Something Ventured

Doing Good: The New Venture Philanthropy Model

"So you say you want a revolution..." -- The Beatles In previous posts, I have discussed how entrepreneurs are making a difference in philanthropy. This approach is very similar to how venture capitalists approach early-stage investments. I also want to... Read more →

Doing Good: Small and Focused

On Monday, I will post my detailed breakdown of the new Venture Philanthropy model. However, one of the key elements is the importance of focusing your initial efforts very focused, small scale initiatives. Make the difference in a single (or... Read more →

Doing Good: Venture Philanthropy

Quite a few readers have asked for more posts around Venture Philanthropy. This is consistent with what Peter Drucker predicted in the early 1990's. In a variety of books and articles, he wrote that the there would be a growing... Read more →

Quindlen Commencement Speech

Slowly but surely, I find myself becoming a commencement speech junkie. Perhaps it is because we all look for inspiration and affirmation in our lives. Anna Quindlen is one of the most talented columnists of our generation (in my humble... Read more →

Telluride Retreat

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” -- John Lennon Sorry for the delay in postings. I am out in Telluride on vacation with my family which is an internet challenged part of the world. I... Read more →

Rant: What Is Bush Thinking?

I am a very frustrated Republican. As a result, I am violating a tenant here by throwing up a political post. The far right is pulling the party way too far to the right.The most recent incursion of this over-reaching... Read more →

Watercooler: Google Trends

For all you budding sociologists (or simple voyeurs), Google Trends is a must. You can type in a term of choice and it will return what region of the US has devoted the largest percentage of its searches to that... Read more →

Buzz: FeedBurner Acquires Blogbeat

Congrats to Dick, Steve, Matt, Eric, Brent, Rick and crew on their recent acquisition of Blogbeat. They say it much better than I so click on this article link for details. Read more →

Watercooler: Hard to Commercialize

Recently a reader sent me a follow-up email to my incubator post. He had a central question that goes to the heart of commercialization. Why are universities, who have such great research, so inefficient at commercializing it? We have thought... Read more →

Patent Trolls

John Funk and I have been going back and forth regarding Patent Trolls resulting from his posts on In Defense of the Trolls. He jokingly just pointed out a recent Bridge Troll incident (really) in Boulder where a misguided LSD... Read more →