The Moon Express is being readied for transportation to the moon, for commercial purposes and for 'entrepreneurial exploration'. This sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it's not really - putting a man on the moon was not just for feeling good (though that sure felt great), it was the first step in checking out the possibilities, including the commercial ones.. The Chinese government is now doing what NASA used to do - pouring oodles of money to fund moon shots and space stations. But in the US, it is the private sector, successful entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who have taken the challenge to keep exploring the last known frontier.
This is a cool - and aspirational - story for any entrepreneur: big dreams and tough challenges which could deliver a huge payoff not only in business terms but also in the impact for all humanity. It is exciting and energizing to read about it, especially as we wind down this year and start planning for the next one. It is the kind of story that makes you think 'if they can do that, maybe I can do this', the 'this' being your own venture. Check out the article here - it's not just thinking outside the box, it's thinking outside the planet!
Social entrepreneurship at work
In a long ago post, I'd quoted one definition of an entrepreneur as 'one who sees an opportunity and organizes resources to take advantage of it'. Modifying that slightly, I'd say a social entrepreneur is 'one who sees an opportunity for social good and organizes resources to deliver it'.
I've recently been working with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation as part of their Step Up to Algebra program, a middle-school math outreach effort.
As always, the challenge is matching resources to goals. Expanding the program makes logistics and volunteer sourcing difficult, so SVEF turned to technology to help make that happen. In a sort of 'blended learning' approach, with bi-monthly in-person sessions, bolstered by the excellent Khan Academy content, and online mentoring on the Meemli platform, SVEF is able to deliver more help to more students, more often. (Disclosure: I'm Meemli's founder, and I'm writing this to share my first-hand experience with SVEF's exciting approach.)
Working closely with SVEF, I get to see all the challenges non-profits face, especially in public education: working with cash-strapped schools, over-worked teachers and varying environments in each district. I also see how hard it is to be innovative, take risks, work with outside resources you don't control and do it all with limited staff and funding constraints. It takes patience and a willingness to go with the flow while still reaching for the goal - things that you don't see much of in tech startups, by the way. As an entrepreneur myself, I'm impressed that SVEF is, on their own, putting together a delivery system for their program incorporating new technology instead of sticking to the proven, mainstream/late-adopter options. Not many are willing to take this kind of a leap, even in Silicon Valley - innovative risks are easier dreamed of than embraced. Kudos to SVEF for being true entrepreneurs for social good!
I've recently been working with the Silicon Valley Education Foundation as part of their Step Up to Algebra program, a middle-school math outreach effort.
- The need? Large numbers of students in Silicon Valley were entering high school with little or no skills in algebra. And as SVEF CEO Muhammed Chaudhry points out "students who study math at least through Algebra II in high school are more than twice as likely as those who do not to earn a four-year degree, and the level of math a student reaches is the most accurate predictor of whether that student will earn a Bachelor’s degree" (Adelman, 1999 & 2006).
- The resources? SVEF started the program a few years ago by providing summer workshops for students in local middle schools, using mentors from the community (usually local corporations) to provide the one-on-one support needed to help these students (typically under-resourced) get comfortable with algebra. And of course, they do secure the all-important resource of funding to enable the program.
As always, the challenge is matching resources to goals. Expanding the program makes logistics and volunteer sourcing difficult, so SVEF turned to technology to help make that happen. In a sort of 'blended learning' approach, with bi-monthly in-person sessions, bolstered by the excellent Khan Academy content, and online mentoring on the Meemli platform, SVEF is able to deliver more help to more students, more often. (Disclosure: I'm Meemli's founder, and I'm writing this to share my first-hand experience with SVEF's exciting approach.)
Working closely with SVEF, I get to see all the challenges non-profits face, especially in public education: working with cash-strapped schools, over-worked teachers and varying environments in each district. I also see how hard it is to be innovative, take risks, work with outside resources you don't control and do it all with limited staff and funding constraints. It takes patience and a willingness to go with the flow while still reaching for the goal - things that you don't see much of in tech startups, by the way. As an entrepreneur myself, I'm impressed that SVEF is, on their own, putting together a delivery system for their program incorporating new technology instead of sticking to the proven, mainstream/late-adopter options. Not many are willing to take this kind of a leap, even in Silicon Valley - innovative risks are easier dreamed of than embraced. Kudos to SVEF for being true entrepreneurs for social good!
Getting started
As I'd mentioned in a couple of long-ago posts (here and here), I'm not blogging for publicity - I blog primarily to keep my right-brain from getting moribund and sharing opinions on a couple of things I care about is easier to achieve than truly creative writing. But, the down side is that I don't blog that often as I'm swamped with 'real' work - it's been almost a month since the last one! Some day I'll make blogging part of my 'real work' and presumably blogging bliss, or at least productivity, will ensue.
Meanwhile, I ran across a post on how to get start and fund a social enterprise. It is short and eminently to the point and I totally agree with all the directives here:
There is one key point that I believe needs to be added, both for social as well as commercial ventures:
6. Have a funding plan
While the post is aimed at fund-raising and using the above fundamentals to fuel it, even fund-raising needs a plan. Whether it is self-funding, boot-strapping, angel/VC funding, individual donations or foundation grants, you can't get started without figuring out how you're going to finance it. As someone who heads a non-profit that also funds other non-profits, I know that a funding plan is essential to delivering the 'good' - just as it is critical for success in a for-profit venture. You can read the post here. It is worth reading, and saving, for all would-be entrepreneurs - just don't forget the financial plan!
Meanwhile, I ran across a post on how to get start and fund a social enterprise. It is short and eminently to the point and I totally agree with all the directives here:
- Find your passion
- State your values
- Start with small ambitions
- Speak the language of 'we' rather than me
- Act as a 'for-purpose'
There is one key point that I believe needs to be added, both for social as well as commercial ventures:
6. Have a funding plan
While the post is aimed at fund-raising and using the above fundamentals to fuel it, even fund-raising needs a plan. Whether it is self-funding, boot-strapping, angel/VC funding, individual donations or foundation grants, you can't get started without figuring out how you're going to finance it. As someone who heads a non-profit that also funds other non-profits, I know that a funding plan is essential to delivering the 'good' - just as it is critical for success in a for-profit venture. You can read the post here. It is worth reading, and saving, for all would-be entrepreneurs - just don't forget the financial plan!
Making it happen
I just read a post by Altucher on the #1 habit of people who get things done, aka, 'effective' people. He refers to Stephen Covey's most popular '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' - the book he wants to beat - and zeroes in on the #1 habit: Be Proactive.
A few years ago, I happened to read Covey's book and it does have good stuff - but honestly, I can't remember much of it, though I'd probably recognize them if I heard the seven habits. Or not. A lot of these self-improvement books do tend to blur and sound the same, so I probably couldn't tell which were from that specific book. But that's not a bad thing per se. It is likely there are just the same few things that we can do to help ourselves, and it is the way they are presented that may resonate with each of us differently as individuals and get us to remember them, and, more importantly, do them.
I like Altucher's pick for the One Thing that rules them all. No one would argue against being proactive, in fact, that is the only way to get anything done. What is even more helpful is Altucher's exhortation to 'start today' - he's asking you to be proactive not procrastinate - and his neat little 'how-to' for chunking down your goals into 4 categories and listing what you can actually get a handle on right now makes it look like a no-brainer.
Of course, this is good advice for everyone, but particularly so for entrepreneurs, and he does give some examples of that. Though I'm more likely to emotionally connect to 'The Tao of Steve Jobs', Altucher's post is a fun read and easy to practice. Here it is: 'The #1 Most Effective Habit'!
A few years ago, I happened to read Covey's book and it does have good stuff - but honestly, I can't remember much of it, though I'd probably recognize them if I heard the seven habits. Or not. A lot of these self-improvement books do tend to blur and sound the same, so I probably couldn't tell which were from that specific book. But that's not a bad thing per se. It is likely there are just the same few things that we can do to help ourselves, and it is the way they are presented that may resonate with each of us differently as individuals and get us to remember them, and, more importantly, do them.
I like Altucher's pick for the One Thing that rules them all. No one would argue against being proactive, in fact, that is the only way to get anything done. What is even more helpful is Altucher's exhortation to 'start today' - he's asking you to be proactive not procrastinate - and his neat little 'how-to' for chunking down your goals into 4 categories and listing what you can actually get a handle on right now makes it look like a no-brainer.
Of course, this is good advice for everyone, but particularly so for entrepreneurs, and he does give some examples of that. Though I'm more likely to emotionally connect to 'The Tao of Steve Jobs', Altucher's post is a fun read and easy to practice. Here it is: 'The #1 Most Effective Habit'!
The Tao of Steve Jobs
Just to get it out of the way, 'The Tao of Steve Jobs' has nothing in common with the movie 'The Tao of Steve' except for the first four words. That's it. This is not a book or movie or anything more than one small blog post about one amazing man.
It's almost a month since Steve Jobs died and there have been a zillion people opining about his life and legacy, as well as the inevitable detractors and tut-tutters. And just when the stories seemed to be slowing down, out came his biography and TV shows - even SNL did its best. There are so many angles to the stories too - Steve the entrepreneur, the dropout/rebel, the wunderkind who was shunned by the tech establishment and then came back to show them, the family man who was felled by cancer. Here are two widely different perspectives I liked reading: James Altucher's blog post and the eulogy by Mona Simpson (Steve's sister).
For Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, Steve was a god. The one we all wished to be like, the fearless (and smashingly successful) entrepreneur, the tech visionary who couldn't be caught, the genius worshiped by product designers everywhere. Would-be entrepreneurs as well as famously successful ones (Zuckerberg, Page and Brin for example) desired to learn how to do it 'Steve's way'.
The Tao of Steve Jobs, as I like to call it, are all those 'core values' that define the way he did things. All these items are well known and are excellent advice not just for entrepreneurs, but possibly to anyone wishing to make something meaningful in his/her life:
A long while ago I wrote about what is important to me - create, care, connect (you can read that post here). I realize how Steve epitomizes each of those. He was undeniably creative - I've always appreciated Apple more than any other tech company as they tended to create, not copy/buy, successful ideas. Steve cared deeply about what he did (even if he did not directly show his 'care' in the traditional way for social causes). He micro-managed (and threw tantrums) because he cared so much about every aspect of what Apple built. As for connecting, he connected the dots way, way outside the box and saw possibilities others couldn't even imagine. Despite his imperfections, I admired him and what he represented - an embodiment of truth in design and the entrepreneurial fire. He will be missed, and it may be ages before another like him shows up, but, like me, techies and entrepreneurs everywhere will be inspired by the Tao of Steve Jobs for a long time..
It's almost a month since Steve Jobs died and there have been a zillion people opining about his life and legacy, as well as the inevitable detractors and tut-tutters. And just when the stories seemed to be slowing down, out came his biography and TV shows - even SNL did its best. There are so many angles to the stories too - Steve the entrepreneur, the dropout/rebel, the wunderkind who was shunned by the tech establishment and then came back to show them, the family man who was felled by cancer. Here are two widely different perspectives I liked reading: James Altucher's blog post and the eulogy by Mona Simpson (Steve's sister).
For Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, Steve was a god. The one we all wished to be like, the fearless (and smashingly successful) entrepreneur, the tech visionary who couldn't be caught, the genius worshiped by product designers everywhere. Would-be entrepreneurs as well as famously successful ones (Zuckerberg, Page and Brin for example) desired to learn how to do it 'Steve's way'.
The Tao of Steve Jobs, as I like to call it, are all those 'core values' that define the way he did things. All these items are well known and are excellent advice not just for entrepreneurs, but possibly to anyone wishing to make something meaningful in his/her life:
- Focus.
- You can't do everything, and certainly can't do everything well. And yes, sometimes the focus is overwhelming and obsessive, but it may have to be so to get the job done.
- Simplicity.
- Not only because of the inherent beauty in simplicity, but because it ultimately produces a better product, experience, outcome.
- Excellence.
- 'Perfect' trumps 'good enough' every time.
- 'Stay hungry.'
- If you're not striving and yearning for something, if you're not passionate about it, it's not going to happen.
- 'Stay foolish.'
- Do what you believe in. Take the risk to act on it.
A long while ago I wrote about what is important to me - create, care, connect (you can read that post here). I realize how Steve epitomizes each of those. He was undeniably creative - I've always appreciated Apple more than any other tech company as they tended to create, not copy/buy, successful ideas. Steve cared deeply about what he did (even if he did not directly show his 'care' in the traditional way for social causes). He micro-managed (and threw tantrums) because he cared so much about every aspect of what Apple built. As for connecting, he connected the dots way, way outside the box and saw possibilities others couldn't even imagine. Despite his imperfections, I admired him and what he represented - an embodiment of truth in design and the entrepreneurial fire. He will be missed, and it may be ages before another like him shows up, but, like me, techies and entrepreneurs everywhere will be inspired by the Tao of Steve Jobs for a long time..
Upside of Failure
The Sunday New York Times magazine had a thought-provoking article on whether schools should focus on building 'character' and not just academic competence. I generally applaud the sentiment, though I also believe that kids get much of their character guidance from parents and the community, with the school supporting and emphasizing it.
The article is titled 'What if the Secret to Success is Failure?' and goes on to cover all the character-building benefits of failing at something which then leads to future success. Again, yes, I do support the concept as I believe it builds resilience, which is a big factor in successfully navigating this fast-changing world. (I also believe students should be taught compassion, but that's a different story.) What made this article particularly appealing to me is how much of this approach resonates with successful entrepreneurship.
"True: learning is fun, exhilarating and gratifying.... — but it is also often daunting, exhausting and sometimes discouraging." Just like entrepreneurship! "People who accomplished great things.... often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take." That is the defining characteristic of an entrepreneur. The concern about children from affluent families having so much done for them that they're unable to deal with setbacks is somewhat like an over-funded startup failing because it never had the pressure of limited resources making it focus on what was really important. And of course, the idea that failed experiments and uncertainty contribute to the development of grit and ultimate success is one of the reasons that, in Silicon Valley at least, a two-time entrepreneur is respected, even if the first time was a bust.
There is more, for example, 'social intelligence' and 'optimism' are super helpful for entrepreneurs too. Read the article here - it'll make you wonder if teaching entrepreneurship will do more than just help build the economy.
The article is titled 'What if the Secret to Success is Failure?' and goes on to cover all the character-building benefits of failing at something which then leads to future success. Again, yes, I do support the concept as I believe it builds resilience, which is a big factor in successfully navigating this fast-changing world. (I also believe students should be taught compassion, but that's a different story.) What made this article particularly appealing to me is how much of this approach resonates with successful entrepreneurship.
"True: learning is fun, exhilarating and gratifying.... — but it is also often daunting, exhausting and sometimes discouraging." Just like entrepreneurship! "People who accomplished great things.... often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take." That is the defining characteristic of an entrepreneur. The concern about children from affluent families having so much done for them that they're unable to deal with setbacks is somewhat like an over-funded startup failing because it never had the pressure of limited resources making it focus on what was really important. And of course, the idea that failed experiments and uncertainty contribute to the development of grit and ultimate success is one of the reasons that, in Silicon Valley at least, a two-time entrepreneur is respected, even if the first time was a bust.
There is more, for example, 'social intelligence' and 'optimism' are super helpful for entrepreneurs too. Read the article here - it'll make you wonder if teaching entrepreneurship will do more than just help build the economy.
Once an entrepreneur...
We've heard of serial entrepreneurs who keep founding one company after another. It's in their DNA, they can't think of doing anything else and they are, mostly, successful at it, so it's all good.
Today's MercNews had a story on a tech entrepreneur who's starting a new company - get this - more than 40 years after the first one. It is Sandra Kurtzig coming out of decade-long retirement to launch a new venture.
The story itself focuses on the dearth of women CEOs in tech even though Sandra was a pioneer so many decades ago. And that is a point worth considering and addressing, and maybe I'll add my take on it another time. But, what grabbed me is that Sandra, apparently living the good life in Hawai'i, had an idea and was ready and willing to give it up to take on the startup challenge again. Of course, doing a startup is a lot easier for Sandra than for most of us - she's launching with over $10 million in funding from top VCs, light years away from my bootstrapping stories. Still, the funding doesn't take away from her drive and enthusiasm to take on a brand new venture. Somehow the entrepreneurial calling didn't fade away regardless of lifestyle or age (maybe there's something to this story that more than 30% of online entrepreneurs are over 50).
It is exciting to see a pioneering entrepreneur come back after so long to lead a new startup and it will be fascinating to see how she steers her company in a world that has changed so much since the last time she was at the helm. Go Sandra!
Today's MercNews had a story on a tech entrepreneur who's starting a new company - get this - more than 40 years after the first one. It is Sandra Kurtzig coming out of decade-long retirement to launch a new venture.
The story itself focuses on the dearth of women CEOs in tech even though Sandra was a pioneer so many decades ago. And that is a point worth considering and addressing, and maybe I'll add my take on it another time. But, what grabbed me is that Sandra, apparently living the good life in Hawai'i, had an idea and was ready and willing to give it up to take on the startup challenge again. Of course, doing a startup is a lot easier for Sandra than for most of us - she's launching with over $10 million in funding from top VCs, light years away from my bootstrapping stories. Still, the funding doesn't take away from her drive and enthusiasm to take on a brand new venture. Somehow the entrepreneurial calling didn't fade away regardless of lifestyle or age (maybe there's something to this story that more than 30% of online entrepreneurs are over 50).
It is exciting to see a pioneering entrepreneur come back after so long to lead a new startup and it will be fascinating to see how she steers her company in a world that has changed so much since the last time she was at the helm. Go Sandra!
From here to there and back
I just read a post (originally published over a month ago) about a non-profit started by a young woman a few years ago. It 'identifies, trains and mentors' smart, promising girl students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their education and prepare for careers. The training sounds a bit like finishing school for business (and entrepreneurship) and the result is a bunch of highly motivated girls dreaming of building the next Google - in India.
The non-profit, Roshni Academy, was founded by Salma Hasan, while she was a junior at college and has significant funding from Silicon Valley philanthropists. There are a couple of cool aspects to this social enterprise:
Mentoring (along with training) is key to getting students to dream - and achieve - big, especially if they are not exposed to a high-achieving environment in their families or communities. Fortunately, there seems to be a renewed interest in mentoring in the US, maybe due to the combined pressures of the economy and an under-performing public education system. The Roshni Academy may be a timely solution. You can read Vivek Wadhwa's entire post here and watch the video and end the week feeling good about social entrepreneurs who dream and achieve.
The non-profit, Roshni Academy, was founded by Salma Hasan, while she was a junior at college and has significant funding from Silicon Valley philanthropists. There are a couple of cool aspects to this social enterprise:
- Like other Stanford students, Salma started a venture and got funding while still at school, except this was for a social cause
- The Academy focuses on teaching/building intangibles - confidence, public speaking, conflict resolution (!) - not just academic skills
Mentoring (along with training) is key to getting students to dream - and achieve - big, especially if they are not exposed to a high-achieving environment in their families or communities. Fortunately, there seems to be a renewed interest in mentoring in the US, maybe due to the combined pressures of the economy and an under-performing public education system. The Roshni Academy may be a timely solution. You can read Vivek Wadhwa's entire post here and watch the video and end the week feeling good about social entrepreneurs who dream and achieve.
How you do it matters
There's a big brouhaha over Netflix raising the price of its DVD+streaming option almost 60% a couple of days ago (read one view here). From a business perspective, a lot of people actually believe that it is a smart, and possibly necessary, action for Netflix if it wants to remain as uber-successful as it is now. But the customer reaction is mostly due to how the price hike went down - it was steep and there was no evidence that the higher price offered any customer value, which in turn caused customers to believe that the action was purely for financial gain, 'greed'. Many feel that a couple of more modest price increases tied in to some service improvements and spread out over time would have caused barely a ripple in the Netflix base.
Once again it is all about the customer. I've written before about 'knowing your customer' and how a company that was adamantly true to its mission of customer satisfaction could be super successful, but the reverse is true. Companies that lose their customer focus stumble and it takes a lot to recover. I'm personally a long-time customer and big Netflix fan, mostly due to how well they delivered on the customer experience, even through occasional problems. But Netflix insisting that customers shouldn't complain about the price increase because it is only the cost of a latte (and hence not a big deal) seems surprisingly insensitive. I'm sure there are many customers like me who'd happily pay twice that if they felt they were getting something more for the premium. All that Netflix needed to do was think about the customer - in advance - and ensure the price increase was done right and, more importantly, presented right. Or, if the reaction caught them by surprise, Netflix could/should quickly do some damage control and smooth those ruffled feathers.
Many Netflix customers were also fans of the company so this is an uncomfortable time for them. For entrepreneurs, Netflix, with its most impressive founder/CEO Reed Hastings, is a shining example of how a company should be built. Here's hoping it will make its customers happy real soon and wipe the smudge off its halo.
Once again it is all about the customer. I've written before about 'knowing your customer' and how a company that was adamantly true to its mission of customer satisfaction could be super successful, but the reverse is true. Companies that lose their customer focus stumble and it takes a lot to recover. I'm personally a long-time customer and big Netflix fan, mostly due to how well they delivered on the customer experience, even through occasional problems. But Netflix insisting that customers shouldn't complain about the price increase because it is only the cost of a latte (and hence not a big deal) seems surprisingly insensitive. I'm sure there are many customers like me who'd happily pay twice that if they felt they were getting something more for the premium. All that Netflix needed to do was think about the customer - in advance - and ensure the price increase was done right and, more importantly, presented right. Or, if the reaction caught them by surprise, Netflix could/should quickly do some damage control and smooth those ruffled feathers.
Many Netflix customers were also fans of the company so this is an uncomfortable time for them. For entrepreneurs, Netflix, with its most impressive founder/CEO Reed Hastings, is a shining example of how a company should be built. Here's hoping it will make its customers happy real soon and wipe the smudge off its halo.
Entrepreneurial diplomacy
I believe that one can bring an entrepreneurial approach to just about anything, not just to start a business. As I've mentioned in an earlier post, my favorite definition of an entrepreneur is 'one who recognizes opportunities and organizes resources to take advantage of the opportunity'. And here's an exciting example of entrepreneurship in a small social venture with lasting impact - from a diplomat, no less.
I heard about this over dinner a little while ago with J. Ravikumar, the High Commissioner of India to Cameroon (full disclosure, he's a 'cousin' in the Indian sense, which defies ordinal numeric categorization). Cameroon is a small nation, but while it is a typical African country in some ways, in others it has a lot going for it - a literacy rate of 76% for example. What Ravikumar noticed was that the rural areas in particular were limited in their access to power and that caused a variety of attendant problems, the most critical, from the villagers perspective, was the fact that they had to trek a long way and pay exorbitant amounts to charge up their cell phones.
So Ravikumar worked with others to put together a disarmingly simple but highly sustainable solution. He arranged for women from the village to go to India and get trained on installing and maintaining solar panels - middle-aged women because they would be more likely to stay in the villages and provide support vs. youngsters who would head for the bright lights in the big city. They came back and successfully got solar power to the first village - and along with solar power, the inhabitants will get three critical items: a light (so kids could read at night), a stove (so they could stop chopping wood) and a fan to keep the mosquitoes away. Best of all, they can charge their cell phones right in their village! With success at this site, the model can be repeated in other areas.
To be sure, there are other goals being met through this project - not least of which is the furthering of Indo-African ties (read about that aspect here). The fact that Ravikumar has a business background probably had a lot to do with his seeing an opportunity and pulling together various resources (local and Indian governments, United Nations Development Programme etc.) to fill it. Still, is is extremely encouraging to see how an entrepreneurial mindset can make 'foreign relations' more relevant and productive, and to deliver so much potential for future entrepreneurship for the women who're now trained solar panel installers, as well as all the people in the village who are now em'powered' - couldn't resist the pun ;)
Kudos to Ravikumar and the multi-national team for their innovative approach!
I heard about this over dinner a little while ago with J. Ravikumar, the High Commissioner of India to Cameroon (full disclosure, he's a 'cousin' in the Indian sense, which defies ordinal numeric categorization). Cameroon is a small nation, but while it is a typical African country in some ways, in others it has a lot going for it - a literacy rate of 76% for example. What Ravikumar noticed was that the rural areas in particular were limited in their access to power and that caused a variety of attendant problems, the most critical, from the villagers perspective, was the fact that they had to trek a long way and pay exorbitant amounts to charge up their cell phones.
So Ravikumar worked with others to put together a disarmingly simple but highly sustainable solution. He arranged for women from the village to go to India and get trained on installing and maintaining solar panels - middle-aged women because they would be more likely to stay in the villages and provide support vs. youngsters who would head for the bright lights in the big city. They came back and successfully got solar power to the first village - and along with solar power, the inhabitants will get three critical items: a light (so kids could read at night), a stove (so they could stop chopping wood) and a fan to keep the mosquitoes away. Best of all, they can charge their cell phones right in their village! With success at this site, the model can be repeated in other areas.
Kudos to Ravikumar and the multi-national team for their innovative approach!
There's more to it
About three years or so ago everyone was getting excited about the new solution to closing the educational gap - OLPC, the One Laptop Per Child, initiative with a low-cost, sustainable, easy-to-use laptop that any child could use. The idea was so compelling that there were for-profit competitors to the non-profit OLPC and there were plans to blanket the entire world with these devices.
It didn't quite turn out that way. While these devices are still being made and still being distributed, there came the next big thing - netbooks - and the buzz was all about how these low-cost laptops would change the world. After all, their retail price was just a couple of hundred dollars more than the OLPC unit and they could do so much more.
Netbooks are still around, but they stopped far short of world-changing. Smart phones did that though, as they can handle much of the routine interpersonal and Internet requests and still slide easily into the pocket of your jeans. Kudos to Apple for kicking off this revolution with the iPhone, and following it up with the iPad, for of course, now the new, new thing is the iPad and competing tablets.
Going back to the education issue, there continues to be great deal of talk on how digital solutions will fix every problem. Just in the past day I read two articles, one in HuffPo titled 'The Future of Education is Mobile' and the other a news item about the eG8 Forum with Rupert Murdoch calling for education to move out of the "Victorian age" and go digital. Interestingly, Murdoch's holdings were recently enhanced by the 90% acquisition of Wireless Generation which enables personalized web and mobile learning - for sure, the education tech industry is growing bigger every year.
I am all for it. I believe that technology, and specifically access to the Internet, can make a huge difference to the education of all children who are old enough to use it - my belief is strong enough to make it my business. (Caveat: I also believe that it is people who deliver the difference, technology is just a tool, albeit a future-shaping one.) But it is not enough to access the Internet only at school as students, especially teenagers, do a lot of studying at home - it is greatly empowering for a student to have access as and when they need it. For sure, they'll play and chat, but that is fine, they will also learn, and sometimes playing and chatting is how they learn. So it is disappointing that even after so many years of talk, the students who need access the most still don't have it. While there are novelty news stories of iPads in kindergartens, I'm finding many underserved high-schoolers without Internet access at home - in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is kind of embarrassing to see this in an area where so many of us boast multiple Internet-enabled devices per person in the household. Worse, the organizations working with these students have no idea where to go to fix the problem; understandably it is just not a priority when there are so many other pressing challenges to be handled. According to a survey done last year, 40% of the homes in the US do not have broadband or high-speed Internet access and 30% have no Internet access whatsoever, which is about what I'm running into, in my own small samples. You can expect that if they can't afford Internet access, they're unlikely to have smart phones with data plans either.
Desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones - they would all make amazing educational tools, but if you cannot connect to the Internet they're little better than calculators and typewriters (remember those?). And unless every student can connect from home, the digital and education gaps will stay unbridged. We have the technology - devices, software and network - we just need the collective will, and/or a driven social entrepreneur, to ensure that every student has affordable Internet access from home - sometime soon would be nice.
It didn't quite turn out that way. While these devices are still being made and still being distributed, there came the next big thing - netbooks - and the buzz was all about how these low-cost laptops would change the world. After all, their retail price was just a couple of hundred dollars more than the OLPC unit and they could do so much more.
Netbooks are still around, but they stopped far short of world-changing. Smart phones did that though, as they can handle much of the routine interpersonal and Internet requests and still slide easily into the pocket of your jeans. Kudos to Apple for kicking off this revolution with the iPhone, and following it up with the iPad, for of course, now the new, new thing is the iPad and competing tablets.
Going back to the education issue, there continues to be great deal of talk on how digital solutions will fix every problem. Just in the past day I read two articles, one in HuffPo titled 'The Future of Education is Mobile' and the other a news item about the eG8 Forum with Rupert Murdoch calling for education to move out of the "Victorian age" and go digital. Interestingly, Murdoch's holdings were recently enhanced by the 90% acquisition of Wireless Generation which enables personalized web and mobile learning - for sure, the education tech industry is growing bigger every year.
I am all for it. I believe that technology, and specifically access to the Internet, can make a huge difference to the education of all children who are old enough to use it - my belief is strong enough to make it my business. (Caveat: I also believe that it is people who deliver the difference, technology is just a tool, albeit a future-shaping one.) But it is not enough to access the Internet only at school as students, especially teenagers, do a lot of studying at home - it is greatly empowering for a student to have access as and when they need it. For sure, they'll play and chat, but that is fine, they will also learn, and sometimes playing and chatting is how they learn. So it is disappointing that even after so many years of talk, the students who need access the most still don't have it. While there are novelty news stories of iPads in kindergartens, I'm finding many underserved high-schoolers without Internet access at home - in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is kind of embarrassing to see this in an area where so many of us boast multiple Internet-enabled devices per person in the household. Worse, the organizations working with these students have no idea where to go to fix the problem; understandably it is just not a priority when there are so many other pressing challenges to be handled. According to a survey done last year, 40% of the homes in the US do not have broadband or high-speed Internet access and 30% have no Internet access whatsoever, which is about what I'm running into, in my own small samples. You can expect that if they can't afford Internet access, they're unlikely to have smart phones with data plans either.
Desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones - they would all make amazing educational tools, but if you cannot connect to the Internet they're little better than calculators and typewriters (remember those?). And unless every student can connect from home, the digital and education gaps will stay unbridged. We have the technology - devices, software and network - we just need the collective will, and/or a driven social entrepreneur, to ensure that every student has affordable Internet access from home - sometime soon would be nice.
Results without the razzle-dazzle
There's a lot of attention given to tech entrepreneurs and their startups who fit the 'hot' mold - young, most likely college dropout entrepreneurs, doing something 'social' and attracting huge numbers of users in a very short time. They're media darlings. So many would-be entrepreneurs believe that's what they should aim for, and if they or their companies don't fit the bill, they worry there's no future for them.
Then there's Reid Hoffman, who's taken the time to slowly but surely build a company around professional networks - LinkedIn. It is going public tomorrow and is, by any measure, a big success. Hoffman stuck with the company seeing it through the many ups and downs and made the LinkedIn profile a 'must-have' for every professional globally. There are no exciting stories behind it - there's little chance of a movie option for 'The Professional Network', and no gossipy buzz about estranged co-founders and litigious college mates - just a decade of building a company.
Techcrunch has a good writeup on why LinkedIn would be a better role model for entrepreneurs than Facebook or Zynga. The company may lack flash and sound boring, but it is good business, the kind that is likely to net the founder a cool billion, and is an inspiration to the rest of us who may score low on the GQ (glamor quotient) but are striving to build something of value.
Then there's Reid Hoffman, who's taken the time to slowly but surely build a company around professional networks - LinkedIn. It is going public tomorrow and is, by any measure, a big success. Hoffman stuck with the company seeing it through the many ups and downs and made the LinkedIn profile a 'must-have' for every professional globally. There are no exciting stories behind it - there's little chance of a movie option for 'The Professional Network', and no gossipy buzz about estranged co-founders and litigious college mates - just a decade of building a company.
Techcrunch has a good writeup on why LinkedIn would be a better role model for entrepreneurs than Facebook or Zynga. The company may lack flash and sound boring, but it is good business, the kind that is likely to net the founder a cool billion, and is an inspiration to the rest of us who may score low on the GQ (glamor quotient) but are striving to build something of value.
Real and fun
I just read James Altucher's '100 Rules for Being an Entrepreneur' and heartily recommend it for any entrepreneur or wannabe.
I don't agree with all of it though. For example, Altucher's rule #1: it's not fun. In my view, if it's not fun, don't do it - but I'm not suggesting you expect a non-stop joy ride either.
There are some personal faves in the list too:
- Try not to hire people
- Get a customer
- If you have an idea worth pursuing, then just make it.
(The 'just do it' approach is probably universally cheered on by most entrepreneurs.)
Check out Altucher's list here, it's long, but a quick, amusing and meaningful read - even with the many reminders to follow him on Twitter ;)
I don't agree with all of it though. For example, Altucher's rule #1: it's not fun. In my view, if it's not fun, don't do it - but I'm not suggesting you expect a non-stop joy ride either.
There are some personal faves in the list too:
- Try not to hire people
- Get a customer
- If you have an idea worth pursuing, then just make it.
(The 'just do it' approach is probably universally cheered on by most entrepreneurs.)
Check out Altucher's list here, it's long, but a quick, amusing and meaningful read - even with the many reminders to follow him on Twitter ;)
Who loses?
Flip Video was a poster child for a successful startup a few years ago. Got started in 2001 as Pure Digital and was selling over a million units per year in 2008. They were portable, easy to use and low priced, and favored by a lot of consumers. They could have gone public.
So, Cisco bought one of the fastest growing tech companies in 2009 and is now shutting it down. The founders and investors in Pure Digital probably made out well in the Cisco buyout of $590 Million, but now 500+ employees are going to be laid off. A fallout of Cisco's failed consumer strategy.
Who loses? For sure the employees who're now seeing pink instead of green. Also the consumers, who're losing out on the availability of a popular little camcorder and in the fact that innovation in this space got stymied (not everyone wants a smartphone camera as the only choice - even smartphone owners).
Just a story of a startup that appeared to have a (somewhat) happy ending and then - didn't.
So, Cisco bought one of the fastest growing tech companies in 2009 and is now shutting it down. The founders and investors in Pure Digital probably made out well in the Cisco buyout of $590 Million, but now 500+ employees are going to be laid off. A fallout of Cisco's failed consumer strategy.
Who loses? For sure the employees who're now seeing pink instead of green. Also the consumers, who're losing out on the availability of a popular little camcorder and in the fact that innovation in this space got stymied (not everyone wants a smartphone camera as the only choice - even smartphone owners).
Just a story of a startup that appeared to have a (somewhat) happy ending and then - didn't.
Entrepreneur Educator
The New York Times magazine this weekend had an education story that makes for some compelling reading. The spotlight was on Ramon Gonzales, the principal of a public middle school in the Bronx. He's taken a struggling school and made it successful, or at least relatively so, despite significant challenges.
Gonzales could be considered a shining example of the vision of Joel Klein, the previous chancellor of the New York City schools, who aimed to transform every principal "from an agent of bureaucracy to the CEO of his or her own school'. But Gonzales was not only following the 'chief executive' approach but was clearly displaying an 'entrepreneurial spirit', akin to a founder of a scrappy startup.
He finds creative ways to bring in money (boot-strapping). He personally invests time in building his faculty and guiding them (shaping team and culture) knowing that it is key to success. Gonzales realizes that perceptions matter and pays attention to seemingly small things like greeting students at the door (marketing) and he cares about the outcomes for individual students (customer focus). The most important quality of a startup founder/CEO is that he doesn't give up easily and so far, Gonzales appears to be digging his heels in and refusing to give up ground to charter schools.
It is easy to understand how our economy relies on entrepreneurship for growth but it takes a little imagination to see how that could extend to education too. Maybe our schools need entrepreneurial educators like Gonzales in order to thrive. You can read the whole story here. Makes one think - and dream!
Gonzales could be considered a shining example of the vision of Joel Klein, the previous chancellor of the New York City schools, who aimed to transform every principal "from an agent of bureaucracy to the CEO of his or her own school'. But Gonzales was not only following the 'chief executive' approach but was clearly displaying an 'entrepreneurial spirit', akin to a founder of a scrappy startup.
He finds creative ways to bring in money (boot-strapping). He personally invests time in building his faculty and guiding them (shaping team and culture) knowing that it is key to success. Gonzales realizes that perceptions matter and pays attention to seemingly small things like greeting students at the door (marketing) and he cares about the outcomes for individual students (customer focus). The most important quality of a startup founder/CEO is that he doesn't give up easily and so far, Gonzales appears to be digging his heels in and refusing to give up ground to charter schools.
It is easy to understand how our economy relies on entrepreneurship for growth but it takes a little imagination to see how that could extend to education too. Maybe our schools need entrepreneurial educators like Gonzales in order to thrive. You can read the whole story here. Makes one think - and dream!
Just do it!
I just ran across this blog post about why some action is better than none. Just looking at what happened today makes me believe that it applies in spades to startups.
The four main points in the post are:
The four main points in the post are:
- Small wins matter. Today we got glowing feedback from one user, just one, but it feels good!
- Accomplishments come in pieces. A demo from a few weeks ago resulted in a request for proposal. Moved on to the next step.
- Perfection is unattainable anyway. That's what I told myself when I noticed the user interface on our app needed tweaking in some areas.
- Actions produce energy and momentum. The end of the day blahs were banished with a flurry of emails, tweets and yes, this blog.
Entrepreneur vs. executive
I'd read this article a while ago and found it both interesting and fun - fun because it is amusing to see a bit of yourself in 'case studies'. The article itself - with the lofty title of 'How Great Entrepreneurs Think'- is about a case study comparing how successful entrepreneurs and successful corporate CEOs would approach the same problem of a hypothetical startup .
The #1 take-away is that entrepreneurs shift their goals as they go along based on what they have to work with, while executives stake out a goal and then figure out what they would need to work with to make it happen. It seems to me that the environment determines the approach - and possibly attracts the kind of person who favors that approach. A startup is, by its nature, fluid and changeable (see my previous post on the adaptive startup) and I'd guess a successful entrepreneur has to roll with it. Conversely, larger companies probably cannot afford to have fluid goals - how do you get 10,000 employees rallying around shifting objectives when it often takes months just to get the objectives for the year communicated and 'aligned'.
The other distinguishing characteristic is putting a premium on acquiring a customer over doing market research and having first-hand knowledge of the industry/market niche vs. relying on focus groups (most entrepreneurs I've met don't use focus groups). That is probably due to the fact that the entrepreneur cannot spread the risk unlike the corporate CEO. Again, it's entirely possible that entrepreneurship draws the kind of person who likes getting her hands dirty and believes in the knowing-by-doing gospel versus what other people tell her.
Enough with my post, go read the source - it's a quick read and you may recognize a bit of yourself there.
The #1 take-away is that entrepreneurs shift their goals as they go along based on what they have to work with, while executives stake out a goal and then figure out what they would need to work with to make it happen. It seems to me that the environment determines the approach - and possibly attracts the kind of person who favors that approach. A startup is, by its nature, fluid and changeable (see my previous post on the adaptive startup) and I'd guess a successful entrepreneur has to roll with it. Conversely, larger companies probably cannot afford to have fluid goals - how do you get 10,000 employees rallying around shifting objectives when it often takes months just to get the objectives for the year communicated and 'aligned'.
The other distinguishing characteristic is putting a premium on acquiring a customer over doing market research and having first-hand knowledge of the industry/market niche vs. relying on focus groups (most entrepreneurs I've met don't use focus groups). That is probably due to the fact that the entrepreneur cannot spread the risk unlike the corporate CEO. Again, it's entirely possible that entrepreneurship draws the kind of person who likes getting her hands dirty and believes in the knowing-by-doing gospel versus what other people tell her.
Enough with my post, go read the source - it's a quick read and you may recognize a bit of yourself there.
Knowing your customer
It is Super Bowl Sunday with less than 90 minutes to go to kickoff and what I've found most exciting is, no not the team match-up, but the VW ad which will air during the game but has already become a must-see in the past couple of days.
If you haven't already seen it, it is worth a look - it is heartwarming, geeky and funny and very well done, with the car having a subtle but powerful placement. You may wonder why I'm writing about a Super Bowl ad from a big auto company in an entrepreneurial blog. It is not a big stretch - this ad speaks volumes for thinking different and having a fresh approach which are de rigeuer for entrepreneurs. But, most importantly it shows that they truly know their customer. It is clear that the car is aimed towards young families where the parents grew up with Star Wars and are now excited about introducing their own kids to it. The kind of family that would have more than a little fun with the idea and would find the commercial both pleasing as well as memorable. And they released the ad early in order to build online buzz - again guessing, correctly, that making an impact through social media can only add to the TV viewing and not dilute it in any way, especially with their core audience.
Watching the ad was a lot of fun, but it also reminded me how important it is, whether you're a startup or big company, to know your customer. Early stage companies cannot dream of Super Bowl ads, but they can make sure that their one-pagers, presentations, websites, even FAQs, status updates and email messages are crafted so they speak to their customer - which means knowing what is important to them, what touches their hearts as well as engages their minds. It is much harder when you're a small startup and probably don't have dedicated staff for this - most likely the founder/entrepreneur is doing the bulk of the 'messaging' - but it is all the more critical to remember to maintain the customer focus.
I plan to watch the game with friends and while I'll be enjoying the general Super Bowl hoopla, I'm sure some of the enjoyment will come from viewing the commercials with an entrepreneur's eye - maybe there'll be more inspirations to be found there. And, here's the VW ad - enjoy!
If you haven't already seen it, it is worth a look - it is heartwarming, geeky and funny and very well done, with the car having a subtle but powerful placement. You may wonder why I'm writing about a Super Bowl ad from a big auto company in an entrepreneurial blog. It is not a big stretch - this ad speaks volumes for thinking different and having a fresh approach which are de rigeuer for entrepreneurs. But, most importantly it shows that they truly know their customer. It is clear that the car is aimed towards young families where the parents grew up with Star Wars and are now excited about introducing their own kids to it. The kind of family that would have more than a little fun with the idea and would find the commercial both pleasing as well as memorable. And they released the ad early in order to build online buzz - again guessing, correctly, that making an impact through social media can only add to the TV viewing and not dilute it in any way, especially with their core audience.
Watching the ad was a lot of fun, but it also reminded me how important it is, whether you're a startup or big company, to know your customer. Early stage companies cannot dream of Super Bowl ads, but they can make sure that their one-pagers, presentations, websites, even FAQs, status updates and email messages are crafted so they speak to their customer - which means knowing what is important to them, what touches their hearts as well as engages their minds. It is much harder when you're a small startup and probably don't have dedicated staff for this - most likely the founder/entrepreneur is doing the bulk of the 'messaging' - but it is all the more critical to remember to maintain the customer focus.
I plan to watch the game with friends and while I'll be enjoying the general Super Bowl hoopla, I'm sure some of the enjoyment will come from viewing the commercials with an entrepreneur's eye - maybe there'll be more inspirations to be found there. And, here's the VW ad - enjoy!
Not just another day
January 1. Not just another Saturday (like today). Not just another day on the calendar. Culture mandates that the day is special, a day for new beginnings. Sure, you can fight it, but I'd suggest that most entrepreneurs embrace the opportunity the day brings.
First, it gives you a chance to look back on the last year. Not checking out the best memes, the biggest tech stories or the worst CEO mistakes of the last year, but reviewing what you planned to do with your startup and what you actually did. Maybe you hit all your goals and you can drink another toast to your winner startup, but more likely, especially if you're in the early stages, you'd find you won some, lost some and ended up dealing with things you never saw coming. It is good to have a day when you can look back and think about what went right (or wrong) and what else needs to be done.
Which brings us to the second thing you'd do at the beginning of the new year. Make plans. Maybe even resolutions - make it a point to meet more people, get your expense reports done, get your team to learn how to brainstorm, post on your blog more regularly, remember to workout more often, try meditation. Presumably by now you've realized that resolutions are usually hard to keep unless there are plans to support them and preferably other people involved. So you start emailing your team, plotting time lines and reviewing each resolution to see if there's an app for that. So you've just transitioned from being thoughtful to determined.
And then, you notice that you're beginning to have new ideas - for your product/service, for a marketing campaign, for a new way to make money, whatever. The creative gears click when you look out at a year full of potential and start churning possibilities. You're no longer just determined, you're all energized and raring to go work on your ideas - you're excited about the new year.
No, it's not just another day on the calendar. Even if you're back to surfing for the best/worst lists. Happy New Year!
First, it gives you a chance to look back on the last year. Not checking out the best memes, the biggest tech stories or the worst CEO mistakes of the last year, but reviewing what you planned to do with your startup and what you actually did. Maybe you hit all your goals and you can drink another toast to your winner startup, but more likely, especially if you're in the early stages, you'd find you won some, lost some and ended up dealing with things you never saw coming. It is good to have a day when you can look back and think about what went right (or wrong) and what else needs to be done.
Which brings us to the second thing you'd do at the beginning of the new year. Make plans. Maybe even resolutions - make it a point to meet more people, get your expense reports done, get your team to learn how to brainstorm, post on your blog more regularly, remember to workout more often, try meditation. Presumably by now you've realized that resolutions are usually hard to keep unless there are plans to support them and preferably other people involved. So you start emailing your team, plotting time lines and reviewing each resolution to see if there's an app for that. So you've just transitioned from being thoughtful to determined.
And then, you notice that you're beginning to have new ideas - for your product/service, for a marketing campaign, for a new way to make money, whatever. The creative gears click when you look out at a year full of potential and start churning possibilities. You're no longer just determined, you're all energized and raring to go work on your ideas - you're excited about the new year.
No, it's not just another day on the calendar. Even if you're back to surfing for the best/worst lists. Happy New Year!
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