Posts Tagged ‘NYEW’

In the previous post we looked at what seeds funds are and why they are important.

In a recent blog post, Paul Kredowsky voiced his disapproval of the seed funding phenomenon. However, his post is less about the entrepreneur, than the seed funding companies themselves.
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The debate about whether the seed funding phenomenon is a bubble waiting to burst, or whether it’s a viable means of funding pre-revenue/start-up businesses still continues. This is my take on the landscape.

There was a time when if you wanted to fund your company you had four options, approach:

1. A bank
2. An angel investor
3. A venture capitalist

4. OR …… have an asinine risk tolerance and fund the project yourself with your own money.

At a certain threshold of funding, there was a catch twenty-two because banks are notoriously risk averse, and don’t normally fund businesses that have yet to prove themselves. Meanwhile, traditional VC firms couldn’t justify investing less than $3M-$5M in a Series A round, mainly because ROI based on growth trajectory (when investing in small amounts) wasn’t worth their while, especially when holding $700M+ under management.

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It is that time again entrepreneurs – New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) will be held November 8^th – 12^th at Scholastic Auditorium.

Below are 6 panels we will be holding this November. Mark your calendars as early-bird tickets go on sale October 1^st!

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Yesterday I met a wonderful colleague for lunch. Devin Stewart, the director of the Carnegie Council’s Global Policy Innovations.

We had just finished agreeing to work together on our next Summit in November when I mentioned I was inspired to write this week’s newsletter from one of the best articles I’ve read in a while: But Will It Make You Happy? by Stephanie Rosenbloom, in the New York Times.

He laughed and said he and his wife Ayano read the same article, inspiring them to put their two-year apartment search on hold until they sorted out some things in their lives and careers.

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A business plan helps you to objectively see every aspect of your future business. It is a critical first step which not only can prevent costly mistakes down the road, but also lay the foundation for amazing success. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the entrepreneurial buzzwords I have heard in recent months has been “elevator pitch”. Many networking groups have been pushing elevator pitch events as can be evidenced by the 45 upcoming meetups scheduled for elevator pitches.

35 groups talk about elevator pitches in their description. But as someone who has attended many networking events and heard just about every entrepreneur at New York Entrepreneur Week pitching their idea, I think that the elevator pitch is no longer the key but rather the “pitch to pitch” is.

Lets face it; we no longer have the attention span we did 5 years ago. Twitter has shortened our attention span to 140 characters.

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As the global economy undergoes more changes (and it will continue to do so) even more people will choose to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. Changes to corporate mindsets, downsizing and other upheavals in the “safe” world of formal employment are forcing many to embrace entrepreneurship, and start their own small businesses. Add to those the people with the burning desire to “be their own boss” and you have plenty of new entrants into the wonderful, frightening, exciting and exhausting world of being a business owner.

However, whatever your reasons for considering entrepreneurship instead of formal employment, there are a few traits you will need to cultivate in order to succeed.

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As you may have seen recently on twitter or facebook, I have been elected to the AOL Small Business Board of Directors. This is a prestigious achievement for both The Relentless Foundation and its cornerstone event – New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW).

With a driven and relentless global vision for entrepreneurship globally, I am humbled to be surrounded by a group of board members who are visionary thought-leaders, business mavericks and influential innovators, including:

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