Blog
Are You an Inventor or an Entrepreneur?
I like this topic because there is a very real distinction between the two roles of inventor and entrepreneur. We've had a few Q&As on this topic including Taking an Invention to Market but I liked the perspective of this author regarding the entrepreneurial viewpoint and its •••
- July 8, 2009
The Chinese Economy, Savings and Gender Imbalance
Get ready for this: the current average savings rate in China is 30% and rising. As I've mentioned before, a country's savings is a critical way to improve and grow their economy. In terms of our national economic strategy, we are rapidly losing ground to other countries as we take on •••
- July 2, 2009
Why Microsoft Had to Destroy Word
If you have already upgraded from Microsoft Word 2003 version to 2007 version, no doubt you've already experienced the initial despair at not being able to find anything on the tool bar (because they moved everything) to then settling in fairly quickly and "getting it." After a few days of •••
- June 30, 2009
The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now
Every entrepreneur likes to catch a wave and ride the crest as long as possible. As I am fond of saying "a rising tide lifts all boats." Given that, when you are looking for ideas for a business, look for favorable macro trends - one of our 50 concepts in our Venture Analysis •••
- June 10, 2009
The Problem with Employees - Part 2
I'm sure you've all experienced this from time to time: when the owner is absent, the employees will do almost anything but serve a customer. Well, it happened to me just today and it served as a fresh reminder of some of the typical problems with employees. It also turned into a good •••
- June 9, 2009
U.S. is Losing Ownership Control
One measure of just how bad our decisions are as a country in terms of our response to the current economic conditions is whether or not we are gaining or losing ownership control as a country. The data is not good: the U.S. is the biggest loser, followed by the U.K. and Canada. The •••
- June 9, 2009
Consumer Goods Innovation Pipeline
For every process, there is a pipeline. Whether the process is product innovation, sales and marketing, or hiring, I've found over the years that the best way to approach these processes is the pipline approach. Do you need 10 new customers each month? Start at the end of the •••
- May 31, 2009
How Consumers Drive American Innovation
America is uniquely entrepreneurial compared to most world economies and even in a downturn -- or even especially during a downturn -- we see the creativity and entrepreneurial efforts running high in the U.S. I know that within my daily work I am presented right now with an enormous number •••
- May 13, 2009
The Impact of Increased Savings
As explained before in this post Why the Economy Is Going To Get A Lot Worse Before It Gets Better back in January, a nation's economy can only grow via three mechanisms of capital formation: Increased savings, which provides growth capital (we’ve had too little of this in our economy) •••
- May 7, 2009
Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn - Part 2
In this ongoing series of blog posts (see Part 1 here), we are examining creative ways of taking advantage of the opportunities that the current downturn presents rather than simply despairing about our current economy. So how should we think about creating opportunities in a downturn? •••
- April 27, 2009
How Marketers Should Plan for Recovery
In case the downturn is getting you down, don't forget to plan for the recovery and your emergence on the other side of this current mess with the positioning and strength to thrive. Will you have cut too deep? Will you be ideally positioned to take advantage of the reshaped market •••
- April 13, 2009
A Better Way to Cut Costs
In the middle of a severe downturn, every company will do some form of cost cutting in the hopes of creating a leaner organization that can survive the economic turmoil and emerge to thrive once the economy turns around. Columbia Business School professor Rita McGrath offers some tips on •••
- April 13, 2009
A Seven Year-Old's View of Entrepreneurship
The Big Pig, by seven year-old Eleni, the daughter of one of our Venture Academy students: Part 1 - The big pig works at a Mexican restaurant. The boss is mad at him because the big pig ate all of the chips. Now there are no chips for the customers. The boss said "you are •••
- March 30, 2009
A Father's Perspective on the Venture Academy
I just want to say one more time how grateful I am for the opportunity to attend Venture Academy this past week. It was a blessing beyond words. Jonathon and I had a wonderful time...my family and I so appreciate your willingness to give of yourself to help train and teach men all •••
- March 30, 2009
Blog Posts on the Recent Venture Academy
Be sure to check out the following blog posts on our recent Venture Academy: Franklin Springs Family Media blog Nathaniel Darnell's blog •••
- March 29, 2009
Bank Bankruptcy Forecast
Are we having fun yet with this downturn? This forecast was just developed by an arm of the Bain and Company strategy consulting firm regarding pending bank failures: •••
- March 19, 2009
Join the NVL Group on LinkedIn
Looking to network with like-minded entrepreneurs? Join the New Venture Lab group on LinkedIn by clicking here. New to LinkedIn? It is the most powerful business networking tool I've seen and I recommend it highly for staying connected, hiring leadership talent and finding •••
- March 16, 2009
Don't Get Too Personal With Customers
I wanted a haircut, not a relationship. But the lady at the Great Clips counter stood her ground behind the cash register terminal with her hands frozen on the keyboard, demanding my name, address and phone number so she could enter it into their system to "form a relationship with me to •••
- March 7, 2009
Mapping Decline and Recovery Across Industry Sectors
Industry sector performance analysis during recent recessions is another excellent indicator of what we might be facing this time around in the current downturn. In fact, one could argue that the more recent the data, the more predictable the data should be regarding current •••
- March 3, 2009
Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn - Part 1
The crucible of a downturn always gives rise to an increase in entrepreneurial endeavor as we are forced into being more creative in dealing with fewer job opportunities and fewer available resources. In the following interview, Harvard Business School (HBS) senior lecturer and McKinsey & •••
- February 23, 2009
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