Ok so why wouldn’t you start your own business? Hindsight being 20/20 I should have gone into business for my self as soon as I was done school.
Seriously ….why not?
So the government has realized that there is a lot of value in teaching students how to start their own businesses. Part of this strategy ….which is doing great BTW … is the Ontario secondary school Business plan competition.
That is right ….since 2002 The Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship along with Community Small Business Centres have partnered to put on the Ontario Secondary School Business Plan Competition.
To put this into perspective …. I was just talking to the Regional Business Centre and they told me that they had between 75-100 submissions this year. To put that in perspective ….we are talking about students who are putting together business plans…. how many people want to write a biz plan ….geeze ….
So how do I fit into this? …..
I am going to be a judge for this. Yeah …that is right me a judge…. I am not sure what to expect ….having been to see the local version of competition …wow ….i have no idea who won …but there were some great ideas. Great ideas with legs to grow…..
I am looking forward to checking out these ideas. I will keep you posted.
cheers
Scott
Blogged with Flock
Posted in Ideas ~ 1 Comment
Written by Scott
Ideas.
Some are crazy and get laughed off.
Some you shelve for later or meld with other ideas.
Some get drawn on paper.
Some get pursued.
The one thing they all have in common is the need to share these ideas. An idea is nothing more then a thought until you share it. Once it is shared the the idea grows, it makes people passionate, it gets better.
It is important for companies to be continually pushing the innovation envelope. I see too many companies that need to innovate.
cheers
Scott
Posted in Ideas, Innovation ~ 2 Comments
Written by Scott
ConceptShare was born from our needs as visual communicators. It is a revolutionary new way to share and manage ideas visually. ConceptShare fills a void for anyone who needs to communicate design concepts visually and receive effective feedback.
We are very excited about letting CS loose on the world. Right now we are still tinkering to ensure that your experience is going to be great. Thanks to all those who have signed up for the beta and we haven’t forgotten about you.
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Business, ConceptShare, Ideas, Innovation, Product Design, Technology ~ No Comments
Written by Scott
This has been floating around marketing circles recently. One of the more creative uses of whats around you. How can you not double take and go in for a closer look. Really cool stuff,
Bernie
Posted in Creativity, Ideas ~ No Comments
Written by Admin
Seth Goodin wrote in his blog today, about the right process can leveraging intuition and how people are shouldn’t be afraid of process.
Is it because it gets in the way of intuition?
I spend a lot of time railing against organizations and teams that fall in love with process at the expense of innovation. This is not a post about that.”
more
I agree with this post, however I sometimes confuse process with procedure. Some companies try to force a set way to do things. This is probably more procedure or best practices than it is process. I can only imagine their motivation is to prevent screw-ups. To me its like saying A) I don’t trust you to get the job done or understand what has to be done. B) Please dont innovate because we can’t control that C) We need a canned set of hours to get this done don’t go off the path.
Process if fine…I agree that Lots of creative people can have processes they can maximize their producitivity while still keeping their intuition alive and using process to measure or fit within a communication strategy or similar.
We see our product as part of the design process. You use your intuition to design your concepts. You post them for feedback and you rinse and repeat.
Posted in Business, Ideas, Innovation, Product Design ~ 2 Comments
Written by Bernie
We are getting closer and this has only fortified our resolve to be full on ready for this. Chris has not laid off the programming, Bernie and I are doing the things that we do.
The team is increadibly tight and functioning as a good team should. This trio arrangement has really allowed us to focus on our individual expertise and it is working.
We can to a startling realization today. Chris can do anything we dream…..we are bound and determined to keep pushing this …..
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Business, Ideas, Innovation ~ No Comments
Written by Scott
So we are signed up for BarCampTDot.
It has been a wild ride over the last few months bringing this to life. We have given it all while trying to maintain something that resembles a life. Every spare moment for the the last few months has been dedicated to making ConceptShare something great.
BarcampTDot is a great venue for us. A) It has put a date on our finishing work on CS B) It will give us an opportunity to unveil the product C) Will give us an opportunity to listen to other people who share our same thinking.
We are increadibly pumped about this and we are looking forward to meeting everyone who is going to be there. We are also going to be at the MESHconference on the following Monday and Tuesday….it is going to be a long 4 days.
I will be filling in the holes in the remaining 25 days leading up to Barcamp and Mesh. I wish i could have it all up now for everyone to check out…but we will be slowly getting our site together and become more dillegant on the posting.
Cheers
Scott
Posted in Business, Ideas ~ No Comments
Written by Scott
Grabbed this interesting cartoon from 37 Signals Flickr Link. I think it sums up one of the main things we are trying to defeat with ConceptShare.
Posted in Business, Ideas, Innovation, Product Design ~ 2 Comments
Written by Bernie
Ok, I think this is pretty big news, and i think it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
“Garage Technology Ventures, a seed-stage and early-stage venture fund based in Palo Alto, today announced the launch of Garage Technology Ventures Canada, LP, a $50 million ($Canadian) fund that will support emerging technology startups in Canada and leverage the Garage links to Silicon Valley and the broader U.S. technology community. Garage Canada represents the first affiliate fund for Garage Technology Ventures.”
Canada needed a wake up call and this is it.
“The Garage Canada Fund enables us to tap a very strong wellspring of innovation and talent in Canada, and span the North American continent†says said Bill Reichert, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures.
I think there will be alot of great things to come from this move. Lets face it they have made some great moves in the past.
I think the Canadian market is perfect for this type of investment, we have some tremendously smart people out there with great ideas Conservative bankers of Canada better take note.
I will be keeping an eye in the future.
Cheers to Guy and Co
Scott
Posted in Business, Ideas, Innovation ~ No Comments
Written by Scott
