What You Can Do to Attract Funding

Inspired Capital co-founder Alexa von Tobel talks about three ways (below) the entrepreneur turned investor suggests getting the attention of VCs.

1. Communicate your passion.
2. Prove that you're ready to learn.
3. Don't focus only on the money.

Read all her comments here.

Unmeasured Strength and Resilience

©2021 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Remembering 911, we go back to a post we published about Lauren Manning and her book, "Unmeasured Strength," which is about how Lauren's life on September 11, 2001, changed forever. She tells the story of survival and transformation.

It's only fitting to repeat it.

The photo above is a 911 decal from my Dad's car window.  He passed away in 2011 but I saved the decal and affixed it to a window in my home.  Over the years, the flag's bright colors have faded but our memories of 911 are quite vivid.

Let's all honor the fallen and heroes of September 11, 2001.

Entrepreneurial Obsession by Laurel Delaney

©2021 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Here are 13 ways to create a brighter future for your business.

Turning Limes to Limeade

Here are a few lessons you can learn from 5 global entrepreneurial icons who changed the face of American culture. Despite their early challenges, they managed to make their own way in life. We can learn from their endeavors and find opportunities in the unlikeliest places.  This is an article I [Laurel Delaney] wrote for American Express several years ago yet I still find in inspiring to read.  Hope you do, too.

In going after a dream, exercise unbridled enthusiasm until you achieve it.   So do something unusual to manifest your own latent entrepreneurial capabilities:  start a juice stand, backpack to India or sell a sketch to a neighbor.  

You never know where it will lead.  

How to Get a Good Night's Rest As a Business Owner During Tough Times

One of the key questions I always ask business owners:  what keeps you up at night?

Being a small business owner and a formally trained facilitator (e.g., Women Presidents' Organization Chicago Chapter Chair since 2003), I decided to take a different approach and asked 20 presidents of small businesses in marketing, interior design, insurance and a variety of other industries what’s allowing them to get a good night’s rest.

Here are the highlights of what they shared. 

Thought Leaders Who Knew Steve Jobs

©2011 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Like millions of other people, I have been a fan of Steve Jobs for more than three decades.  Use all Apple products.  Read every book on Steve.  So when he passed in 2011, I felt this inner urge to glean any lessons I could from him. I wanted to find out what made this man so great. Why was he so cool? Is it possible to integrate his brilliance into our work ethic? How can we make the world a better and more inspiring place to live?

In attempting to find the answers to these questions, here’s what I discovered from Steve himself, and thought-leaders who knew him.

Hire More Entrepreneurs and Grow

What would you do if you were at the beginning stage of an enormous snowstorm that showed no signs up letting up?  Surely, to get ahead of it, you’d grab a shovel and start shoveling or jump in your car to buy the last snow blower on the floor.  Well, in our current economic mess due to the global pandemic, the solution is right in front of us, too.  

Hire the best and brightest entrepreneurs (yes – that’s us!), and put them to work!  Who else is going to try something new that will shake us out of these tiresome doldrums?  

Here are ten things entrepreneurs can do that make them smart power resources.