Changing The World: Project Better Place

I enjoy spreading the news of people who change the world...

One such person is Shai Agassi... Agassi, a former SAP executive, has launched a company that focuses on one of the 21st century's biggest challenges - developing a sustainable, environmental solution for converting country-wide transportation systems toward electricity and away from fossil fuel.

Agassi's company, Project Better Place has $200 Million Backing to transform countries from Oil-based transportation to electric vehicles through electric recharge grid infrastructure.

The planet is running out of natural resources and mankind is running out of time - Project Better Place has the vision, plan, investors and the partners to make scalable electric transportation a reality on a global scale and reduce the world's dependency on oil. They to make the world a better place - one electric car at a time.

An eye-opening fact is a statement by Agassi on his blog that the cost of the average used car in Europe is now cheaper than the cost of gasoline to drive it for a year!

In terms of its business model, the Project Better Place Fact Sheet states:

The business model for the electric cars will be similar to that used by mobile phone operators. In the same way that wireless operators deploy a network of cell towers to provide an area of mobile phone coverage, Project Better Place will establish a network of charging spots and battery exchange stations to provide ubiquitous access to electricity to power electric vehicles. The company will partner with car makers and source batteries so that consumers who subscribe to the network can get subsidized vehicles which are cheaper to buy and operate than today’s fuel-based cars. Consumers will still own their cars and will have multiple car models to choose from.

Kudos to Shai Agassi! A visionary entrepreneur with an intent to change the world and create a better future. Go check out Project Better Place and Shai's blog... inspirational and though provoking stuff. O yes, the video of Shai's presentation at the launch of Project Better Place is also a must-see.

Growing Interest in Corporate Entrepreneurship

The growing interest in the use of corporate entrepreneurship as a process for companies to enhance the innovative abilities of their employees and increase corporate success can be ascribed to factors such as intensifying global competition, corporate downsizing and de-layering, and rapid technological progress that heightens the need for compaies to become more entrepreneurial in order to survive and prosper.

Subsequently many large companies are seeking ways of reinventing or revitalising their entrepreneurial roots, and fostering intrapreneurial behaviours and practices has taken priority in the strategies of many companies where innovation is perceived as an important means of establishing and maintaining competitive advantage.

The ultimate objective is to gain competitive advantage by encouraging innovation at all levels in the organisation, and refers not only to creation of new business ventures, but also to other innovative activities and orientations such as development of new products, services, technologies, administrative techniques, strategies and competitive postures.

Research identifies 5 Dimensions of Corporate Entrepreneurship, namely Innovativeness, Risk-taking, Proactiveness, Competitive Aggressiveness, and Autonomy. Collectively these dimensions permeate the decision-making styles and practices of a company’s employees and work together to enhance entrepreneurial performance.

1. Innovativeness: A willingness to introduce newness and novelty through experimentation and creative processes aimed at developing new products and services, as well as new processes.
2. Risk-taking: Making decisions and taking action without certain knowledge of probable outcomes; some undertakings may also involve making substantial resource commitments in the process of venturing forward.
3. Proactiveness: A forward-looking perspective characteristic of a marketplace leader that has the foresight to seize opportunities in anticipation of future demand.
4. Competitive aggressiveness: An intense effort to outperform industry rivals. It is characterised by a combative posture or an aggressive response aimed at improving position or overcoming a threat in a competitive marketplace.
5. Autonomy: Independent action by an individual or team aimed at bringing forth a business concept or vision and carrying it through to completion.

Perhaps, in your own context, the time has come to seriously consider corporate entrepreneurship as a means of enhancing your competitiveness. Many leaders today acknowledge that corporate entrepreneurship is not an oxymoron, but rather an antidote to large company staleness, lack of innovation, stagnated top-line growth, and the inertia that often overtakes the large, mature companies of the world.

The Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time

On June 27, 2007 BusinessWeek published an article, "The Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time."

They acknowledge that a lifetime could be spent compiling a list without ever agreeing on who deserves a mention, as there are far too many figures to choose from to give anyone the final say. In other words, they acknowledge their list's inherent subjectivity. To compile it, they consulted with professors, authors, and BusinessWeek staffers. Their criteria for entrepreneurs to be considered among the greatest was simple: If they had the vision to create new markets or tap into underserved markets, changing the way people lived in the process, then they were candidates for the list.

They eventually came up with a list of 30 players. I think the value of the list of 30 lies in the key learning points we can take from it. Here is BusinessWeek's list of Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time, with a key learning we can take away from each of these:

1. Admiral Zheng He (b. around 1371, d. 1433): He's journeys matched the risks taken by the boldest entrepreneurs - and the payoff set a high bar for six centuries of risk takers to follow.
2. Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706, d. 1790): Franklin's idea that people can improve their lives through their own hard work and enterprise, as he did, continues to encourage the American Dream.
3. Mayer Amschel Rothschild (b. 1744, d. 1812): In an era of nation-states that were just beginning to industrialize, Rothschild created the world's first multinational. Because his company crossed borders, it was not beholden to any one ruler.
4. John Jacob Astor (b. 1763, d. 1848): Astor built on one successful enterprise by investing the profits into another.
5. Andrew Carnegie (b. 1835, d. 1919): Recognizing the innovations that will catalyze an industry means the difference between shutting down the competition and getting shut down.
6. John D. Rockefeller (b. 1839, d. 1937): Rockefeller used economies of scale and vertical integration to modernize an industry.
7. Thomas Edison (b. 1847, d. 1931): Innovation is crucial, but new ideas alone will not make a business successful. Ideas need to be focused into products that customers will value.
8. Milton Hershey (b. 1857, d. 1945): Hershey created an iconic product at a price that let millions enjoy what once had been reserved for the wealthy. Selling "low-cost luxury" became a viable business model.
9. W.K. Kellogg (b. 1860, d. 1951): Kellogg's accidental discovery, promoted with savvy marketing, transformed the way Americans ate breakfast.
10. Joseph Horn (b. 1861, d. 1941) and Frank Hardart (b. 1850, d. 1918): Horn and Hardart saw a change in the way people worked and delivered a product that fit that new lifestyle.
11. Henry Ford (b. 1863, d. 1947): Ford made a product once considered a luxury available to a mass market by transforming the manufacturing process.
12. Ray Kroc (b. 1902, d. 1984): Taking the long view rewarded Kroc, even though he might have made more money earlier by milking his franchisees. Entrepreneurs who invest in the long-term growth of their businesses at the cost of short-term profits can look to him as an example.
13. Madam C.J. Walker (b. 1867, d. 1919): The era's ingrained racism left a huge part of the population underserved by the market. Walker profited by making them her customers.
14. Estée Lauder (b. 1907, d. 2004): Lauder became a giant in the nascent beauty industry by making sure the quality of her products exceeded the expectations of her target market, namely wealthy society women.
15. Ernest Gallo (b. 1909, d. 2007): Gallo took what had been an exclusive product and aggressively sold it to a mass market.
16. Thomas Watson Sr. (b. 1874, d. 1956) and Thomas Watson Jr. (b. 1914, d. 1993): Watson Sr. built up a global corporation from nothing by investing in his employees and research. His son built on that success to develop and market a technology that transformed the world.
17. Sam Walton (b. 1918, d. 1992): Walton never wavered from his strategy even as other discounters broke into midmarket products, and low prices won out in the end.
18. Earl Graves (b. 1935): The civil rights movement aimed to achieve equality under the law, but the struggle for equal economic opportunity goes on today. It's a fight Graves continues to lead.
19. Andy Grove (b. 1936): Innovation, adaptation, and being in the right place at the right time allowed Grove and Intel to transform the way information is delivered to consumers.
20. Ralph Lauren (b. 1939): Lauren imagined a market for men's fashion as large as that for women.
21. Muhammad Yunus (b. 1940): Yunus imagined what would happen if a bank extended credit to those people who would never traditionally receive it. In the process, he created a system that empowered the poor by helping them become entrepreneurs.
22. Martha Stewart (b. 1941): Stewart profited by making her name into an attractive lifestyle brand.
23. Azim Premji (b. 1945): Premji built a leading IT company as the industry was growing and he expanded into the global market by adhering to rigorous standards.
24. Richard Branson (b. 1950): Branson is aggressive in pushing his companies into new industries - an approach that has made the Virgin brand bigger than any one of his individual holdings ever could be.
25. Oprah Winfrey (b. 1954): Oprah combined charisma and business savvy to become one of the most powerful people in media.
26. Steve Jobs (b. 1955): Jobs recognized that style and ease of use are as important as substance for a certain type of customer. No one had built a computer for that buyer until he did.
27. Bill Gates (b. 1955): Once Gates began to transform the PC industry, he developed a two-prong strategy of expanding the market while maintaining a stranglehold on competitors.
28. Jeff Bezos (b. 1964): At a time when the Internet was still new to most Americans, Bezos realized how quickly it would change the way the world does business and seized the opportunity.
29. Michael Dell (b. 1965): Cutting out the retail middleman and custom-building computers to suit buyers' needs put Dell at the front of the class of PC makers.
30. Pierre Omidyar (b. 1967): Omidyar created the infrastructure of e-commerce for individuals.

View the full article at: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2007/sb20070627_564139.htm

View the slideshow of the 30 players at: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/06/0628_greatest_entp/index_01.htm

Intrapreneurship: Key to Innovation & Growth

What do we mean by “innovation”? Innovation is both the creating and bringing into profitable use of new technologies, new products, new services, new marketing ideas, new systems, and new ways of operating

Intrapreneurship, the term coined by Gifford Pinchot that refers to entrepreneurship within an existing organisation, is the key driver to innovation and growth.

Indeed, innovative talent is the hallmark of the entrepreneur. Given the rapid changes in contemporary markets, a successful organisation is marked by a continuum of "start-over points" at which the venture is "recast" in form or function to master the challenges and opportunities. As a consequence, business owners can never outgrow their entrepreneurial beginnings, and managers must learn how to perpetually perform as entrepreneurs. Each must be able to continuously identify opportunity, organise talents, assume risks and make ready decisions to profitably create value for the marketplace. Because of entrepreneurial innovation - by its owner and its managers - a firm will be ever-able to exploit new, different and more relevant resources, techniques, processes and product or service configurations.

Unfortunately, bureaucracy in organisations stifles the entrepreneurial spirit. When the freedom to think, reason and act entrepreneurially is not forthcoming, frustration can cause people to become less productive or even leave the organisation - even going into competition with the organisation.

The future belongs to those that recognise the importance of developing entrepreneurial leadership within their organisations. Far too many highly trained and experienced employees merely think and act as hired hands. Professional complacency, lack of innovation and avoidance of ownership can no longer be allowed to be as rife as it is in business today.

The message is clear: Those organisations that do not move with agility will fall over themselves. The leaders who do not develop others will have no followers. The executive who does not think like an entrepreneurs will lose.

If, then, the future demands more entrepreneurial groundbreaking organisations, then future leaders must ensure that they develop and instill the entrepreneurial spirit in others and create an intrapreneurial climate in their organisations.

To invent or to innovate?

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: It is important to recognise that innovation implies action, not just conceiving new ideas. When people have passed through the stages of creativity, they may have become inventors, but they are not yet innovators. Let's see why... For starters, the difference between invention and innovation is:

• Invention - is the creation of new products, processes, and technologies not previously known to exist.
• Innovation - is the transformation of creative ideas into useful applications by combining resources in new or unusual ways to provide value to society for or improved products, technology, or services.

So what are we saying? Well, in essence the elements in the innovation process are:

• Analytical planning - to identify: product design, market strategy, financial need.
• Organising resources - to obtain: materials, technology, human resources, capital.
• Implementation - to accomplish: organisation, product design, manufacturing, services.
• Commercial application - to provide: value to customers, reward of employees, revenues for investors, satisfaction for founders.

What is it to be... inventor or innovator? Personally I'd rather be an innovator than an inventor and have no one to share my new creation with. The adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” might be true. But that is only one side of the coin. The necessity will not be met without transforming the creative idea into a useful application. If it stops at invention, the need will remain.

Three Key Principles

Ewing Marion Kauffman in 1950 quit his job because of his treatment by the president of the company for which he worked. "The year before," Kauffman says, "I made more money than the president so he cut back my commission. The next year I made more money than he did again, so he cut back my territory. So I quit and started Marion Labs in my basement." His entrepreneurial genius created Marion Laboratories, Inc. which grew to $1 billion in revenues, $6.5 billion in market cap, and had over 300 millionaires among its 3,400 employees. Kauffman grew the company on three principles:

(1) Treat people as you would want to be treated.

(2) Share the wealth with those who contribute to its creation.

(3) Give back to the community.

Creative Destruction

Creative destruction: what kind of phrase is that? It sounds like a paradox - an oxymoron. How can the word creative, which has its origin in the root-word “create”, be linked to destruction, which in turn is rooted in “destroy”?

This dichotomy is, however, deeply embedded in the entrepreneurial phenomenon. Schumpeter (1942) outlined an economic process of "creative destruction," by which wealth was created when existing market structures were disrupted by the introduction of new goods or services that shifted resources away from existing firms and caused new firms to grow. The key to this cycle of activity was entrepreneurship: the competitive entry of innovative "new combinations" that propelled the dynamic evolution of the economy.

In essence entrepreneurship can therefore also be seen as a force of “creative destruction” whereby established ways of doing things are destroyed by the creation of new and better ways to get things done.

Just think for a moment of products and technologies that have become obsolete over the past 20 years or so... The floppy disk and stiffy making way for the memory stick; BETA and VHS video tapes making way for DVDs; on the brink of extinction one can think of the music cassette that is replaced by the CD. Also think of the development of the transistor and then the semiconductor.

Today Moore ’s Law – the power of the computer chip will double every 18 months at constant price – is actually being exceeded by modern chip technology. Combine this with management guru Peter Drucker’s Postulate: A tenfold increase in the productivity of any technology results in economic discontinuity. Thus, every five years there will be a tenfold increase in productivity. Author George Gilder recently argued that communications bandwidth doubles every 12 months, creating an economic discontinuity every three to four years. It does not take a lot of imagination to see the profound economic impact of “creative destruction.”

TOIL for Success

Synonyms for toil are labour, hard work, sweat, slog, plug away, strive, hustle. While all these words are true for any successful venture, whether for-profit or non-profit, the word "TOIL" spells an essential acronym for success.

T = Team: It is the team that makes the dream. As someone said: "In the world today, there's plenty of technology, plenty of entrepreneurs, plenty of money, plenty of venture capital. What's in short supply is great teams. Your biggest challenge will be building a great team."

O = Opportunity: At the heart of the entrepreneurial process is the opportunity. Countless time, money and effort is wasted on chasing ideas that are going nowhere. An important skill, therefore, is the ability to size up quickly whether serious potential exists, and how much time and effort to invest.

I = Innovation: Innovative talent has become the hallmark of the entrepreneur. According to Peter Drucker, the most important distinguishing characteristic of the entrepreneur is his or her ability to innovate. Because of entrepreneurial innovation – by management and employees – an organisation will be able to exploit new, different and more relevant resources, techniques, processes and product or service configurations.

L = Leadership: Everything rises and falls on leadership (John Maxwell). Leadership is about influencing others to voluntarily pursue organisational goals. It is about vision, cheerleading, enthusiasm, trust, verve, passion, obsession, consistency, and creating an environment that brings out the best in people.

In an ever-changing business landscape, an organisation's ability to "TOIL" will, to a large extent, determine its growth and survival. Even the absence of only one component of the acronym could have an adverse effect on longevity. Therefore, be prepared to "TOIL" if you want to grow and survive. And yes, it implies labour, hard work, sweat, slog, plug away, strive and hustle!

The South African SME Toolkit

Global computer giant IBM, local company Business Partners, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Department of Trade and Industry have come together to offer South African entrepreneurs and small enterprises a free web-based toolkit to help them start, finance and grow their businesses.

The South Africa Business Toolkit, launched on Tuesday, contains "the latest information and communication technologies to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets learn and implement sustainable business management practices", IBM said in a statement.

The aim, IBM said, was to increase the reach of South African small business into the global economy by improving the productivity, efficiency and capacity of the estimated 600 000 active small businesses in South Africa, as well as by improving their access to capital and new markets.

The South Africa toolkit was developed by IBM and the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. It is available both as online and offline modules which include the website, offline CDs, mobile alerts and classroom training.

Source: http://www.southafrica.info/doing_business/trends/newbusiness/smetoolkit.htm

It all starts with opportunity

Many entrepreneurs that start businesses, especially the first time, run out of cash at a quicker rate than they bring in customers and profitable sales. While there could be many reasons for this, it is more than often because they have not focused on the opportunities. Unsuccessful entrepreneurs usually equate an idea with an opportunity; successful entrepreneurs know the difference.

It is therefore absolutely essential to select and screen an opportunity with great care before taking the plunge. It is common that venture capital investors on average invest in only 1% of all ventures they review, emphasising the fact that a good idea is not necessarily an opportunity.

According to researchers Hisrich & Peters (2002) the evaluation of the opportunity is perhaps the most critical element of the entrepreneurial process, as it allows the entrepreneur to assess whether the specific product or service has the returns needed compared to the resources required. This evaluation process involves looking at the length of the opportunity, its real and perceived value, its risks and returns, its fit with the personal skills and goals of the entrepreneur, and its uniqueness or differential advantage in its competitive environment.

Opportunity analysis is one way of evaluating an opportunity. It is not a business plan. Compared to a business plan, it should be shorter; focus on the opportunity, not the entire venture; and provide the basis for making the decision of whether or not to act on the opportunity.

Investec TV Commercial

Thinking of moving your business online?

I found this great advice from an article on Bizland by former CEO of kalahari.net, Hein Pretorius to entrepreneurs who want to move their businesses online:

• Make sure you intimately understand the market you want to be involved in.
• Understand what the business entails from start to finish (on-line models are sometimes more complicated than they might appear).
• Make sure the business is designed and set-up with the customers being the centre of your entire universe and reason for living.
• Above all, make absolutely sure you have the right people with the right expertise and mindsets on board.

[kalahari.net is South Africa's leading online bookstore]

Read the full article at http://www.bizland.co.za/articles/success/kalahari.htm

What is Entrepreneurship?

Ask ten people what their understanding of the word "entrepreneur" or "entrepreneurship" is, and you get ten different answers. It seems to be a highly misunderstood phenomenon. Many stereo­types and oversimplifications exist, and people hold widely disparate views. It is also in danger of becoming yet another “buzzword” popularised by the press, consultants, and entrepreneurs themselves.

An “entrepreneur” is a creative innovator who, acting on initiative, seeks and maximises opportunity, takes the required risk, and energetically takes it to a worthwhile conclusion, in other words one who recognises economic needs and combines other production factors in order to fulfil those needs.

“Entrepreneurship” is the process through which individuals and teams create value by bringing together a unique collection of resources to take advantage of opportunities, to create value and grow by fulfilling wants and needs through innovation and uniqueness, no matter what resources the entrepreneur currently has.

It’s all about a way of thinking, reasoning, and acting that is opportunity obsessed, holistic in approach, and leadership balanced. Entrepreneurship results in the creation, enhancement, realisation, and renewal of value, not just for the owner, but for all participants and stakeholders. At the heart of the process is the creation and/or recognition of opportunities, followed by the will and initiative to seize these opportunities. It requires a willingness to take risks – both personal and financial – but in a very calculated fashion in order to constantly shift the odds to your favour, balancing the risk with the potential reward.

Today, entrepreneurship has evolved beyond the classic start-up notion to include companies and organisations of all types, in all stages.

Thus, entrepreneurship can occur – and fail to occur – in new firms and old; in small firms and large; in fast and slow growing firms; in the private, non-profit, and public sectors; in all geographic points; and all stages of a country’s development.

In essence, we can therefore conclude that:

• Entrepreneurship involves a process.
• Entrepreneurs create value where there was none before.
• Entrepreneurs put resources together in a unique way.
• Entrepreneurship is opportunity driven behaviour.

Navigation and the Entrepreneur's Expedition

They asked the famous climber, Mallory, why he tackled the high peaks? He replied: Because they are there." Ask most start-up entrepreneurs why they make the trade-offs that become part of their lifestyle, and their answer can be just as cliché.

Once entrepreneurs take the plunge, they spend the greatest percentage of their waking hours on the job. They put their lives on the line trying to reach the summit of their ventures, investing time, money and effort. On this journey they express their creativity, forge their self-esteem, resolve character-related issues, and cultivate relationships.

But how many of them, when they are honest with themselves, admit that in the process of climbing toward success they have lost their bearings? They’re no longer sure what really matters and where they’re heading.

They need a map to guide and help them, illuminating the signposts along the path to keep them oriented to the realities of their undertakings and its position in the marketplace. Without these markers, how they we be sure they are blazing the right trail - let alone climbing the right mountain?

Getting lost on an expedition is easy. With poor or outdated maps, the consequences for those relying on them can be fatal. Seasoned climbers make sure they are carrying reliable charts to guide them. Trying to navigate without dependable information is asking for disaster.

Successful entrepreneurs recognise the value of accurate navigation and look to their strategic orientation in relation to their reason for being as a reliable map to guide them. They simple know that, without it, they cannot know where they are going.

Businesses get so bogged down in routine tasks and the daily ritual of simply getting things done that it makes them forget exactly what they’re trying to achieve and where they are trying to go.

Take some time to consider the major changes that occurred in your industry over the past five or ten years. Could you have foreseen them? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Perhaps some. More important, ask yourself if, ten years ago you spent some time to consider what the major changes over the next ten years would be. If you had, would your business be in a better position now?

It is therefore important for entrepreneurs to regularly call time-out to make sure that they…

• still understand their position in the marketplace;
• are still moving forward with a sense of direction, purpose and urgency; and
• are still focusing on the key issues of customers and markets, and the skills needed to deliver to those customers and markets.
  

The only businesses that do not need to be concerned about this are the ones that…

• have no competitors,
• are in total control of their destiny,
• remain unaffected by changes in the industry,
• exist in an environment that never changes.

Otherwise it is essential for every organization, large or small, public or private, service or manufacturing.When it comes to shaping the future, the entrepreneur must address a number of questions:

• Where are we now and how did we get here?
• What did we do well, or badly, to arrive at our current position?
• What business are we in?
• Will this remain the same, or will we need to change? If so, to what?
• What factors internal and external to the business will, or can, have an impact on what we do in the future?
• Where do we want to be in the future?

Once these questions have been addressed, the entrepreneur can start tackling the next question, namely, how are we going to get there? And this would primarily be about managing change… a topic for a next time.

Be "in the know" with latest news, rumors, and happenings.

Guy Kawasaki, Managing Director of the early stage venture capital firm Garage Technology Ventures and author of the exciting book "The Art of The Start" is at it again with his latest project Truemors.

According to the Truemors website, "The purpose of Truemors is to democratize and spread information. First, from a “citizen journalist/editor” perspective it enables you to “tell the world” - within the bounds of good taste and the law anyway. Second, from a reader perspective, it puts you “in the know” about the latest news, rumors, and happenings, so that “you know better” without having to spend hours every day searching for information."

Go check it out!

Investec Asset Management TV Ad

"Because ordinary won't change the world"

The Investec television ad featuring Lewis Gordon Pugh personifies the spirit of entrepreneurship, and the punch-line "because ordinary won't change the world" expresses the entrepreneurial attitude... creating value where there was none before... altering the future for the better.

Ordinary simply won't do... well, maybe for the survivalist entrepreneur, but not for the opportunity driven entrepreneur. Going beyond the mundane to truly make meaning requires thinking, reasoning and acting in ways that might cause one to be labeled an oddity.

Watch the video... it's really inspirational!