Friday, February 24, 2006

Entrepreneurial Quote - Silvio Berlusconi

"The link between my experience as an entrepreneur and that of a politician is all in one word: freedom".

Silvio Berlusconi

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/silvioberl173459.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Richard Branson

"I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going".

Richard Branson

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/richardbra173425.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Peter F. Drucker

"The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity".

Peter F. Drucker

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterfdru154441.html

Entrepreneurial Quotes - Doc Hastings

"Our region's economy was built upon their entrepreneurial spirit, and our economy still depends on the continued success of the enterprises they have worked so hard to create".

Doc Hastings

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/d/dochasting244082.html

Entrepreneurial Quotes - Thomas Jane

"My dad was an entrepreneurial businessman, and maybe I got some of his ability".

Thomas Jane

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasjane191203.html

Entrepreneurial Quotes - Harold S. Geneen

"The five essential entrepreneurial skills for success: Concentration, Discrimination, Organization, Innovation and Communication".

Harold S. Geneen

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/haroldsge162897.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Mary Douglas

"The culture that produces strong leaders is one of individualists who are entrepreneurial at every level, taking opportunities as they come, serving self-interest when they can, without inhibition".

Mary Douglas

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marydougla237163.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Bill Frist

"We are a strong, robust, and prosperous nation. Optimism is the essence of our success. It drives our creativity and emboldens our entrepreneurial spirit. It is what makes us invest in the future and accomplish our highest aims".

Bill Frist

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/billfrist167713.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Michael Faraday

"The five essential entrepreneurial skills for success are concentration, discrimination, organization, innovation and communication".

Michael Faraday

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/michaelfar277606.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Michael Gerber

"Most entrepreneurs are merely technicians with an entrepreneurial seizure. Most entrepreneurs fail because you are working IN your business rather than ON your business".

Michael Gerber

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/michaelger204543.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Jack Schwartz

"Under Hitler it was the entrepreneurial and professional classes who were the first victims of Nazi boycotts and exclusion. Today it is Israel, the most powerful symbol of Jewish national resurgence in two millennia".

Jack Schwartz

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jackschwar290295.html

Entrepreneurial Quote - Joseph A. Schumpeter

Entrepreneurial profit is the expression of the value of what the entrepreneur contributes to production.

Joseph A. Schumpeter

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/josephasc155475.html

Spreading the spirit of enterprise

Fast-tracking innovation in Cambridge

Last year, Gordon Brown announced plans to start Enterprise Summer Schools aimed at teenagers in a bid to nurture the entrepreneurs of the future. It is certainly in step with educational and economic predictions of the need for individuals to be able to create their own jobs in a hugely competitive and changing market. But what’s out there for the aspiring entrepreneurs of today? Programmes like the BBC’s ‘Dragon Den’, ‘The Apprentice’ and Channel 4’s ‘Make a Million’ have glamorised enterprise but do little to provide practical help right now. It can be an incredibly long, arduous and risky process for individuals to test, fund and transform their ideas into commercial reality.

The University of Cambridge’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) has been running its own Summer School for the past eight years with increasing success. It’s aimed at those interested in technology, innovation and enterprise looking to overcome the barriers to business – accessing the right skills, funding, networks, etc. The Summer School opens the door once a year to the prestigious Cambridge high technology network with experienced entrepreneurs available to fast-track business innovations to commercial success. CfEL collaborates with over 200 experienced entrepreneurs to provide relevant, credible and practical training. These include people like Hermann Hauser (Serial entrepreneur, Founder of Acorn computers and co-Founder of Amadeus Capital Partners), Karan Bilimoria (Founder and CEO of Cobra Beer) and John Snyder (Founder of Enterprise Accelerator and EEDA board member) to name but a few.

The location helps with Cambridge already recognised as a hive of entrepreneurial activity, particularly in the hi-tech sector. There are an estimated 250 start-ups (many technology leaders in their respective fields) with direct links to the University of Cambridge still trading and accounting for $1.5bn of revenue and $6bn of value. The activities of the Cambridge Technopole, the CfEL, Cambridge’s Hi-tech Cluster, Business Angels, Venture Capitalists and other local interest groups and private sector organisations mean there is a rich bed of knowledge and support for new members of the local hi-tech community.

Over 200 people from 19 countries have attended the Summer School since the programme started in 1999. 55 new businesses have been developed and over £35 million in funding has been raised by alumni in the period 1999 – 2005.

Source: http://www.entrepreneurs.jims.cam.ac.uk/news/news.htm

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Entrepreneurial Quotes

“There will come a time when big opportunities will be presented to you, and you’ve got to be in a position to take advantage of them.” – Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Inc.

“There is only one way to make a great deal of money; and that is in a business of your own.” – J. Paul Getty, Former oil tycoon and once the richest man in America

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy, former president of the United States

“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.” – Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, former Roman Emperor

“Those who enter to buy, support me. Those who come to flatter, please me. Those who complain, teach me how I may please others so that more will come. Only those hurt me who are displeased but do not complain. They refuse me permission to correct my errors.” – Marshall Field, entrepreneur

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary” – Vidal Sassoon, entrepreneur
“I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work.” - Harry Truman, former U.S. President

“If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't! If you want to win, but think you can't, It's almost a cinch you won't. If you think you'll lose, you're lost; For out in the world we find Success begins with a fellow's will; It's all in the state of the mind. Life's battles don't always go To the stronger and faster man, But sooner or later the man who wins Is the man who thinks he can.” – Walter D. Wintle

“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t do.” Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist

One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want. – Zig Ziglar, salesman

Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny. - Chinese Proverb

When all resources; food, wildlife, trees, fuel, are destroyed, man will not be able to eat money. - Native American Proverb

Seek to understand then be understood. – Stephen R. Covey, author

The rich buy assets. The poor only have expenses. The middle class buys liabilities they think are assets. - Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, entrepreneur, investor

Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners. – Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, entrepreneur, investor

Monday, February 06, 2006

Talk the Talk - entrepreneurship

Like all selling, entrepreneurship is 50% bullshit. Big yourself up at every opportunity (if you don't no one else will) and don't hesitate to use the following in important meetings - banks, investors and customers will lap them up:

"I'm very Proactive" - The opposite of reactive. You make things happen and are a dynamic, go-getting businessperson. You do not sit at home watching Neighbours and drinking tea all day.

"My Stakeholders are key" - Someone your business relies on. You understand the key concept that all businesses are about building, and maintaining, relationships. Everyone from your bank manager (financial support) to your local KFC (emotional support) is important.

Just don't overdo it, or you will sound like David Brent.