Archive for June, 2008

It’s about time I answer a reoccurring question. People ask it in various ways but it boils down to: How can Obsidian (my affiliate company that partners with young first time entrepreneurs) be so stupid as to only partner with a very select group of people? Isn’t it dumb to only focus on entrepreneurs between 18 and 26, are early stage, don’t need immediate funding and are located in the northeast US? Clearly Obsidian is missing out on millions of extraordinary opportunities. Obsidian just doesn’t get it.  Read more »

The 17 Greatest Entrepreneurial Blog Posts of 2008 (So Far) - I regularly read and comment on blogs about entrepreneurialism. Over the course of my internet “travels” during 2008 I’ve found what I believe are the seventeen best blogs out there. And within each blog I found, check out what I believe are the best posts:  Read more »

Business Plans Are a Huge, Fat, Stinkin’ Waste of Time - The traditional business plan includes tons of research, a dream team of advisors, and the mandatory pessimistic projections. Shoot with this thorough approach and these ultra-realistic numbers, and you can easily achieve your plan of making at least $100M in revenue with $50M in profit within the next 5 years. And all you need to capture is 1% of the market. If every business plan came through, everyone on this planet would be a billionaire. But that’s far from the case. The reason is that business plans are never used as intended, nor do they ever achieve the stated expectations.  Read more »

I like to start meetings on time and get things done. So here are a few tricks I use. As a result I am never (well, very, very rarely) late for a meeting, and not pissed if the other guy is running late.  Read more »

When it comes to garnering media exposure, there are quite a few entrepreneurial types out there. None are necessarily better than the other, but all leverage media exposure differently, for sure. Statistically, it is unlikely that you will be a Media Darling, the likes of PayPal, Google, and Salesforce.com. But you can become a Media Whore. And as Martha Stewart, a Media Whore herself, says, “It’s a good thing.”  Read more »

The 7 Weirdest Entrepreneur Business Ideas - Has anyone ever told you that your business idea won’t make it? That your idea is too odd, too unique or too different? That you need to stick with what is proven? What matters is that you follow your passion, that you service a niche market better than anyone else, and that you commit to your own success relentlessly. It doesn’t matter what you do, nearly as much as how you do it. Here are the top seven weirdest entrepreneurial endeavors going on.  Read more »