Times of E is growing! We are launching an event this January for professionals who work in the more than 250 university entrepreneurship programs across the country. We’ll release this year’s Top List of University Entrepreneurship Competitions. We also are working on an amazing lineup of panels and speakers. If you have a topic you’d like to present to thousands of these professionals, please send me a note at [email protected].
Editor’s Note, from Elizabeth:
One reason I founded Times of E was to recognize the people who are doers, whose defining qualities aren’t wealth, talent or smarts, but courage and determination. The former three are a matter of luck. Courage is about practice (that’s why anxious kids grow up to principled adults). Determination has a lot to do with the norms of your community.
I love the way people in the entrepreneurship community celebrate determination, sometimes to a fault. One of my mentors, Andy Rachleff, reminded me recently that the most important thing an entrepreneur can do is keep going.
Times of E profiles often focus on character, impact and environment over success and innate ability. That’s turned out to be more subversive than you might expect. Our way of defining what’s important runs counter to the way other media defines what’s valuable.
At The New York Times, it’s about talent – aptly illustrated this week in the viral story Who’s A Bad Art Friend. In the interests of framing a story into a catfight, a male writer uses some journalistic sleight of hand to define two women equally. One is a talented-but-cruel writer, the other is a woman whose only claim to fame is donating a kidney. Here’s the tell that shows you the journalist was feeding Times readers a notion they love: The idea that talent is king. Robert Kolker fails to interview or consider the person who got the kidney.
At The Wall Street Journal, the value system is about institutions. At The Information, it’s about scale. Other media have their own hierarchies. We’ll stick with ours – and in fact, this week, have two stories about brave women: One in our Changemakers column, and one in The Yes People, from Nina Roberts, who also writes at times for The Times. Check them out below.
One final note. This is an important story I’m following but that hasn’t hit the U.S. press much: The prestigious Hult Prize competition for young entrepreneurs has been suspended and founder Ahmad Ashkar reportedly fired. This week, allegations of sexual assault at one of the events surrounding the competition emerged.
Times of Entrepreneurship Stories of the Week
The Big Disconnect Between Workers and Bosses and What It Means for Entrepreneurship
A survey offers insight to the value of flexibility and the surprising difference the virtual environment had for Black knowledge workers.
Read the Story »
White Men Are Getting The Most Funding In The Diversity Recruitment Space
An unsought $50M round raises questions about how change happens.
Read the Story »
The Yes People: Her friends said ‘No.’ But That Didn’t Hinder This Entrepreneur’s Bissap Dream.
Akua Kyerematen Nettey hit a ‘discouragement hump’ early on. Now her bissap is sold in major supermarkets — and she still can’t find funding.
Read the Story »
Changemakers: A Simple Startup Idea to Help People Remember CPR
The idea for CPRWrap came to this Chattanooga entrepreneur in a dream. She quit her job to follow her business.
Read the Story »
You may have missed: Facebook’s Fierce Opponent Is Raising $60M to Fund New Kinds of Artificial Intelligence David Magerman’s Differential Ventures pulls money from Wall Streeters who know his history at Renaissance Technologies. Read it here.
You may have missed: Changemakers: MPOWER, A B Corp, Starts to Separate from the Pack in International Student Lending Company works with 350 schools in North America to increase access but interest rates are standard. Read it here.
Living the Dream💭
Best Practices: The Intensive Journal Process, developed by American psychotherapist Ira Progoff while he was at Drew University, has helped countless creative people discover what they really wanted to express and find new paths to personal growth. His family just posted some of his most significant lectures on YouTube, under Intensive Journal Program.
Buzzworthy: Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Nation and three-time U.S. Poet Laureate, reveals how the loss of her mother and her ancestral homeland—and the abusive actions of the men around her—influenced her to become the poet she is today.
Rathskeller🍻
The 4.5 hour workweek: A productivity hack
Spending hours surfing Airbnb in search of the perfect lodgings can eat up a good part of your day. With rental rates rising, some Redditors are raising the question of whether it’s more efficient to just book a hotel.
Wanderlust : a restaurant or activity from our Top Ecosystems list
When in Phoenix, make sure you stop by the Taco Guild, tucked away in a historic chapel. In addition to the street style carnitas ($6), there are decadent taco faves like lobster ($9), Molida lamb ($6.50) and coconut shrimp ($7).
Made in the USA
If you’re looking to go vegan but aren’t ready to give up cheese, perhaps it’s time to sample Parma!, a new dairy-free cheese made by Sister River Foods in Medford, Ore., designed for sprinkling. Besides the original flavor, there are “Better than Bacon Parma!” “Chipotle Cayenne Parma” and “Garlicky Green Parma” (all $10.95).
Opportunities⭐
Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
The Women’s Economic Empowerment Accelerator is a six-month program for social enterprises that are intentional about supporting women — the founder is a woman, the company employs mostly women, it creates business opportunities for women or its customers are primarily women. The program aims to help its cohort scale up, to support women in social entrepreneurship. Applicants must be senior leaders (such as a CEO, executive director or managing director) with at least three, paid full-time employees and a revenue of at least $20,000 but less than $2 million, according to its website.
📅 Date: January 2022 ~ July 2022
📝 Registration Deadline: October 22
🔗 Link: https://www.millersocent.org/wee-accelerator/
Say Hi Columbus: An exploration of human ingenuity
Part of the Say Hi to the Future platform, Say Hi Columbus! is a day-long conference that celebrates the human side of human ingenuity, bringing together curious individuals from various walks of life to learn about clever, inventive, and original ideas. It’s not about the title that you carry, but the savage curiosity that drives you. Regardless of your field, education or role, Say Hi Columbus will provide you insights on thinking, engaging and commercializing ideas that will move your organization forward and you upward!
📅 Date: November 12
🏢 Location: Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), Columbus, Ohio
🔗 Link: https://bit.ly/3tJKg7X
Lewis and Clark College
The Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Lewis and Clark College is seeking a visiting, full-time assistant professor to teach 5 semester-long courses each academic year. The role is for two years, but renewal for the second year is based on the first year’s performance. Candidates must have a Masters Degree and be able to teach introduction to entrepreneurship, financial modeling for startups and a topical course such as personal finance or social entrepreneurship.
📅 Date: January 2022 or February 2022
🏢 Location: Portland, Oregon
🔗 Link: https://apply.interfolio.com/95699
Techstars: VP of Network
Boulder, Colorado-based Techstars is searching for a new VP of Network, who will support its global accelerators’ founders, mentors and network, according to the listing. The position also recruits and maintain’s Techstars’ mentor network and manages the network team. The global accelerator is seeking someone with at least six years of management experience, who knows about the needs of early to late-stage startups and fits Techstars’ culture of being people-oriented, adaptable, creative and supportive.
🏢 Location: Boulder, Colorado, though the listing notes this is a remote position.
💰 Compensation Range: $175,000 – $220,000 + 10% Bonus
🔗 Link: https://boards.greenhouse.io/techstars57/jobs/5600465002
To list an opportunity in our newsletter, check out our rates here. We cover the emerging economy of diverse founders: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Uvv7XaslKpLmuabdAV3Bt1SP9NWdizOfMK19lLbk-Ik/edit?ts=6166f2a9
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This story and others on Times of E are made possible by a sponsorship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity – regardless of race, gender, or geography. The Kansas City, Mo.-based foundation uses its grantmaking, research, programs, and initiatives to support the start and growth of new businesses, a more prepared workforce, and stronger communities. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.
