Lists

Still new to blogging, I have not shared any lists of my own, but Wendy Bounds provides a great starting point for entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs in her Wall Street Journal column of June 13, 15 Entrepreneur Blogs Worth Reading. Drew McClellan's The Marketing Minute, a quick and easy blog on marketing tips, gets a nice nod in Wendy's article. Of course, my favorite go to blog is Guy Kawasaki's How to Change the World. I am going to use Kawasaki's book, The Art of the Start in an entrepreneurial leadership class I am teaching this fall at Drake University in Des Moines; I am also using Carl Schramm's The Entrepreneurial Imperative. Schramm is president of the Kauffman Foundation which promotes entrepreneurship and training for entrepreneurs, and he argues compellingly that America's entrepreneurship is an economic miracle that will change the world. I like the the concurrent themes in Kawasaki and Schramm of changing the world.

As I continue to wrestle with the loss of local serial entrepreneur and all-around good guy, Jim Goodman, I constantly take heart in his unwavering belief that he could change the world and make it better right here in Des Moines, Iowa. As Jim liked to say "I don't what tomorrow may bring, but I am looking forward to it." He made things happen, and I believe that characteristic is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart form the rest. They make things happen. Another local example of this is Amadeo Rossi and his colleagues at the Des Moines Music Coalition. They have set their sights on making Des Moines a center for alternative music like Austin, TX. And after just a couple of years of blood, sweat and tears, they have pulled together an amazing music festival with The Flaming Lips headlining the first day and The Roots out front the second day. Driven by passion and a real desire to make Des Moines a better place, they are off to a great start. I was really impressed by Amadeo and I hope to get to know him better (and maybe write about him; he has agreed to be guest in my class this fall).