w3w3.com

Building the ecosystem...

Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City
1300_ 10/23/12 - Cities and towns around the world know that fertile locations for innovation help attract creative people and enable vibrant civic life. Brad Feld's new book, Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, examines how to kick-start and nurture a startup scene. An entrepreneur and high profile venture capitalist, Feld details the ingredients necessary to catalyze locations where high growth ventures can flourish. Building great startup communities is not a quick flip, rather, it is a 20 year process. Feld's view explains why entrepreneurs are best able to lead efforts concerning entrepreneurial infrastructure needed to build great innovation scenes. Phil Weiser moderates this One-on-One discussion. Crash Course: Startup Communities - Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City with Brad Feld at the Silicon Flatirons Center...watch this video...
RELATED LINKS: Brad's Book || Silicon Flatirons Center || Foundry Group || Economy Builders || KEYWORDS: Brad Feld, Phil Weiser, Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, Silicon Flatirons Center, Entrepreneurs, Leaders, Startup Communities, Crash Course

The Boulder Thesis

Startup Communities and Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
1287_ 10/2/12 - What does a Startup Community Ecosystem look like? Ask our prolific author and Colorado based VC Brad Feld. Ok, you don't have to, we did. Now you can listen to him. Then you have to read this book. And after digesting all his great advice, one last step, or maybe the first step... "Do it!  Don't wait for permission. Don't wait to talk to someone. Do go to startup events, meetups, tech talks everything you can find and commit to that for at least six months."
      We began, that is w3w3® Media, 14+ years ago on terrestrial radio and one of our earliest interviews was Brad Feld, a relative newcomer to the Boulder area - already making a name for himself. We've watched him and his wife Amy build their home here, making this community - that's the entrepreneurial, technology (even the arts, the university) and VC communities better and stronger. He's been a champion for the community as a whole and now he's working on the young emerging entrepreneurs, his newest book, "Startup Communities - Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City".
      Brad said he's used a lot of the ideas that he's been involved in and participated in, in Boulder, since he moved here in the mid-90s, to form the framework for the book, which we called the "Boulder Thesis". They worked hard on defining on what any city in the world should do if they want to create a long-term, healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. The key parts of the Boulder Thesis are these four components. The first is the startup community has to be lead by entrepreneurs. We separate the world into leaders and feeders. They're both important, but they're different. In the context of startup communities, the only people that can be effective leaders are the entrepreneurs. If you have the other people involved in the startup community, the feeders playing the role of leader, it doesn't work. So government can't be the leader, university can't be the leader, investors, venture capitalists, big business, those can't be the leaders. The Second is those entrepreneurs have to take a long-term view. Brad likes to say, "It's generational, at least 20 years. You can't start and build a sustainable startup community in two or three years." We're in a cycle where startups are exciting, a lot of people get involved in startups, and that's fine. But if you really want to build, in your city, a long term startup community, you have to be in it for a long time. The Third part of the Boulder Thesis is, you have to be inclusive of anyone who wants to engage at any level. This is leaders and feeders, individuals who want to get involved - it's anyone new, who moves to town, anyone who wants to be involved can and should be - Then you're way ahead of the game. The last part is you have to have a series of activities and events that have a regular cadence and rhythm to them. Things like TechStars an accelerator for 90 days, you're doing something that engages the entire entrepreneurial stack. The essence of it is this idea that... Well, listen to Brad he will tell you so much more - read his book and you'll learn so much more. Get started now!
RELATED LINKS: Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City || Brad Feld Blog || Brad Presenting, SFC Crash Course || Foundry Group || Do More Faster Book || Economy Builders || Venture Capital Channel || KEYWORDS: Brad Feld, Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, Foundry Group, Venture Capital, Amy Feld, Boulder Thesis, bytes=8827196
LISTEN TO: Brad Feld, Author, Startup Communities, Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City

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IT & Open Source Solutions

IT infrastructure solutions for companies of all sizes
1286_ 9/28/12 - We are here with a valuable resource, AppliedTrust Co-CEOs/CoFounders, Trent Hein and Ned McClain and winners of the Colorado Companies to Watch 2012. AppliedTrust is an IT consulting firm and we help mostly with IT infrastructure problems for companies of all sizes. They like to say they do the hard IT stuff so you can be awesome! What that really means is they do Internet or network plumbing stuff like performance, security and availability. And Trent points out, AppliedTrust is one of the few organizations that helps other organizations with Open Source technology - so they help them apply, maintain and operate open source technology in their environment. Because of the economy we've asked Trend and Ned what they think are the biggest challenges to entrepreneurs today. Trent said he thought one of the biggest challenges was for an entrepreneur to differentiate their company from the rest of the marketplace. ATE has that challenge and they work with a lot of startups in Boulder, and they have that challenge. There is so much noise out there that it's hard to pick out what are the companies that can really deliver what they say and that there's a need for whatever it is they do. Next question, what are the greatest opportunities. Ned takes this one and said, "In our space it's really exciting, cloud services. Companies can roll out first class infrastructure, first class products without investing millions of dollars in computing infrastructure ...Listen for much more...

          

RELATED LINKS: AppliedTrust || The Barking Seal Blog || AppliedTrust History || Boulder IS || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Gala Event || KEYWORDS: AppliedTrust, Trent Hein, Ned McClain, IT infrastructure, Cloud Services, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, > bytes=6464055
LISTEN TO: Trent Hein, Ned McClain, Applied Trust

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The Ultimate Win is Yours

Achieving Your Personal and Professional Goals
1279_ 9/17/12 [Orig pub 7/9/07] - Don't Let Another Year Go By - The Ultimate Win is Yours Larry Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the US. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs.  Listen and watch at w3w3® Media Network, www.w3w3.com
RELATED LINKS: Training Trends || Ultimate Win Resources || 3-Filters Technology™ || Your Goal || KEYWORDS: Goals, Ultimate Win, Personal, Professional, Success, Trainer, Achievement, Pat and Larry Nelson

Difficult People...

The Dirty Dozen – Disastrous, Dumb and Deceitful by w3w3.com
1267_ 8/30/12 - Is everyone crazy out there, or is it just me? We all know some difficult people. Whether they are customers, co-workers of even those in your personal life. Listen to this discussion with Larry Nelson about his directory of the “Dirty Dozen” and their characteristics. They range from Saboteurs to Wonderful Ones, from Saints to Emotional Misfits, from Connivers to Bullies, and a few others that will surprise you or get you. What you’ll appreciate the most is understanding what makes you vulnerable and what you can do about it.
Related Links: Training Trends || 3-Filters || TRTR Channel || Beyond the Trends || Keywords: Difficult People, Dirty Dozen, Larry Nelson, Institute for Change Research, Training Trends, 3-Filters > - bytes=6843353
LISTEN to Larry Nelson, Institute for Change Research

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"Venture Deals...

Feld and Mendelson - How venture capital deals work
1243_ [Orig.Pub: 1069_ 8/29/11] 7/19/2012- At GlueCon this past May 2012, Jason Mendelson told us about a sequel to "VENTURE DEALS". When Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson sat down to write their book the goal was to aim it at every entrepreneur, to really help them understand how venture capital deals work. Brad Feld in Tuscany, Italy talks with Larry Nelson via Skype to tell us about his newest book, "Venture Deals...Be smarter than your lawyer and venture capitalist". The inspiration for the book came from the Term Sheet Series that Jason and Brad wrote about five-six years ago. This is a particularly valuable book for entrepreneurs looking for money... You'll get an insider's view of the venture deal process, the different players involved on the deal side including how venture firms are setup. And, they talk about how an entrepreneur should think about the fund raising process. The term sheet is a very complicated document and there are a lot of things that people negotiate. But there are essentially only two things that matter which are economics and control. Here they've spent a lot of time helping the reader understand which terms related to economics and which terms were related to control and how and what that meant. It's meant to be a guide not a text book with material that can be very dry and boring. They've made fun of lawyers, venture capitalists and themselves along the way, but there goal was to write something significant and enduring. Comments from readers include..."For a first time entrepreneur, it's a completely enlightening book." Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO wrote a very nice forward to the book where he talks about how useful it would have been to have this book at the beginning of his career, and throughout his career, to look back and reflect on all the deals he's been involved in. Brad tells us how his blog, Ask the VC works with this book. Number one piece of advice for a new entrepreneur from Brad is, "Pick something that you're incredibly passionate about. The thing you want to create, the business you want to start should be something that you're in love with. It's going to be hard. You're going to have lots of ups and downs, there will be lots of things that don't work. If the thing you're working on 18-20 hours a day isn't something you're incredibly passionate about, what's the point?" Second is surround yourself with mentors." ...don't miss the rest of Brad's advice, listen now!
Related Links: Venture Deals - Amazon || Ask the VC || Feld Thoughts || Mendelson's Musings || Foundry Group || Feld-Weiser One-on-One || VC Channel || Keywords: Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson, Venture Deals, Venture Capitalist, Foundry Group, Entrepreneur, Mentors, Dick Costolo, Twitter, Tuscany, Italy, Foundry Group’s Series A Documents - Bytes: 13588587
LISTEN to Brad Feld, Author, Venture Deals

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Why Facebook Matters to Business

Expert advice for managing social media
1230_ 6/29/12 [Pub. 12-12-2011] - Lucy Sanders, CEO for the National Center for Women and Information Technology or NCWIT along with Larry Nelson, Director of w3w3® Media Network are interviewing Clara Shih the best selling author of The Facebook Era and founder/CEO Sequoia-backed Hearsay Social, one of the fastest-growing and most exciting technology companies in Silicon Valley. Clara is a renowned social media authority and technology leader whose New York Times-featured book has been translated into nine languages and is used as a textbook at Harvard Business School. Hearsay Social develops social media software to enable large franchise brands to create, measure and distribute content out to local reps, agents, and franchisees' Facebook or Twitter pages. Consider insurance agents, financial advisors, coffee houses or restaurant chains. They are part of important corporate brands, but what makes them thrive are local relationships. Social media can help, but it needs to be managed in a way that supports the brand, customer satisfaction and hence the business bottom line. Our listeners are familiar with “customer relationship management” for businesses this is something like, social media relationship management. In 2007, Clara created the first business application on Facebook and subsequently authored the New York Times-featured best selling book The Facebook Era, which has sold over 21,000 copies worldwide. Previously, Clara was a marketing executive at salesforce.com, and held technology and product positions at Google and Microsoft. Clara has a BS in computer science and economics and MS in computer science from Stanford. She is a frequently invited keynote speaker on social media at global conferences including AlwaysOn, Web 2.0 Expo, Enterprise 2.0, CRM Evolution, Social-Loco, American Marketing Association, Toronto TechWeek, and Social Ad Summit. There are a number of learning points for entrepreneurs and leaders offered by Clara...listen for more...
Related Links: Hearsay Social || Find Clara on Facebook || and Twitter @clarashih || NCWIT Home || NCWIT Blog || Heroes Channel || Why Facebook Matters for B2B || Keywords: Clara Shih, Hearsay Social, National Center for Women in Technology, Lucy Sanders, NCWIT, Entrepreneurs, The Facebook Era, Facebook, Twitter, Social Media, bytes=152933443
LISTEN TO: Clara Shih, CEO/Founder, Hearsay Social

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Work-life balance...

Feld-Weiser One-on-One: Feld on Work-Life Balance
1229_ 6/26/12 [Pub. 6-15-2009] -  

For entrepreneurs, lawyers and other professionals, work-life balance is often a topic that individuals plan on thinking about when they have time. Phil Weiser, Dean of the Law School, University of Colorado - Boulder, engages in a discussion with Brad Feld, Managing Partner, Foundry Group, about a topic that is very elusive for many entrepreneurs. Brad said, "This topic took me 15 years, a failed first marriage, and my current wife (Amy Batchelor) almost calling it quits for me to realize that I had to figure out what 'work-life balance' meant to me." This recognition lead to Brad's commitment to a series of rules, which evolved into a set of habits that include: 1. Spend time away; 2. Life dinner; 3. Segment space; 4. Be present; 5. Meditate. Notably, Brad's view on life-work balance is not that working hard is not important; it's that "balance improves the quality/quantity of work that you can get done and you become more effective at accomplishing stuff." Listen to the entire Feld & Weiser, One-on-One on Work-Life Balance.
Related Links: Photos || Silicon Flatirons Passing Baton Ceremony || Feld Blog || Foundry Group || Venture Deals - Feld & Mendelson || Keywords: Brad Feld, Phil Weiser, Work-Life Balance, Entrepreneurs, Work-Life Balance, Amy Batchelor - Bytes: 44730621
LISTEN TO: One-on-One Brad Feld, Phil Weiser

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Blue Ocean Strategy BizCon

Chris Coughlin, Business Conference Focused on Revenue Growth
1211_ 5/22/12 - Meet Chris Coughlin. Chris has a fantastic, interesting background. He is an entrepreneur and while this isn't the subject of our discussion today, Chris is involved in football coaching. His most successful business actually trains 35,000 football coaches each year in conferences across the country. Chris also does a little high school coaching in Colorado Springs. With that as a background, we're talking to Chris about his conference business, Revenue North - they have a conference coming up here in Denver on June 27th. Chris has a high interest in the "Blue Ocean Strategy" taken from the book of the same title (written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne). What it did for Chris was to give a word picture to the way he's approached business his whole life. The word picture is, a red ocean, full of blood, representing a market with a lot of competitors fighting each other over the same ground. It's everyone competing along the same dynamic. If you can break into a blue ocean (the name of the book and a great word picture), out of the red ocean to the great blue sea, where there is unbounded opportunity to travel and cover as much ground as you want. Now we all have competition, but if you can develop your product or your pricing strategy - ideally both - you can make it so really you don't have competitors. Then, you're in the blue ocean. A great example is Apple / iTunes - they didn't approach the market in the same way as the people operating in the standard red ocean. Larry asked, "How does that strategy translate into value for your customers today?" Chris replied, using the Revenue North Conference here in Denver as an example. Chris was going to take his staff to a marketing conference about 18 months ago. The cost was staggering, a conference fee of $895 per person, plus air fare and hotel. It was going to be a $10 - $15K operation, plus a lot of coordination and a lot of headaches. "So" Chris said, "there are tons of business training options, the w3w3® website is one - it's great." Chris had to find a blue ocean strategy. How could he train business people including his own staff - but do it at a spectacular price, get a much better product than they could get anywhere else and make it local. He created Revenue North. "We've got 42 different sessions a person can hit in a day, seven concurrent sessions. Compared to $895 we can do it for $99."
Related Links: Revenue North Biz Conference || Blue Ocean Strategy || Training Trends || Podcasting Directory || Keywords: Chris Coughlin, Revenue North, Conference, Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne, Glazier Clinic, Apple, iTunes, Denver, Colorado, Training - bytes=6237939
LISTEN TO: Chris Coughlin, Founder, Revenue North

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Global entrepreneur shares the lessons

534_ Change Is Not an Event, It Is an Ongoing Process
(the Same is true with Chaos) 5/3/2012
Mastering change is one of Pat and Larry Nelson's favorite topics. There's a good reason. They have lived in and owned businesses in five foreign countries stretching from Norway to Australia. They are truly serial entrepreneurs as they have started more than a dozen companies. Some were extremely successful and others learning experiences. One thing that was true in every situation were the rushing changes. At times they were victims and others they were victors. Larry has conducted seminars for numerous companies both large and small, public and private sectors, in dozen countries, on the subject of 'Mastering Change in the Midst of Chaos'. In this recorded discussion Larry and Pat discuss the 'Six Truths About Change'. The topic includes; Resistance, Involvement, Making Losers, Vision, Benefits, and Follow up. Like the Nelsons say, "Master Change Before It Masters You." Listen now...
Related Links: Beyond the Trends || 3-Filters || Training Trends || Free Newsletter || Mastering Change || Mastering Change - Amazon || Keywords: Mastering Change, Chaos, Pat and Larry Nelson, Involvement, Vision, Benefits, Follow up > Bytes: 8472349 LISTEN 8/4/08

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