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  • Posted on February 21, 2010

Open to Cliches

When we are young, we all learn to say “thank you.” None of us have any idea why. Kids across the nation are, every day, wondering to themselves, “What is thankfulness? Why do we say it so often when someone gives us something? Oh well. Who cares?” We just say it because someone tells us to. It becomes a routine.

And then we hit a point in our life when it actually dawns on us. We can’t help but being deeply grateful for something that someone has done for us. We realize that when we say thank you in our small life, it’s a reminder that people are doing things for us that they don’t have to be doing. It’s an appreciation for those around us, and a small reminder that there are amazing things in this world. When people say “thank you” to us or we say “thank you” to others, it starts to actually mean something.

But then we go back to saying and listening to people say thank you out of routine.

And suddenly, it creeps up again. Someone says thank you to you and you realize how amazing it is. You realize how happy you are to have improved someone’s life. It is a great reminder.

But then we go back to saying and listening to people say thank you out of routine.

I think this is so cool. You hear different things at different times in your life and it really means something. We’ve all heard that we need to “stop and smell the roses,” or some variant on that. But then our lives become overwhelming, someone tells us we need to “take a day and relax,” we do, and we suddenly appreciate again the value of relaxation. We tend to, for a large part of our lives, ignore the life advice that is overstated.

But there is a reason, it seems, that these things are cliches. They’re over stated because they’re very true. It makes sense to repeat them. We  just tend to become jaded.

Today someone told me over the phone, almost in passing, that you can learn so much from those who are around you, especially those who are younger than you. I’ve definitely heard that one before. But – I’ve just been thinking about how true that is, and noticing it show up in my life all the time. The students I work with, the friends I have, the mentors in my life. There are so many things that I have the opportunity to learn from, and it’s incredible.

It’s a good reminder for me to keep my mind open to new thoughts and ideas, even if they seem like I’ve heard them before. After all, I’m listening to them from a different place in my life, with different ears.

Words just hit us in different ways sometimes.

  • Posted on February 17, 2010

My Career Choice

For those who don’t know, I am a business student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and am currently in my last year of the program. Just like with any business school, this last year has seen all my peers scrambling for jobs and interviewing with every major consulting and investment banking office out there. Every few days, I see another interview session on the way to class, with students nervously pacing back and forth in suits.

As much as I’ve tried not to let it bother me lately, the pressure of my job situation has been wearing down on me. I was half heartedly looking for job options in D.C. I applied to some consulting firms in the area, Coca-Cola, Whole Foods, Pepsi. All my jobs were marketing or consulting jobs, all of them were jobs where I had to wear a suit, get up early, go into work, and sit behind a cubicle.

I, like many students, resigned to the fact that I would do something that I didn’t like “for a few years,” “for little pay,” “for the experience.” I figured that a few years out, I would be able to leave my job with the experience I’ve gained, start a business, and live the life I dreamed of. That’s the story I’ve always heard, right? So that’s the life I had to live. But every time I walked by an interview session with a big company, or filled out an application for a company, I was filled with a sense of foreboding.

I ended up getting three jobs that seemed right on paper. They were in D.C., they had great growth opportunities, and they offered salaries beyond what I would have expected to get graduating from college. All of them didn’t feel right. Every time I would sit down to think about accepting my offer, I would distract myself until I wasn’t thinking about it any more. My brain was avoiding the fact that my life was pointing directly towards something that made me uneasy.

I talked with so many people about this, seeking out advice. I spoke with friends, family members, entrepreneurs, career consultants and anyone who would give me some words of wisdom. There were two big camps of thought. One group of people told me to go work for a business for a while, get some experience, and then start my business after I’d saved up some money and accumulated some wealth. Many of them also told me that they remembered the days when they, too, wanted to start a business. But then they started a family and got a 401(k) and they started to rely on their income, so they were never able to break away. Another group of people told me to go and do what I loved. Figure out what it was that made me get out of bed in the morning and focus my efforts and energy on developing that. These people often said it in such a straight forward way that it was clear they thought any other alternative was crazy.

The interesting thing that I found was that everyone who told me that I could go and start a business was, largely, still working for a corporation. Most of the people who told me to go do what I loved after I graduated were still doing what they loved.

I have chosen to be a full time entrepreneur, and devote my attentions to creating and sustaining organizations that help society. I have devoted myself to do something that I am deeply passionate about for the rest of my life. And this feeling is absolutely exhilarating. I turned down all my jobs and informed them of this, and now me, and a group of friends, are going to live in a house together and try to create jobs and social change.

The tragic thing, I think, is how much of an anomaly this seems to be in society, especially for those graduating. Now, people have been telling me how great it is to do something that I love, that I am living my dream life right out of college. It’s not anyones fault, of course. Society strongly pushes us to always follow the straight path towards retirement. But isn’t that sad that everyone things that it is strange, exciting, and crazy to give up a job to deviate from this path and turn down all my jobs?

I’ve owned some part of a business for the past 9 years of my life. For most of it, I have been my own boss, working with people who I love. I was always doing things that I love. I love working with students. I love working with all facets of a business. I love how my job provides an intellectual challenge every day. I love the people I meet, people who are so inspired that it makes you want to become a better person. In fact, when I think of describing my job to people, almost every sentence I could think of starts with “I love.”

I was going to give up all of these things that I loved so that I could do something I probably wouldn’t even like? So that I could leave a few years later and go back to doing what I love?

For me, the biggest realization that tipped the scale was that I am not attached to anything. I have my friends. I have my family. But for the large part, I don’t have any assets. People were telling me that I was taking a big risk. And I believed them. But, what risk do we students have? I don’t have a family. I don’t have a 401(k). All that I am risking is the opportunity to work for a corporation right now.

But when I weigh the options and the advice everyone gave me, the decision is very clear. The opportunity to potentially realize every one of my dreams is worth more than any salary, any job, or any corporation. I am lucky, blessed, and so excited to be living the life I always dreamed of living. To all that helped guide me towards this decision – Thank you.

  • Posted on February 16, 2010

Back again!

All – I just want to take a minute to say thanks for reading my blog. After checking my  blog’s analytics – I’ve been getting more visitors than I ever thought would want to read my thoughts. Things have been very exciting in my life lately, and I seem to have let a few things slip to the wayside, including this blog.

So, I just wanted to write a quick post apologizing for my lack of posts and making a commitment to write much more often. I love maintaining this blog, it’s put me in touch with so many interesting people and cool stories.

Commitments are funny things. I’d made a commitment to myself, at the start of the semester, to be happy with my health. As part of this, I committed to go to the gym three times a week. Amidst this snow storm in D.C., classes, our business expansion, and a few other things, my commitment to going to the gym slipped through the cracks. Every time I wanted to go, my brain would come up with excuses and reasons for me not to go. So last week a friend of mine coerced me to go to the gym, for the first time in a few weeks. It was fantastic! I loved it!

It’s just so funny how our brains work. I love going to the gym. I love getting up early. I love blogging. I just have to sometimes remind my brain of that, when it seems to think otherwise :)

Anyway. In short: Excited to be back and blogging. Looking forward to connecting with everyone again!

  • Posted on December 27, 2009

The Art of Productivity

Very often, my friends hear the complaint coming out of my lips: “I just don’t have enough time in my day.” My friends look at me, nod their heads, sympathize, and we share how much stuff we have to do.

What a waste of time!

My day is full of tons of pockets of time. There are so many tiny gaps and tiny spaces in my schedule that, if I used effectively, I would never talk about how much time I didn’t have. I would be spending my time productively enjoying my life.

I am going to postulate something, and you’re free to disagree with me in the comments. You are not actually that busy. You like the idea of being busy. You like the idea of feeling like you have a lot to do. But the vast majority of people who think they are busy, including myself, are just inefficient with their time.

168 hours

One of my former teachers, Will Finnerty, used to say that EVERYONE has 168 hours in their week. What a cool idea! Everyone has the same amount of time. Your potential is strongly linked to your ability to use those 168 hours in your week.

How much time do you spend doing work? 40. How much time do you spend sleeping? 60. There are 68 hours left in your week. Where do those hours go?

A fun exercise that blew my mind is to actually keep track of how much time you spend doing what. Just keep a notebook with you at all time, and just jot down “8am-815am: Read newspaper.” If you do this, you can see where do your 168 hours go? When I did that for 7 weeks, I was blown away. I spent 8 hours a week watching TV? I spent an hour a day surfing the internet? What?? I was not happier as a result of that. I did not find a new friend in result of that. I was not really expanding my mind as a result of that. I was not moving towards a valuable life as result of that. It was such a waste of time!

What is Productivity?

Because what is productivity? Productivity is the art of making value. It is doing what you set your mind to in the most effective way. And this is of ultimate importance.

Time is a commodity and it is THE MOST important commodity we have. 168 a week. That’s it.

Consider the following everyday expressions:

  • Wasting your time.
  • Making the most of your time.
  • Quality time.
  • Time well spent.
  • A worthwhile day.

We exchange these words all the time in our daily conversation. The implications of these sorts of expressions are huge. Time is the one thing we will never, ever be able to reclaim. We want to maximize our value of our time.

And that, in a nutshell, is productivity.

This is Universal

So many people balk at the notion of productivity, it makes people think of hours spent in their cubicle cranking out report after report. Productivity is just the opposite of that. It is about spending six hours doing your work as opposed to ten hours so you have more time to spend relaxing. It’s about checking your e-mail more efficiently so you can go to sleep earlier. It’s about making your phone calls all at once so you can spend an uninterrupted hour at the dinner table with your significant other.

Productivity is the art of maximizing the value of your time. For work. For fun. For relaxation. If you do whatever you want to do productively, you do not waste your time doing something else.

Productive Napping

Let’s take the example of napping. I think I am very inefficient about napping. This is how my brain works when I want to take a nap:

Well, Neil, what are we going to do today? I know! Let’s take a 20 minute nap! Okay, time to get under the covers. Wait a second – you’re kind of thirsty. I think you’d enjoy a nice glass of milk. Alright – here we go, off to get the milk. Oops, there’s your room mate, let’s stop for a while and talk to him. Okay, what were we doing? Oh yes, milk! Pouring milk… drinking milk… okay, back upstairs to bed! Going to bed, but going to check e-mail first. Ten minutes later… it’s nap time!

This is how my brain should work when I take a nap:

Well, Neil, time to take a 20 minute nap. Good night.

Excellent dramatization, no? Anyway, you get the idea. I am inefficient about my napping. I nap for 20 minutes and it takes me an hour to do that. (Pareto, old friend! You appear again!) Productivity applies to EVERYTHING. It is not just work.

Why be Productive?

The worst thing about living a purposeful life is having your life not fulfill your purpose. You are a person of value! Your time is valuable! You want to be a great parent? You only have one life time to do it! You want to be a great doctor? You only have one lifetime to do it. One more time: Productivity is the art of making value.

This is the truth: You spend your whole life trying to create value in some way. You try to have the more relaxing lazy Sunday you can so you feel refreshed and happy the next day. You hang out with your kids so you can be a better parent, or enjoy some quality time with them. You work your butt off so you can make some more money or get a promotion. Productivity is applying the same mindset to your time.

So the next time I think, “Ugh, I am so busy! I wish I had more time in your day,” I should stop and realize that I probably do. We all are people of value, and our time is worth being spent well.

  • Posted on December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas

No post today,

Just writing to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Neil

  • Posted on December 23, 2009

The Truth About Starting a Business

With my business, Compass Partners, I work very closely with start up businesses run by student entrepreneurs. I was talking with a friend the other day, and she was commenting how crazy it is that kids, at the age of 18 and 19 are starting businesses. We talked about how amazing it was that Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook on his own in college. How does someone incorporate a business, market a product, come up with a web presence, and direct a team? Here’s the amazing thing about a business, it is MUCH easier than you think.

To create an official business, you don’t need lawyers. You just have to go online, do some research on incorporating a business, and pay around $100 depending on your state. To get a business plan put together, there are many softwares a Google Search away (my favorite is Business Plan Pro). There’s a great book called Art of the Start that will guide you through the whole process.

To create a website, you don’t need years of web development experience or tons of money. You just need to do some online research and figure out what you need. You can go to www.elance.com to outsource some of your internet needs, use wordpress to create a nice blog, or find a college intern to do your webdesign for you. There are many templates out there (www.templatemonster.com is a great site) that you can take to a web developer to give them a head start.

To develop a marketing strategy, you don’t need a big advertising budget. You need some creative ideas and a computer. Word of mouth is the result of hard work. Social media is the result of hard work. Just go do some research and figure it out. I suggest reading through Seth Godin’s blog for some advice.

To get business advice, there are tons of options. Pick up the phone and give people a call. Go to local trade shows and learn what’s going on in your industry. Use the amazing internet. Sign up for some great blogs. Most importantly: Find people who have done something similar to you and learn everything you can from them!

Anyway, the point of this convoluted blog post: there are millions of people who have started a business. The amazing team at Compass starts businesses every few months. I guarantee we are not any smarter than you are. So if you have a great idea for a business – go out there and start it! Very little is holding you back! If you have any questions about starting a business, comment here or e-mail me at neil@neilsthoughts.com.

  • Posted on December 21, 2009

Motivational Intelligence

One of the biggest problems everyone faces in their work and school life is a lack of motivation to do things that they aren’t passionate about. I’ve been struggling with this for a while. How do you get yourself to get up and get going with the things you don’t care about? How do you get yourself out of bed? How do you finish a proposal for work? That’s the topic I want to explore in this blog topic.

So I would like to coin a term in the same vein as Goldman’s fantastic books Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence. I would like to say that someone can and should develop “Motivational Intelligence.” Motivational Intelligence is an understanding of how your brain and other’s brains motivate themselves to get things done.

Neil’s Take on Neurology

I am not a neurologist, which everyone should consider a great relief to humanity. I do not really understand the biology and the physiology of the brain. So what I’m saying is from personal experience and speculation, and if someone can give us more information, I’d love to hear your voice in the comments.

The human brain is much simpler than it seems. I had a teacher long ago who used to say “I really only know seven things, and I live them out over and over again.” A friend’s mom told me “You really only make twenty original decisions in your life, so make sure those twenty are the right ones.” That’s what humans are. We are, largely, reactions. We have routines and systematized reactions to things. We regurgitate information instead of creating thoughts. We are, for most of the time, very complicated, very intricate predictable feedback loops. A stimulus causes a response.

A great example. The other day, I was driving to my parents in Indianapolis from my home in Washington, D.C. A driver switched lanes right in front of me and then immediately put on his breaks. I almost crashed into him, and I was really, really angry. I felt the emotion pass over my body, and in a few minutes I was back to equilibrium. He cut me off, I reacted. Stimulus and then response.

I’m sure you can think of these examples. If someone brings up an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, does your mind become sad or angry? Stimulus response.

The same thing happens with tasks. We are conditioned to react a certain way to certain motivational stimuli. Those people with high motivational intelligence know what stimuli cause them to be motivated, and which stimuli do not.

People with high motivational intelligence KNOW that they are productive in the morning so they get their work done then. They know that they are lazy about applications to jobs, so they come up with a reward system to get their applications done. It’s all very personalized, just like every part of your brain. Do you need a notebook to record your tasks? Do you need to treat yourself to dinner every time you finish a chapter of your book? Are you the kind of person who needs recognition for a job well done? Do commitments to yourself or others really get you to accomplish? What motivates you?

I imagine there are two levels of motivation:

Short term seeking of pleasure or avoiding of pain – In this level, people get a short term kick out of whatever it is they set out to do. They get pleasure out of being lazy, or pleasure out of checking a box out of their to do list. They also may be trying to avoid the short term pain of upsetting their roommates when they do the dishes. Stimulus and then response.

Long term alignment with values and vision - In this level of motivation, people do what they do because it is in line with their purpose or their vision. This is similar to the short term in that people seek pleasure or avoid pain, but the focus is on a few months or years out. This would be someone who works hard to apply for a job because they know that without this job, they won’t be able to afford graduate school. Stimulus and then response.

I think an understanding of your own motivational habits is a cure to laziness and being unproductive. Definitely simplistic, but something that I haven’t really put a lot of effort into. What is it that motivates me to get things done? What are the underlying causes behind what I do? I think understanding this a little bit more would help me become more productive. What are my stimuli and what are my responses?

Thoughts? Feel free to comment!

  • Posted on December 20, 2009

TED Talk: Goleman on Compassion

Sorry about the hiatus everyone, holiday travels are preventing me from posting as often as I would like. But, in between the family outings and the car trips, I watched this fantastic speech that I wanted to share with everyone.

Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence, one of  my favorite books, gave a great talk on TED. It’s about the psychology of compassion for humanity.

During the holiday season, this is a great thing to keep in mind. For those of you who would prefer to read, go here and click on “interactive transcript.”

And for those of you who can’t tell – I love TED. The whole website are short, powerful speeches about the coolest things from very famous people. Al Gore, Bill Gates, all of them are just fantastic. Check it out!

Look forward (or not!) to another post from me tomorrow!

  • Posted on December 12, 2009

Tiger Woods and Personal Leadership

Tiger is a leader, as much as any of us is a leader. In Tiger’s case, he was an icon of the sports world, the highest paid athlete in the world. He was providing many young golfers nationwide a role model, he was providing many golfers a standard by which they judged themselves. For some of us, we are a leader by showing people younger than us how to act (or not to act) when they grow up. For some of us, we run an organization or a non-profit, and people look to us to direct their professional lives. Some of us are good friends to others – and people look at us to lead conversations, or be a shoulder to cry on, or a pal to laugh with. And some of us are just leaders for ourselves, directing our actions and our goals and pointing ourselves to a better future.
Anyone who has anyone observing and taking cues from them is a leader. This includes all of us. Every single person is a leader. You either lead organizations, others, or yourself, but you are doing some sort of leading in your life. We are all living and breathing some sort of leadership. Isn’t it important that you lead correctly?
This is the thing that is so tragic about Tiger’s mismanaged personal life. He started simply as a golfer, leading himself to become one of the best athletes in the world. Then he became the world’s best golfer, leading hundreds of athletes in strokes and salary. Then he became a role model, providing millions of adults and children someone to admire and look up to. And his flawed personal ethics now reverberates, even if only subconsciously, down that chain out into the world. His personal life is now affecting him, his family, the hundreds of athletes who were competing with him, and the millions of people who admired him.
Everyone can fall victim to this. I think America has a morbid fascination with watching the media tear apart another celebrity’s life. But this could happen to everyone to some degree. It’s not just an affair. It’s preaching kindness but being rude to close friends. It’s leading a non-profit that helps kids in Africa but not tending to your own children. It’s about living leadership that is not whole and having people realize that you do not have the integrity you were thought to have. And, when that happens, and it affects all the people around you, it is so sad.
—
I’m at the business school at Georgetown University. Many business school students are obsessed with being a CEO ten or fifteen years down the road. They want to run an organization, a group of people. They want to be viewed as true leaders, making change and guiding a company into the future.
But here’s the kicker. You can’t be an effective leader for others if you can’t be an effective leader of yourself. You can’t inspire others until you learn to inspire yourself. And you can’t really create an ethical organization if you can’t be ethical yourself.
You may put on appearances, like Tiger did. People may look at you and think that you’re a wholesome, good leader. But sooner or later, it could catch up to you. Like it did with Tiger, the corrupt CEOs of this most recent crash, or countless other leaders who couldn’t get their personal lives in line. Don’t take this risk, if you want to be true, good leader.
The bottom line is that your morality cannot be segmented into different parts of your life. You can’t be a moral business person and mentally abuse your wife. You can’t be a moral father but cheat on your taxes.
Leaders have a responsibility to guide those who follow them: organizations, people, or themselves. If you want to be a good leader – it is essential that you learn to live in harmony with your personal values and learn to live and breathe good leadership. The kind that you would be proud to have reverberate down your family, friends, competitors and admirers.
Integrity. It doesn’t mean honesty or truthfulness. It means whole. Integrated. It is where your business leadership style, your social leadership style and your personal leadership style are one and the same.
If you’re interested in reading more about this, I suggest reading the book “A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from the Life of Gandhi,” by Keshavan Nair. Fantastic book, and very inspiring.
Here’s an excerpt the first chapter of this book on the great blog CharityFocus.org.

Tiger is a leader, as much as any of us is a leader. In Tiger’s case, he was an icon of the sports world, the highest paid athlete in the world. He was providing many young golfers nationwide a role model, he was providing many golfers a standard by which they judged themselves. For some of us, we are a leader by showing people younger than us how to act (or not to act) when they grow up. For some of us, we run an organization or a non-profit, and people look to us to direct their professional lives. Some of us are good friends to others – and people look at us to lead conversations, or be a shoulder to cry on, or a pal to laugh with. And some of us are just leaders for ourselves, directing our actions and our goals and pointing ourselves to a better future.

Anyone who has anyone observing and taking cues from them is a leader. This includes all of us. Every single person is a leader. You either lead organizations, others, or yourself, but you are doing some sort of leading in your life. We are all living and breathing some sort of leadership. Isn’t it important that you lead correctly?

This is the thing that is so tragic about Tiger’s mismanaged personal life. He started simply as a golfer, leading himself to become one of the best athletes in the world. Then he became the world’s best golfer, leading hundreds of athletes in strokes and salary. Then he became a role model, providing millions of adults and children someone to admire and look up to. And his flawed personal ethics now reverberates, even if only subconsciously, down that chain out into the world. His personal life is now affecting him, his family, the hundreds of athletes who were competing with him, and the millions of people who admired him.

Everyone can fall victim to this. I think America has a morbid fascination with watching the media tear apart another celebrity’s life. But this could happen to everyone to some degree. It’s not just an affair. It’s preaching kindness but being rude to close friends. It’s leading a non-profit that helps kids in Africa but not tending to your own children. It’s about living leadership that is not whole and having people realize that you do not have the integrity you were thought to have. And, when that happens, and it affects all the people around you, it is so sad.

Integrity

I’m at the business school at Georgetown University. Many business school students are obsessed with being a CEO ten or fifteen years down the road. They want to run an organization, a group of people. They want to be viewed as true leaders, making change and guiding a company into the future.

But here’s the kicker. You can’t be an effective leader for others if you can’t be an effective leader of yourself. You can’t inspire others until you learn to inspire yourself. And you can’t really create an ethical organization if you can’t be ethical yourself.

You may put on appearances, like Tiger did. People may look at you and think that you’re a wholesome, good leader. But sooner or later, it could catch up to you. Like it did with Tiger, the corrupt CEOs of this most recent crash, or countless other leaders who couldn’t get their personal lives in line. Don’t take this risk, if you want to be true, good leader.

The bottom line is that your morality cannot be segmented into different parts of your life. You can’t be a moral business person and mentally abuse your wife. You can’t be a moral father but cheat on your taxes.

Leaders have a responsibility to guide those who follow them: organizations, people, or themselves. If you want to be a good leader – it is essential that you learn to live in harmony with your personal values and learn to live and breathe good leadership. The kind that you would be proud to have reverberate down your family, friends, competitors and admirers.

Integrity. It doesn’t mean honesty or truthfulness. It means whole. Integrated. It is where your business leadership style, your social leadership style and your personal leadership style are one and the same.

If you’re interested in reading more about this, I suggest reading the book “A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from the Life of Gandhi,” by Keshavan Nair. Fantastic book, and very inspiring.

Here’s an excerpt the first chapter of this book on the great blog CharityFocus.org.

  • Posted on December 09, 2009

Movie Review: Ten9Eight

I had the privilege of watching a preliminary screening of this movie put on by NFTE, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. This movie was fantastic, and I highly recommend that anyone interested in entrepreneurship go out and see it. It was awe-inspiring and cast a very cool light on entrepreneurship. The tag line for the movie captures what Ten9Eight and NFTE are all about. “In America, a kid drops out of high school every 9 seconds. Imagine if they didn’t.”

The story a documentary by Mary Mazzio which follows the lives of inner-city high school kids going through National NFTE business plan competition. The first part of the film goes through and shares some of their stories. Some are funny, but many are sad. Each of the kids is surprisingly well spoken and very passionate about their business plan. The rest of the documentary follows the kids as they go through the competition at the local level. The business ideas are clever and expressed well, and the plot has enough twists to keep you engaged. Seeing inner city kids at risk for dropping out commit themselves to being successful at such an early age is incredibly inspiring.

Mazzio says of entrepreneurship: “It really is just an metaphor for being an adventure in life.” What a great idea, and something that really hits home for entrepreneurs. For these kids, learning about math is no longer learning about intangible concepts up in the clouds. It becomes learning about balance statements, financial projections and making money. English is no longer about reading ancient books, but preparing polished presentations to venture capitalists. One of the kids used his science lab to help develop his product, a visor for football players. All of the kids had very complicated financial projections for their product. It was so inspiring to see students at risk for dropping out of our failing schools motivated to learn so that they could start a business.

I highly recommend this movie; every entrepreneur should see this.

To preorder the DVD, go here: http://ten9eight.com/