Kudos

Kudos

Professor’s Study Accepted for Presentation in Chicago

RU management professor Iain Clelland’s study, “Entrepreneurs as Parallel Processors: An Examination of a Cognitive Model of New Venture Opportunity Evaluation,” has been accepted for presentation as an Interactive Paper at the 2009 Academy of Management Meeting in Chicago. Clelland co-wrote the paper with Jeong-Nam Kim of Purdue University and Seung Bai Bach of California State University, Sacramento.

Filed under: Radford University, Success , Iain Clelland, Kudos, Radford University

The Economist Magazine: “Global Heroes”

This article and introduction was forwarded to me by Dr. Iain Clelland at Radford University:

Folks,

From a tip passed on by our NRV SunTrust-sponsored 2007 Entrepreneurial Summit Keynote Speaker, Michael Simmons, I wanted to make you aware of this recent report from The Economist Magazine. It describes the tremendous trend in and importance of global entrepreneurship.  I have attached PDF files of some sections for selective reading/sharing (2-6 pages each) or you can read the entire report online at:

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13216025

Some excerpts from the report:

“IN DECEMBER last year, three weeks after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and in the midst of the worst global recession since the 1930s, 1,700 bright-eyed Indians gathered in a hotel in Bangalore for a conference on entrepreneurship. They mobbed business heroes such as Azim Premji, who transformed Wipro from a vegetable-oil company into a software giant, and Nandan Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, another software giant. They also engaged in a frenzy of networking. The conference was so popular that the organisers had to erect a huge tent to take the overflow. The aspiring entrepreneurs did not just want to strike it rich; they wanted to play their part in forging a new India. Speaker after speaker praised entrepreneurship as a powerful force for doing good as well as doing well.”

[...]

“The globalisation of entrepreneurship is raising the competitive stakes for everyone, particularly in the rich world. Entrepreneurs can now come from almost anywhere, including once-closed economies such as India and China. And many of them can reach global markets from the day they open their doors, thanks to the falling cost of communications.”

“THE rise of the entrepreneur, which has been gathering speed over the past 30 years, is not just about economics. It also reflects profound changes in attitudes to everything from individual careers to the social contract. It signals the birth of an entrepreneurial society.”

“ VICTOR HUGO once remarked: “You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.” Today entrepreneurship is such an idea… The triumph of entrepreneurship is driven by profound technological change… Another reason for entrepreneurship becoming mainstream is that the social contract between big companies and their employees has been broken… Yet another reason for the mainstreaming of entrepreneurship is that so many institutions have given it their support…The world’s governments are now competing to see who can create the most pro-business environment. In 2003 the World Bank began to publish an annual report called Doing Business, rating countries for their business-friendliness by measuring things like business regulations, property rights and access to credit…Robert Litan, of the Kauffman Foundation, suggests that the World Bank may have done more good by compiling Doing Business than by lending much of the money that it has.”

“Entrepreneurialism has become cool.”

Enjoy,

Iain Clelland, Ph.D.

Filed under: Business, Entrepreneurs, Radford University , Business, Entrepreneurs, The Economist Magazine

Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis

Dr. Iain Clelland at Radford University shared this story from the Wall Street Journal with me.

I can’t add anything (at least for the moment), because I think the message is both true and clear.

To wit:

Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis By TOM HAYES and MICHAEL S. MALONE

“It’s time for the Obama administration to provide incentives for the creation of real jobs. Mr. Hayes, a long-time Silicon Valley executive, is the author of “Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business” (McGraw-Hill, 2008). Mr. Malone, a columnist for ABCNews.com, is the author of “The Future Arrived Yesterday,” forthcoming from Crown Business.

The passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill has so far failed to stimulate anything but greater market pessimism. This suggests to us that the strategy behind the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is wrong — and worse, that the weapons it is using to fight the recession are obsolete.

Just as generals are notorious for fighting the last war, Congress and the White House seem intent on fixing an economy of hidebound and obsolete companies and industries, while ignoring the innovative ones rising before us and those waiting to be born.

Missing from this legislation is anything more than token support for the long-proven source of most new jobs and new growth in America: entrepreneurs. These are the people who gave us everything — from Wal-Mart to iPhones, from microprocessors to Twitter — that is still strong in our economy. Without entrepreneurs, we will never get out of our current predicament.

This recession is more than a business-as-usual downturn caused by bad lending practices, government incompetence and Wall Street avarice. A greater, underlying dynamic is at work, a fundamental change taking place in the global marketplace. The U.S. economy isn’t built for this new world (indeed, neither is any other nation) which is why our problems are racing out of control, while our solutions are proving both slow and inadequate. The danger now is that by merely fixing the old economy we will leave ourselves even more unprepared for the new one.

Only entrepreneurs have the flexibility, the freedom and the risk-everything ambition to find the path back to prosperity in a rapidly changing, technology-driven global economy. Here’s how to help them:

- The biggest problem for new start-ups is the lack of capital. Here in Silicon Valley, investors are paralyzed by a lack of faith in the future. Solutions? First, kill Sarbanes-Oxley or make it voluntary. Right now.

When brilliant young companies can once again go public without the prospect of being stuck with a massive, expensive reporting infrastructure, they will do so — creating new wealth, important new corporations, and reigniting venture capital investment.

- Nontraditional means of capital formation need support to let the brave risk takers of today build the future. So allow entrepreneurs to more easily tap tax-free retirement accounts — or better yet, let them create tax-free accounts specifically to fund themselves.

- Eliminate payroll taxes, which unnecessarily burden young companies. Many small companies don’t hire full-time employees because of the payroll tax burden, and this inhibits the creation of new jobs.

- The marquee venture capitalists have little time nor inclination anymore to invest seed capital in early stage companies. The real heroes these days are the nonprofessional investors — the “Angels.” These folks aren’t always the high net worth people we imagine, and often they aren’t as sophisticated as we think. So make the tax system more forgiving for them — or allow the creation of tax-free investment vehicles similar to what we now see with nonprofit foundations or 529 college savings funds.

- Business blogger Sramana Mitra has suggested a novel “tiered” tax structure to promote a return to risk-taking. VCs would pay lower capital gains taxes on investments in early stage companies and higher taxes on later stage deals. This would be the venture-capitalist equivalent of long-term versus short-term capital gains rates, supporting both strategies, but giving a bigger break for the greater risk.

- Help big business think small. The stimulus legislation is packed with incentives for large companies, but not one incentive is designed to encourage companies to create new jobs rather than merely preserving the ones they already have. To restore lost jobs, big business is going to have to take risks again — and that means investing in both internal, “intrapreneurial” ventures, and, in a venture mode, also investing in external new start-ups.

- Convene a presidential summit on entrepreneurship and small business. The last president to do so was Ronald Reagan in 1982, and the chief topic was the impact of the fax machine. We are long overdue. There is no better time for President Obama to listen to the folks who hold the fate of this economy in their hands.

At its best, the stimulus legislation is an immensely expensive attempt to restore what the U.S. economy has lost in the last few months. But the world is already moving on. The only way the American economy is going to regain its lost health and vitality is to lead the world into the future. Entrepreneurs are the only people who can get us there.”

Let’s be part of the Solution – and, not the Problem.

Brian Patrick Cork

Filed under: Business, Entrepreneurs, Radford University , Entrepreneurs, Radford University, Wall Street Journal

A Highlander Returns – By Kelly Queijo

A Highlander Returns – By Kelly Queijo

Kelly Queijo honors me with the following story about my recent trip back to Radford University. You can also view this story: “A Highlander Returns“ at her own Blog – TableForOne.Biz. /1

A Highlander Returns – By Kelly Queijo

“Walking across Radford University’s campus on the second day of the Entrepreneurial Summit, I had the chance to talk with Brian Patrick Cork (RU ‘84), keynote speaker, serial entrepreneur, and judge for the annual Elevator Pitch Competition. Athletic, charming, clad in a dark T-shirt and jeans on the first really cold day of October, he reflected on what it meant to set foot on RU’s campus after 24 years.

“I’m always proud to be a Highlander. A lot has happened since graduation. Everything I am doing today had a fundamental start there. This is where I started being a real human being.”

Cork acknowledges his four years at Radford as a political science major as formative years. In his keynote address he shared stories about the numerous and colorful events of his youth as an undergrad that put him on the path to becoming an entrepreneur. He spoke with passion and ease about his zest for life and learning.

The opportunity to return to campus and give something back to community that helped shape him into who he is today meant a great deal and judging the Elevator Pitch Competition turned out to be as exciting for him as participating was for the students. He saw it as his turn to see potential in students and offer direction.

Anthonia Anamege, second place winner, impressed him with her desire to establish the Bookworm Foundation, a nonprofit organization to help the children of Nigeria learn to read.

“I’m a son of a military officer, I’m a patriot, I’m a world citizen. Who knows what’s going to happen when she puts books in a child’s hands. Here’s the key, she’s going to reward us. Years from now we’re going to hear bout her. That’s the glory in this.”

Nicholas Morgan, founder of AcousTek Industries, won first place for his pitch to develop a technology that can be used in the field as an remote land mine detonation device. Convinced his technology would work, he had what Cork says it takes to succeed:

“It takes panache and a level of moxie–that DNA–that charisma to do what we want to do–which is change the world – that’s what entrepreneurs want. I had the opportunity to be part of that launching point. I would not have missed it for the world.”

Brian Patrick Cork is the Cultural Architect at brian cork Human Capital | Executive – Global Search and Recruiting and Business Coaching. He blogs at the aptly named: Unsinkable Brian Cork.”

I am, once again, inspired.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

_____________________

1/ It’s starting to look like Kelly will be collaborating with me on the first of my books.

Filed under: Business, Entrepreneurs, Radford University , Brian Cork, Elevator Pitch Contect, Entrepreneurial Summit, Kelly Queijo, Radford University