Riverboat Redux

Mike LaValle, my good friend and hunting buddy, has restored his riverboat, and it is sailing the Des Moines River. Check out this video from local TV, KCCI. It was a real labor of love and stubbornness to get the newly christened John Anderson White ship shape. She's a beauty: mahogany trim outside, oak and gilded finishings inside, Mike led a shake down cruise yesterday. We departed from a new dock at a the Des Moines Botanical Center and cruised upriver and back in about an hour. With the skyline behind us, as we passed under the Second Avenue bridge and rounded a bend in the river, we left the chaos and commotion of the 21st century and cruised back to a time of gentile sociability, enjoyed wine and snacks, waved to passing boaters and watched all sorts of birds pass by. Mike and the John Anderson White are real treasures for Des Moines. Watch for us on the river; in the meantime please visit the website: http://www.port-of-desmoines.com/.

The Drake Relays--Brian Brown, the LOVE doctor.

Dr. Brian Brown, Director of the Drake Relays and 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist in the high jump, spoke to the Des Moines Rotary Club recently. He is one cool cat who just radiates positive energy. His focus, and man, he is really focused, was the 100th Drake Relays.
The Relays are another treasure buried here in the Heartland. This year, though, thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of Brown and his boss, the also cool and focused Sandy Hatfield Clubb, Drake's A.D., the Relays will have a chance to shine like the medals awarded to the athletes. Dr. Brown has attracted a world-class field, and for the first time, the Relays will be broadcast on ESPN2.

I'd like to bottle the energy these two generate and share it with every entrepreneur I know. Wow, innovationa nd new businesses would be busting out all over. Dr. Brown (who by the way is married to Natash Kaiser Brown, Drake's coach for both the men's and women's track teams--more postive energy-- and another Olympic silver medalist and world champion in the 4X100 relay) offered some comments applicable not only to athletic success, but also to success as an entrepreneurial leader.

Organizing an annual event such as the Relays is a big job, more than one person could accomplish alone. It would be easy to develop a big head to go along with the job, but Brian Brown has avoided that. As he explained, he learned to love the people more than the position. Success is not about him at the top, but about the collaboration of many up and down the pyramid. He painted a great image of an effective leader as a river that flows by many people, NOT just a reservoir at the end of the stream.

He offered this advice in closing. He believes in LOVE:

L as in LOYALTY
O as in OBJECTIVITY--tell me the truth

V as in VULNERABILITY--take risks

E as in EMPATHY

Too cute for you. Maybe, but when he explained that he wants the people he works with to feel the roar of the crowd he felt when he won his silver medal, it made me want to work with him. I'd like to experience that feeling. The Doctor is in, and he is operatin'.

Cool jets

It's Friday. Normally, no big deal; I like every day, but it is also Science Friday, hosted by the very cool Ira Flatow on NPR. Today SF featured a cool bit on jets. New high-, really high-, speed video has allowed scientists to capture the intricate and previously mysterious reactions caused by things falling in water and, amazingly, sand and baking powder. I love the scientists' child-like curiosity and amazement. Entrepreneurs would do well to preserve that sense of wonder and awe about the world around them. Budding entrepreneurs should be asking questions about what goes on around them; especially "why" and "why not." There are a million questions out there, and some of them could lead to great entrepreneurial opportunities.

Artistic Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Artist

Sixteen years ago a struggling artist and budding business woman, Sarah Grant, started Sticks, Inc. Sticks handcrafts truly distinctive furniture, accessories, and objets d'art (showin' off ma francais) at a unique studio in Des Moines, IA. Sarah was a recent visitor to our Entrepreneurial Leadership class at Drake University, and she stole the show. A vivacious former [girls] soccer mom, Sarah shared her adventurous journey from fine arts student to successful entrepreneur and independent business woman and tossed in more than a little practical real-life advice. She understands the importance of a good story, and in her excellent tale she personifies the challenges and opportunities all entrepreneurs face.

When the economy goes down, the bright and innovative rise up.
Sarah left Des Moines to ski and study art; after graduating college, and plenty of skiing and art, she earned a masters in Italo printmaking (WTH?) and an MFA in painting. She was an ARTIST. Like almost all young artists, she started out as a waitress; she moved on to ticket sales, and then adjunct teaching (I can confirm that that's a calling, not a career). She then taught, for 10 years, at a college of design. The most she ever made was $8,900 a year, and, as she was a credit hour short of fulltime , she got no benefits, but she was an ARTIST.

I don't do tchotchkes.
Pursuing her dream of sustaining herself as a painter and drawer, she told herself, "I don't do tchotchkes" (extra credit if you know what they are). Meredith Publishing, publisher of Ladies' Home Journal, approached her about building a non-country nativity set. "I don't do tchotchkes" she replied. "Well, we'll pay you $500." "I'll do tchotchkes." Neither a sculptor nor a woodcarver, Sarah was a drawer, but Meredith didn't know that. So she found an old box and used a woodburning tool to draw her design, and sold the design to Meredith. Her Mom asked her if she could make another one. From that unexpected start grew Sticks; she learned later to keep and protect her designs.

I don't do art fairs.
She had vowed to never do art fairs; but as I learned when I moved to Des Moines, one must never say never, and hit the art fair she did. Living like a carnie, Sticks consumed all her time and effort, but she was making it work. Finally tiring of life on the road, a friend at the Des Moines Art Center referred her to a big wholesale crafts trade show. Ignoring her attorney's advice to name her business "Sarah Grant Inc." on the notion that other artists wouldn't want to work for Sarah Grant, so she stuck with Sticks. She did take his advice to demand deposits and minimum orders though. Of course she was the only one out of 4,500 exhibitors to do so, and until the final 1/2 day it appeared that she may have overreached. In that last 1/2 day, however, she booked $7,500 of orders, and the new Sticks Inc. was off and running. Today, Sticks's top ten accounts come from that first batch of orders.

100% Made in the U.S.A.
Sticks has been profitable every year since then. And every product is 100% made in the U.S.A.; something more than one person told Sarah she couldn't do. Well, she learned by doing, and today, one of Sticks's key strengths is in process. Focusing on developing efficient processes, fostering creativity and preserving high quality Sarah successfully made the leap from passion to profit, while preserving her artistic roots. She also takes care of her employees, 140 strong today . Because she started out with no benefits, she is committed to putting as much money as she can into employee benefits, and strives to make Sticks a great place to work. Sticks is truly an American success story.

Challenges and Opportunities
Sarah closed with some remarks on the challenges the current economic climate presents to her and to other small businesses. She may have less money to reinvest; profits will be harder to achieve, but she emphasized that this is a fertile environment for someone seeking to start a business. Inters tingly, she also noted that while the wholesale business has declined, Sticks's gallery business has remained strong. (I suggest that the unique nature and high quality, couple with the local nature of her crafts sets her wares apart.) Many people are scared, so those who can muster the resources to start something can make a real mark. She urged the students to consider this as a real opportunity.

"The great thing about business," she said, "it always changes."

A couple days after her presentation I received an announcement that Sticks was opening a gallery shop in Kansas City for the holidays. Times may be tough, but so is Sarah, and like so many successful entrepreneurs she will make things happen, and probably break a few of her own rules in doing so.

Can you teach it?

Starting next week I will be "teaching" entrepreneurial leadership at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. I first taught entrepreneurial management at a local community college 7 or 8 years ago. Before that I would have argued you can't teach it and it didn't belong in a college curriculum. Although I have yet to research the question, my personal experience made me a convert. Most of my students were really interested in starting their own businesses, and a surprising number did so. Although not all those students were traditional college age, the ones that started businesses were young. Their ventures included buying a bar (no mean feat for two guys under 21), opening a photography studio, sewing custom clothing, and starting an event planning business.

Just as importantly, all the students were required to think critically about the potential of small businesses and to do some self-analysis. It was challenging and fun for all of us, and at a minimum, after examining numerous real life successes and failures, the students came away with a greater appreciation for what is involved in starting a new business and succeeding with it.

Many schools around the U.S. have entrepreneurship programs today. It still is not clear if graduates of those programs start more businesses or are more successful. As Carl Schramm, President of the Kauffman Foundation, eloquently argues in his book, The Entrepreneurial Imperative, however, "Our colleges should be at the very heart of entrepreneurial capitalism..." The Foundation has recently published a report, Entrepreneurship in American Higher Education, arguing that entrepreneurship, as a "dominant force in contemporary America", is properly incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum.

On the other hand, as one of my favorite entrepreneurship bloggers, Kelly Spors who blogs for the Wall Street Journal, recently reported, entrepreneurship programs may not lead directly to local economic development. On the other hand, Dr. Jeffrey Cornwall, of Belmont University in Tennessee, argues they can and do lead to new businesses and new jobs.

I believe they are a good starting point, and they can't hurt (provided students "continue" to learn to read, and write and think. But that's another story...

What do you think?

Creative Commotion

I've just agreed to incorporate regular blog posts about entrepreneurship and start-ups into the Des Moines Register's business blogs. I'll be collaborating with a couple of other experienced (old) business guys, Terry Myers and Barry Pace and one marketing whiz, Adam Steen (young). The Register's format and protocol are not the greatest, but I believe it is important to get more people and other bloggers involved. My first post, with a tip o' the hat to Guy Kawasaki, a start-up guru(at left), and Mike Sansone, blogmeister extraordianire (at right), follows:

I am an investment banker, reformed lawyer, adjunct professor, investor, father, husband, golfer, hunter. And, oh yeah, I'm from New Jersey; I don't remember which exit, but you wouldn't know it anyway. My goal is to stir up the pot of deals, entrepreneurs and prospective entrepreneurs, first in Des Moines and, then, spreading out from there. I want the pot to be bigger, and it needs more than corn and pork.

We need more deals here; we need more people trying to do deals, looking at deals, talking about deals, investing in deals. We need much more collaboration. In more than 20 years as an investment banker for small companies, I have never completed a deal (and I have been involved in raising millions of dollars for dozens of companies) without collaborating with other highly motivated people: entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, and investment bankers, as well as the occasional kook or crook.

If we were in Los Angeles everybody and his uncle would be pushing a script. If we were in New York, every person we met would have a deal and a business plan. Here, in the middle of the country, the place where we elect the President, the crossroads of America, the home of the most fertile soil in the WORLD, nobody talks about deals. There is lot of money here, especially in the midst of the ethanol boom, and a lot of talent. But almost nobody wants to share their business dreams. We need more commotion, more conversations, more arguments. It is as if most of us are too shy or too embarrassed or just too damn humble to promote our version of the new next best thing.

It is time for that to change. It is time for us to change the world.