A note from our editor, Elizabeth MacBride
Join us today, tomorrow and Friday for Challenges Met, Opportunities Ahead, our virtual event looking at the future of entrepreneurship and innovation, especially through the lens of what’s happening at universities. Among the headline events:
• A panel discussion, Reinventing Capitalism, sponsored by the Miller Center
• My interview today with Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square and founder of Invisibly
• Panels on structuring entrepreneurship programs at universities and how student ventures can get funding
• Why don’t universities teach “real” entrepreneurship – conversation with me and Seth Levine about our new book, The New Builders
• A no-holds-barred conversation with Dina Sherif of MIT’s Legatum
Center and Stacey Vanek Smith of NPR about what it’s like to climb a career ladder as a woman.
• We’ll announce this year’s list of the Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Competitions
Today, I’m talking to Jim McKelvey at 4 p.m. Eastern. We’re going to talk about his book The Innovation Stack and how and whether it applies to today’s entrepreneurs. I have a couple tough questions up my sleeve about the impact of Square. And we’ll focus on Invisibly, his cutting-edge effort to allow people to own and profit from their own data (shocking concept) as they consume content. A former artist and all-around renegade who’s open about what it feels like to be an entrepreneur, innovator and outsider – in a word, it’s scary – he has a lot to say to people who aim to solve problems.
McKelvey has also anchored new development in St. Louis, so we’ll talk about place, post-pandemic. Join us. And if you have a question for McKelvey, send it my way in the next few hours: [email protected].
If you can’t make a particular event, your registration will give you access to the videos in the next few weeks.
Times of Entrepreneurship
Stories of the Week
The Regulars at this Fayetteville Restaurant are Picking Up Volunteer Shifts To Keep Herman’s Ribhouse Open
The Flood of Support Stunned Owners Carrie and Nick Wright. ‘I’ve got a List so Long, I Would Have to Make a Schedule.’
Changemakers: A California Occupational Therapist has an Invention to Help People with Disabilities Reach the Sea
Access Trax was Born in a College Course, When a Surfer-Professor Proposed a Challenge.
Commentary: Social Entrepreneurship Leads the Charge to Reinvent Capitalism
These Ventures Present Ways to Harness the Power of the Marketplace to Achieve What Current Capitalism Struggles to Do.
The Next Generation Of Business Leaders Is Redefining Grit. But They Still Might Not Succeed
Business Leadership Norms Are Changing, As the Entrepreneurial Landscape Shifts Toward Women and People of Color. There Are New Pitfalls for Today’s Entrepreneurs.
You may have missed
TikTok Craze Gets Real at a Brooklyn Rug Tufting Studio A Cybersecurity Consultant Quit his Job for a More ‘Wholesome’ Life. Here it Is. Read it here.
5M People Became Entrepreneurs in 2021, a 20-Year-Record The Economic and Emotional Dislocation of the Pandemic is Spurring People, Especially Women and People of Color, to Open Businesses. Read it here.
The Future of Venture Capital May Emerge From Universities Institutions Experiment to Help Founders who are ‘Outside’ the Current Finance System; Companies Grown with a Grant of $5,000. Read it here.
VIDEO: Why a 25-Year-Old Baltimorean Left Teaching to Follow a Talent for Digital Marketing 5M People Became Entrepreneurs in 2021. Here’s a Spotlight on One. Watch the video.
Living the dream 💭
Best Practices: So you’re working on building your network and want your connections to last. Try ending each conversation with a next step, suggests Erik Oberholtzer, the co-founder of New York-based restaurant Tender Greens, in Rolling Stone. Doing so creates momentum and keeps the connection moving forward. If you struggle to find a next step, maybe the connection isn’t a fruitful one, he says.
Buzzworthy: Author and photographer Bill Hayes captures Manhattan in the early days of the pandemic in How We Live Now. The book is a tribute to the recent moment in history – he illustrates moments in the streets and also moments at home, reflecting on the world and himself.
Rathskeller 🍻
The 4.5 hour workweek: A productivity hack
One strategy for being productive without sacrificing your health is getting more realistic about how long tasks will take you, writes David Finkel, the author of The Freedom Formula, for Inc.com. Try setting a timer for 30 minutes and take note of how much work you can actually complete, he suggests. Doing this a few times will help you better gauge how long tasks actually take.
Wanderlust : a restaurant or activity from our Top Ecosystems list
When you’re in San Diego checking out its entrepreneurship scene, stop by the Liberty Public Market for a bite to eat. The market is housed in Point Loma’s historic Liberty Station and hosts rotating vendors seven days a week. Its current restaurants serve options including bao, Korean barbeque, tacos and hot chicken.
Made in the USA
Consider this set of 12 shower steamers from Los Angeles-based Lizush to relax after a long day of work. The bars are handmade with essential oils and other natural ingredients. Treat yourself or surprise a friend with the $48 set.
Upcoming Opportunities ⭐
To list an opportunity in our newsletter, check out our rates here. We cover the emerging economy of diverse founders:
🔗Link: https://bit.ly/TimesofEOpportunities
1. The Times of E’s first event: Challenges Met, Opportunities Ahead
Gather with other university entrepreneurship professionals, professors and students to hear from NPR’s Planet Money co-host Stacey Vanek Smith, Foundry Group Managing Director Seth Levine, George Washington University’s Associate Director of Student Entrepreneurship Programs Scott Stein, The Ask author Laura Fredericks and Times of E founder and editor Elizabeth MacBride. Levine and MacBride are co-authors of The New Builders.
📅 Date: Jan. 26-Jan. 28, 2022
🏢 Location: Virtual
🔗Link: https://timesofe.com/events/
2. A Course To Reach the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
In this free course developed by entrepreneurship professor John Lynn, professors and other entrepreneurship educators get a curriculum and supporting materials based on the influential book, The New Builders.
📅 Date: N/A
🏢 Location: N/A
🔗Link: https://docsend.com/view/s/4gah7gde5yrguz8j
3. $10K Grant for Restaurants
DoorDash and Hello Allce are running this grant program for restaurants affected by federally declared natural disasters, such as the recent tornados and winds in the Midwest.
📅 Date: Applications close Jan. 31
🏢 Location: N/A
🔗Link: https://doordash.helloalice.com/?utm_source=Newsletter+Inclusions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DoorDash_Grant_1&goal=0_18427d7730-5d026c96f4-435132212&mc_cid=5d026c96f4&mc_eid=e7cdc700c2
4. Right to Start Seeking Part-time Advocates
Help revitalize the Missouri or Miami economy by supporting entrepreneurs in your community. That includes all types of small businesses, home-based businesses, independent contractors, freelancers, and “side hustlers.” You don’t need a degree in business. You need to be a “connector” — someone who is trusted in the community who can open doors, find the right people, and work closely with small business owners. Join the Right to Start coalition by becoming an Advocate in Miami or Missouri.
📅 Date: N/A
🏢 Location: Miami and Missouri
🔗 Miami Link: https://www.righttostart.org/miami
🔗 Missouri Link: https://www.righttostart.org/missouri
5. The Federation of American Scientists Seeking Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation Lead
The Federation of American Scientists is seeking a lead to manage a growing portfolio of work focused on entrepreneurship and regional innovation, with a focus on helping regional actors access high-impact federal resources. Please spread the word!
📅 Date: N/A
🏢 Location: Washington, D.C.
🔗 Link: https://lnkd.in/dENQ7ga
6. VC Scout Peter Bergstrom Searching for Start-up Projects Targeting Web3 Metaverse
Peter Bergstrom has direct access to Venture Capitalists wanting to invest in metaverse gaming projects. He is currently looking for the following start-up projects: Metaverse (world builder) games with a multi-genre customer onboarding universe, play-to-earn games, infrastructure platforms targeting the web3 gaming metaverse (eco-system).
Recommended Submission Details:
Email your submission to [email protected], preferably with a 5-10 page pitch deck including: Why is blockchain, P2E, and/or NFTs making your project better than without? What is the business opportunity you are targeting? How have you paid for your project so far? For how long and how much money have you raised and from who?
Also include: an executive summary, vision, genre, computer format, technology/engine, description of game, gameplay and platform functionality, market data, marketing roadmap, 3-5 USPs, competitive analysis, blockchain tech usage and adaptation, business model, tokenmonics, P&L including model and assumptions, team description, advisor description, tech/marketing/financial/platform partner description, project roadmap, rendered artwork showing look, visions and atmosphere of the project, an alpha version playable/usable demo, video showing a vertical slice of actual (early) gameplay or project functionality.
📅 Date: N/A
🏢 Location: N/A
🔗 Link: Send submissions to [email protected]
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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.
