Fantastic talk, based on Steven Johnson's book, "Where Good Ideas Come From," explaining why ideas come to fruition over a period of time, rather than as an instant "eureka" moment.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Ideation is a PROCESS
Fantastic talk, based on Steven Johnson's book, "Where Good Ideas Come From," explaining why ideas come to fruition over a period of time, rather than as an instant "eureka" moment.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Meet World Famous Author and a Global Business Leader Gurcharan Das
Author of "India Unbound" and "The Difficulty of Being Good"
Venue: Clay Pit Indian Restaurant & Grill
1601 Guadalupe St, Austin, Texas, 78701
Date: Monday, 25th October 2010
Time: 6.30 PM -8.30 PM
Topic: India vs. China: Diverse paths into the future
Register at: www.austin.tie.org. Become a TiE member today and the event is FREE!
Come hear and interact with Gurcharan Das, a globally renowned writer, journalist and business leader. Hear him discuss business insights and philosophies about the rise of the two big world giants India and China. Additionally he will share his journey in the corporate world and outside, the lessons he picked along the way in search for a more meaningful life. This will be an experience unlike anything before.
Known for his flair, wit and effortless erudition Gurcharan examines hard hitting questions for the present times. In his recent book, 'The Difficulty of Being Good', Das turns to the epic, Mahabharata, and sheds light on the central problem of how to live our lives in an examined way and reclaim a meaningful ideal of civic virtue. He is also the author of the much-acclaimed 'India Unbound', which has been translated into several languages and filmed by the BBC.
The main talk topic for the evening is India vs China: Diverse paths into the future.
Agenda
06.30 PM Seated Dinner
07:00 PM Opening Remarks
07:15 PM Keynote by Gurcharan Das
8.00 PM- Q&A/ Book Signing
8.20 PM- End
Register at: www.austin.tie.org
Gurcharan Das is the author of the much-acclaimed India Unbound, which has been translated into many languages and filmed by the BBC. He writes a regular column for six Indian newspapers, and occasionally for Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. His other books include the novel A Fine Family; a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm; and an anthology, Three English Plays. He graduated from Harvard University in philosophy and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning) before he took early retirement to become a full time writer.
Fee:
TiE Austin Members: $35
TiE Austin Charter Member- $35
TiE Austin Student Member: $25
Non Member: $45 (Become a TiE member today and the event is FREE!)
Member Couple: $60
Non Member Couple: $75
Table Booking (8 Seats) - $250
Register at: www.austin.tie.org.
Limited Seating! Please register early!
Attendee fee includes a three course dinner.
For more information contact Binitha Surendran, Executive Director, TiE Austin at ed.austin@austin.tie.org
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Evangelizing the Austin Entrepreneur Scene
1. WILCO Entrepreneur Community (11/11)
2. Metropolitan Breakfast Club: (11/17)
I will also sharing the scene in other forums:
1. Leadership Austin Experience (11/9)
2. National Black MBA Conference (11/12)
Friday, October 08, 2010
FREE BioTech Forum on October 12th
8:00-11:30 a.m.
Seton Family of Hospitals, Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge
1400 N. IH 35
Register at http://mecabiotech.eventbrite.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Last Call for Understanding the Consumer and Retailing
Sorry if I have bombarded you, but I am just learning this email campaign business ... the hard way. And the seminar business ...
One thing's for sure about bootstrapping, you don't have time or energy to lose sleep worrying over stuff! Just do it ... did someone already think up that line?
If you want to come to my seminar on Saturday (October 9), you will learn a LOT, I promise. Really about business and industry in general. I view retailing as the most fundamental form of commerce, the root of it all.
And if you go to the event brite link, you can enter the discount code BOOTSTRAP to get the low, low, low price of $199. You can also show up on Saturday, but I can't guarantee we will have a set of the printed materials ready for you.
Here's a little home video to tweak your interest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uOdVh-8re4.
Hope to see you there,
Gary Hoover
(garyhoov@msn.com is the fastest way to reach me)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
BootstrapU ver 3.0
At last night's Bootstrap meeting we announced the launch of version 3.0: @BootstrapU, a social learning platform for bootstrappers, created in collaboration with Simversity. We signed up our first 20 participants for this free DEMO version and will launch the entire series in 2011.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Bootstrap B2B: Beyond Cost-Plus: Pricing Your Products on Markets Old & New
Other than adding up their own costs and adding a % margin on top of that, most businesses have little knowledge of how to price their products. We are going to look at a few of the best tricks and tips for developing your pricing model for your business. Whether you are trying to build a SAS subscription model or running a retail store and fighting prices on commodities, we'll identify some of the key considerations to know when pricing your products.
Our presenter Christopher Hastings has studied at both the Acton School of Business and the London School of Economics, building expertise in both entrepreneurship and international development. He is the founder of two startups, one focused on providing CPAs with the tools they need to counsel entrepreneurs (including on topics of pricing) and the other focused on location analysis for economic development. Despite having written textbook chapters on entrepreneurship and run budgets of 150MM+ supply chain projects, he is never happier than when working one on one with entrepreneurs to improve their businesses.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cjhastings
Twitter: @HastingsCJ
Date: August 23, 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Business Success Center
Chase Bank Tower
7600 Burnet Rd.
Austin, TX 78757
933-1983
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
campus2careers demo at Tech Ranch
Join campus2careers for an informal happy hour at Tech Ranch Austin Friday, July 30 at 4:00PM and participate in a demo of the campus2careers website that connects top student talent to startups and small businesses. Your organization needs these resources and the students need the experience and class or internship credit. Come find out how to get matched with the top student talent in Central TX this Friday at 4:00PM. To register go to: http://tracampus2careers.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
City of Austin Hosts 7th Annual Small Business Loan Fair
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine recently named Austin the number one Best City for the Next Decade. In praising Austin, the ranking highlighted Meet the Lender, a city-run business loan fair, as a key example of the resources available for small businesses and start-ups.
This year, even more small businesses will have the opportunity to be a part of the next decade’s success. On Thursday August 5th, from 3 to 7PM, the City of Austin Small Business Development Program (SBDP) will host the 7th annual Meet the Lender exposition. The event, held at Palmer Events Center, brings representatives from dozens of local banks, community lenders, and other investors to the same place at the same time. In this informal setting, business owners can go from booth to booth to learn how to secure financing for their business and start forming critical relationships with lenders.
Austin has been recognized as one of the best U.S. cities to launch a new business and SBDP, a division of the City’s Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office (EGRSO), continues to offer no-cost and low-cost opportunities and resources for entrepreneurs wanting to begin or grow their businesses and successfully compete in today’s business environment.
“Small business owners aren’t always aware of the incredible and varied resources there are available to help them be successful,” said Rosy Jalifi, EGRSO Assistant Director. “We want to connect entrepreneurs to those resources. When Austin’s small businesses are successful, the City of Austin is successful and local jobs are created.”
The expected 400 or more attendees at Meet the Lender can also register to take a Business Resource Orientation class or a class outlining the City’s zoning, permitting and development processes during the fair. There is no cost to attend any part of Meet the Lender and free parking will be available in the Palmer Event Center garage. For more information or to register for the event call 974.7800 or visit our site and here's a video clip from last year’s event.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July Bootstrap B2B: "Smarketing"
Topic: "Smarketing: How to market an international company in the US on a shoestring"
When: Monday, July 26, 2010 7:00 PM
Where: Business Success Center
Chase Bank Tower 7600 Burnet Rd.
Austin, TX 78757
933-1983
By use of white papers, case studies, press releases, blogging and social media, small international companies can implement the "Smarketing" methodology to enter the U.S. market: a hybrid of sales and marketing, in order to penetrate the fortresses corporate decision-makers set up to protect themselves from sales people, create buzz, and generate sales.
Fernando Labastida specializes in providing content marketing services for Latin American software companies wanting to penetrate the U.S. market. He's been a sales and marketing professional for the last 20 years, having worked for several Austin start-ups, including Powered, Vignette and Sunset Direct.
http://latinitmarketing.com/como-entrar-mercado-estados-unidos
Twitter: @flabastida
Monday, July 12, 2010
Request for Interviews - National Doc
My colleagues and I are in town from New York doing a video on local entrepreneurs who rely on skilled immigrant workers. Some of our questions for the piece have to do with the caps and restrictions on H-1B visas and how those caps affect small businesses in the tech industry.
Our work is purely journalistic and educational.
We will be in Austin until Wednesday, July 14th, and are looking to talk to any interesting entrepreneurs who can speak about these issues from personal experiences. We always appreciate a character.
If you would like to know more, including our platform for the video, please email me: dghigliotty AT visibileeconomy DOT com.
Friday, June 18, 2010
First-Ever Crowd Talking Event - ATC/RISE RAVE 3.0
What happens when folks talk a bunch and the talk makes its way into the presentations at a crowd sourcing event? Crowd talking! Come hear how it works. Join us at ATC/RISE Rave 3.0 on June 29, from 5:30 - 8:30 at ATT Executive Conference Center. Additional detail below.
What is Rave 3.0 about?
This Rave 3.0’s conversation is tech talent. Two standout presenters have the floor, Valerie Hausladen and Steven Tomlinson. They speak of passion and fortitude and the courage that finds careers that matter. It’s time for careers that fit our inner and outer fabric. These speakers will share practical stuff about how to get there. The good news, they’ll have 300 experts to help them!
What does Rave stand for?
R-A-V-E is Random – Access :: Various – Experts. Point blank: the event welcomes the audience and its expertise. The Rave design seeks each person’s thoughts: this event is all ears. At the event the audience helps make the night happen with questions and energy that will drive the talks forward.
How is Rave 3.0 different from other speakers’ forums?
From the start the Rave series has courted an irreverence for tradition. Initially, the crowd picked the speakers. Novel. Now, the crowd offers its voice. Really. To do that, version 3.0 brings social media to bare with Twitter, Facebook, email, blogs, and “question advocates”. All these things, and people, will move the crowd’s insights into the moment, to become part of it. The clear intent: make the voice of the people heard– loud and clear.
All right, what is “crowd talking?”
Crowd talking is what happens when a crowd truly voices its thoughts, feelings, and experiences. If the event increases the odds that the audience gets heard it is a job well done. This event leverages audience ideas with Twitter, Facebook, and old school stuff, for example, assigning folks to roam the room asking for content. Specifically, question advocates will capture the questions and thoughts of the audience. The speakers will then riff off of what gets heard as the talks progress. The crowd’s voice comes alive in real time, real fast.
Ground breaking stuff, this crowd talk?
Will this event be ground breaking? Hard to tell until it happens. One thing is for sure: the challenge of maxing out the crowd’s voice is worth it, whatever crowd you are part of. That’s because of the power of the wisdom of the crowd. Awesome stuff.
So why I am blogging about this?
The idea for RAVE 3.0 was a product of the imaginations of Steven Tomlinson, Kevin Leahy, and myself. The team putting the event together includes the phenomenal groups ATC and RISE led by the capable Julie Huls and Georgie Thomsen, respectively. So you know its going to be a rock star event with such leaders, speakers, and creators. So sign up by clicking on the link and RSVPing on the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108588169185734
Sunday, June 13, 2010
If Content is King, who’s the King of content?
Web developers have pounded into our heads the notion of new content as being the lifeblood of search engine optimization, but most companies have yet to figure out a strategy that consistently provides relevant content to their target audience.
If you’re struggling with the development of new content, I suggest that you view your website content in a different way.
In the media world, the editor controls the content of the medium. They decide what stories get published, and those decisions are based on content that they know will resonate with their demographic (because they understand their audience–the same way that you should understand your customer). It’s true in print, TV and radio, and it should also be true in regards to your website.
If the main goal of your website is to serve as a marketing vehicle that attracts potential customers and communicates with existing ones, then you need to view it as an e-publication–and your marketing department should become your newsroom–with the editor at the helm.
The process for developing relevant content on your website begins exactly the same way–determine who your audience is, understand their issues, develop an editorial strategy that helps them solve those issues (such as an editorial calendar), and assign those stories to your writers (blogs, articles, press releases). Your writers could be your internal marketing department, or people in your organization with content expertise, or they could be external writers such as freelance journalists and marketing agencies. Most importantly, develop deadlines so you can publish your material on a consistent basis.
Once you’ve started this ball rolling, there are many ways to leverage the distribution. People will start finding your relevant content through searches (pull strategy) and you can link to that content in your newsletters and announcements that all lead back to your website (push strategy).
To ensure conversion, make sure you have ways to engage your prospects–but that’s a whole other story. (See Brian Massey)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Bootstrap Austin June Monthly Meeting - Demo Night
AGENDA:
6:30 - 7:00 Social
7:00 - 7:10 Introduction
7:10 - 7:30 Demo 1
7:30 - 7:50 Demo 2
7:50 - 8:10 Demo 3
8:10 - 8:30 Demo 4
Can't make this one? Check out more about Bootstrap Austin at the following sites:
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Entrepreneur's Inner Journey
Friday, April 23, 2010
ABJ Launches ABJEntrepreneur.com
Running or starting a business? Simply thinking about becoming an entrepreneur? The Austin Business Journal has a new web site to complement our weekly print ABJ Entrepreneur section
Go online today and ...
- Connect with your peers
- Get the latest news relevant to entrepreneurs
- Browse advice and how-to columns from seasoned entrepreneurs and experts
- Find links to local organizations and support systems for entrepreneurs
- Check out the calendar to see scheduled entrepreneur events across Central Texas
and much more!
Log on to ABJEntrepreneur.com today to discover how the Austin Business Journal is breaking the mold to keep Central Texas the Entrepreneurship Capital of the World.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
4 Concerns about Austin's Recent Small Business Summit
Forty of us were invited to give our thoughts on the major ways the City could address business owners concerns. The Summit was limited to two hours. Pretty short and sweet.
We had been asked to prepare to discuss three questions:
1. What steps could the City take to better assist small local business owners with planning and development?
2. What steps could the City take to help create a better overall environment for small local business owners to succeed?
3. What are some specific obstacles you have encountered in interacting with the City, and how do you believe these could be addressed?
After we determined the issues for our table, we were given three minutes to present those to the whole group. A total of about sixteen different items were presented as needing City attention with several "dittoes" as time got shorter and other tables came up with similar issues.
By an odd quirk of fate, this very "public" meeting had not been posted in advance. This meant that the Mayor and Council had to rotate in and out of the room so they would not violate the Open Meetings ruling.
My Concerns
Without taking anything away from the Summit or the report that is being assembled by Rosie Jalifi and the City's Small Business Development Program staff, I want to mention four concerns I have.
1. No context.
We did not hear the discussion at the other tables and were only presented with the issue as part of a list. That made it hard to understand the context. It was hard to tell if some of the concerns people listed were universal or more industry specific for instance, home owners vs. music venues; certain kinds of permitting; the power of the Neighborhood Associations.
Since each Council member heard even less of the discussion, I believe their perception is even more compromised. How these are presented in the report is going to be very interesting and a real challenge for staff.
2. Size considerations.
Small is a relative term. Are we talking less than 500 employees (federal definition), less than 100 (State definition) or an even smaller firm, a "micro business", one with less than 20 employees? In the Austin area, over 80% of our small businesses are really micro businesses where the owner is the owner/investor, manager, and employee. Looking around the room, I saw micro businesses.
Again, it would be useful for Council and staff to know what the issues were by size or complexity of the business. It does make a difference when it comes to deciding where the City can or should make changes. As one of these "micro" businesses and as someone who works exclusively with owners of enterprises of this size, I can guarantee you we look at life and work differently than Yellow Cab, one of the other Summit participants.
3. Not enough clarity. Not enough time.
The Summit could have focused on identifying problems or recommending solutions. I think it tried to do too much in too little time. As a result, what I heard from the three-minute presentations from the other tables was a mixture of both. I am not sure what conclusions I would draw if I were either staff or Council.
There is a pattern to draw on. For many years in the 90's, Texas regularly held the Governor's Conference on Small Business. Business owners from all over the state gathered to talk about problems and issues and propose solutions. Then we went to work to get it done. It was great brainstorming and strong networking. This ended in about 2000 and NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) and other groups started to hold Small Business Legislative Day. Not as good but better than nothing.
As a former delegate to the Governor's and White House Conference and Congressional Summit on Small Business, I have seen real change come from this kind of event but it takes more time than two hours on one day in March.
4. The beginning or the end.
This is my biggest concern.
The Austin City Council has started something with this Small Business Summit. It could really be of major assistance to the City's desire to remain a great place to start and run a business. Or it could be just a "two-hour trick pony", a false start leading nowhere. My hope that is that this gets more attention and resources and that it continues.
Austin has made some efforts. For years, we have had City Commissions for minority and women-owned business. Good work has been done but not enough has been accomplished. In addition, this has left out other businesses (non-minorities) and divided the small business community into two camps. The economic pie is too small for that to continue.
I believe it's time that Austin find ways to support a united small business community while recognizing that we do have some unique concerns because of our size and industry differences.
Recommendation to Other Owners
If you own a business, I encourage you to get involved. Pay attention to what is happening. What happens in Washington is important but a long way away from here. What happens in Austin, happens to you and works either for you or against you.
I am also interested in what are your concerns and issues. Please post a comment or contact me directly at triplett@bscusa.com. I look forward to continuing this effort and this discussion.
Here's to your success!
Jan Triplett
COO
Business Success Center
ownersview.com
Monday, April 05, 2010
Bootstrap April Mtg: Meet Ron Berry, founder - Fusebox Festival
The Experience Subgroup has explored the Bootstrap Experience model, which details how an experience is created, and the transformation that results. This meeting will explore the experience of the Fusebox Fesitval, and the transformation that can result through witnessing it.
We will meet at the Off Center, home of the Rude Mechanicals, an innovative company in the Austin Theater Scene. Here's a map of the Theater Scene by Robert Matney.
Follow @fuseboxfestival on twitter, check out this year's artists on the Fusebox Site.
...and get involved!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Entrepreneur Society to host job fair
Bootstrappers, this may be a great event to recruit students at for interns or full-time positions. The Entrepreneur Society is hosting Connections 2010 a job fair hosted by McCombs MBA students for McCombs MBA students. More information below and available at http://esmccombs.com/.
ES Connections 2010
Thursday, April 1st
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
UT Alumni Center
2110 San Jacinto Boulevard
Austin, TX 78712
You and your company are cordially invited to ES Connections 2010, an annual event hosted by the Entrepreneur Society of The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas!
ES Connections 2010 provides a forum for companies to meet McCombs’ MBA students with the energy, experience, and skills to help early stage, growing, and established companies create, develop, and grow entrepreneurial related ventures.
Opportunities: The McCombs School of Business is recognized as one of the nation’s top-ranked MBA programs, and our students have the skills essential to help businesses succeed in dynamic markets. The students in attendance will have a special interest in new ventures and companies that support entrepreneurial innovation among their employees. This is a great opportunity for firms to engage exceptional MBA students through internships and full-time employment and help you develop and grow your business! Last year more than a dozen students made connections that resulted in summer internships and full-time positions!
Get Involved! To participate or learn more about ES Connections 2010, please contact
Heidi Burns – Heidi.Burns@mba11.mccombs.
Not hiring? Unable to Participate? Even if you are unable to attend this year, please feel free to contact ES if your company is interested in any of our future ES events including:
Start-Up Meet-Up: Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success. This one-day conference brought together entrepreneurial students and professionals through a series of panel discussions and interactive working sessions.
ES Pitch Party: An ES tradition that gives MBA students a chance to pitch start-up ideas to “investors” who include faculty, alumni, professionals and local entrepreneurs.