A familiar meme is that Entrepreneurs are somewhat crazy. Many use the phrase affectionately when implying that the prototypical entrepreneur is willing to attempt things that the average person would not risk. Or perhaps it’s because entrepreneurs often paint a vision for the future that seems unimaginable, that they seem
How soon we forget. I wonder if the next generation of entrepreneurs will be called the ‘Instagram Generation.’ I hope not. Back in April, Facebook acquired Instagram for about $1 Billion. Of course what was most striking was that the company had 13 employees and was less than 2 years old
In earlier post, I was writing about the sometimes-effective-but-overused “High-Concept Pitch“, and showcased a satirical website that generated automatic versions of the It’s an “X” for “Y” styled pitches. I stumbled across a Quora discussion about the topic, with a few insightful answers. Somewhere down the list, a member posted
After a few years of working in the television industry, particularly on the planet they call Hollywood, I was immersed in the “high concept pitch” language of the entertainment industry. The practice is meant to impart your idea to studio executives with nano-attention spans by equating the idea with another
Another day, another “eye-roll” moment. Sigh. Yet another article on the “rules” or “secrets” to becoming a successful entrepreneur – usually written by someone who has never been an entrepreneur, much less a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship advice is getting similar to those late night get-rich-quick real estate commercials, or like
A recent blog post from the Kauffman Foundation puts it succinctly, when it tries to dispel the myth of the twenty-something tech wizard as the prototypical entrepreneur. Citing research, they write: In reality, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55- to 64-year-old age group over the past
A few days ago someone posted a question on Quora: Chief Executive Officers: Who is the greatest living CEO? One of the answers (unusually, posted by an anonymous member), simply posted the following chart: Originally cited in a 2010 ZDNet article, it is a thought provoking illustration. On the surface it
Below is an ironic infographic that so nicely illustrates how some of our most iconic (and wealthiest) entrepreneurs never graduated college. This is an attractive meme based largely on casual evidence. Apparently this evidence is enough to power the belief, or implication, that college is irrelevant or even detrimental to
When an entrepreneur starts a company – they usually fall into one of two camps: Founders who ignore the legal and organizational startup issues in favor of focusing on product development , and founders who focus too much on these ‘setup’ issues. As noted in this useful article by NY
Crowdfunding: Saving the U.S. Economy [Infographic]