Startups

Why Innovation Is Really a Four Letter Word

08.15.11 Posted from BNET

“Innovation” is a scary word when it’s aimed in your direction.  Say you’re looking for ways to improve your business; you know you need to be innovative, but then you immediately flash on an image of Steve Jobs and freeze. The word innovation tends to set a really high mental bar.

But the bar isn’t really that high. Finding new ways to improve your business is relatively easy. Don’t think about being innovative.  Think about something else instead: Read more from BNET

Startups

Entrepreneurial Mindset

03.21.11 posted from Entrepreneurship.org

When most people think of entrepreneurs, they think about cutting edge industries, the brand new idea.  Thom Ruhe reminds us that the entrepreneurial mindset exists in established industries and within big, mature companies as well.

Startups

Messy Capitalism Drives Innovation – and Economic Growth

03.20.11 posted from Huffington Post

Behind all innovations are entrepreneurs who start new companies — that is the essential function of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs found new companies as the vehicles for propagating innovations. If successful, those companies will grow and, accordingly, so will the overall economy. When firms grow, the economy grows — and entrepreneurs are the drivers of firm growth.

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Seth Godin on Standing Out

03.18.11 Posted from TED

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

Startups

The 90-Minute Plan for Personal Effectiveness

01.27.11 from Fast Company

Tony Schwartz, President and Founder of The Energy Project, describes his plan for personal effectiveness. The plan involves beginning each workday with 90 minutes, uninterrupted, on the task decided the night before as the most important of the day. Read on and see if the 90-minute plan might work for you.

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Entrepreneur’s Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas

6.01.10 from Entrepreneur Magazine

A bold concept perfectly in sync with the moment: It’s what great companies are built on. It’s what shapes the future. It’s entrepreneurship at its best. Where can you find that kind of thinking now? Here are 10 areas that are growing fast — from mobile technology and outsourcing to fitness and pets — and 10 companies in each area that bring jaw-dropping ingenuity to the table.

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Robert Kalin: An Interview with the Founder Of Etsy

02.01.09 from TechCrunch

Enjoy this six-minute talk with Robert Kalin, the 26-year-old founder of Etsy. Kalin talks about how he’s grown the person-to-person ecommerce business despite competing directly with eBay. Etsy focuses on hand made items, and has a rabidly passionate community of buyers and sellers (also, 97% of Etsy users are women). Kalin also eats his own dog food – most of his clothing was purchased from the site, he says in the interview.