Entrepreneurial Journeys

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant, Sramana Mitra, has compiled 4 volumes of short interviews she has conducted with individuals who have started companies and projects. Through their stories one can gain inspiration and guidance. A nice collection of mini-cases, you can read the invidual interviews from Entrepreneur Journeys at Ms. Mitra's site
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Ms. Mitra has also started a program known as "One Million by One Million" that seeks to help companies reach a million in revenues. You can attend the weekly 1M/1M roundtable on the web and listen to the sessions between Ms. Mitra and 3-4 entrepreneurs from around the globe, all at various stages of growth. She guides them along a strategic discussion and provides next steps and advice. Some of the typical issues discussed include bootstrapping, raising money, validating the business model, gaining focus/clarifying their story, marketing, distribution, etc. The audience can learn a lot from these often animated discussions. The 1M/1M Strategy Roundtable is open to all entrepreneurs - both to attend and to present. The schedule for the upcoming meetings through September is as follows:

Today Thursday, August 26, 2010, 10am United States Central Standard Time (CST) or 1700 Stockholm time (GMT+1)
Thursday, September 2, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 9, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 16, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 23, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 30, 2010, 10 a.m. CST

Petrological innovation for short term gain

More often than not, entrepreneurs are encouraged to develop long-term strategies for growth. Sometimes, however, it is possible to develop a short-term strategy for a short-term gain--without risking large up-front capital investment. Ten years ago, very few Internet users had ever heard of the Pet Rock. I enjoyed referring to it in courses as an example of a product innovation using one of the world's oldest resources which was "re-saleable" via a simple, inexpensive, but highly pathos-loaded marketing campaign. Today, one can find references to the rock on pop-sites, inventor sites, and on wikipedia.

The Pet Rock (which I bought for my father for Christmas in 1975 when I was the ripe age of 18)serves as a reminder that nearly anything is marketable--giving the right time, place, and message. The entrepreneur must have a sixth sense (empathy) for customer needs (perceived or real) and be able to identify the seize the moment when time, place, and message can converge or be converged.

Gary Dahl, innovator and seller of the Pet Rock, was interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States in 2000. Listen.

Today, 35 years on, the Pet Rock is making a comeback--relying on the nostalgia market. Martin Abrams, formerly an executive of Mega Corporation (no longer in existence), bought the rights to "Pet Rock" and has relaunched them via his company I-Star Entertainment.

Library of Economics and Liberty

A resource for entrepreneurship students seeking books, articles and other resources can be found at the Library of Economics and Liberty based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site is supported by a private organisation called the Liberty Fund, started in 1960 by Pierre F. Goodrich (1894-1973) which is an objective, open, and non-political forum for exchange of ideas.