On the importance of using your resources...all of them!

This past week has been prosperous in so many ways. As you may have read, I hosted Mark King, CEO of TaylorMade, in my Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship class. On its own merits, this visit was monumental to the students and I as we learned what innovation looks like at TaylorMade. This story will continue to unfold in the coming months as we learn more through our TaylorMade Innovation Workshops over the next few months. More to come on this...

The week was also memorable because of another great guest speaker, Erik Groset, who's been featured both on my blog and in my class during the past year. Erik is a wonderful example of the entrepreneurial mindset. [I find it hard to remember that--although he speaks from a great deal of experience--he's still in his early 20s!] During his visit to our class, Erik shared about the challenges inherent in starting a consumer products business.

He detailed the difficulties in convincing the traditional retailers that his new startup, Digital Group Audio [DGA], could offer a product that beats the competition--hands down! [You can find a comparo here.] He went on to talk about what it was like convincing investors that he and his partner had what it takes to convert a novel concept into a viable product. He mentioned local columnist, Phil Baker's book From Concept to Consumer as an excellent resource.

While I won't detail all of his lecture material here, I will share with you a concept that has helped them a great deal: use talented students to help you grow your new business. As illustration of this concept, Erik mentioned that for not much money a team of students created this new webmercial for them. Check it out. I think you'll be impressed with both the energy and the high production value of the video. It's amazing what students can do when we get out of their way and allow them to create.

Livespeakr Webmercial from Livespeakr on Vimeo.