fbpx

The Hybrid Movement…

As you know, I have been teaching the idea of Hybrid Entrepreneurship at Clemson and it is amazing how the class is evolving. What are we finding, that it is hard to define exactly what a hybrid entrepreneur and how it is applied to a business.

Here is our basic definition: A hybrid entrepreneur is an entrepreneur that has identified a social cause and using an entrepreneurial business idea to solve this social problem and will generate a profit.

The most common example is Tom’s Shoes. For each pair of shoes Tom’s Shoes sales, they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. Solving the social problem of children in need, yet generating a profit from the enterprise.

The biggest debate in the class, does this business model have to start with the social cause as the main focus; or can the business have a great product/service and searches for a social case to solve as a way to meet the criteria. There is an in-class debate either way…but it is my opinion that it comes to the social cause as the main initiative. I think there is a hierarchy in this definition:

1) Entrepreneurial
2) Solving Social Problem
3) Generating A Profit

There are so many organizations in the latest “Green” movement to “Save The Earth.” There is a whole class of individuals that have the social desire to solve social problems, but they do not want to create non-profits…they want to generate a profit. They want their cake and eat it too! I do not blame them.

So for the rest of the semester, the students of this class have two months to identify a social problem, create and start a entrepreneurial business model, document the process, and present their business. Yes…two months. They have lots of work to do and they have some cool social business ideas. Bottom-line, they have to find something that is micro enough to get it up and running and find a way generate a profit.

We are in the process of reading a book called “Starting from Scratch” by Wes Moss. It is a book full of case studies of entrepreneurs that have found their passion, started a business, and succeeded against the odds. This book has a few that might fit the hybrid business model. So why am I telling you this…because I want this class to be able to write the book on hybrid entrepreneurship. I want this class to be the first to really talk and explain this model, research and find case studies of examples, and put the model to work.

It is my hope this class comes closer to helping us all define what hybrid entrepreneurship is all about.

organize this digital life…the digital divide


Hi my name is Bobby and according to my wife, I am gadget freak. Yes, I have an iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, PS3, AppleTV and on and on and on. I love gadgets. I love the accessories that go with these gadgets.

I love bags. No…I am not a guy with tons on man bags. I have tons of camera equipment, lighting equipment, cords, gizmos, and gadgets to do my job. Oh yeah…I have other bags for my laptop, iPad, books, etc. So I love the idea of finding the best bag possible to organize these things and make them  quickly assessable.  My life…my entrepreneurial life…my small business life…quickly assessable.

Digital Dependancy
Everyday, I use these things that we depend on so much in this new digital life. Google Calendar, Google Docs, MS Word, iCal, BaseCamp, Quickbooks, Mobile Me, iMail, etc, etc, etc. I use these everyday to organize and execute my life to serve my clients. OK…are you annoyed? Yes…I am. My head is spinning.

Think about your day. If you are a technology person or live in this Corporate Americano…we are influenced to use so many digital tools. We check our email, update our calendar, take notes, use the CRM, pull out the iPad, take notes on paper, save our contacts in three places…we try so hard. This is a true digital divide…dividing us between all the devices/software and efficiency.

Have you tallied up your communication and online communication costs?  How about the time invested in creating the best tool from a piece of open source code? Oh yeah, how much time do you spend sifting through emails or even multiple email accounts? How many newsletters are you getting each day? How many different passwords do you have to remember for each login between all of those technologies?

So…I put my foot down.
I spent more time stressing out about what I am doing next and where to find what I am doing next. Notice the last sentence was in past tense! Yes…I have an assistant, but using the “digital” to find the “digital” is creating a huge digital dependancy. Why do think we text, Tweet, and consistently review our digital device while driving…because we can and we hope we can stay in-tune with our information. We do not have a clear plan.

So I went old school!
Yep…I did it and I have a planner again. Yes, you know that organizer that is a day timer? Yep, it is about the size of my graduate school classical rhetoric book. Guess…what, it is WORKING. Also…It has me thinking about all this digital dependancy.

WHY DO WE DO IT?
Because if you are surrounded by the crowd I am around (offline and online), then you are always hearing about the next big tool, next big CRM, next gadget, next organizational “do-dad”…and we try it. We are entrepreneurs, small business owners, and we want the edge…the edge to get ahead. We live technology and we are conditioned to believe that killing trees is not the answer…just a better gadget.

Back to basics.
Yes…I have moved to the planner full of paper, a calendar, organizational tools, place to take notes, place to journal. Oh, I still use my iPhone and iPad with the calendar so my assistant can keep up with what I am doing. I am getting rid of all the stupid newsletters and blog posts delivered. I am also using my hand to write. It is amazing how much this helps me clear my head and articulate my thoughts. Plus…if I can add 30 minutes of time back to my life each day, then that is more time with the things I love…my family.