Tag: tips
Need Space for Your Startup? Consider Co-working
How do you improve an already world-renowned startup accelerator? In the case of the Summer Venture Program at Babson College, the answer to that question was just 15 miles away in Boston. When Debi Kleiman, executive director of Babson’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, pushed to move the program to Boston for 2017, she…
Posted in Living Entrepreneurship
5 Entrepreneurial Lessons From Commencement Speakers
Before the handshake, the diploma exchange, the turning of tassels, or the tossing of caps, this year’s crop of college graduates will experience a treasured tradition: the commencement speech. The speech serves as a last lesson of sorts for students; parting words of wisdom and advice, often from some of the most successful people in…
Posted in Living Entrepreneurship
Honest Stories from Women Leaders
A spreadsheet malfunction that prompted a moment of clarity. An entrepreneur’s brush with anthropology. The challenges of being women in male-dominated industries. These are just some of the many moments, observations and reflections shared by top female executives during “Honest Stories from Women Leaders,” a conversation at Babson College’s Boston Campus sponsored by the Women…
Posted in Living Entrepreneurship
Failure: Just What the Doctor Ordered
We’ve all heard the stories—Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, Oprah was let go from her first television job, and Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school multiple times. These stories tell us that from great failure can come great success. But, can it work for the general public or is this just something that…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
Four Ways To Ace Your Venture Capital Funding Pitch
Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s a harsh but true reality, especially for entrepreneurs seeking venture funding. In a world with millions of ideas, many of which are the same, why should a venture capitalist fund yours? It’s one of the many questions founders must answer in order to successful pitch to VCs, who…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
Making the Most of a Startup Accelerator
Accelerators: they’re everywhere. In the greater Boston area alone, there are more than 50 accelerators, incubators, and support programs that offer startups co-working space, education, capital, mentorship, networking, and other support. Generally, these accelerators are structured the same: a cohort of startups participate for a set period of time and cap off the experience with…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
Five Ways To Tell Stories That Stick
Entrepreneurs are constantly pitching, sharing their vision and venture in order to secure funding, make a sale, meet a new contact, and build out their team. Business plans are boiled down to bullets, and financials become memorized statistics. Jon Feinman explains how InnerCity Weightlifting uses storytelling in grant writing Although these elements are vitally important…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
How to Become an Objective Entrepreneur
People underestimate the power of their minds. Elizabeth Thornton, a Babson College professor, entrepreneur, and author of The Objective Leader, is a firm believer that perception is reality. “Your world exists in your mind,” she says, “which is amazing because that gives you the power to change your mind, change your business, and change your…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
Swimming With The Sharks
For an entrepreneur, what could be better than pitching your business to five well-connected, deep-pocketed investors? How about pitching to those investors on prime-time television for an audience of 8 million potential customers? The popular ABC reality show Shark Tank has introduced viewers to more than 450 businesses since its 2009 premiere. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE…
Posted in Living Entrepreneurship
Changing the Status Quo in Venture Capital
Imagine you’re one of the founding executives at a promising new software company. You’ve already built and sold two other companies, gaining valuable experience and skills. Together with your co-founders, you’ve steered this company to early success—it’s enjoying sustained growth, robust sales, and a strong valuation in the marketplace. Your office space is in a…
Posted in Preparing Entrepreneurial Leaders
