I’m not a very reflective person. I tend to take moments for what they are, and then I move on from them as I look forward to what is coming next. Usually, I am so caught up in the next phase of whatever project I am working on that I rarely get to sit back and think about what I may have experienced or been able to accomplish. Now that I’ve taken my talents to Corporate America, I am completely removed from my prior projects, and I have found myself a bit more thoughtful about those earlier days lately.

I can remember my friend telling me he wanted to start a website and he wanted me to partner with him on it. I was totally down, but I told him if we were to do this it had to be done right. Super official, completely legit. He agreed and we got to work on what would eventually become MidState Hoops LLC, my first venture. We were just a couple of kids. I was 16, he was 15. Our goal was to do something the state had never seen before in regards to high school basketball.

Our presentation was motivated by innovation. We believed that if we covered the sport and the state in a way it had never seen, we would grow our audience. Sure enough, our audience grew, as did our influence, and business opportunities. The latter was a bonus that we never thought about when we started. The opportunity to generate revenue was an afterthought in 2004 at inception.

From an early age I believed I would run a company, but I never thought about starting multiple companies. I did not realize that was something that would interest me. Looking back I clearly was developing a serial entrepreneurial pattern that I can’t say I realized about myself until my early 20s. I believe the earliest signs of this came from the iterations we were always going through with MSH. It seemed like every 10-12 months we were trying to refresh our brand, image, features, and products. We were never content with what we were doing. We were constantly evaluating ourselves in search of what we could do next, and how we could build on our success.

Our desire to do something new was an early indication of a desire to do different things in different categories beyond basketball. Constantly trying to improve something is only one step away from applying the same thought process to anything else that may come to mind of interest. These miniature idea blitz must have progressed my thinking beyond what I was currently working on into the possibilities I could reach out and grab.

MSH taught me a lot of things. I believe it is during this time I began to learn what to look for in a business partner; what type of people can work well in certain roles and situations.  This was instrumental in my later projects where I had to find talent to help me operate the companies.

I also learned that acting on ideas is important. Doing what everybody else is doing does not guarantee success. At most it offers an opportunity to function in a stable environment, with no chance to survive in a highly evolving one. Whether it pertained to high school basketball or something completely unrelated I learned that I should pursue the idea if I felt strongly about it, and its viability.

This is probably one of the most important lessons from the MidState Years. When people ask me how to start something I usually tell them if they believe in what it is they want to do then they should try to do it. It may work, and it may fail. At least you will know, and the lessons that will come from that experience can’t be taught in a classroom, from a book, or from a public speaker. Even if you fail you’ll be glad you tried, and the next time you have an idea you will be that much closer to knowing how to make it work.

Thanks to my favorite show, Mad Men, I have a certain fondness of advertising agencies. I believe so much can be learned from the way they can portray and give life to products. Here is industry leading Wieden+Kennedy’s Global Executive Creative Director, John Jay, giving insights into creativity. True words of wisdom in this video. Check it out.

My professor showed this video in our Business Intelligence class. It shows Salman Khan of the Khan Academy at TED 2011.Khan quit his job at a hedge fund to start the organization. Since then it has received funding from Google, and includes Bill Gates among its list of endorsers. Khan is changing the way students learn; first through his Youtube videos, and now with valuable data that allows the progress of students to be observed and analyzed. Khan’s new work is an example of what the use of technology can bring to today’s education. Check this out.

Life is difficult. The farther you get, the closer you think you are to everything you ever dreamed of. But the farther you get, the more you have to overcome. Is it possible that the more you obtain, the more you have to lose? Is this where stress comes from? You get so far and you are afraid of the trip back down? If we are fortunate enough to keep going on this journey let us maximize our time, and do all that we aspire to along the way.

My partners and I sold our screen printing business towards the end of 2010. This left a major gap in my entrepreneurial framework. I was very grateful to sell the business and move forward, but the new space that became available left a question of what to do now? I had other ventures that were operating before this business was formed, but once it came along it became a pivotal focus.

The timing also left me with a question of how I should pursue new potential ventures in the future. Like many who are actively thinking of new ideas and approaching how to begin startups, I am usually generating thoughts of what may be possible just ahead. However, with graduation just around the corner, and corporate America waiting in the wings I wondered if maybe it was time for me to lay off starting something new.

I sat around for several months after the sale leaning towards the thought that I would just go to work and evaluate things then. It worked for a while, but I began to have urges to create something. I dabbled with the founders of one startup to see if I would be willing to make a quality commitment. During this time It became clear I would like to try to get back into the arena.

What I have realized is the ideas will always flow. Why not pursue them? Where will they lead to? I do not know. Will the next one be enough? Unlikely. I don’t know why we chase a dream that seems to compound over time, as if what we already have achieved merits we need more. But perhaps the point of our dreams was the journey to get there, and nothing more.

Last week I had the opportunity to listen to a panel discussion here on campus. The event was put on by the College of Business and sponsored by State Farm. One of the panelists was their Chairman and CEO, Ed Rust Jr. Executives from British Petroleum(BP) and Coventry were also part of the discussion. I found the event very interesting. All the executives gave valuable insight to the business community’s perspectives on the government’s intervention into the private business arena. I continue to contend that one of the best parts of college are the speakers you have the ability to go and see. The great minds of today are more than willing to enrich the minds of tomorrow. It is our job to be receptive and attentive to their knowledge.

I know who Ashton Kutcher is from Punk’d and not much else. I have never seen That 70s Show or hardly anything else he has ever done. So I never really could figure out how he had so many Twitter followers or why he was so famous when it seems like he hasn’t done anything significant since Punk’d. But after watching this piece on ABC Nightline it makes a lot more sense. Kutcher is extremely impressive. Check out the video.

Since I have been here at the University of Illinois, I have met a lot of incredibly creative people. Many of them have dreams of owning their own business and some have even started their own ventures. Unfortunately, the only way an ordinary student would know about these student ventures would be to meet them by chance or to hear about them somewhere, most likely word of mouth. My partner, Bruce Ackerman, thought it would be a great idea to create a place where all the students could go to find out what their fellow students had going and were working on and decided to create Illini Ventures. I am excited to be helping him provide content for the site and hopefully it proves to be a success. It just launched and is already beginning to get student venture submissions. Check it out here!

When I heard that Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus was coming to campus I did a little research on him to get an idea of who he was and what he did. There is a lot of interesting information about him and to hear him speak about the issues that he focuses on is fascinating. But the one thing that stuck out more than anything to me was the term social entrepreneurship. Maybe I’m late but it was the first time I had ever heard of it and I wanted to know more.

I consulted Wikipedia for a definition which they give as: someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Initially I thought it sounded like a charitable venture. Then I realized it was different, although I believe the two are related.

Dr. Yunus really makes you think about what it is you intend to do with your entrepreneurial endeavors. With so many people trying to get rich, what about trying to help others too? And the next thought I had was, why don’t they ever mention this in school?

I believe this is a major shortcoming of the media’s portrayal of entrepreneurship. The only type of enterprise that is advocated is something that will produce wealth. School does no work to paint another picture of social consciousness. This has to be changed. In order to change the direction and influence of the future we need to offer students more curriculum choices pertaining to social change. They put in plenty of time training us to become corporate warriors. Mixing it up a bit can’t hurt. Nobody talks about creating value for those who need help, only shareholders.

Which brings me to the question of, if people thought not only in terms of creating enterprise for wealth but for world problems, how would the world be different? How many problems could be solved if the same minds who develop the world’s leading technologies were trying to figure out a way to make sure every child could read and write? While there would still be problems that needed to be solved, more problems would be addressed more frequently and with more vigor than most are being considered right now.

Part of the reason there are so many areas of need around the world is because of the state of a country’s local government. Whether that government be corrupt or simply in a state of devastation, they are often the sole place where problems are also expected to be solved for the citizens of that country. How is that government going to solve problems for its people when it can’t even resolve many of its internal issues? Even the highest functioning governments are full of bureaucracy that prevent or delay actions that need to be taken in order to help others.

A solution is to put the aide in the hands of private enterprise. Allow businesses to operate without that governmental red tape to develop ways to help the neediest of people. Many for profit corporations do great work to help people get things such as medicine, clothes, water, etc. But that isn’t their focus. They have other things to worry about and philanthropy is a branch of their large tree. Give a social corporation the same resources, but with the focus on helping others and the results would certainly be much better.

Everybody doesn’t have to start a social business. Trying to start any kind of business is difficult. But when we get a great idea we want to move on, or are having a brainstorming session to think about our next possible venture, let’s also give a couple minutes to social change. Clear out a corner of the white board for public issues we may be able to help resolve. After all, ideas can come from anywhere and for anything. We just need to open our minds to every possibility and let the rest flow from there.

*Photo credit to: Mark Paik

2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, is coming to speak today here at the University of Illinois. Dr. Yunus received the award for his work in social and economic development through his Grameen Bank in impoverished areas. I find it absolutely faschinating that 96% of Grameen Bank’s borrowers are women. I also find the bank’s 20% interest rate fascinating! Upon doing some reasearch it appears that his bank is somewhat controversial depending on who’s opinion you seek. Either way, nobody can take that Nobel Peace Prize from him and I assume he had good reason to earn it. I look forward to hearing Dr. Yunus speak and hear some of his opinions on social entrepreneurship. Watch Dr. Yunus in Creating A Poverty Free World after the jump.

Last week in my Organizational Behavior class we watched a video about IDEO. It is a design and consultancy firm that innovates for the biggest companies in the world. I had never heard of them until now and didn’t realize such companies existed. I thought the video was super cool and fascinating. The whole idea of what they do is intriguing to me. I believe that it is not only beneficial for existing companies but the process in general is great for anybody who wants to improve or create something and then turn it into a business. One of the infamous legends of Google is their white board where they just spin off idea after idea to prompt new products and services. These types of activities are powerful and effective and if adapted to each company or team’s needs I believe would be advantageous. All three parts of the ABC Nightline feature after the jump.