On Wednesday I started an examination of an investment strategy firm that specializes in microfinance, Minlam Asset Management. As I interviewed one of Minlam’s founders, Mike Hokenson, I noticed a reoccurring theme that I see ...READ»
There has been a lot of positive feedback on my string of blogs themed “financial firms doing good.” It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity that pours out of our televisions and newspapers, but as I travel across the ...READ»
On my flight back from Rochester the other night after delivering a workshop to a group of CEOs, I was reading a fascinating article titled "Culture in Action" by Ann Swidler. In it I read the following ...READ»
While speaking with Randy Eisenman and Sunny Vanderbeck, the founders of Satori Capital, I found a new sense of respect for the idea of “time horizons.”
You see, over time, companies gravitate toward the expectations of its ...READ»
In business school, they still teach us the shareholder is king and that all corporate decisions should be made based on maximizing shareholder value. But if you see a wider view, a more holistic perspective, then you will see that ...READ»
Protesters are marching and subpoenas are being issued to insurance giant AIG, Madoff faces jail time, and the FBI is struggling to keep up with an escalating financial crimes case log. This is our current reality, and I decided ...READ»
Tweeting Fast Company readers take on the Zambian economist and author of the book "Dead Aid", who talks about making chocolate, fighting AIDS, and her friend Chris HughesREAD»
There's nothing like a conference to breed and spread fresh jargon. At the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship, they've included "impact," "accountability," "social business," that old ...READ»
On Monday evening, in a hotel room in London, Kjerstin Erickson made her hit list. Laid out in Excel, it is meticulous: name, organization, responsibility--65 names in all. The next day, Erickson boarded a train and made her way ...READ»
Our innovation seminar in New York City last week was stocked with a fascinating and diverse group of innovators. From entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 corporate executives, and from retail to banking to technology to services, ...READ»
Roger Martin has come clean: Barack Obama made him cry. In his remarks during the plenary opening of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University, the dean of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of ...READ»
One of my least favorite activities of all time is the icebreaker. You know how it goes: Throw together a bunch of people--six, eight, more than two is too many--and force them to tell each other something silly, secret, anything that ...READ»
What struck me most about my interview with Taneli Ruda is how clearly Nokia appears to understand the source of its advantage.
Nokia knows what it can do and what its competitors can’t do, and it works to leverage and build ...READ»
Last week I
wrote about how Nokia is applying what I call pattern #7 – force your
competitors onto a multi-front battle. Nokia uses this strategy so
perfectly that I decided to continue with that focus in today’s ...READ»
Earlier this
week, I started my review of Nokia. The company markets phones in the U.S., Europe
and beyond that are easy to use but also have some unique functions. These
phones allow users to switch between home and work ...READ»
Nokia's strategies have unlocked breakneck innovation that has driven huge success and growth. Even while Nokia was making billions in revenue, they continued to grow organically without major acquisitions.READ»
This week the new Amazon
Kindle (Amazon’s digital book reader) has dominated tech device media coverage.
While I am eager to get my hands on one after Amazon sold out of the first
version during the holidays, what intrigues me ...READ»
“Why are people going to come here and not the other place,” was the question that haunted Michael F. Curtin, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of DC Central Kitchen when he used to run a restaurant. The same ...READ»
A couple of weeks ago, I introduced another outthinker
company, Abiomed, which decided to give up its focus on creating an artificial
heart in order to focus instead on helping people repair their existing hearts.
In the ...READ»
As I interview successful CEOs of innovative companies, I
see that there is one pattern of competition that consistently emerges. Pattern #34: Coordinate the uncoordinated.
In military circles they call it 4GW (Fourth ...READ»
Charities are now falling into bankruptcy as times get tougher. The trend of the '00s has been for nonprofits to act more like for-profits--social entrepreneurs, social venture funders, social capitalists, triple bottom liners, ...READ»
On Wednesday I introduced a fascinating company, EyeBuyDirect. While interviewing the CEO, Roy Hessel, I noticed some similarities to another company we profiled several weeks ago – Valley Forge Fabrics.
Valley Forge shook up the ...READ»
In 2005, Roy Hessel stepped out of a venture capital career and decided to get his hands dirty. He had been directing and coaching businesses for years, and he decided it was time to do it himself. He saw an interesting opportunity to ...READ»
Over the last few days, I have been sharing my interview with Carter Phipps, the executive editor of EnlightenNext magazine.
When I asked him what advice he had for other innovators, he said something I found particularly ...READ»
