During my years at the Kauffman Foundation I have seen firsthand the effect that education can have on the development of entrepreneurs and their companies. The entrepreneurs with whom I have worked have taken the lessons they have learned and applied them to great effect in their endeavors as founders. These entrepreneurs benefited from opportunities to learn critical skills, and from gaining an understanding of crucial decisions or junctures that often can derail entrepreneurial businesses.
Experience suggests that when entrepreneurs learn about founding team dynamics, strategies for handling objections in the sales process, and the ins and outs of intellectual
Continue reading ‘Sales Is Like Oxygen’ and So is Education
You don’t need to spend countless hours in a classroom, or have an MBA to become a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs often don’t have the time or patience to sit through a semester long class or six-week course in order to retrieve the answer to a question they have now-today. They need help quickly and efficiently. And this is where our idea for Founders School started.
In my own entrepreneurial journey, I remember coming to points while starting my company where my knowledge or education couldn’t provide me with the information I needed to make a sound decision. This happens to
Continue reading Founders School ‘Just in Time’ Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Do you wonder what it takes to start and foster a Startup Community? We’ve seen more and more communities pop up not only around the U.S. but all around the world from Haiti to Iran to Brazil to Norway, all to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Lesa Mitchell at The Kauffman Foundation, Marc Nager at Startup Weekend, Charlie O’Donnell at Brooklyn Ventures, and Tony Hsieh at Zappos talk about what it takes to get this done. Tony speaks about why he is helping to create an ecosystem in Las Vegas, and how to incorporate education, arts music and real estate, with
Continue reading Fostering Startup Communities
The newest installment of the Kauffman Sketchbook video series tells the great American success story of an immigrant entrepreneur who starts with very little yet achieves great things.
Released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the video features Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, an Indian American venture capitalist and entrepreneur, who is president and chairman of Sparta Group LLC, and chairman of A123 Systems, Sycamore Networks, Tejas Networks and HiveFire. He also is co-founder of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT and the Deshpande Foundation.
In the video titled “Land of Opportunity,” Deshpande recounts his entrepreneurial journey that began
Continue reading New Kauffman Sketchbook Focuses on Immigration
There is no disputing the fact that women are still underrepresented in the much of the startup world, whether that be as Board Members, VCs or as founding members of the company. There is a “Women in Technology Study” being conducted by The Kauffman Foundation and Stanford University as a follow up to a previous study done by the Kauffman Foundation. That previous study shows that there are no real differences between male and female entrepreneurs, but, those of us that are out there on the streets everyday see a very different story. In fact we can see here at
Continue reading Women in Technology Study
There is less than a week before Global Entrepreneurship Week gets underway! “GEW offers the opportunity to network, meet mentors, experience a boot camp, find out if you have an interest in being an entrepreneur or working for a startup and learn from other countries. All in one week,” says Global Entrepreneurship Week President and Kauffman Senior Fellow Jonathan Ortmans.
What are your plans for GEW? Check here to see if there is a competition you may want to participate in…many are taking place during that time. Not wanting to compete but have business experience? Take a few minutes and
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Entrepreneurship is a profound catalyst for economic development in the United States. But start-ups face many hurdles along the road to success. That’s why the Telluride Venture Accelerator is looking to incubate new and expanding companies – giving them the competitive edge they need to succeed.
Need a hand turning your innovative idea into a reality or taking your start-up to the next level? Telluride Venture Accelerator provides hands-on support from experienced and successful business mentors to ensure your idea breaks into the high-growth marketplace. We are now accepting applications from entrepreneurs who are eager to work as part of
Continue reading New Opportunity in Beautiful Telluride
This is Terrell with iStart.org interviewing Scott Case with Startup America Partnership. Here are excerpts from our conversation:
What is the difference between a startup and a small business?
We focus on startups and define them as companies that are lead by founders. We’re focused on high growth; we think of it as top-line growth. And companies that are typically less than ten years old. [This is] verses small businesses which are typically run by owners and tend to focused much more on profit orientation. It doesn’t mean the startups won’t get to be a profit place, but that’s the
Continue reading An iStart Interview: Scott Case of Startup America Partnership
Writing a business plan can be a long and tedious experience. One may come to the point of asking his or herself, “Is writing this business plan important to the success of my start up?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes.” Business plans are still relevant.
Organization A business plan will help build organization. Many entrepreneurs are innovative and have cutting-edge ideas but their businesses suffer due to a lack of organization. Taking the time at the onset of business to develop one’s thoughts properly may insure a smooth start. Developing the business plan will provoke thorough thought about the
Continue reading Business Plans Are Still Relevant
Marketing and publicity is not what it used to be. Social Media is one of the newest but most effective (in reach and cost) tools for marketing, networking, customer service, and to help others.
Do you use social media for your business?
Everyday Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are being flooded with new subscribers. This is an amazing opportunity for marketing and to achieve your promotional objectives. Because social media marketing is so new, it is hard to know and understand the best practices required for successful use.
For some, the social media mega-world can be overwhelming. But the first step
Continue reading The Importance of Social Media for Startups
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