Giving Capitalism Its Due

Carl Schramm on the importance of entrepreneurship.

Carl Schramm doesn’t buy the idea that some businesses are “too big to fail.” That notion, says the president of the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation, only creates obstacles for entrepreneurs. Instead, he sees the failure of big companies as the “moment when 1,000 flowers can bloom.”….

A great article in the Wall Street Journal - Check it out.

(Source: online.wsj.com)

Tim Donnelly - SoftVu

Today we had a visit from local businessman Tim Donnelly, founder of SoftVu. During the session we covered many topics including his experiences of starting his venture, the first few years, how things are now and his pest pieces of advice. Below are some of the takeaways.

• Make sure you have a plan, workflow or process of how you’ll sell your idea
• List out top 10 processes that company will use to grow or operate, use a visio diagram. Print them out, and put on wall so you see every day.
• Create performance reports, measurable way of checking business progress
• “Frustration is born out of  loss of control” (Tim)
• Organization within the business, make sure meetings have agendas, minutes are taken and then distributed to those who did and did not attend.
• Keep focus on the task at hand within each group. Don’t bring up every new idea, keep each workforce and department focused what they are doing.
• Always remember to share and pass on knowledge to others.
• Forrester, Gartner (Research & Marketing)

The Venturesome Economy - Amar Bhide

Amar Bhide is Lawrence D. Glaubinger Professor of Business at the Columbia University Business School. He talked to us about his new book The Venturesome Economy. The book is ‘an optimistic view of globalisation, with some novel twists and an unusual method of explanation’.

The method of explanation is to follow a common-law style inquisition - evidence followed by arguments, rather than an economic model based on some big assumptions. The book is split into 2: Book I is a report on interviews and surveys with 106 VC-backed technology companies. Book II makes the following points about ‘globalisation and the realities of modern economies & techno-structure’:

• Technological advances are complemented by new/innovative practices in sales & marketing, management and business models.
• The ‘venturesome consumer’ is an important part of a growing economy
• Innovation is a multi-player game - it doesn’t happen in single organisations (i.e. don’t worry about parts of it being offshore - the benefits are with the consumer)

In summary it is a critique of techno-nationalism, and questions whether more money for science/engineering PhDs is useful. It suggests that advances in science and technology in ‘emerging economies’ will benefit everyone, and is not a threat,

(Source: pbjusa.blogspot.com)

A Northerner in Kansas

So the bags were packed, the long flight is over and I’m settled into the apartment. A northerner has officially landed in Kansas City. Why am I here I hear you ask? Well, I’m in the U.S. for the next six months as part of the NCGE Kauffman Scholarship. (See my “interesting links: section to go to relevant sites). I will be covering my travels whilst over in the U.S., news and interesting stories from the tech and business world as I will have the opportunity to learn from some people whilst I’m here, and I may even sneak in a few conferences and expo’s.

Stay tuned……