(originally written in 2005)

I was recently awarded a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. It took me 3.5 years to study for and culminated in the normal pomp and ceremony of any academic achievement, namely a bunch of academic professors, etc., parading on stage in their respective regalia, a few mumbled words, pictures, hugs and a great looking A3 certificate naming yours truly as a pretty smart guy.

In the rattle and hum on the way to the city the next morning, I was overcome by a thought which I duly checked with a fellow MEI. If I graduated with a PhD in Astrophysics, or Mechanical Engineering, or any other discipline except say an Arts degree (sorry), I suggest I would truly have graduated. Perhaps I am wrong. Even the Arts degree is something the graduate can point to as something of merit.

I personally however, and I suspect a number of my fellow classmates, undertook the course because we sought the skills and tools to identify, evaluate and execute commercial opportunities that result in new and appropriate levels of wealth for ourselves and our families.

This somewhat stoical view comes from a degree of maturity and stands beside other worthy personal endeavours like the pursuit of health and well being, spiritual well being and, of course, the pursuit of knowledge and experience in things that ring my bell.

The school delivered reasonably well in the skills and tools department, but if I was a surgeon now and you the reader needed an appendectomy, you should be concerned.

A true entrepreneurial graduate, in my mind from my school (AGSE), Babson in the USA or wherever you went, is someone who took the learnings and applied them and put money in the bank.

Deal/Venture 1 is very important because it anoints you from the sidelines or the bench onto the playing field. In fact, you kicked a goal and chances are you’ll kick another.

Adding another layer of complexity is my situation (not unusual) where having recently and quite unexpectedly disappeared from the state of a 34 year old where life was a game laced with all sorts of the usual joys (loves, travel, excesses, half cocked business ventures), to the state of a 40 year old in the blink of an eye with two mortgages, a wife, a 22 month old and one on the way, and a new need to include ‘normality’ in my life so we can sleep at night.

To truly graduate as an entrepreneur of even the most basic merit, I need to deliver an outcome that ratifies my degree. Inside two years from graduation, I need, nay must, harvest a venture that kills my not so insignificant mortgage while maintaining enough income to prevent my wife from abandoning what may be been a bad choice in husband five years ago.

At this point I’ll quote my daughter … a gorgeous human being with insight of the whole universe … “Daddy, tick, tock, tick tock …”

I’ve been reading a bit about Solopreneures. Here's the bill of rights for Solopreneur, I like it but something is missing. Sites talk about them like Solopreneur Zone however, the spin is that we are talking about a freelance consultant/contractor rather than a Solopreneur per se. So what are they, these creatures they refer to as Solopreneures.

For me, the Solopreneur is managing a portfolio of entrepreneurial risks. The primary one is his/her own abilities to generate income as a contractor or consultant in whatever field of endeavor they choose, of course, I accept that, we all have to feed ourselves (and families). They can do this direct with the market or through a series of relationships. They can bill time and materials or take a retainer.

They are however, also managing startup business/social ventures that, particularly in the 'online' space or new technology environment, that are highly speculative, that need little or no cash investment. They have a few going at any one time, the more the better.

The point is that in a highly regulated commercial environment like Australia, purist views of the entrepreneur's are a fiction in my opinion. Sure there are savvy business entrepreneur's out there, but VERY few investors (groups or individuals) are interested in backing the plethora of entrepreneurial ventures in the Australian market. The culture here is totally not interested in supporting new ideas regardless of how many programs the Government rolls out.

Furthermore, few Entrep's have the time, money and contacts to deal with the VC's in Australia, and its also the case that Aussie VC's don't really care for startups.

The Solopreneur by definition is the startup king/queen. A leper to the established business community, until the het a gold vein... then, they have many friends.

For me the Solopreneur is the true freedom fighter in a very new new world. They say to the Investor/VC, "look mate, I'll go it alone, you catch up when ever". They say to the Job Market, "I'll deal with it,... down shift, whatever is necessary to be free of having to stick my hand out like the modern day white collar slave".

I wrote a few years ago about the reality of big companies stifling competition. At the time I sited “Napster Patents and the Law” as the obvious example. The recent article in The Age, “Patently Absurd”, Richard Stallman, echoes my sentiments.

Some key points I have come across:

1.The movie industry that spawned in LA in the early 1900’s did so as a response to the patent Thomas Edison had in the New York area. Irony is, of course, that they are the ones now howling the loudest.

2.2004 study of Linux Kernel of the GNU/Linux OS found that it infringed on 283 different software patents.

Interestingly technologies that were never patented that delivered enormous benefit to our planet:

1. The railway track.
2. The novel (book).
3. TCP/IP (internet protocols).
4. The Printing press.

There are many more!

Big firms engaged in the provision of services or intangible products (programs) know that the balance sheet is an illusion at best. The real and only asset they have is the willingness of their people to continue to collaborate, spawn ideas and new products/services.

I’m not suggesting a conspiracy BUT businesses foundations are firmly based on its ability to manage risk. Business does not like uncertainty. In financial terms, businesses use hedging strategies to protect themselves.

What follows (and I quote Mr John Warkentin) “they circle the wagons tighter and tighter”; this is not a strategy, it’s a knee jerk reaction.

I also suggest that courts are not exactly on board either with respect to what is necessary for innovation to prosper in our community. As described in this month’s “Economist” (July 2-8, P133), patent copyright protection laws have been amended from 28 years to 95 (Mickey Mouse ©) and I quote, “It makes no sense. Copyright was originally intended to encourage publication by granting publishers a temporary monopoly on works so they could earn on their investment ….” He goes on to say that, “due to distribution of works being much cheaper ….. publishing should therefore need fewer, not more property rights to protect their investment. Technology has tipped the balance in favour of the public domain”.

Absolutely right on!

This is an excellent article, and helpful for any entrepreneur.

Pete

Two things irk me in business life, one is people who when asked how’s business going? Always reply “very busy”, like that’s a good thing.

In business many of us push the boundaries of what is achievable in a day. It’s a natural thing particularly if you are driving a new or fast growing business. In many cases, being busy is worn like a badge of honour. I suggest that if one is always (and consistently) busy (too busy to do anything else), it says more about their inabilities rather than their abilities. If the business is growing, then I propose two scenario’s, controlled growth or out of control growth.

If it’s out of control, then chances are our land as hard as you took off, and that your abilities had little to do with any imagined or real success. A hard landing may actually be deemed a crash, from which you don’t walk away.. the other one is that you ride the demand rollercoaster until you retire or die from a heart attack.

I, sadly, take some pleasure in responding to the above question sometimes in the following manner: “ yea,.. good.. did bugger all this week,…. “ …really? They respond.. ”well.. yea, its all very automated (its not really, but I’m working on it), so aside from drink too much coffee and write the occasional blog, not much else to do…of course anyone can work hard in their business, problem is most of them are slaves to it and venture have a moment to do anything else”..

All (well most) businesses that are growing face resourcing problems (ie people to do the work) and of course cash access problems. It’s normal. Working harder does nothing but make you stressed, it doesn’t fix the problem. Smart, strategic and well thought out action does.

I have never heard anyone say.. “phew,.. thank God I killed myself those three years.. now I can enjoy this business working without my contribution”.
So next time someone asks how business is going, just say..”good thanks,.. I’m bored shitless and don’t know what to do with all the extra cash I have”….