Congrats to full-time MBAs Matthew Person and XiaKai Cheng, evening MBAs Matthew Trainor, Joseph Mooney, and Stephen Cromack and full time MSF student Zhen Wang. They were selected to represent Boston College in February/2014 at Babson's regional VCIC competition. Presenters were Ryan Traeger, Chris Thorpe and John Francis and thank you to judges Don Nelson, Minde Kornfeld, Alan Goldsworthy and John Murphy. A terrific afternoon. Pictures below re-printed with permission.
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Many thanks to '98 BC alum Don Nelson for getting the Carroll School involved with VCIC, now in our 3rd year of competition. Our students had a kickoff meeting with Don and with me tonight, and have begun preparing in earnest for the local competition this coming Friday. VCIC is the opposite of our Business Plan course, in that the students compete in the role of venture capitalists, negotiating mock Term Sheets with entrepreneurs we invite, and are judged on their knowledge of financial terms, creativity, establishing a rapport, etc. The judges will award two prizes-- the winning team and then a 5-person "dream team" who will represent Boston College in the Regional Competition in February at Babson College (where we'll be competing against five other MBA teams). See pictures below, reprinted with permission. Don't sit on the sidelines if you have a new venture idea! Last night we tried an experiment, which we hope to repeat next month, and we'd love for you to join us.
By the numbers... a) We had 4 entrepreneur presentations, in front of over 25 graduate business and law students, business experts, attorneys, and BC faculty members. We then further divided the audience into 4 groups, and each entrepreneur presented / discussed a second time in a more intimate setting, outlining the two or three specific areas they need help with. b) A few weeks later, each of these groups will be preparing a 2-3 page written Memo for each entrepreneur (which will be previously reviewed by business experts and licensed attorneys). All participants are donating their time, including our students, who are not receiving academic credit. c) All work is completed free-of-charge, the entrepreneurs maintain all IP and commercialization rights, and all of the participants (the entrepreneurs, professionals and students) sign legal waivers outlining these conditions. If you're interested, please contact me using this email address. Photo below is courtesy of Jackie De La Rosa and has been used with permission. Congratulations on some great press for Betsy Nelson, on an idea our BC MBA students are working on in the Business Plan course.
The article link from the Portland Press Herald is here. Enjoy, Greg Lawyer, Avocat, Anwalt, Abogado, 弁護士、律师,변호사... Love 'em or hate 'em, eventually you're going to need a lawyer, especially in business, or in any language where commerce is done. Continuous business improvement for start-ups, and established ventures: The Language of Business. Episode #7 on Legal Matters is now on-the-air and please click on the names below for their respective TV interviews! Emily Taylor is a corporate associate in the Boston office of Latham & Watkins, and has a broad corporate practice with a focus on Emerging Companies, Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets. Her LinkedIn profile is here. Gene T. Barton, Jr. is a partner in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Boston office. His Super Lawyers entry is here. Christopher Robertson is Co-Chair of the National Whistleblower Team and a member of the Complex Litigation, Securities and Investment Management practice areas in the Boston Office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. His LinkedIn profile is here. Internationally recognized for financial services technology, marketing and e-commerce expertise, Julio Gomez is a trusted advisor to business leaders and was ranked in Time Magazine's "Fifty Most Important People Shaping Technology" and Institutional Investor's "Fifty Most Influential People on Wall Street". Here's his LinkedIn write-up. The full, 30-minute episode is on this link below, and thank you for supporting our show. Episode #7 on the legal section of the Business Plan will debut in a few days. A 20-second promo is below. Guests will include Emily Taylor, Christopher Robertson, Gene Barton, Jr. and Julio Gomez. We've changed the format of the Show in that we've gone to shorter segments, and are now including 4 guests, rather than 3. Additionally, we're using different camera angles, too. Thank you for supporting the Language of Business. Ryan Traeger, a full time MBA grad from 2012, got some great press today on his start-up Achvr in this Boston Herald article. My current MBAs are writing a Business Plan for him, as it's one of this semester's 18 ideas in my Business Plan course. Congrats to Ryan.
Greg After two visits to China, I wanted to share a few experiences and some lessons learned for anyone planning to conduct business there. Overall, what will help during a visit is to spend a lot of time socializing with one’s business counterparts or partners, to visit China’s vast historical monuments and to briefly familiarize oneself with the country's extensive history and culture.
Before I went on my two trips to China, I undertook research on the People's Republic. I researched the country, the people and its rich history. The Chinese are very proud of their heritage and love to talk about it; watching a couple of movies about China such as Empire of the Sun or The Last Emperor was one of the ways I educated myself. When on the ground, I displayed visible interest in the different sites, the history, had a list of a few places that I planned to visit and even referenced a few other places that I could not visit during that excursion-- such as The Terracotta Army in Xi’an-- but planned to come back and see another time. My advice is to become familiar with China and its country and, when on the ground, talk about and show respect. The Chinese talk about their national treasures with such pride and fervor that I have not seen anywhere else. In addition, some of their sites such as The Great Wall of China and the historic Bund in Shanghai are simply mesmerizing. In addition to seeing China’s sites, I spent extensive face time with the consulting firm I was working with--including many elaborate dinners--and learnt the importance of drinking the Baijiu (a Chinese white wine consumed at dinner on special occasions). Had I not consumed the Baijiu, it would have been considered an insult and damaged the relationship. I was also able to develop a stronger relationship with the management of the firm I was working with by asking about their families and even seeing some of their wedding photos (something the Chinese love to show). Another lesson I learned was the importance of doing karaoke with my business partners. As China can be a very conformist society, one of the sole avenues available for release is through karaoke. Allowing them to relax a little will go a long way in developing a strong business rapport. My advice is to spend face time with your consulting partners or potential clients outside of work and even ask about their personal lives--it can help to seal or strengthen any potential deal. A couple of other tips for success in China: make sure your business cards are translated into either Mandarin or Cantonese (different character sets); when giving or receiving business cards, remember to use both hands; respect seniority in China (it’s all about saving face and senior management will be insulted if they do not lead conversations, and their rank is not respected); avoid the number 4 as it is considered unlucky (use 3 or 5 bullets on a PowerPoint slide); 8 is considered auspicious; and finally, avoid discussing certain sensitive topics such as Tibet and the Tiananmen Square incidnet. Overall, these tips will help to make your visit to China more successful. Sources: Stoller, Greg. “Doing Business in China.” File last modified 20 October 2010. Microsoft Powerpoint file. Two personal visits to China in 2010 and 2011. Let's talk Operations and the 3 T's: Telecom, Top Line Energy Management and Tapas. On this episode of The Language of Business we'll look at operations, and interview three entrepreneurs who are current or past CEOs. Continuous business improvement for start-ups, and established ventures: The Language of Business. Craig Sanders, Paul Laskow and Jody Mendoza are my 3 guests. Craig's link is here, click on this link for Paul's interview and watch Jody's here. The full, 30-minute episode is below and we are proud to be the featured show of the week on the Needham Channel for the second time. Thank you for supporting our show. Ever wonder if the casino machines in Vegas are fair? Mike Dreitzer answers that question daily. He's the Chief Operating Officer of BMM, a gaming products certification lab and was on Radio Entrepreneurs today discussing gaming industry trends. His LinkedIn profile is here and this is the interview link. He is also a past Business Pan course sponsor.
The second segment is on my upcoming trip to teach overseas and is here. |
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