Great Networking Trick
October 25, 2010No Comments
Last week I accidentally discovered a great new networking trick. I was attending a lecture on Entrepreneurship in Norway. I walked into the auditorium where there were 100-150 chairs setup. I was early, so I went to the front of the room and sat in the chair that was nearest the podium in the …
Can Entrepreneurship Empower Palestinians?
October 18, 2010No Comments
Last week I was asked to join a group of coaches and investors to design and lead a program for Palestinian entrepreneurs from the West Bank. This week I have been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about conflict resolution. Thinking about peace. Thinking about empowerment and the role that entrepreneurship can play…
An article in …
Making the most of any situation
September 24, 2010No Comments
I did a workshop this week in Palermo, Italy for a group of MBA students and startup companies at the ARCA Technology Incubator. Palermo is a fantastic place of chaos, crowds, energy and even innovation.
I once heard a story about an American law professor who was in Italy holding lectures about the American law system. …
More Serial Entrepreneurs?
September 17, 2010No Comments
Yesterday I led a workshop for 20 young entrepreneurs in Dusseldorf, Germany. I asked them if they knew the expression “serial entrepreneurs”. Few did. I asked if they knew the term “serial killers”. Yes. They all had watched enough TV crime shows to understand that term.
OK, so I challenged them to learn to become “serial …
Fake It or Be Yourself?
September 12, 20101 Comment
Years ago I heard a great story about networking. It came from an investor who had a different strategy than most. He was part of a delegation of US businessmen who were going to travel to Japan to setup new business relationships. Most of them attended a class where they learned about Japanese customs, etiquette …
Connecting the Dots
August 23, 20101 Comment
Like most children, I loved drawing Connect the Dots pictures. I can envision myself staring at a new and particularly complex page of dots and numbers and trying to imagine what could possibly emerge from all that chaos.
Today, as an adult I look forward in my life and try to imagine what future can possibly …
Celebrate Your Failures
August 13, 2010No Comments
Last week Google announced that their product called WAVE would be dropped, just 6 months after its birth. What was interesting about this announcement was that Google said “We celebrate our failures.”
This is a smart core value for a business to have. Last I checked, Google was not only immensely profitable, but also one of …
Marathon Man for Startups
August 3, 2010No Comments
Have you seen the old movie called Marathon Man? Dustin Hoffmann plays the part of an amateur marathon runner who gets mixed up with a group of nasty ex-Nazis who torture him with a dental drill. His training as a marathon runner helps him to endure the pain until he is finally able to win …
Am I crazy to be an entrepreneur?
April 7, 2010No Comments
I woke up this morning and my first thought was that “I am crazy”! Stark, raving, mad, lunatic crazy. It was all triggered by an argument that I had with my business partner yesterday, which was by no means his fault.
Crazy can be defined as doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a …
You would not believe how many times I have met brilliant entrepreneurs with amazing, cutting-edge technologies who are clueless about their markets and about who will actually be willing to pay money for their inventions. I talked with a guy who works at a local patent office recently. He said that they get 10 such …
