The Venture Edge

I was recently crusing the Inc.com website when I ran across an interesting article that I thought was worth sharing. The article -- The $4 Million Complaint Call -- was written by Ron Burley, founder of Broadcast Software International, a technology startup. Ron's company specializes in the development of digital audio and automation software for broadcast radio stations. Four years after founding his company, he had grown it to 16 employees with a customer base spread across 40 countries around the globe. However, Broadcast Software was at a crossroads in its life -- Ron could no longer afford to fund the company's growth by himself, and it desperately needed an infusion of outside capital. Unfortunately, investment in technology companies had dried up, and there was no outside capital to be found anywhere. If something didn't change, and soon, the company would likely collapse. 

Don’t you just love hype cycles, aka bubbles?  I do because they’re so predictable and yet we all go along for the ride.  What's funny is that you can see them coming, but they’re hard to resist because the excitement that surrounds them is so palpable.  Even if we realize that  all bubbles eventually pop, we still seem taken by surprise when they do.  The dot com boom, energy, and the rise in housing prices (I’ll admit that one lasted a long time) to name a few recent ones that made a lot of people rich and then took it all away.

Need a quick $250,000 to help fuel your small business? If so, you'll need to act fast. Chase and Living Social are giving out grants of $250,000 each to 12 small businesses selected under their Mission: Small Business program. But hurry -- you've got to get your application in (and attract at least 250 votes from the web-surfing public) by June 30, 2012! Here's some additional information from the Mission: Small Business site:

I thought it might be nice to follow up on Peter’s last two posts about entrepreneurship in the Philippines with a global view of startup activity based on the wonderful work of my friends and colleagues at GEM, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.  We often think of the United States as the entrepreneurship leader, but like anyone who takes a leadership position for granted, we need to pay attention to who’s nipping at our heels and challenging that position. America’s leadership position is definitely not what it used to be.  

So, if you happened to read my most recent post, you are probably aware that this past weekend I returned from a 10-day business trip to the Philippines. While I was blown away by the extent of entrepreneurship in this country, there was one more thing that made a huge impression on me: the power of American brands, and the extent to which these (often gigantic) multinational companies tailored their offerings with great precision to appeal directly to their Philippine customers.

Yesterday I returned from a spur-of-the-moment business trip to the Philippines. What an experience, and what a country! Alive, vibrant, and constantly in motion. I quickly fell in love with the friendly people, the beautiful islands, and the terrific food. Although my experience was limited to Cebu City and surrounding municipalities (Carcar, Danao, Lapu-lapu, Mandaue, Naga, and Talisay), I believe that I got a pretty good feel for what the country as a whole -- at least the middle part, the Visayas -- has to offer. As promised in my last post, here is Part 1 of my impressions on the state of entrepreneurship in the Philippines.

You would have to be a hermit not to have noticed one of the fastest growing industries around – the business accelerator.  If you Google “business accelerator,” you’ll get about 16 million results.  16 million!!!  It seems that every city worth its salt is launching an accelerator in hopes of generating new businesses and job growth in their community.  So does it work and should you find an accelerator for your new venture?  

By the time your read this post, I will be in the middle of a trip to Cebu City in the Philippines. I'm headed there with a client to do research for a book project. I have never been to the Philippines, and I am really looking forward to seeing what the current state of entrepreneurship is there. I fully expect to immerse myself in street vendors (and food), local shops of all sizes and kinds, and other sorts of enterprises. I plan to interview as many of the business owners as I can to get a feel for what's going on in this vibrant country.