Enternships Blog
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Where is the next Bill Gates?Posted on Tuesday 09 June 2009 at 01:05AM by halle |
According to a recent Zogby International poll of Americans,70% think the next big tech entrepreneur will come from outside the US. Twenty-eight percent said India, 15 percent said China and 11 percent said Japan. But the poll, released Monday, also found 67 percent of U.S. residents saying they believe the economic, educational and societal conditions still exist in the U.S. for another entrepreneur like the Microsoft founder to emerge.
Some current issues facing tech entrepreneurship in the US are:
- Losing foreign graduates of its universities to their home countries because of work-visa issues
- Lack of research and development tax credit
- Inadequate investment in all levels of education
Fowler encouraged U.S. lawmakers to focus on policies that can spur innovation. In some cases, the U.S. Congress in recent years has made it harder for entrepreneurs, he said. An example is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which tightened internal controls for U.S. corporations but also made it more difficult for new companies to go public, Fowler said.
"In the corporate world, R&D budgets are more and more aimed at incremental innovation rather than truly disruptive innovation," said entrepreneur Shane Green. "Incremental innovation doesn't create the next Bill Gates."
This more careful approach has come to Silicon Valley, he added. "There's a lot less tolerance for truly creative, constructive ideas," he said. "There's simply less capital flowing in."
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Business Grant Program for Women EntrepreneursPosted on Thursday 28 May 2009 at 15:56PM by halle |
Eileen Fisher started her company with $350 and a vision.
“Life-fulfilling work is never about the money–when you feel true passion for something, you instinctively find ways to nurture it,” explains Eileen. “Looking back at my life, I see it was the support and inspiration of friends that kept me moving forward. Financial support is crucial, but even more meaningful is the energy behind the money–when someone trusts your vision and truly believes in you.”
Eileen wishes to infuse that same energy into the businesses of five woman-owned companies with grants of $10,000 each. At least one of these grants will go to a start-up organization (or an organization that’s less than three years old), and the rest will go to organizations that need funds to grow.
HOW TO APPLY
Application Deadline is June 1, 2009.
Criteria
Only wholly woman-owned businesses are eligible for this grant. The five criteria that Eileen Fisher will be looking for in each application are:
- Innovation: the degree to which a business addresses a stated need in a new and exciting way.
- Social Consciousness: a commitment to one or more of the following: the environment, social justice, the community in which your business is situated or the individual growth and well-being of your employees.
- Sustainability: the existence of a solid plan to create (or grow) a business that will be self-sustaining and continually evolving.
- Use of funds: the need for the grant, and a clear and constructive plan for its use.
- Alignment with the EILEEN FISHER mission: an understanding and shared commitment to the practices outlined in the Mission.
Ladies, apply here!
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Good C.E.O.s Are Boring PeoplePosted on Tuesday 19 May 2009 at 20:29PM by halle |
Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov and Morten Sorensen recently completed a study called “Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?” They looked at detailed personality assessments of 316 C.E.O.’s and measured their companies’ performances. They found that strong people skills correlate loosely or not at all with being a good C.E.O. David Brooks from the New York Times writes: Traits like being a good listener, a good team builder, an enthusiastic colleague, a great communicator do not seem to be very important when it comes to leading successful companies. Flamboyant visionaries rarely work out. So what makes a successful CEO? What mattered, it turned out, were execution and organizational skills. The traits that correlated most powerfully with success were attention to detail, persistence, efficiency, analytic thoroughness and the ability to work long hours.
In other words, warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as C.E.O.’s. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive. In other words, those who make good C.E.O.s may not be the life of the party.
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You're hired—next yearPosted on Sunday 10 May 2009 at 19:08PM by halle |
A friend of mine got a new job, but she won't be starting until next year.
For the rest of the year, she will be traveling the world on the $20K that the employer gave her in exchange for agreeing to start in January 2010.
This is not uncommon; in fact, a recent article in the Economist highlights recent changes in recruitment due to the recession. Allan McKisson of Manpower, an employment-services company, insists that companies should be adopting a “ramp-up plan” and hiring new talent now, to ensure that they are firing on all cylinders when the economy rebounds.
[Some companies now] offer deferred start dates to new hires, giving them six months or a year to travel or do public service. This approach has been embraced by consulting firms, law firms and banks. This seems like a generous compromise from companies that want to secure talent. So what do you think? Would you take a deffered start-date job?
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Fail Fast, Fail Cheap, and Move OnPosted on Wednesday 29 April 2009 at 22:46PM by halle |
In a world where we are judged by measurable returns and "ROI" is the success metric, we often forget that it's okay to fail. In fact, failing a few times may even be your ticket to future success. It keeps you humble, and hopefully teaches you a bunch of what not to dos.
This old Silicon Valley adage ("fail fast, fail cheap, and move on" can-- and should-- be applied to your internship hunt. In this economy, it will undoubtedly take longer to find that perfect placement. And since there are more candidates than opportunities, there will be more rejections and disappointments.
So how do you make sure you learn from failures? If you don't get that internship you wanted, don't be afraid to ask 'why'. What's there to lose? Most likely they'll respond by telling you they were overwhelmed with qualified candidates. So probe deeper. What did the selected candidate do to stand out? A killer resume? Particular skills/experience? A stellar interview? Take this rejection as an opportunity to improve your next job.
A wise mentor once told me: The only barrier to failing fast and failing cheap is your ego. You must be willing to fail, fail, and fail again if you are going to win in today's competitive marketplace. Remember, even if you're falling flat on your face, at least you're still moving forward.
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this summer more teens will be honing their entrepreneurship skillsPosted on Wednesday 15 April 2009 at 22:55PM by halle |
Faced with the worst summer-job market since the government began collecting data after World War II, a growing number of teens are turning to entrepreneurship, reports the Wall Street Journal. From lemonade stands to lawn-care to dog-walking, more teens are expected to start their own enterprsies this summer to make some extra cash. Enrollment in a Boston camp run by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship doubled this spring. Junior Achievement entrepreneurship programs in Texas and California report a 30% increase in inquiries. And at CampCEO, an entrepreneurship-training program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, inquiries are running 30% ahead of a year ago, compared with a national pattern of flat enrollment in youth camps in general. Because teens don't need to make as much as most adults to get by, they fill a unique niche in the economy. They can fill local jobs that require little to start, so there's less downside. And they have the F.O.P. (friends of parents) built-in marketing channel. Not to mention the neighbors. Moreover, teenagers can help people develop their internet skills, paint their home, or park cars for private parties. "Adults used to want their kids to go to work for big companies with 401(k)s and benefits," says Brad Hancock, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. "Now parents are saying, 'I'm not sure I want my child to walk that path. I want my child to be in charge of his or her own destiny.' " Read the full Wall Street Journal Article.
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Reason #6 to Join a Startup: Get the Tools to Start Your Own GigPosted on Monday 30 March 2009 at 00:09AM by halle |
In a recent Business Week article, Darden professor Edward Hess suggests interning in the industry before jumping in and starting your own firm.
"You will learn about the industry supply chain, the key industry financial metrics, why customers buy certain products, and the competition's products," he says. "You will learn about the plumbing of a business: The infrastructure of quality, financial, HR, and customer management processes, controls, and information systems. All of this will make your transition to entrepreneurship easier. Work hard and learn everything you can."
The author suggests trying a spot with a smaller firm over the industry's largest corporate players:
"You're probably more likely to pick up valuable industry information in a small or midsize company, because you'll be physically closer to the decision-makers and have more chance to interact with them regularly."
Contact the chief executives and senior managers of the companies you select and let them know about your background and aspirations. Include recommendations from your professors or previous supervisors and attach a one-page résumé.
"Wait three days, and then call and speak to their administrative assistants and ask if you can schedule a five-minute phone call. Tell them clearly, concisely, and compellingly why you want to work for them. Make it easy for them to hire you by working for as little as you can afford," Hess says.
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if at first you don't succeed, does it matter that you tried?Posted on Saturday 21 March 2009 at 21:31PM by halle |
That is the question from an HBS working paper featured in the NY Times this weekend. The study found that when it comes to venture-backed entrepreneurship, the only experience that counts is success. The study only refers to the founders, and the definition of success is wall street focused and questionable (by measuring success as going public). They conclude that: Already-successful entrepreneurs were far more likely to succeed again: their success rate for later venture-backed companies was 34 percent. But entrepreneurs whose companies had been liquidated or gone bankrupt had almost the same follow-on success rate as the first-timers: 23 percent. This sort of conclusion goes against the Silicon Valley mantra that failure is an opportunity to learn. Perhaps because the majority of startup folks have spent some time at unsuccessful ventures, they understand that some lessons are only learnt the hard way.
Or perhaps the study is wrongly defining success. "Going public" is not the only, nor the most common, planned exit strategy for entrepreneurs. In fact, I would imagine that a buy-out to a larger firm (like Google) is a more common goal for tech entrepreneurs. And perhaps those entrepreneurs who have IPO'd in the past are more likely to dream of an IPO at their next venture. Either way, bucketing entrepreneurs into "successful" and "not successful" using "IPO" or "no IPO" seems like a false dichotomy, and questionable basis for drawing grand conclusions.
An interesting followup to this study would be the success of startup employees that go on to start their own companies. Do employees of Googles and Facebooks fare better if they start a company than their counterparts from defunct Pownce.com and Pet.com's?
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Recession Spurs InventionPosted on Monday 16 March 2009 at 20:47PM by halle |
From the NY Times:
Plenty of other laid-off workers across the country, burned out by a merciless job market, are building business plans instead of sending out résumés. For these people, recession has become the mother of invention.
Economists say that when the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to make their own work. But they say that it takes months for that mentality to sink in, and that this is about the time in the economic cycle when it really starts to happen — when the formerly employed realize that traditional job searches are not working, and that they are running out of time and money.
Mark V. Cannice, executive director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of San Francisco, calls the phenomenon “forced entrepreneurship.”
“If there is a silver lining, the large-scale downsizing from major companies will release a lot of new entrepreneurial talent and ideas — scientists, engineers, business folks now looking to do other things,” Mr. Cannice said. “It’s a Darwinian unleashing of talent into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
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Reason #5 to Join a Startup: Wear More HatsPosted on Monday 09 March 2009 at 10:35AM by halle |
This level of exposure, to various inner-workings, is especially useful for those who are curious about different career paths or career switching. You have to be agile, bright, and willing to take on projects that come your way. Wearing many hats will expand your horizon and provide you with experiences that can be used for the entirety of your career.
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