Checkout “How Entrepreneurship Really Works” from Dave Troy, entrepreneur and founder of Beehive Coworking located outside of Baltimore. In this post Dave summarizes the findings from research by Dr. Saras Sarasvathy on the defining characteristics of entrepreneurs and how rather than being aggressive risk takers they are more often just good problem solvers with a passion.

The key message of Dave’’s post is that effectual thinking is at the core of good entrepreneurial behavior and that while many authors, speakers and social media experts create a cult-like hype and package it as breakthrough thinking, it all comes back to basic blocking and tackling.

I have been asked to speak at the monthly TECTalk breakfast in March about IdeaField Coworking and how we are coordinating with STARTec to position the coworking community as a component of local economic development. While the main topic is coworking, the underlying theme will be similar to Dave’’s post on how to be an effective entrepreneur and how leveraging the power of community increases your chances for success.

This year’’s BarCampOrlando is taking place Saturday, April 3rd at Wall Street Plaza, and registration for the event is NOW OPEN.

As always, BarCamp Orlando is Free, but don”t just show up for the T-Shirt. BarCamp is successful when people come ready to participate, present and become involved in fostering the growth of the local tech and creative community.

Schedule:

Saturday, April 03, 2010
9:30 AM – Doors open, people can sign up for talks on the big writeboard.
10:00 AM – Talks start
1:00 PM – Lunch is served, we take an hour break
2:00 PM – Talks resume
6:00 PM – Barcamp ends and the afterparty starts at Slingapour

Where:

Wall St Cantina       Map
19 North Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801

2010 State of Entrepreneurship Address

Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, delivered the “2010 State of Entrepreneurship Address” on January 19, 2010, on the heels of alarming unemployment numbers and citing sobering new data that show a majority of American entrepreneurs do not expect to create jobs in 2010. He called on policymakers to make this cornerstone of American capitalism a priority.

During an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that included perspectives from entrepreneurs and remarks from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Schramm underscored the importance of entrepreneurs to economic recovery, emphasizing that hundreds of new companies are being created each day.

Comments worth repeating from this speech and the panel:

• Reform immigration policy to accommodate founders (and investors) who will start new companies and create jobs.
• Revise Sarbanes-Oxley to allow company shareholders to make a choice based on the costs of compliance vs. the benefits.
• Provide a temporary payroll tax holiday to companies less than five years old.
• Give academic entrepreneurs the choice of multiple avenues to commercialize their research so their innovations can reach consumers more quickly.
• Offer fellowships for doctoral graduates in scientific fields to educate them about how to start companies.
• Provide entrepreneurship education and training to students in high school and college.
• Encourage universities with formal entrepreneurship programs to tenure ONLY those professors that have started a business

Kevin Hale of WuFoo / Infinity Box will be leading a workshop to help web businesses convert free users to paid subscribers. This event is co-hosted by the Tampa WAVE & IdeaField Coworking.

The 2 hour workshop will help freemium model web businesses in the Tampa Bay area convert free users to paid users. The workshop is designed to be fairly hands on with exercises designed to show you how to look at your product and feature set to maximize your conversions. If you’re interested, please let us know you’re coming by registering here:

Register for the Freemium Workshop!

Kevin will be showcasing a number of examples and also present some of the research, strategies and best practices our company has gathered to inform what we do here at Wufoo. It should be a lot of fun and it’ll actually serve as a testing ground for some new ideas that will be presented at Kevin’s upcoming workshop at FOWA.

January  27th – 6PM to 8PM @ IdeaField Coworking

308 E. Oak Ave. - Tampa 33602

Limit 15 people

With apologies to Sir Isaac …

The first law for start-ups = an idea at rest stays at rest

Whatever your plans are for the next big thing, be it software, hardware, service or other – you cannot just sit on your idea waiting and hoping for something to happen. Ideas are not meant to be static; they have to be worked on, challenged and sometimes scrapped in favor of something better. Some minimal level of activity and momentum are critical to the on-going development and maturity of your idea and all too often I meet wannabe entrepreneurs and potential start-up founders who are frustrated with the lack of interest in their idea only to find that they have not made any effort to move forward since their initial scribble on a napkin.

If you’re not motivated enough to break a sweat trying to test and improve your idea, why should anyone else listen, assist or invest. Show that you care enough to make your idea better and if you are unsure of your next steps or lack the resources to get there, ask for help.

In Tampa / Central Florida there are several places start-ups can turn to for support and encouragement. IdeaField Coworking was created to assist freelancers and entrepreneurs by providing a comfortable, collaborative workspace where ideas can develop and grow. Another resource is STAR Tec’s TEC Launch program which is specifically geared towards innovators and entrepreneurs who want to validate their ideas and create cool new products. On November 6^th, TEC Launch is hosting a workshop for anyone that has a good idea and has the motivation to make it better. Only 20 ideas will be accepted for this hands-on workshop, so please submit your IdeaCamp applications ASAP (deadline is October 21^st).

This past weekend Tampa’s tech community gathered for the annual unconference known as BarCamp. Not your typical convention or seminar, BarCamp’s are organized and hosted by volunteers and feature presentations given entirely by the attendees. Easel-sized Post-It notes act as the just-in-time agenda and in the first 30 minutes are quickly filled in with topics spanning a wide range of tech and tech business interests.

Local press coverage of BarCamp Tampa:

Creative Loafing article & video (by Miss Destructo)

TB Business Journal pre event coverage (by Michael Hinman)

Short Fusion (Blog by Jason Olmsted)

Examiner.com (by Mihael VanDervort)

The topics shared included the latest IT & web development technologies (Saturday) and everything you ever wanted to know about social media tools and media strategies (Sunday). Intermixed with the ultra-geeky technical sessions were a few business oriented sessions to help those thinking of taking the next step and turning their idea into a start-up. I hosted two discussions, one which was co-hosted by STAR Tec was on turning ideas into start-ups and where to find the resources needed for success. The second discussion was on coworking, but that quickly broadened into a group rant on overall tech community development and how Tampa Bay and Orlando stack up to other metro areas that have or want to have a major tech component as part of their economic landscape. The goal for BarCamp is to share knowledge and further collaboration within the community. This has implications not just for the advancement of technology, but also for the grass roots economic development potential that is embodied in the ideas and the innovators that host and attend these events.

This was my second year participating in Tampa’s event and my fourth BarCamp overall (including two in Orlando) and I can safely say that they just keep getting better. Attendance was up significantly from last year (hoping to see actual numbers soon) and the overall buzz of the unconference was a refreshing break from the usual stale seminars and networking that pass for technology events in Tampa. Thanks again to USF College of Business Administration for hosting the event and opening up their great facility to the tech community.

If you participated this year, thanks! If you missed it, set you sights on next year and check out the local Web Tech Meet-up that is always looking for more volunteers to share the effort.