Blog
Raising Capital for a New Clean Fuel Technology Company
I am raising capital for a new startup that has acquired three different technologies for the 18-wheeler diesel truck market. The technologies all provide significant fuel savings and cleaner emissions and can be installed individually or all together for additional fuel savings. I like the •••
- March 18, 2010
He's About to Fail, But Doesn't Realize It
"The fence guys are here!" I exclaimed to my wife incredulously this morning. They’ve shown up two days in a row and the surprise was clearly in my voice. The "fence guys" have been a frequent topic of conversation on our hobby farm over the past several months. The "fence •••
- March 17, 2010
How to Build a Financial Model for Your Startup
One of the most important aspects of business planning is to have a detailed financial model that helps you: 1) forecast the ramp up of your revenue and expenses, 2) understand when the business might breakeven, 3) predict the amount of capital you will require, and 4) clarify the risks you will •••
- March 4, 2010
Venture Academy Registration is Now Open for the Class of 2010
The Venture Academy's week-long Basic Entrepreneurship Training course -- a mini MBA in Christian Entrepreneurship taught by a Harvard MBA -- will take place September 20-25, 2010 at Camp Lake Benson Christian Retreat in the beautiful hills of middle Tennessee west of •••
- March 3, 2010
New Venture Lab Successfully Raises Venture Capital for NVL Member
New Venture Lab is pleased to announce that is has successfully managed a venture capital raise for AgStrong, LLC, whose founder and CEO, Robert Bruce Davis, is a New Venture Lab member. New Venture Lab was also an investor in the round that included several other venture and “angel •••
- March 2, 2010
New Podcast on Which Opportunities to Focus on in a Downturn
One of the most frequent questions I get is related to the topic of the kind of opportunities to pursue given the state of the economy. Whether you have been laid off or whether you are merely exploring how to gain more independence over your ability to produce an income in an uncertain •••
- March 1, 2010
Five Myths About How to Create Jobs
As we've talked about before with our posts on the state of the economy (Government Intervention with Free Market Mechanisms and Government Intervention with Free Market Mechanisms - Part 2), Why the Economy is Going to Get a Lot Worse Before it Gets Better, An Analysis of the •••
- February 23, 2010
Good Entrepreneurs are Good Leaders
A friend of mine is having a ceremony tomorrow for his 13 year-old son, encouraging him -- now that he is thirteen -- to begin to think and act as a man. He sent out an email inviting some of his friend to send in an encouraging word for his son that he can then cut and paste •••
- January 12, 2010
Guest Blog: How to Build Your Brand Through Effective Marketing
Brand Building or Brand Marketing is a popular form of traditional marketing that small business owners often attempt to employ. The only problem with this type of marketing is that it is not effective - at least not for the small business owner. Do you remember saying or hearing one of your •••
- November 5, 2009
Technology Enables Another Innovative Business Model - Car Sharing
No doubt, you've heard about fractional ownership of aircraft and executive jets, but have you heard of fractional ownership programs for cars, called "car sharing"? The article below is written by the CEO of Zipcar and highlights the company's use of technology to create a new and innovative •••
- October 29, 2009
Why Are Websites So Confusing?
This is what happens when a company's focus is on their internal view of the world and maximizing their sales and profits rather than focusing on the customer's external view and maximizing the customer experience... Do you sometimes get the feeling that Internet portals, search pages, social •••
- October 19, 2009
Megatrend Watch: From Complex to Simple
There is a movement afoot, but it is not new. It's actually been happening for quite a while, but it is picking up momentum given the current state of the economy and it can be summed up as follows: there is a movement towards "simple" or "good enough", call it the "flight to simplicity" if •••
- September 1, 2009
Three Things You Didn't Know About Marine Corps Leadership
More lessons learned on leadership from the military, this time from the Marine Corps... Most people assume the U.S. Marine Corps is a rank-and-file organization where officers have power and soldiers obey orders. In fact, the Marine Corps is a highly effective organization that thrives by •••
- September 1, 2009
The Venture Academy DVD Training Series
The professional team at Franklin Springs Family Media filmed our recent Venture Academy Basic Entrepreneurship Training class (they have been wonderful to work with) and I am delighted to announce that The Venture Academy DVD Training Series is now available for pre-ordering from •••
- August 25, 2009
Lessons Learned from Other Entrepreneurs
From another startup blog that captured and edited user-contributed entrepreneurial lessons learned: Infect employees with pride of ownership. If the employees feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, then they'll work that way. Every company has "idiotsyncracies." Some •••
- August 4, 2009
Current Job Market Toughest for Mature Workers
From the Harvard Business Daily Stat commenting on a CareerBuilder survey: American workers age 55 and up have been hit particularly hard by recent job losses, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. Only 28% of those over 55 who were laid off in the last year found new jobs, compared •••
- July 30, 2009
Research on What Makes an Entrepreneur Tick
This is an interesting research report on entrepreneurship in America. Although it leaves God out of the equation, there are some insightful nuggets in this scholarly research report based upon detailed surveys of 549 company founders in a variety of industries, including aerospace and •••
- July 23, 2009
Avoid Market Confusion with New Product Launches
The recent Netbook (see definition below) launch is a case in point of poor alignment between what consumer's want, what they thought they bought and what they actually got. It stems from core marketing issues of the lack of i) proper market research, ii) proper product positioning •••
- July 21, 2009
Venture Academy Film Project Update
From the Franklin Springs Family Media blog... We’re shooting a few last pieces today for elements that will be used with the release of The Venture Academy. This dynamic learning resource, featuring Wade Myers, will be available very soon. •••
- July 16, 2009
The Real Cost of Social Media (Hint: It Is Not Free)
I've only dipped my toe in the Social Media waters (New Venture Lab and a related LinkedIn group) and I have actually been fairly resistant to expanding any of my own personal efforts on social media (I do not Tweet on Twitter, I do not have a Facebook page, I do not have a MySpace page, •••
- July 14, 2009
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