I recently read a fascinating article about garment making– not my usual reading, but a girl has to branch out on occasion. This article compared the 2 major hubs of garment manufacturing Cholet, France and New York City, NY to find how they had sustained the industry in face of difficulty. It seems that the two locations have two very different models.

NYC has employed what the authors term a “Sweatshop Model” that is a model in which they stay alive in the face of globalization by becoming hyper-efficient. Cholet, however, is surviving not through hyper efficiency but rather through entrepreneurial endeavors. (more…)

I recently stumbled across this article by Matt Bandyk of US News and World Report. It was too good not to re-post in its entirety.

Entrepreneurs and Social Responsibility
May 30, 2008 03:27 PM ET | Matthew Bandyk (more…)

So I have a theory about people who wear black. Really its about woman who wear black or more specifically about woman who wear little black dresses (LBDs for the Sex and the City generation). We spend hours shopping for the perfect little black dress and in reality it is a simple dress but it does one thing.  It makes you focus on the individual and not the article of clothing. The people who wear lots of fabrics, colors and prints are drawing attention to their clothing. They are in part hiding behind the fabric. Woman who wear black are doing one thing well: they are not hiding. In fact, they are saying: I am not my clothing, I am me.

Therefore, the most drab accessory (more…)

Success for an entrepreneur is manifesting an idea into a lifeform whose very existence enriches the ecosystem to which it belongs.

- Jim Yiapanis, part of our LinkedIn community

To join, click here.

Its a great time to be Green. Its a great time to be an Entrepreneur. Its a lucrative time to be a Green Entrepreneur. The race to go green has expanded, literally, to the need for speed! Public sentiment for a cleaner earth and governmental regulations curbing current emission levels has spurred competition and market incentives for fuel-efficient vehicles in the automotive industry. Now, entrepreneurs see and are seizing opportunities to make their mark to produce the finest, fastest, and most fuel-efficient cars in the green market.

Upstarts are springing up left and right with financial backing from venture-capital firms hoping to join and compete in the new market of hybrid and electric vehicles. Former top engineers and designers from industry giants such as McLaren and Ford Motor Co. are racing off and starting their own companies; producing vehicles and technology that not only look and perform like a top-end sports car, but also saves energy and the environment by way of electrical charges.

Analysts predict shrinking research and development budgets by big auto-makers and the trend to look outside for new technology provides a lucrative market for new entrepreneurs who want to save the earth as well as make money. Tesla Motors, among many others, have already produced a new electric sports car with up to 220.6 miles per charge! Not only are these cars more functionally friendly to the environment, but they also are looking and performing in the mold consumers expect out of a luxury vehicle. Investors are quickly jumping on to fund this green revolution. Its easy to see that the Race to be Green, really is moving at top speed!

great article on web mission 08 and what it takes to be a uk tech entrepreneur.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/techdigest/20080423/ttc-web-mission-08-how-to-be-a-uk-tech-e-e870a33.html

but if you want a quick summary…

1. You need to have a monster ego.

2. You need to have an Eureka moment. (more…)

So I think these shirts are hilarious and all these guys really want to do is buy a Gulfstream (pilot and fuel included)…….. Who wouldn’t want to support that? Check out their pitch too. It’s amusing, does the job and basically immediately sells the concept and the creators while being hip. I read it for 20 seconds and wanted to support them. Does your pitch do that?

If I was part of a major criminal cartel and making tons of cash, I might have a hard time giving that up to silkscreen. Or to bake. Well, no I love baking, if someone paid me to bake I’d be there in heartbeat……..

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A recent article, in the Economist, compared London and Paris on a variety of fronts. What struck me as the most interesting was the comparison made between the two countries regarding their societal focuses. Paris, it seems, is focused on preserving the past and does so through the restoration of old buildings, preservation of artifacts, etc. London, on the other hand, was shown as a society who is innovative because the article argued there was less to preserve- no gastronomic tradition, per se, no noteworthy skyline, etc. The article then raised a question that I wish to take up in further detail: “How can you create a desire to innovate when the ambient culture is oriented towards preservation?”

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Description: Launching a start-up is not a rational act. And Vinod Khosla, a partner in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and former Sun Microsystems CEO, believes that success only comes from those who are foolish enough to think unreasonably. Entrepreneurs need to stretch themselves beyond convention and constraint to reach something extraordinary.