Thirteen Days

I just emailed this to the 600 people who have joined our Small Business Chamber Meetup site. If you haven't yet, join now, whether you can attend this afternoon or not. See http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber

HELP OUR ECONOMY! PLEASE FORWARD TO A FRIEND WHO IS STARTING IN A NEW DIRECTION WITH THEIR WORK. BETTER YET, CALL AND INVITE YOUR FRIEND!


Friday, November 29, 2013

Life is too short for any of us to learn from just our own experience!

Join us this afternoon for the Denver IDEA Cafe Startup Workshop at 3:45 p.m. or the Denver IDEA Startup Salon at 2:30 p.m., both at Panera Bread, 13th & Grant.

Our Small Business Chamber IDEA Cafe is the workshop that I've led here in Denver for nearly 20 years. 5280 Magazine says it's infused Denver with an entrepreneurial spirit. Join us for it any time you're headed in a new direction with your work. We say if we're successful you'll be too busy to come back the next week.

Our new IDEA Startup Salon is an open discussion meeting, we share startup experience about topics that are brought by those attending. Join us anytime you have a problem with your work as you start in a new direction, starting a new career, a new project or campaign, or a new business. Most who attend have already attended an IDEA Cafe, but that is not a requirement.

Right now we also have meetings in Englewood and Boulder County here in metro-Denver, we are getting more serious about getting groups kicked off in other parts of Denver, across Colorado, and possibly beyond. If you'd like our help getting a new group started in cooperation with your local chamber or other group give me a call.

For more information and to RSVP for an upcoming meeting, see http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber

See you this afternoon?

John

John S. Wren, MBA+++
Co-Founder & CEO, Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
www.SmallBizChamber.org   *  John@SmallBizChamber.org
960 Grant St. #727 * Denver, CO * 80203

Call 24/7, I'll get back to you ASAP (303)861-1447

Professor Edmund Phelps & Professor AC Grayling talk on 'Mass Flourishing'

Mass Flourishing came out in the fall, there was a review of it in the Wall Street Journal October 18, and the author has this talk and a similar talk that preceded it that he gave at Google Author Talks on YouTube. It should be on the best seller list by now, in my opinion.

Why do Seth Godin and Daniel Pink get so much more press? This is a real heavy weight in economics making some hard, insightful comments that should shake the world of economics to it's foundation, it should "transform economics" as mention in the introduction here:

The Startup Show

iDea Develop Alternatives Tuesday
Live by 5 p.m. each day Monday thru Friday.



Join us for a meeting, or ask us to help you start a new group:
http://www.SmallBizChamber.org

The Startup Show Inspiration Monday

The Startup Show Live by 5 p.m. Mountain, Monday thru Friday
Today: Inspiration, the I in IDEA-- How to get an inspiration.

 

 Join us for an IDEA Cafe (workshop) or Salon (discussion group), contact us if you'd like help starting one with your local chamber of commerce or other group. http://www.SmallBizChamber.org

Spiritual but not religious.

Frequency of term spiritual but not religious in Google books: The downside of spiritual but not religious.

The Startup Show Grassroots Friday

The Startup Show, live by 5 p.m. MST each day Monday thru Friday,
except for the days we just can get r done. Then we suggest you check
out our past shows. :-)


Small Business Chamber of Commerce Inc

Website http://www.SmallBizChamber.org

Facebook Page http://Facebook.com/Small.Business.Chamber

The Startup Show Cancelled for today

Sorry, no startup show today. We'll be back tomorrow.

In the mean time, take a look at past shows here, see Page tab "The Startup Show."

11-20-13 The Startup Show idEa Evaluation Wednesday

The Startup Show
Each day Monday thru Friday,
A few minutes reflection on startup.


Join us this Friday here in Denver, or start a group near you.
For more information, see http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber 

See tabs above, new highlights of past editions of The Startup Show.
What SPECIAL EDITION would you like to see?

If you'd like help with your startup give me a call!

John Wren
(303)861-1447

The Startup Show iDea Develop Alternatives Tuesday

Each Tuesday here on The Startup Show we talk about what to do after the 1st A-ha!, after you've been inspired with the thought of a new business, project, campaign, or career. IDEA is our four-step process, after nearly 2 decades of use, I've never found a better model for creative thinking, if you have one let me know. We are also going to talk about the Wall Street Journal's CEO Forum online today, you can see the video's of two of the speakers, Gov Chris Christie and President Obama below, I'll use them as an excuse to talk about some of my thoughts on education as a business opportunity today. I'd be very interested in your comments here below or call me any time (303)861-1447. In Denver? Join one or both of our self-directed learning groups this Friday, the Denver IDEA Salon and the Denver IDEA Cafe, more info and RSVP at http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber If you'd like to start a group with your local chamber or other group, give me a call (303)861-1447

Education in America

Wall Street Journal CEO Forum
Gov Chris Christie
We'll discuss on The Startup Show today:


What if the crisis in education today was viewed as a business opportunity rather than as a political problem? I'm not saying that's what motivated this proposed new school, but it might have been. http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/23282/20131119/alternative-school-in-canton-recruiting-for-pilot-program

What does the President think? Live interview:

Here's my question: The Small Business Administration was started in 1953 by President Eisenhower, many think it actually works against small business, especially startup of new businesses. Your view

My question on the Wall Street Journal interview, we'll talk about on The Startup Show today, live by 5 p.m. Mountain time.

How do you get inspired? Watch, then comment here.

The Startup Show
Inspiration Monday:
"How do you get inspired?"




Join us for a live meeting this Friday if you're in Denver, or contact us about starting one near you in cooperation with your local chamber of commerce.

John Wren
(303)861-1447

Start now! Call (303)861-1447

In a market economy the market picks the winners. 

For more Google "John Wren Daring Mighty Things" e-edition 99-cents, I'll give you $1 back if you don't find it helpful. 

If you want my help starting or growing your business call me, I'll be taking calls today, no cost to you.

 If you get my confidential voice mailbox leave a complete message, and let me know the best time to call you back.

Call now, (303)861-1447

The Startup Show ideA Action Friday

The Startup Show, today we'll talk about taking action, actually doing what you've decided to do.
We'll keep it short.





  SPECIAL EDITION The Startup Show Click
Stever Robbins talks with us about Internet lies, why he's stopping free work.

John Edgar Wren, Junior
February 10, 1924 to November 15, 1979

When pop was only 8 years old his dad died. In just about the last conversation we ever had, I asked pop why he never talked about his dad. "I resented him dying so young. My life would have been a lot better if he'd fought it a little harder." Pop's last words to mother: "Don't worry honey, we'll whip this."

Pop told me once he didn't want to give me his middle name Edgar because that would have made me a Junior, and his nickname growing up was Junior and he hated it. I imagine it stirred that resentment.

He and mom met at Amarillo High School. At one of their reunions dad answered the question "What is your proudest accomplishment" with the fact that he started a successful business, which mom didn't like.

He and mother moved to Colordo in 1949, I was 2 years old, my earliest memory was him calling me to the front yard there in Loveland to go to the warehouse with him. I worked for him full time my last two years in college, and we sold the business the summer of 1969, his friends who didn't see the fact that chain stores had changed distribution economics didn't make out nearly so well. That summer he changed his will to make me the executor and trustee of his estate if mother ever wasn't able to do it when he passed on. We had no idea he'd be gone only 10 short years later.

I grew up working each summer for dad, yard work and warehouse work. Driving to the warehouse was like going to a business training seminar. "Every morning you have to give yourself a pep talk." "Stay busy, there is always something to do." "Don't ever make jokes about money, employees never find them funny." "The price you sell for is based on what people are willing to pay, not what it cost you." "You can't sell from an empty wagon, always have plenty of inventory." "People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care." "You wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you knew how little they did it." "The best is just barely good enough." "Whatever you do, be in business for yourself, even if it's just to have a pop corn stand." "Every home should have a Montgomery Wards catalog, when kids look through it they learn how to dream." "Every thing you see once started as someone's idea." "The definition of a living wage depends on whether you are getting it or paying it." "The profit in the wholesale business depends on how well you handle the merchandise that doesn't sell. (Bin-X)"

Dad fought cancer for several years. He was mistreated for prostate cancer, caused it unnecessarily to spread. The son of the doctor who treated him came to a meeting I'd organized one time and told me how grateful his family was we hadn't sued. Never entered my mind. Not much did those days, I was filled with grief, youngest daughter Allie was born 10 days after pop died, the pastor at our church who had been so helpful to me moved out of town, and a therapist I'd been seeing did the same thing. What I saw as the solution to my problems turned out to be the biggest of my problems.

Decades later I went to mother's 50th high school reunion with her. I was astonished at how popular she was, she'd been a cheer leader, home coming queen, voted most popular, was awarded a full scholarship to Colorado Women's College, then instead married dad when he was discharged from the Navy. At the reunion I finally understood why it made her so made that pop had thought of his business as his proudest accomplishment. How he ever got her to marry him, charismatic, hardworking, bright, but without owning a car, not even having a job, surely getting her to say yes was the most important sale he ever made. Mother took care of their home, me and my brothers, there is just no way he could have been as successful as he was without her help.

We miss you pop, but none of us who were with you those final years can ever say you didn't fight it as hard as you could. Thank you for all you did for all of us in your short life.

The Startup Show ideA Action Thursday

The Startup Show today will focus on action, the fourth step of our IDEA business creativity model. I-Inspiration, D-Develop Alternatives, E-Evaluate Alternatives, and then this forth step, actually getting to work. We take four days to look at these each week, but may just take moments to go through them all when you are in the middle of a battle.


Tomorrow (Fri, Nov 15) 2:30 pm for our Denver IDEA Salon, open discussion group, and then at 4 p.m. our Denver IDEA Startup Cafe, both at Panera Bread, 13th and Grant. More info and optional RSVP on our Meetup site, see link on http://www.SmallBizChamber.org

The Startup Show idEa Evaluation Wednesday

Here's 5-minutes of startup experience and ideas you can count on right here on my JohnWren.com live by 5 each day Monday thru Friday. Watch, then continue the conversation by posting your comment here or call me on The Startup Line (303)861-1447.

 Today's topic is Evaluation, how you decide whether to go forward or not? Johnny Cash said that in poker you have to "know when to hold em, know when to fold em, and when to run away." How do we decide in startup, especially when it's a big idea. Earlier today, SPECIAL EDITION The Startup Show talked with well known executive coach Stever Robbins about Internet Success Myths & How They Are Fleecing You, you can see it right below here on JohnWren.com. Stever is very interesting, funny, it's worth a few minutes of your time, take a look.



  (Click here) for Daring Mighty Things-- The Simplest Way to Start Your First (or Next) New Business by me. 99-cents in the Kindle edition, I'll give you $1 back if you don't find it helpful.

Best book on startup for the person who wants to get going now, Just Start, see http://Just-Start.com

For the business adviser or teacher best book on startup is Amar Bhide's The Origin & Evolution of New Businesses. http://bhide.net

SPECIAL EDITION The Startup Show talks with Stever Robbins: Internet Success Story Myths & How They Are Fleecing You.

HELP YOUR FRIENDS, PLEASE POST THIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, EMAIL, PRINT & POST.

In this SPECIAL EDITION The Startup Show host John Wren talks with Stever Robbins about his recent post on his Facebook Page announcing that he was no longer doing work for free. We called him and asked for this one last free interview, about why the new policy and Stever's views about Internet success stories:

Stever Robbins is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded the early internet success story FTP Software, served as COO of Building Blocks Interactive, CEO of JobTacToe.com, and has been an initial team member of ten start-ups, including four IPOs and three acquisitions. He was project manager at Intuit, where he co-led the development of the award-winning Quicken VISA Card. He serves as business plan judge for the Harvard Business School business plan competition, the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards, the William James Foundation social enterprise competition, and the Mass Challenge entrepreneurship competition.

His experience developing organizational leaders began as co-designer of Harvard Business School’s “Leadership and Learning” curriculum redesign, and has gone on to include being an advisor and mentor to senior managers in several high-growth companies.

His Get-It-Done-Guy podcast has spent weeks as #1 in the iTunes business category and has been downloaded more than 17.5 million times. He has been a repeat commentator on CNN-fn’s Entrepreneurs Only and hosted a regular segment on the nationally syndicated radio show Entrepreneurs, Living the American Dream. He is a featured expert in Harvard Business School Publishing’s Harvard Manage Mentor, as well as appearing as an expert in critical thinking and memory in Houghton-Mifflin’s forthcoming Skillbuilders series.

He has been interviewed in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, The New York Times, ABC News Now, MSNBC, FOX News, BusinessWeek Online, and Investor’s Business Daily. He has written for Harvard Business Review, The Boston Business Journal and has had columns on Entrepreneur.com, Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, and the Quick and Dirty Tips network.

He is the author of It Takes a Lot More than Attitude…to Build a Stellar Organization and Get-it-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More.

Stever holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program, a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP.

How to evaluate a big idea.

This afternoon on The Startup Show I'll be talking about how to evaluate a big idea. What do you do when you are the only one that can see the vision?

The Small Business Administration teaches that you should share your idea with a lot of people, if they don't think what you are doing is a good idea, change your idea. Steve Blank and Eric Rise say pretty much the same thing in that regard.

Is this how most big ideas got off the ground, there was a ground swell of popular support? Watch for the show live today on YouTube Live Broadcasts or Google+ Live Hangouts, or come back here to this site about 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, or any time after that for a link to the YouTube recording.

We'll also be talking about this at our Denver IDEA Salon this Friday, free and open to everyone. No RSVP required, but that saves a seat for you until the start of the meeting, more info at http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber 

Research on principled entrepreneurship undertaken.

...the university will be able to add even more visiting positions and extend the length of the program geared toward exploring entrepreneurship.

“The vision for our school is to be truly person-centered. In pursuit of that goal it is imperative for us to conduct research oriented to the common good and to focus on understanding how business and economics become more effective when they are more humane," Abela added. "That’s the enterprise in which these visiting scholars will engage during their time with us."

http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/all-series/catholic-university-receives-1-5-million-donation/

The Startup Show
Today: Develop Alternatives Tuesday iDea

Join us Friday for IDEA Cafes & Salon, see http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber, and let me know if you'd like help to start a new group in cooperation with your local chamber or other group.

:

Scott Case (Startup America, Priceline) Learn From Previous Founders

Learning from others who have done it. Best way in my experience, but Assistant-to.

http://www.youtube.com/v/rnKpCMI-nM8?version=3&autohide=1&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=M4NOD-LFdb6iZNiz_o0FZQ&feature=share&autohide=1

Inspiration Monday

Live by 5 p.m. MST
The Startup Show
I = Inspiration Monday
D= Develop Alternatives Tuesday
E= Evaluate the Alternatives Wednesday
A = Act!
Friday we talk about the grassroots in business and politics.

Sponsored by the Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc
We help each other create a Good Living, cooperating with local
chambers of commerce and other groups.
http://www.SmallBizChamber.org

Here's today's show:

How do you get the story?

Most popular talk show hosts

What happened

My most popular blog post of all time, great idea for getting more done, lots passed it along:

"How to get more done: 90 uninterupted minutes each morning on project determined toi be most critical night before."

Evaluate and Decide

The Startup Show
Each Wednesday we talk about evaluation and decision making.

Inspiration into action, developing alternatives.

The Startup Show, Develop Alternatives Tuesday


Join us for an IDEA Startup Workshop and/or Open Discussion Group. More info and optional RSVP at http://Meetup.com/Small-Biz-Chamber Want help now? Call The Startup Line (303)861-1447

How to get an inspiration.

The Startup Show

Today's topic: How to get an inspiration.