Archive - February, 2012
5 Ways To Do Good In Any Job | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation
You may be stuck in a job you don’t like, where you feel like you don’t have any control. That’s okay, you don’t have to be a high-powered executive to do some good. In fact, you may be the only person that can. When my co-author Billy Parish and I interviewed people for Making Good, our book on finding meaning, money, and community, we didn’t just talk to the all-star social entrepreneurs. We dug a little deeper and talked to a lot of people that were in jobs that simply weren’t ideal for making change. Somehow not only were they making good, but they were finding meaning in the most unlikely of places. Follow the tips below that we took from their experiences and see what you can make happen in your job:
via 5 Ways To Do Good In Any Job | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation.
What is a disadvantaged entrepreneur?
What is a disadvantaged entrepreneur? It’s a topical question for me at the moment. I’m trying to find my first cohort of entrepreneurs for Foundermachine.org and it’s not proving quite as easy as i first anticipated.
My original idea was to take 10 or so entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities in Atlanta and put them through a 3 month start-up accelerator (with mentors, education and some funding). The whole thing is predicated on the fact that the successful start-up programs like Y-Combinator (San Francisco), TechStars (various cities) and FlashPoint (Atlanta) unintentionally exclude entrepreneurs “from the wrong side of the tracks”. Little effort is made to reach out to communities where entrepreneurs lack opportunity and it’s ultimately reflected in the make up of the businesses selected to participate. There’s nothing wrong with these elite incubators, i applaud anything positive done for entrepreneurs and i was a mentor on FlashPoint program in Atlanta and saw how effective it can be.
Myself and another mentor of FounderMachine (Johnson Cook) initially wanted to target entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities but this soon became difficult to implement because we couldn’t define a “disadvantaged” community. Some of the community organizations we approach rightly didn’t know who to approach as potential entrants. After some conversations on Quora and Facebook another approach was suggested – why not target “disadvantaged entrepreneurs” instead.
How then should they be defined? What is a disadvantaged entrepreneur? I’m sure if you ask most entrepreneurs they would consider themselves disadvantaged. It’s a hard one though: a “rich” kid from an abusive home environment is surely as disadvantaged as a “poor kid” with supportive low income parents.
Here’s some possible criteria:
- Low income
- From a low income community
- Physical disability
- Minority
- Went to a public school in a low income area
- Has a unique story
Maybe, it’s the last one on this list that is important. There is no canned answer to the question “What is a disadvantaged entrepreneur?” and we should view it on a case by case advantage.
If you know how we can find good candidates for our first cohort of entrepreneurs let me know or direct them to apply on the FounderMachine.org website.
Who’s an entrpreneur:
Related articles
- 30 Under 30 – The Most Influential Young CEO Entrepreneurs Of Present Time That Have Changed The World (thetechnologycafe.com)
- Can Anybody Be an Entrepreneur? (bjconquest.com)
- New Incubator Focuses on Female Founders (inc.com)
The Simple Power of a Durable Ball
In January 2010, one of the most destructive earthquakes in recent history struck the nation of Haiti, uprooting communities, tearing families apart, destroying homes and schools. When relief supplies arrived, children gathered, and one of their most common requests was for . . . soccer balls. But aid workers quickly discovered that a regular soccer ball lasts only a day or two in the post-earthquake destruction before it almost inevitably hits a piece of glass or concrete and deflates. The spirits of the kids and communities which rose upon receiving a ball would deflate as quickly as the punctured ball. How different—and how much better—would it be if there was a ball that could stand up to such an environment?
Continue Reading: Simple Power Of A Durable Ball
B Corporation – What is a B Corp?
Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab, a nonprofit organization, certifies B Corporations, the same way TransFair certifies Fair Trade coffee or USGBC certifies LEED buildings.B Corps, unlike traditional businesses:Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards; Meet higher legal accountability standards;Build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business. There are over 450 Certified B Corporations across 60 different industries. From food and apparel for you and your family to attorneys and office supplies for your business, B Corporations are a diverse community with one unifying goal: to redefine success in business. Through a company’s public B Impact Report, anyone can access performance data about the social and environmental practices that stand behind their products.
Evernote is like Kudzu: Sharing Evernote Notebooks with remote workers
Evernote is like Kudzu: Sharing Evernote Notebooks with remote workers
I’ve been an avid user of Evernote for 18 months or so. This product is like Kudzu – a weed that grows at a foot a day (ask anyone from Atlanta); Evernote keeps creeping its way into new parts of my daily routine.
Until now i havent used the “share” notes feature on Evernote but i received an invite today from a colleague who works remotely with me. We’ve been pinging back and forth with ideas and sharing web sites via email but that has its limitations (very linear), so Evernote looks to be a great solution at first look.
What’s more it could be a very complimentary tool for the current product i’m developing (Flashissue ) i.e. turn the Evernote articles you read and save a into highly responsive newsletter & social media campaigns . It would work like this: your team collects useful web articles and when you’re ready to send a newsletter to your customers or prospects who have a ready-made curated newsletter waiting to go. Just import your articles to FlashIssue and you’re done. I’ll write a fuller post on how this can work later.
Using Evernote shared folders is a great way to collaborate (although you do need a paid account if you are the one setting up the shared folder and you want people to be able to add to it)
From the Evernote Blog:
“Sharing notebooks as well as reading and tracking notebooks that have been shared with you. Lets explore the types of sharing in a bit more detail.Shared NotebooksEvernote allows both free and premium users to share notebooks privately with other Evernote users. Notebooks shared by premium users have the option of being editable by the users with whom the notebook is shared. In other words, if Bob the premium user shares a notebook with Fred the free user, Bob may choose to allow Fred to edit the contents of his shared notebook.Public NotebooksPublic notebooks which are, essentially, shared notebooks are visible to anybody who knows the notebooks URL. Public notebooks can then be linked to other users accounts so their local copy of the notebook is updated whenever the notebooks owner adds or changes the contents.When You Stop Sharing a NotebookIf youve shared a notebook—either publicly with the whole world or privately with a select few users—and you decide youd like to stop sharing that notebook, the users with whom the notebook is being shared will receive a notification in their desktop applications that the notebook is no longer shared with them. The notebook itself, however, will remain in the users Shared tab and the user will still be able to view as well as edit, if they were given permission to do so initially the contents of the notebook. The notebook will not sync any changes made once it is no longer shared. You can export the notes and import them into your own notebooks, but Evernote sync will not work until the un-shared notebook as been removed”.
Read More: An Introduction to Sharing.
Related articles
- 10 Tips for Using Evernote Effectively (readwriteweb.com)
- 8 Great Ways Couples Can Use Evernote Shared Notebooks ” Evernote Blogcast (web20forstudents.wordpress.com)
- New Evernote Integration Released! (shoeboxed.com)
- The Rise of Evernote–and Why You Should Take Note (pcworld.com)
73 Must-Measure Metrics for Your Online Business | SlideDeck Web Slider
From unique visitors to e-commerce conversion rate, email unsubscribe rate to lifetime value, there are dozens of metrics that can help you track the health and performance of your business. While everyone has their favorites, we’ve compiled a list of 73 of the most important analytics for online businesses of all types. While not every metric will apply to your business (and you might kill yourself trying to track all 73!,) we hope this list will inspire you to identify opportunities to improve how you measure your venture. Read our mega-list and see if there are any you’re missing. And if you don’t see your must-measure metric of choice below, let us know in the comments; we’ll continue to update this post as we find more metrics that help move your business needle.
via 73 Must-Measure Metrics for Your Online Business | SlideDeck Web Slider.
Your Very Own Floating Bond-Villain Lair for $680 Million – Businessweek
Yacht Island Design proposes otherworldly, extravagant concept boats that resemble, among other things, Monaco and a Tropical Island. For the discerning mariner who feels cramped by mere mega-yachts, there’s a growing field of designers and shipbuilders eager to sell you an island. A marriage between the structural practicalities of floating oil rigs (which can weather rough seas by rising above them), and the aesthetic tastes of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, yacht islands promise a level of aquatic decadence only the most outrageous oligarch could afford.
via Your Very Own Floating Bond-Villain Lair for $680 Million – Businessweek.
Lisa Gansky: The future of business is the “mesh” | Video on TED.com
Lisa Gansky, author of “The Mesh,” talks about a future of business thats about sharing all kinds of stuff, either via smart and tech-enabled rental or, more boldly, peer-to-peer. Examples across industries — from music to cars — show how close we are to this meshy future.Lisa Gansky is the author of “The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Is Sharing,” and the instigator behind the Mesh Directory www.meshing.it. Full bio »
via Lisa Gansky: The future of business is the “mesh” | Video on TED.com.
When do i incorporate my Company: 8 Good Reasons
Founders of startup companies often wait to incorporate a company until they are confident that their concept is viable or fundable. At some point, however, an entrepreneur will need to formally incorporate a company. Several reasons exist for taking the step to incorporate.
Continue Reading: Incorporation : Startup Company Lawyer.
