Clipmarks | rmowery's 'business' clips

No Business Cards Allowed

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:10:14 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Very good article and insight.

No Business Cards Allowed

In networking, as in life, I can’t stand people who just go through the motions. At a recent tech event I saw a ritual which I thought was unique to the brick-and-mortar business world. I found myself standing among a circle of people who pulled out a stack of business cards and passed them around, spoke little (if at all) of their businesses, and then parted ways. As one woman informed me, they’re measured by how many cards they collect. They’re just trying to “make the numbers”.

Can I get those ten minutes of my life back?

For many entrepreneurs, networking is a significant time commitment. Finding talented people to create, fund, grow or sell a business is challenging enough. Staying motivated in the face of insincerity just might have you hiding in your office with a case of serious social burnout. Instead of dropping off the grid, why not attend a networking event and leave your business cards at home?

3 Reasons to Leave Your Business Cards at Home

Tags: business cards, web2.0, social 2.0

The Most Popular Web APIs Will Be Social-Oriented and Complex Business-Oriented

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:29:50 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: web2.sys-con.com

The Most Popular Web APIs Will Be Social-Oriented and Complex Business-Oriented

Moving application services toward cloud computing

APIs around social networking are easy to define and leverage. They have simplistic data structures and well-defined methods. While they are simplistic to use and understand, they also have huge value for both the API/service user and the social network resources that expose the interface. These APIs enable many third-party vendors to leverage a social networking resource, but the hidden value will come from the enterprises that can leverage these networks as a new form of business communication.

Tags: web api, social networking, cloud computing, complex business

Kidnap Inc.

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:08:38 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

On The Cover/Top Stories

Kidnap Inc.

To the sundry costs of doing business abroad, add the risk of abduction. From Mexico to India, Nigeria to Greece, sophisticated gangs are nabbing American workers.

They came for George Milonas in June in front of his house in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-biggest city. The chief executive of Alumil, a $420 million (sales) aluminum-extrusion business, was winding up a busy day. He'd had an early-morning meeting at Greece's central bank, given the keynote speech at an event on corporate social responsibility, then had dinner with his wife, Nellie. As he arrived home and got out of his car, Milonas was seized by four hooded men who forced him back behind the steering wheel and ordered him, at gunpoint, to drive away.

Tags: us business, overseas, kidnapping, business, execs

As The World Turns..Inside Out

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:09:04 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: blogs.openforum.com

As The World Turns..Inside Out

Every so often it’s worth the risk to break the fourth wall and talk about why we’re all here. Thanks to American Express Open, folks like me, and Anita, and Guy, and many others, get a chance to step outside our everyday lives and think out loud about business. For Guy and Anita, this is somewhat second nature. For me, however, it’s not - I’ve been part of starting nearly a dozen businesses, but until American Express asked me to think (and write) about it, I was pretty much focused on my own world - presently, that means running Federated Media, itself a small business, by pretty much every definition but my own.

Tags: federated media, small business, john battelle, economy, business growth, advertising, marketing

Rush is on to prevent AIG from failing

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:18:45 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: The big question I have over all this is it just the Ultra Rich trying to keep their wealth from sinking or are they really doing all this to help the average US citizen? It seems all these continued bailouts are just to save the ultra rich and extremely wealthy from becoming just upper middle class?

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Rush is on to prevent AIG from failing

The American International Group, the insurance company, is planning a major reorganization and a sale of its aircraft leasing business and other units to stabilize its finances, a person briefed on the company's strategy said Sunday.

AIG became one of the focuses at an emergency gathering of Wall Street executives over the weekend, and was trying to arrange a capital infusion in the face of possible credit downgrades.

It was unclear whether AIG would succeed in its capital search, but a person briefed on the discussions said it was seeking more than $40 billion even as it tried to sell assets to shore up its financial footing. Among the businesses likely to be sold is International Lease Finance Corp., AIG's aircraft leasing business. Founded in 1973, the business has nearly 1,000 planes in its fleet.

Tags: weatlh, us, aig, insurance, bailout, us government, economy

The Iger difference

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:13:34 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

The Iger difference

Bob Iger has led a renaissance at Disney. But can he withstand a bad economy and the tech revolution in the media business?

By Richard Siklos, editor-at-large

(Fortune Magazine) -- At a time of upheaval in the media business, Walt Disney has had a string of hits the likes of which it hasn't had since, well, the early tenure of former CEO Michael Eisner in the 1980s. Three years after succeeding Eisner - and confounding skeptics in the process - CEO Bob Iger talked to Fortune's Richard Siklos about buying Pixar, pulling Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) out of a creative slump with new megafranchises like "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical," working with Steve Jobs, and wrestling with the image of a certain mouse. Edited excerpts:

Around the time you became CEO, there was a widely held view that Disney's brand had become dated. When did this issue first hit your radar?

Tags: disney, iger, branding, marketing, business

The 10 Riskiest Businesses To Start

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:06:08 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

01.18.07, 4:30 PM ET

The 10 Riskiest Businesses To Start

The numbers aren't pretty.

While some two-thirds of small firms make it past the two-year mark, just 44% can hack it for four years, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And by "hack it," we're just talking survival rates here: Plenty of those "survivors" are choking down ramen noodles to keep the lights on.

If those odds don't scare you off, consider too that some industries may be inherently tougher to crack than others. Your friends might think that you rival Mario Batali in the kitchen, or that you can go sole for sole with the likes of Kenneth Cole (nyse: KCP - news - people ). But the sober truth is that it takes more than talent to run a restaurant, a clothing boutique and a host of other ventures. Sadly, some of the most enticing industries are also the riskiest.

Tags: business, forbes, risk, small business

Success without a college degree

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 23:12:59 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: They left Bill Gates off this list.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Success without a college degree

POSTED: 9:12 a.m. EST, November 3, 2006

By Kate Lorenz
CareerBuilder.com

CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.

(CareerBuilder.com) -- Many think the only way to succeed is through education. While piling on the degrees can earn you piles of dough -- and debt -- it's not the only option.

Some of today's most successful people don't have a college degree. But what they lack in academic credentials, they make up for in tenacity, brains, guts and strong business sense.

Richard Branson -- In 1970, Richard Branson founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer, and not long afterward he opened a record shop in London. Two years later, the first Virgin artist, Mike Oldfield, recorded "Tubular Bells." Since then many household names, including Ben Harper, Fatboy Slim, Perry Farrell, Gorillaz, Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson and The Rolling Stones have helped to make Virgin Music one of the top record companies in the world.

Branson sold the equity of Virgin Music Group -- record labels, music publishing and recording studios -- in 1992 in a $1 billion deal, but he remains chairman of Virgin Group, which today includes Virgin Atlantic, Books, Games, LifeCare, Limousines, Megastores and Hotels.

Barry Diller -- Barry Diller started his career in the mail room of the William Morris Agency after dropping out of UCLA after one semester. He was hired by ABC in 1966 where he created the ABC Movie of the Week, pioneering the concept of the made-for-television movie.

Tags: college, business, success, billionaires, no formal education

Video: apparently-baked biz school prof who was soon fired

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 07:13:35 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.boingboing.net

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Video: apparently-baked biz school prof who was soon fired
BoingBoing reader Shawn says,

It appears from the content of this video that this University of Florida professor -- whom everyone has to take in the business school -- got REALLY REALLY REALLY HIGH before one of his classes.
As I am told, he was fired the next day. Minute 28 is hilarious.
I'm including links to the windows video files hosted at UF in the hopes someone remixes this.

Looks like the lecturer's name is Howard J. (John) Hall, and he remains listed on the faculty of the University of Florida, Warrington College of Business. Link 1, and Link 2.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 10:53:49 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

Tags: funny, entertainment, u of florida business professor, high

20 Great Resources on Entrepreneurship

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 04:25:53 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.lifehack.org

20 Great Resources on Entrepreneurship

A topic that we usually introduce about at lifehack.org is entrepreneurship. It is a sexy topic to talk about within the business/management category. We could learn a lot from some successful entrepreneurs because they are productive and motivated. At Listible, it has a lot of 20 good resources for entrepreneur, from blogs like our favorites: Steve Pavlina and Guy Kawasaki, and other less mentioned but with hidden gems of good posts:

Entrepreneruship is quickly becoming one of the most desired and sought after career paths. This list is a compilation of the best web resources for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Signum sine tinnitu - by Guy Kawasaki - Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Forbes.com.

Steve Pavlina - Personal Development for Smart People.

Seth's Blog - Seth Godin's riffs on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread.

Cinventure - Cincinnati's resource for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Tags: entrepreneurship, 20 resources for entrepreneurs, business, business development

Branson's next big bet

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 02:52:15 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Branson is one of my top 5 favorite entrepreneurs.

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Richard Branson, entrepreneurial icon, shares his freshest ideas - like a Virgin superfuel that will let us jet around the world guilt-free.

Branson's next big bet

July 27 2006: 3:50 PM EDT

By Carleen Hawn, Business 2.0 Magazine

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Business 2.0 Magazine has identified the Best business ideas in the world. This is the first in a series that will appear here throughout the next month. Check back daily for updates.

Where others see disaster, Richard Branson sees opportunity. The founder of Virgin Group has business interests on six continents, including airlines, express trains, and limousine services, so his company's contribution to global warming worries him.

But instead of wringing his hands, Branson sees a new fortune to be made in reinventing the fuel business, much the way he's made over air travel, credit cards, health care, and more.

He's investing in conventional ideas like ethanol plants and solar power, but he's also developing a formula for a new ultraclean fuel that can power his jets as well as cars and trucks.

What we love about Branson is that he's part Warren Buffett, part P.T. Barnum. Not every idea he's dreamed up has panned out: Virgin Cola bombed in the United States, and the irresistibly named Virgin Brides retail chain is down to one lonely store in Manchester, England.

Tags: richard branson, virgin, entrepreneur, business, concepts, money

How to build a startup out of nothing

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:46:11 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

How to build a startup out of nothing

By locating in Mexico and using Latin America as a lab, software company Sapotek launched on the ultracheap.

August 14 2006: 6:41 AM EDT

By Robert Levine, Business 2.0 Magazine

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Joshua Rand flies to Mexico on business every few weeks but rarely takes a laptop. Instead, he uses the virtual-desktop software made by his startup, Sapotek, based in New York and Toluca, Mexico.

The software, also called a webtop, lets users access personal files and software applications - including e-mail, word-processing, and spreadsheet programs - from any Internet-connected PC.

In 2003 the company began offering a free Spanish-language version of the webtop, which has attracted 100,000 users in Mexico and Latin America. The giveaway was not an act of altruism but a way to stress-test the service before its official debut.

It worked: Since last year Sapotek has licensed the software to six enterprise clients, including universities and companies with limited IT budgets, and in July it started marketing an English-language version in the United States.

Tags: business, low-cost, mexico, spanish, virtual desktop, sapotek

Where to find the world's hottest startups

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 04:00:08 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Where to find the world's hottest startups

From Aussie blog mining to Finnish friend finding, we've located the planet's most innovative new sites.

(Business 2.0) -- The editors have identified the Best business ideas in the world, which will appear here in a series throughout the next month. Check back daily for updates.

The term "Web 2.0" is used so widely these days, you'd think it was taking over the globe. And you'd be right.

The catchall phrase - used to describe websites that thrive on what their users make of them is no longer limited to the United States.

As Web 2.0 success stories like Flickr and Del.icio.us prove, this kind of technology is dirt-cheap to implement and borrows data freely available from other websites. A guy in his bedroom in Chile can come up with a novel way to navigate global classified ads - and, in fact, one has.

A lot of these global entrepreneurs are simply copying the biggest ideas in America's Web 2.0 canon. For every Digg.com, the popular U.S. site that lets readers nominate and vote on the most important news stories, there's a Yigg.de (the German version of the same).

Tags: web20, internet, business, world enterprise, australia, africa, startups, entrepreneur

How Australia got hot for solar power

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 04:07:29 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

How Australia got hot for solar power

Down under, they're all over alternative energy - starting with a 1,600-foot tall "solar tower" that can power a small city.

August 2 2006: 9:17 AM EDT

By Todd Woody, Business 2.0 Magazine assistant managing editor

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) -- The editors have identified the Best business ideas in the world, which will appear here in a series throughout the next month. Check back daily for updates.

Rattling down a red dirt road on the edge of the Australian outback, Roger Davey hits the brakes and hops out of a rented Corolla. With a sweep of his arm, he surveys his domain - 24,000 acres of emptiness stretching toward the horizon, the landscape bare but for clumps of scrubby eucalyptus trees and an occasional sheep.

It's a dead-calm antipodean winter's day, the silence of this vast ranch called Tapio Station broken only by the cry of a currawong bird. Davey, chief executive of Melbourne renewable-energy company EnviroMission, aims to break ground here early next year on the world's first commercial "solar tower" power station.

"The tower will be over there," Davey says, pointing to a spot a mile distant where a 1,600-foot structure will rise from the ocher-colored earth. Picture a 260-foot-diameter cylinder taller than the Sears Tower encircled by a two-mile-diameter transparent canopy at ground level. About 8 feet tall at the perimeter, where Davey has his feet planted, the solar collector will gradually slope up to a height of 50 to 60 feet at the tower's base.

Acting as a giant greenhouse, the solar collector will superheat the air with radiation from the sun. Hot air rises, naturally, and the tower will operate as a giant vacuum. As the air is sucked into the tower, it will produce wind to power an array of turbine generators clustered around the structure.

Tags: australia, solar power, solar, alternative energy, solar tower

Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 05:04:38 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves

Kiss your keyboard goodbye: Soon we'll jack our brains directly into the Net - and that's just the beginning.

By Chris Taylor, Business 2.0 Magazine senior editor

July 21 2006: 3:32 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - -- Two years ago, a quadriplegic man started playing video games using his brain as a controller. That may just sound like fun and games for the unfortunate, but really, it spells the beginning of a radical change in how we interact with computers - and business will never be the same.

Someday, keyboards and computer mice will be remembered only as medieval-style torture devices for the wrists. All work - emails, spreadsheets, and Google searches - will be performed by mind control.

If you think that's mind-blowing, try to wrap your head around the sensational research that's been done on the brain of one Matthew Nagle by scientists at Brown University and three other institutions, in collaboration with Foxborough, Mass.-based company Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems. The research was published for the first time last week in the British science journal Nature.

Nagle, a 55-year-old quadriplegic, was hooked up to a computer via an implant smaller than an aspirin that sits on top of his brain and reads electrical patterns. Using that technology, he learned how to move a cursor around a screen, play simple games, control a robotic arm, and even - couch potatoes, prepare to gasp in awe - turn his brain into a TV remote control. All while chatting amiably with the researchers. He even learned how to perform these tasks in less time than the average PC owner spends installing Microsoft (Charts) Windows.

Tags: brain waves, cyberkinetics, mind control, computer control mind, neurology