Coffee’s Economics, Rewritten by Farmers

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  IN 2005, Kenneth Lander, a lawyer in Monroe, Ga., moved with his wife, stepdaughter and the youngest three of his seven children to a coffee farm in San Rafael de Abangares, Costa Rica. He always “had a heart,” he said, for Latin America, and after a vacation to the lush cloud forests near Monteverde… Read more »

Food Trucks Are Stale. Line Up for Food Scooters

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information, Part 6 Managing Financial Resources.

Description:  Food trucks helped make street vending a $1.5 billion industry in the U.S. last year, according to research firm IBISWorld. Plenty of aspiring entrepreneurs are salivating. But getting a full-service food truck rolling can cost upwards of $100,000, says Howard Leonhardt, who recently launched a venture to sell food trikes and scooters for a… Read more »

Lolly Wolly Doodle Shows How to Profit From Social: Tech

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Description:  Brandi Temple, a 39-year-old mother of four, transformed a living-room hobby into a retailer that ships 30,000 kids’ garments a month using online social tools that giant competitors haven’t mastered. Lolly Wolly Doodle Inc., the retailer founded by Temple in 2010, makes most of its sales through Facebook Inc., using the social network to… Read more »

Is the Daily Deals Business Model a Dud?

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Description: Lerer Ventures’ Eric Hippeau discusses the ouster of Groupon CEO Andrew Mason with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television’s “Money Moves.” (Source: Bloomberg) Source: Bloomberg.com – video report Date: Mar 01, 2013 Link: http://bloom.bg/XfvzFM#ooid=RhbmxyOTomASPPAFWyusRDsGacaBx_Au Questions for Discussions: What does this report say about the relationship between the CEO and the Board of Directors? Is Groupon… Read more »

Andrew Mason’s Groupon legacy: It’s okay to leave

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Description:  Groupon founder Andrew Mason was fired from the CEO post, but he may well be remembered for having the right mix of grace and humor on his way out. Source:  Fortune.com Date: Mar 01, 2013 Link: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/01/andrew-mason-groupon/?iid=SF_F_River#sthash.I9xs4W7F.dpuf Questions for Discussions: What sort of leadership style did Andrew Mason use while building Groupon? Do you… Read more »

Women Who Run Tech Startups Are Catching Up

Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives.

Description:  Women-led private technology companies are more capital-efficient, achieve 35 percent higher return on investment, and, when venture-backed, bring in 12 percent higher revenue than male-owned tech companies. That’s according to new research presented at a recent conference in San Francisco organized by Women 2.0, a media company devoted to women founders in the tech… Read more »

Lose your gloves? There’s an app for that

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Tech is fashion’s latest accessory on designer Asher Levine’s smartphone connected clothing. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Feb 15, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/02/15/t-gps-clothes.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: What are the new product possibilities for this technology in the fashion and other industries? Why are partnerships with other firms the better way to bring this technoloy… Read more »

Florists now dread Valentine’s Day

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Description:  Some flower shop owners hate Valentine’s Day, losing money on big orders that flow in from big e-commerce groups like FTD, 1-800-Flowers and Teleflora. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: Feb 14, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/14/smallbusiness/order-flowers/index.html?iid=SF_SB_Lead Questions for Discussions: Describe the working relationship between small business shops and e-commerce marketers that feed them orders. How can small business… Read more »

Why Andreessen Horowitz fines late workers

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Description: Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explain why they fine workers $10 per minute if they are late to a meeting with an entrepreneur. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Feb 06, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/02/07/t-andreessen-horowitz-fines.fortune/ Questions for Discussions: What does this policy say about the intended realtionship between the venture capital firm and… Read more »

RIM Shot For Blackberry Maker

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Description:   Research in Motion’s… excuse me, Blackberry’s… attempts to become “cool” on Wednesday failed to impress investors. Source: Forbes.com Date: Feb 01, 2013 Link:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/mergermarket/2013/02/01/rim-shot-for-blackberry-maker/ Questions for Discussions: Do you agree with the view that BlackBerry is still searching for “cool” in order to compete against Apple and Android devices? Should Blackberry try the “uncool”… Read more »