The Entrepreneurial Mind

One of the myths about entrepreneurship is that high growth, high potential ventures (some call them gazelles) are the main driver of economic growth. For example, consider this quote from National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship: "High-growth businesses -- sometimes known as gazelles -- -are the real drivers of innovation and economic growth in our economy."

High potential businesses are those that tend to attract venture capital. VCs need businesses that yield very high returns in a very short time -- some will tell you that they seek 100% annual returns with an exit within 3-5 years and others simply say they seek 5 times their initial investment within about the same time period. However, gazelle companies represent a tiny fraction of 1% of entrepreneurial ventures.

Do they have an impact? Of course. Are they the "main driver of our economy"? No.

Those boring little entrepreneurs who toil away with only their own investment -- maybe with a little help from their family and friends -- is what really drives today's entrepreneurial economy. It is these small businesses that now generate about 50% of the US economy and have created 77% of new jobs for the past twenty years. They do so with ingenuity, bootstrapping, passion, persistence, and as Monroe Carell told our students yesterday, patience.

Gazelles quickly get absorbed into corporate America within 3-5 years if they have any success. The average entrepreneur is not even considered successful unless the business lasts at least five years. They are in it for the long run.

Rather than measuring success in terms of mind-boggling returns to investors, the average entrepreneur measures success in terms of making a living for his/her family, by creating good jobs, by becoming able to contribute to building a better community.

Don't misunderstand my point. I like high growth. high potential businesses. We get a few coming through our program and they are challenging, interesting, and fun to watch. I hope we get more.

But, they are not the heroes of our entrepreneurial economy. That title belongs to the average entrepreneur who will never get a dollar from a venture capitalist -- who builds a successful business seemingly out of almost nothing.

Average entrepreneurs may not be "gazelles", but they are the work horses we need to move this economy steadily into future.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:45 AM | Permalink

There is a growing perception that American entrepreneurship is simply about getting rich no matter how it is done and no matter what the costs. I call this "entrepreneurship on steroids."

Watch this short YouTube video about an English entrepreneur and listen carefully to what he has to say about American entrepreneurs toward the very end of the clip.

Wealth is a good thing. It can create good outcomes for the entrepreneur, his employees, his investors, his community. But it should never be viewed as the only measure of success. For many entrepreneurs it is not even the main yardstick they use to measure their success.

What we don't need in the world is a bunch of narcissistic, one-dimensional, entrepreneurs "on steroids."

(Thanks to Jeff Williams for passing this clip along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

BusinessWeek Online has a story that profiles 18 women who have left high-power corporate jobs to join the ranks of start-up entrepreneurs. The reason -- "Only 2 of the 18 women on our list mentioned making more money as their primary motivation."

Building a different kind of organizational culture seemed to be a major driving force for many of these women. While still striving for high performance, these new entrepreneurs want to create a more collaborative and team-driven culture. It appears that they also want to create cultures that are more supportive of employees.

Cecelia McCloy, the 52-year-old co-founder of Integrated Science Solutions, a Walnut Creek (Calif.) science and engineering firm with $9 million in sales, says she specifically set out to create a company that was friendly to families. Her employees also get eight hours of paid time off per year to participate in civic or charitable activities -- say, to volunteer in their children's classroom. Last year, about 20 of her 75 employees took advantage of the option. And every month, she asks managers to give her information on employees who did something exceptional for customers or their colleagues. McCloy then writes a thank-you note to those folks.

From our own research for our new book, we have found that these types of goals are also shared by many male entrepreneurs. It is heartening to see entrepreneurs of both genders pursuing such rich and well-ordered definitions of success in their businesses.

(Thanks to Ben Cunningham for passing this along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It is time to dispel a financing myth. You will often hear that investors will put money in an "A" team with a "C" idea, but not an "A" idea with only a "C" team. The truth is that you will need straight "A's" to get angel or VC money.

Certainly you need an "A" team. The investors need to know that the entrepreneurial team can deliver on the plan. The team's collective experience is the best predictor of future success. They prefer that you have managed a start-up through its growth before, and if it was financially successful that is all the better.

But, they also want an "A" business concept. It has to have market potential that is big, I mean really big. To get the multiples of their investment that they expect, they need your business to have the clear potential to grow to many millions in sales and the probability of many millions in cash flow. They also want to see a relatively benign competitive environment. Never say there is no competitive, because then you look naive, but your plan should insulate you as much as possible from competitive threats, as that is the key to unimpeded growth.

They also want an "A" exit plan. If they can't see a clear path to get their money out of the deal within a few short years, it doesn't matter how good you are or your idea looks. Today that is most often an acquisition, since IPOs are few and far between.

And investors want "A" intellectual property protection. They don't want to invest in deals that cannot be protected. In today's global economy they will often look at your IP both domestically and internationally.

So study hard and do your homework if you want equity financing, as you will need a perfect 4.0 grade point average to close the deal.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:58 AM | Permalink

My friend Rhonda Abrams blogged last week about an interview she heard with a professor from a "distinguished university" (that may have been the problem right there):

I recently heard a professor from a distinguished university say on the radio that 90 percent of new businesses fail.

To me, that's like hearing fingernails scraping on a blackboard. I've looked at statistics of business births and deaths closely, and I know of no credible study showing anything close to a 90 percent failure rate.

She is correct.

Credible studies show success rates five years out (the normal time line for such studies) to be around 50% +/- 5%. And as I've said many times, smaller studies of those who have gotten trained and educated in the process of starting and growing a business find success rates as high as 80-90%.

This urban myth is perpetuated by the histrionic media who loves find evidence of doom and gloom even when it isn't real, and by ignorant and uninformed "experts" who are too lazy to do the research needed to find out the truth.

(Thanks to John Russell for passing this along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I love to collect entrepreneurial myths that those of us who work in the world of new ventures have observed over the years. On of my former students (Chip Hayner) passed along this list of myths from the world of technology start-ups from Rondom Ramblings. It is both humorous and very much on target for many would-be entrepreneurs in any industry.

Here is a sample:

Myth #4: What you think matters.

Reality: It matters not one whit that you and all your buddies think that your idea is the greatest thing since sliced pizza (unless, of course, your buddies are rich enough to be the customer base for your business). What matters is what your customers think. It is natural to assume that if you and your buddies think your idea is cool that millions of other people out there will think it's cool too, and sometimes it works out that way, but usually not. The reason is that if you are smart enough to have a brilliant idea then you (and most likely your buddies) are different from everyone else. I don't mean to sound condescending here, but the sad fact of the matter is that compared to you, most people are pretty dumb (look at how many people vote Republican ;-) and they care about dumb things. (I just heard about a new clothing store in Pasadena that has lines around the block. A clothing store!) If you cater only to people who care about the things that you care about then your customer base will be pretty small.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From time to time I have written about myths that I see when dealing with aspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur.com has put together their own Top 10 list of Small business Myths that are worth a read for anyone thinking about starting a business.

Several of their myths dealing with financing issues:

Myth No. 1: "The government has grants for startups."

Generally this is not true. There are a few instances where local governments set up programs for disadvantaged people looking to use free enterprise to improve their lives, but they are not that common.

Myth No. 2: "The SBA loans money directly to small businesses."

Another financing myth busted. You still must go to a bank. Some banks work with the SBA program to get small business loans guaranteed by the SBA.

Myth No. 3: "Venture capitalists loan money to startups."

VCs fund less than 0.5% of entrepreneurial ventures, and of those, only rarely do they fund a start-up.

Myth No. 5: "I'll be able to write everything off."

Actually you can, but you will face interest and penalties from the IRS, so I don't recommend it either.

Myth No 6: "I can pay myself whatever I want."

Again, you can, but you'll be out of business in a few weeks. You can only pay yourself what is left after everything else gets paid. You are last in line if you want to make your business work.

Myth No. 8: "I should be profitable after six months, because I'm an expert at what I do."

The article states that most businesses take 2-3 years to make a profit. That is also kind of a myth. I have owned businesses that make profit within a few months, and I have had some that took years. It all depends on the business model and the market. That is why a plan is so important to help you understand what you are getting into. Which brings us to another of their myths:

Myth No. 10: "If I'm not getting funding, I don't need a business plan."

See my comments above...

They also have a couple of marketing myths:

Myth No. 7: "If I create a website, I'll get traffic (or the more popular 'If I build it, they will come.')"

Myth No. 9: "I don't need a marketing plan or marketing materials. This product/service sells itself."

I tell entrepreneurs that they should be prepared to spend 80% of their time selling and marketing early on. Nothing sells itself and no website creates its own traffic.

Finally, one of their myths deals with lifestyle:

Myth No. 4: "I'll have more time to do what I want."

You should assume you'll have some long hours early on. But, if time is important, make sure to build that into your business plans. Plan for slower growth or less ambitious goals if you want to structure time for other things. Also understand that some businesses just demand more of our time by their very nature. For example, if you want to start a restaurant, plan on very few days off, long hours, and no vacations for a LONG time. Know what you are getting into before you start any business and make sure it fits your non-financial and lifestyle goals.

Make sure to go the the Entrepreneur.com article, as it has some great links to more information on all of these topics.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (2)

Findings from a new study on start-up businesses released by Wells Fargo indicate that you really don't need a lot of money to start most businesses.

The Wells Fargo report found that the average start-up financing for the new businesses they surveyed was $10,000. The study also finds that 73% of start-ups were fully self-funded. These findings are consistent with previous surveys that generally find that start-ups began with about $7,000 - $10,000, and that self-financing was used by 70-85% of all start-ups.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are a couple of web sites out there that are marketing to entrepreneurs who need money. They are creating what are known as peer lending networks. It is an attempt to hook up those who need money with those who have money.

The basic concept behind the business model is nothing new. They found what seems to be an inefficient market and tried to link it together with a better process. The notion is that there are markets out there where there is supply and demand, but not a good way to connect the two sides. A good example of this business model is a job placement agency. There are workers seeking jobs and there are companies looking to hire. But, for some reason they have a hard time connecting. The business model of an employment agency is to bring the two sides to the table so they can connect on a transaction -- in this example, hiring a needed employee who needs the job. For this service, the employment agency gets a fee.

Prosper.com in the US and Zopa.com in the UK both work on this type of business model, but in this case it is to connect those who need money (often, but not always, start-up entrepreneurs) with those who have some money. The sources of money are really not the lenders in this business model. A company like Prosper.com actually makes the loan, and then turns around and sells it to an individual or a group of individuals who are brought together at their site. The borrower tells how much they need (prosper.com has a $25K max), why they need it, and what the maximum interest is they are willing to pay. It then enters a bidding process like other web sites do for hotels, airline tickets, etc., etc. Sometimes you get a hit, but if often takes several tries. From inc.com:

If a loan isn't fully funded within the auction time frame, the borrower is free to try again. Townshend, who had an A credit rating despite $15,000 in credit card debt, struck out twice before landing a loan. Initially she offered an attractive interest rate, 12.5 percent, but asked for too much money: $25,000. On her second try, she requested $9,900, but at a less appealing rate of 11 percent. Finally, she struck the right balance, asking for $9,500 at 13 percent interest. She also made her loan description more appealing by arranging key ideas into bullet points and providing a detailed breakdown of how she planned to use the money. In three days, she received 77 bids from an array of lenders, including an engineer and a Web entrepreneur, and the loan was fully funded.

A common problem that entrepreneurs suffer from is the "If I only had the money" myth. They are sure that if they just get some money, everything will be OK. Sometimes that don't exactly know if they really need it, or how much they need. Sometimes they really aren't sure what they need it for. Often they have no clue how they will pay it back. But, if they just got a loan or an investment, all their problems would be solved. As the example from inc.com shows, this is no magic bullet. You still have to be realistic and have a good proposal to get money. And even with the help of sites like these, it still takes time.

The truth is that most deals are just not ready for financing, and many never will be. But, when they are, or should I say if they ever are, there is plenty of money out there these days. All that sites like these can offer is the possibility of a more efficient way to find that money.

(Thanks to Sigrid Catanzaro for passing this post idea along).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (6)

I saw this article in our local paper yesterday and it made me think about my post from the other day about entrepreneurs starting younger and younger.

Ephren W. Taylor II has a success story like no other.

Not many people can claim at the age of 23 that they have "come out of retirement" to become one of the youngest CEOs of a publicly owned corporation, but that's exactly what he has done.

And I thought that having a large numbers of 22 and 23 year olds coming out of college to begin their careers as entrepreneurs was an amazing. This young man makes them look middle-aged.

When he was 12, Taylor's first company designed 3-D computer games. Later, at the age of 17, he created a dot.com job search business for teens and college students. At the time it had a value of $3.2 million.

Taylor now splits his time between running two corporations, taking a third one public, extensive community and charitable work, and spending time with his wife and two children.

One of his companies is Amoro Corporation, which he took public in this past spring.

Its mission:

Amoro Corporation is a publicly-held investment development group dedicated to "Empowering Communities With Socially Conscious Development." Our focus is to create affordable housing for homeowners, especially in urban environments.

And the secret to his success?

"You have to visualize success. You have to see it coming."

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The old advice used to be "go and work for someone for several years before you try and start a business." The thought was that you needed to learn about business, grow up, save some money, etc. Young aspiring entrepreneurs were discouraged from jumping in too quickly.

I rarely hear that kind of advice any more. We see growing numbers of young people leaving college and starting successful careers as entrepreneurs. Many even are starting their entrepreneurial careers while in school.

StartupJournal has some great advice for young, aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs (written by a young intern, but the way). Use your flexibility and low cost of living as part of your opportunity, leverage the resources and expertise that being a student entrepreneur can offer, and view your early experience as part of your education.

(Thanks to John Russell for suggesting this article).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Many of the myths about small business are being rebuffed. One myth was that although small business employs a growing number of people, the pay rates are sorely lacking. The truth is that small business now pays about 90% of big business, while offering more flexible working conditions. They are able to compete for some of the best people with a combination of good pay and desirable working conditions.

Another myth is that innovation in our economy comes from VC backed high growth ventures, large corporations with big R&D budgets, or government backed research, but rarely from small businesses.

A new study just released from the NFIB (all of their studies can be found here) shows the fallacy of this myth.

"Small businesses produce a significant number of innovations," said NFIB Research Foundation Senior Research Fellow William J. Dennis. "Smaller enterprises appear particularly adept at major breakthroughs in contrast to more incremental or evolutionary changes."

Even small businesses that are not deliberately attempting to discover innovations employ at least one person, including the owner, whose primary job is to develop new products, services or designs, the study found. Twenty percent say they have one or more people assigned in such activity, suggesting that the owners consider the creative function to be valuable to the business.

Three-fourths of those surveyed said they specifically encourage employees to suggest ideas for new products or services, or to seek better ways to produce and distribute what their company sells. More than half of those who do inspire workers to be innovative offer recognition, bonuses or both to those who succeed.

In the year leading up to this study, more than two-fifths (42 percent) of all small businesses surveyed reported introducing at least one new or significantly improved product, service, process or design into their sales inventory.

Design is a major innovative focus, the poll found. Twenty-one percent of small firms market design, which is profitable. Almost two-thirds (60 percent) of those marketing design said it generates half or more of their sales.

"Patents and copyrights often proxy for innovation in business," Dennis said, noting that some 5 percent of small-business owners hold a patent (in their name or the firm's name) that they actively use in their business activities. Manufacturers hold one-third of patents.

Copyrights are more common: 13 percent hold at least one. Data from the survey show that once small firms reach the 10-employee level, copyright acquisitions rise notably. Almost 20 percent of firms that grow to this point own one or more. Manufacturers and those in knowledge-intensive industries such as information and professional, scientific, and technical services are the most frequent holders.

It is critical that entrepreneurs remain , in a word, entrepreneurial. In most cases it is change that created the original opportunity for their business. If they fail to remain innovative, the very changes that gave their business birth could soon make them irrelevant in the market.

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." (Christina Baldwin).

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:00 AM | Permalink

Impact Lab has a post that offers sound advice for any small business.

However, before I get to his advice, I need to offer a critique. The premise of the advice is that 80% of small businesses fail. Guess what? That is an urban myth. There has never been a study that shows this high a failure rate -- ever. Some studies using flawed data showed as high as 60%, but they count a business that is sold as a "failure". If the company no longer existed, it was counted in the failure column. Now with better data the studies indicate 40-50%. And remember, with training and education these failure rates drop to 15-25% in other surveys.

Now back to his advice.....

The title of the post, "Your Baby's Ugly..and You've Got Bad Breath," really tells the whole story. Entrepreneurs and small business owners tend to surround themselves with too many cheerleaders, too many "Yes-men" and Yes-women." That is a recipe for bad decisions that could have been avoided.

You need to have someone, (preferably more than one person) who will tell you when you are wrong. Someone who is not afraid to take your most prized idea and tear it apart. Someone who will tell you that your decision is dead wrong, when it is dead wrong.

If this person is an insider, all the better. For some entrepreneurs their spouse or some outside adviser plays this role.

Just find someone who is wise enough to know when you when you are wrong, and brave enough to say it.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:08 AM | Permalink

One of the classic myths about entrepreneurship is that entrepreneurs are born, not made. I had a post on this earlier this year, comparing this debate to the same debate that went on during the 1960s and 1970s about leadership.

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship has a link to a new article in Region Focus, a journal produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, "Nature vs. Nurture," by Charles Gerena.

What a waste of our tax money! We already know from several studies that entrepreneurial success rates increase dramatically with proper training.

I wonder if government bureaucrats are born, or made.....hmmmm.....

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Entrepreneurial ventures can remind us of babies. They seem to need constant care and attention, and even if they don't for short periods of time we still worry about them. Although physical time off is possible, many entrepreneurs find they cannot mentally take time off from their businesses.

A study in StartupJournal.com reported that of the entrepreneurs surveyed "22% want to forget it all for a while and won't check back with their company, but 33% will be calling in -- or checking by e-mail -- once a day, 22% several times a day, 17% every few days, and 4% weekly. For one small group, 2%, perhaps staying at work would be more relaxing -- they'll be calling in every hour." Another article at the same site offers advice from a consultant on how to take time off from his business. But, his advice seems to imply that even proper rest is simply a way to improve performance when we get back to work.

Temperance is a virtue that is often forgotten about in today's 24/7 world. This article from Inc.com describes the problem quite clearly:

"So, do you really need to be at the office 24-7??The most dominant myth of this society is the Protestant work ethic,' says Al Gini, author of The Importance of Being Lazy. 'Entrepreneurs say, 'This is my baby. I have to do this myself with huge amounts of sweat equity.' They're right, but there has to be some moderation.' Gini advocates taking time to rest, recreate, and re-create, but if that only means a few days off, checking in constantly before plunging right back into an all-consuming schedule, what's the point?"

What's the point, indeed? Being at rest is not simply a means of recharging your batteries for the next round of work. Rest nourishes the soul. Rest gives us the opportunity to focus on many things that are, dare I say it, even more important than our businesses. Family, faith, and friendships are not respites from work. But we too often treat them simply like a time-out from work.

If all we do--work, rest, sleep, recreation--are simply means to improving the financial performance of our businesses, our lives are not really being lived well. My good friend Mike Naughton tells the story when he was giving a talk about celebrating the Sabbath. An executive in the audience spoke up and adamantly stated that he could never "give up" Sunday--it was his competitive advantage.

As summer vacations draws near, take time to think about why you are doing all that you do. Why do you work? How do you rest? If all of your answers come back to your business it is time to do some genuine reflection on your life. Business is exciting, invigorating, and even fun. But, it is simply a means and not the ultimate ends in our lives. Temperance in our work can help put such things in their proper order.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 02:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Part of the mythology of entrepreneurship is that VC's play a major role in new venture development in this country. The myth has evry entrepreneur thinking there is a VC out there for them. I have met small retail start-ups that actually think they can get VC funding. (In case you still believe this myth yourself, there has never been a small retail business funding by VC money--ever!!). While VC's play an important role, I would even go so far as to say a critical role, they are a niche player. They only work with businesses that have large capital needs and show great promise of very rapid growth.

Anita Campbell has a fascinating post over at Small Business Trends that really brings this to life. She cites a report stating that in 2002 only 38 out of 100,000 new businesses had VC money behind them. That is .038%! She also links to an article on VC's over at Forbes.com that is worth a read.

What was most heartening was that she stated that entrepreneurs seem to be understanding that VC's are not part of the real world for most start-ups. Maybe the VC myth is finally becoming debunked! Over 80% of funding comes from the entrepreneurs themselves and their friends and family. Most of the rest comes from a variety of sources such as leasing companies, limited bank financing, etc. If I were to draw a pie diagram of this, VC's would be a really thin line at best. They are important, but not for the vast majority of entrepreneurs. I wish my fellow teachers of entrepreneurship would give up this myth and teach about what really funds most business start-ups. The VC process is complex and sexy so it makes great stuff for college classrooms. But, we need to get real and teach entrepreneurs about what is fact, not myth.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 02:14 PM | Permalink

From time to time I have examined some of the common myths people have (including entrepreneurs themselves) about entrepreneurship. I ran across this report published in 2001 by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship in my archives that has an interesting discussion about common myths about entrepreneurship they found in their study.

Continue reading "Another view on Entrepreneurial Myths" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 10:53 PM | Permalink

There has been much speculation about a possible IPO by Google in the near future. Although this may be necessary to satisfy the VC's that backed the company, it is a step that should be taken with great care.

Continue reading "Google and the IPO Myth" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 03:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (5)

"I could never start my own business. I cannot tolerate that kind of risk. After all, entrepreneurs are nothing more than gamblers who are willing to bet it all on a hunch of a business idea." Many people view entrepreneurship this way. To them entrepreneurship is as nothing more than a crap shoot. However, when we study financially successful entrepreneurs a very different picture emerges.

Continue reading "The "Entrepreneurs are Gamblers" Myth" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 02:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (2)

Time and time again, I run into entrepreneurs who are petrified to share any aspect of their business for fear that someone will steal their idea and beat them to the punch. Just how real is this fear? In reality, the actually cases where an idea for a business gets stolen are quite rare. However, just to be safe and sleep well at night, here are my suggestions:

Continue reading "The "I've Got a Secret" Myth" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 05:15 PM | Permalink

There is an article in the Minneapolis Star Trib that speaks to the issue of young entrepreneurs and experience. It features several alumni of my old program at St. Thomas.

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 07:53 PM | Permalink

A pervasive myth about entrepreneurial success is that it is related somehow to experience in a corporate setting. That is, young people have been told that before they go out and start a business they should get a "real job" for a few years. Young entrepreneurs are finding more success than ever.

Continue reading "The Experience Myth" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Many would-be entrepreneurs tell me that they are certain that if they could only raise a certain amount of money, everything would be perfect for their start-up. In fact, many say that money is the only thing holding them back. This is one of entrepreneurship's most common myths. As the classic article in INC illustrates, many a good idea was started with very little money.

Continue reading ""If I Only Had The Money" Myth" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

It is often assumed that the primary reason for becoming an entrepreneur is money. Profit is the only measure of success. But, this is really another myth about entrepreneurship.

Continue reading "What is Success?" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Gladys Edmunds has written an interesting column that challenges those who teach entrepreneurship to remember what it is that we are really teaching about. Most entrepreneurial activity is not about venture capital deals with locked in exit strategies. It is not about a quick Initial Public Offering of stock to make millions. It is not the "gazelle" organization that so many academics love to fawn over.

Continue reading "The IPO Myth and "Real" Entrepreneurs" »

Posted by Jeff Cornwall at 02:11 PM | Permalink