I am writing this at the
TechColumbus Luncheon with Dave Berkus., Founder and President of
Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC. Dave Berkus is an early stage venture capitalist with a hands-on background in technology. An entrepreneur for over fifty years, he formed and managed successful businesses in the entertainment and software arenas, and is a respected technology industry leader and…
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Added by Michael Bowers on September 29, 2008 at 8:22am —
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I'm sitting in the Caribou Coffee on Lane Avenue doing some work before heading over to TechColumbus for my usual Monday morning meetings. One thing I always like to do is scan my blog reader for anything that I may have missed over the weekend. The upcoming TechColumbus "e-Track" luncheon series caught my eye. That reminded me about a great blog written by Dan Casey an "Entrepreneur in Residence" at TechColumbus (it doesn't hurt that Dan just walked in either). An Entrepreneur-in-Residence…
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Added by Michael Bowers on September 22, 2008 at 3:30pm —
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Lessons learned from
Wil Schroter, Columbus based serial entrepreneur, on building a scalable…
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Added by Michael Bowers on September 17, 2008 at 11:30am —
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We recently launched this social network to help entrepreneurs build connections that can support business development. We launched this based on recommendations from people we have worked with (specifically Sara Rampersaud) to provide connections and assistance to those launching/growing small businesses in Ohio.
In the spirit of Guy Kawasaki here are my top 10 basics on how to benefit from using social networking sites....note...I'm along way from being an expert at this so I hope…
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Added by Michael Bowers on September 15, 2008 at 2:00pm —
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With many small businesses one of the key challenges is marketing. How do you get the word out with minimal dollars for marketing or advertising? By far, the biggest response from small business owners when asked what is their marketing strategy is..."word of mouth". This takes a variety of forms but it usually involves meeting people and sharing information on your business with them and hoping they share this information with others. Word of mouth is inexpensive and if you strike a cord with…
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Added by Michael Bowers on September 5, 2008 at 12:21pm —
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As an SBDC business consultant I meet with people all the time that have ideas for building a grand and glorious business. They are excited, energized and of course they need money. Now I know people don't like to write business plans but at least before you ask for money can you develop some sort of feasibility plan? It is important that you have an idea of whether the business will work for YOU not just work...there is a difference. A business idea may have legs but until you have determined…
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Added by Michael Bowers on August 21, 2008 at 9:28am —
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I just found this video on the Sync website. This is Stacey Elicker of Sync discussing how to start a viral campaign from the inside at a recent TechColumbus session. Stacy discusses a campaign she worked on to develop an on-line community by developing a viral outreach strategy reaching internal stakeholders first, then letting it grow. For a small business Web 2.0 or social networking can be a great way to build evangelists for your product (see the previous post) and get your word out. As a…
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Added by Michael Bowers on August 4, 2008 at 8:00am —
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I was first introduced to Guy Kawasaki in 2001 when I attended one of the Garage.com Entrepreneur Bootcamps in New York City. This was during the final days of the internet bubble (actually it had already burst) so there was a lot of talk about holding on and surviving but Guy was still talking about building revolutionary products and companies. While I've read it several times I decided to get Rules for Revolutionaries out today and look it over for inspiration. As usual it did not…
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Added by Michael Bowers on August 1, 2008 at 3:18pm —
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I wanted to promote another company here in Columbus that is really taking off...Brand Thunder. Brand Thunder creates a customized browser for Mozilla Foxfire. Patrick Murphy is the founder and has created a very exciting business. Many companies are jumping in with Brand Thunder and creating browser themes that the user can download and experience the company's brand every time they log into the internet. Also, as you get ready for Ohio State football now is the time to download the Coach…
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Added by Michael Bowers on July 21, 2008 at 1:42pm —
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