by Daria Steigman on July 21, 2009
We all know the U.S. economy is entering a jobless recovery, which is really a sanitized way of saying that if you’re unemployed you can expect more of the same. We clearly need a jobs creation strategy, and fast.
So where will the jobs come from? If history is a guide, the answer is entrepreneurs. According to David Gray, director of the Workforce and Family program at the New America Foundation, entrepreneurs and small businesses account for 75 percent of all new jobs. Gray moderated a terrific program yesterday that looked at what needs to happen to pave the way for new opportunities for America’s entrepreneurs.
My key takeaways:
- The Kauffman Foundation‘s Robert Litan pointed out that big firms don’t want to obsolesce what they’re making money on. As a result, all the sexy stuff is created by entrepreneurs.
- Litan cited a study of Fortune 500 firms that found that one-half of them were formed during a recession or a bear market.
- Don’t equate entrepreneurship with venture capital. Litan said that only 16 percent of the fastest growing companies were financed by venture capital.
- Health care is a major barrier to entrepreneurship because people can’t leave their jobs.
- Paul Glastris, editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly, said that America needs to put “an entrepreneurship lens” around many of the policies being discussed.
- We need to invest in broadband, health information technology, and a smart grid. Glastris said investment in these platforms is key to the ability of the U.S. to create cutting-edge, high-wage jobs.
- Think U.S. broadband is fast? Australia’s broadband system is 4x faster; France’s is 9x faster, and Japan’s is 21x faster.
- So what might these platforms look like? Mariah Blake, an editor at the Washington Monthly, talked about the need to turn the electric grid into a vibrant, interactive network.
- Consider our grid today: There are no tools to manage the flow of electricity or to diagnose problems.
- A smart grid would allow consumers and companies to manage their electricity usage on a micro-level. Blake said that this could spur innovation in dozens of industries. Why? Because consumers will have access to information about their usage, and entrepreneurs will be open to creating all kinds of software and services to help people use energy more efficiently.
- Blake compared the smart grid to the iPhone Store. Apple owns the store, but it’s open in a way that allows for phenomenal innovation.
My final takeaway came via a question from a participant who said that entrepreneurs typically create things you never thought you needed. But here we know what we need. Litan suggested that we had the broad outline, the platform, but we still can’t see the applications.
That’s where entrepreneurs come in.
Tagged as:
broadband,
Entrepreneurship,
health IT,
Kauffman Foundation,
New America Foundation,
smart grid,
Washington Monthly
by Daria Steigman on July 9, 2009
Insomnia can make you a little crazy. If you’re prone to it, then you know that there’s nothing quite like flipping channels at 2:45 a.m. and discovering that your best options may be a slasher movie or the 20th iteration of LockUp Raw.
So I thought I’d found nirvana when I happened upon a 2005 episode of The Apprentice:UK. British entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar was grilling the hapless four remaining contestants. He was particularly puzzled by one guy, who claimed to be a rather successful real estate entrepreneur but was ready to put it all on hold to be The Apprentice. After all, most entrepreneurs will do almost anything to avoid going back to work for someone else.
That’s when it happened: the guy said he was different. Sir Alan agreed–and fired him. Seemed a “duh” moment to me.
What do you think? Can you truly be an entrepreneur if you’re fine dropping everything to go to work for someone else?
Tagged as:
Alan Sugar,
Entrepreneur,
Entrepreneurship,
insomnia,
LockUp Raw,
The Apprentice: UK
by Daria Steigman on June 25, 2009
Do you have what it takes to be a leader? And is this even the right question to ask?
John Ryan, president of the Center for Creative Leadership and a former superintentent of the U.S. Naval Academy, has a great column in Business Week that posits that leadership has as much to do with environment as it does with innate abilities. He writes:
If you live in a culture where your colleagues believe you can be a leader and help you develop the skills you need, you will enthusiastically embrace the mantle of leadership… [R]egardless of your occupation, you will view yourself as a leader at home, at work, and in your community. But if you live in a culture that assumes leadership is not for everyone, is dependent on whether you have innate leadership skills, and that leadership is defined by your job title rather than your actions, you will have an entirely different view.
With this concept in mind, Ryan then suggests that organizations need to look at how they manage employees and whether their corporate culture permits risktaking.
This is interesting stuff, not least because of its implications for entrepreneurship. If we applied Ryan’s model to the typical entrepreneur, would we find a similar mindset?
Tagged as:
Business Week,
Entrepreneurship,
John Ryan,
Leadership,
U.S. Naval Academy
by Daria Steigman on June 2, 2009
Have you ever beaten out a bigger competitor to win business? How did you succeed?
Succeeding in business is all about understanding your competitive advantages and playing to them. For entrepreneurs and many small business owners, that can also mean leveraging lean operations and structural advantages to rewrite the rules to level the playing field.
Peter Bregman’s great post looks at Somali pirates, schoolyard games, and major league baseball to show how it’s important to “play the game you know you can win, even if it means inventing it yourself.” It’s worth the read.
Tagged as:
Business,
Entrepreneurship,
MLB,
pirates
by Daria Steigman on May 8, 2009
Insightful interview with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in which he talks about his background and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Here’s a sampling:
- “This is one of the things I love about entrepreneurship. You’re encountering new challenges, and you have to learn at a very fast rate.”
- “I realized that the world was transforming every individual into a small business.”
- “Part of the way you stay current as a professional is sharing information and tips on what’s going on in your industry, current best practices. That’s how you learn.”
The complete interview in Inc. isn’t very long, and it’s definitely worth the read.
Tagged as:
Entrepreneurship,
Inc.,
LinkedIn,
Reid Hoffman
