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Cómo alentar a ser emprendedores
De nuevo vía Antonella nos llega este artículo, también de Mike Southon.
Put on your thinking cap
By Mike Southon, Published: September 12 2008
I am often asked what could be done to encourage more young people to become entrepreneurs. I explain that the first step is to provide inspiration and motivation, giving them the confidence to take the first steps towards starting their own business.
A typical approach is to detail the success stories of famous entrepreneurs. The next step is to turn their experiences into a training curriculum.
Many training courses and academic degrees provide formal learning in entrepreneurship, yet a high proportion of successful entrepreneurs preface their comments with the statement: "I quit school at 16." Academic life did not suit their temperament or ambition – they learned the hard way, at the University of Life.
Even so, I always recommend that young people take on board as much learning as possible before starting a business. Even if a course turns out not to be relevant to their later career, at least they have learnt something about themselves, and perhaps built up a network of potential co-workers for the time when they do start a business.
If you had to select just one degree that has the building blocks for entrepreneurship, clearly business studies is high on the list.
But perhaps the ideal solution would be to follow the example of Christina Domecq – co-founder of the SpinVox voice-recognition technology business – and combine a degree in economics and a masters in finance with a degree in systematic theology.
Domecq never had any desire to go into the family wine and spirits business, preferring instead to learn how philosophers used structured thinking to reach their desired goals. She enjoyed studying Plato, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, and was later taken with Freud and psychology.
Domecq's career has been the typical combination of being in the right place at the right time, and then seizing the opportunity. While at Notre Dame doing her masters degree in 1994, she realised that many of her friends wanted to use the internet to work in their homes, so she set up a consultancy which she sold within a couple of years.
Next, she set up a computer training business in New York. She met her future SpinVox co-founder Daniel Doulton while queuing for a burger at a ski resort. There was an immediate business chemistry as they realised they had complementary skills. Domecq can define neat business models and Doulton is able to turn these into reality. Domecq is good at building teams and Doulton can map out the vision of where the enterprise is going.
The concept of SpinVox is simple: converting voice to text. Its first application was to enable voicemails to be received as SMS texts or e-mails. Domecq was able to pitch this concept to the first angel investors in less than 10 minutes. A strategic partnership with Carphone Warehouse to sell SpinVox over the counter confirmed the initial demand for the service, which is now offered by mobile operators around the world.
My experience of high-technology ventures is that they are a rollercoaster of high expectations, frantic activity and random market dislocations – it is hard, at times, to make sense out of it all.
Domecq's solution to this chaos is to revert to Plato's model of the philosopher in a cave: she looks at shadows, which represent the perception of investors and customers, and at her business, which represents the reality.
Whether pitching to investors and customers, entrepreneurs such as Domecq are successful when they make this perception appear as attractive as possible.
www.spinvox.com
Put on your thinking cap
By Mike Southon, Published: September 12 2008
I am often asked what could be done to encourage more young people to become entrepreneurs. I explain that the first step is to provide inspiration and motivation, giving them the confidence to take the first steps towards starting their own business.
A typical approach is to detail the success stories of famous entrepreneurs. The next step is to turn their experiences into a training curriculum.
Many training courses and academic degrees provide formal learning in entrepreneurship, yet a high proportion of successful entrepreneurs preface their comments with the statement: "I quit school at 16." Academic life did not suit their temperament or ambition – they learned the hard way, at the University of Life.
Even so, I always recommend that young people take on board as much learning as possible before starting a business. Even if a course turns out not to be relevant to their later career, at least they have learnt something about themselves, and perhaps built up a network of potential co-workers for the time when they do start a business.
If you had to select just one degree that has the building blocks for entrepreneurship, clearly business studies is high on the list.
But perhaps the ideal solution would be to follow the example of Christina Domecq – co-founder of the SpinVox voice-recognition technology business – and combine a degree in economics and a masters in finance with a degree in systematic theology.
Domecq never had any desire to go into the family wine and spirits business, preferring instead to learn how philosophers used structured thinking to reach their desired goals. She enjoyed studying Plato, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, and was later taken with Freud and psychology.
Domecq's career has been the typical combination of being in the right place at the right time, and then seizing the opportunity. While at Notre Dame doing her masters degree in 1994, she realised that many of her friends wanted to use the internet to work in their homes, so she set up a consultancy which she sold within a couple of years.
Next, she set up a computer training business in New York. She met her future SpinVox co-founder Daniel Doulton while queuing for a burger at a ski resort. There was an immediate business chemistry as they realised they had complementary skills. Domecq can define neat business models and Doulton is able to turn these into reality. Domecq is good at building teams and Doulton can map out the vision of where the enterprise is going.
The concept of SpinVox is simple: converting voice to text. Its first application was to enable voicemails to be received as SMS texts or e-mails. Domecq was able to pitch this concept to the first angel investors in less than 10 minutes. A strategic partnership with Carphone Warehouse to sell SpinVox over the counter confirmed the initial demand for the service, which is now offered by mobile operators around the world.
My experience of high-technology ventures is that they are a rollercoaster of high expectations, frantic activity and random market dislocations – it is hard, at times, to make sense out of it all.
Domecq's solution to this chaos is to revert to Plato's model of the philosopher in a cave: she looks at shadows, which represent the perception of investors and customers, and at her business, which represents the reality.
Whether pitching to investors and customers, entrepreneurs such as Domecq are successful when they make this perception appear as attractive as possible.
www.spinvox.com
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