Natural Entrepreneur: Trends and Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

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Trends and Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network expresses optimism and produces winners

“One of the few constants in business is rapid and persistent change, whether in technology, consumer behavior, social values, finance, or politics and regulation. Change can be a threat to an existing business, but it’s also a great source of entrepreneurial opportunity,” says Gregg Fairbrothers, executive director of the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network (DEN).

DEN has established itself as a bastion of entrepreneurial activity in New Hampshire and for the Dartmouth College community and alumni nationwide. In April 2004, DEN produced the 3rd annual Greener Ventures conference, bringing together for a day, experience and expertise in business, investment, academia, and government.

“Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of looking for opportunities without considering underlying trends, or think about trends without finding real commercial opportunities,” Fairbrothers continues. “Late in the down-cycle of the economy, some entrepreneurs even come to believe that macro trends mainly frustrate opportunities. Unfortunately, as the economy turns up, exactly the opposite is true. The experienced entrepreneur knows this is the best time in the cycle to move aggressively to build and acquire value. It is also important not to fall into ‘group-think’ by following conventional wisdom. The ‘view of the street’ is sometimes right, but sometimes it’s the biggest obstacle to realizing opportunity.”

Conferences like Greener Ventures help attendees realize opportunity by sharing thoughts and critical insights about how things have worked out in the past, and where they may be headed now. For those who may have missed the Greener Ventures conference this year, here is a brief recap of the day’s events.

Governor Benson kicked off the morning with opening remarks on how tough it is to run the near-monopoly corporation called “New Hampshire Inc.” He also expounded on a number of entrepreneurial initiatives he has initiated at the State level during the past year, including the Start Up New Hampshire business plan competition, the Laptops for Education program for 7th graders, and an healthcare and education initiative for high school seniors going into nursing.

The morning keynote was delivered by Dartmouth alumnus Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric. In a remarkably open and forthcoming talk, Jeff spoke about his view of business and the economy from the top seat at one of the world’s largest corporations. Future trends we can expect include: 1) GDP growth in the 2-3% range (“unlike the 90’s”); 2) continued globalization, and “robust global business models” (including outsourcing); 3) big business models that are distribution-based (like eBay and Amazon.com). Departing from the past 25 years, Immelt foresees that demographics, not technology, will be the driver of change in coming decades, as exemplified by the hyper-growth economies of China and Russia. Finally, he emphasized how we’re living in a “profoundly more volatile” time, post-9/11, where financial and cultural stability is an issue.

Mr. Immelt also outlined details of the five major factors GE focuses on for future growth and success:
1. Growth based on productivity and customer relations,
2. Technical strategy, such that any technology must produce multiple revenue streams,
3. Commercial excellence, in high tech, service, and sales & marketing (the latter being a key differentiator in the future, with customer orientation and globalization),
4. Culture of innovation, responding to customer needs and competition, and
5. People, including huge investments in training, and promotion of individual leaders with both passion and process, both a learner and teacher, decisive and determined, and willing to take smart risks.

The rest of the day included three tracks of sessions. The “Trends & Opportunities” track included panels on trends in Life sciences and biomedicine, Venture investing: past and future, and IT and wireless. The “Execution” track included panels on Dartmouth entrepreneurs and their stories, Team formation: dating and marrying, and Making tough decisions. The third track, “Financing and Exiting” included panels on Financing 101, Bootstrapping your startup, and Exit strategies.

A business plan competition was held later in the afternoon, with contestants from the Dartmouth College community. Three finalists made their pitch to a panel of professional investors, with one winner emerging to collect the $4,000 cash prize –Woomera Therapeutics. Congratulations!

A month later, Woomera went on to win another $170,000 award—Grand Prize in the Start Up New Hampshire competition. Another DEN company, Accentus, won $40,000 in the Financial Services category of the Start Up NH competition as well.

“No idea or trend amounts to much if an entrepreneur doesn’t pay attention to the basics, including the nuts and bolts of execution, financing, and exiting,” Fairbrothers concludes. Apparently there are winners at Dartmouth willing to follow his advice.

-- Jonathan Linowes

Upcoming Events

Feb 21 (8-9:30a): NH Forum on the Future, NHHTC, CR Sparks, Bedford, NH

March 1 (6:30-8:30p): Women's Business Center and MicroCredit-NH Networking Event, Bank of America, Portsmouth, NH

March 6 (10a-noon): Growth Capital Resources in New Hampshire, City of Nashua, Office of Economic Development, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH

March 8: (12pm -1pm) Break the Rules and Close More Sales, Amoskeag Business Incubator, Manchester, NH

March 16: Peak Pitch (pitch your plan to invstors on the chairlift), Mt. Sunapee, NH ($)

March 22: Breaking Trends in Web Develoment, UVCIA, Hanover, NH ($)

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