15 Steps for Attracting Investors
Over the past 3 years, I have been blessed to do the following things…
- work with the Desert Angels, one of the nation’s largest angel investor groups located in Tucson, Arizona, redesigning their website, deploying the web-based deal management system Angelsoft and helping to perform investment due diligence
- volunteer as a business advisor for the Arizona Center for Innovation Business Incubator
- study venture capital at the University of California Berkeley
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Who’s that on The University of Arizona homepage?
I was contacted last week by The University of Arizona and informed that I would be highlighted on their homepage. As you can imagine, I was very proud of such an honor.
To read the article that The University of Arizona wrote about my entrepreneural life and how I used The University of Arizona to improve my business skills, click here. (To see a larger version of the homepage, click here.)
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Post.Bid.Ship. appears on Arizona Illustrated
My Post.Bid.Ship. co-founder Jarret Hamstreet and I recently appeared on Arizona Illustrated where we shared our insight on the state of entrepreneurship in Arizona. Press the play button on the video below to watch our interview and see Post.Bid.Ship.’s TV debut.
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Making the Cover of Eller Progress Magazine
Recently, I received one of the greatest honors of my life: I was selected for the cover and feature article of the Fall 2010 edition of Eller Progress Magazine, a magazine produced by The University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management.
The feature article details my life’s journey from growing up on a farm in Spring Hill, Tennessee, starting and growing three technology companies and then studying at one of the world’s top MBA and Entrepreneurship programs: The University of Arizona’s Eller MBA and McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship.
I hope you enjoy the article. Click here to read the article.
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Filed under: Eller MBA,Life Experiences,Most Popular,Post.Bid.Ship.
What Gets Measured Gets Improved
For the last 10 years, I have been an advisor in the technology industry helping companies implement technology that helps improve their business metrics. Many of my clients can repeat my most common question: What business metric are you seeking to improve?
Simple question right? Not always.
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Filed under: Business Management,Entrepreneurship,Most Popular
Does An Entrepreneur Need An M.B.A.?
When evaluating entrepreneurs for potential investments, Rick Burnes, founder of the VC firm Charles River Ventures, shared in the book The VC Way “it helps to look at the educational level a person has attained and the institutions he or she attended. It takes some determination to get through a demanding university.”
I began researching MBA programs shortly after completing my bachelors a little over 10 years ago. I knew I wanted to attend a demanding program if I got the opportunity because of the opinions held by many investors like Burnes. These opinions weren’t new to me because while raising capital for a previous start-up, I had been told by several investors that my lack of an MBA was a negative.
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Evangelizing for the Lean Startup
I recently listened to a great podcast on “Lean Startups.” I shared this podcast with my business partners, programmers and project managers because it validated my “evangelizing” for faster leaner technology projects. The podcast featuring “Lean Startups” speaks directly to how I, myself, manage technology projects from a small database driven Intranet to building a fully customized CRM system.
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Filed under: Business Management,Most Popular,Technology
Why do Entrepreneurs exists?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to start 5 businesses. Two were started while attending college (Thompson Lawncare and Pro-Seal Asphalt Sealcoating) and three started since graduating college (ACT! Certified, Think Outsource, Inc. and Jennex, LLC.) Through the development and growth of these businesses, my understanding and respect for Entrepreneurship as a profession has grown immensely.
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Filed under: Entrepreneurship,Most Popular,Venture Capital
Transitioning from Explorer to Exploiter
Recently, I studied the company Edward Jones Investments and I have come to appreciate the success of Edward Jones’s business model. In my December 19th 2008 post called Qualities and Role of the Entrepreneur, I shared a quote regarding entrepreneurship from Joseph Schumpeter on the importance of entrepreneurs to get things done.
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Filed under: Business Management,Entrepreneurship,Most Popular
Qualities and Role of the Entrepreneur
Recently, I ran across a thought-provoking statement regarding entrepreneurship. Joseph Schumpeter, one of the world’s greatest economists and author of the 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, summarized the qualities and role of the entrepreneur as follows:
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Filed under: Entrepreneurship,Most Popular
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Filed under: Business Management,Eller MBA,Entrepreneurship,Most Popular,Post.Bid.Ship.,Venture Capital