Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fittest [entrepreneur] of them all . . . ? I am! At least according to the Houston Fittest Entrepreneur Challenge, which was organized by Fit Company, a nonprofit seeking to promote health among business professionals. There were several competitor categories: entrepreneurs, execs, doctors, lawyers, and company teams. AllContinue reading “Fittest Entrepreneur”
Tag Archives: entrepreneurship
Enderpreneurship Part 3
This is my third and final post in my series on entrepreneurship lessons from Ender’s Game. For the previous posts, see Part 1 and Part 2. Lead a startup the way Ender leads Dragon Army. A startup is very much like Ender’s Dragon Army: newly formed, constantly learning, and searching for patterns that work inContinue reading “Enderpreneurship Part 3”
Enderpreneurship Part 2
This is Part 2 of my series on entrepreneurship lessons from the Ender’s Game novel. If you haven’t already read it, start with Part 1. The best entrepreneurs don’t play the game; they create a new game by playing by different rules. Throughout the novel, Ender turns disadvantageous situations to his advantage by bending, breaking,Continue reading “Enderpreneurship Part 2”
Enderpreneurship: What Andrew Wiggin Can Teach Us About Winning the Game of Entrepreneurship
This weekend’s release of the cinematic adaptation of Ender’s Game (and rereading the novel before going to see the movie) got me thinking about how many of Ender’s experiences can be translated into lessons on entrepreneurship. As I stated in my TEDx talk: we can take MANY lessons on entrepreneurship from popular myths and IContinue reading “Enderpreneurship: What Andrew Wiggin Can Teach Us About Winning the Game of Entrepreneurship”
Rice Named Top University Incubator
Rice University has been selected as having the top university business incubator in the world according to a just-released study by UBI. I have been working for more than a year now to support/enhance/catalyze entrepreneurship at Rice by teaching, mentoring, and helping to launch the OwlSpark Accelerator, which received special mention in the announcement. ItContinue reading “Rice Named Top University Incubator”
A Spark of Entrepreneurship at Rice
Although I haven’t posted much about it on this blog, many of you know that I have spent the last year and a half helping to foster more/better entrepreneurship at my alma mater, Rice University. Six months ago I officially accepted the role of Entrepreneur in Residence at the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, anContinue reading “A Spark of Entrepreneurship at Rice”
TEDx Talk About Entrepreneurship
Last year I was honored to be asked to speak about entrepreneurship at Rice’s “Unconvention” in celebration of its centennial year. Instead of talking about lean startup, customer development, fundraising, or many of the other very well covered topics out there, I chose to focus on a framework for entrepreneurship that is, well, unconventional. MyContinue reading “TEDx Talk About Entrepreneurship”
Entrepreneurship for Value Creation
This morning I read a blog post about “the problem with Silicon Valley.” The author contends that the pace of innovation in the Valley is amazing, but that it is often somewhat insulated from solving problems that “matter.” Clearly much debate can be had about what “matters,” but the topic resonates with me. Two yearsContinue reading “Entrepreneurship for Value Creation”
A Meaningful Award for Smart OES
Yesterday we were honored to receive first place in the Goradia Innovation Prize competition! When I first announced that I would move back to Houston from Switzerland to launch Smart Office Energy Solutions, people thought I was crazy. “Why Houston?” “They don’t have startups there – just big oil companies!” I assured them – orContinue reading “A Meaningful Award for Smart OES”
How Do Entrepreneurs Face Their Fears?
Someone asked the following question on LinkedIn: “Everyone has a fear of something. Being an entrepreneur there are so many unknowns and big risks that have to be taken in order to grow. How have you been able to take the leap of faith?” My response: “Many of the answers so far are quite rational,Continue reading “How Do Entrepreneurs Face Their Fears?”