The Venture Edge

Dick Brass was a vice president at Microsoft from 1997 through 2004. According to Brass, his former employer has fallen far behind the competition when it comes to innovation. Instead of bringing us great new products like Apple's iPhone, Amazon's Kindle, Facebook, or Twitter, the company contents itself producing endless updates of its Windows operating system and Office applications. The result is that the company's dominance is slowly eroding, as it loses market share in Web browsers, high-end laptops, and smartphones. It's Xbox gaming system is no better than any of the other consoles, and its Zune music player can't hold a candle to Apple's iPod.

More than one entrepreneur has looked forward to the day when his or her company might become the dominant player in the industry, the company that everyone wants to emulate.  In the search business that company is clearly Google.  But this week's headlines give you a different picture of what it's like to be number one--as number one you're also the biggest target of expensive, lengthy, and often damaging lawsuits. 

Today I ran across an article by Malcolm Gladwell in the January 18, 2010 New Yorker magazine. The title is "The Sure Thing: How Entrepreneurs Really Succeed." Whether or not you are a fan of Gladwell's work, he definitely has a way with words. He has a real knack for digging up interesting facts and weaving them into compelling stories. The main point of the article was that -- despite the popular myth -- successful entrepreneurs are NOT risk takers. Instead, they constantly strive to take the least risk possible.

Lights! Camera! Action!  "Oops, I didn't know you were actually going to film EVERYTHING."  That's what small business owners are learning as they let TV cameras into their businesses and their lives 24/7.  Most like Duff Goldman who owns Charm City Cakes LLC in Baltimore, which is now featured on the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes, would say that if they had read the fine print in their contracts, they would have probably said no.  "But we learned to deal with it all," claims Goldman in an interview with WSJ journalist Emily Maltby.  His business found that because of the intrusion of the film crew, they were making fewer of the unique cakes for which they're known, which meant less revenue. To make up the loss, Goldman had to develop licensing deals, write books, and do speaking gigs.  He did receive money for doing the show, but it wasn't enough to make you do the show for the money.

As I was flying to New England today to meet with a new client, I was reminded of the power of the personal touch. Email, text messages, and even phone calls all help make businesspeople more efficient and effective. However, business is all about relationships, and the best way to build strong and lasting relationships is through face-to-face meetings.

Just three years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the smartest and most interesting people on the planet--Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft's former chief technology officer and director of research.He's unassuming and approachable with a quiet confidence that hides the fact that he is a very wealthy man.  In 1999 when he left Microsoft, he was on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans.  He could have simply retired, enjoying his wealth; but having money is not that important to Nathan--in fact, he's notoriously frugal.  Money's only value lies in what he can do with it to solve some of the world's biggest problems.

As you may have noticed, I have posted a few times over the past year about the coming Green revolution in business. It's already well underway, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are getting on the bandwagon. Why? Because (1) customers increasingly want to buy Green products from companies that care about making the world a better place in which to live, and (2) companies are increasingly realizing that being Green can help attract quality employees, save money, and improve the bottom line.

 Unless you've been hibernating in a cave in Alaska, you've heard a number of people talking about tort reform when it comes to reducing the costs of health care.  But I wonder if you are aware that as an entrepreneur you can be held liable for the tort of negligent hiring, which essentially means that you hired the wrong person for the job or didn't use a duty of care in selecting that person.  Well, guess what--you and lots of other entrepreneurs are at risk.

It's no secret that some of today's largest and most successful businesses started out of small businesses, often in someone's home. In 1950, for example, Ewing Marion Kauffman started pharmaceutical maker Marion Laboratories in his basement with an investment of $5,000. In 1989, 39% of the company was sold to Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals for $2.2 billion. And both Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer started in garages -- the former in a Palo Alto, California garage rented by Bill Hewlett and David Packard, and the latter in Steve Jobs' parents' suburban Los Altos, California garage.

Small business owners are some of the brightest and hardest working people on the planet.  They have to be because they now find themselves competing in a global environment for customers, employees, suppliers, and distributors.  And their competitors are coming from places they had never even heard of.  It's not your grandma's small business anymore.  So are SB owners going to rush out to grab up the announced government subsized loans through the SBA?  I'm not so sure

As I mentioned in my January 27, 2010 post, it was looking increasingly likely that President Obama would soon announce help for America's small businesses. That day has finally come. According to a White House press release, Obama will today announce a new Small Business Lending Fund, funded to the tune of $30 billion redirected from TARP. Interested? Check out the press release, then drop by your banker's office and get in line. I suspect this will be a VERY popular program.