Small Business Entrepreneur blog

Finding your vision and path as an entrepreneur

2009-10-22T20:31:32Z

It’s something that crossed my mind tonight. I believe that as an entrepreneur is a bit hard to know at times if you are going the right way. Of course, if you are doing this (the entrepreneurship stuff) long enough and are somehow good at it, you probably have a CEO and a board of directors to evaluate if the business goes the right way.

But if you are small, then being the CEO and running the actual business is on your job description. Sure, in the beginning, everything looks pink and the life is great even if you have to pull long hours, pay the employees from your own pocket and being the person that answers the phones because there is nobody else to do this. However, things will start to look messy shortly, and get complicated when you have actually something to lose.

Ok so you made it so far, got a decent business going on, but what’s next? You might not realize but you are actually taking business critical decisions each day, that might do or undo good things or bad things. And even if you think or even act as a very knowledgeable leader, I guess there are always going to be things you wouldn’t know, decisions hard to take or new things that you never thought before.

And what can you do? Who is there to tell you that you’re doing things wrong? Even if you adopt a participative management style and can get feedback from your employees, and even if they are advising you up to their best knowledge, well, they are not you. You are the entrepreneur, and they have a different position (not to talk about inner personal goals) and therefore you’re not getting feedback from similar minded people. (and that’s why some entrepreneurs or CEOs like to hire some “failed entrepreneurs” to have like minded advisers).

I don’t know, I can’t tell you when you are right or wrong or if your path is good or bad. I do know however that successful entrepreneurs are on a mission. They have a vision and they get up (early) each day to make another step towards their mission. You feel that you got something to do, an inner force that pushes to in a direction. Follow the force, it’s your mission in life.

Embrace who you are. Make your own entrepreneurial success.

2009-10-20T19:45:29Z

Not really sure (yet) what I want to say in this post. But I’ve decided to overcome the writer’s block my way, and that’s by putting down some ideas and contemplating the result. And where it gets us.

Ramblings about accomplished entrepreneurs and how people think about them

I don’t know, it’s very hard to start a business. And this time I not talking about having an innovative idea, fear of starting-up, funding or anything else from the area. Because unfortunately there is something else that makes most damage, I think. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I always say wanna be entrepreneurs or even non entrepreneurs think about accomplished entrepreneurs as people that don’t have to worry about anything, have free time, and thanks God enough money to buy anything they like.

And unfortunately this way of thinking results into a distorted vision about entrepreneurship and what it means, mostly because we only find out about entrepreneurs when they are accomplished enough to make a story. We don’t really hear about entrepreneurs working long nights to make it to the end of the months, and nor about the silent failures (although we get to hear a lot about visible failures).

Problem is that this distorted way of thinking about entrepreneurs actually gets even further, and I would say it’s one of the major reasons why people don’t start a business.

I’m talking about…

I’m talking now about comparing a potential startup with the established businesses in the field, economic environment, golden eras and so on. Not sure if it makes sense, so, I’ll give you some examples.

I can’t start a new hosting company. The golden era of the hosting companies is long gone, and now you can’t make a profit.
Yes, but now it’s the great depression. We can’t beat competition by starting now!
They did well by doing things this way. We should do the same and we will be as successful as they are.

Each business has its own ADN

Thing is that you are starting from a wrong premise: comparing a startup idea with other companies. And that’s bad, because you are comparing something that isn’t there yet with something that already works (or not) and that’s kind of useless. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make market research before starting a business, because you should, I’m saying that each business has its own ADN. Its own people, its own customers, economic conditions, shareholders, business plans, locations, you name it. There aren’t two businesses alike, exactly in the way there aren’t 2 people alike because it’s impossible to replicate the same conditions.

Embrace who you are. Make your own success.

Thinking that your business will go or fail based on how a company or another did its simply a killer. Of course I’m not saying that if an industry is dying you shouldn’t consider it might be a bad idea to start a business there. I’m just saying you should stop comparing your unborn child. Embrace who you are and what your business could be. Make your own success. Stop trashing ideas because somebody else was or wasn’t successful. Your business can be the way you want it to be, regardless of whatever happen to other businesses.

Now I have to re-read this. I think the end was good, start not so good. Hopefully you will get the picture anyway. You should have faith in your unborned business. It’s always better than doing nothing.

Interview with young entrepreneur Justin Beck

2009-10-18T13:56:54Z

Justin Beck works for a startup created by a group of ambitious college students from University of Wisconsin Madison called PerBlue, where and he is building some really interesting technologies and products while having too much fun doing it. PerBlue focus on building mobile software. Their first product is Parallel Kingdom a mobile role playing game for the iPhone and Google Android phone. They continued to progress into mobile people connecting technology and they were working on a smartphone application for connecting people called GeoBuzz, when they realized that connecting people was a very difficult task. After working on geobuzz for almost 9 months they decided to scrap the smart phone client and build Operator Sue which uses a text messaging interface. Its really simple to use, and it just works like you’d expect it to.

Cristian: I had a look at some articles about you, and I found out you have invented a lot of new technologies, gadgets and software. So do you consider yourself an inventor or an entrepreneur?

Justin: I would say probably on a day to day basis I consider myself more an entrepreneur more then an inventor. I never really bonded with the word “inventor” I think everyone is an inventor in their creative outlet. But true entrepreneurs those are rare. I don’t even know if I deserve that title yet.

Read the rest of the interview with this young entrepreneur here.

Professional development for small business entrepreneurs?

2009-10-14T18:26:24Z

Is there any life after death? Is there any professional development for a small business entrepreneur after becoming an entrepreneur?

For the first question, it depends. Buddhists say there is, but most of everybody else say there isn’t. And not sure at all about the second.

Let’s first assume that before being an entrepreneur you had a professional life, being a marketer, sales, engineer or anything else (I’m not talking about the young entrepreneurs that become millionaires without having a previous job on purpose, because I’m yet to understand how this works. Besides, it makes me to feel old.) So you had at least some sort of professional development and career – for sure you learned stuff that belongs to your job along the way.

Problem is that as soon as you become an entrepreneur, you get a completely new job, that of being an entrepreneur. And while there are schools that learn you how to run a business, and there is a job for this (being a CEO), there aren’t really any schools teaching you to be entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship is not listed as a job in any country (as far as I know).

But as unlikely as it sounds, being an entrepreneur is a job. You are in the job of making things to work and turn a profit. And as the time goes by, you get better at it (although sometimes path to success goes through failure). It sounds like a job, and it is a job, just that is different from any other jobs.

Now, you used to be a marketer, an engineer or anything else, and your job was to promote, sell or manufacture products or services. It’s quite obvious that you can evolve on these fields. Trouble is with the “entrepreneurship job” that in most cases you are required to know a bit of everything. But can you have a professional development in a “bit of everything”? And is there a next better position in entrepreneurship? Not to mention, that by the time you are reading this post, if you are an entrepreneur you don’t really do your marketing, sales or engineer job that you previously had.

Ok, so you might say that there is nothing stopping an entrepreneur becoming better in their core abilities (marketing, sales or manufacturing). I have to agree that yes, you can still improve your skills, and do better what you already did good in these fields.

But there is one fundamental thing in professional development, that (being an entrepreneur) you should question yourself if it makes sense to work towards. Usually at least a part of the trainings and improvements of an employee have the goal to fill in empty spaces and make improvements in the weak spots.

But should you, as an entrepreneur work, spend money and time to improve your weak spots? Or the entrepreneurship essence itself is to find the most efficient way of dealing with the issue and simply outsource or hire someone while you focus on building the business? Of course, that if your weak spot is at business level (i.e. having problems communicating with the employees) you should work toward improving your skills. But if you come let’s say from marketing and your company does software, is there really a need to learn how to code? After all, a bit of coding and technical expertise will really help you market the products better.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel right about life after death. It might smell nasty and you might have some missing parts (yesterday I’ve watched about 10 minutes from an un-dead type of movie). But where is the line between knowing a bit of everything and professional development? Can I get to be a “professional entrepreneur”?

It’s never too soon to improve your business

2009-10-14T05:03:41Z

Intro

Most entrepreneurs I know would say that their job is actually to solve problems – I’m not talking about the customers problems but their own business problems. Just to be sure we are on the same side of the page, I’m mostly talking about small business entrepreneurs which also happen to be CEOs (not to mention janitors, financial department and so on).

And also, most of the friends I have that work a 9 to 5 job think that their boss, CEO (or worse case scenario, CEO’s wife) is to blame for everything that works bad, and if they would be in their position, they would come up with some God like solutions and will work wonders.

The thing is that as soon as you make the step from 9 to 5 job to entrepreneurship the reality will make your God-like solutions to fade away, and from your new position will have to solve problems which you didn’t think before or solutions aren’t easy to come at all.

Now, I can bet my arm (I will bet my good arm, not the one with Carpal tunnel syndrome) that making compromises is part of the game. After all, you have the responsibility to solve all the problems one way or another.

Making compromises

Now that I got you here, the intro is actually useless for the rest of the article. All I wanted to tell you so far was that you will make compromises – I know, I know, I don’t want to lose your time and I can’t feel 2 fingers from my bad arm. So let’s go quickly to the next point.

The compromise I hate most. You should hate it too

Especially when you are starting up (or now in times of crisis) you will compromise a lot. You will create a new product or service quickly, maybe without plans or maybe communicating with your team on messenger instead of clear emails or documents with targets. You will cut corners here and there. You won’t save your experience for later, nor having conclusions. Anarchy. You will probably get it somehow done (otherwise you wouldn’t be probably reading my blog but job sites) but I would say you’re lucky. And you can be lucky just so many times.

For the rest, you will need to improve your business.

I know most of the times putting things in good order when you worry each day about sales and about making payments to your employees each month seems like the last thing on your mind. But guess what, after the first month, you will get a new one, again a lucky one, when although you made enough sales, it’s all just because of luck. And a third one. Maybe a forth one.

The thing is that if you are lucky enough you will get enough lucky months under your belt. Actually you are not lucky at all!

After the lucky months you will realize that you lost all this time which you could use to improve your business and prepare for the future focusing on the temporary things. Of course without these lucky months you wouldn’t have made it so far, but there is nothing that could improve your business better than hunger.

What improvements I’m talking about?

Anything. Business processes. People. Communication rules. New content on the website. Customer Support improvements. Internal rules. All that you always wanted to do and never had the time to do it. You know, the things that you hate to do and kept on postponing.

Good things will happen. And eventually you won’t need luck to get through the month.

Later edit:

Jay Goltz has an interesting point about believing you only need better sales in this unrelated article. I’m quoting him: “Entrepreneurs often say they just need more sales or more credit. From my personal experience and from looking at other businesses, I have found that this is frequently just the symptom. More often, the problem is bad marketing, bad management or poor financial management (often pricing and debt-structuring mistakes).”

Kiva,the person-to-person micro-lending website for entrepreneurs

2009-10-04T18:01:19Z

I’m just copy pasting for now:

We Let You Loan to the Working Poor

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.

Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.

Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, we are using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.

More info here.

Again about hiring in a small business

2009-10-03T08:45:33Z

I’ve been re-reading my older posts about hiring in a small business. One of my articles, 10 steps to get the right employees if you are a small business it’s more than 2 years old. I think most of the things I wrote 2 years ago still remain valid, I do have something to add about another article: Small Business compete with Big Corporation. I realized the old article somehow suggests that big corporations are your big enemy when hiring.

Well, they are. But the Hr people working for them should be your friend.

Before walking along in disbelief let’s think about something. You are a small company. Maybe you don’t even have a HR employee. It’s hard to hire because less people would like to work for a small business, with a future that sometimes is not clearly drawn and a second grade work environment.

But before convincing a potential employee to join your business, you’ll have to get people to the interview. Chances are that if you get more people to the interview you could get a better, more suitable employee. You could probably get 20-30 maybe 50 people to the interview (although if you get 50 it’s already a very expensive process).

Now, guess what. Big corporations have hundreds if not thousands of applications. And chances are again that you might just find the right people you need from there. And it doesn’t really mean you get the leftovers because corporations have a complex hiring process and they might refuse candidates for reasons that could be perfectly ok for you.

So why not take advantage of this great number of already verified potential employees? All you need is to know the right HR people. They might just recommend the best people for you.

Interview with Leslie Linevsky, co-founder of Catalogs.com

2009-08-29T12:44:36Z

Leslie Linevsky is co-founder of Catalogs.com, the foremost portal destination website for consumer print catalogs and website catalogs on the Internet.

A well-respected authority on online retail sales, Ms. Linevsky has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience. She launched her first successful online venture in 1994 with her husband, Richard: a men’s catalog called The Artist Collar, in which upscale men’s neckties were marketed and sold via direct mail, along with 24/7 telemarketing, fulfillment and e-commerce. After three years of building the company and establishing one of the Internet’s first e-commerce sites, the Linevsky’s sold The Artist Collar to a competitor. With the capital from the sale, they launched CatalogSavings.com, which later became Catalogs.com.

Here is what I found out at the interview:

Cristian: Hi Leslie and welcome to Entrepreneurship-interviews.com. You’re running an online business, what is it about?

Leslie: My husband and I noticed early on that many merchants were trying to find a balance between traditional catalog marketing and new online avenues. So, we created Catalogs.com to meet that demand. Catalogs.com provides a mechanism for merchants to offer a variety of options, while offering consumers the convenience and efficiency of online shopping. For 13 years, we have helped shoppers find and order the perfect catalogs for the products they want, all free of charge.

We offer access to over 650 print and online catalogs from the world’s largest retail companies to specialized companies providing unique and hard to find items.

Why good looking people get a job easier and why it matters to entrepreneurs

2009-08-03T19:17:11Z

As I said earlier, I recently joined a company founded by one of my former colleagues. Being a shareholder I’ve immediately started to look for ways to improve the company mechanisms and being a software company, the first place to look and see how things are going is… people.

Now, except my former colleague I didn’t know any of the guys working for this small but brave company, and I immediately realized that I was somehow trying to put people in categories by their appearance. Basically, in my sub-conscious I was forming my opinion on the colleagues based on how they dressed and how their overall appearance was.

That’s a bit scary for a not so handsome guy like me, that dresses entirely from utilitarian reasons. I know I dress poorly, but I’m completely missing the sense that deals with outfits. I’m wear blind! And it’s scary because I realized that each time I went to a job interview, or joined a new company, the people already there for sure have classified me one way or another based on my appearance.

On the other hand, I don’t think I ever had problems getting a job I really wanted, partially because I always looked for jobs to suit my abilities and that’s always the best deal for the employer. As these thoughts passed my mind, I also remember that there are some studies that say good looking people are more likely to get a job. While I have never ever hired a person based on the looks, I remembered that a few months ago, one of the customers contacted me requested help. By the name I could tell it’s a she – I helped her as well as I could. I did discovered some weeks later that in fact it was a man and I immediately felt disappointed (something like ah, I thought she’s a lady all the time!).

I think it’s something hidden deep in our minds to help, get together or trust more good looking people. Of course some might feel offended by my view, but hell, how many times you stopped to help a lady with a flat tire? And how many times a guy?

Now, that we have established that good looking people land jobs easier, why does really matter to the entrepreneurs?

I don’t know about you, but it seems somehow that well established professionals don’t have anything to do with the looks. While both good looking and not so good looking might do a wonderful job, I’m somehow inclined to say that people that wouldn’t qualify for a miss or mister contest might just try harder to have excellent results in work. Yes, you might say I discriminate, but what if it’s true? What if you have to overcome your natural inclination to hire the good looking persons and hire not the good looking or the bad looking but the person that is going to be more dedicated to the job?

Hiring like anything else in business can get subjective. I remember some years ago, a local software company was accussed in public that it hires only relatives or persons from the same county as the CEO. And I’ve heard the same stories about HR departments. However, the problem is that while it might sound unfair… it’s natural. When you have a company to take care as CEO, you will only want to take people on board that you trust. And you might just trust more people coming from your county or hometown. But you know what? I believe that only the ones didn’t match the employer profile haven’t been hired, and that’s regardless of your location.

So… does it mean you should hire on phone interviews (not to be influenced by the appearance?). That would be dead wrong, because besides the professional abilities it matters how well you co-work with others, how you integrate with other people and environments.

Because a company it’s a living organism.

Commenting on Sam Wyly book: “1,000 Dollars & an Idea”

2009-07-29T06:48:34Z

Funny thing I will start by saying that I wouldn’t probably have bought this book on my own, because from the title you don’t get that there is a genuine story behind of one of the greatest US entrepreneurs. That’s why receiving books for reviews have been always great!

With much of our knowledge about US entrepreneurship coming from the movie industry, great entrepreneurship stories escape the public, although they represent the real American dream. Unlike other books I’ve read lately, many following the getting rich quick book pattern I was happy to see that Sam’s Wyly book doesn’t follow a script. Each chapter starts and ends on it’s own, without having the same structure with the others, while the book itself it’s not what you could call motivational, nor “selling” ways to turn $1,000 into millions. The truth and wisdom you could find reading the chapters are not replicable, you can’t build your business the same. But they might make you smarter and give you some insights of the hard work that an entrepreneur needs to put in order to achieve his goals.

Did you know that Sam Wyly was amongst the first to fight IBM during their supremacy years in the ‘60 when a computer was costing around $ 3 million? Did you know that Sam Wyly fought the big AT&T monopoly when you couldn’t even buy a different headset and lost 100 million to it? Did you know that he owned the Bonanza food chain and grow it from 20 restaurants to more than 600? Did you know that Sam started a company called Sterling Software with an initial investment of 2 million to sell it later for… 8 billions! Just before the dot com crash.

In the early 1970s, in the midst of the Nixon wage and price controls, Wyly built University Computing into a goliath that split into four separate companies, including Datran, which would later challenge the AT&T data transmission monopoly. During the gas crisis of the late 1970s, Sam’s oil-refining and silver mining company Earth Resources actually took advantage of the call to de-lead gasoline by selling the refinement run-off for jet fuel. During the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sam built arts & crafts retailer Michaels from six stores to over 900. In the current economic downturn, Sam’s latest ventures are all proving successful. From Green Mountain Energy, the nation’s leading provider of cleaner energy, to investment funds Ranger Capital and Maverick Capital, Sam’s still on the leading edge of the market.

As Sam Wyly says, he was born in one of the poorest small towns in US. His first business, University Computing was started with $1,000 and an idea. He is amongst the 600 most rich people now, but he keeps on saying: “In football, just like in business and just like in life, the best teacher of all is failure.” “No matter who you are or what you’ve achieved in the past, you have to work hard every time in order to win. ”

I’m not sure how much you know about how the Internet appeared, but I now know that by fighting AT&T and creating the first data transmission service for computers, Sam Wyly set the first stone of what we call today Internet, even before the army launched the project that will later become the internet. And not sure how the world would be today without entrepreneurs fighting big corporations like IBM and finding better ways of solving people pains – the quite essence of what we call today entrepreneurship.

<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TLNYXO?ie=UTF8&tag=acvadot-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001TLNYXO”>1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire [1000 DOLLARS & AN IDEA]</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=acvadot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001TLNYXO” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

Consider it a history book about the last century economics, consider it a business book, it definitively worth reading. Thanks Sam Wyly for sharing a true and genuine entrepreneurship story: 1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire

Hiatus

2009-07-28T20:06:55Z

If you would ask me about this one or 2 years back I would laugh of bloggers letting their blogs die. And then it happened to me!

Well, to the few remaining readers I hope I still have, I’m back in business in more than one way! First I feel once more inspired to write and second, I have a new business )

Actually, the thing is that I stopped writing real stuff on the blog about a year ago, when actually I exited the business I’ve started about 4 years ago. Not having a business of my own, it felt like cheating to still write an entrepreneurship blog, because the Small Business Entrepreneur blog was about real life experiences. Now, I joined one of my former colleagues from InterAKT (they got bought by Adobe) as a shareholder and Business Development Manager for Extend Studio – a small company doing Adobe extensions.

So that should be really good news for you, dear reader, because I already have plenty of things to talk about!

Another entrepreneur interview

2009-06-29T20:31:21Z

After the interview with Don Daszkowski, the About.com Guide to Franchises I now had the chance to interview Andrew Markou, an entrepreneur that also deals with selling, buying or starting a business. Here is what I found out:

Cristian: Andrew, welcome on Entrepreneurship interviews. You are running an online publishing business, what is it?

Andrew: We run a number of websites in the entrepreneur space and have been doing so since 1996. We like to think that the whole business is greater than the sum of each website as we are able to cross-refer pertinent and engaged traffic between them.

Find out the rest over the Entrepreneurship Interviews blog.

Good article on investor pitching

2009-06-09T05:20:08Z

Truth to be said I’m not an expert on investor pitching. I’m all pro self funding, but yes sometime you need some outside cash, especially if the business you are planning to start requires larger funds.

Scott Gerber from Entrepreneur.com had an interesting article on Investor pitching -which I enjoyed because is not the regular theoretical article that say more or less the same thing and then leaves you unprepared. The article starts by describing a pitch failure: how they tried to get $15 million without selling a single product and they failed.

And, as I learned on my own, if everything goes right, you learn little. When it goes bad, your mind records everything and turns it into a source of knowledge.

The article talks about 6 essential steps in pitching an investor. As usual I will add my comments:

An elevator pitch is vital. Well, I’m watching from time to time a TV show where people come to pitch a group of investors. I would say about 90% of the pitches fail because the entrepreneur fails to explain shortly what is his business about, why it does need the money, and how it will make money for the investors. You know what they are doing? They come with a 30 pages Powerpoint, which they realize it’s too big and filled with un-important stuff the moment they open it. You can see that from the way they are turning slides, going fast over some.
Inspire confidence with facts, not fiction. What Scott is saying is that when you pitch someone for money you should first show that you sold your first product, cashed some money in and generally everything works. I remember I’ve been pitched once to invest some money in a product and the pitch went and said: “nobody did this product before. That’s why we are sure it’s going to be successful when we will start selling.” I didn’t not invest.
Have a grasp of reality. Meaning that the income projections should be realistic. I’m amazed on how entrepreneurs usually make their pitches: if we just get 2% market share, then we will be reach and all go home with $100 million. If you remember that each entrepreneur pitches these investors with the same projections and way of estimating revenues you will realize how throwing some sense and reality in your projections could actually help win the pitch.
Prove that you are a fiscally responsible manager. Spend like your spending from your own pocket – nobody wants to overspend, especially in these times of crisis. The investors will want to know how they money are spent, and for sure they aren’t going to buy you a Porsche.
Demonstrate that your business can crawl before you say it can walk. A proven business record, and wish to invest in one product line it’s always better than expanding out of control. Usually you first want to see it works, and if it does, it’s not a problem to expand.
Choose not to be the smartest person in the room. If you feel like you know everything and the investors are a clueless source of money, then you are wrong. They might now know the business in-depth or might not fully understand the very technological aspects of a business. But remember something: they have a feeling of what could fly and what it doesn’t. In fact this is what put them into the position to be pitched – they have a good sense of good businesses and sometimes that’s all it takes.

Well, Scott said everything better than I could ever say it in the original article.

I would add some ideas of my own:

Never pitch for to little money. If you only need a small amount, maybe you shouldn’t pitch investors but banks. Simply put, investors don’t look for businesses that will bring them $50k in the next 3 years. It doesn’t worth their time (of course, unless the investor is your mom)
Speak with someone that did a pitching before. The insights you could get from an entrepreneur that have pitched before, successful or un-successful will teach you what to expect, what to say and what to avoid. It’s far better than reading any book.

NOW IS THE BEST TIME FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS

2009-06-07T06:38:36Z

Entrepreneur Robert Tuchman Guides Readers Who Are Young, Bold and Ready or Forced to Break Free From the Pack and Pursue Their Passions

NEW YORK, New York, June 2009 – “There’s no time like the present” may be a cliché, but clichés exist for a reason. As decades-old corporate warhorses continue to go belly-up, even the most tried and true “safe” career paths—say, the Bear Stearns trainee program or climbing the General Motors management ladder—are no longer guaranteed. The landscape is now perfect for young, resilient workers to quit waiting around for an economic recovery and recruiters to come knocking and instead direct their ambitions into their own ventures.

In Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own
(AMACOM; May 1, 2009; $21.95 Hardcover), Robert Tuchman shows young professionals how to start and succeed in their own business, giving examples of many entrepreneurs under the age of 35, from mortgage giants to PR moguls, who thrived in the face of adversity. There is no better time to take a chance than when you’re youthful, bold and have very little to lose—and he knows from experience.

“A seismic shift is happening in the economy, with the tone moving toward an entrepreneurial world,” says Tuchman, who started his own company in the economic downturn in the mid-1990’s. “New forms of life are springing up, making possible ventures that seemed impossible just a short time ago.”

When Tuchman graduated from college in 1993, he entered the stockbroker trainee program at Lehman Brothers but quickly realized his professional path in the rat race would leave him unfulfilled. Armed with one phone, a fax machine and his tiny, one-bedroom apartment, at the age of 25 he funneled his passion for sports and business into his own company, Tuchman Sports Enterprises (TSE). Within two years, TSE was named to the annual Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest growing privately held companies and as one of the top 100 promotion agencies by Promo Magazine. TSE, which was started with no money and no investors, sold for millions of dollars to Premiere Global Sports in 2006. Last year, TSE (now known as Premiere Corporate Events) earned more than $70 million dollars in sales.

“I can’t tell you how many people warned me against veering off the safe route at Lehman,” says Tuchman. “But I knew I had the drive and resiliency to make something else happen for myself instead of spending years being apathetic in my job, never knowing if I’d make it to the top. And given what ended up happening to Lehman and other corporations, playing it “safe” might have left me unemployed, broke, and in a career that I hated.”

In Young Guns, Tuchman shares practical strategies for not only getting a business only up and running but also ensuring its staying power:

“This is the moment to turn your passion into something tangible,” says Tuchman. “You’re in control of setting the rules for your life’s agenda. If you feel the drive in your gut, got for it now.”

About the Author:

Robert Tuchman is the Founder of TSE Sports & Entertainment, a company he started out of his one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan at the age of 25. TSE has gone on to appear on Inc. 500’s list of America’s Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies. Tuchman now serves as President of Premiere Corporate Events, a division of Premiere Global Sports. A frequent guest on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” he has also appeared on CNN, the “CBS Morning News,” BET, and has been the subject of features in USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur. He lives in New York City.

Tuchman’s Tips for Young Entrepreneurs

The Small Business Administration’s latest statistics show that a new startup has about a 50 per cent chance of surviving for five years or more. Robert Tuchman’s advises entrepreneurs to start doing the following early on to ensure a company’s longevity:

1. Do business from home. Save money on renting office space by doing business out of your own living space. Install a separate phone line or purchase a cell phone for business use only. Print your own letterhead and business cards. Your clients will never suspect that “Suite 12-B” is really “Apartment 12-B.”

2. Try to fund it yourself, or mostly yourself. It pays to go after the least amount of funding that is necessary. When you’re starting out, it feels good to say that some venture-capital firm invested millions of dollars in your idea. But a few years down the road, when you’re doing well, it will not feel so great to know that you own only 25 percent of your company.

3. Put a positive spin on things. Does the timing of your entrepreneurial project coincide with you having been recently laid off? Don’t include that in your pitch to customers or investors. Nobody wants to think they’re doing business with someone who’s only there because they have to be.

4. Build a culture of action and enthusiasm. During your first year, you will face a lot of questions about your experience. The best—and probably only—way to overcome them is to impress clients with your vigor and dynamism. If you want to be perceived as youthful, forward-thinking, and results-oriented, be proactive! Reward your people for taking the initiative. You’ll have a huge competitive advantage over established companies. Many clients will pay, and even take a bit of a risk, to get young, energetic minds on their side.

5. Stay balanced. During the first year, and all the years thereafter, you will have to find a way to achieve balance. Basically, this means avoiding the temptation to work eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, without a break. Find an outlet—a hobby, an amateur sport, or an exercise activity—that gets your mind off work and relieves stress. It’s essential to maintaining perspective and the energy you need to keep your business thriving.

Social Entrepreneur’s Cup Finalists Announced

2009-06-05T18:55:04Z

Social Venture Partners is proud to announce the four finalists for its Social Entrepreneur’s Cup awards. The Social Entrepreneur’s Cup is a competition to find Minnesota’s most innovative and effective social entrepreneurs. The four finalists compete for recognition and cash awards as part of the Engaged Philanthropy Conference that takes place on Thursday, June 18 at the Graves 601 Hotel in Minneapolis. The Social Entrepreneur’s Cup was created to seek out, celebrate, and promote Minnesota’s most innovative and effective social entrepreneurs and the non-profit organizations they lead.

Bill Drayton, the founder of the Ashoka Foundation and a leading social entrepreneur himself, describes a social entrepreneur this way: “Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Over the past two decades, the citizen sector has discovered what the business sector learned long ago: There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.”

Each of the finalists will make live presentations before the judges and conference attendees vying for cash grants and consulting assistance from Social Venture Partners. The winner of the competition will receive $20,000 as a general operating grant and 40 hours of consulting services from the experienced entrepreneurs and managers who make up Social Venture Partners. The second place winner wins $5,000 and 20 hours of consulting services from Social Venture Partners. The other competitors will receive a $1,500 honorable mention award. Sandra Vargas, the president of the Minneapolis Foundation, presents the winners their awards at the concluding ceremony and reception.

Judges for the competition are: Kate Barr, Executive Director, Non-Profits Assistance Fund; Terry Barrerio, Executive Director, University of St. Johns Entrepreneurship Center; Trista Harris, Executive Director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice; Sean Kershaw, President of the Citizens League; Melissa Stone, Director, Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute; Greg Tehven, co-director of Students Today Leaders Forever and the 2008 Social Entrepreneur’s Cup winner; and Jeff Tollefson, former venture capitalist and current Executive Director of Genesys Works.

The Social Entrepreneur’s Cup finalists represent the spectrum of social needs including education, health, homelessness, and sustainable energy. Each of the finalists has a fascinating story of innovation and hope to tell. The four finalists are:

Admission Possible

A college education remains the best pathway out of poverty and into a middle-class life. Admission Possible helps promising low-income students enter college by providing ACT and SAT test preparation services and admissions and financial aid consulting. Each year, approximately 200,000 low-income students in the United States graduate from high school prepared for college, but don’t go. At no cost to students Admission Possible provides four critical services to help them prepare for admission to college: 1) ACT/SAT preparation; 2) college applications preparation; 3) Financial aid assistance; and 4) Guidance in the transition to college. Since 2000, 99% of Admission Possible students have earned admission to college, and nearly 80% are continuing to work toward their degree or have already graduated.

Admission Possible was the first college access program in the country to use AmeriCorps members to “coach” their students. Starting as a 35-student pilot program in 2001, Admission Possible’s program is now in 17 Greater Twin Cities high schools and serves 1,300 students across five school districts. In fall of 2008, Admission Possible expanded its program to high schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Rural Renewable Energy Alliance

Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) installs solar heating systems for low-income families that qualify for public heating assistance. While Heating Assistance is a vital safety net for the lowest income Minnesotans, it isn’t a permanent solution for generational and cyclical fuel poverty. RREAL home solar heating systems saves low-income families money while reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions; localizes energy production; and creates green jobs in impoverished communities in northern Minnesota. The solar heating systems installed by RREAL offset as much heat in one season as a family receives through heating assistance.

RREAL manufactures and sells of one of the most efficient solar air heat collectors on the market. The income from sales of its solar heating systems allows it to subsidize installations of systems in the homes of low-income families. RREAL is working with Community Action Programs to replicate their work across Minnesota.

RREAL’s goal is to install Solar Air Heat in residences, businesses, and industry throughout Minnesota and beyond not only as a solution to fuel prices, but for the reduction of greenhouse gases, keeping energy spending local, the creation of local employment, and energy independence.

Hearth Connection

Homelessness is a social ill that Hearth Connection knows how to solve. Hearth Connection’s network of supportive housing providers houses over 1,300 men, women, and children, 92% of whom now live in their own homes. Homelessness is expensive for taxpayers because the homeless go to hospital emergency rooms, jails, detox facilities, and other expensive services. The Hearth Connection’s outcomes are impressive. Extensive research demonstrates that Hearth Connection use public resources more productively and is breaking the cycle of homelessness.

The Hearth Connection solution to homelessness is to finance, develop and manage a network of supportive housing providers that houses people with long histories of homelessness. They provide support for the homeless and help them get treatment for mental illness, addictions and medical problems.

Homelessness is difficult for government or charities to solve alone because both the problem and the solution are complex. As an intermediary, Hearth Connection brings together faith communities, non-profit social service agencies, housing developers, neighborhoods, philanthropy, hospitals and all levels of government. Hearth Connection’s special contribution is rethinking the problem of homelessness by taking it on systemically.

Apple Tree Dental

The top unmet health care need for low-income Minnesotans is dental care. Annually, an estimated 20,000 visits to emergency departments in Minnesota are for dental infections that could have been prevented. Apple Tree Dental addresses this problem in a whole new way. Apple Tree Dental provides comprehensive dental services for almost 15,000 low-income Minnesotans enrolled in Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) including Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare.

Recognizing that traditional dental clinics were not reaching people with the greatest needs, Apple Tree created the “Community Collaborative Practice Model” as a three-way partnership among a group dental practice, community organization and an on-site dental care team. The Community Collaborative Practice Model brings care to low-income people where they live or receive other social services and teaches healthy habits while delivering preventive and restorative care. Dentists and dental hygienists work together like doctors and nurse practitioners, with hygienists providing on-site education, assessment and triage services. The Community Collaborative Practice Model extends the reach of the dental workforce by allowing dentists to focus on restorative care while hygienist practitioners provide earlier disease prevention that reduces painful infections and expensive treatment.

About the Conference Host Organization: Social Venture Partners Minnesota (www.svpmn.org)

Social Venture Partners Minnesota is an engaged philanthropy organization that leverages the money and talents of its members to promote philanthropy and improve the lives of ‘at risk’ children and youth in Minnesota. Our members are successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and professionals skilled at growing organizations with a heart for making a better world. We are business entrepreneurs working alongside social entrepreneurs to solve social problems.

Social Venture Partners follows the venture capital model of patient, long-term investment combined with hands-on assistance to transform the social entrepreneur’s vision into reality. We invest financial capital, social capital, and intellectual capital in the nonprofit innovators we support. Social Venture Partner members gain satisfaction from giving of their talents, as well as their money, forming personal relationships with the nonprofit staff they work with and the children served by the nonprofit. Through our youth program, SVP Teens, we prepare the next generation of philanthropists.

SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC CONFIDENCE SURGES

2009-05-03T07:20:06Z

Riverwoods, IL, April 27, 2009 – Economic confidence among small business owners rose to its highest level in 14 months in April as more of them see the broader economy and the conditions for their own businesses improving, according to the latest Discover® Small Business WatchSM. The monthly index increased more than 10 points, rising to 88.5, up from 78.2 in March and the highest since the Watch hit 90.8 in February 2008. April’s mark represents the third consecutive monthly increase in economic confidence among small business owners.

“While we saw confidence rise almost across the board, small business owners who have been open less than two years showed the most enthusiasm for the economy that we’ve seen in that category since June 2007,” said Ryan Scully, director of Discover’s business credit card. “At the same time, the economic environment is challenging. Most owners still rate the current economy as fair or poor and continue to keep business development spending on hold.”

The number of small business owners who say the economy is getting better nearly doubled to 31 percent, up from 16 percent in March and the highest level in this category in two years. The number of owners who see the economy getting worse continued to decline. It dropped to 51 percent in April, down from 69 percent in February 2009.

Yet while the anticipation of improvement is on the rise, 91 percent of small business owners still ranked the current economy as fair or poor, a figure that has been constant for eight months.

April Highlights:

•    32 percent of owners see economic conditions for their businesses improving, up from 24 percent in March; while 40 percent see conditions getting worse, down 7 percent from the previous month; 22 percent say it’s staying the same and 6 percent weren’t sure.
•    58 percent of owners say they have not experienced temporary cash flow issues in the past 90 days that have caused them to hold off on paying some bills.
•    21 percent of owners say they plan to increase spending on business development over the next six months, unchanged from March; 46 percent plan to cut spending and 30 percent will make no changes.

About the Small Business Watch

The Discover Small Business Watch is a monthly index measuring the relative economic confidence of U.S. small business owners who have less than five employees, a segment that consists of 22 million businesses producing more than a trillion dollars in annual receipts. The Watch is based on a national random survey of 750 small business owners. It is commissioned by the Discover Business Card, which strives to offer the best business credit card for American small businesses, and is conducted by Rasmussen Reports, LLC (www.rasmussenreports.com), an independent survey research firm. The numeric index is calculated by assigning values to responses to a set of six consistent questions. The base value of the Watch was established at 100.0 based on surveys conducted in August 2006. In addition to generating the index, the Small Business Watch surveys small business owners every month on key issues, and polls 3,000 consumers four times per year to gauge purchasing behavior and attitudes towards small businesses. For past results and survey data, visit www.discovercard.com/business/watch. For information on Discover Business Card, visit www.discovercard.com/business.

Small Business Symposium May 19

2009-04-28T05:06:38Z

The event will be held May 19, 2009 at the SBDC center at Raritan College at Branchburg, NJ. The agenda for the day begins at 8:00am with networking and check-in, followed by a Town-Hall style meeting and breakout workshops filled with roundtable discussions.

“Entrepreneurs drive this country’s economy” stated Eric W. Leaman, Director of The Organization for Entrepreneurial Development.

OED is a 501(c)(3) NJ-based non profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurism. ‘Each big business’ in the headlines today started as a passion of an entrepreneur. Yet those we serve consistently voice frustration that the innovation, energy, and contributions of this group of business owners go largely unnoticed by many in government. A favorite citation of his is Ronald Reagan’s comment, “Entrepreneurs are the forgotten heroes of America.”

In addition to providing up-to-date information about government and banking resources available to small businesses, this symposium promises to provide everyone who attends with an opportunity to identify their unmet support and resource needs. Most importantly, participants will begin working together to help each other survive and prosper during the current economic crisis.

This event is open to ALL entrepreneurs, whether running an established venture or a start up venture in need of guidance. Registration for the event is being capped at $25 per person to maintain accessibility to all business owners in this difficult economy. Registration is available at www.oedglobal.org/Support_Grants/May192009.htm.

For more information regarding the Symposium or the mission and background of the Organization for Entrepreneurial Development, please contact OED Director and Trustee Eric W. Leaman at 800-767-0999 or via email to eleaman@oedglobal.org.

Start-ups do better with young employees

2009-04-26T17:09:59Z

I think it should be somehow obvious that a start-up might have easier access to young employees. Of course, if you can afford to hire seasoned employees that’s excellent, but let’s see what are the advantages of hiring young.

First, as you are just starting up it’s harder to get experienced people on board. I said this before, employees feel they take a risk when leaving other well established work places. But there are other factors to consider as well.

Think about the company culture. Right, you don’t have one yet, so establishing one with young employees is easier. And then there is the level of expectations: young employees don’t necessarily expect to have a company car, the latest PC nor the best payment in the industry.

After exiting my last company I’ve already started thinking about the next (if you are an entrepreneur, you know that once you have the entrepreneurship bug is hard to live without). Of course, one of the first things you have to consider when starting a company is the initial investment – in my case I’m one again thinking about an It company so I’m quite sure to say the biggest expense is the cost of the employees. So what can you do to control the expenses and reduce the initial investment? Hire young, it’s cheaper. Of course, on the long run I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again cutting costs on the human resources is not wise because the loss of productivity and results might eventually kill the business, but in the beginning you anyway don’t know if your business is going to hold water so why not hire young?

Then again, in the beginning for sure the office will not be a real office building, and probably some of the furniture will be old. The location however is important, as I want to hire young it should be next to an University. I’m putting my bet also on the young exuberance and willing to prove themselves. I will hire young, so why wouldn’t you?

I still look for one answer: what should be the new company doing?

Merchants and Affiliate Marketing Experts Discuss New Money Models In The Current Economy

2009-04-23T18:58:28Z

Latest strategies on stretching online marketing dollars highlighted at virtual e-commerce show

New York, April 2009 – Affiliate marketing industry’s top global experts share their insights on how online marketing strategies need to shift in 2009 at eComXpo on July 8-9. They will discuss the latest online tools that both merchants and retailers need to consider to drive ROI and remain competitive in the current landscape.
A key session at the event is a presentation by Chris Anderson, Editor-In-Chief of Wired, talking about developing money models in a cashless economy.
“The internet has enabled lots of businesses and business models to go digital. And one of the economic advantages of digital is that the marginal costs of manufacturing and distribution are zero, or close to it.
This means that you can now experiment with giving away one thing to sell something else. It’s no surprise that virtually all businesses on the internet are based on ‘free’ in one way or another,” said Anderson.
Joining the ranks is Rohit Bhargava, Author of Personality Not Included, who shares his innovative strategy on how merchants can use Twitter to generate sales within 30 days. Talking about his
presentation, he says, “There’s a growing trend of online retailers using Twitter to promote direct sales and therefore it is important to use it right.” He also added that the increasing role of individuals and
personality in driving higher sales and customer loyalty mean that marketers need to change the way that certain pages and processes work in online retail to increase customer loyalty.
eComXpo features a combination of presentations and panel discussions on a variety of topics including social media, marketing accountability, m-Commerce, content optimization, affiliate management and
incentivizing, search marketing, new customer acquisition, channel attribution, RSS marketing and black hats vs. white hats.
Debra Haym, Executive Director of eComXpo at New York based conference organizer, Worldwide Business Research, said, “The research for this conference with high caliber marketing executives
indicates an intense interest in seeking out the opportunity to discuss many pressing and urgent issues of the day. We have worked hard to create a speaker line up to provide the best catalyst for fresh thinking and energized debate. We expect eComXpo to provide an exceptional platform and that, going forward, it will be viewed as having been a significant and influential gathering.”
eComXpo is 100% virtual and free. For additional information on eComXpo, please visit:www.ecomxpo.com
# # #
Notes to Editors
For further information on eComXpo or Worldwide Business Research, please contact:
Josephine Andrews on +1 646-200-7448
Worldwide Business Research (WBR) is dedicated to meeting and exceeding the needs of its customers around the globe. It is the world’s biggest large-scale conference company and part of the
Penton Learning Systems group, one of the world’s leading providers of strategic business intelligence with 16 offices worldwide. Working in partnership with key industry leaders, WBR organizes highly
focused conferences that deliver timely, objective, accurate information and business solutions to its conference delegates. WBR is equally committed to ensuring that its conferences facilitate informal
information gathering and networking.

Thought for the evening: Are you a start-up guy?

2009-04-22T20:28:31Z

I was reading an interesting piece of article By David N. Feldman: The Entrepreneur’s Lament: Moving Beyond Boredom :

“The most common cause of boredom is when a business grows to where it becomes harder to consider it “entrepreneurial.” More bureaucracy and formality creep in, multiple layers of management lead to way too many committees, meetings, and the like. This can be unbearable for the entrepreneur who is used to simply diving into something new. Often MEGO (my eyes glaze over) sets in as the founder sits in meetings listening to well-intentioned employees drone on about concerns and risks associated with whatever the issue is.”

Are you happy only when you start something new? When you have to work all the way up from nothing? And as soon as things settle don’t find a good reason to continue?

Just got the Ideablob T-shirt!

2009-04-19T08:58:54Z

If you remember back in January I was a Featured Guest advisor on Ideablob.com . Well, I was very happy to find in my mailbox a T-shirt from the Ideablob/Advanta guys!

Nice!

TiEcon 2009 Puts the Bold Entrepreneur Center Stage

2009-04-08T04:34:55Z

TiE Silicon Valley announced today that TiEcon 2009, the world’s largest conference for entrepreneurs, will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center, May 15-16. TiEcon is two action-packed days of rich dialogue, networking and deal making with thousands of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, industry executives, and thought leaders.

TiEcon 2009 is themed “The BOLD Entrepreneur,” focusing on dynamic individuals who are able to adapt to changing conditions and create their own future despite downturns and uncertainties.

“History tells us that in every economic downturn a new group of innovative businesses is born — Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Disney just to name a few,” said Gary Gauba and Shaukat Shamim, both TiE Silicon Valley Board Members and Co-conveners for TiEcon 2009. “Entrepreneurship is the real stimulus package our economy needs and TiEcon 2009 is just the spark to jumpstart bold entrepreneurs and pull us out of this recession.”

In its 16th year running, TiEcon will facilitate unprecedented networking and business opportunities, along with energizing keynote addresses from some of the nation’s most respected and resilient leaders including Hans Morris, President of Visa Inc., Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit and Reid Hoffman, Founder, Chairman and CEO of LinkedIn.

“In today’s rapidly changing world, it’s critical that small businesses continue to innovate,” said Brad Smith, Intuit president and chief executive officer. “Intuit shares TiE’s mission of helping entrepreneurs innovate, grow, and prosper in every economy, and we are honored to participate in TiEcon 2009.”

TiEcon 2009 will feature five session tracks focused on key market segments: Consumer Web, Internet Infrastructure, Cleantech, Wireless, and Software. These sessions will provide entrepreneurs with the tools, insights, connections and inspiration to launch a business, grow a team, or join a budding start up. In addition, TiEcon 2009 will unveil three new programs that are specifically designed to address the current economic climate:

– TiE50 — The 50 Hottest Startups. This year’s TiEcon will showcase
50 of the most promising startup companies across the conference’s five key
market segments. Attendees will get a broad overview of these markets as
well as an insight into the winning strategies of the 50 companies chosen
through rigorous screening and community polling.
– PowerConnect — Networking with a Segment Focus. TiEcon 2009
introduces a premium networking program to connect attendees with industry
experts, entrepreneurs, and VCs in the five key market segments outlined
above. Through small group sessions and interactive panels, participants
will gain industry insights as well as 100+ relevant connections in their
area of interest.
– Business Bootcamp — Taking it to the Next Level. TiEcon 2009 will
provide hands on training to help bold entrepreneurs combine technical
ingenuity and groundbreaking strategy with the practical aspects of
managing a company. Battle-tested industry experts will lead four boot
camps focused on: raising funds, addressing legal issues, building teams,
scaling sales, and creating buzz through PR campaigns.

Past TiEcon events have featured eminent speakers including: Steve Ballmer, Carly Fiorina, Eric Schmidt, Jim Clark, Larry Ellison, Thomas Friedman, Narayana Murthy, Ted Turner, Bill Campbell, Scott Cook, John Doerr, Vyomesh Joshi, Robert Ingram, Thomas M. Siebel, Dr. Sashi Tharoor, Peter Thiel, Meg Whitman, and many more.

Register for TiEcon 2009 today by visiting www.tiecon.org or calling 408-567-0700. Early Bird registration starts at $195 for TiE members and $320 for non-members.

About TiE

TiE is a global, not-for-profit, non-political, and non-religious organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs across its international network sponsored by top venture capital firms and Fortune 500 corporations. TiE is spread across 53 chapters in 12 countries comprising of 1,800 experienced entrepreneurs and business executives as charter members, 12,000 aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals as members.

Media Contacts Sima Thakkar 408-567-0700 ext. 226 Email Contact Kathleen Gratehouse 415-963-4174 ext. 2 Email Contact

Franchise Expo Partners With Original SoupMan to Create “Stimulus Package”

2009-04-06T20:00:41Z

Hall of Fame Legend Reggie Jackson to Give Away SoupMan Franchise!

NEW YORK, New York, April 6 /PRNewswire/ – North America’s largest Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo and New York’s own The Original SoupMan, makers of the legendary soups of Al Yeganeh, who inspired the “Soup Episode” on Seinfeld, joined forces today to announce a stimulus package contest to help one lucky winner realize their dream of owning their own business. Interested applicants can apply online by submitting, in 100 words or less, their story detailing the reasons why they should be awarded ownership of a brand new Original SoupMan franchise. The winner will be announced by Hall of Fame slugger, Reggie Jackson, at the opening of the New York-New Jersey Franchise Expo, April 18, 2009, 10:30 a.m., at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, in Secaucus, NJ.

“With many people out of work and Americans unsure about how to create a solid financial future, we wanted to help the economy one person at a time and create a contest that can do just that. Original SoupMan so graciously stepped to the plate and immediately wanted to be on board”, states Fred Cox, President of National Event Management. “A franchise is the easiest and safest way to become your own boss and create financial stability. In spite of the current credit crisis, many franchise companies have financing options available to new business owners. By buying into a franchise one buys into a proven concept and exponentially increases one’s success rate”.

The contest kicks off today, Monday, April 6, 2009. For more information, visit www.franchiseexpocontest.com. All entries must be submitted by April 13, 2009 at 12 Noon EST.

The New York-New Jersey Franchise Expo also provides valuable educational resources and a wide range of advisors and suppliers for current and future business owners. The show includes free daily seminars from reputable and insightful professionals, including the Small Business Association, that have information that entrepreneurs need to know. Topics include: “Securing a Loan for Business Start Up” and “Legal Aspects of Buying a Franchise”.

“Small businesses – the stores that employ a dozen people – those will be what ultimately turns this economy around,” said Robert Bertrand, President of The Original SoupMan. Bertrand said the idea of waiving SoupMan’s standard $35,000 franchise fee for someone who has the entrepreneurial drive to succeed but might lack the financial resources to fund an entire start-up is, “a stimulus package that just makes sense.”

The Franchise and Business Opportunities Expo, a member of the International Franchise Associations suppliers group, takes place Saturday, April 18th & Sunday, April 19th at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, 355 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, New Jersey. Hours of operation are Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm. Admission is $10. For more information, visit www.newyorkfranchiseshow.com.

About The Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo

The Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo is produced by National Event Management. National Event Management is the producer of 27 annual business ownership events across North America showcasing over 1,700 businesses to 65,000 prospective business owners each year. For more information on National Event Management visit www.nationalevent.com.

About The Original SoupMan

Founded in 1984, legendary soup man, Al Yeganeh, set the standard for delicious, world-renowned soups at his New York City location, Soup Kitchen International. Now, with the international growth of his franchise, The Original Soup Man, Al and his team will give the whole world the opportunity to experience soup as it was meant to be. The company also sells the Original SoupMan soups in Grab-n-Go packages in the frozen food aisle of grocery stores nationwide. To learn more, visit www.ORIGINALSOUPMAN.com. For franchise information, call (877)-SOUPMAN

Interview with young entrepreneur Ohad Rosen

2009-04-01T19:34:37Z

Ohad Rosen is the co-founder of http://www.CelebritiesFans.com (the world’s largest database of free celebrity addresses) and of http://www.Jewishop.com (a leading online store of Judaica items and Dead Sea Cosmetics). Also, he is the co-owner of several domains in Montenegro and other internet websites in Israel. Ohad serves as the VP Marketing of http://www.JerusalemOnline.com which broadcasts video news from Israel in English.

On other fields, Ohad sits in the board of directors of the Israeli Photography College (http://www.pck.co.il) and was elected to the city council of my hometown few months ago.

Read the interview with young entrepreneur Ohad Rosen here.

Reviewing Dave Pollard’s book: Finding the Sweet Spot

2009-03-31T04:31:26Z

I will start by saying that I find reviewing this book a little bit challenging. I’ve spent the last 2 days or so re-reading some chapters to see if I’ve got everything right – the book talks about a new way of doing business and as with everything that talks about doing things differently it might be a little hard to swallow at first. While in the beginning I’ve read it with a little disbelief, last Friday I realized I might be onto something (in fact the book is) because while I wasn’t ready to recognize it, all I’ve talked with my colleagues at work in the last week was in fact a reflection of the impact the book had on me.

The book talks about the “Natural Enterprise” - a new type of business that emerge – a subject that is made more and more valid by the current crisis and the changes that need to be made. There is only one way to read the book – don’t jump chapters – everything makes more sense when you turn the last page.

I think I’ve actually got interested in what the book is saying after reading the story of a dog that was treated badly by the owner and still, he returned day after day at home, because he didn’t know anything differently. Slowly the book goes on saying that we, like the dog, keep on doing jobs that we don’t like because we don’t know anything differently. Then you realize the meaning of the book subtitle: “A guide to finding where your gifts, passions and purpose intersect”.

So there is a way to turn your hate for the job you have into a happy story by forming what the book calls “natural enterprise” – a better way to make a living. “Natural enterprises are flat, nonhierarchical, independent cooperative organizations with a shared Purpose, complementary Gifts and Passions, uncommon core capacities and a shared vision”. “A sustainable self-organized, self-managed community based business partnership in which a group of people agree to make a living together as collaborators and peers, strive to attain what each member needs to achieve for this or her personal well being”.

The book has 3 major chapters:

Discovering what you are meant to do – what are your passions, gifts and purpose
Creating natural work – how to apply your passions, gifts and purpose to create a new business
Making it sustainable – the way the new enterprise would work.

I now have to come back to the story with the dog. That put me into heavy thinking the entire week. What if the values we are trying to achieve throughout our lives like getting a home, car, having a family with a dog or being in a top management position are just limitations imposed by the society? What if my destiny of being a middle manager is completely wrong and I didn’t actually found my real destiny yet? Am I going to be 50 when realizing I’ve spent most of my life worthless?

What if the book is right?