Posts Tagged ‘Trends’

On Tuesday, I will be part of the NYEW panel “A Roadmap for the Tech/Mobile/Telecom/Media Sectors: Top Entrepreneurs Reflect.”

It is a perfect topic and promises to generate a lively discussion. I have lots of Silicon Valley tech start-up experience and some Fortune 50 Telecom experience – but for reasons that will become obvious I will focus on mobile. Mobile changes everything and we are just beginning to realize it. What interests me most is how profoundly mobile phones are changing the way we work.

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Lately I have been teaching a uniquely green focused FastTrac Tech Venture program run by ITAC – New York City’s Industrial and Technology Assistance Corporation.

Our class is full of small start-up and early-stage businesses with state-of-the-art green technology business concepts. Super cool ideas ranging from solar panel manufacturers to internet-based companies that measure energy usage of your home and commercial buildings.

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For the fearful, our current economic environment is an obstacle, for the bold, it is an opportunity.

What do companies like GE, HP, Microsoft, CNN, Hyatt and Burger King have in common? They were all started in economic downturns by entrepreneurs whose passion, commitment, and ability to execute far out-shadowed the temporary economic obstacles.

New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) scheduled November 16^th to the 20^th 2009 celebrates the opportunities to be found in this economy. Through a series of panels, keynotes and networking sessions, entrepreneurs will learn from over 120 speakers from 18 states and 3 continents the resources available to them and how to launch, grow, and manage a successful business venture.

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Last month I saw a fascinating movie premier, “The Age of Stupid”.

Never mind that it was the first time a movie premier was broadcast live via satellite (from here in New York) around the world on over 550 screens in 45 countries. Or that they had in attendance the likes of Kofi Annan (former Secretary General of the United Nations), Heather Graham and Jillian Anderson as well as music from Moby and Radiohead.. Or that The Huffington Post called the movie launch “One of the most important films of the year (perhaps decade)”, as both a new way independent films will be released and also a way to give additional exposure to the environmental message. Read the rest of this entry »

As a precursor to this post, I just want to let it be known that if you aren’t aware of ISPs, copyright infringement, torrents, or the FCC, then you probably won’t care too much. On the other hand, if you’re one the 10mm people that do (myself included), who actively use the Internet and care about much of the “underground” aspects of it, then read on.

To catch the unenlightened up to date, after much speculation and debate which appeared on various tech blogs, it was shown that the FCC was planning on proposing a new set of Internet legislation dubbed “Net Neutrality”. Now I know what some of you must be asking yourselves; “isn’t the Internet already a neutral place?” Though the file sharing trends and trials are being much more publicized because of the increased tension between users, ISPs, and the various companies such as Sony or Apple (not to mention the recent Pirate Bay mockery that was made in regards to the proposed “legalized buyout” of it’s trademark and domain) as of late, relatively few people actually know the laws that govern both sides of the argument.

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Green is a hot topic. The September 28 issue of Newsweek published a list of the 500 greenest companies in America with Hewlett-Packet listed as number one. Last April, former President Bill Clinton, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) Chief Scientist Amory Lovins, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Empire State Building owner Tony Malkin, declared a very bold plan to reduce the energy use of the Empire State Building by 38 percent, and save $4.4 million annually in the process.

When it comes to conversations regarding green buildings, there are a couple of concerns that are in the foreground for most business owners: do green buildings really increase employee productivity and what is the cost of building (or retrofitting) within green guidelines?

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Our world is more hypercompetitive then ever before, and at an ever increasing rate of speed. As a result, entrepreneurs who stake their company’s long-term viability on just one competitive advantage (or even two) will not have a high likelihood of survival. Why?

The future of competitive advantage is aggregation. Having one or two competitive advantages has become the commoditized standard on a local, regional, national and global scale. Thus, survival and scalability means incorporating four, five, or even six disparate products/services synergistically and effectively to gain meaningful and sustainable marketshare. Furthermore, in addition to aggregation, businesses must continue a strong R&D Program, seeking new innovations that leapfrog the competition. Read the rest of this entry »