Entrepreneur the Arts » Entrepreneurial Evolution

U.S. Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, January 12-15 New Orleans, LA

Lisa Canning — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:09:57 +0000

In 2012 The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) will be held from January 12-15th in New Orleans, LA. My colleague from University of Illinois, Joyce Thomas and myself will be attending to present material from a paper we wrote, with another Univ of IL colleague, Deana McDonough, about The IAE and our learning cloud model. I am excited to be presenting my first paper about The IAE at this conference. This will be the 3rd time I have attended USASBE. I think it’s a valuable resource and a great networking opportunity. I hope you will consider attending. You can register here.

About USASBE

USASBE is the largest independent, professional, academic organization in the world dedicated to advancing the discipline of entrepreneurship. With over 1000 members from universities and colleges, for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public sector, USASBE is a diverse mix of professionals that share a common commitment to fostering entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors.

USASBE is built around four pillars that guide the ongoing development of our organization. The pillars include:

entrepreneurship education
entrepreneurship research
entrepreneurship outreach and
public policy

By fostering advances in each of these areas, we support the development of entrepreneurship educators who in turn will create next generation of entrepreneurs.

The roots of USASBE go back over fifty years to the founding of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) in 1957. The ICSB was founded in the United States as a comprehensive organization of outstanding researchers, scholars, teachers, administrators, and public policy makers interested in entrepreneurship and small business. As the organization grew, members decided to form national affiliates, and the U. S. Affiliate of the ICSB was established in 1981. In 1985, the name was changed to the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). Today, USASBE is an independent academic organization with its own unique mission, while also retaining its affiliation with ICSB.

USASBE is a community of scholars, entrepreneurship program and center directors, government officials, directors of entrepreneurship support organizations and others. It is a community that works to enhance our understanding of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and to identify best practices in how to teach entrepreneurial principles and facilitate the creation and growth of new for-profit and social ventures. Ours is a culture of exploring, experimenting, innovating, sharing, challenging and giving.

As leaders in the emerging discipline of entrepreneurship, our members are making an impact on how we think about, conduct research on, design public policy around, and interact with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ventures. They are extending the field of knowledge and shaping the discipline to reflect the opportunities and demands of the 21st Century.

Keeping the Faith and Staying the Course

Lisa Canning — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:49:11 +0000

It is hard for me to believe that The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship will open its doors in exactly 2 months.

Getting ready to launch The IAE has been no small undertaking. While I designed and am building this school with a blue ocean strategy (wide open largely unoccupied economic space) this project has been both exhilarating and the most challenging start-up for me ever.

For every person who I meet who understands the need and the concept of The IAE, I meet several others who it confuses or simply don’t get it. Transforming an innovative idea into a reality is not for the faint of heart but for true believers. And so I am focused on keeping the faith and staying the course. I truly believe in my mission.

This summer has been filled with curriculum and grant writing, and research literature reviews and strategy building. It has also included filling in some of the holes in our student mix.

We have students from 20 something to 63 years of age enrolled with almost every discipline represented EXCEPT for music and film. As a musician myself, it is surprising to me that this is the case. While some say musicians lag behind a bit in idea generation, it’s my own belief that some of the issues with their interest lies intrinsically in their narrow and really conservative view of career paths, as well as their lack of entrepreneurial initiative. And film? That stumps me. I had over 400 film makers about a year ago respond in Chicago to a really complicated editing job for as little pay as $1200.00. They certainly seem to be a lot of them starving…. sadly.

I KNOW there must be a few brave souls out there who will EASILY be able to clear our application hurdle and be admitted. So I would appreciate it very much if any of you reading this would share this post with a worthy musician or film maker in need of career development training who wants to make a difference in the world with their gifts. Remember: great character, determination, tenacity, a willingness to learn and a need to communicate well are what we are in search for in our applicants. Plus, we need individuals willing to invest 2 years into their future beginning on Sept 21st, 2011. Did I also mention our pilot is free to those we admit?

Come musicians and filmmakers into our new community. Together we can change the face of what it means to be an artist in the 21st century.

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. - Marie Curie

If you are the knight, who is the dragon?

Lisa Canning — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:33:05 +0000

Long ago, so it seems, I met Barry Moltz for lunch at Wishbone in Chicago. I was on my own hunt and seek mission to figure out who I wanted to be when I grew up. Having sold my businesses and trying to figure out which dragon I wanted to slay next, I asked to buy serial entrepreneur Barry Moltz lunch and found a new hero. Barry is an amazing camilion. He is a transformer with a cat like ability to have multiple lives. I am so inspired by his ability to reinvent himself and have learned so much from watching him grow on his own dragon sleighing journey…

By Barry Moltz

Even before breakfast, entrepreneurs prepare for battle almost every day. But who is the enemy? According to Steven Pressfield, author of “Do the Work” (and best-selling historical novels), “Our enemy . . . is not the difficulty of the project or the stay of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank accounts. The enemy is resistance.” I recently interviewed Steve about how business owners can fight through it.

Barry Moltz: Why do you think people get stuck, and what’s the best way for them to get unstuck?

Mr. Pressfield: My word for it is resistance with an R, which is that same force that we all know only too well of self-sabotage that, if we join a gym, keeps us from going to the gym and if we have a great idea for a new business or a book or anything that we want to do, resistance rears its ugly head and undercuts us and produces that voice in our head that stops us. It puts out all these excuses, and it stops us from doing it. Every type of entrepreneur seems to be dealing with this negative force, and I know I am as a writer, that’s for sure.

Barry Moltz: You say that we’ve got to stay primitive. What do you mean by that?

Mr. Pressfield: I mean to trust our instincts when we’re trying to understand or figure out what we’re going to do. For instance, it’s my belief that rational thought is definitely the enemy when we’re thinking about starting a business or pursuing any kind of a dream because those dreams and those business ideas, they come from a really deep place. So I’m a big believer in the caveman approach to coming up with ideas and following through.

Barry Moltz: You also say the universe is not indifferent. It is outright hostile.

Mr. Pressfield: Well, it’s basically resistance with an R, but what is interesting to me is that there are lots of religious traditions that acknowledge this thing. This is the devil. That’s what it is. Whatever negative force stops us from fulfilling our dreams or sabotages us, and you don’t have to look very far into the news, I won’t mention any names, to see examples of this force where we say, ‘Why did somebody just destroy themselves?’ Well, the universe is actively hostile, and inside our heads is this voice that’s trying to bring us down.

Barry Moltz: But on the other hand, Steve, you also say the answer is always yes. And those two things, if the universe is hostile, why is the answer always yes?

Mr. Pressfield: Ah, that’s a great question, because this is my version of reality so take it with a grain of salt. Every force in nature has an equal and opposite force, and just as there is the negative force of self-sabotage out there, which I would call resistance, there also is assistance, which is what the Greeks would call the muse: the mysterious source of inspiration that just comes to us and picks us up like a following wind. And the more, of course, we focus and commit and dedicate ourselves to a project or a new business or whatever, we find the more this force, this positive force, will pick us up and carry us along in the sense of we will have more ideas come to us and more energy sort of collect around us.

Barry Moltz: You say that panic is good. I really want to hear why panic is good because a lot of us out there panic.

Mr. Pressfield: OK, I’ll tell you exactly why panic is good, and this comes from total personal experience from the school of hard knocks, not from any BS out of a book or anything like that. I think that when we’re progressing and we’re growing, that’s when panic kicks in and we never realize that’s the source of that. We just sort of freeze and think we are having anxiety attacks or whatever, but really what’s happening is we’re starting to grow, and nothing is scarier, of course, than success or moving to the next level. When our soul sort of feels that we’re elevating, we’re progressing, we’re getting better, that’s when these irrational terrors will seize upon us. So I always tell myself, and this is hard to do when you’re in the midst of terror, that when I do feel myself being seized with anxiety, I ask myself am I going to the next level? Am I going to a higher level? And is that the source of this terror?

Barry Moltz: Is that what you mean by “do the work” — really the only way out is through?

Mr. Pressfield: Yes, that is the answer. I mean, what’s the alternative? I think anytime anybody suggests something to you or tries to sell something to you that doesn’t involve work, they are full of crap. It just doesn’t work. The test is, am I going to have to pay a price for this in terms of sweat and blood? And if you are, then that’s a very good sign. And if the answer is no, this is going to be a piece of cake — I take a pill, I sign up for something and it’s a walk in the park — then that’s not real.

Barry Moltz: One of the great images I like in the book, you talk about there are seven principles of resistance, and you say in principle No. 5 that the real you must duel the resistance you. You are the knight, the resistance is the dragon.

Mr. Pressfield: If you’re training for a marathon or you’re going to open a new restaurant or something, one part of our brain will come up with all the reasons why we can’t do it, and that’s the dragon. That’s resistance. But the other part of our brain, the part that is actually in control and is connected to our willpower, that’s the part that has to say, ‘I can run this marathon. Here is how I’m going to do it. I’m going to train week one, week two, week three,’ etc., etc. So the real you has to duel the resistance you to accomplish anything. I haven’t found any other way.

Click here to listen to the full interview.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barry Moltz is a Chicago-based serial entrepreneur, business consultant, marketing expert, mediator, speaker and author of several books on small-business success. Look for his advice on Crain’s blog for entrepreneurs every Monday. Barry is also a regular contributor to the American Express Open Forum. Follow Barry on Twitter: @BarryMoltz.

Listen to podcasts of Barry’s “Business Insanity” radio show here.

Do we expect too much from boards?

Lisa Canning — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:46:08 +0000

Lisa Canning, Founder of EntrepreneurTheArts.com and The IAE.com

It’s time to come up with some new models for what it means to serve on a board. In the classic board model I have always been struck by the fact that to serve on a board requires endless altruism. Human nature shows us that for most human beings it’s hard for anyone to remain, let alone for an extended period of time- like a 3 year board term- altruistic. It’s much more likely for someone to start that way and then want to move towards a more reciprocal relationship. While the concept of being of service selflessly to an organization is a noble one, it is simply too hard to execute or maintain for most of us; especially now given the volatile economic climate we are living in.

So what are some better models? Do we need really need a “working” volunteer board or can we do better to support our organization through strategic alliances, partnerships and developing a strong donor base to pay for the talent we need to help our organizations grow?

How many times have we seen a strong leader at the helm of a NFP who leaves the organization and it suffers dramatically? NFP’s are no different than a for profit model. Except in the for profit world we pay people to sit in our world and do the work we need. Maybe what NFP’s really need is to become more profitable to do more of the same and use their boards more as sounding boards rather than try and use them as substitute workers for their organizations…

By Rick Moyers

Nonprofit board members did not get very high marks from their executive directors in the recently released “Daring to Lead 2011” report.

The report, produced by the Meyer Foundation and CompassPoint, is based on a national survey of more than 3,000 executive directors of small to midsize nonprofit organizations. (I’m a vice president at Meyer and a co-author of the report.)

Although “Daring to Lead 2011″ was intended as a study of executive directors, it is often difficult to separate the issues that affect executive directors from those that affect boards. And it’s a reminder that executives and boards have a complicated and symbiotic relationship.

In general, the report is critical of boards, citing relatively low levels of executive-director satisfaction with board performance, modest levels of board-member engagement (at least as reported by executive directors) in almost every area of board responsibility, neglect of the executive’s annual performance review, lack of insight into the business models of the organizations they govern, and failure to provide adequate support for new executives after they’re hired.

Admittedly, these criticisms are based on survey responses from executive directors, and plenty of board members have tales of woe about how poorly they are served by their top executives. However, the results are not anomalous. Other studies that included the board member perspective have produced similar findings.

If “Daring to Lead” is a report card on board performance, then boards are barely passing.

Or maybe we just expect too much.

Board members are, after all, volunteers. Many serve with little or no training or orientation and have limited time and resources. Maybe we should just be grateful for what they are able to do and stop having such unreasonably high expectations. Maybe we should start grading on a curve.

Even if you don’t buy that argument, “Daring to Lead” highlights an obvious disconnect between what most of us think boards ought to do—particularly when it comes to fund raising but also in many other areas—and how boards function in the real world.

And if we’re not willing to expect less, we need to figure out some new approaches to helping boards measure up to high expectations.

Any ideas?

P.S. Thanks to the many readers who posted thoughtful comments to my earlier post,“Should Foundations Do More to Strengthen Boards?” Some of those comments address the question above—and I plan to respond in my next post. I’d still love to hear from those who haven’t weighed in yet.

Lighten Your Load Before You Take Off

Guest Blogger — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:30:58 +0000

Written by Naeem Zafar
Every pilot has to make sure the weight-thrust ratio is correct, or else the runway will end before the plane takes off. Not a good thing if you want to survive the takeoff.

If the plane is overloaded, a good captain will refuse to take off. He knows how long the runway is. He knows that the aircraft must be at the correct weight in order to lift off.

You wouldn’t want to be the passenger if you knew that your plane was over the weight limit, would you?

Well, your startup is no different. Most entrepreneurs overload their idea by trying to capture too many segments of the market. Or they create a product with too many features. Or they have developed a message aimed at too many constituents. All of these problems are bad news!

You must unload most of your baggage. Choose one hill to be king of. Once you have conquered that hill, you can take on the next one.

Find the sliver of target customers who need you most. Figure out how to get to them and make them loyal enthusiasts. If you accomplish that goal, your task will be a lot easier. Once you have won their hearts, you will be able to fine-tune your ideas and look for the next piece of the market pie.

Don’t worry that others will copy you once the cat is out of the bag. Execution is key, and intimate customer knowledge is something no one can take away from you. You will be able to expand as you befriend and serve these initial customers.

I have made the mistake of overextending myself many times, spending tens of millions of dollars to learn this valuable lesson. Don’t make the same mistakes I did!

Stay sharp,

About Naeem Zafar

A member of the faculty of the Haas business school at the University of California Berkeley, Naeem teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the MBA program. Naeem is the founder of Concordia Ventures and focuses on educating and advising entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting and running a company. Naeem’s entrepreneurial experience includes working directly with six startups, and he has extensive experience in mentoring and coaching founders and CEOs. Naeem is now the president and CEO of Bitzer Mobile, a company that simplifies enterprise mobility.
Until 2007, Naeem was the president and CEO of Pyxis Technology Inc., a company specializing in advanced chip design software for nanometer technology. Naeem has also been president and CEO of two other high tech startups (Silicon Design Systems and Veridicom, a Bell Labs spin-off that invented the silicon fingerprint sensors today found on most laptops). Naeem has held senior marketing and engineering positions at several companies including Quickturn Design Systems that had an IPO in 1993 and grew to $125M in revenues.
Naeem holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Brown University (magna cum laude), Rhode Island, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Naeem is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs www.TiE.org ).He is also a charter member of OPEN (www.OPENSiliconValley.com ) where he serves as the president.

ETA Top 25 Most Read Posts in 2010

Lisa Canning — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:44:16 +0000

Our 2010 most read posts are interestingly some oldies but goodies. From our top 25, 14 are from 2007 through 2009. Our oldest post from 2007, which also happens to be our #1 post, is about my journey writing a book.

So for all you writers out there, this list just goes to show you that it’s important to get your writing our there because its more likely to become well read with the passage of time.

#1 Starving Artist Not
#2 The Four C’s of 21st Century Education
#3 Oh the places you’ll go by Dr Seuss
#4 Tongue twisters for actors and speakers
#5 Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
#6 Ten steps to finding your artistic voice
#7 Best and worst marketing campaigns
#8 How to create a badge for your blog
#9 An artistic entrepreneurial case study: The story of blue man group
#10 Ben Cameron on change transformation and renewal in the arts
#11 One blank piece of paper
#12 Dinner in the sky
#13 Conservatory made me successful in business
#14 How to make your creativity explode create your own strategic implode
#15 North Africa Economic Partership announced between Aspen Institute and U.S. Department of State
#16 Top 20 arts entrepreneur blogs
#17 What does fame mean to you?
#18 I’m not an entertainer. I’m a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker
#19 Artists as social entrepreneurs
#20 Our dirty little family secret
#21 The definition of a calculated risk
#22 Innovating through artistry
#23 Paradigm shifts build innovative companies
#24 Overcoming mediocrity
#25 What is your imagination worth to you?

Pulling the Road Forward: PNB-NAPEO Summit

Lisa Canning — Mon, 30 May 2011 11:20:17 +0000

Lisa Canning, Founder of EntrepreneurTheArts.com, TheIAE.com and LisasClarinetShop.com

Well, today I leave for Washington for my first PNB-NAPEO (Partners for a New Beginning- North Africa Partners for Economic Opportunity) Summit. Madeline Albright will kick off our meeting and then we will spend two days in meetings that range from a PNB overview from the ground to Entrepreneurship for Women in the Middle East to clean water initiatives. Great stuff.

IAE is supported by Partners for a New Beginning’s North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (PNB-NAPEO), a public-private partnership created by the U.S. Department of State. The mission of PNB-NAPEO is to build a network of entrepreneurs and business leaders in the United States and North Africa where both communities can identify projects that will foster entrepreneurship and job creation, especially for youth.

The meeting will be loaded with a lot of business folks interested in PNB’s mission from different vantage points. Gosh, what a big help this is going to be to The IAE. And what fun it is going to be attending such a high-voltage education oriented networking meeting. This will be a great opportunity to grow my network of support for The IAE and continue the transformation process- from idea into reality. Are YOU ready to transform from a caterpillar with 16 legs into a butterfly who, with just a single pair of wings, can fly?)

At the Summit, I am looking forward to meeting Naeem Zafar. Check out this blog post he wrote about the initiative.

The Four Minute Mile

It was called the greatest sporting achievement of the 20th century by many. No one believed that a human can run a mile in under four minutes. The belief was considered an ultimate barrier for generations. This disbelief was until one fateful day in 1955 when the British medical student Roger Bannister broke the barrier by a hair. He ran a mile in just under 4 minutes. Unbelievable feat! Never in the history of mankind had such had an accomplishment ever taken place.

But within one year the record was broken again. By seventeen other people!
What does this tell us? The clarity is profound for me as an entrepreneur. The barriers are often mental. We convince ourselves that it cannot be done. It is not until we see others do it that we believe it might be possible after all. Such was the turning point for the entrepreneurs in the Middle East and many Muslim majority countries when Maktoob, an Arabic language web portal and email service, was acquired by Yahoo for $160M last year.

“Tell the stories” – telling simple stories about how somebody did it makes a huge difference in somebody’s life – some place far far away. This was my main message as I attended and spoke at the TechWadi event at the presidential summit on entrepreneurship in Washington DC this week. This was a follow up from President Obama’s historic speech in Cairo on June 2009 when he promised a new beginning on how US communicates with the muslin majority countries in the world. Obama asserted that a new chapter in US foreign policy that is based on mutual respect and dialog will usher a new era. Well this was the follow up and it was a great week. We had the opportunity to hear so many stories from entrepreneurs from 55 countries on how they innovated and created compelling companies.

I was moved by the story of Puni, an Indonesian entrepreneur who invented, sold and installed 60 micro power plans that can generate water if there is a water fall of 3 meters or more. She told the story of how it brought electricity to remote villages and how that changed lives. I was also moved by the story of a Turkish entrepreneur who started a service to enable remote order taking and delivery of food from restaurants by signing up 4000 restaurants. He is doing 22,000 transactions per day and is very profitable.

Several initiatives were created and the US State department is encouraging collaboration and providing the infrastructure now that should make America’s greatest strength and innovation (Entrepreneurship) its strategic piece of diplomacy.

Check out these ebooks that Naeem has written. I can’t wait to meet him. Imagine the possibilities for art and culture, as a ‘sector’, to create innovative new businesses and job strands in the U.S. and North Africa? I am.

Market Research on a Shoestring!

Get a Reality check on your big idea for under $100. By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Entrepreneurs don’t like to do market research. Whether they find it unnecessary, think it takes too much time and money, or are simply terrified by the idea, they often start up their businesses without the necessary preparation or understanding of exactly what they are getting into.

But market research doesn’t have to be an expensive, unbearably time-consuming nightmare. It is an essential aspect of starting a new business that can be conducted quickly and easily if you know what to look for and where to look. Market Research on a Shoestring is full of techniques, tricks, and secrets that will help you ask the right questions and find the answers you need to better understand your business and the market it faces. If you want to raise funds for your startup or simply maximize your chances of success, you need this book!

Get Funded!

A Definitive Guide to Seeking the right funding at the right time and from the right source
By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Entrepreneurs need funding at various stages of their companies’growth. This to-the-point book is your essential guide to the funding process. Organized into three sections, this book outlines the likely sources of funding and how they operate, how to approach investors, and the 12-step process of getting funded.

As a valuable bonus, Get Funded! includes the names of several hundred angel investors and venture capital firms.

If you are serious about seeking funding for your startup or simply want to know your options, you need this book! This book is the complete guide to seeking and getting funding that all entrepreneurs look for and seldom find.

The Entrepreneur’s Legal Guide to Starting Up

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

A simple, to-the-point guide that outlines the decisions all entrepreneurs must make when setting up a legal entity. This eBook is packed with practical, time-tested tips and suggestions about incorporation, hiring the right lawyer, registering patents, and
minimizing your legal bill. The eBook includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company and offers proven strategies that will save you thousands on your legal bill. There’s also an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures and offering a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of setting up a startup and picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers:

35 Little-known facts, secrets, techniques, and tricks to making sure you get every penny’s worth of value from your lawyer By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Containing nearly three dozen money-saving, angst-minimizing tips, The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers is a go-to resource for the entrepreneur who wants to streamline the budget while leveraging the most effective legal services available. The guide includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company, an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures, proven communication strategies that will slash your legal bill by half each month, and a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

Finance Essentials for entrepreneurs:
A Simple Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Statements for Your Business. By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkele

Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to basic finance. Zafar draws on two decades of entrepreneurial experience to create an eBook that offers a simple, proven method for understanding the most important elements of financial management for businesses. Zafar understands what entrepreneurs need to know about business finance. He also knows that their time is precious. In Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, he delivers that knowledge in practical, to-the-point language free of technical jargon and longwinded discourses. Spreadsheet examples
are clear and relevant.

About Naeem Zafar

A member of the faculty of the Haas business school at the University of California Berkeley, Naeem teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the MBA program. Naeem is the founder of Concordia Ventures and focuses on educating and advising entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting and running a company. Naeem’s entrepreneurial experience includes working directly with six startups, and he has extensive experience in mentoring and coaching founders and CEOs. Naeem is now the president and CEO of Bitzer Mobile, a company that simplifies enterprise mobility.
Until 2007, Naeem was the president and CEO of Pyxis Technology Inc., a company specializing in advanced chip design software for nanometer technology. Naeem has also been president and CEO of two other high tech startups (Silicon Design Systems and Veridicom, a Bell Labs spin-off that invented the silicon fingerprint sensors today found on most laptops). Naeem has held senior marketing and engineering positions at several companies including Quickturn Design Systems that had an IPO in 1993 and grew to $125M in revenues.
Naeem holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Brown University (magna cum laude), Rhode Island, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Naeem is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs www.TiE.org ).He is also a charter member of OPEN (www.OPENSiliconValley.com ) where he serves as the president.

Two 17 year old filmakers building a brand

Lisa Canning — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:24:05 +0000

Check out Kody + Drew’s ’pillow talk’. Drew is the son of a friend of mine, Rhonda Howard. I think Kody + Drew are off to a great start. Together they wrote the entire ‘pillow talk’ script and produced, directed, and starred in it too.

Here is yet another episode of Kody + Drew if you liked the first titled Mental Momentum.

The IAE Sustainable Creativity Competition Auction May 2nd-9th

Lisa Canning — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:02:44 +0000

In memory of my mother, Lea Argiris, last fall, I launched the 1st Sustainable Artist Competition.

Lea’s talents as an artist-Lea’s talents as an artist- a model ( yes, that’s my mom in the logo!) a chef and a gardener- were enormous and yet she was never able to sustain her creativity in a way that gave her the rudder she needed to live a happy, successful, meaningful, creative life. In her honor, I asked the artists who entered our competition to incorporate the beautiful designer clothes she left behind in the art they will created for this competition.

Over $100,000 worth of designer clothes were offered as materials to utilize in the development of participants artwork. Items include jackets, pants, skirts, belts and scarves from designers that include: Gucci, DKNY, Channel, Christian Dior, Valentino, Yves Saint Lauren and more.

Beginning Monday May 2nd through Monday May 9th all of the art work created will be auctioned off on Ebay at our

NEW IAE Scholarship Fund Store

1/2 of the proceeds will go directly back to the artists who participated and the other 1/2 will be donated to our IAE scholarship fund. Please share this email with others. We need your support!

The Business Guide for Kids

Lisa Canning — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:49:13 +0000

Today I received this awesome email about The ETA Resource Center from a teacher at a charter school.

Here is what she said: ” …I hope it’s ok that I’m contacting you, but I wanted to tell you how great your resource is: http://www.entrepreneurthearts.com/site/epage/78017_801.htm I have been using it in my classroom for my students and they really seem to enjoy it. I am actually writing to you on their behalf! They have decided that they would like to send you a suggestion of another resource that I have been using, that one of them found: http://www.businessinsurance.org/ Its a small business resource guide. Our favorite is the section for kids!

It would make my students day if you could set it up on your site with your other resources. It really is a useful article with great information. Thats why I have agreed to write to you. Maybe it will even encourage the others to bring in their own resources. I can hope!
Thanks so much!

Sincerely
Ms Clark’s Class

Dear Ms Clark’s Class,

Thank you so much for using the ETA Resource Center. I hope you will continue to make recommendations to help us improve it. And yes, we will include this resource list into the center.

I am really happy to see Ms Clark is teaching you, at such a young age, how to fish!

Lisa Canning, Entrepreneur The Arts

A Chinese proverb says, “teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”; this is especially true in the world of business. There is no better time to teach your children about money and business than now; it is never too late to teach children about the importance of money management and business skills. Helping children learn the ropes about business will help to encourage an interest in education and business ownership.

Raising Entrepreneurs: Teaching Kids About Money and Business – Raising Entrepreneurs is an organization that helps parents how to teach kids about the creation of wealth and businesses

Is Entrepreneurship in Your Kids’ DNA? – Two public relations firm owners write about how entrepreneurship can be inherited by kids, and what parents can do to develop those traits

Show Kids the Money – an article that explains how kids can benefit from starting their own business

Raising Financially Savvy Kids – forbes.com posts an article on how parents can raise children to be financial savvy

Changes in the economic landscape are teaching many people that financial security can be hard to attain. Business education starts by teaching kids how to handle money. Even if it’s a simple as clinking down some pennies on a piggy bank, the child will learn that it’s good to save. More than saving money, business is about making money and providing valuable services to the public. The next time your child asks for money or a new item at the store, challenge them to earn the money instead. Encourage them to provide services or start a business of their own to earn the money they need to purchase the things they want or save for bigger things. This will teach them how it’s like to own a business and manage their resources for future profits.

Financial Literacy for Kids: Money Lessons Should Start Young – an in-depth article discusses many financial concepts kids should learn about, such as debt-collecting, allowances, and a list of resources for parents to read through.

Financial Literacy: What Your Kids Need to Know – a page that includes links to different articles that focus on teaching kids money skills in different ages.

Creative Wealth International – the organization called Creative Wealth International has set up an educational program called “Camp Millionaire.” Learn more about how kids can benefit from the program.

Raising Savvy Business Kids – moneyreasons.com features an article about a dad who is raising his kids to be savvy about business

Six ways to Raise Money Savvy Kids – a writer lists down six easy ways to teach kids about the value of money and how to use their resources wisely

Parents and educators know that when it comes to starting a business, it takes more than just a company name and a desire to earn a few bucks. Starting a business takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work and tough decisions. Teach your children to do some research first and ask some question, such as “what does the neighborhood need right now?” or “what would my friends like to play with?” Explain to them the ideas behind a starting capital, profits, and marketing. Learning all of these will help a child be smarter about any business decisions both in the present and in the future. The Internet is also a good place to look for creative business ideas for children.

Kids Business Guide – an free subscription for email newsletters for constant tips on how to get kids involved in entrepreneurship

Business Ideas for Kids – an article that lists four innovative business ideas any kids can quickly accomplish

Business Ideas for Kids – an article that explains why it’s great for kids to start a business. It also lists down three all-natural business ideas for kids.

Great Business Ideas for Kids – a long list of business ides kids can start with right in their own neighborhood

Lemonade stands used to be a booming business for children, especially during the summer months. All they need is a few plywood pieces to make their stand, a pitcher of lemonade, a hot summer day, and business is open. Today’s technology has created more imaginative ways to earn a few bucks without having to stand out in the hot sun. Encouraging kids to build their own websites – with parental consent, of course – is one unique way to start. Online auctions can even take your kids’ business to the next level. Even from simple things, such as buying candies for wholesale and selling them in small amounts would be great. If all else fails, your kids will always have plenty of customers with old-school jobs, such as babysitting, dog walking, and lawn mowing.

Need Cash? Find a Summer Job! – An online page lists down many job options that can turn summer vacation into a profitable holiday

These Kids Mean Business – the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) features a documentary titled “These Kids Mean Busines$” that tells the story of young Americans taking control of their lives through entrepreneurship

Ways for Kids to Make Money – a website that gives information not just on how kids can make money, but also on starting a business, investing, and spending wisely

Games are not just for entertaining and playing, they can also be a tool to teach children about business. One popular board game is the Monopoly, where every player can learn how to spend capital on investment properties to gain more income. You can even up the stakes by playing with your children using real pennies and nickels. The Internet is also packed with many online business games for children. Below is a list of websites kids can go to for business games.

Lemonade Stand Game – an online version of the lemonade stand where kids play to see how much money they can make in one game

10 Interactive Financial Websites that Teach Kids Money Management Skills – an article lists down 10 websites kids can visit to learn about managing their finances

Cash Flow for Kids – a website features the board game “Cash Flow for Kids” that can help children “raise their financial IQ”

Kids Work! – Knowitall.org creates a virtual community that kids can visit and apply for jobs

Entrepreneurship Classroom Activities – the organization “Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education” provides an extensive list of classroom activities teachers can use to let students learn about entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship Board Games – B.E. Publishing introduces their own line of board games that teaches kids entrepreneurial skills such as how to run a company and how to negotiate with other “entrepreneurs”

Just for Clicks Business Game – Teachingkidsbusiness.com introduces a business game where kids can just click around and still learn about business

Rich Kid Smart Kid – Rich Kid Smart Kid is an online portal to four business games that teach kids how to be money-wise

Savings Quest Game – Savings Quest an online game that teaches kids how to use their hard-earned salary to pay bills and buy the things they want

Disney’s Hot Shot Business – Disney’s own online game called Hot Shot Business helps kids solve business dilemma in one neighborhood

Business Games for Kids – an article lists down popular online business games for children to play with while surfing the Internet

You Are Here: Where Kids Learn to be Smarter Consumers – You are Here is a virtual mall that kids can visit. Kids can learn many key concepts about finance, business, and even advertising.

Business Simulation Games for Teaching Kids About Economics –A writer lists down three simple games online that teach kids how to do business and have fun doing so.

Experience is the best teacher and when it comes to business and finance, nothing beats going through it firsthand. Children should be given opportunities to practice entrepreneurial skills, such as resource management, customer service, and even marketing their products or services. If parents or educators need more ideas on how to teach children the value of money and entrepreneurship, below is a list of resources not only for parents, but for children as well.

Being “Money Smart” Goes by Many Names – The Mint is a website that offers many tools that teach kids how to manage their finances and have good money habits. The website offers fun games for kids, pointers for parents, and even ideas for teachers.

14 Educational Games to Teach Your Kids About Business – An article that lists down 14 fun board and computer games for children to learn about business

10 Lessons Monopoly Teaches Us – an interesting article that discusses why Monopoly became such as popular board game and the lessons the game teaches every player

Entrepreneur Kids – Entrepreneur Kids is a non-profit organization with a mission to influence kids to think ahead and be business savvy.

Youngpreneur – Youngpreneur is a website whose mission is to teach students how think critically to be successful in their entrepreneurial activities. The website targets students of all ages.

Kidnexions – Kidnexions is a software program that teaches kids how to manage their money. The software also teach kids some basic math skills

Artists Talk Business Training

Lisa Canning — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:20:57 +0000

What are artists’ saying about their need for business training?

Created by videographer Heather Hollaway

Taking Our Art Seriously

Guest Blogger — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:00:57 +0000

Written by Jess Kaswiner, External Programs Manager for The IAE

The notion that artists take their art seriously is not a new phenomenon, but it seems now more than ever the topic of ‘artist as professional’ is a hot button topic on everyone’s mind. With conversations happening at To Art and Profit, books like 20UNDER40, and podcasts like Artists Mean Business, the discussion is rampant, and shows no signs of letting up.

In fact, new to Chicago this February, is RAW Artists, a national organization who’s aim is to provide emerging artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources, and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity.

Working with local hand-picked talent, this multifaceted monthly event features artists across disciplines and experience levels. However, this is not your typical ‘arts’ event, Each RAW ARTcade features a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, art gallery, performance art and a featured hairstylist and makeup artist. Unlike many events I’ve attended, where the featured artist is left to their own devices, and the art itself is merely an afterthought, RAW places a focus on the importance of creative career building.

Here the artist and their work are celebrated, and given an opportunity to grow. “Organizations like RAW: natural born artists and The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship have the same goals and ambitions for the art’s industry. In this economy, it helps to work with organizations that have your back. It’s great to work for one goal, rather than compete, to get to the top.” Says April Bocchieri, Event Director for the Chicago RAW affiliate.

As we gear up to partner with RAW for their next event March 31^st, being held at Vertigo Sky Lounge (8pm @ 660 N. State St.) we hope you all will consider submitting your work for the next ARTcade, and we look forward to seeing you there!

About Jess Kaswiner
As The External Programs Manager, Jessica is in charge of all of The IAE’s public programs series. Outside of her role as Programs Manager for The IAE, Jessica assists with curriculum development for Chicago Danztheater Ensemble. Currently Jessica serves on the Urban Gateways Junior Board, New Arts Forum, and is also on the Planning Committee for Chicago’s Emerging Leaders Network.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing

Lisa Canning — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 04:46:27 +0000

Lisa Canning, Founder of The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship www.TheIAE.com

Yesterday I attended a Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce luncheon where Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour spoke. As a short list GOP potential candidate for 2012, and a strong advocate for entrepreneurship, I was curious to hear what he had to say, politics aside.

During his tenure in Mississippi, Barbour has been the poster child for job growth, luring new businesses into the state and working to make his state attractive to business investment. Recently the US Chamber of Commerce released a report titled: The Impact of State Employment Policies on Job Growth. Mississippi was ranked in the top performing tier of states leading our economy forward when not all that long ago it was one of the worst.

So how did Barbour do it? According to the Governor he did it by not adding to the many existing federal workforce standards. The relationship between a state’s labor and employment policies and its economic performance is well-documented. Dozens of studies have demonstrated that, in general, laws and regulations that inhibit the ability of workers and firms to negotiate and enforce efficient contracts raise the cost of labor, reduce employment and productivity, and slow economic growth.

“There was no benefit,” Barbour said, “to safety or for our working people to add another layer of regulations.” Instead, he said, he focused on improving the skills of the workforce, because he figuring a skilled workforce would lead to more jobs. “The best way to improve revenues,” said Barbour, “Is more taxpayers.”

Interestingly, Illinois, and our friendly neighboring state of Wisconsin which has been so heavily featured in the media for all of their protests over changes in union labor rules, rank at the very bottom for US job and new business creation.

During his speech yesterday, Barbour quoted FedEx Chairman – and fellow Mississippian – Fred Smith, to explain Mississippi’s success. ” The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” he said. So what does that mean? Well, as Barbour explained, it meant that Mississippi focused on job and new business creation as their single measure of success because it was the only way out of the mess they were in.

So, while this may not seem as though Barbour’s speech applies to the arts, I think it does. With deep funding cuts and shrinking paying audiences, like Mississippi, we need to sharpen our focus. We need to create more jobs in our sector and redefine our business models to reinvigorate old audiences and identify new ones. We need to focus carefully on who we are, and how what we do can be more effectively delivered.

We need to focus on the ‘main thing’ that will allow us to get out of our own mess, so again the arts can grow. Barbour got the main thing right in Mississippi and look were it got his state. The arts community has something we can learn from Barbour’s work transforming Mississippi.

I believe the arts have new roles to play. The arts have a voice that needs to be heard and can’t be sidelined or ignored if , as a sector, we focus on contributing to job growth and business creation. And to do this, we need to improve the skills of our workforce, because a skilled workforce leads to more of both.

To see where your state ranks in job and new business creation you can use the interactive map found here.

Art Supply and Demand Debate Continues…

Lisa Canning — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:21:46 +0000

The NEA’s, Rocco Landsman, certainly struck a nerve with his blog post Supply and Demand. A number of interesting posts have since been written about the topic, three in particular, which I would like to share with you. Two are by Diane Ragsdale, a scholar studying the economics of nonprofit regional theaters – and Landesman’s interviewer. The other by Arlene Goldbard a writer, speaker, activist, and consultant at the intersection of culture, politics, and spirituality.

I would encourage you to read these posts and think about what’s at stake for you and the arts and where you stand. The obvious problem is the expansion of nonprofit arts groups when resources and audiences are in retreat. Landsman based his position on statistics by the advocacy group Americans for the Arts as well as the NEA: In the recession years of 2007 to 2009, the nationwide ranks of nonprofit arts organizations had grown by 3,000. At the same time, Landsman says, a 2008 NEA survey of public participation in the arts showed a 5 percent drop from 2002 in the number of adults who had visited an art museum or attended a live performance.

The Washington Post, February 13th, 2011 offers a good summary of the debate.

Supply and Demand Redux: Rocco’s Comment and the Elephant in the Room

Diane Ragsdale wrote this post on February 7th, 2011

I’ve been following the responses to Rocco’s ‘decreasing supply‘ comment and his subsequent post on the NEA blog. Some believe that supply/demand is the wrong framework through which to look at the sector; some that there is no such thing as too much art and that we should increase patronage rather than ‘kill’ organizations; some agree with him but believe it was inappropriate for him to make the statement; and a few seem to agree with his points and believe that it was beneficial for him to make them. I’m in the last group.

Rocco has done the arts sector a service with his ‘decreasing supply’ comment as I think it has created an opening for a candid discussion about an elephant in the room: the US lacks a mechanism for identifying and dealing with mission-failing arts organizations and (because competition for resources exists) the nonprofit arts sector might be healthier overall if some mission-failing organizations were to close. Following on my overstocked arts pond post of a few weeks ago, here are some further thoughts on the supply/demand issue.

Competition among arts organizations for earned and contributed income exists. Some markets and organizations experience more competition than others, but it is not uncommon for arts groups located in the same city to be competing to secure patronage and trustees from among the same (narrow) demographic of upper middle class well educated arts-goers and funds from one or two government agencies and a small number of private foundations and corporations.

Many arts people take the stance that we should ‘let 1,000 flowers bloom’. While one might theoretically argue that there is no such thing as ‘too much art in the world’, the same cannot be said of arts organizations: to the degree that resources are not growing at the same rate as organizations (and they are not according to the most recent National Arts Index report), every new firm that enters the sector reduces the chances of every other to secure sufficient resources to operate.

(Read the rest of her post here.)

What is a mission-failing arts org? Like its opposite, perhaps you know it when you see it.
Diane Ragsdale wrote this blog post on February 13, 2011

In last week’s post I suggested that the sector might be strengthened if some ‘mission-failing’ organizations were to close. I defined mission-failing organizations as those that were not providing sufficient cultural or social value relative to the investments in them. It’s an awkward phrase and I find it difficult to describe a mission-failing organization with any confidence; however, I can give an example of its opposite–an organization that is providing great cultural and social value–and did so in a talk I gave in 2010 called The Excellence Barrier.

Here’s what I said (additional comments follow the excerpt):

Susan Sontag once wrote, “Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.” I take particular note of the phrase, “precarious attainment of relevance.” No organization can be granted relevance in perpetuity based on the size of its endowment, the permanence of the building it occupies, the fact that it was the first or largest of its kind in its region or city, or its historic accomplishments. The institution exists to matter to people, in a particular community, today. That is the impact that must be assessed.

What does impact look like if not the metrics we’re currently assessing? Alan Brown has done terrific work in assessing intrinsic impacts and community engagement, and I couldn’t begin to summarize his research here—but I suggest you take a look at it. I would, however, describe what I consider to be one of the best examples in the US of an organization that is brokering relationships between people and art.

In 2003, choreographer Elizabeth Streb opened a performance space in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. called S.L.A.M. Instead of creating a church-like space that patrons visited once a week for a sacred experience, Streb opened the doors and let people come in anytime to watch rehearsal or use the restroom. She added popcorn and cotton candy machines and let people walk around and eat food during the performances.

(Read the rest of her post here..)

Triage Culture: The Mideast, Wisconsin, and The NEA

Arlene Goldbard wrote this blog post on Feb 22nd, 2011.

Triage is the process of culling and prioritizing patients to apportion medical treatment: those who will survive without treatment and those who will die regardless of treatment are given lower priority than those for whom care and attention will increase chances of survival. You need to practice triage in a field hospital, at the scene of a large accident, or in a crowded emergency room—wherever the need for care outstrips the supply.

But more and more, triage as a political philosophy is being practiced voluntarily, from the public squares of Tripoli to the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, to the offices of the National Endowment for The Arts (NEA). What works in a field hospital, where there are only so many doctors, so many beds and bottles of medicine, is being transferred to domains awash in surplus arrogance, in which the worst scarcities are compassion and wisdom.

In the medical domain, the process is systematized to prevent bias and self-interest from dominating: the triage nurse has nothing personal at stake; the guidelines are set according to a consensus of medical necessity; the goal is to help as many as possible. But the salient facts of triage politics are a stark contrast: someone with a hyper-inflated sense of personal power feels authorized to decide who will get help and who will be expendable; and to blithely allow everyone else to suffer the consequences.

Everywhere I look, the people who have been declared expendable are refusing to lie down and die.

(Read the rest of her post here.)

Creativity and The State of The Union

Tom Tresser — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:41:19 +0000

Written by Tom Tresser http://www.tresser.com

President Obama delivered his 2011 State of The Union address on January 25. It was 69 minutes long and contained 7,445 words.

Three of those words were “innovation.” “Science” was mentioned three times. “Education” was mentioned five times.

Here are the relevant passages:

“China is not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany is not waiting. India is not waiting. These nations — they’re not standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America.”

“We need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history — an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no area is more ripe for such innovation than energy. You can see the results of last year’s investments in clean energy -– in the North Carolina company that will create 1,200 jobs nationwide helping to make advanced batteries; or in the California business that will put a thousand people to work making solar panels.”

“We need to invest in the skills and education of our people. Now, this year, we’ve broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. And the idea here is simple: Instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform — reform that raises student achievement; inspires students to excel in math and science; and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to the inner city. In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.

When we renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we will work with Congress to expand these reforms to all 50 states. Still, in this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job. That’s why I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families.”

“That’s the leadership that we are providing –- engagement that advances the common security and prosperity of all people. We’re working through the G20 to sustain a lasting global recovery. We’re working with Muslim communities around the world to promote science and education and innovation. We have gone from a bystander to a leader in the fight against climate change. We’re helping developing countries to feed themselves, and continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS. And we are launching a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more effectively to bioterrorism or an infectious disease -– a plan that will counter threats at home and strengthen public health abroad.”

I’m not too inspired.

Presidents have been throwing the word “innovation” into their State of the Union addresses for decades. But we really don’t have a coherent or powerful innovation policy, program or mindset.

Thomas Kuczmarski, a Chicago-based innovation consultant, wrote an op-ed for Business week in March of 2009, “An Innovation Action Plan for Obama” where he called for, among other things, Innovation Booster Grants, Innovation Awards, special tax credits, innovation training, a special innovation fund and a cabinet level Secretary of Innovation.

The Athena Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and research on the global information economy, based in Washington, DC, published a white paper in December 2008, “Crafting an Obama Innovation Policy” with a long list of significant short-term and long term investments.

We’re still waiting on most of these suggestions to take place.

Business leaders have been calling on America to get more creative and to boost its innovation chops for years.

Charts like this showing that the United States is no where near the top of any global educational achievement measures are becoming depressingly familiar.

I have a different path to innovation and keeping America competitive and prosperous.

I would argue that the arts are the pathway to broadening and deepening America’s creative muscles.

I would argue that teaching the arts at every level of education would be an excellent way to build our collective creative capacities.

I would argue that having America’s children proficient in the arts – be it music, theater, design, computer coding, architecture, singing or painting would build skills needed for a robust economy and would also strengthen our communities.

So as the President and his team put together the federal budget for 2011 and beyond. I would say that one way to achieve this goal of getting to a creative America would be to fund the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities at one billion dollars each. Let the Department of Education be funded to enable states to pass funds to local school districts to hire artists to teach the arts full-time. Let’s make sure every community has a place where people can go to learn about and make art.

Remember the mysterious figure of “Deep Throat” from All The President’s Men? He was coaching the young reporter trying to unravel the Watergate Break-in cover-up. “Follow the money.” He said. I agree.

If you want a creative, more innovative America we’re going to need citizens who are literate, inquisitive, open-minded and creative. That’s going to cost. Let’s follow the money and see if the President puts our money where his mouth is.

Tom Tresser is an organizer, educator and strategic planning consultant. He was the Green Party candidate for Cook County Board President in the November 2010 election.

What are the challenges to becoming an arts entrepreneur?

Lisa Canning — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:54:41 +0000

On April 13th I will be speaking right after George W Bush at The World Leaders Forum At Judson College in Elgin, IL. (What an honor this will be for me) On behalf of the college, Angel Oakley interviewed me on skype the other day. We were chatting about the challenges for artist to become entrepreneurs. I thought you might enjoy listening to our conversation.

An Entrepreneurship Community

Lisa Canning — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:03:30 +0000

Written by: Jeffrey Nytch, http://www.jeffreynytch.com/
DMA Director, Entrepreneurship Center for Music
University of Colorado – Boulder

In the 18 months since my arrival in Boulder to run The University of Colorado’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music (“ECM”), I’ve witnessed a number of sessions in which students are asked about the entrepreneurial ideas they are developing. It often takes some encouragement: students are wary of tipping their hands and having someone steal their idea away from them. And while in some situations that might be a legitimate concern (some sort of proprietary technology, for instance), most of the time I’m able to tell them, Look: your idea is much more than just a notion – it’s an authentic expression of you, borne out of your passion, your interests, and your experience. And that means that you’re the only one who can shepherd this thing through to completion.

And then I talk about teamwork. While some entrepreneurial ventures are fulfilled with the work of a single individual, in most cases the process is more likely to succeed when a team is involved. Nobody can be an expert in everything, and most entrepreneurial ventures require a very wide range of skills; there’s the creative idea process, but there’s also fiscal management, taxes, legal issues, marketing, and a host of other areas where somebody else might be more effective. An entrepreneurial venture of any complexity at all takes a team, and for a team to be effective there has to be an openness, a willingness to share our needs and seek help from others. It takes a certain kind of vulnerability.

I got thinking about this because I’ve been to a lot of conferences lately. Being a teacher of entrepreneurship in the field of higher education is an interesting combination: theory can be divorced of practice, and sometimes educators think that entrepreneurship is some sort of magic bullet, some sort of end in itself that they can plug into their curricula and guarantee the success of their students. As someone with an advanced degree (but not in entrepreneurship – I’m a composer), and one who learned entrepreneurship “on the street” (i.e., through trial and lots of error!), I can appreciate both the joy of pure scholarship and the limits of it, and am often the one in the room to gently explain that entrepreneurship is about process, that one best learns it by practicing, and that programs to implement it within an educational context can be a varied as the institutions themselves. Sometimes I’m heard, and sometimes it can be a frustrating conversation.

But one really positive thing that I’ve experienced at these conferences is the sense of teamwork embodied by my colleagues in entrepreneurship education. We share not only an interest in entrepreneurship and its potentially powerful impact on arts education, we also share a passion for our students and for equipping them to go out into the world and find their dreams. There is a tremendous generosity of spirit with these folks, a willingness to share their insights and innovations, to seek out knowledge from each other when we lack it ourselves, and to work together to solve our shared challenges. There is, in essence, a community of higher ed arts entrepreneurs – a community I am both honored and greatly blessed to be a part of.

I write about this, though, not just to express gratitude for that community but also because it’s a great illustration of an important aspect of entrepreneurship itself: the necessity of collaboration and teamwork in order to accomplish shared goals. Because entrepreneurship is more than just the idea. In fact, an idea in and of itself isn’t entrepreneurial at all. Entrepreneurship is the process by which an idea is brought to fruition, and it’s a process that is greatly facilitated by teamwork and collaboration.

I don’t need to look very far to see how this idea plays out, either: my own program in Boulder may be directed by me, but it’s a product of my predecessors, who laid important groundwork in establishing the program, my colleagues at CU, who partner with me to promote our programming and aid with their expertise, and this community of arts entrepreneurs nationwide, whose wisdom and whose own successes inform so many others beyond their institutions. In February, the ECM will be bringing Lisa Canning out to Boulder as our Spring Keynote Guest, and once again this community will be in evidence: as Lisa shares her wisdom and experience with the CU community, I’m sure she and I will also be talking about her ventures and, just possibly, she’ll take home with her some tidbits of her own. That’s the nature of community, of collaboration: the mutual exchange of ideas for the edification of all. It’s also a key component of entrepreneurship – and one I particularly enjoy reveling in.

Tipping The Arts Into a Seismic Shift

Lisa Canning — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:09:50 +0000

This past week I have been thinking a lot about tipping points in the arts and how they may be about to set into motion a seismic shift of sweeping change.

By definition, a Tipping Point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.

It seems, three different boiling points concurrently are emerging in the arts. As I see it, these three can best be described through the lenses of physics, sociology and climatology.

In physics, a tipping point is the point at which an object is displaced from a state of stable equilibrium into a new, different state. The arts have been experiencing a growing displacement from a stable state into an extremely unstable one. The creation of You Tube, Facebook, itunes, Reality Television, and the Kindle and the Nook alone are replacing the need for live performance, the need for face to face interaction, diluting the value of music down from the purchase of “an album” to a .99 cent download, destroying quality art and cultural programing on television and transforming the publishing industry. And the list goes on.

And yet, I believe the instability and raging impact of the destabilization of the arts, much like the impact of deregulation to many industries, has lead us to another tipping point through the lens of sociology. In sociology a tipping point occurs when an event, which was considered previously a rare phenomenon, becomes dramatically more common. The arts are so routinely viewed as unstable that it has become a commonly held belief that they will never be the same and the only constant is change. Ben Cameron speaks eloquently to this very point as do Ken Robinson, Richard Florida, Dan Pink and others trying to respond with ways to create a new kind of stability- a new kind of normal.

My response has been to focus on arts entrepreneurship. And look at all the arts entrepreneurship courses and workshops springing up? Every day I get a google alert around the key words arts entrepreneurship. 4 years ago the alert generated more or less one a week, 3 years ago there was a few a week, 2 years ago there were several a week and today I receive a list of at least 25.

So, can we stabilize all this massive change and uncertainty into a stable state again? And to do this, does it require a seismic shift to create a new center for calm to exist? Is it even possible ever again to achieve?

I believe, to accomplish this requires a tipping point in climatology. This is the point in which the “global climate” changes irreversibly from one state to a new state.

Climatology to the arts, seems like the most important tipping point because it will produce a new stable global climate built on a broad base of consensus from funding sources as to what will support its creation and evolution.

And indeed this final tipping point has too recently begun to tip. Funding not for profits is tipping from charitable donating to investing. This tipping point, as it grows, will irreversibly alter our thinking (as well as vocabulary and actions) about how funders think about who we are and what they want us to accomplish with their funds. In the past, people were “donors” and their money was given as a charitable gift or contribution. Today, people invest (rather than donate) their philanthropic dollars. Consequently, this global climate shift is creating investors in the arts who are looking for the greatest return on their investment. This was clearly illustrated at this years Grantmakers in the Arts Conference, where Joi Ito, Creative Commons, delivered the lead keynote for the conference on how venture capital relates to grantmaking in the arts, and what lessons can be learned from VC’s habits of mind and the investments they make.

In fact, I believe it may be this tipping point of climatology, in combination with physics and sociology, that might be creating “the perfect storm” to lead us right now into a seismic shift for the arts.

On the 31st of January, The IAE will be meeting in Washington with folks from State Department, The Aspen Institute, Americans for The Arts, The Beckman Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and The University of Illinois School of Art+Design to discuss how to set in motion the mission/vision statement of The IAE. While no one organization alone can transform the arts, the powerful impact of this team could be seismic.

Welcome to the Decade of “The Start”

Lisa Canning — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:38:09 +0000

There is no doubt about it, all of us are happy to have behind us the first decade of the new millennium. What a crash landing it was into a new age. Book-ended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipe-out at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most heartbreaking and disillusioning decade Americans have lived through in the post–World War II era. Call it the Decade from Hell, Our Lost Years, The Deconstruction of The American Dream or an opportunity to re-think who we are as a people, a country, and one world. Regardless of the label, it is time to reinvent who we think we are, and to initiate a course of action that will allow us to transform our lives and those of others. And to do this will require A LOT of creativity.

My friend and colleague John Cimino,from Creative Leaps International, loves to use the portraits created in 1833 of Thomas Cole: The Course of Empire to illustrate where we as a people have been and where we now have arrived. A direct source of literary inspiration for The Course of Empire is Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812–18). Cole quoted this verse, from Canto IV, in his newspaper advertisements for the series:

There is the moral of all human tales;
‘Tis but the same rehearsal of the past.
First freedom and then Glory – when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption – barbarism at last.
And History, with all her volumes vast,
Hath but one page.

I think these portraits are incredibly revealing. They are rich with lessons about our past, our ethics and lend themselves well to recognizing we are a land, again, in search of a new identity. And what an opportunity this presents for the arts to rise to a new level of meaning and relevance.

The Savage State

The Arcadian or Pastoral State

The Consummation of The Course of Empire

The Course of Empire Destruction

The Course of Empire Desolation

WHAT FRAME IS NEXT?

It’s true we made our own bed and did this to ourselves largely. We deregulating the banking industry that lead to greed and the meltdown of the housing industry. We betted on thin air with the tech dot com bubble which, as all air bubbles do, burst right after 911. We waged the wars in Iraq and then the one in Afghanistan that drag on today and is deadlier than ever. And what about those anthrax letters and the Washington, D.C. snipers and the wave of Wall Street scandals highlighted by Enron and WorldCom? And indeed nature’s strength of hand descended upon us, as a reminder of where true control exists. On Aug. 29, 2005, near the center of the decade, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana, killing more than 1,500 and causing $100 billion in damages. It was the largest natural disaster in our nation’s history.

There is nothing natural about the economic meltdown we are still struggling with. A housing bubble fueled by the deregulation of the banking industry, cheap money and excessive borrowing set ablaze by derivatives, created financial weapons of mass destruction and put our economy on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, the living, breathing symbol of our course of empire lives within prisoner No. 61727-054, also known as Bernie Madoff who rots away in a Butner, N.C. jail cell, doing 150 years for orchestrating the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of humanity.

It’s time to start things up again and use our creativity to transform our lives, communities and situations because, frankly, we simply don’t have a choice as a people, a country or even as a world. Entrepreneurship has never been more important to set the table for who we are, what we think and value and where our future lies. The arts have so much to contribute to this conversation. Through setbacks and destruction what an entrepreneur sees and feels is OPPORTUNITY. And our current circumstances have blessed us with lots and lots of opportunity. What do you see? What can you do to be a part of redefining your community, our country, our world?

This New Years Eve and New Years Day passed for me uneventfully as I worked feverishly to finish a five year budget, curriculum development for both online classes and course work for the school, as well as our new case statement for The IAE. The Decade of “The Start” has arrived. It’s time.

Needed reminders for the New Year

Barbara Kite — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:16:48 +0000

December 21, 2010

We all need inspiration from time to time and I wanted to enter this new year renewing the fire within and passing on words that ignite me.

PLEASE READ THIS OUT LOUD AND SLOWLY. IT NEEDS TO HIT THE AIR AROUND YOU AND SINK INTO YOUR BODY.

The Invitation by Oriah

   It doesn’t interest me
   what you do for a living.
   I want to know
   what you ache for
   and if you dare to dream
   of meeting your heart’s
        longing.

   It doesn’t interest me
   how old you are.
   I want to know
   if you will risk
   looking like a fool
   for love
   for your dream
   for the adventure of being
        alive.

     It doesn’t interest me
   what planets are
   squaring your moon…
   I want to know
   if you have touched
   the centre of your own sorrow
   if you have been opened
   by life’s betrayals
   or have become shriveled and closed
   from fear of further pain.

     I want to know
     if you can sit with pain
     mine or your own
     without moving to hide it
     or fade it
     or fix it.

     I want to know
     if you can be with joy
     mine or your own
     if you can dance with wildness
     and let the ecstasy fill you
     to the tips of your fingers and toes
     without cautioning us
     to be careful
     to be realistic
     to remember the limitations
     of being human.

     It doesn’t interest me
     if the story you are telling
          me is true.
     I want to know if you can
     disappoint another
     to be true to yourself.
     If you can bear
     the accusation of betrayal
     and not betray your own
          soul.
     If you can be faithless
     and therefore trustworthy.

     I want to know if you can
          see Beauty
     even when it is not pretty
     every day.
     And if you can source your
          own life
     from its presence.

     I want to know
     if you can live with failure
     yours and mine
     and still stand at the edge of the lake
     and shout to the silver of the full moon,
     “Yes.”

     It doesn’t interest me
     to know where you live
     or how much money you have.
     I want to know if you can get up
     after the night of grief and despair
     weary and bruised to the bone
     and do what needs to be done
     to feed the children.

   It doesn’t interest me
   who you know
   or how you came to be here.
   I want to know if you will
        stand
   in the centre of the fire
   with me
   and not shrink back.

   It doesn’t interest me
   where or what or with whom
   you have studied.
   I want to know
   what sustains you
   from the inside
   when all else falls away.

   I want to know
   if you can be alone
   with yourself
   and if you truly like
   the company you keep
   in the empty moments.

               By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,
               from the book The Invitation
               published by HarperONE, San Francisco,
               1999 All rights reserved