The Socratic method is not just the act of asking questions but also how you ask questions, what you try to accomplish with them, and how you respond to the answers.
Brad FeldJuly 15, 2014
Training is important, obviously, but at the typical startup, the day-to-day challenge of keeping the doors open trumps longer-term investments. But just like in so many other areas, resource constraints can be an opportunity to spark new ways to train teams and support their learning.
Jessica LaxJuly 14, 2014
The 2014 Institute has come to a close! Here’s a look at what the entrepreneurs experienced during the last two weeks, with sessions on investment readiness and strategic planning.
Teju RavilochanJuly 11, 2014
Social entrepreneurs as guilty as any group of lawyers or engineers in using jargon and shorthand to identify and evaluate each other’s places in the tribe. What is "social innovation" anyway? What’s "impact investing"? Take any of those expressions out of context and it’s clear how unclear they are. They’ve become as clichéd as “thought leader.”
Cheryl HellerJuly 10, 2014
Chile has made a bet that the foreign entrepreneurs can transform its entrepreneurial culture by teaching the locals how to take risks, help each other, and form global connections.
Vivek WadhwaJuly 9, 2014
Women are starting companies at a rate 1.5 times higher than the national average, but male-owned businesses receive 23 times more venture capital funding. This isn’t just sexist; it’s bad business. But these days, entrepreneurs have a new financing tool at their disposal: crowdfunding.
Lisa CurtisJuly 8, 2014
Indians are fed up with government inaction and corruption. They want accountability, better education for their children, improved health care, and economic prosperity. And they want change now.
Vivek WadhwaJuly 7, 2014
There are no trophies for creating the most connections while networking. Stop thinking of it as a sport and remember the value of creating genuine relationships.
Pascal FinetteJuly 7, 2014
Major corporations have demonstrated no meaningful interest in the bottom-of-the-pyramid market, and it seems unlikely to do so in the future because it squanders resources. Who will fix this disconnect?
Paul PolakJuly 3, 2014
How many times have you justified your pizza by telling yourself the tomato sauce and veggie toppings are providing some nutritional value? Or maybe that, yeah, you had two slices of pizza, but at least you didn’t have three? Avoid those sorts of rationalizations by internalizing the following two food rules
Ann GarvinJuly 2, 2014
If you want a more effective team, you'll need a more effective hiring process—one that evolves to build on successes, correct for failures, and incorporate more diverse skill sets.
Carlos BuenoJuly 2, 2014
If you’re keen for a taste of what life is like as an entrepreneur, publish a book. Read the key insights this entrepreneur gained after publishing his first book.
Ken BanksJuly 1, 2014
There's a problem with Silicon Valley and the subcultures that imitate it. It's a design bug woven into people's identities and sense of self-worth. Fixing it will be painful, but it should be fixed before it gets any worse.
Carlos BuenoJune 30, 2014
Fifty percent of people who start an exercise program drop out by six weeks. Yet six weeks is just about the time we start seeing positive results of new behaviors. Stick with it, and those behaviors become part of who you are. So how do you get over that hump? Plan to fail.
Ann GarvinJune 30, 2014
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has famously limited his company’s growth to avoid having too large an environmental impact. (The brand has even run ad campaigns asking people not to buy stuff from Patagonia unless they really need it.) Would you make a similar decision if your company scaled up? When would you know the time for such a decision had come?
John BradleyJune 27, 2014
Today’s workers see personal and professional development as part of their compensation from the company, regardless of how quickly they decide to leave. You might not like that, but you can’t change it. So your best approach is to plan for it.
Wendy LeaJune 27, 2014
Success in nascent markets requires a commitment to agility and constant refinement. Entrepreneurs bypass the bureaucracy of multinational corporations leaving them better equipped to fight for those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Paul PolakJune 26, 2014