Change.org - remember to vote before 12/31/08

After 12/31/08 only the top 3 rated ideas from each category will make it into the second round. The second round of voting will begin on Monday, January 5, and each qualifying idea will compete against the qualifying ideas from all other categories, and then the top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009 as the "Top 10 Ideas for America."

If you have not done so, please consider the Entrepreneur Commons idea:

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/sponsor_a_structure_for_entrepreneurs_to_support_entrepreneurs
Click on the "vote" button showing the current number of votes

And if you like the idea, please forward to as many of your friends as possible, as we need many more votes to make it to the top 10.

Thank you for your help.

Best wishes for 2009 :-)

-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Social Capital and Social Business definitions

An interesting input from Michael Cayley in the Social Edge discussion regarding the definitions of Social Capital and Social Business:

Social Capital (Nan Lin's definition): resources embedded in a social structure which are accessed and/or mobilized in purposive actions

Social Business (from Michael): "ALL businesses are social in an era where meaning & perception is derived from broadband empowered individuals rather than capital intensive broadcast communication networks."

This is very much in line with what I had in mind when I started the discussion on Social Edge. And seems to fit a lot of the other comments that came up.
And it reinforce my conviction that we need something like the Vindex to attach a number to the concept, and make it easy for everybody to understand and visualize the value.


-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Gizmocall.com - new cool widget

The nerd in me likes this one...
Thank you Gizmo project :-)




-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Please join the "Social Business" discussion on SocialEdge

We are currently discussing the definitions of "Social Capital" and "Social Business" on SocialEdge:

http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/responsibility/social-capital-social-business

My take on this is that the success of Muhammad Yunus with Grameen bank and microfinance in general has resulted in a narrowing of the definition of "Social Business" to what he specifically focuses on: poverty.
Meanwhile there is a broader definition that we should look like, as a way to prevent the concept of "Social Business" from being marginalized. We cannot afford to fall into the comfortable idea that "Social Businesses" are focusing on fixing the world issues while the rest of us are doing business as usual. We need to reverse the trend by moving the concept of "Social Business" from being a niche to being the standard.

Please give us your input on this idea and how to go about it:
http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/responsibility/social-capital-social-business


-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Linux, Open source get patent protection program

A very interesting announcement today from Information Week (thank you Elie for pointing this out):

Open Invention Network (OIN) unveiled a program Tuesday that aims to make it easier for patent and trademark office examiners -- and others -- to access prior art, increase the quality of patents granted, and decrease the number of poor quality patents. [...] The sponsors hope the program will ultimately promote their goals of greater freedom in the open source community to expand the Linux platform.

Full article here

Another step in the right direction. Sadly patents are often used as a way to prevent other people to do things. Large corporations are often times filing many with no real intent to build anything but more to make sure that if somebody else tries they will have a way to stop them or at least slow them down while they try to catch up...


-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Top 150 Blogs for Entrepreneurs

>> This list has been updated - for the most recent ranking click here <<

I am using eCairn to track what is happening in the blogosphere around Entrepreneurship/ Social Entrepreneurship / High Tech/ Venture Capital (tracking about 350 blogs total), and I use eCairn's influence ranking on these blogs to prioritize my reading and commenting (see here how they do this - this is NOT about traffic but rather who links to what).
Here is the list of the top 150 blogs that I find relevant for entrepreneurs in general, with a bias for high tech and social entrepreneurship and a special interest on the funding side.

Future updates will be posted on the Entrepreneur Commons website.

Something that you may find useful for yourself...

Top 150 blogs for Entrepreneur (based on the influence ranking by eCairn):

1 http://www.techcrunch.com
2 http://www.venturebeat.com
3 http://blog.guykawasaki.com
4 http://www.gigaom.com
5 http://www.alleyinsider.com
6 http://www.readwriteweb.com
7 http://www.avc.com/a_vc
8 http://www.pehub.com
9 http://paul.kedrosky.com
10 http://www.entrepreneur.com
11 http://www.valleywag.com
12 http://www.scobleizer.com
13 http://www.thefunded.com
14 http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com
15 http://redeye.firstround.com
16 http://www.buzzmachine.com
17 http://www.smallbiztrends.com
18 http://www.venturehacks.com
19 http://www.socialedge.org
20 http://upandrunning.entrepreneur.com
21 http://blogs.openforum.com
22 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content
23 http://www.informationarbitrage.com
24 http://blog.entrepreneur.com
25 http://www.instigatorblog.com
26 http://networking.entrepreneur.com
27 http://vestpocketconsultant.entrepreneur.com
28 http://www.gapingvoid.com
29 http://lsvp.wordpress.com
30 http://www.howardlindzon.com
31 http://inspired.entrepreneur.com
32 http://weekend.entrepreneur.com
33 http://www.vcconfidential.com
34 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting
35 http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing
36 http://www.texasstartupblog.com
37 http://fiveyearstoolate.wordpress.com
38 http://www.coloradostartups.com
39 http://www.markpeterdavis.com/getventure
40 http://www.startupnorth.ca
41 http://www.business-opportunities.biz
42 http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
43 http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org
44 http://campusentrepreneurship.wordpress.com
45 http://www.billionswithzeroknowledge.com
46 http://www.getentrepreneurial.com
47 http://www.nextbillion.net
48 http://philanthropy.blogspot.com
49 http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com
50 http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet
51 http://www.newhampshirestartups.com
52 http://www.kentuckystartups.com
53 http://www.techflash.com
54 http://www.davidcrow.ca
55 http://www.bootstrapme.com
56 http://www.northcarolinastartups.com
57 http://vcmike.wordpress.com
58 http://joi.ito.com
59 http://www.ocvcblog.com
60 http://www.startupprincess.com/wordpress
61 http://blog.acumenfund.org
62 http://startup.partnerup.com
63 http://www.startupmeme.com
64 http://blog.timberry.com
65 http://www.thefrankpetersshow.com
66 http://www.growthology.org/growthology
67 http://www.montrealtechwatch.com
68 http://www.innoeco.com
69 http://founderresearch.blogspot.com
70 http://canentrepreneur.blogspot.com
71 http://bizcoach.blogspot.com
72 http://ben.casnocha.com
73 http://www.gifthub.org
74 http://www.askthevc.com/blog
75 http://www.startupcfo.ca
76 http://blog.ecairn.com
77 http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs
78 http://blog.socaltech.com
79 http://www.mvmpartners.com/blog
80 http://www.nivi.com/blog
81 http://www.allantyoung.com
82 http://coheda.typepad.com/israel
83 http://www.christine.net
84 http://www.vcrants.com
85 http://www.tjacobi.com
86 http://blogs.forrester.com/colony
87 http://www.adeoressi.com
88 http://commonangels.wordpress.com
89 http://vcinjerusalem.typepad.com/vcinjerusalem
90 http://wallen.typepad.com/wallen
91 http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com
92 http://www.infochachkie.com
93 http://www.afpr.com
94 http://www.epicchange.org/blog
95 http://blog.bootuplabs.com
96 http://www.skollonline.com/blog
97 http://www.dorm-room-biz.com
98 http://www.vccafe.com
99 http://marktomarket.typepad.com/marktomarket
100 http://blog.marsdd.com
101 http://www.altgate.com/blog
102 http://www.jasonmendelson.com/blog
103 http://www.wellingtonfund.com/blog
104 http://english.martinvarsavsky.net
105 http://www.socialmediaclub.org
106 http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog
107 http://www.delbourg-delphis.com
108 http://vcratings.thedealblogs.com
109 http://www.unleashingideas.org/blog
110 http://www.energybyte.com/blog
111 http://www.venturedig.com
112 http://www.microcapital.org
113 http://www.theequitykicker.com
114 http://www.theclosetentrepreneur.com
115 http://presspass.entrepreneur.com
116 http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com
117 http://www.change.gov/newsroom/blog
118 http://www.startuptweet.com
119 http://altos.typepad.com/vc
120 http://blog.bplans.com
121 http://www.churbuck.com/wordpress
122 http://www.onthecommons.org
123 http://www.zviband.com
124 http://www.businessblogwire.com
125 http://yallaguy.wordpress.com
126 http://laurent.pierssens.com
127 http://babblingvc.typepad.com/pjozefak
128 http://www.unstructuredventures.com/uv
129 http://www.floridaventureblog.com
130 http://www.leveragingideas.com
131 http://www.allthingscahill.com
132 http://www.stetoscope-blog.com
133 http://www.johngannonblog.com
134 http://everythingstartup.blogspot.com
135 http://www.thepomoblog.com
136 http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com
137 http://www.austinstartup.com
138 http://bluepointmktg.blogspot.com
139 http://www.abovethecrowd.com
140 http://schumpeterscentury.blogspot.com
141 http://vcwhisperer.blogspot.com
142 http://www.techflash.com/venture
143 http://www.appfrica.net/blog
144 http://onhollywood.goingon.com
145 http://www.ariwriter.com
146 http://www.insidevtknowledgeworks.com
147 http://www.socialcapitalmarkets.net/blog
148 http://thebostonentrepreneur.wordpress.com
149 http://www.startupweekend.com
150 http://microfranchising.blogspot.com



-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?

Why you should hire me as a trusted advisor

Your business needs a trusted advisor to make sure the relationship between the various stakeholders stays healthy.

A business by nature is always in transition, trying to get from one phase of the life-cycle to the next:

• creation

• growth

• stability

• closure of some sort: dissolution, merger, IPO etc...

Each of these phases require a team with a different set of skills.

And then when the transition from one phase to the other is achieved, the team needs to get re-organized to meet the requirements of the new phase the business is in.

In addition to and independently from the internal tensions created by this constant change, there are natural tensions between the various stakeholders.

And there are many of them:

• entrepreneur
• employees
• customers
• investors
• suppliers
• vendors
• external contractors
• other legal and fiscal stakeholders
  

 

Of course, you can always manage the tensions through open communication, and most of the time this is good enough. This is where a strong company culture makes a big difference, because everybody's interest tends to be more aligned, thus minimizing the risk of friction. 

But then again and typically over time untold issues accumulate. Some problems will disappear because the people involved will leave, but some tension will also slowly build up because not everybody has the option of getting out: investors need an exit strategy, the entrepreneur needs a transition plan, etc...

This is when you need a trusted advisor: think of it as your doctor, and as doing regular checkups. 

When it comes to your health, you would probably agree that prevention is better than waiting until the problem starts surfacing. 

Similarly for a business it is much better to check the health of the relationships within the business rather than wait until the business is in trouble.

And the person you need should be from the outside, free of any potential conflict of interest so that the all stakeholders can have a truly open discussion with him/her.

It should not be the company lawyer, because you would not want him to know too much about you personally. 

It should not be the company CPA because you may want to keep your own financial issues for yourself. 

It should be somebody at the heart of the business ecosystem that all stakeholders can trust without second thoughts. Somebody who can pull in the necessary resources and work with them to help resolve issues without being responsible for the direct execution a specific task (which may create conflict of interest). The general contractor who will coordinate the work between the architect and the various contractors on the job.

What you will get

• A trusted advisor who will listen and can bring into the discussion his own prospective from many years of business experience

• A trusted neutral third party to provide mediation between all the stakeholders within the business ecosystem at large

If you agree that your business would be better off with such a person, please contact me: marc at dangeard dot com

The Entrepreneur Commons concept submitted on Change.org was featured on the social entrepreneurship blog here.

Check it out if you want more details on how the idea came and how the Obama administration could help entrepreneurs.
If you like what you read, please vote for the idea here:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/sponsor_a_structure_for_entrepreneurs_to_support_entrepreneurs
Click on the "Vote" button showing the current number of votes.

And then don't forget to forward the info to your friends, as we need a lot more votes if we want to make it to the top 10.

Thank you for your help :-)

-----------------------------------------
Would you like to rate me?