I wonder how many successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of college to peruse their innovative idea wonder what they missed out on. While only re-enrollment will get you that degree, a new incubator space might help entrepreneurs live out the university experience.
When I walked into a local car dealership in Columbia, Mo. earlier this year, I knew which car I wanted and I had a plan to get it at a great price. Within thirty seconds of walking onto the showroom floor, a sales rep named Chad asked me to step into his cubicle with promises of “any soft drink flavor you can imagine” from the dealership’s extravagant new vending machine. “Just water, Chad,” I replied. I was here for business.
Long gone are the days of lazy, corporate board luncheons. At least that’s what David Beatty, Conway Chair of the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, says. According to Beatty, today’s boards are “smaller, harder working, and more expert” and have to “commit the time to do their work.”
This week’s list of the top articles for entrepreneurship was filled with lists: the 10 countries where gender equality is closer to reality, the 10 startup metrics every entrepreneur should measure, and the 10 reasons new businesses fail.
I’m an admirer of Mark Suster’s blog, Both Sides of the Table. It’s a Forbes Top Blogs for Entrepreneurs and has hundreds of thousands of followers–all for good reason. As his blog title denotes, Mark has done it all. He’s a successful entrepreneur turned venture capital investor and a big advocate of marketing and PR. And he has got a way with words.
Building the right founding team is essential to a startup’s success. Founder clashes can destroy young companies and mismatched key players can cloud a startup’s direction and stall its growth. So you know you need to hire people you mesh with, especially given the long hours you’ll all be putting in during the company’s early days. But the first question you need to ask yourself is, “What roles are you trying to put those people you work well with into?”
Just like in everyday life, money doesn’t solve all your problems when you’re an entrepreneur. Sure, not having enough can make it hard. It can even make it seem impossible to get your business started and keep it growing, especially if your company is in a capital intensive market such as healthcare or clean tech. However, having too much can be more detrimental at times.
“The Monday-through-Friday, nine-to-five is a pipe dream.” That’s how writer Stephanie Walden introduces her piece, “The ‘Work-Life Balance’ Misnomer: Is Work-Life ‘Integration’ the New Norm?” featured on Mashable last week. I think she’s spot on.