A friend of mine who recently took the entrepreneurial plunge and launched a consumer web business recently asked me for some advice. Aiming to serve more people than just him with what is hopefully useful advice, I am posting my response here. This was my friend’s request: “I believe the greatest challenge my company willContinue reading “Entrepreneurship Advice: Growing a Consumer Web Business”
Category Archives: Leadership & Entrepreneurship
Keys for US Job Creation
Last week I was honored to be asked to advise the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness about what we are doing here in Houston that has led to so much job creation while the rest of the country has been so economically stagnant. The meeting was held at Rice and was an informal roundtableContinue reading “Keys for US Job Creation”
Selling Your Entrepreneurial Venture
In response to the news of Microsoft’s acquisition of Yammer, I was asked for my opinion on whether this kind of “selling out” is good thing. The asker of the question cited concerns that the “big, grey corporation” might stifle the product, slow innovation, or in other ways ruin a good thing. Following is myContinue reading “Selling Your Entrepreneurial Venture”
CleanTech Open Finals
Last week I traveled to San Jose, CA, for the finals of the CleanTech Open, for which Smart Office Energy Solutions had been selected as a finalist from the South Central region. I and 20 other finalists from the seven regions arrived in San Jose on Monday to begin two exhausting days of competition. EachContinue reading “CleanTech Open Finals”
School Pride Continued
No sooner had we returned to the US than we traveled to San Antonio for more IMD action – but this time closer to “home” turf! The Academy Of Management‘s annual meeting was being held there in several venues along the River Walk. The AOM is the preeminent academic organization for scholars in the fieldsContinue reading “School Pride Continued”
CleanTech Open National Academy
I’ve just returned from the National Academy of the Cleantech Open, for which Smart Office Energy Solutions was selected as a Regional Semifinalist, in San Jose, CA. The Academy was a four-day affair of workshops and networking for Cleantech entrepreneurs who had made it into the semi-finals. The jury is still out on whether competingContinue reading “CleanTech Open National Academy”
The IMD Global Leadership Challenge is Over!
I’m so grateful for all the support I received in my participation in IMD’s Global Leadership Challenge! I finished #27 out of 5,380 contestants from 124 countries on five continents and I couldn’t have done it without all of the help I received. The contest was broken down into three sections, each of which embodiedContinue reading “The IMD Global Leadership Challenge is Over!”
Happy Birthday, Smart Office Energy Solutions!
Wow. One year ago today we incorporated Smart Office Energy Solutions. As impatient as I am, it is never moving along quite quickly enough for me, but it is still important to look back at all we have already accomplished in a relatively brief time. When we incorporated last December, we had completed tremendous analysisContinue reading “Happy Birthday, Smart Office Energy Solutions!”
The Right Path
Last Friday I had the privilege to attend the dedication event of the new Rice Center for Engineering Leadership. What an exciting new center, dedicated to helping engineering students identify and solve the world’s most pressing problems. How I wish something like this had existed back when I was a Rice engineering student! The eventContinue reading “The Right Path”
Starting a Company Is Hard
Today isn’t quite the one-year anniversary of me beginning my full-time focus on Smart Office Energy Solutions but it is about the one-year anniversary of my departure from Poken, and that gives me pause to think about what has–and hasn’t–been accomplished since then. When I look back at it, the clear conclusion is that startingContinue reading “Starting a Company Is Hard”