Comments for Mid-Atlantic Innovation

Comment on The Internal Franchise Business Model by Marty O'Neill

Marty O'Neill — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:56:12 +0000

In full disclosure, I was Bob’s co-author for Act Like an Owner so you’ll have to place this comments where it belongs … with some positive bias. That said, Bob has always had the ability to make people stop and think and its no wonders his ideas are still applicable.

Bob and I have not worked closely for years but I have to tell you that I have used the internal franchise concept successfully a number of times. In fact, when I was the CEO of CTX Corporation, we actually referred to our business units as internal franchises.

Any CEO considering ways to organize their business should think hard about implementing an internal franchise concept. It is empowering to the leaders of the businesses, helps leaders focus on building business value and builds a terrific sense of ownership.

Comment on Innovation in Baltimore by Paul Capestany

Paul Capestany — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:39:10 +0000

Bob, I read the articles about VCs going overseas as well. If US entrepreneurs are leaning towards lifestyle businesses because of the current economic conditions or their limited vision, then that is their own loss. Lifestyle businesses will never be world-changing, and they were never meant to be. I think the best investors will be smart enough to hold off for the best ROI, and that everyone will be the better for it. It’s the Googles that make the world go round.

Comment on Innovation in Baltimore by Bob

Bob — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:32:40 +0000

I agree Paul. I wonder whether there is a strong trend toward lifestyle businesses however. It seems I talk to alot of entrepreneurs who are interested in the work to live approach rather than the live to work model, that Scott correctly highlights, is the model demanded by the VCs. I know there is concern in the Valley as well that there are not enough big ideas anymore. In fact many VCs are going overseas to find new fertile ground for investments. But if we assume that angels and VCs should be only funding the big ideas, what does that mean if the trend toward lifestyle businesses is real? Interesting thought experiment.

Comment on Innovation in Baltimore by Paul Capestany

Paul Capestany — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:08:50 +0000

I was about to say, credit cards/loans are the model that fuel lifestyle businesses. Not sure anything else is really needed for those, we definitely need angel investors to be taking the big risks on the big ideas!

Comment on Innovation in Baltimore by Bob

Bob — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:03:32 +0000

Thanks for the comment Scott. I agree 100%. It seems there is a need for some kind of investment model that works for the growing number of lifestyle businesses, beyond the traditional bank. Don’t know what that is yet.

Comment on Innovation in Baltimore by Scott Paley

Scott Paley — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:55:06 +0000

In my experience, lifestyle businesses and venture-backed businesses rarely are the same businesses. VC’s are not terribly interested in the lifestyle or comfort of the founders. VC’s want to invest in businesses that can grow quickly and can be sold at a large profit in a relatively short timeframe. The decisions that founders make when setting up a lifestyle business are not necessarily aligned, therefore, with VC interests.

That said, I’d LOVE to see a way to make this actually work…

Comment on ASAE Technology Conference — Part 3 by Bob

Bob — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:42:31 +0000

Hi Jeffrey. Thanks for the comment.

In this context the term “disruptive” is meant to connote an innovation that makes things simpler and more affordable VS something that is upsetting or radically different.

–bob

Comment on ASAE Technology Conference — Part 3 by Jeffrey Cufaude

Jeffrey Cufaude — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:13:12 +0000

I wonder if one of the problems is that some associations often want to ensure disruptive technologies aren’t … disruptive?

Comment on ASAE Technology Conference — Part 3 by Acronym

Acronym — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:32:24 +0000

Quick clicks from Tech: One last round…

There’s been some additional commentary from the Technology Conference posted online over the last few days: – Twitter continues to be a big item of discussion, in a variety of ways. Lynn Morton at the SNAP blog had concerns about……

Comment on Disruptive AJAX Framework for the Enterprise by empraptor

empraptor — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:38:53 +0000

mod_plsql needs to die. A programming language like pl/sql that makes it as difficult as possible for developers to do even the simplest things shouldn’t be used as a web dev platform.

I understand Oracle doesn’t want to expose their customers to any technology that could be used with other databases, but this is ridiculous.