Change Agents

Jim Collins, author, teacher, athlete and leading member of the Boulderati is profiled in today's Sunday Business section. It's a flattering piece for the most part. This little passage certainly got my attention: Companies also ask him to consult. But he mostly declines, agreeing only if the company intrigues him and if its executives come to Boulder to meet him. Over two half-day sessions, for $60,000, he will ask …

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Today must be challenge the orthodoxy day on the Web. I love it. Guest writing on Ad Age, Judy Shapiro says we can do better than to refer to advancements online as "Web 3.0." After all, it's the same Web it was yesterday, just with more cool shit than ever before. ...there's a proverbial fly in this digital ointment and it is betrayed by the very name "Web 3.0." It is paradoxical that the name, which is suited to a …

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Robert Hendershott, a professor of private equity and entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, believes there's little need for venture capital in today's digital startup sector. According to The New York Times, it just doesn't cost that much to get a Web-based idea off the ground. As the cost of starting a Web company decreases, thanks to cloud computing services and technology …

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The book I've been reading, The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, by Don Keough is a pleasant read for a business book. After a spectacular career at Coca-Cola, Keough kindly offers those who might follow in leadership roles some sage advice, not just about business but about life. His business thesis boils down to this: If you want fail in business Quit Taking Risks; Be Inflexible; Isolate Yourself; Assume …

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Melissa Allison and Amy Martinez, business reporters for Seattle Times, are reporting that founder and former chief executive of Jones Soda, Peter van Stolk, has left the building. Van Stolk also negotiated a $100,000 reduction in severance pay in exchange for the freedom to talk freely about the company and compete against it if he wants to. His reduced severance is $350,000. He wasn't specific about differences …

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Do what you love and the money will follow. Many have heard these sweet Campbellian whispers, but the concept doesn't work for all. There are too many variables and money doesn't grow on trees, it has to be earned through ingenuity and consistent, often difficult work. Friend of AdPulp, Tom Asacker, gives us a tangible example from the art world of how fortunes differ. Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso were two of …

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