Archive for the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Category

Today, the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Winterim (#eWinterim) met with the co-founders of Fanminder, Paul Rosenfeld and Tracy Grover. With Fanminder, a small business owner can create unlimited offers and promotions that reach fans on Facebook, Twitter, and mobile phones, with no marketing expertise required. The company specifically focuses on small businesses that have a storefront (retail space). In this blog, I will discuss the three major takeaways from our time with Paul and Tracy.

We first touched on the immense amount of creative destruction when you are playing the startup space. Many startups go down, with only a few actually getting going—this is demonstrated in both Tracy and Paul’s history. Both have worked for several startups that eventually went under for various reasons. But neither could stay away. In fact, with a good sense of humor Paul self-admitted that his track record has shown (until Fanminder) that he has been “a marketing genius but a financial failure.” As for Tracy, she comes from an entrepreneurial family, though she didn’t want to be an entrepreneur initially (in fact, she purposely avoided it). She mainly thought she wanted to have an outside life—while growing up she saw how much her father worked (who was an entrepreneur), and thought she wanted to do something different. But, in the end, she came full-circle and got sucked in to the startup scene, and now firmly embraces it—she says it’s “in her blood.”

Lesson 1 was on the importance of a co-founder—their biggest advice was to find a co-founder with a complementary skillsets to yours. Tracy and Paul are a perfect example. Paul comes from the “PowerPoint background” as he puts it (aka corporate) and is an idea and strategy person (he can do the “what”), whereas Tracy comes from the scrappy “just do it” mentality, and she brings the “how” along with principles tactics of good execution and excellent speed.  However, neither of them have technical backgrounds (although Tracy previously did manage technical products)—so it’s definitely possible to be a founder, or part of a co-founder team, lacking an engineering or science degree. What’s harder is doing it alone—it’s lonely, boring (there’s no one to bounce ideas off of), and it’s easy to lose momentum, go on tangents, and get hung up on minutiae without someone to keep you on-track.

What is the hardest part, to Paul, about starting his own business? Put very simply, “the balls to do it;” to take a huge leap of a cliff, without any certainty of success, especially having come from a corporate job (Paul was working for Intuit at the time as a chief marketing officer). But, to him, there is a litmus test that is really quite simple, and asks each one of us to pose the following question to ourselves before deciding whether to embark on, or pass on, a venture: the question perpetually is “when you’re on your death bed, will you be happy with the choices you made?” These are words we should all live by—therefore, Lesson 2 is to live without regret.  For Paul, he is most proud of being able to leap off the cliff at his position in life, considering he had a family. What other advice did he have? It’s better to do startup when you’re young, but not impossible to do it late in life. In fact, it’s a myth that startups are all founded by 25 year olds. The majority of businesses are founded by people in their 40s. “You get there when you get there,” reminded Tracy.

The final lesson is on attracting quality people to work for you, especially in the situation of a co-founder team sans programming ability (in need of engineers). Tracy and Paul had an all equity team in the beginning, and many people told them that it couldn’t be done (but this didn’t stop them). “Everyone has an opinion,” says Paul, “but it really doesn’t matter. If you’re successful then it means that you have broken through all of these barriers.” The duo found that their engineers, although “working for equity” in the technical sense, weren’t really “working for equity.” In reality, the Fanminder engineers were working to learn new skills, working because they believed in the company, working because they wanted to do something cool and new, and working because they believed in Paul and Tracy as leaders. It took a certain type of person, to be sure, and Tracy and Paul were quite choosy. So this is Lesson 3—choose the right people and don’t be desperate. Don’t have the ONLY requirement be people who are willing to work for equity. Rather, hire the employees that are “oh by the way, working for equity” but really working for all those other intangible reasons. Take the people who will make the venture succeed and will do whatever it takes. Find people who will not only do what is sufficient, but also what is necessary. For Fanminder, some of the hardest working employees in the beginning actually had families, even with newborns, and a 9-5 job, but still were able to make it work because they believed in the business.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow on day 9 of the Winterim.

–Chandra Jacobs, Global MBA 2012

www.unemployedMBA.com

In my academic career, I have never been more proud!

For the first time, I’ve been able to really connect my research interests, my interest in working with women for economic development, and my teaching together in a worthwhile way. This summer, Thunderbird offered and conducted the first Emerging Market Women Entrepreneurs Business Plan Consulting course. This course connected Thunderbird MBA students (Rebecca Knowles, Reem Nassar, Italia Quitral, James Hammons, Nimin Chen, Kenji Fuma, and Kristi Judd) with three Afghan women entrepreneurs with high growth potential businesses. The purpose was for the students to learn the anatomy of a business plan, starting businesses in developing countries, and the difficulties facing women in war zones. The other purpose was to provide in-depth consulting to help these Afghan women entrepreneurs get these worthwhile businesses off the ground (a women’s hospital, an organic composter fertilizer, and a particleboard/cardboard manufacturer).

 Here’s how my students impressed me, even more than I hoped they would:

 I knew all along what kind of impact we would make through this course for the Afghan women. I also knew that each student would walk out of the course with a lot of new insights and skills. It didn’t occur to me what kind of impact the experience would have on their views of others in the world around them. For example, I have always stood in awe of these ladies. They face such discrimination and discouragement throughout their entire lives, and yet they persevere in the most astounding ways. They don’t fear negativity, they don’t fear failure, and they don’t let fear for their lives stop them. I am moved by learning that my business students are humbled by these women and have learned as much from them as they’ve given. Even more so, the students are aware of how fortunate their lives have been in comparison and they have a high level of respect for these underprivileged, yet amazing women. I will remember each student in this class better than previous classes because of the more intense working relationships we had on these projects. Here are some highlights of what they shared with me at the conclusion to the course:

 Aside from this being a course for practical purposes on business plans, it seems that while the students learned the mechanics of the business plan, they were more moved by the plight of Afghan women, and Afghan businesswomen in particular.

1. People in Afghanistan are much less supportive of women in business even though a thriving business could benefit the community, because their families fear for their security.
2. Lack of adequate funding and market research are huge hindrances. Those businesses that are too big for microloans are difficult to find funding for. The banks seem to be largely dysfunctional and much of the aid money coming in from the West is targeted toward political, community, and expat associations, rather than indigenous businesses.
3. The lack of business associations, education, infrastructure, and security can be crippling for the development of the private sector, and subsequently the economic development of the country.
4. When dealing with people in locations plagued with severe adversity, in developed countries we must be able to exercise patience and try to understand that operations in these places may not function as smoothly as we are used to, for a myriad of reasons.
5. Some have a passion for working more with women in developing countries after this course is over.
6. Some have more of a belief in their abilities (self-efficacy) as potential entrepreneurs in the future, now that they understand the anatomy of a business plan, or in their ability to adequately consult on others’ business plans.
7. There is a lot of room for philanthropy from other organizations in the form of talent development, rather than the traditional aid handouts.
8. The contribution they all made to these ladies is huge. Some of them received feedback from the ladies already, saying how helpful their ideas, questions, and recommendations were.

10.  They view the women less as victims after working with them these past weeks, and more as strong forces to be embraced and encouraged for the development of their countries. They are starting businesses not only for need, but because of a belief in their abilities and their resilience to grow from adversity. When the students try to put themselves in these ladies shoes and think of how determined they would be after roadblocks, closed doors, and failed attempts throughout their entire life, they have a new found respect for just how strong and resilient these ladies are. This seems to have left some of the students humbled by how fortunate they have been in their own upbringings.

11.  They were moved by how the women we worked with were not only motivated to generate an income for their own personal households, but they also quite passionately want to do what they can to change their whole country and other people’s lives through their businesses.

12.  What the students seemed to learn the most and benefit from as students was derived from having the opportunity to apply classroom material (outside readings and the textbook on how to write a business plan) to the real world through research and consulting for real women entrepreneurs’ businesses.

Each of these students should feel very proud of their work and dedication to this course and these ladies!

 Amanda Bullough Ph.D. is the Academic Director for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative and an Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Management and Organizational Behavior at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Dr. Bullough’s research focus is on women and their potential to be economic producers and business leaders in the developing world.

Since October of 2010 the Thunderbird Angel Network has invested in one company and three other companies are being watched and mentored by TAN Investors.  TAN investors have seen presentations from twelve companies, including 5 companies with alumni in their management team. Presenting companies have been from Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas.  Half of the member investors are Thunderbird alumni and several investors fly in from out of state for meetings.

The Thunderbird Angel Network (TAN) was established in the fall of 2010 by friends of the Walker Center. TAN was created to develop a robust network of investors and entrepreneurs among Thunderbird’s network of alumni, friends and local investors. TAN provides a venue for investors to consider investing in early-stage companies having the potential to grow rapidly. Angel capital fills the gap in start-up financing between “friends and family” and venture capital.

September 15 is the next TAN meeting. If you are interested in attending or being an Angel investor with TAN or you are a company seeking Angel investors visit the TAN web site www.thunderbirdangelnetwork.org or email at thunderbirdangelnetwork@gmail.com or call 602.978.7173.

Naomi Gunnels ’11 was Vice President of the Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network (TEN) when  she discovered Lemonade Day.   Lemonade Day introduces kids to entrepreneurship through the front yard lemonade stand.  Naomi and a crew of classmates came in contact with 1,400 kids ages 3-17 to engage them in Lemonade Day.  T-birds spent several Saturdays mentoring kids about how to run a business including marketing, signage, and money management that involved in running a lemonade stand.

National Lemonade Day was May 1^st and lemonade stands popped up throughout Glendale and surrounding communities.  Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs came out and tasted lemonade from several stands to determine the “Best Tasting Lemonade.” Naomi and her Thunderbird team raised $16,000 from a variety of organizations and businesses to bring Lemonade Day to Glendale.   Thunderbird currently holds the only Lemonade Day license in the state of Arizona.

(Photo: Glendale Mayor  Elaine Scruggs (l) with Naomi and a Lemonade Day participant.)

Manuela Emmrich ‘11 is the winner of the 2011 Thunderbird Business Plan Competition.   Her patented tennis racquet has captured the interest of several Thunderbird Angel Investors.  Manuela is also a former NCAA Tennis player and champion.

What is Swirve?

Swirve produces an ergonomic tennis racket, the CarvingStar. The unique shape of this racket ensures a natural wrist position at all times and reduces vibrations. This reduces the onset of injuries such as tennis elbow and enhances play through a faster serve and a better slice.

How long have you had the idea to bring the Swirve racquet to the US market as a business venture?

I moved to the US in 2002 and was first introduced to the racket during a vacation in Germany in 2004. I was immediately impressed by the design and functionality. Most importantly, after using the racket for a few months, I experienced significantly less wrist pain that I had developed over the years playing with a regular racket.  In addition, I could finally play a great slice. It was only until I started my MBA at Thunderbird in 2009 that I realized that I can turn this product into a business venture.

Who is your market?

The primary target market is the senior tennis player who suffers from tennis elbow and wrist/arm problems. The secondary market is kids and teenagers who start playing tennis at an early age and should use an ergonomic racket in order to prevent overuse injuries early on.

What do you see as your biggest challenges in launching Swirve?

Tennis has been a very traditional industry and innovations have been minimal. The biggest challenge is to overcome the mental barrier that a tennis racket is “supposed” to be straight. Marketing and consumer education will be very important.

What opportunities has Thunderbird provided you in bringing Swirve closer to reality?

Thunderbird has been a tremendous experience and catalyst. Through the Global Business Plan class I was able to thoroughly think about the idea and write a comprehensive business plan. The Thunderbird Business Plan Competition was another big stepping stone and after winning this competition I was invited to present in front of the Thunderbird Angel Network. Since that presentation I have had several meetings with investors and I am now close to launching the venture with my business partners. All in all, I would not be in the position I am in now without all the support and guidance from the Thunderbird Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship.

What do you believe is your strongest personal trait that will make Swirve happen?

I have been a passionate tennis player since age 6 and my entire family loves this sport. My drive to succeed combined with this lifelong passion will hopefully enable me to launch Swirve successfully.

Why did you choose to attend Thunderbird?

I was backpacking overseas for 3 years; at the end of that period in my life wanted to become involved in international business and trade. Even in 1978, Thunderbird was the leading institution in global business education and served as a model for other schools.

What was your first job after graduating from Thunderbird?

My first job was with an industrial hand tool manufacturing company, Armstrong Bros Tool Co. I was the international sales representative for Latin America (less Mexico) and the Caribbean. I traveled a great deal throughout the region with trips running about 3 to 4 weeks at a time. While I worked hard building the distribution channel for Armstrong Tools, I always used my free time to see the sights like Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, and of course the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean.

Tell us about your entrepreneurial ventures?

I had a great experience working for two start-ups in the water purification business. One failed and another was tremendously successful. I bring this up because they provided examples of what not to do as well as what to do when I started my own companies.

My first attempt to start a business was in the premium trade providing custom printed Tyvek jackets to a variety of small to medium sized companies. It was a failure! But again, a lot was learned and the mistakes were never repeated.

I founded TUBS, Inc. in 1991. It was based on a concept I discovered in Australia while traveling for business there. TUBS, Inc. provides small dumpster to homeowners (DIY) and contractors. We were the first ones in the US waste industry to specialize in this niche market and we thrived! We built a brand around TUBS in our first metro market, Minneapolis, and as we expanded to Denver and Cleveland began to work on developing our brand in those markets. TUBS, Inc. designed proprietary equipment to efficiently pick-up, deliver, and dispose of the TUBS 3 cubic yard containers. We are currently licensing the TUBS concept to operators in other metro markets.

In 2005 we were introduced to the dumpster bag concept from Europe. It fit so well with our TUBS business, we immediately set about to build what became Bagster. This venture involved brand building, customized collection equipment, technology for tracking, call centers, trademark and patent registration, and a higher degree of web site development to allow customers to schedule collections and pay on line. It also introduced a new factor for us, the DIY retail business. Bagster bags are sold in hardware stores and Home Depots. This required us to design packaging and point of sale units. It demanded a thorough logistics plan to include remote warehousing to provide bags to our retail network.

Our group set up a franchising unit under Bagster, LLC. By 2009 Bagster was in 15 major metro areas.

Bagster was recognized as one of the hottest brands in the US for 2009 by Ad Age.  In the same year, 2009, Bagster caught the attention of a Fortune 100 company and Bagster was acquired by mid-year.

What are the most valuable lessons you learned from being an entrepreneur?

1) Persistence does pay. If you believe in your concept, don’t give up!

2) Don’t be afraid of failure but to reduce your risk of failure, do your homework – build a plan

3) Know your weaknesses. This will help you find a means to shore up those weaknesses.

4) Even in areas where I thought I “knew it all”, I learned to listen to others to at least check my thinking. Sometimes you tend to become myopic because you are too close to your work.

5) Be careful! There are a lot of predators out there! On the other hand there are even more people willing to help you succeed.

6) You need to answer some very personal questions such as: Am I building a legacy business to pass onto my family or am I building a business to exit in X number of years? These questions are important in the way you will structure and build your business.

Why did you become an Angel investor?

I enjoy building and developing businesses. I have learned a set of skills that can be valuable to a new entrepreneur. Nothing would be more gratifying than helping someone else succeed.

There are Angel groups closer to your home in Minnesota what were the deciding factors to join the Thunderbird Angel Network?

Thunderbird is such a valuable world resource. To be able to become active again with Thunderbird was too enticing to pass up and since becoming involved it has greatly surpassed my expectations. The quality of the faculty and participants has been outstanding.

By Marty Zwilling

Friend of Thunderbird, Marty Zwilling is the CEO & Founder of Startup Professionals, Inc.; Callaman Ventures Board Member and Executive in Residence; Advisory Board Member for multiple startups; Arizona Angels Selection Committee; Entrepreneur in Residence at ASU and Thunderbird School of Global Management. Published on Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Business Insider.  

 Every startup founder I know talks about the chaos of their business, which they usually attribute to that burst of growth that is required to get to positive cash flow. They envision a stable environment after that point, and may have convinced themselves that they will be safer and happier with a livable income, maintaining a loyal but flat customer base.

Sadly, this false perception often leads to the death of their business, or at least the end of their tenure as CEO. I second the message that chaos never subsides, from a couple of successful entrepreneurs, Clate Mask and Scott Martineau, in their book “Conquer the Chaos.” Your only choice is to live with it, and find a way to conquer it.

Some small business owners hope to reduce stress by keeping their business static, and believe that they can rely on referrals and repeat business to keep a consistent customer set. Even with this, there are important reasons why not innovating, or going into maintenance mode, will lead to your demise:

Click here for more of Marty’s blogs content

See Marty on Twitter as @StartupPro, and on LinkedIn and Facebook by name and visit his blog at http://blog.startupprofessionals.com/

 By Ernesto Poza

 In a world where only 32% of family businesses make it to the second generation and only 12 percent survive to the third still controlled by the founding family, it is worth looking at  family enterprises that have beat those odds and grown into multimillion-dollar companies. What are these long-lasting family businesses doing to survive and even thrive? How are they transferring the accumulated business wisdom and the spirit of enterprise from generation to generation?

 A few years ago, I examined the adaptability and continuity of family-owned and family-controlled companies by interviewing fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation leaders of companies that were at least 100 years old around the world. Those included 16 companies with annual revenues ranging from $18 million to $5 billion, and operating in industries including newspapers, textbook distribution, brick and tiles, food and beverage, wine producers, insurance, baked goods, leather accessories, farm equipment distribution, and automotive sales.

 It became clear that regardless of industry or home country, the common ingredient to success was advocacy of change by the next generation. This change was driven either by strategic planning, by promoting a spirit of entrepreneurship or by relying on a continuing series of entrepreneurial ventures; what I call “interpreneurship” or intergenerational entrepreneurial activity.¹  Every one of the companies had elements in their culture that enabled them to reinvent themselves with every generation.

 Guy Renkert, fifth-generation CEO of Ironrock Capital in Canton, Ohio, explains that since its founding in 1866 by his great-great grandfather, each generation of his family has paid close attention to the customer to adapt the business to the changing market. The company began as a manufacturer of paving bricks, becoming the largest such company in the world. As the demand shifted to concrete and asphalt, the company moved into producing structural bricks. In the 1960s, it exited the brick business and used its knowledge of clay extrusion and firing to enter the unglazed quarry-tile business, again becoming a market leader. In the 1980s, Guy’s mother convinced the company to add glazed decorative tiles with an American motif; much like Italian, Spanish and Mexican tile makers have successfully done. Now, under Guy’s leadership, the company still produces quarry and decorative tiles, but has returned to brick manufacturing, producing a “thin brick”, that allows architects and builders to construct buildings with all the richness of real brick, but with the speed and cost-effectiveness of bare steel structures.

 These NeXt Gens remind all family members that what is good for the business is good for the family. And what is good for the business is change. The premise is systemically elegant and robust: To the extent that next generation leaders bring more variety inside an organization, the company will have more resources to deal with the increasingly varied and changing marketplace outside. That often means NeXt Gens hire new people with new skills, implement new information and social media technology, take the company global, add younger independent outsiders to a board, and adopt team structures of work.

From this perspective, the conflict that is inherent across generations of owner-managers is often key to the survival of the family business. It provides the wake-up call needed to reinvent the business as conditions change.

 Sometimes that call comes from the family’s inability to sustain enough income to support, via dividends or distributions the living standard the younger generation expects. In the early eighties, McIlhenny, makers of the famous Tabasco sauce, was seeing a slow-down in growth. Edward McIlhenny Simmons, the fifth generation CEO of the Avery Island, Louisiana, company posed this question to family shareholders during a family retreat: Should we invest in growth so as to expand the profit-generating capacity of the firm or invest in a family assistance program aimed at helping family members adjust to their new, less affluent, reality? Naturally, the family members voted to support reinvestment in growth. New products, such as a steak sauce, and a Bloody Mary Mix, were created and revenues increased. The company currently ships over 175,000 two-ounce bottles of a variety of peppery sauces daily.

 Successful centennial family companies chose to change both family dynamics and business strategy in order to continue to realize, across generations, the value of their particular competitive advantages, advantages that were often rooted in the unique culture of a family-owned company.

 They did this by:

 1. Making next generation members that are active in management responsible for bringing their own vision for the enterprise in their generation. Samuel Curtis Johnson III did this at S.C. Johnson, a family company, when, as a junior chemist he brought with him his dream of a new class of insecticides and insect repellents that would become Raid and Off and grow the company from annual revenues of $60 million to yearly sales of $4 billion.

2. Creating a family venture capital company or bank that reviews and sometimes funds business plans by next generation members. These new ventures either took the business in new directions or facilitated the formation of separate entities for which next generation family members had entrepreneurial passion. (After all, what is the point of forcing or incentivizing a family member with a future as a world-renowned gourmet chef into the family’s construction company? And what is the long-term value of having the company remain the most recognized national brand if most of the sales growth will be taking place in other markets?)

3. Capturing the legacy and identity of the firm and its brand from previous generation leaders before they retire. While this used to be captured in special anniversary books, today’s digital media makes video recordings and multimedia collections a much more attractive way of engaging younger generation family members in the continued spirit of enterprise. Stories of wisdom plus innovation, coming from two generations with a common purpose, nurture the spirit of continued family enterprise.

4. Having well-qualified next generation members serve on the board of directors. And having this board hold management, which could be increasingly nonfamily in larger family companies, accountable for change and adaptation. Success often lulls professional management into the proven way of doing things. It often takes alert, responsible young owners to question the status quo and provide a needed wake-up-call as new technology, new supply chains and new customer preferences emerge. Next generation Hewlett and the Packard family members did this for a slumbering Hewlett-Packard while they were still active controlling shareholders.

5. Restructuring ownership and control of the company and pruning the family tree. Ownership structures don’t transfer well across generations. The speed and agility advantage of many entrepreneurial companies is easily dissipated as founding families and their businesses grow. Ownership is not an exercise in democracy. And loving all family members equally is no excuse for fair/equal distribution of company stock among the many heirs.

References:

¹Poza, Ernesto. A la Sombra del Roble, Editorial Universitaria, 1995 and Smart Growth: Critical Choices for Family Business Continuity, University Publishers, 1997.

Ernesto Poza is a world renowned expert on family enterprise. He is a clinical professor of global entrepreneurship at the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona and the author of Family Business, 3^rd edition.    Follow him on twitter @familybusiness

thoughts by Katherine Hutton, MBA

Seth Godin blogged (www.sethgodin.com) on July 21 with a closing line of that defines the entrepreneur – this lent itself to clarifying thoughts on entrepreneurship…

Building a job vs. building a business – Seth Godin

“Either can work, both do, but don’t confuse them.

The shoemaker/copywriter/plumber who seeks a regular itinerary of gigs is building a job, a job with multiple bosses at the same time there is no boss, but it’s still a job. You wake up in the morning and you do your craft, with occasional interruptions to do the dreaded looking-for-work dance.

The entrepreneur is in a different game. For her, the gig is building the gig.”

Seth Godin’s blogs on entrepreneurship www.sethgodin.com

Lets clarify some common differences between entrepreneurs and small business owners:

Entrepreneurs are in the business of fundamentally changing the market. The business concept that they are pitching will, by definition, not be easily understood by the general business community.

Entrepreneurs either delivers to the market something totally new or a common service is delivered differently.

Entrepreneurs often respond to emerging trends in the market or read changes in the market and addresses them – typically quicker than large businesses can.

Entrepreneurs don’t think in terms of failures and problems, only learning experiences and opportunities.

Entrepreneurs are typically goal driven versus task driven.

Katherine Hutton, MBA is the Managing Director of the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management.  She is responsible for the administration of the Center, its programs and tweets. Ms. Hutton has worked with entrepreneurs and all sized businesses for over 20 years. She earned her MBA from Arizona State University. Follow the Walker Center on twitter @TbirdWalker

By Sampad Das, MBA Candidate

Ronald L. Siegenthaler serves as Chairman of the Board for Xeta Technologies, a NASDAQ listed company that he helped found in 1984.  He also provides sales and marketing services for multiple opportunities through his consulting firm, Myriad Technologies. Mr. Siegenthaler started with sharing experience of his first venture. He presented insight into deal structuring which was knowledgeable as well as enjoyable. He also stressed on how important it is to learn from failure, bounce back and being confident. Some of his advices such as learn to hate losing, need to get prepared, develop a good plan, don’t be lazy be aggressive, must be creative; which he explained with interesting stories was inspirational. He concluded the presentation with his thought “THINK BIG”.

By Brent Selmins, MBA Candidate

Running a private equity firm gives a person unique insights into the entrepreneurial mind.  Sitting on the money side of the deal, Ron Siegenthaler has seen a lot of people with a lot of proposals for investment consideration.  His lifetime of success as an oil entrepreneur allowed him to be in the position to offer up millions of dollars in capital to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Mr.  Siegenthaler attributes his success to the entrepreneurial spirit—the indomitable characteristic that drives people to succeed at their goals no matter what obstacles are in their way.  He summarizes the spirit in a brief exchange he once had with a business partner.  “Why do you want to keep doing this,” his partner asked.

Mr. Siegenthaler replied, “Because if we walk out of here one day too soon, I would have been looking over my shoulder wondering what would have happened if we’d stayed one more day.”
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