The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook is a refreshing perspective on social entrepreneurship from the lens of acclaimed Wharton Professors Ian C. MacMillan and James D. Thompson. I had the opportunity to read the book and privilege to speak with the professors on the motivation behind the book. What I learned is that The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook is one man’s gift to the world, another one’s passion to change it, and the story of a myriad of entrepreneurial dreams.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Being an entrepreneur brings with it a combination of freedom, risk, reward, and sacrifice. Each of which are described below:

Freedom: As an entrepreneur, you are your own boss, which truly lets you make your own decisions and build your company in the way you think it should be done. It can also provide you with a high degree of flexibility in regard to scheduling, with the exception, of course, of your agreed to business commitments.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

At the Front End of Innovation 2013, Brandon C. Barnett, PhD, Director of Business Innovation, Intel Corporation, spoke to us about Embracing Complexity.

Image: http://frontendofinnovationblog.iirusa.com 

While we are on the topic of Orbotix, let’s talk for a little while about expectations for outside board members. Yesterday I met with an outside board member of another company I’m on the board of. He’s been on the board for about six months and is feeling uncomfortable with his contribution. He’s a very experienced CEO with a large exit under his belt, a founder/investor in several other companies, and an excellent operator. But he hasn’t been an outside board member much. He wanted to get feedback from me on how he was doing and whether his expectations for his own engagement were correct, and what he could do to work with the CEO and leadership more effectively.

On a sunny winter afternoon in downtown Cairo, Tarek Taha is showing off the complex of buildings that houses Egypt's first hub for startups and tech companies, which he and his partner, venture capitalist Ahmed El Alfi, opened last November. If everything goes according to plan, the 269,000-square-foot site, known as the GrEEK Campus, will eventually hold some 2,000 employees of young Egyptian companies. Businesses like mobile-app developer Abblications are already moving in. Wandering through the impressive halls and courtyards of this ambitious undertaking, Taha greets tenants and shows off in-progress amenities such as a multistory concrete slab that will soon become a climbing wall for team-building exercises. At one point, he gestures toward the street just outside the campus. "This is Mohamed Mahmoud," he says. "The famous Mohamed Mahmoud."

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

As an entrepreneur, I've struggled for years trying to balance many balls in the air. While I've attempted to put a broad range of assistant-like technology to work for me, I could never find an adequate solution. Whether I depended on Siri to schedule an upcoming appointment or relied on Google Now to warn me when a flight was delayed, they just couldn't replace an actual human. Not yet, and perhaps not ever.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Obesity, rather than diet, causes changes in the colon that may lead to colorectal cancer, according to a study in mice by the National Institutes of Health. The finding bolsters the recommendation that calorie control and frequent exercise are not only key to a healthy lifestyle, but a strategy to lower the risk for colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

".edu" has for almost 30 years been the online signature of most education-related websites, but three years after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers loosened restrictions on what comes after the “dot,” few institutions are jumping at the opportunity to brand their corner of the internet.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

Since the vast majority of jobs are repetitious, it is only natural at times for the mind to wander at work and for those who hold down jobs to become frustrated and think to themselves “I could run a company like this myself”. This is a romantic vision, and the idea of “being your own boss” is an appealing one upon first thought. Much of the time, however, these aspirations are not followed through. A University of Phoenix survey shows that 63% of people in their twenties either own or would like to own their own company, so that ambition is certainly there, but the reality is that many are eventually turned off the idea due to what they perceive as being a daunting task.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

Are you unaware about the role of Public Relations in strengthening a business enterprise?

Are you unsure whether Public Relations (PR) would suit your start-up?

If you’ve answered a “Yes” for both the above questions then you’ve landed on the right post. Keep on reading to find how PR can solve all your business promotional problems instantly.

Image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

The 2013 annual metropolitan area population estimates by the US Census Bureau indicate a continuing and persistent dominance of population growth and domestic migration by the South. Between 2010 and 2013, 51 percent of the population increase in the 52 major metropolitan areas (over 1 million population) was in the South. The West accounted for 30 percent of the increase, followed by the Northeast at 11 percent and eight percent in the North Central (Midwest).

Image: http://www.newgeography.com 

If you’ve watched any industry in the last 20 years where technology has begun to transform how the industry works the results are always predictable driven by what Clay Christensen appropriately called “The Innovator’s Dilemma” (one of the most influential books that changed my thinking about markets). Young startups claim they are going to change the world, large companies that dominate that sector scoff at how low quality these new entrants are, until like frogs boiling in water they come to the realization that “this shit is real.” The next step is the industry tries to fight back.

Hoping to fuel more job-creating companies, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are crafting legislation intended to encourage individual start-up investors, commonly called “angel investors,” to pour even more capital into new and growing businesses — but they don’t all agree on the best way to help.

Although software companies are working hard to keep up with competition, and adjust to newer technologies, the market is still experiencing growth.

Global software revenue totaled $403.3 billion in 2013 — a 4.8% increase from 2012, according to a new report from research firm Gartner. And Microsoft remained the top software company by a long shot, earning $65.7 billion in 2013.

Image: STATISTA 

Brothers Sahil and Rushabh Vora were in their early twenties when they started their entrepreneurial journey. Their company SILA is a facility and  project management services provider for realty companies. Their journey is significant for 4 reasons:

Four years since inception, they have grown to over 55 sites in the facility management business.

Image: Sahil Vora, Co-Founder, SILA 

There is an ongoing discussion about the next generation of students.

Whether in PTA meetings or at the dinner table, all too often students are dubbed the “social media generation.” However, this generation is plugged into what is going on around the world more than any generation before it and are poised to stand up and make a difference.

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/37480562@N05/5057632549 

The relentless parade of new technologies is unfolding on many fronts. Almost every advance is billed as a breakthrough, and the list of “next big things” grows ever longer. Not every emerging technology will alter the business or social landscape—but some truly do have the potential to disrupt the status quo, alter the way people live and work, and rearrange value pools. It is therefore critical that business and policy leaders understand which technologies will matter to them and prepare accordingly.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

China’s labor costs continue to rise by more than 10 percent a year, land costs are pricing offices out of city centers, the cost of energy and water is growing so much that they may be rationed in some geographies, and the cost of capital is higher, especially for state-owned enterprises. Basically, all major input costs are growing, while intense competition and, often, overcapacity make it incredibly hard to pass price increases onto customers. China’s solution? Higher productivity. Companies will adopt global best practices from wherever they can be found, which explains why recent international field trips of Chinese executives have taken on a much more serious, substantive tone.

image: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net 

The intellectual property rights of small business are subject to risk from differing Defense Department and Small Business Administration rules governing Small Business Innovation Research contracts, say DoD auditors.

Policies governing how long the technical data developed by small businesses under the SBIR program differ between the Small Business Administration SBIR Policy Directive and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement.

Not long ago, I was in Las Vegas doing a panel discussion at a conference for HR managers. One of them asked why so many employees seem to have a sense of entitlement. If a small perk (like free lunch on Fridays) gets taken away, suddenly there are loud complaints. This manager was frustrated by these complaints and angry with her colleagues that they would come to her with seemingly petty complaints.

Image Courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net