesses that want to grow.
“We’ve had great success with our high school business plan competition,” said Cathy Langlois, Executive Director of the EAC. “Our mission is focused on developing an entrepreneurial culture and a great way to do that is to get the entire community involved in entrepreneurship and business planning. We’re proud to hold this competition to encourage new business throughout the community.” The EAC will continue to work with the Hamilton County high schools to host the student competition.
All contestants will receive a half-day workshop, access to an online business development course, access to an online business plan outline, and feedback on their plan from local experts. The winner will receive a consulting package, valued at $2,500, to assist in launching the business.
Competition registration is due by October 1, and business plans are due November 10. For more information or to enter, please visit www.goentrepreneurs.org.
About The Entrepreneurship Advancement Center: The Entrepreneurship Advancement Center (EAC) was created in January 2010 to enhance the economic health of the Hamilton County communities by fostering and advancing entrepreneurship interest and success. For more information, visit www.goentrepreneurs.org
Lorraine Ball
317-569-1396
As part of our summer series of reading lists from industry leaders Clyde Smith of ProHipHop and Hip Hop Press shares his late summer choices.I'd like to share four books with you that I find of interest and I think will be well worth reading for anyone who likes to think deeply and act on those thoughts in the fields of music, marketing and entrepreneurship. Bonus: my discussion of the final book on the list, Good To Great, also addresses my coming exit from hip hop business media into new fields of endeavor.
Under the Influence: Tracing the Hip-Hop Generation's Impact on Brands, Sports & Pop Culture
www.dryerbuzz.com" width="120" />
I highly recommend Erin O. Patton's Under the Influence to those who want some meaningful insights into what's been happening with hip hop and urban marketing over the last 20 years. Most of what we get are personal tales and inspirational fodder so I greatly appreciated this book.
That said, Patton's autobiographical tale which begins the book provides a lot of insights even without his more analytical take on things. The man's career includes a rich run at Nike with a big focus on Michael Jordan as well as a bunch of other impressive feats. In fact, I would say that unlike the writing of most prominent figures in hip hop business, he draws on his experiences to educate rather than to exalt his own brand which he could certainly get away with given his accomplishments.
But I did initially critique Patton's development of the 7 Ciphers model of the urban/hip hop demographic in a post at ProHipHop while I was still reading the book. I eventually finished the book and remained convinced of my recognition that the 7 Ciphers model is too embedded in the view that New York City is the center of the universe for hip hop and urban culture to be widely applicable today. To a large degree New York was the center due to the invention of hip hop in the Bronx, the creation of related businesses and their proximity to the marketing and media powerhouses of Manhattan.
Such thinking no longer holds true because artists from other regions came to the forefront, after facing great opposition from the New York hip hop machine, and because the invention of the Web allowed for the decentralization of music, media and marketing at a previously unheard of scale. This is not to say that New York is not incredibly important in the world of hip hop, however:
A) One must take into consideration how much of that importance is now due to the longstanding presence of corporate record labels, marketing firms and media outlets in Manhattan.
B) Given that New York rose to prominence in the arts only after World War II disrupted the triumvirate of Paris, Moscow and Tokyo and that, even before the Web, Manhattan's prominence was already gradually dissipating, one must recognize that many factors must be taken into consideration in understanding hip hop and urban markets in the U.S.
But, despite my feeling that the 7 Ciphers model is now an artifact of an earlier age, I found it quite useful to consider and critique in relationship to my own knowledge of such things. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a credible demographic model that effectively takes into account developments of the last decade in hip hop as an art form or as what is now not just a subculture but a kaleidoscopic array of multiple subcultures with influence far beyond even those boundaries.
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan, is the closest of the four to what is sometimes referred to as “beach reading." It's physically lightweight and the hardback is more the size of a mass market paperback. It's also broken up into small segments with illustrations making it consumable in bite-size chunks.
However, unlike traditional beach reading, this book isn't just fluff. I've only skimmed it, so maybe there's some in there, but it basically appears to be a nice example of looking at a specific subculture, exploring marketing ideas related to the actual business aspects of the subculture and then connecting those observations to what might seem initially unrelated business settings in a practical and actionable manner.
Whether or not you agree that the Grateful Dead are the “most iconic band in history," I hope you'd agree that they are quite a unique example from which to draw. If it concerns you that you and your allies are clearly nothing like the Dead, you might consider thinking of this book as an example of extreme or deviant case sampling in which issues and experiences are more easily forefronted due to their extreme nature and thus more readily accessible for consideration.
I wrote about certain aspects of the initial marketing of this book at ProHipHop and discussed my concern with the off-center art that is supposed to imply the look of an actual poster seen on the street. I like the art itself. There was a mild discussion with the authors and the book designer in the comments and I addressed the fact that, given the white background, I believe this concept gets lost in the viewer's eye. There I was speaking from a marketing standpoint but, upon further reflection, let me speak as someone who knows a bunch of Deadheads. It's bad feng shui and thus will negatively affect sales!
The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
The Innovator's Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen, and Good To Great, which I discuss next, are both books that might seem entirely unrelated to music and marketing and even entrepreneurship in those areas due to their focus on corporate strategy. However, both books continue to inform my understanding of the changes at hand at every level of the game.
If you ever find yourself using phrases like “disruptive innovation" then you owe it to yourself to read Christensen's work since his definitions of disruptive and sustaining innovation are widely referenced in discussions of both business and technology. As I explained at Cultural Research in terms that I believe Christensen would find reasonably acceptable:
“sustaining innovation..."mean[s] innovations that can be incorporated into the existing practices of organizations including innovations that disrupt standard modes of practice but that can be integrated into the already existing structures of dominant players.
“Disruptive innovations" are disruptive in an even deeper way than simply forcing changes in existing practices in that they disrupt existing models of success. Disruptive innovations are initially inadequate to the jobs performed by current solutions. Perhaps worse for those with a currently successful business model, disruptive innovations require different models to succeed, models which dominant players are unable to effectively pursue because their skillsets are based on past success rather than emergent realities.
For example, the call quality of mobile phones meant that they were inadequate to many of the needs of fixed line callers but for those who needed mobility, poor call quality was an acceptable trade-off to be able to conduct business or keep up with one's friends.
Over time the quality of mobile phone networks improved but, by the time mobile phones became a threat to existing landlines, incumbent players were too far behind to catch up. Though the full story is more complex and landlines have not disappeared, their role is shrinking at a rate that no one would have expected even a few years ago.
Christensen's work reveals that the successful business models of major corporations get in the way of their understanding of (let alone their ability to benefit from) disruptive innovations. That's why I now maintain that “The “Cluelessness" of Major Labels is Not Stupidity," no matter how satisfying that explanation may feel!
Whether or not you agree with my assessment, based on Christensen's work, of why major labels can be full of smart people yet still fail, I believe you'll find yourself looking at discussions of disruptive innovation with a sharper eye after reading The Innovator's Dilemma. Better yet, you may find yourself pondering how to become a disruptive force or even discovering that you've already become one.
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't
The last book that I wish to discuss, Good To Great by Jim Collins, has had a strong effect on my thinking not just about entrepreneurship and corporate strategy but also on my thinking about my own endeavors in the world and how best to decide my future actions as a still emerging entrepreneur.
It's been awhile since I read this book and I have to be honest, I've forgotten most of the details! But what I haven't forgotten and what is now posted on the wall behind my computer as a daily reminder are the “Three Circles of the Hedgehog Concept" (p. 118).
Collins maintains, based on his study of corporations that outperformed in their industries, that the ones that became dominant players are “more like hedgehogs—simple, dowdy creatures that know 'one big thing' and stick to it. The comparison companies are more like foxes—crafty, cunning creatures that know many things yet lack consistency" (p. 119).
Now, in my case and maybe yours, I was initially thrown by such terminology because I tend to think of myself in my finer moments making moves like a crafty fox and outpacing the hedgehog who will eventually fall by the wayside due to his heavy weight and slow speed. So, if you want to get past that intuitive response to the metaphorical language, you'll just have to read the book but, if we rename the concept, the “Three Circles of Your Resounding Success," then perhaps we can focus things more successfully for the moment.
If that doesn't work, just think niches and Seth Godin's concept of going small to go big and take it from there. These three concepts can also arguably be considered both a form of positioning and a way to focus execution of that positioning, if such terminology resonates for you.
The Three Circles of Your Resounding Success:
“What You Are Deeply Passionate About"
“What You Can Be The Best In The World At"
“What Drives Your Economic Engine"
Heck, if you step back and think about it for a moment, these three sound like a good basis for a self-help book and I've kind of used them that way in evaluating my next steps as I begin my exit from hip hop media.
In my case, being deeply passionate connects to the concepts in Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow but, due to the rest of the analysis, it doesn't force you to make a psychological leap of faith that the money will come. That's important because I can assure you that doing what you love will feel great but that doesn't mean it can be monetized in a successful manner.
Doing what you can be best in the world at not only resonates with Seth Godin's work but with a snippet of advice Guy Kawasaki sent me (and probably many others) in response to an email in which he advised me to do something along the lines of “learn everything there is to know about hip hop" when I asked him for some feedback on a project I was considering pursuing. The fact that I had no intentions of doing that was an early alert that there was a limit to my career in hip hop media and launched me into a multiyear process of considering what things I both am willing to learn everything there is to know about and am capable of learning at this stage in my life.
However, you can see how that approach could get confused with do what you love, especially since I'd already identified such a path during my doctoral training and watched that come to nought in academic form, though that path now awaits me in a different form.
What pulls the three circles together for me is considering how the heck I can monetize the things that fascinate me and not come to hate those things in the process! But Collin's focus remains how best to monetize what I am both deeply passionate about and can be the best in the world at.
That said, I am currently in the process of selling my main hip hop business sites, which have been a huge focus of my life for the last five years, and launching a B2B college textbook industry site, College Textbook News. I know that the college textbook industry cannot fascinate me for the rest of my life but I also feel that it comes closer to satisfying the requirements of all three circles than my work in hip hop business media has done to date.
At the same time, my successes and failures with hip hop web publishing have given me many of the insights required to pursue a B2B site and related services focused on the college textbook industry. And I do find myself becoming impassioned when I recognize that the college textbook is becoming both a signifier of and a battleground for concerns about higher education at a time of great disruption of past certainties. And I also find myself willing and able to learn everything I can about the industry as well as the concept and history of the college textbook itself.
Furthermore, I've got some pretty clear ideas about how to monetize this project whose current beta launch is simply a sketch of what is to come.
As I reenter startup mode and find myself actually enjoying having way too much to do, I find myself returning to great books I've read as well as to the advice of excellent thinkers who I've encountered along the way. And I'm grateful to each and every one. Continue...
Making the Transition from an Entrepreneurship to a Professionally Run Business
By admin on Aug 11, 2010 with Comments 0
Making the Transition from an Entrepreneurship to a Professionally Run Business
Starting a new business is an exciting venture, full of challenge, opportunity, and excitement.. Especially, if your entrepreneurial concept gains traction and generates growth. When it does, the next step is transitioning from an entrepreneurship to a professionally run business.
However, here is the irony. At this transition point—precisely the one you want to reach—is where many small businesses run into trouble. Because while the entrepreneurial skill set is great for creating and building new businesses, it is not as well suited to transforming fledgling businesses into long-term companies.
As a business grows beyond the startup stage, the ingredients that made for a winning start become a recipe for disaster. This is where entrepreneurs often make big mistakes. As Bill Gates observed, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. “
Smart people can lose. And many entrepreneurs do every day. The key is to understand the business lifecycle and how to move from one stage of the lifecycle to the next. Transition is a natural part of the process. A rapidly expanding company can quickly outgrow its infrastructure. Suddenly the informal management style that worked so well in the beginning no longer gets the job done. The organization’s existing infrastructure cannot support the next stage of growth, and the fallout is upheaval.
In truth, rapid growth and expansion place an incredible strain on resources. The gap between the infrastructure you will need and the infrastructure that has evolved becomes painfully evident. If your business is to succeed, you need systems and processes that will stabilize your company and support future growth. This is why a well-planned transition strategy is so important.
In most cases, with an entrepreneurially run business, management is more growth-and innovation-driven and less profit-driven. The emphasis is on creativity and innovation rather than structure or operations. Planning is haphazard rather than systematic. The organizational structure is loosely defined. Budgeting is implied. In essence, an entrepreneurially run business is an adolescent in the business lifecycle, pursuing growth, change, and opportunity but is desperately in need of stabilization.
On the other hand, a professionally managed organization is one with formal, thoughtfully-developed systems and processes and a disciplined, profit-oriented approach to doing business. In professionally managed organizations, management techniques have evolved beyond the spontaneous, reactive mentality typical of startups. Management styles are established. Professionally managed organizations are more democratic (typically consultative or participative). Professionally managed enterprises are based on clearly communicated objectives, expectations, and accountability.
To advance beyond an entrepreneurship business, the entrepreneur must take stock and implement systems, develop processes, and hire people who can steward the company into the future. This transition requires formal planning, meetings, systems, and clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and processes.
The first step in advancing from an entrepreneurship to that of a professionally run business is to recognize that the business has reached a new stage in its business lifecycle. The second step is to acknowledge that it is now time for change. The third step is to enlist the help of outside professional business advisors to assist you with the transition.
With a professional general business advisor, you obtain an accurate and an unbiased diagnosis of your entire business. Only then can you develop and implement an effective strategy to transition from entrepreneurship to a professionally run business. The professional general business advisor assists you with the development and implementation of the following:
• Assess your organizational infrastructure to determine how well existing systems, processes, and structure support future needs. • Know where you are headed so you can communicate to your employees the direction that your company will take in future developments.
• Draft a development plan that maps out how you will build the competencies you need for the next stage of development.
• Create or revisit your business plan and use it to guide and monitor your progress.
• Develop training and mentoring programs to cultivate the management team’s capabilities.
• Implement realistic systems for planning, organizing, managing, and increasing accountability. • Standardize the various processes for the best efficiency.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of each employee.
• Establish and communicate objectives, goals, measures, and rewards to your stakeholders.
• Let go, and let the experts do their jobs.
When companies transition from startups to professionally managed enterprises, founder/entrepreneurs often arrive at a crossroads. As the business owner, you need to consider if you should step back and hand the reins over to an experienced, professional management team? Or, should you stay and attempt to adopt a more structured management style?
The decision is yours. However, keep in mind, that the skills it takes to hatch a business concept … identify a market … develop a product or service …and assemble the resources and operations to bring it to market are not the same skills you need to shepherd a company into the future.
Copyright © 2007 Terry H. Hill
You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author’s bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author’s web site.
Terry H. Hill is an author, consultant, trainer, mentor, and the founder & managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc., a business consulting firm based in Sarasota, Florida. Legacy, http://legacyai.com, is the parent company of the online small business, entrepreneurship, and management training website, http://www.TrainingforEntrepreneurs.com.
A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. Terry is the author of the business desk-reference book, How to Jump Start Your Business. Contact Terry by email at http://www.legacyai.com or telephone him at 941-556-1299.
Related Entrepreneurship Articles
Bookmark & Share
Filed Under: Entrepreneurship
Tags: Business • Entrepreneurship • From • Making • Professionally • Transition
A post for a blog friends of mine have started to try to describe and define a new class of ventures that are emerging. emergenttransformation.com
Q: How do you contrast these Emergent Ventures from Social Entrepreneurship? Are they a subset? A superset? A synonym?
A: First let’s define Social Entrepreneurship…
I consider Social Entrepreneurship to include any venture that creates a medium to high amount of social capital. That definition excludes businesses like semiconductor manufacturers, ad networks and coffee shops. But so many businesses are included in that definition that the term Social Entrepreneurship doesn’t have enough differentiation to be a really useful label.
The ventures we’re talking about on this blog do create a medium to high amount of social capital, but they have a few more defining features. But that does mean that these ventures are a subset of Social Entrepreneurship.
Defining Characteristics of Emergent Ventures:
1) They have information technology component at their core, and are connected to the Internet. This is what allows these businesses to easily benefit from complimentary products and services, rapidly scale, and quickly integrate into the fabric of society.
2) Social Entrepreneurship ventures are often about solving survival needs (Food, Water, Shelter).
Emergent Ventures solve enrichment needs (Knowledge, Community, Collaboration).
3) A portion of the value these ventures create and capture is economic and they make enough money to self-sustain, and often create a significant profit.
4) The ventures we’re talking about on this blog for the most part create a low to medium amount of economic capital. Terms 1 through 3 leave the door open open for companies like Google and Facebook, which create both a high amount of economic capital and social capital. And while companies like Google and Facebook probably could benefit from some of the discussions on the bleeding edge of harnessing social capital, they don’t need help attracting more resources and attention. (Other ventures to include in this category: Meetup, Quora, Asana, Halycon Molecular)
Examples of companies that would be emergent ventures:
Let me know what you think and if you would add or subtract any companies on these lists.
Entrepreneurship – Business is the Way to Go
If you desire to make money and realize financial freedom then starting a small business would be a legitimate way out. Many of us are not happy at our work places but keep up to put food on our tables. If given an option, most of us would definitely opt out of our regular jobs. As much as the risks are high once a business starts generating profits, the entrepreneur can then begin the journey towards financial freedom.
Statistics show that most businesses fail within their first five years. But this should not be a reason for us not to try out either offline or online business. Entrepreneurship is more about taking risks, conducting thorough market research, being innovative and most importantly having passion to succeed.
The other thing that needs to be looked at seriously is management of business accounts. Poor financial management has brought down many businesses. Thanks to the internet one can now outsource affordable accounting services.
Link up with people who have already succeeded in business and allow them to mentor you. You can also attend lectures on entrepreneurship and learn guidelines to follow that will ensure your business survives. Reading business related books, journals and magazines will also keep you informed on current business trends and marketing tips.
Yes, there are possibilities that your business may not work but it all comes down to what scares you more; your business collapsing one day or waking up one morning and discovering you never took a shot at your dreams.
Stephen is an business management expert. He researches and studies on big and small business strategies . Website: Business Management Secrets for efficient business operations.
Wells Fargo gave Washington University in St. Louis a $500,000 gift to go toward scholarships and internships for undergraduate business school students, Chancellor Mark Wrighton announced.
The bulk of the gift, $400,000, will fund annual scholarships, called Wells Fargo Scholars. Awards will be made to four to six promising sophomores through seniors whose academic studies align with the economic development priorities of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association. Eligibility also will require maintaining a high grade-point average and preference will be given to students from underserved communities, the university said.
The remaining $100,000 of the gift is designated for five Wells Fargo Interns, summer internships for business students who demonstrate an interest in entrepreneurship and have completed their sophomore year.
The new interns will join the university’s existing Skandalaris Center Internship Program, which places 20 students in local commercial and social venture startups.
Wells Fargo Interns will be drawn from specific disciplines such as sustainable technology, multimodal supply chain management, financial and information systems, medical science and services, and advanced manufacturing and technology.
Wells Fargo Advisors previously funded a visiting professorship in entrepreneurship at the Skandalaris Center.
St. Louis-based Wells Fargo Advisors, led by President and CEO Daniel Ludeman, is the brokerage arm of San Francisco-based financial services firm Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and one of the largest employers in St. Louis.
Aug 11, 2010 10:00 ETWavefront, BCIC Announce B.C. Companies Picked for Entrepreneurship Program
Entrepreneurship@Wavefront Offers Eight Wireless Startups One-Year Access to Office Space, Mentoring and Wavefront's Business and Technical Advisory and Testing Services
Entrepreneurship@Wavefront Offers Eight Wireless Startups One-Year Access to Office Space, Mentoring and Wavefront's Business and Technical Advisory and Testing Services
-->
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 11, 2010) - Wavefront, the community-based commercialization centre supporting the growth of Canada's wireless and new media development companies, today announced the eight companies chosen to participate in the Entrepreneurship@Wavefront program. This new program is offered in partnership with BCIC to support and nurture early-stage B.C. wireless companies from concept to commercialization over 12 months.
Applicants were evaluated by leaders from Wavefront, BCIC, and the venture capital and investment community. Selected companies ranged from an application maker with technology supporting healthy lifestyle choices to one that enables utility companies to identify electrical distribution losses.
Selected wireless companies receive office space in Wavefront's collaborative wireless incubator environment for one year and access to Wavefront's advisory and testing services including its handset library, usability services, refinement of business development strategies and industry connections. Participants for the 2010 Entrepreneurship@Wavefront program are:
- Awesense Wireless—who designed a platform solution to help utility companies identify electrical distribution losses to quickly and easily increase efficiencies and recover lost revenue
- D2D Campaign Solutions—who provide a mobile campaign platform to augment face-to-face communications in building and mobilizing a support base
- ikamobile Limited—who created Movie Finder to help Android users search for movies playing at local cinemas in 16 countries
- Marine Drive Mobile Labs—who deliver universal accessibility for people with visual and dexterity challenges
- PortaLife Solutions, Inc.—who develop mobile solutions for healthy lifestyles including CarrotLines, a mobile application to help consumers make informed buying decisions based on their dietary and lifestyle preferences
- QRL—who increases customer loyalty and profits for restaurant operators by enabling customers to participate in a loyalty program on a self-serve basis using their smartphones
- Revonet Consulting Inc.—whose Memor appointment solutions software that uses wireless phones to synchronize appointments between businesses and their customers
- Single Digit Labs—who are creating new and captivating ways of using camera smartphones
"We were impressed by the quality of the applicants," said James Maynard, President at Wavefront. "The response reaffirmed our belief that B.C. is a growing hub for wireless innovation. Many of these ideas and technologies have the potential to be very significant business opportunities."
"These are very promising early-stage wireless companies," said Dean Rockwell, CEO of BCIC. "Wavefront has a proven track record of finding and nurturing wireless companies. BCIC is proud to partner with Wavefront in the delivery of the Entrepreneurship@Wavefront program. Together we are helping to shape our provinces' entrepreneurship ecosystem to support technology startups from idea to market, fueling economic development and BC's position in the knowledge economy."
Participants, who this week began to move into the office space included as part of the program, will meet with Wavefront staff to present more information about their companies, develop an action plan for commercialization, and determine the most effective mix of Wavefront expertise to accelerate their businesses forward. A full list of program features and benefits is available online at http://www.wavefrontac.com/entrepreneurship-at-wavefront.html.
About Wavefront
Wavefront is the community-based commercialization centre for Canada's wireless and new media development companies. Wavefront improves speed-to-market and delivery of mobile applications and devices by providing emerging companies with a suite of WaveGuide™ training, mobile industry advisory, incubation and testing services that facilitate market linkages and commercial engagement with the mobile ecosystem and enterprise companies around the world. For more information on Wavefront, visit www.wavefrontac.com.
About BCIC
BCIC develops entrepreneurial talent and commercializes technology through startup companies and partnerships between industry and academia. BCIC focuses on competitively positioning British Columbia in today's global knowledge economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians. For more information about BCIC, visit www.bcic.ca.
Wavefront is a registered trademark of Wavefront Wireless Innovation Society of British Columbia.
For more information, please contact
Wavefront
Patty Lee
778-331-7474
pr@wavefrontac.com
www.wavefrontac.com
or
BCIC
Lindsay Thom
604-602-5249
lthom@bcic.ca
www.bcic.ca
Click here to see all recent news from this company
Digg this
Bookmark with del.icio.us
Add to Newsvine
Technorati: Wireless mobile wavefront bcic commercialize entrepreneur startups
____________________
Entrepreneurship
MEDA promotes unleashing entrepreneurship to alleviate poverty
Waterloo – In a post-economic crisis world there is a great need for unleashing entrepreneurship – hence the theme for this year's MEDA's Business as a Calling convention, Unleashing Entrepreneurship, Nov. 4-7 in Calgary, AB.
MEDA's annual convention holds appeal for those wishing to connect their faith with their work and those who support MEDA's mission of creating business solutions to poverty.
Who better to speak about the power of business to alleviate poverty than feature speaker Frank O'Dea? He overcame incredible adversity to found Canada's famous Second Cup coffee franchise, now a chain of 70 stores across the country.
O'Dea brings the perspective of someone who transformed himself from a homeless panhandler to accomplished businessman, and leaves listeners with a renewed respect for the unlimited power of the human spirit. His ideas on leadership, entrepreneurship and his visionary thinking inspire.
Unleashing Entrepreneurship will also feature David Miller, director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative, on Succeeding without selling your soul, pastor Jane Hoober Peifer on Unleashing the Spirit of God in the life of the entrepreneur, MEDA president Allan Sauder with his Year in Review report, and a festive evening of Russian Mennonite food, Ukrainian music, personal stories and highlights of MEDA's Ukraine program.
With a program of 30 seminars, participants can hear reports on the impact of MEDA's work in several countries, as well as presentations on a diverse mix of topics that are thought-provoking, inspiring and practical – whether you are an entrepreneur or professional, lay person or pastor.
Over the four days, convention go-ers also will discover new opportunities and ideas, make connections and realize possibilities, but have fun, too. Tours range from visits to the spectacular scenery of Banff and Lake Louise in Canada's Rocky Mountains to tours of local businesses, including a chocolate factory, or learning how to curl – a game sometimes referred to as "chess on ice."
Community colleges are becoming lifesavers to students seeking a degree but unable to pay the skyrocketing costs of four-year colleges. Yet community colleges are struggling to cope with increased enrollment as their budgets are slashed by debt-laden states.
About 8 million students were enrolled in for-credit classes at the nation's 1,173 community colleges last fall, up from about 5.5 million a decade earlier. Junior colleges have seen an influx of younger students looking for a way around skyrocketing tuition costs at four-year schools and older students looking to get retrained after a recession that has wiped out millions of jobs.
But there are signs that the system is being pushed to the breaking point.
California community colleges, which make up the largest higher education system in the nation, had 2.6 million students enrolled in credited classes last year. Classes are so packed that students are lining the walls and squatting on the floor just so they can attend class, said Terri Carbaugh, vice chancellor for communications in the state system.
Are you a teen having trouble finding a job for the school year? We want to hear from you.
Due to $520 million in budget cuts, the system eliminated about 10 percent of classes, and the rest are overenrolled, she said. Even though the system is open access, meaning that colleges admit everyone who applies, about 140,000 students enrolled but were unable to get into any classes. In the next two years, roughly half a million students will be unable to enroll in classes if colleges don't receive more funding, Carbaugh said.
Community colleges have become a particularly attractive option over the past decade as costs have soared at four-year schools. Tuition and fees at public four-year colleges rose at an average rate of 4.9 percent per year beyond general inflation over the past 10 years — faster than either of the previous two decades — according to the College Board.
Fees at two-year colleges also have been rising but still look like a bargain compared to their four-year counterparts.
Tuition at public two-year schools averaged $2,544 for the 2009-2010 year, compared with $7,020 for in-state students at four-year public colleges.
Discuss: Do you think postsecondary educational systems need reform?
Justin Tarahomi is typical of a new wave of young people choosing to begin their postsecondary careers at a community college.
Tarahomi, who just graduated from high school, is attending Michigan’s Schoolcraft Community College in the fall. After watching his parents struggle to support him and his brother when his father was laid off in the summer of 2007, Tarahomi decided to pay for his own college education without borrowing. To achieve his goal, Tarahomi signed up for community college, got a job at Costco and applied for as many scholarships as possible.
“My parents brought me up to have no credit cards, have as little debt as I can, and pay everything with cash. If I can’t afford it, then if I can’t afford it and I’ll figure something else out,” he said. “I tried to minimize my debt. … It just seems like attending a state or private institution is really frivolous now when you have community colleges you can attend for your first two years."
Tarahomi hopes to transfer to the University of Michigan in two years as a pre-med biology major. He’s relieved community college will allow him to prepare for his educational future.
“Going to medical school, I’ll probably have to take out a lot of loans — almost everyone does — so I look at it as I’ll have that much less loan to pay back,” he said. “My goal is to go into medical school debt-free; that way I’ll have a clean slate and be able to focus on paying off my medical school bills.”
Why talk on the phone when you can text?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
TOOLBOX
Resize
"); if(! checkDaysOld(comments_period) ) { COMMENTS_ACTIVE = true ; } else { COMMENTS_ACTIVE = false ; } } else { document.write(''); } // -->
COMMENT
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
(I-Newswire) August 10, 2010 - Essentially, this is a research method used in anthropology and sociology to describe the nature of a people. “It places the focus not on what we think but on what they think and value,” explains Bill Oechsler, EGM’s president.
EGM hired Josh McQueen, who retired from Leo Burnett as Worldwide Head of Research Services Group, to conduct the study. It found that a few basic core values predict life satisfaction for millennials: autonomy, connectedness, and purposefulness. Basically this means that EGM’s target audience wants three things: to make up its own mind about what to believe; to be a part of a community that shares its values; and to live lives that matter.
But there are some challenges. This age group is notoriously distracted and on an hourly basis is flooded with more information than their parents faced in a month. They are exposed to a bewildering barrage of opportunities and choices. Though they are anxious to engage in important causes, they are media-savvy and can smell propaganda a mile off.
Oechsler says that “the study showed that millennials are connected to an experience. It convinced us that our goal should not be to create community but to enter existing communities. So, we decided to bring the film experience into the community to which they are connected.” After that, the choice of the college campus as the primary venue to screen EGM’s films was obvious. “By doing so we allow every student group to become a theater.”
The college is the perfect environment to screen the type of movies EGM produces—films that address the hardest topics creatively and objectively. “On university campuses there is a commitment to questioning everything,” explains Cary McQueen Morrow, director for Grassroots Empowerment. “It is where our target audience is making crucial choices and thinking about complex issues. And, they are in a context that recognizes that ideas matter.”
Morrow is heading up a grassroots movement focused on screening EGM’s most recent film, Little Town of Bethlehem, on college campuses (“from Boston to Berkeley”). This documentary addresses the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a fresh perspective—that of the nonviolence movement. “We are simply bringing our films into a context where dialogue already exists,” Morrow adds. “We want to open doors for constructive conversation and create openness to other points of view.”
“EGM is an educational organization not an activist group,” Oechsler explains. “As such, our job is not to change minds but to open them.” But their research has shown them that its target audience places a high value on meaningful and active engagement. “While our films don’t tell the audience what to do, we want to encourage them to live out their beliefs,” Cary states.
“The biggest challenge is to create an experience that is big enough and compelling enough to attract the students.” That is where extensive promotion is key. Cary calls it “shock and awe.” From committed faculty and students, posters all over campus, as well as nearby campuses collaborating with the screenings, the strategy is to create a buzz that cannot be ignored. On nine select campuses that will be hosting Little Town of Bethlehem, the three protagonists, a Muslim, a Jew, and a Palestinian Christian, will take part in discussions on nonviolence along with faculty experts.
After the screening, dialogue and engagement will be encouraged and facilitated at every venue. Oechsler states, “It is the work of the film to bring people together and reward their search for meaning and insight, but after that the audience becomes part of the story. On the Little Town of Bethlehem microsite, there will be links to organizations that are making a difference. Students will be able to blog their questions, ideas, and responses to the issues raised by the story they have just witnessed. And they can experience for themselves the difference they can make when they live what they believe,” he concludes.
The launch window is set for September 21, World Peace Day, and ends on October 2, Gandhi’s birthday, the International Day of Non-Violence.
For more information regarding screenings contact Cary McQueen Morrow cmorrow@egmfilms.org
For a review copy or to set up an interview contact Diane Morrow dmorrow@tbbmedia.com
About EthnoGraphic Media:
EthnoGraphic Media (EGM) is an educational non-profit (501c3) organization that explores the critical issues of our time. As a community of artists and filmmakers, EGM uses media to tell true stories of hope and compassion in the midst of suffering and strife. EGM believes that gaining a deeper understanding of the human condition inspires positive action. The most recent project includes The Grandfather, completing the End of the Spear and Beyond the Gates trilogy and launching Little Town of Bethlehem fall of 2010.Company Contact Information
EthnoGraphic Media
Bill Oechsler
7727 SW 44th St. Oklahoma City, OK
73179
Phone : 405-343-4800
« Ask and You Shall Receive | Main
August 10, 2010
Are You Chasing Your Tail?
A member of my family, who shall remain nameless, lost his cell phone the other day in our cottage. We did what most people would naturally do. We called his number and then went from room to room trying to follow his ringtone. Heck, we even turned the Disney Channel off so all hands could be on deck. It wasn't until he finally stopped moving that we realized the phone was in his back pocket!
That got me thinking how often we chase our tails. Perhaps if we stopped for a moment and really thought about what it was we were trying to accomplish, we wouldn't be wasting energy trying to take care of matters that can be easily handled.
Take time out of your day to think about what you'd like to accomplish. Then choose the most direct path and proceed full speed ahead. Oh and while you are at it, be sure to designate a place to leave your cell phone so you can easily find it the next time you need it!
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e551f08c7788330134861c3549970cListed below are links to weblogs that reference Are You Chasing Your Tail?:
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
Posted by: |
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:Your comment has been posted. Post another commentThe letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
www.dryerbuzz.com
