BLOG INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
"How hard can it be to take down Facebook?" with Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm (video)
Mark Coopersmith has a fireside chat with Arnaud Henneville-Wedholm about Arnaud's 6-year journey as co-founder of a startup whose mission was to create a *better* option to Facebook. We discuss Arnaud's takeaways from that experience, and delve into the book Arnaud wrote about that failed venture: "How Hard Can It Be: Startup Lessons From Trying (And Failing) To Take Down Facebook." (Answer: pretty hard).
How to Bounce Back After a Business Fails
Research shows that more startups fail than succeed. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. For those that do succeed, the rewards are many: doing something we love, financial independence, the opportunity to drive positive change in our communities and beyond.
Fireside Chat about Launching and Growing Startups in Africa, with Lessons from Silicon Valley (video)
This past week I joined Sandras Priri – founder and CEO of Pranary (formerly Startup Circles)- for a Zoom fireside chat about what it takes to successfully launch a venture and obtain critical velocity in funding and growth.
Other "F" Word Podcast #9: Facebook Goes Down, & Mark Almost Gets Scammed (video)
In this episode, Mark and John discuss multiple failures at Facebook and its family of apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram, including the global outage and whistleblower testimony before Congress. We also highlight a potential seldom-reported risk for YOU if you use Facebook or Google to automatically log into other apps or accounts.
Corona Postpona
Happy summer. And what a summer it is. Heat waves across the U.S., exacerbated by climate change, as we in the West endure extreme drought and water rationing, and an even worse fire season than usual. At least we have plenty of masks for those smokey days (always looking for that silver lining).
The Resilient Entrepreneur
In this video series, my co-author John Danner and I share insights about The Resilient Entrepreneur from our entrepreneurship classes at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and from our Amazon bestseller, "The Other 'F' Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work" (John Wiley & Sons, 2015).
My mom made the front page of the NY Times today (for a sad reason)
Thank you New York Times. And thank you LA Times and our local NBC Bay Area TV station who ran longer pieces and news stories on my mom and so many others. All as part of the effort to put a human face on this crisis. While of course Alice was special to me – as mother and grandmother, teacher and speech therapist, and so much more - she would have passed quite anonymously but for these efforts. I am grateful.
Thriving through COVID's "Valley of Death," an interview with Growth Malaysia (video)
Growth Malaysia is a collaboration that aims to help businesses grow exponentially with technology and capital through live webinar training and business management webinars. I was interviewed as part of their Restart Series.
"Museum of Failure" and other highlights from the Innovation Roundtable
Greetings from Copenhagen! I am here for the Innovation Roundtable Summit—the largest gathering of corporate innovation executives in the world. I just delivered a keynote address on the closing of Day 1, giving an updated take on “The Other ‘F’ Word.” On Day 2 I did a deeper dive into that topic, and deconstructed the Failure Value Cycle (from my book). On Day 3 I led a session on “Three Keys to Corporate Entrepreneurship,” where I take core entrepreneurial practices and adapt them to work in large enterprises.
Join me in Copenhagen at the Innovation Roundtable Summit (plus new insights from “The Other F Word”)
Next month - on November 5, 2020 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the Innovation Roundtable Global Summit - I will provide an updated take on The Other F Word when I deliver the closing Day 1 keynote address.
Unlocking Innovation: Strategies from Silicon Valley CEOs (podcast and article)
I recently moderated an on-stage conversation in Silicon Valley with a group of four amazing and successful CEOs of very successful companies. This was the kickoff evening of a multi-day conference, and our objective was to lay out the topic of innovation as the core theme for the days that followed.To to get things started I asked them each to share some personal perspectives and examples about how they unlock, drive and nurture innovation inside large organizations.
Innovation versus Entrepreneurship
We often conflate innovation and entrepreneurship, but while they are related, they differ in several key elements. My definitions are straightforward.
The Innovation Conundrum
As business leaders, we seek growth and competitive advantage. Innovation is a key lever to help us get there. Unfortunately, I often hear executives frame it this way: “We need more innovation across the organization. And, of course, failure is not an option.” There is a conflict inherent in that statement.
The “3 Sets” of Successful Entrepreneurs
Every year I meet with dozens of groups who seek to better understand why so much innovation, company formation and value creation takes place in Silicon Valley. Part of the answer is found in the highly evolved entrepreneurial ecosystem that exists in Silicon Valley, and part of the answer is found with the talented entrepreneurs themselves. I refer to these capabilities as “The 3 Sets of Successful Entrepreneurs: Skillset, Toolset and Mindset.”
Top 10 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
For more than a decade, I have maintained a list of the top 10 traits that define the mindset of successful entrepreneurs: How they think, how they are wired, where they set priorities.
Failure is Grief, but not Game Over
My co-author John Danner and I were recently interviewed in by Madanmohan Rao of YourStory Media.
"The Entrepreneurial Mindset" (cover article for Strive Magazine)
How do entrepreneurs think? What distinguishes the best entrepreneurs and innovators from the rest? Originally published as the cover article for Strive Magazine, January 2019 For the past 30 years, I’ve pursued the answer to this question: “What distinguishes the best entrepreneurs and innovators from the rest of us?”
SPOTANGELS dubbed the "Waze for Parking"
The idea for SPOTANGELS was developed by Hamza Chahdi during one of my Learn2Launch classes in the Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at UC Berkeley. SpotAngels is now available on the App Store and Play Store and has been featured by Apple and Google as among the best apps of the year.
Winners and Losers in the Age of Automation (Video)
The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us. Computers make decisions on their own and their logic now evolves and improves without human intervention. Robots operate independently. Our homes and cars and cities are increasingly connected and automated. The definition of “reality” blurs when we add the suffixes “virtual” or ‘augmented.”
Join Me Tuesday May 1 for a Q&A with Netflix Head of International Content Erik Barmack
Netflix is just killing it in 200+ countries. Great Q1 earnings confirmed what we all see and know. Netflix added 5.5 million international subscribers, plus 2 million more in the US. What are they doing right? Content is key. Join me May 1 at noon at UC Berkeley Haas as I interview Netflix Head of International Content Erik Barmack.