Inside VT KnowledgeWorks

Survey - Are You an Entrepreneur?

With the VT KnowledgeWorks Entrepreneurship Summit - which includes a Business Concept Competition, one Open, one for Students - just three months away, "What's an entrepreneur?" is a hot topic.

According to its site, "The Kauffman Foundation is often referred to as one of the largest foundations in the United States - or as the world's largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship," yet I couldn't find a definition of an entrepreneur in its entrepreneurship section.

I asked Jim Flowers, Executive Director of VT KnowledgeWorks for that definition, posted it first here, and offer it again below:

In general terms, an entrepreneur may be defined as an independent participant in the marketplace, taking personal responsibility for his or her own financial survival and well-being.  More specifically, a “true” or “complete” entrepreneur is someone who conceives, organizes, and leads a new, independent commercial venture at significant personal cost and risk, both financial and emotional.  It is not someone who does only part of that set of jobs.  So, for example, someone who opens a new coffee shop, or buys a car wash franchise, while definitely a risk-taker,  is not a “complete” entrepreneur, since he or she does not conceive or fully organize the venture.  The same can be said of an inventor who licenses an invention to someone else who then exploits it for their mutual gain. 
 
Simply put, if you dream up a business, put it together, run it, and depend on it financially, you are an entrepreneur.

We'll share the results!

If you're interested in submitting an application to the Open Business Concept Competitions, step-by-step directions are here.  More about the Summit is here, including a video on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship by Jim Flowers.

A version of this post first appeared on Handshake 2.0.

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond.  Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).

Definition of an Entrepreneur

To enhance learning and discussion, an Entrepreneurship Summit needs a definition of an entrepreneur.

I asked Jim Flowers, Executive Director of VT KnowledgeWorks for that definition, and he kindly answered:

In general terms, an entrepreneur may be defined as an independent participant in the marketplace, taking personal responsibility for his or her own financial survival and well-being.  More specifically, a “true” or “complete” entrepreneur is someone who conceives, organizes, and leads a new, independent commercial venture at significant personal cost and risk, both financial and emotional.  It is not someone who does only part of that set of jobs.  So, for example, someone who opens a new coffee shop, or buys a car wash franchise, while definitely a risk-taker,  is not a “complete” entrepreneur, since he or she does not conceive or fully organize the venture.  The same can be said of an inventor who licenses an invention to someone else who then exploits it for their mutual gain. 
 
Simply put, if you dream up a business, put it together, run it, and depend on it financially, you are an entrepreneur.

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VT KnowledgeWorks, a regional business acceleration center that helps companies bring ideas to market, is excited to present the Second Annual Entrepreneurship Summit on April 7-8, 2010 at the Inn at Virginia Tech & Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. This two-day comprehensive workshop is ideal for prospective company founders, entrepreneurs launching or re-vamping a business, growing companies seeking expansion capital, and individuals interested in investing in early-stage companies.

If you’ve ever wanted to start a business, here’s your chance to test your business concept and win a chance to accelerate your business free at VT KnowledgeWorks!  In conjunction with the Entrepreneurship Summit, a Business Concept Competition is open to all technology entrepreneurs in Virginia and western North Carolina to pitch their business concepts in front of an audience and panel of 150 business professionals.  
 
The PRIZE
The winning team gets its business accelerated at VT KnowledgeWorks, including:
- Admission to Founders’ Readiness Retreat
- Pre-Launch Strategic Package
- Virtual Residency
- One-year membership in Presidents’ Council
 
Registration
Individuals or teams of up to three people must register by filling out an Intent to Compete form online by February 5, 2010.  The cost to apply is $50.
 
More details regarding the guidelines and deadlines for the Open Business Concept Competition.  
 
More information about the Entrepreneurship Summit.

We look forward to seeing you in April!

Lindsey Eversole, Member Services Manager
VT KnowledgeWorks
leversole@vtknowledgeworks.com
540-443-9100 x2

VTKW on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vtkw
VTKW on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vtknowledgeworks 

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond.  Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).

Fundamental Factors of Entrepreneurship

When Jim Flowers, executive director of VT KnowledgeWorks, coaches entrepreneurs, he shares with them what he terms the Four Fundamental Factors.  As he explains in his blog, So you want to launch a business..., "Success or failure of a new venture is determined very early on the strength or weakness of only a few fundamental factors, four, to be exact."

In this video, Jim Flowers offers an introduction to the Four Fundamental Factors.

Video credit: Blacksburg Media

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond.  Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).

Part of the Process

I frequently see VT KnowledgeWorks entrepreneur-in-residence Doug Juanarena at The Weight Club where I go to think, keep fit enough to tolerate the strenuousness of being a company founder, and fight a back injury.  At The Weight Club, the primary form of communication is the silent nod, but occasionally Doug and I speak about biz and I have his permission to share this anecdote.
 
Doug was lying on a weight bench and I was using one of the pulley weights, we were both between sets, and I was asking him about how he tolerates risk.  He mimed waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, doing a partial sit-up, arms stretched high, hands holding the sides of his head.
 
“It’s all going down!” he moaned.
 
Then he shrugged.  “It’s part of the process,” he said, and returned to doing bench presses.
 
Doug’s acknowledgement of the personal cost of taking risk has fortified me innumerable times as I take risk after risk as a start-up.  Sometimes I do the Doug Juanarena Risk Sit-Up, head in hands, with full sound effects.
 
“It’s all going down!” I moan.
 
Usually I laugh.  Thanks to Doug, I definitely feel less alone.

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond.  Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA).

You Get to Talk to Jim

One of the benefits of being a VT KnowledgeWorks member company is having its executive director, Jim Flowers in your life and, well, in your business.

I've been a member of VT KnowledgeWorks for 16 months now.  During that time, Jim Flowers has served as team member, mentor, consultant, expert, guide, and friend.

For an example of what Jim Flowers brings to both start-up entrepreneurs and seasoned company founders - who know him either through being member companies, members of Presidents' Council, or both - here's an excerpt from Four really useful habits from his blog So you want to launch a business...:

1. I try to stay in touch with what really matters. 

What really matters to me is not what other people tell me should matter.  It's what my own deepest inner voice tells me.  It's what I think about when I find myself awake in the middle of the night.  It's what I want to share with the people I love.  It's my vision of an ideal world.  It's how I want my life to work out.

2. I commit to relevant actions, not outcomes. 

I can control the actions I take.  But, except in trivial cases, I can't control the outcomes they will produce.  Life is simply too complicated.  There are too many uncontrollable outside influences.  If I arbitrarily decide that I will sell 100 widgets, I may or may not succeed.  If, on the other hand, I commit to improving the specific skills, techniques, and work habits related to selling, my effectiveness will definitely increase.  If I can master the details, I will then sell as many widgets as the marketplace permits me to sell.

3. I constantly test my vision and my actions against my fundamental principles. 

I assume you have principles.  I do.  Most people appear to have at least a few.  Some wise person once told me this.  "If you can't talk about your vision with your grandmother, think it over just one more time.  If you wouldn't want your action to appear on national television, reconsider your commitment to that action."

4. I do my best to stay focused. 

Just say no to more good ideas!!  I like Jonathan Mead's take on this.  He says that people who can ignore their good ideas "don’t chase the stuff that seems to have potential, but doesn’t really matter. They only do the stuff they must do: what they’re insanely passionate about and what they were born to do."  Focus also preserves a person's precious supply of MOXIE.  That's a big, big deal for an entrepreneur trying to succeed in a risky startup situation.

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a unique growth enhancement program open to entrepreneurs in the New River Valley of Virginia and beyond.  Acceleration center and incubation facilities are located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

VT KnowledgeWorks sponsors include Attaain, Inc., BB&T, Handshake 2.0, Harris Office Furniture, Hodges, Jones & Mabry, P.C., Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LeClairRyan, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and The Becher Agency (TBA)

High Expectations for High-Tech Entrepreneurs

I am very grateful to Robert Tuchman, author of Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur's Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own, for his exclusive post for Inside VT KnowledgeWorks in reply to my question which was essentially, "Yes, but what about high-tech entrepreneurs?!"

Robert Tuchman graciously replied:

The goal of any entrepreneur is to turn an idea into a high-profit business, and the only factor that sets high-tech entrepreneurs apart from the rest are their high-tech ideas.
 
In my own experience, I have found that there are three key takeaways that entrepreneurs must remember if they wish to organize and manage their own successful enterprises.

First, in order to back up what you are trying to sell, sell light and perform heavy. Now, before you completely disregard that statement, think about it, because it is not the sale itself that maintains the client, but your performance during the sale that keeps them coming back.
 
This brings me to my second point, the importance of relationships. The relationships between your clients must be good, but the relationships within your team must be excellent. Every entrepreneur should want his or her company to grow and the only way for growth to happen is to allow others to help. The people that work with and for you are only as good as you allow them to be.
 
Last, high-tech entrepreneurs must be ready to reinvent their companies if market demand shifts with just one move from one technology giant to the next. The high-tech industry is a competitive one so you mustn’t get discouraged.  Today, with technology constantly changing and the uncertainty of the economy, an entrepreneur must remain optimistic. Optimism is a gift that not everyone possesses which is why not everyone succeeds.  So, enjoy your business and don’t rush it.

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Robert Tuchman is the founder of TSE Sports which was acquired by Premiere Global Sports in 2006.  He now heads Premier Corporate Events.  He writes the blog 100Sporting Events and can be followed on Twitter @roberttuchman.

The Power of Principle for Entrepreneurs

In An Entrepreneur Who Gives on Handshake 2.0, we quoted Jim Flowers from a comment on his post on the Four Hour Work Week.  He wrote, "I don't see anything there related to giving, only taking."

In a follow-up post, The power of principle, Jim wrote:

As an entrepreneur, you are preparing to launch your own company.  Perhaps you have already launched.  In either case, I encourage you to weigh in heavily on the side of broad responsibility for future corporate actions.  Here are some principles to consider, tweaked for appropriateness to the business context:

• The fundamental importance of honesty, integrity, and responsibility;
• The inherent worth and dignity of every single person;
• The importance of justice, equity, and compassion in all relationships;
• The enlightening power of a continuing, free, and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right and the responsibility of each individual to act in good conscience in moderating behaviors, both personal and corporate;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence upon which we all depend for survival.

Read the entire post here.

Entrepreneurship and Intuition

Inside VT KnowledgeWorks asked Barbara Schwarck, founder and president of Clear Intentions and author of From Intuition to Entrepreneurship: A Woman's Guide to Following Her Dream, for advice for entrepreneurs.

Barbara Schwarck replied:

I am going to share with you one golden nugget called emotional-intelligence or emotionally-aligned goal setting. It has made a huge difference for the entrepreneurs I have had the pleasure to coach over the past ten years.  Here is an abbreviated version:

Our brain is divided into three parts: the neo-cortex, limbic and reptilian. The oldest and most primitive part of the brain is the reptilian. It is most concerned with survival. Our motivation and feelings are located in the limbic part of the brain. The limbic area is also the central relay center, responsible for conveying neurotransmission messages from the reptilian brain to the neo-cortex. The neo-cortex is the seat of rational thought. However, just because it is rational and conscious, does not mean that it is always in control. It is tricky business getting all three parts of our brains pulling in the same direction.

For example, suppose your neo-cortex (conscious) wants you to start a high-tech business. It is rational and identifies a logical plan to build the business. Your limbic system, however, is tentative because you saw your father fail at a similar venture. Since you have a highly charged emotional memory associated with failure, your reptilian brain is terrified and not aligned with your business venture. What if you fail? How will you feed yourself and your family?

With these competing “thoughts” and “feelings,” it is very unlikely that you are going to be successful with your new endeavor.  Now what?

Research indicates that the key to improving one’s performance is getting all parts of the brain aligned. Success is not only a function of the neo-cortex, but many biochemical processes that are deeply embedded in our bodies and consciousness.

Some ways you can detect and correct your misalignment include journal writing, hiring a business coach and muscle testing. If you are not producing the desired result, but are doing all the “right” things, most likely you are not emotionally aligned with your goals.  That's what we cover in our book.

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Thanks to Catherine Fong, an intern with Handshake Media, Incorporated, a VT KnowledgeWorks member company, for her contribution to this post.