Helping Businesses Grow & Succeed
By Michelle Lopez – FIU News Gaston Taratuta, a Florida International University MBA alum, is eager to share his formula for success with entrepreneurial hopefuls at a presentation, Introduction to Unicorn Entrepreneurship, aimed at developing high-potential ventures. In 2005, he founded Miami-based Internet Media Services, seizing on the explosion of […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor The conventional wisdom is that there are two kinds of entrepreneurs: · Small-Midsized Business Owners (SMB): They comprise the bulk of entrepreneurs · Unicorn-Starters (U-Starters): This type uses the Silicon-Valley-style venture-development method to build a unicorn with capital-as-a-weapon. It seeks first-mover ideas, minimum viable products (MVP), product-market combinations, angel […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor Given the current habit of labeling all types of equity financing as venture capital and all ventures receiving VC as startups, things can get a little confusing. Not all VCs are created alike and not all startups are at the idea stage. All VCs are […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor The current thinking in high-potential venture development, and what many business schools teach, is mainly focused on the opportunity and venture capital method. This thinking has popularized pitch competitions and led to the concept of the minimum viable product (MVP). When strategy is considered, […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor Joe Martin started his first business in 2004 with $375 when he was an international student at a community college in Florida. He built this business to more than $10 million in annual sales by 2012. He used $500,000 in profits from this business […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor There will never be enough early-stage venture capital (VC) to satisfy the world’s venture hopes. But these hopes may be misguided by the myths—and the hype—of VC. VC has many holes that need to be plugged: VCs finance very few and succeed on fewer. […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor Note: This is an excerpt from a series on unicorn-entrepreneurs. Jeff Bezos has left as the CEO of Amazon.com, a company he built from an idea to one of the world’s greatest companies (and I am not commenting on his HR policies). As he […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor Robert Johnson was on CNBC and like many others, wanted someone to offer more venture capital for minority venture development. With all due respect, he needs to be clearer on exactly what he means, who should be funding this, and what risks are they […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor Shark Tank has taken the entrepreneurial world by storm. Many of my students are eagerly devouring every episode. I tell them that they are wasting their time or worse, headed in the wrong direction. Based on an analysis of 122 billion-dollar entrepreneurs and hundred-million-dollar […]
By Dileep Rao – Guest Contributor What is common among the following billion-dollar entrepreneurs? What is their gift that separates them from the rest of us? Sam Walton, who came out of nowhere (actually rural Arkansas) – to grab the pole position in American retail. Bill Gates, who dropped out […]