CONGRATS TO SIR RICHARD BRANSON AND THE WHOLE TEAM ON AN AMAZING FIRST FLIGHT

 

Sage Summit - Day One

Five things we learnt at the Chicago Summit

By Jack Preston

Content Manager

 @JackPressedOn

  

 

3 September 2015

Last week Virgin Unite hit the Windy City to see how local entrepreneurs are changing business for good. The one day summit, hosted at the Virgin Hotel, brought together a collection of innovative businesses and diverse opinions. Here’s what we learnt…

1. Chicago is the home of female entrepreneurs

Our host for the day, Doug Carrillo of Virgin Hotels, started the summit by focusing on some news which has been getting many people in the city rather excited over the last couple weeks. August saw the release of the 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking, which detailed that Chicago is home to the biggest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world, with 30 per cent of new start-ups in the city being run by a woman.

In fact, it seems that the US is particularly strong in this area, with Boston, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles all making the top five. Europe, however, seems to have some catching up to do with just Paris (21 per cent), London (18 per cent) and Moscow (17 per cent) making the top 12.

2. The rules every CEO should abide by

During her fascinating talk Wendy Abrams, founder of CoolGlobes, presented us with some top tips for every CEO to follow. As a person who’s experienced in the art of getting everyone behind a common cause, Wendy was able to offer some great insight in how to ‘pivot’ a business, as well as align yourself with partners which share your vision and goals.

But it was her rules for CEOs that really caught the imagination of the audience: Work harder than everyone else, ask for less than what you give and get in front of your customers.

Simple, but effective.

3. Howard Tullman’s 10 start-up commandments

1871 CEO and one of the more influential members of the Chicago entrepreneur ecosystem, Howard Tullman, took to the stage mid-morning to reel off soundbite after soundbite. His fascinating insight into the ups and downs of starting up saw him share 10 start-up commandments.

• You get what you work for, not what you wish for. Hard work always wins. In the real world, effort trumps talent. Hope is not a strategy. We may not outsmart them all, but we’ll certainly outwork them.
• Keep raising the bar. Constant iteration is the key. You get better by getting better. Successive approximation beats postponed perfection. There’s no finish line -; ever.
• Shoot for the stars. Always ask for the best seat in the house. You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take. If you don’t ask, the answer’s always "no".

You can read the rest of the 10 commandments over on Howard's Inc. blog.

4. Corporate Social Responsibility is for everyone – for many reasons

In her whistle-stop tour of CSR practices and how to best embed them in your business, Gayle Northrop gave us many fine examples of companies who are showing us the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility. But while there’s no arguing that it’s working for the likes of Ben and Jerry’s and TOMS, how can fledgling businesses make it work for them?

"Why should we worry about social good? For starters, research has found that 43 per cent of customers will pay 20 per cent more for ethically sourced goods," explained Northrop. "You have to be authentic and bake it into the DNA of your people and your organisation.

"There are other benefits too. For example, if you have to go before a judge for some sort of business violation then research shows that those companies with a CSR get treated more favourably."

5. Start small – big ideas scare people

Arguably the most inspiring talk of the day was saved until last, with Mats Lederhausen of BeCause (previously Managing Director of McDonald’s Ventures) explaining how you need to tackle the idea of implementing innovation in even the world’s biggest companies.

"Big ideas scare people, I mean really scare people. To get someone to back your idea you need to unpack it and show them so small steps to get things going," enthused Lederhausen. "You can disrupt truly big organisations, it’s just DAMN hard."

Help us reach the next generation of entrepreneurs and encourage them to think about people, planet and profit by donating here.

Richard Branson: How crowdfunding could change the world.

How crowdfunding could change the world

By Richard Branson

 @richardbranson

  

 

27 April 2015

Is crowdfunding going to change the world? I was delighted to take part in the first event at the opening of Virgin Hotels Chicago, where I joined a fascinating panel to discuss the nuances of crowdsourcing. It is an area that is transforming the way entrepreneurs can do business, and one I’m taking a keen interest in. 

Crowdfunding isn’t as new as we think it is. One of the first examples of crowdfunding was when Paris gifted New York the Statue of Liberty, but did not provide anything to put it on. The people of New York ran ads in the newspapers to raise money to build a base for the statue. Crowdfunding has come a long way since then, but the principles remain the same.

The benefits of crowdfunding go way beyond the money. It brings market validation, access to new investors, promotion, community exposure, and real-time feedback. As well as the funds to start your business, it provides real connection with people who care about your business.

Image from Virgin Hotels Chicago

I met the founder of Indiegogo on Necker in its early days, and learned about his vision for crowdfunding. I particularly liked its non-profit element, as well as its commitment to creating positive change in the world. I decided to make a small investment in the company, and since then have enjoyed watching it and the crowdfunding sector grow. Since then I’ve come across dozens of projects on Indiegogo that have really excited me.

There are lots of wonderful ideas that are now getting the exposure they need to secure bigger investments, which is tremendous for the new generation of entrepreneurs. Like most things in life, crowdfunding success is much more related to how willing you are to pour yourself into the project with your heart and soul. You’ve got to have a great product, and then you’ve got to stand out from the crowd.

Image from Virgin Hotels Chicago

Back in the UK, Virgin StartUp has partnered with Crowdfunder to invite entrepreneurs to raise money for their projects, with Virgin StartUp then matching any money raised with one of their loans. If this is approved the entrepreneurs will then be matched with a Virgin StartUp mentor, giving their business the best chance possible to succeed. Three quarters of a million pounds are up for grabs as part of this innovative funding initiative – I can’t wait to see what new businesses come out of it.

The crowd is very good at ensuring the best projects rise to the top. It is also excellent at self-regulating so that the odd questionable project gets found out. Because you have to ask your loved ones, friends, co-workers – everyone you have ever met – to support your project, if it turns into a scam, you will not be very popular. 

Image from Virgin Hotels Chicago

We were asked an interesting question about investing in emerging markets. They are growing much quicker than established markets, and people would be mad not to invest in emerging markets. Crowdfunding seems a smart way to do so. What’s more, you will be offering a chance to lots of exciting new entrepreneurs in emerging markets who may otherwise not get the exposure and funding they need.

Image from Virgin Hotels Chicago

How wonderful it would have been if Indiegogo had existed when I was 15 struggling to start a magazine, – I certainly would have used it. It is still early days, but I do believe crowdfunding could absolutely transform the world. Have you invested in a crowdfunded project, or started one yourself? I’d love to hear about it.

VIRGIN HOTEL OPENING

NEW INC. MAGAZINE BLOG POST FROM 1871 CEO HOWARD TULLMAN

Read the Entire Post: http://www.inc.com/howard-tullman/a-day-with-richard-branson.html

Read the whole piece: http://www.inc.com/howard-tullman/a-day-with-richard-branson.html

Sir Richard Branson met with a dozen entrepreneurs from Chicago’s 1871

Sir Richard Branson met with a dozen entrepreneurs from Chicago’s 1871, a huge start-up incubator with more than 325 companies (which are operating on a single floor in a 75,000 square foot space), to hear brief descriptions of their businesses and answer their questions. Branson was his usual relaxed, thoughtful and irreverent self even in the midst of the media frenzy surrounding the opening of his first Virgin hotel (soon to be a chain of at least 20 others) in the Windy City.

Lead by 1871 CEO Howard Tullman who first summarized the Chicago and Illinois startup scene and 1871’s own growth and remarkable results to date, the far-ranging conversation ran the gamut from packages (Package Zen), pot and pets (Wondermento) –to people, planes (OpenAirplane) and porn – and all the way from slipped disks to outer space - with more than a few important tidbits of business advice and philosophy thrown in from a guy who’s truly been there and done it all.

On people and delegating, his advice was simple: find people smarter than you to run the day-to-day operations as soon as you can so you can keep focused on the future. Responding to a question from the founder of Herbfront on investors’ aversion to investing in pot-related businesses, Branson (after noting that he had enjoyed many a spliff himself) spoke passionately about the need to decriminalize all drug abuse and to treat it as a health problem instead of an excuse to lock up a bunch of kids who were as likely as not to turn into great entrepreneurs.

Asked by the CEO of Georama what he thought about future travel becoming more video-based and virtual with folks traveling world-wide without leaving their homes, he reminded everyone that he did own an airline so he wasn’t really that enthused about the prospect, but then he went on to say that online video certainly worked well for sex, so who knew what might be coming down the pike. 

On the issue of social entrepreneurs, after hearing about SHIFT’s business of cash advances to the very poor in underdeveloped countries, he challenged everyone to use their entrepreneurial skills to make a real difference by taking on the world’s problems. He added that they needed to look for new and novel approaches because just being another “me-too” business in any industry was a certain path to failure. 

As to choosing the best opportunities (and running the risk of missing others), he told the co-founder of We Deliver that he himself accepted way too many challenges and that he was known around his businesses as “Dr. Yes”, and he added that you shouldn’t fear missing the boat because there were always more chances and new things coming along and that it was most important to focus on being the best you could be at what you were doing. But smart operators should also keep one eye out for the folks trying to leapfrog you and you need to be ready to leapfrog them right back. 

When the maker of the MagicTags iPhone app asked him about being included in a classic Apple commercial, Sir Richard said that the best type of advertising is when it’s for someone else and you don’t have to pay for it. Then he recalled some of his early PR and promotion stunts with sunk planes and balloons over the years and even an ad that showed a sinking boat with a prominent Virgin logo and the line – “next time, Richard, take the plane”.

And asked about strong branding by the owner of Crowdtap and the origin of the name Virgin, Branson said that it was hard today to come up with a good brand name because so many names were taken. As to the Virgin name, he had narrowed the choices down to two – Virgin and Slipped Disk records – and he happily choose Virgin because Slipped Disk would have been an awful name for an airline.

Shown the Bluetooth-enabled Gramovox music player offering a classic Sinatra tune, Sir Richard asked how he could get one to keep right there in the Shag Room. He was promptly gifted the demo unit by its builder on the spot and he jumped up (in his smashing red socks) and started dancing to Frank on top of the nearby ottoman. 

Wrapping up the give-and-take session, and after shooting a bunch of selfies lead by the developer of the SELFIE app at 1871, he left the group with a most compelling comment. He said: “between all of you, you can run the world.” 

And then, lo and behold, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appeared.