Professor Mark - Entrepreneurship Course

Right Brain - Left Brain

2011-03-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Much has been written about the Right Brain (controls left - creativity) and Left Brain (controls right - logic). My point is not about whether or not this theory is true, but rather how to use both "sides" of the brain - logic and creativity. But I can state with confidence that to be a highly successful Entrepreneur, you need to use both sides of your brain.

I've been told by others that I have the unique ability to not only use BOTH my Right and Left brain, but to use them simultaneously. I didn't realize this, until people pointed it out -- indeed they were (pardon the pun) right! But the question is -- can you Train your Brain? The answer is a resounding YES!!!

Most people think they are either creative or logical, but not both. In my experience, it's true that people are born with a "tendency" toward either Right or Left brain, and the educational system reinforces that tendency. Naturally, for example, kids who are told they're not good at math, shy away from math, science, etc.

Personally, until about age 25, I was mostly a Left-Brainer. But I deliberately trained the Right side of my brain. How? Easy -- I exercised it. Huh? I took classes in painting, sculpture, dance, writing, acting, drawing, photography, literature, etc. In addition, as a marketing guy in my early career, I became equally interested in the products as well as the advertising, colors, design, etc. Was it easy? No. It took about 5-7 years, but it was well worth it.

Successful Entrepreneur Traits

2011-03-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

One of the most-asked questions is "what are the traits of a successful entrepreneur?" This question has been asked many times. Below is my list, compiled from both other lists and my own personal experience. Of course, it's a Top-Ten List...

1. Leadership, especially the ability to inspire

2. Fast, good decision-making with limited information (but also willing to change wrong decisions)

3. Positive attitude (but still realistic)

4. Sales skills

5. Good communicator

6. Ability to handle defeat, and the word "no"

7. Creative thinking and out-of-the-box thinking (my #1)

8. Drive, fortitude and the will to succeed

9. Being intuitive and trusting your gut (my #2)

10. Jack-of-all-trades (or the ability to understand all aspects of business somewhat -- from sales, marketing, finance, operations, engineering, negotiating, legal, etc. etc.). Yes, you can hire these skills, but you still need to understand each discipline somewhat (this is the hardest skill set to acquire)

The Nutra Foundation

2011-03-10T06:16:00.000-08:00

In 2008, I created The Nutra Foundation

This is a non-profit whose goal is simple:

To provide free nutritional supplements and food to those who can't afford it.

In addition, the Foundation will provide unbiased nutritional information, as well as fund medical research and do advocacy.

www.nutrafoundation.com

The website has good, basic information for now, and will be fully operational by May 2011.

AND -- this non-profit will be profitable !!! In other words, it will be run like a for-profit with two differences: 1) all profits will stay within the Foundation, and 2) a non-profit pays very little taxes, if any.

Just sayin'

2010-11-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Thanks for reading my blog and using it as a Forum, as well as listening to my Entrepreneurship course podcasts. I'm up to lots of new ventures these days. Running 5 different companies these days - real estate, medical, a non-profit giving nutritional products to those in need, invested in some dance clubs in Miami, etc.

I'm also writing 2 novels, a poetry book with a great artist (Ron Oden), and a children's book.

At last count, the podcasts associated with this blog/course are over 600,000 downloads. Keep commenting -- but please avoid the SPAM.

Thanks,

Mark :)

My new Ventures

2010-05-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

I'm involved in several new ventures. The most exciting for me is a Non-profit Foundation that I've started called The Nutra Foundation (www.nutrafoundation.org). We provide Free nutritional supplements to those in need who cannot afford these products.

Even those who don't qualify financially will be able to get up to 75% off retail price of supplements, and 100% of the profits stay WITHIN the Foundation to help those in need.

I'm applying all my FOR-profit entrepreneurial skills to a Non-profit foundation.

Why am I doing this? To help people -- that's it ;-)

Please pass the word around the Internet --

Course Statistics

2007-05-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

The initial podcast episode was created in January 2007. Since then, the episodes have been downloaded/listened to over 150,000 times, and average about 1,500 downloaded episodes per week. I'm proud to say that I have now had many more students take the Podcast course than in my total tenure of live teaching at Carnegie Mellon University. My goal was always to reach as many people as possible. Isn't podcasting great!

Certificate of Completion

2007-05-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have been asked if there is a Certificate of Completion for the Entrepreneurship podcast course. I hadn't really thought about it, but it's an interesting idea. As I've said, this is a real course at Carnegie Mellon in a graduate level degree program. Of course, I couldn't provide anything that's official, but I would be willing to create a certificate. Please email me at jules@talkshoe.com and I will send you something.

I've gotten many many requests for the Certificate. If I don't send it to you, it's only because I'm busy or I forgot -- so you therefore have an Honorary Certificate ;-)

Mark

A few errors on PowerPoint slides

2007-05-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

You can access course PowerPoint slides at www.talkshoe.com/professorjuliano. There are 2 errors that I need to correct. Lecture title 4B is actually 4a again. Lecture 16 is correct, however, the title page says lecture 14, but again the other slides are correct. I will fix this issue as soon as I can.

Course Materials Now Available

2007-01-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

You can now download and view the course materials.
Go to www.talkshoe.com/professorjuliano.com
or Click Here

Class Podcast Recordings Now Available

2007-01-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

The first 4 podcasts for the class are now available. Click here to listen to classes.
- Course Introduction
- Class 1 - Intro to Entrepreneurship
- Class 2a - Ideas for Companies, Products and Services
- Class 2b - Starting the Venture
Also check out My Course Links to course materials including PowerPoint presentations.

Intro Blog Post

2007-01-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

This is the introductory blog post for Mark Juliano's audio course Entrepreneurship and Business Planning taught in conjunction with the live course at Carnegie Mellon University in the Masters in Information Systems Management (MISM) program. It is a business-school type class about the formation of companies. Topics and lectures will include generating the idea, building the team, starting the company, writing a business plan, funding, sales & marketing, legal issues, and giving effective investor presentations, among other things. The audio course is not simply recorded lectures. It is optimized for audio listening online or via iTunes or other audio players. Blog posts will follow lectures as they are created.