Recently in Belmont Entrepreneurial Showcase Category

One of our recent alums, Gabe Simon, is a member of the Kopecky Family Band.

The key to their business model, which Gabe worked on in our program, is to build a strong, loyal following that has a sense of community with the band.  A key aspect of delivering that value is through live performance.

I ran into Gabe yesterday at Bongo Java (my favorite local coffee shop).  It seems they are executing on their business model.  Paste Magazine named them as 18th on the 25 Best Live Acts of 2011.

Check out "Howlin' at the Moon" in the clip below (Gabe is singing the lead in this song):

I wrote a post back in October about a program that is encouraging small businesses to hire released inmates who have participated in an educational program.

Fox News picked up on my post and contacted us about running a story on the program I wrote about.  They ran a story that highlights inmates who have had success with this program.  Well worth a view, which can see here.

In May of this year, Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, awarded 24 young, aspiring entrepreneurs $100,000 to "drop out of school and become world-changing visionaries."

Now that the publicity has settled down, I thought it would be a good time to offer the perspective of three entrepreneurs who dropped out of Belmont's entrepreneurship program.

None of them was part of Thiel's program, but each dropped out to chase his entrepreneurial dreams. However, all three eventually decided to return to school to finish their degrees.

John Price and Sam Dryden dropped out of the entrepreneurship program to pursue their photography and video-related businesses.

"I have never been a typical student, and I often found myself frustrated with classwork," Dryden said. "When it looked like my business was going to be a success, I jumped at the opportunity to pursue something that at the time I decided was more important than a degree.

"We are told to study hard so you can get a degree and then a job. Hey, I already had income, so why waste time in school, right?"

Both of them saw a choice: stay in school and be a student, or pursue their careers as entrepreneurs.

"I knew that I wouldn't be able to reach my business goals while attending a university and splitting the time," Price said.

Timothy Weber left the Belmont entrepreneurship program to pursue his Web-based business, GoodMusicAllDay, full time. However, it wasn't long before he decided leaving school might not have been a wise choice.

"After just one year out of college, I realized how little of a business background I had and how many 'lessons' I could have learned in a classroom instead of after they had already negatively impacted my business," Weber said.

All three entrepreneurs believe the business experience they gained while out of school enhanced their learning curve when they returned.

"Leaving school gave me crucial experience that in my opinion made the return to Belmont more valuable than if I had never left," Dryden said. "My experiences out in the 'real world' gave my professors leverage to turn class time into very meaningful time for me. It was no longer homework, and it was instead a focused business workshop that had actual repercussions in life."

At Belmont, as in many other entrepreneurship programs across the country, professors encourage students to start ventures while in school to enhance what the course work offers them.

"The entrepreneurship program allowed me to understand my business before spending all my money and time pursuing it," Price said. "The time in college provided me with the opportunity to focus on the bones of my business before I applied it to the real world.

"The time I would spend talking through my business ideas with other students was some of best feedback I could have gathered."

These three entrepreneurs learned an important lesson when they dropped out of college. It does not have to become a choice between pursuing your dreams and advancing your education, as both work better when pursued hand in hand.

My favorite time of year.  The beginning of a new academic year. (By the way, my office is the first bay window on the top floor up on the top right in the picture above -- stop by and visit sometime!)

When I left academics years ago to go into the private sector as a healthcare entrepreneur, I was shocked how much I missed the rhythm of the school year my first couple of years away from teaching. 

This year's freshman class has moved into their dorms and are ready for their new beginning.

The Beloit College Mind-Set List has labeled the class of 2015 the "Internet Class".  The authors of this annual list tell us that this year's freshmen have grown up in an age "when everything from parents analyzing childhood maladies to their breaking up with boyfriends and girlfriends, sometimes quite publicly, have been accomplished on the Internet."

We continue to see the entrepreneurial mind-set deeply rooted in this group.

Typically, we start with about seven or eight students entering Belmont intending to major in entrepreneurship.  They are often are hard core group who are ready to hit the ground learning about all things entrepreneurship.

Over the four (or so) years until they graduate, their numbers usually grow to about 25-30 as more students from their class realize that where they want to go in their careers is a path defined by entrepreneurship.

This year's freshman class is starting out at about 20 students!

So now the forecasting fun begins.  Will the class of 2015 grow by the typical 20 students?  Or is the growth a multiple, and will they grow to 60-80 by their senior year? 

Like any entrepreneur, I see this growth in our program as a good problem.  But as an grizzled, road tested entrepreneur I know what fast growth can do if you are not careful!!

This year's freshman will find many improvements in our program.

We have fully implemented the shift in our curriculum to the business modeling approach.  While business plans are still part of what they learn, they are positioned simply as a tool to communicate the business model to investors.

They will also benefit from a major shift in where and when we teach. While the classroom is an important learning environment, we are putting more and more emphasis on learning outside the classroom. 

We have created lots of co-curricular innovations over the past eight years, but they have grown into a difficult array of programs to navigate.  We offer hatcheries to start businesses, various and sundry mentor programs, legal and accounting clinics, seed funding, early stage funding, peer roundtable groups, and so forth.  We realized that many students seemed a bit overwhelmed by what we offered and were not sure what they really needed.

So this year we are focusing our efforts on putting some structure into the co-curricular learning environment.  I have two new team members to help with this effort.  Lisa Davis has joined us as Program Coordinator of the co-curricular programs.  We will be assisted in this initiative this year by veteran tech entrepreneur John Wark, who is serving as our entrepreneur in residence working with our practicing student entrepreneurs.

We also have two new campus-based businesses to join our array of retail and service businesses already in place.  We have two students starting a music store -- a natural for Nashville -- and are starting an app development company through the collaboration with our alumni who started the app firm Aloompa.

We will be trying to engage the class of 2015 early.  We cannot wait until they arrive in our classes their sophomore or junior years.  They are arriving ready to connect and ready to learn, so we will get them integrated into our co-curricular learning opportunities.

So this year I have a heightened excitement to the beginning of classes.  More budding entrepreneurs creating more challenges and more opportunities.  What more could an entrepreneur in academia ask for?  

Can't find a summer job as a student?  Then start a business.

That is what two students from Belmont University are doing this summer. Hayden Coleman and Ale Delgado took second place in Belmont's Baker Donelson Business Plan Competition this past spring.

The $2,000 prize helped them launch Moovers and Shakers.  Their business brings together one of the hot new trends in small business, food carts and mobile food trucks, with good old fashioned soda fountain.

The beauty of food carts and mobile food trucks is the low start-up cost, as seen in this profile on the food cart boom in Portland, Oregon from Business on Main.  For just a few thousand dollars aspiring restaurant entrepreneurs are able to break into the food service industry.

But even with the ease of entry, there are always a few bumps in the road for any new start-up.

"It has been a pretty crazy adventure trying to get Moovers and Shakers started," said Hayden. "There has definitely been a learning curve for us, since we are two students who have never started a business before. Also, we have had to deal with things such as health code regulations and searches for places to buy a proper food truck. Everything has taken about four times as long and cost about four times as much as we originally expected, so we have really had to be able to adapt and hustle."

So was it all worth it?

"At the end of the day, after all the stress and setbacks, we still just love making milkshakes," added Hayden. "The people that we have met along the way have been so supportive and helpful. If anything, our experience has made us even more determined and excited for the future of Moovers and Shakers."

I made a commitment a while back that I have slacked off on of late.  I promised that no matter how rough things got, I would always try to come back to the entrepreneurial mindset in this blog...that the glass is always half full.

I realized recently that I have been a bit more, well, a bit more of a half empty guy of late.  In retrospect, that may be why my blogging has been less consistent.  It takes more energy to write about the top half of that glass.  How many different ways can I scream from the mountain top, "High taxes, complex regulation and reduced property rights are killing the entrepreneurial class in the economy!!!!!"

The good thing about my job is that anytime I get into a half empty funk, I have my students to pull me into the refreshing half that is full.  Full of ideas.  Full of unbounded optimism. Full of creative energy. Full of hope for the future

The really cool thing is that there is not just one of them.  We have dozens and dozens of them in our program.

Our students tend to fall in two basic categories.  The first are aspiring entrepreneurs who are full of energy, but have no specific clue where they can or should focus their entrepreneurial energy.  What makes them fun is that by helping them discover where opportunity comes from -- mainly change, that creates pain and chaos -- you can see them transform.  That potential entrepreneurial energy explodes as their eyes open to all the opportunity that has been right there in front of them all along.

The second type of students are the ones with entrepreneurial A.D.D.  Their problem is not finding opportunity -- it is focusing long enough on just one of the myriad of ideas swimming in that half full glass long enough to get traction.  What makes them fun is that they are like a wild horse.  Once you finally break them, you can saddle them up and watch them run with a purpose.

Case in point is Ross Hill, who transferred to Belmont from the University of Kentucky.  Every time we meet, I walk away exhausted!  He never has one idea or new business to talk about.  He has three or four or ten!

In addition to being involved in more start-ups and student activities than I can possible keep track of, he has also begun to blog about it all.  He made a post yesterday that made my day.  Here is part of it:

I remember when I got my first Swiss Army Knife, it amazed me how it could solve any problem you came across.  I was about four year old when I received my first one, so if I had a bottle of wine, I could open it with the cork screw (Mother, THAT WAS A JOKE), I could chop up some onions, the possibilities were endless...  Like the swiss army knife, many start-ups are bogged down by over-complication. These start-ups focus their attention on having the most features, or solving the most problems.  I am always fighting the urge to do this, like many entrepreneurs; but I believe that by practicing a few simple exercises, I can help myself stay focused on one idea and sharpen my blade, rather than dull it. 

He goes on to offer some really good practical advice for any entrepreneur who has the tendency to chase any shiny object that comes along.  It is well worth a read.

Some professors dread the coming of the fall.  The impending arrival of yet another round of lectures and grading seems to weigh heavily on them.

Me? I can't wait for the fall semester to come around again. 

Even though the glass is not overflowing with opportunity at the present time, I am counting down the days until I can dive, with our students, into the half of the glass that is full. 

So thanks to all of my students past, present and future.  You help me focus on all of the opportunity that is out there, rather than the half of the glass that is void of hope and optimism.

For the past eight years I have had the pleasure of taking our students from Belmont University to the International Collegiate DECA competition. 

This was the largest Collegiate DECA Event ever, with about 1,500 international competitors. 

Of our 28 Belmont participants, we had 20 end up in the finals today.

Congratulations to all of our International Winners:

Business Plan Event:

1^st Place:  Tim Smith

3^rd Place: Jake Jorgovan

Entrepreneurial Challenge:

2^nd Place:  Jerell Harris, Areej Rabie, Josh Gilreth

3^rd Place:  Kathleen Bond, Matt Madden, Lindsay Ricker

Top Ten:  Mandy Thompson, Hillary Unis, Jenna Owen

Sales Management:

2^nd Place: Jerell Harris

Restaurant Management:

2^nd Place:  Clark Buckner (second year in a row)

Top 10:  Max Magura

Finalist:  Julia Cecere

Business Ethics:

Top 10: Lindsay Ricker and Kathleen Bond

Finalist:  Aubree Phillips and Charles Williams

Retail Management:

Finalist:  Hillary Unis

Many entrepreneurs talk about integrating their values into the vision for a new business. But some take it one step further and actually build a business model based on their values.

Green Truck Moving Co. is a Nashville-based startup that is integrating the founders' commitment to the environment and the community into the mission of their company.

The founders have implemented environmental practices that include using more eco-friendly fuel in their trucks, recycling and reusing moving materials, operating a virtually paperless business and using recycled materials. "While not all consumers are typically inclined to buy solely off a company's values -- say eco-friendliness -- it is important to make consumers understand the potential impact it could have in their own community," said co-founder and Belmont University MBA student Emmanuel Reed.

"We feel our values will help us grow our business, because it is not just a selling point. We have to walk the talk and have our values drive and inspire the people within our organization."

They also commit to plant two trees after each move they perform for their customers.

As the business expands, they have plans to go even further in pursuit of environmental values. Green Truck Moving is developing rentable, reusable containers made of recycled material to replace traditional moving boxes.

Another example of integrating values and vision is a new business called Mattress Works.

This startup, founded by a group of Belmont students, exists to provide employment opportunities for the homeless and to divert waste from landfills through deconstructing and recycling used mattresses.

"We developed Mattress Works out of our passion to encourage environmental sustainability and create social change in the community," said co-founder Emily Hollingsworth.

Mattress Works has secured used mattress suppliers and scrap buyers for two trial runs. It has processed about 160 mattresses between the two pilot operations. This served as proof of concept, which allowed it to test the viability of the business model and identify any weak spots.

After working out some kinks, the founders are moving forward with Mattresses Unlimited as their first supplier, and they are negotiating a contract with a second supplier.

"Our end goal is to transfer the ownership of the venture to a homeless man who has been trained as part of the Mattress Works team, embodying our belief in the power of entrepreneurship to facilitate change in the lives of others," Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth is leading a team of students presenting Mattress Works at the Texas Christian University Values and Vision competition this week.

For a growing number of entrepreneurs, starting a business is more than just a vehicle to making money. Entrepreneurship is a path to pursue their values through the vision they create for a business.

A few years ago we received a seed gift from a donor who has now become our major benefactor for the Center for Entrepreneurship here at Belmont.

He and I had a conversation about what the gift would allow us to do.  He deferred all decisions to me, but did make a challenge.  He said that he hoped that we could find ways to leverage his gift.

What a lot of entrepreneurship programs do to leverage gifts is to set up venture funds.  They make investments in student and alumni businesses with the hope that these investments will pay off big returns.

But that model does not work in our Center.  We have our unofficial "Life Time Warranty" which states that we never take ownership or consulting dollars from any students or alumni no matter how successful their businesses become.  We will always be there as their teachers and mentors.

So we came up with a different model.  We called it our Runway Loan Program, in which we would make $25,000 loans to student or alumni businesses that needed help and showed good potential.

Here are the terms:

1. Zero percent interest
2. Repayment of principle tied to cash flow (very small percentage so as not to bleed cash)
3. Non-recourse loan
4. Once principle is paid back a gift agreement kicks in which says they will give our Center a gift of 1% of the revenue of the business we supported that continues until the business is sold.  At that point we get 1% of the proceeds of the sale.

When I presented this model to a couple of national meetings I did not get a very warm and fuzzy response.

I was told, "They will never pay it back without teeth in the agreement." 

And I heard, "No entrepreneur is going to give up 1% of revenues in perpetuity for a measly $25,000!!"

Well, they were wrong on both counts. 

We had strong interest for our initial round of two loans. 

Yesterday the first of the two loans, this one made to Just Kidding Productions (video company, whose founders also started the apps company Aloompa), was paid back to us in full.



And thanks to the on-going generosity of  our donor, we will be making many more Runway Loans for years to come!

Author and entrepreneur Steve Blank describes the business start-up process as having two phases.

In the first, entrepreneurs learn about their customers and what they want. This can be thought of as a series of experiments with real customers. It eventually leads to a business model that can be used to build a sustainable venture.

Once we learn what our business model needs to be, we can begin the second phase, which includes attracting more and more customers and building a company.

It is essential that we take our time before moving to the second phase to make certain we're building our company around a business model that can lead to successful growth.

Nashville-based Aloompa is a great example of a business that's taking its time to get things right.

In a visit to my business school class at Belmont University, two of the founders, Kurt Nelson and Tyler Seymour, told how they developed the business model for this relatively young company.

The original vision was to develop apps that would allow streaming of live videos directly to the iPhones of concertgoers. But this proved to be more difficult than they thought. However, their experimentation with the business model led to recognizing a more promising opportunity that still involves apps for music events.

They approached the Bonnaroo music festival about developing an app for attendees. To prove to Bonnaroo that the app would be something of value, they gave away the first year's version.

They used that first year to prove that the app had value and to test what features fans at the festival truly wanted.

Their success with Bonnaroo led to the sale of more music festival apps. With each new app they continued to engage the market, all of which helped them learn more about their business model and their customers.

A big, early breakthrough for Aloompa occurred when they were asked to develop a new app for country artist Kenny Chesney. This showed them that their business model could be much broader than just developing apps for music festivals.

They still weren't finished experimenting with what their emerging app business could become. Recently, they moved into developing apps for the Rally to Restore Sanity staged by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, as well as for the popular conversation game Table Topics.

Nelson said Aloompa isn't ready to hire a full-time staff and build an organization. The partners are keeping operations lean and flexible because they expect the business model to continue to evolve.

The Aloompa story illustrates that even when the market seems to be accepting a new venture, and sales start to grow, owners still shouldn't move too quickly to formalize the business. Be patient. Continue to experiment with customers. Tinker with the business model until you're ready to scale up the venture.