Most entrepreneurs assume that a lack of an online reputation is a good thing. In reality, it’s negative, because people who can’t find you or any mention of your startup anywhere on the Internet assume you are not savvy or have something to hide. At the very least, with no positives for balance, it’s very risky, since the first negative mention of you or your company will kill your reputation.

On the front page of a Cuban newspaper recently there was an item about a two-story home in the old city of Havana that crumbled—and that in the course of its collapse, killed four people. This is a harsh glimpse the physical reality facing many of the buildings across Havana and elsewhere in the country. But it’s also a metaphor for much of the Cuban economy. Cuba is, in many ways, an economy stuck in time and at risk of further unraveling.

Frank* quite simply doesn’t know what to do. The newly named CEO of a highly regarded publishing company, Frank is a print guy through-and-through. He spent twenty years working his way up through the editorial side, and is excited about the challenge of bringing the company’s great content into the 21st century. In fact, he knows one of the reasons the board has chosen him to replace the retiring CEO is his focus on finding new outlets and platforms for the organization’s wealth of content.

If possible, I engage the audience near the start of a presentation by asking their expectations for our time together. Beyond pre-planning with an event organizer, letting audience members voice their content preferences (and then trying to cover the strategic thinking exercises that deliver on their expectations) gives them a stake in the presentation.

“So you want to be an entrepreneur?” my mom and dad asked, questioning me at the dinner table. A little worried for my sanity and both entrepreneurs themselves, they warned me of the extremely hard work ahead of me.

Most aspiring entrepreneurs feel it in their bones -- they were born to be an entrepreneur, to the point where nothing else in life could satisfy them. They’re dissatisfied as employees, followers or consumers. They want to create, build and grow their own enterprises, and they’re filled with the passion of their own ingenuity.

Today’s entrepreneurs have to start businesses in a culture of intense social media activity. In case you haven’t noticed, this social media thing is kind of a big deal.

One thing that every social media platform has in common is hashtags. The hashtag, that  ubiquitous pound sign followed by a keyword, are part of the language of social media. Who better to use hashtags then entrepreneurs?

There’s no denying, entrepreneurs — or those aspiring to be — must retain as much knowledge as they possibly can and they must also continue to grow it. That’s because, in order to be successful in any market, you’ll need to hone your skills, knowledge and be vigilant in your work.

There are few truly innovative and unique products available today. Even those that were once completely unique tend to face some stiff competition after a short period of time. Plenty of businesses have started under the assumption that they were the only one providing a particular product or service, only to find out that was not the case.

Their is no doubt that the stats from this year’s CIO Survey make it clear that the time is right for CIOs to get disruptive.

 As a former CIO I can attest that CIOs have clamored for the chance to transform organizational strategy. And in my opinion, the time is finally right. Think about it – global economies are showing significant signs of recovery, business models are evolving, innovation is taking center stage and the technology of tomorrow is taking shape.

When we think of successful startups, we usually picture a steady rise to prominence — firms such as eBay or Google that grow step by step, on an upward trajectory, from the time of their inception. But the reality is very different, according to a new study of more than 158,000 fledgling firms. Even at fast-developing companies, continuous growth — measured in terms of both revenue and job creation — is more the exception than the rule during the first several years of a startup’s existence, the authors found.

Image: Matt Palmquist

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released its "mind-set list" to help faculty and administrators understand what a new class of freshmen have experienced and not experienced. Here is the list for the entering college class of 2019, most of whom were born in 1997. Among those who have never been alive in this group of students' lifetimes are Princess Diana, Notorious B.I.G., Jacques Cousteau and Mother Teresa.

When companies find themselves in distress, turnarounds are one way to set them back on track. But turnarounds are messy and getting them right is no easy task.

It was November 2010 when Sankar Krishnan, managing director at the global professional services firm Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) and Nikhil Shah a senior director of the firm were called in to investigate claims of irregular activities allegedly involving the senior management of a textile manufacturer in India. The seriousness and potential impact of the allegations from a former employee meant they had to tread very carefully. They decided on a covert operation, since it was unclear who was trustworthy at the company and given that a direct approach might have led to evidence being destroyed that could be crucial to the investigation.

Great innovators don’t necessarily follow straight paths. Often a winding path can shape their defining inventions.

At a farm in Michigan, lived a little boy. In his pocket, as his constant companions, were little trinkets: nuts, bolts, washers and other small pieces of machinery. He would play with them all day long. Experimenting with them, joining them, taking them apart. His father did not much appreciate all this. Like most fathers, he wanted his son to help in the family business: the farm. Mother was different, she gave in to her child’s fancy, perhaps, thinking it was a passing phase that was better indulged than opposed.

In the 1970s, entrepreneurship was absent from business schools. The few schools that offered something in this area called it “small business.” Really glamorous, right?

From this zero start, entrepreneurship has become a must-have in every business school even though it is mostly regarded as a stepchild and is usually a part of the management department, rather than being in its own department. And when it is lodged in management, the other departments treat it with benign neglect, if not outright condescension. Entrepreneurship includes venture marketing, venture financing and venture leadership, i.e., the entire business. But in today’s compartmentalized business schools, there is no good fit for reality.

Public support of entrepreneurship seems to be all the rage in policy circles, and yet in 2011 only about 8 percent of American businesses were new, compared to 15 percent 1970. Inspired by this frustrating truth, the Kauffman Foundation has produced a report called ‘Guidelines for Local and State Governments to Promote Entrepreneurship‘ based on lessons learned from the foundation’s entrepreneurship support programs. Here are a few of their most interesting findings:

It turns out that the myth of the entrepreneur who raises her first round of funding from friends and family isn’t actually true. In fact, 75 percent of aspiring U.S. entrepreneurs rely on external debt sources, as opposed to capital from family and friends.

A team at the Kauffman Foundation reported on the first funding decisions that startup founders make.  The data came from the Kauffman Firm Survey, which tracks business characteristics, cash flow, and owner demographics for over 5000 new firms, to identify from whom firms choose to raise capital and how that decision impacts the long-term growth of the firm.

What does your startup do? Has your startup changed over the summer?

SetSail is an education company that teaches critical thinking, public speaking, and culture skills to Chinese students, providing them with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in the United States. This vision remained consistent throughout the summer. However, the exact class structure and pricing changed as we learned more about the market’s needs.

Image: https://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu

Lean startup methodology—rapidly building and testing, iterating on your product and releases and validating what you've learned—can help you get to market quicker and avoid developing a product no one wants. That's the goal, at least.

A big, profitable company seems like the hardest thing for a small company to compete against. They have everything: money, brand, momentum, existing customers, press, product teams, distribution channels, expertise, market insight, analysts, sales offices, product features, and, by definition, a working business model.