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  • Founders School: Surviving the Entrepreneurial Life

    When I read Meg Hirshberg’s book “For Better or for Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and Their Families” I knew instantly that I wanted Meg to join our slate of Founders School experts. The goal of Founders School is to provide entrepreneurs with crucial skills and knowledge, and to do so with an eye to topics that are important but rarely discussed in typical entrepreneurship education programs. The subject of Meg’s book is just such a topic. We all know that entrepreneurs have to juggle a variety of considerations when founding a company: team building, assessment of product/market fit, intellectual property, and how to get that first important customer. What many entrepreneurs and, more importantly, their families, know is that there’s a juggle on the family side of the equation as well, but it’s one that many entrepreneurs may be reluctant to talk about.

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  • Staying Current

    Chasing an entrepreneurial dream can be an all-consuming effort. Particularly in those crucial early days of a startup, founders seem to eat, sleep and breathe their businesses. But this heads-down mode is not without its drawbacks, one of which is neglecting to stay up on current events—particularly the happenings that can impact the entrepreneurs who are inadvertently paying no attention to them.

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  • How Co-Working Spaces Lost Their Buzz

    There’s been a growing resurgence of working areas of long tables with copious amounts of white boards. They call them co-working spaces. Since the coining of the phrase in early 2000s, they’ve grown into warehouse size places with cubical conference rooms and modern furniture, becoming a hip thing for entrepreneurial ecosystems and startups across the globe. But recently, I’ve come to a realization: Co-working spaces are lame.

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  • The 5 Best Mistakes We Made in 2013 (and What We Learned From Them)

    With 1 Million Cups, as with any startup, our tendency is to put our best foot forward. We spend a lot of time talking about all of the great successes that we’ve had over the past year–and there have been many. But one of the things that makes our program special is that sense of having a safe space to share what you haven’t done well and what you’re struggling with on a day-to-day basis.

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  • Let’s Shrink the Growing World of Entrepreneurship

    Long understood to be the engine of the U.S. economy, the world is embracing entrepreneurship as one of the primary means of building a long-term recovery. Ironically, for this spreading global fervor to make a sustainable impact, the world of entrepreneurship must shrink.

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  • Ice House Sketchbook Dispels Myths of Entrepreneurship

    The latest Kauffman Sketchbook illustrates how the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program develops the critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills that help any individual think like an entrepreneur.

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  • Ice House: Facilitator Explains Reason For Choosing Program

    Last week, we hosted Ice House Facilitator Training here at the Foundation. We had people come from across the country and the international community to be trained in how to facilitate an entrepreneurial mindset to members of their community. I had the chance to sit down with one of the facilitators, Rob Elwood, and learn about his reason for coming to this training, and how he sees it benefiting his community in Annapolis, Md.

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  • Where Every Startup Should Hire A Millennial

    Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about these people we call millennials. Namely, the current generation, Generation Y, those “entitled, narcissists who still live with their parents”, according to Keith Wagstaff. From complimentary to derisive, countless writers have deemed it their duty to predict exactly what this generation will add or (as most reports warn) detract from our current society. But the truth is, nothing has been said about the “Me, me, me generation” that hasn’t been said about every generation before them.

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  • Business Model Video Series Assists Startups with Growth

    Entrepreneurs often find it challenging to go from idea to a valid business model, which is essential for a business to get off the ground, let alone survive and grow.

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