By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker There are a lot of ways to be an entrepreneur. Familiar stories all seem to involve a blinding insight that manifests as a spectacular, game-changing product, à la Facebook. But that’s definitely not the only way. Don’t be intimidated by those flash-of-brilliance stories, because I truly believe entrepreneurship is [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker The Internet of Things has gotten a lot of airtime recently, from comments about how much venture capital it brought in in 2013  ($1 billion, in case you don’t want to click through to the Washington Post) to the Pew Research piece of ten days ago that claims it [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Good customer service creates repeat customers and long-standing orders, which can get you started as an entrepreneur and sustain you in otherwise hard times. It's what generates word-of-mouth, the best kind of advertising. Bad customer service drives people to social media to complain, and it can ruin you in a [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Imagine being a shoe shop owner. You have to rent your retail space, pay your employees, order and keep an abundant inventory, give yourself a salary so your kid can go to college, pay taxes, hopefully have enough cash to plow back into the business. When a customer comes [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Once I had settled on real estate outsourcing as the business I wanted to start, I needed to do some reality testing. I had realized that I possessed distinctive competence in the field. I had knowledge, skills, and a track record of success. I understood the value drivers behind [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker   Last night a very good friend of mine wrote me with thoughts about our book: The Purpose Is Profit.  I wanted to share her thoughts along with my response. Hi Ed, Just a quick note to say that I enjoy following your comments on LinkedIn and am glad [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker 'Tis the season of the draft! This time of year always makes me think about teams and teamwork. Teams are a huge part of business (it’s no coincidence there’s so much sports language in business: a lot of ideas overlap). They generate more value than individuals. Putting together a [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Eric Whitacre is a popular contemporary choral composer with a massive social media following. He has written some amazing pieces, including "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine," and "When David Heard." This recollection from Mr. Whitacre reminded me of one of the tenets of leadership in which I believe very [...]

By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker I'm a firm believer in bootstrapping to start your own company, as I wrote in an earlier blog, "The Cost of Control," but there are a lot of funding methods. If bootstrapping is not possible for you, venture capital and angel investors are popular choices you may want to [...]

   By Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker Once your company is a well-oiled machine, how do you foster ingenuity? Stasis does not help us succeed against the new obstacles and challenges of a changing world. So, how do we keep the spark alive that first made us great, while continuing to do what our company [...]