“Now I know the true meaning of the term ‘performance artists.’ A group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists and start-up entrepreneurs are about to reap billions as they take one of the remaining darlings of the Internet age to the public financial markets. I’m tired of reading about Google, and I still don’t totally understand how it makes enough money to be worth, supposedly, $20 billion. I’ll bet Warren Buffett will not be standing in line to participate in the IPO, either.”

“Do you take the ‘our product/idea/meme/service/etc is the best and the rest are crap’ point of view? Or do you take ‘I’m an authority on this topic and I’m looking out for your best interests’ point of view? Which is more likely to persuade you to change your mind? Are you also looking to help customers become so passionate about your company and your product that they’ll do a better job of selling your ideas/products/company than you ever could?”

“The Internet boom and bust of 1996 to 2002 was the most important business phenomenon of the past several decades. In the wake of this historic period, we have an unprecedented opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and successes. To help us learn from history, we are creating the Business Plan Archive (BPA) to collect business plans and related documents from the dot com era. These plans ñ the ‘blueprints’ that lay out the assumptions and strategies of Internet entrepreneurs ñ will enable entrepreneurs and researchers to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research.”

“Recent economic news is mixed. Unemployment is up, but new jobs are being created. IPOs are being completed, but fledgling companies still are scrambling for cash. For first-time entrepreneurs, the task is particularly daunting, and many business founders who lack a proven ‘track record’ are looking for answers. So, how does an emerging business get funded? The answer starts with some basic rules…”

“A change of pace… I bet many of our readers have kids who participate in youth sports. Maybe some of you even coach their teams like I do. The more experience I gain as a coach, I discover deep lessons for leadership at work…”

“The May issue of Design Research News has a very interesting promo about the Harvard Business School declaring the MFA as the new MBA… essential for a business career… ‘Businesses have come to realize that the only way to differentiate their offerings is to make them beautiful and emotionallly compelling ó which explains why an arts degree is now a hot credential in management.’”