to page content
to site navigation
The Foundation's primary site.
Global news, events, and resources.
The national learning program for entrepreneurs.
A new approach to developing the next generation of high-growth firms.
Access to university research and innovation.
The Kauffman Foundation's charter school serving Kansas City.
Encouraging the aspirations of young people.
The platform for business plan competitions.
College preparation and access for urban youth in Kansas City.
A guide to Kauffman Foundation and partner resources, for aspiring entrepreneurs.
News and announcements from the Foundation.
From our vice president of Entrepreneurship.
From our vice president of Advancing Innovation.
News from Global Entrepreneurship Week
News about this education program for entrepreneurs.
Tweets for the eMed Community at Entrepreneurship.org
News from the Kauffman Labs program.
From our business plan competition service.
Contribute to the community seeking to improve entrepreneurship and innovation measurement.
A look at entrepreneurship from the Kauffman Foundation's Thom Ruhe.
Tracks research and policies that are accelerating economic growth and changing the world.
Brings to light various policies and initiatives to advance innovation and drive economic growth.
A selection of our videos
Take our video and audio with you.
Explore many of our publications.
Join the discussion on our LinkedIn site.
Join us on Google's social service.
The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
Competitive Intelligence Guide: Internet Intelligence Index - Links to over 600 intelligence-related Internet sites, covering everything from macro-economic data to individual patent and stock quote information.
This resource discusses what defines competitive intelligence, the process of penetrating the veil of business secrecy, ethics and legalities, do's and don'ts, and assembling your team.
Tom Byers is a professor at Stanford University where he focuses on high-technology entrepreneurship education. He is founder and a faculty director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), which serves as the entrepreneurship center for the engineering school. STVP includes the Mayfield Fellows work/study program, Educators Corner website of teaching resources, and global Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education conferences. Tom is also a faculty director of the AEA/Stanford Executive Institute, a general management program for technology executives. Tom is co-author of the textbook called "Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise" (McGraw-Hill, 2005). Tom also holds a visiting professor appointment at the London Business School and University College London. Tom currently serves as a director on the boards of Reactivity and Flywheel Ventures. In addition, he serves on advisory boards or committees of the American Society for Engineering Education's Entrepreneurship Division, Harvard Business School's California Research Center, and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) for inner-city youth. Previously, Tom lectured at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Tom has a range of business experience including executive vice president of Symantec Corporation and founder/president of Slate Corporation. Tom started his professional career at Accenture. For his efforts at Stanford, Tom holds an endowed chair known as the McCoy University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. Tom was given the 2005 Gores Award for excellence in teaching (the university's highest award) and the 2002 Tau Beta Pi Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching (the engineering school's highest award). He is a recipient of three recent national teaching awards: the 2005 ASEE Kauffman Award for excellence in engineering and technology entrepreneurship
Carol Bartz is executive chairman of the board of Autodesk, Inc. Bartz was chairman, president and CEO of Autodesk for 14 years and stepped-down in April, 2006. During her tenure, the company diversified its product line and grew revenues from $285 million to $1.523 billion in FY06. Bartz previously held positions at Sun Microsystems, 11 years ago serving as vice president of worldwide field operations and an executive officer of the company. Before joining Sun, she held product line and sales management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation and 3M Corporation. Appointed to President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Bartz is one of a select group of industry leaders expected to play a key role in shaping and setting the government's high tech agenda-ranging from R&D funding to new broadband incentives. She also serves on the Board of Directors of BEA Systems, Cisco Systems, Network Appliance, and the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology. Bartz holds an honors degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin. She was granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from William Woods University.
John Roos is the chief executive officer of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a member of the Executive Management Committee and Policy Committee. Prior to becoming CEO in February 2005, John had been the firm's managing director of professional services. He has been a partner at the firm since 1988. John's corporate practice focuses on the representation of growth companies in the corporate finance and securities areas. He represents both privately held and public companies across a broad range of industries, including electronics, computers and software, and life sciences. He has represented many major Silicon Valley companies during mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, strategic alliances, and joint ventures. He also has represented numerous start-up and early-stage companies in venture capital financings and other private placements of securities. John has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and J.D. from Stanford Law School. Courtesy of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
After many years studying sales organizations and working as a consultant, this entrepreneur offers practical tips for ensuring your sales force and compensation plans are highly effective. His premise: start with a great salesperson and pay them what they are worth. Otherwise, your sales compensation plan won't be worth anything.
This expert in sales and finance writes about how technology has helped meet the needs of his increasingly complex sales compensation structures as his company continues to grow and diversify. He shares how specialized automation software has simplified accounting, enhanced reporting capabilities, and provided management and sales reps effective tools for tracking production, revenues, commissions, and payouts.
To help motivate and reward his senior-level sales force, this entrepreneur writes that he uses phantom stock to allow associates to feel they own a piece of the company while retaining his full ownership of the firm. This compensation plan is based on sales reps' performance or time, and can serve as the basis for junior-level bonuses.
Rather than viewing compensation plans as a motivational tool, this entrepreneur believes they should be considered a means for managing risk and protecting the company's cash assets. He explains his firm's model, which is based on transferring more risk to sales associates, sharing resources across clients, and tying a portion of base salary to reaching certain revenue-related milestones.
This veteran entrepreneur recommends a top-down approach to ensure a company's overall strategic goals drive the compensation plan. When clear objectives (including revenue targets) are defined for the business, entrepreneurs can better determine sales targets as well as how sales reps can help grow the company.
Want to get connected? Sign up to receive regular news, polls and updates from The Kauffman Foundation.
