Archive for the ‘People’ Category

What are you willing to do with what you’ve been given?

Posted: May 12, 2013 by Bill Cunningham in Leadership, People, Startup
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Joe Carter, Xavier UniversityNetworking is so very important.  Has anyone referred you to another person because they think you might have mutual interests and there might be a deeper reason for you need to connect with that person? That happened to me a few weeks ago.  Jeff Weedman, the CEO of Cintrifuse, suggested that I might be interested in meeting Dr. Victor Garcia, a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.  Jeff described some of the Dr. Garcia’s projects to combat concentrated systemic poverty and thought we should connect.  I immediately knew I needed to meet Dr. Garcia and thought a friend of mine, Owen Raisch (who recently launched the Greater Cincinnati Independent Business Alliance – CiNBA) should meet him as well.   CiNBA is an organization dedicated to building and supporting a strong local business community in Greater Cincinnati. One of Dr. Garcia’s projects included launching new businesses, so this is right on the money for Xavier University‘s and CiNBA’s missions.

Dr. Garcia described a new business venture he is developing with Dan Divelbiss, an environmental engineering graduate student from the University of Cincinnati, and Nate Wildes, an Assistant Brand Manager at the Eureka! Ranch International.  The new venture is an aquaponics business – think a fish tank that grows both fish and vegetables in one integrated, soilless system –  to be launched in Price Hill.  Dr. Garcia, Dan and Nate are collaborating with Diana Vakharia, Price Hill’s Director of Economic Development, on this project.  Diana happens to be a member of the core team that launched CiNBA.  Diana’s goal is to help launch an aquaponics business in Price Hill, so they can hire about 20 people from Price Hill to run the business, and then transition the business into an employee-owned operation.  Diana’s focus  helps create jobs and long-term wealth for the people of Price Hill using a model of economic development created by The Evergreen Cooperatives of Cleveland, Ohio

Dr. Garcia, explained that “…the aquaponics project serves as one way to help overcome the causes of concentrated disadvantage.”  All too often Dr. Garcia treats the consequences of concentrated disadvantage in the form of gunshot wounds to children.  As a natural problem solver and a highly skilled  surgeon, he realizes that treating the consequences of a problem never overcomes the underlying source of a problem.  He and the others are focused on understanding and attacking the sources of concentrated disadvantage from a systems-thinking perspective to improve the situation.

Would you like to get involved to bring the aquaponics business to life in Price Hill?  Dr. Garcia’s project needs   experienced business professionals and college students to help build and carry out a solid business model for this business venture.  If you would like to involved, watch these three videos and then contact the project (links are available on the www.cincyentre.com website:

1.  http://evergreencooperatives.com/ for a review of the Evergreen Cooperatives model;
2.  http://tinyurl.com/concdisadv to gain an understanding of concentrated disadvantage;
3.  http://tinyurl.com/RW-life-of-purpose to consider what you can do with what you’ve been given.

If these videos stir your interest, please connect with maitia@xavier.edu to find out how you can help.

Chance networking interactions can lead to great opportunities to expand your horizons. Not every interaction will be as fertile as my meeting with Cintrifuse. You will find the more you connect, the more likely you will discover favorable conditions to do great things.

 

Joe Carter’s Links

Cintrifuse logo
http://www.cintrifuse.com		 CINBA LOGO

https://www.facebook.com/GCINBA
evergreen cooperatives logo
http://evergreencooperatives.com/		 eureka ranch logo
http://www.eurekaranch.com/
Price Hill Will logohttp://www.pricehillwill.org/economic-development
Xavier LogoXavier Entrepreneurial Center
http://www.xavier.edu/williams/centers/entrepreneurial-center/index.cfm

© 2013 http://www.cincyentre.com

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The Collective Power of Passion

Posted: May 5, 2013 by Amanda Greenwell in Innovation, People, Startup
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AmandaGreenwellPassionate startups are spreading like wildfire in the region due to the courage of entrepreneurs to gain self-awareness, take risks, and turn great ideas into great businesses like never before. Passionate entrepreneurs work on their ideas constantly and now they take action to launch their ventures fulltime.  Like entrepreneurs, the community has developed great ideas for enabling startups like UpTech and the Brandery to accelerate the next big ideas into reality.  These organizations are startups as well and provide many tools and programs for entrepreneurs to follow their dreams.  The empowerment of entrepreneurs manifests itself in the following ways:

  • Exciting regional collaboration, the Ohio River is no longer the Ohio Ocean
  • Young talent moving into (and back to) and staying in our region
  • The great balance of exciting business opportunities and quality of life
  • A thriving entrepreneur community in the Northern Kentucky / Greater Cincinnati.

Amazing things happen when you follow your dreams. Northern Kentucky University’s tag line says it all: “Dreamers welcome.”  When you welcome dreamers with open arms, give them the tools to succeed, there is an unparalleled power that only collective passion can bring.

Three essential characteristics make up the personality of a successful entrepreneur:

1)     Self-awareness:  Do I have what it takes to be an entreprenur? Successful entrepreneurs have done the hard work to become aware of their talents, gifts, strengths, and weaknesses.  They get clarity on what they want and what they don’t want.  Embarking on a journey to discover who you really are, will only pay dividends in your career and your relationships. Tools like Tom Rath’s book Strengths Finder and programs like Startup Weekend help you discover your inner entrepreneur

2)     Passion:  What do you love to do?  What activities do you engage in that causes you to lose all track of time?  Successful entrepreneurs often get criticized for working all the time, but they do not feel they are even working at all!  Ask a true dreamer about their passion and their eyes light up, enthusiasm erupts, and their conviction wins you over .

3)     A great idea: Do you have the next Google or Prius in your head? Highly self-aware and passionate entrepreneurs generate great ideas almost automatically and continuously.  They clearly see real-world problems and are driven to fix them. These passionate and self-aware entrepreneurs seem to see around corners and invent incredibly effective products and services to solve difficult and complex challenges.

If you have done the work to embark on the journey to self-awareness, discovered your passion, and have the next big idea, seek out the organizations that can help you make your great ideas come true. The Greater Cincinnati Venture Association website provides an inventory of the region’s entrepreneurial assets in their “Greater Cincinnati Entrepreneur Ecosystem” link. Although the Brandery’s application process closed on May 1st, entreprneurs can appy online to UpTech, Northern Kentucky’s Startup Accelerator until May 24, 2013. Check out more links on this column’s website at http://www.cincyentre.com.

Inventing the Close Shave

Posted: April 21, 2013 by Chuck Matthews in Innovation, Leadership, People
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UC Chuck MatthewsOne of my all-time favorite examples of the quintessential entrepreneur is King C. Gillette.  He embodies what I like to call the entrepreneur’s 3-D vision: drive, determination, and dedication.  His entrepreneurial journey parallels the timeless challenges facing entrepreneurs then and now.  He epitomizes the three essential tasks of the entrepreneur both at start-up and as the venture matures – creativity, leadership, and communication.

Previously, I introduced the core elements of the entrepreneurship process: focus, environment, the entrepreneur, and the engagement/execution process. Even with a clear focus (product and services, customers and competition), an entrepreneur must continually assess an uncertain and changing environment (business, economic, legal, political, social, and technological factors).

Central to all of this is the entrepreneur.  That the entrepreneur must simultaneously wear multiple hats is legendary in the lore of new start-ups. With so many distractions, let’s take a closer look at how the entrepreneur applies concepts of creativity, lessons of leadership, and achieves clarity of communication.

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Startup Right by Swinging for Singles

Posted: April 14, 2013 by Bob Gilbreath in Leadership, People, Planning, Startup
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BobGilbreathIt is baseball season here in Cincinnati again, and whether you observe Opening Day as a religious holiday, or get surprised when fireworks explode in the afternoon downtown, one cannot help but join the spirit. We get to enjoy another 162 episodes of challenge and achievement. Of course we cannot help but re-awaken baseball metaphors to analyze and explain the challenges in the business world.

Entrepreneurship has a lot in common with baseball. In both a lone leader steps to the plate with intense pressure to succeed, a team is counting on you to get a hit, and even a 33% success rate is world-class. Unfortunately, too many rookie batters—and entrepreneurs—fail by swinging for the fences instead of legging out a single.

Startup founders get excited about billion-dollar stories such as Facebook, Google, Instagram and Groupon. These companies seemed to come out of nowhere with a killer idea, and we marvel at the fame and wealth that were created in the blink of an eye. The startup blogs and keynote speeches encourage young founders to “think big” and “change the world.” Such stories have pushed a thousand entrepreneurs to quit their day jobs or senior years to create “the next Google/Facebook/eBay.”

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PASSION LEADS TO COURAGE

Posted: March 31, 2013 by Tom Heuer in Leadership, People
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heuerWhat are you truly passionate about in your work? What do you really believe in? Is there anything that you will risk it all for? Or is financial security your “true North?”

There is a real paradox blooming in corporate America today. And it is causing personal conflict and anxiety at many levels in organizations. The paradox is associated with an employee’s beliefs and their unwillingness to step up and hold fast to their vision and values in the face of adversity. It is easier or more convenient to back off and go along with the pack. Our stamina for what we believe in fritters away under our absence of courage.

What is startling to me is that even people in firm’s with “leadership reputations” have acquiesced. I asked the question recently to a group of leaders from a principled, growth-oriented company with an outstanding reputation of being a “great place to work.” We wanted to know “why it is difficult to have courage in the workplace.” The response heard most often was that “I am not ready to leave the company or to be put on the back burner. I just can’t trust my boss to respond in the right way.” Such statements tell us fear and lack of passion is a prominent part of the business environment.

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Mi Amor

Posted: March 3, 2013 by Ray Attiyah in Innovation, Leadership, People, Startup
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ray attiyah“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”

– Dale Carnegie

Shortly after my wife and I began dating, she took a trip to Costa Rica. After a few days of missing her, I decided to call her, and practice my Spanish. Someone answered, “Hola!”  I responded (in my best Spanish,“Mi nombre Ramon.” The confused party responded “Que?” The silence seemed like it lasted for eons. Finally, my wife-to-be answered cracking up. The person who answered the phone told her I asked for “mi amor,” my love.

The word “amor” derives from the Latin root for the word “amateur.” Amateurs, of course, are typically contrasted with professionals, especially in terms where professionals do their work for a business while amateurs do it simply for the love, the amor.

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Mastering the Favor Economy

Posted: February 24, 2013 by Bob Gilbreath in Ecosystem, People, Startup
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BobGilbreathWhen people step away from a career to start a new venture, perhaps the biggest shock is learning how hard it is to get things done. You no longer have the power to compel others to join your meeting, buy your products or answer your emails. Humbled and alone, you soon understand that relying on the kindness of others is the only way to survive. Veteran entrepreneurs understand one must tap into a complex social system of trading favors.

Trading favors is one of the most important survival strategies in human history. Favors were a form of currency long before the first coin was ever minted. If your ancestor was lucky on a hunt for meat, he shared with his fellow tribesmen, knowing they would remember his gift when they were lucky next time. Some scientists believe our brains grew larger in order to  to keep track of frequent, complex trading exchanges among people.

Even while they are inventing the most breakthrough technologies, entrepreneurs must go back to these social rules to give their companies a shot at a future. Other people hold the key to information or access that could mean life or death for a new venture. With little money in the bank and the clock ticking mercilessly, the favor of an introduction to a potential investor, customer, advisor or new hire can mean everything.

Unfortunately no one teaches these soft skills in business school, and few people openly talk about their strategies for getting the returned phone call or opened door. I have learned a few lessons along nearly a decade of small business trials and tribulations, and I offer these Five Rules for the Favor Economy:

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E-Capital Our Greatest Need

Posted: February 10, 2013 by Jim Kahmann in Ecosystem, People, Startup
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jim kahmann wp My boss just returned from a trip to Palo Alto, California ostensibly to raise capital, but also to make connections with new networks. He felt energized by his meetings, new connections and old friends from Apple. The most obvious source of this energy emanated from the hundreds and thousands of courageous, nothing-to-lose, and arguably masochistic entrepreneurs. Palo Alto and similar startup Meccas have a seemingly limitless supply of human entrepreneur-capital.

E-capital is clearly our region’s greatest need. We must all work to energize and expand the community of courageous, masochistic entrepreneurs. Startup “energizers” like the Brandery, UpTech, CincyTech, and now Cintrifuse pump jet fuel into startups. Our next challenge is spreading word outside the area, and bringing talent – specifically, human e-capital – back to the region.

Attracting more Venture for America fellows to our startup companies is a great start. This May, Venture for America launches its second class – 100 fresh undergrads from top universities. After joining VFA’s first class, I moved to Cincinnati to join a web-based logistics startup called OneMorePallet. Six more VFA graduates also joined the startup world here. We represent Columbia, Georgetown, Cornell, Duke, The University of Maryland, and Wesleyan.

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Passion, Patience and Perseverance: The 3 P’s Essential for Entrepreneurial Success

Posted: February 3, 2013 by Rod Robinson in Leadership, People, Startup
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rod robinson“Everyone has talent.  What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.”  – Erica Jong

I have often reflected upon Erica Jong’s words during my entrepreneurial journey over the last 7 years.  Through all the highs and lows (note:  the highs are really high and the lows are really low!) —  I have attributed my staying power and ability to overcome adversity to none other than my passion, patience, and perseverance.

I’m a firm believer that everyone arrives on this earth for a reason.  Each person possesses special gifts and talents to contribute to society.  Our biggest challenge determining our gifts.  Some find it early; others find it difficult to discover.  It took 35 years to figure out my gifts and how to harness them to make a difference for others.  What better way to go through life than waking up every morning to do what you absolutely love, while simultaneously making life easier for others?

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Going to Market

Posted: January 20, 2013 by Eileen Weisenbach Keller in People, Startup
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KellerConversations in this column and in many places where entrepreneurship discussions occur often revolve around how the entrepreneur can bring his or her great idea to market, get financing and build it into a raging success. One skill touted as essential to this process is networking. Networking is the ability to make and build connections among people (and this next part is critical) who can help you build the necessary components of your business enterprise. Having an active, integrated circuit of acquaintances who support one another through knowledge, contacts and a willingness to share expertise is considered essential to entrepreneurial success.

While networking is vital, it rests on the assumption that you have the “big idea” and are at the next step of finding those who can assist you in turning it into a concept and from there into a viable business. There are, however, people who don’t have a big idea, but do have a persistent, perhaps even nagging, desire to become an entrepreneur; to make a difference, to change things, to compete in the marketplace and win. Perhaps you are an individual who has never quite found your niche in the world of employment; holding jobs but not finding fulfillment because of that incessant urge to start something from scratch. Alternatively, you may have been successfully employed for a long time but climbing that ladder and the trappings of success that come with it has not put to rest that itch to go and try something on your own. Maybe you have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but that’s your only real passion. You’re not like those other folks who are fanatical about some one “thing” and can’t sleep until they bring “it” to market. You don’t possess a love of fashion, or science or electronics that drives you.  You’re not fulfilled by what you are doing, but need help finding the “thing” that you can do better than everyone else that will lead you to taking the risk.

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