Friday, November 18, 2005

Lou Ellmans' List of Sales books

Lou organizes Bootstrap Austin's sales breakouts. Here's his updated list of sales-related books.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Bootstrap Student!

I gave a talk yesterday at the McCombs Business School to students of two entrepreneur clubs, the McCombs Entrepreneur Society and the Technology Entrepreneurship Society. We had a far-ranging discussion about bootstrapping vs VC-funding; Mavens, Relaters and Evangelists and the importance of self-knowledge; the role of serendipity in life and entrepreneurship; and non-linear thinking.

The talk turned into the catalyst for an initiative we have been pondering at Bootstrap for some time: Bootstrap Student! Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Richard Branson, all started their ventures while they were students. Michael and Bill were in college and Sir Richard was in high school. Interestingly, his first venture was "Student," a magazine for teenagers.

We aim to help entrepreneurial students do some of the same things we do in our Bootstrap chapters: find like-minded souls, solve problems, share resources, build community and most importantly, take The Bootstrap Way. We're starting in Austin with UT, Acton MBA and St. Edwards, but look forward to involving other universities, especially in cities where we have Bootstrap chapters.

I'm excited to see how this initiative unfolds!