Kevin Koym

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Share your war stories- Entrepreneur Happy Hour 10/24/2008

October 23, 2008 by kkoym Leave a Comment

Several of my fellow friends that are entrepreneurs were just discussing how we should get together for a happy hour- to share some war stories, reconnect with each other, and informally discuss what we can do to move our businesses forward, even in these troubled times.  Given the number of others that have mentioned interest in this, we are going to open it up to others to join us…  So we’re going to have a happy hour tomorrow (sorry for the short notice!) at House Wine at 5:30 pm. Here are the details:

HOUSE WINE

408 Josephine
Austin 78704-1017
+1.512.322.5210

Here is a map.  This location is very close to the Barton Springs / Lamar intersection.  They have wine and beer inexpensively priced.  Moreover, if you have a good recent war story (whether the outcome was good, or if it created a lot of scar tissue for you) I will buy you your first drink.  (Ok, so I am only going to do this for the first 10 good entrepreneurial-scar-tissue-stories, as we comisserate together.  🙂 )  Catch me via twitter if you have any questions, or post a comment here.  I look forward to catching up with you then.

Filed Under: Austin, economy, entrepreneurship

The Care and Feeding of Entrepreneurs

October 22, 2008 by kkoym Leave a Comment

Today I was at The Rackspace Cloud Event– Where Rackspace announced several new products, as well as the acquisition of JungleDisk and SliceHost.  Between seeing many good friends that are entrepreneurs at the event, and what I believe to be some smart strategic acquisitions on the part of Rackspace- I felt like I must be living in a different world than much of the rest of the world concerned with the credit markets.  And then I saw the following interview from Guy Kawasaki about the Care and Feeding of Entrepreneurs.  Here is the most telling question / answer from the interview:

Q. What is your advice to entrepreneurs seeking funding or growth opportunities if the credit and capital markets continue on their current course?

A. My advice is that they melt wax into their ears and go forward. If they are waiting for wonderful credit and capital markets, they probably aren’t entrepreneurs. They’re much more likely to be consultants and bankers looking to quickly flip a company.

It feels like a great time to be an entrepreneur. I am sorry to see so many other people in the world upset about financial doom and gloom.  Maybe at some point I will change my song…. but for now, I am glad to be building a company, and helping other entrepreneurs build their companies.  Yes, all of us entrepreneurs have to be somewhat more conservative right now than we might be during boom-times, but it is a GREAT time to start a company.  If you have been displaced from your previous job, or have the general entrepreneurial itch that you have not been scratching, and you have the entrepreneur jean (not the consultant or banker gene described above) build it now.  Sure, calculate it out… but realize that right now, entrepreneurial businesses will be the first to recover and thrive from the present credit crisis. Damn the torpedos, full steam ahead!

Filed Under: economy, entrepreneurship

NanoTX Presentation: Enterprise Tribes: Supporting Emerging Tech Startups In the Age of Web 2.0

October 1, 2008 by kkoym Leave a Comment

I am honored to be presenting at this year’s Nano Technology Summit in Dallas, Texas- called NanoTX with a number of Nobel Laureates and other technology experts. Following is info on the speech that I will be giving.  Please make sure to call me or twitter me if you happen to be at the event.

Enterprise Tribes: Supporting Emerging Tech Startups In the Age of Web 2.0

Failure to receive support early enough in the startup cycle is a challenge that has kept many promising technologies from ever making it to the market. Venture capital and angel investment have their place, but most financial capital cannot invest in high-risk ventures at the earliest stages. The fate of the typical entrepreneur has been to build his business through sweat, credit cards and friends-and-family investments. But now, social networking technologies are making increasing amounts of social capital available – significantly reducing financial costs faced by entrepreneurs. Mr. Koym shares stories of startups that use social capital in place of cash and the principles that benefit emerging technologies companies – whether bootstrapped or investor-backed.

One page abstract:  for Track 5:  Business & Economic Development

The sad truth standing in the way of getting many promising technologies to market is that most startup support programs don’t work early enough in the startup cycle to be significant at the times of entrepreneurs’ greatest need.  Venture capital and angel investment certainly have their place, but most financial capital cannot invest in high risk at the earliest stages. Until recently, the typical entrepreneur stood alone in building his business through his own sweat, credit card and the cash offered up by friends and family. However, social networking technologies now are creating opportunities to significantly reduce the financial cost of building a business, by making social capital more widely and easily accessible.  In this speech, Mr. Koym will share examples of startups that are leveraging social capital in lieu of financial capital and the principles that work for companies in the emerging technologies arena.

As a technology visionary, including predicting and ushering in web based eCommerce in 1994 and building the startup company that subsequently leading Dell Computer Corporation’s billion dollar eCommerce site in 1996; Predicting the usage of Linux in embedded devices in 2002, subsequently leading the deployment of this startup’s products across Schlumberger’s world wide network; Mr. Koym now is charting where social networking technologies are opening up opportunities to change the face of entrepreneurship, culminating in four conceptual shifts that he sees will drive change across the five domains of the individual, the corporation, the enterprise tribe, on demand services, and governments.

The Four Conceptual Shifts that Mr. Koym is predicting will show up in the following ways:
1.    Superempowerment of the individual, where individuals exchange the mythical stability of a corporate job for the stability of self-employment, producing an entrepreneurial mindset that creates a truly resilient workforce.
2.    New open corporate structures that allow much greater flexibility by coordinating many outside players in an open, yet not vulnerable, value chain
3.    The rise of the Enterprise Tribe- a presently emerging social structure where entrepreneurs connect and support each other much in ways resembling America’s agrarian past
4.    A “Chinese menu” of on demand, robust, Internet delivered services, organized by vendors large and small
5.    Governments that become agile, and in many times, partially replaced by grass-roots community efforts organized through social networks.

Filed Under: enterprise 2.0, entrepreneurship, The Enterprise Tribe Tagged With: entreperneurship technology startup

Texas unemployment claims remain well above 2007 levels

September 23, 2008 by kkoym Leave a Comment

You’ve heard me chime in before about unemployment levels across Texas.  I believe that the financial crisis that we are seeing is adding to this more than ever before.  It is in this time of chaos that we, as entrepreneurs can create the biggest impact (and many times have some of the most interesting opportunities.)  Constraint creates innovation.  Large groups of unemployed workers make for difficult times, yet, it is in this environment that entrepreneurs still have opportunity to create.  I am not saying creating in this environment is (or will be) easy, but we, the entrepreneurs, are in a position to create jobs, technologies, companies.  Go startup something today!

Texas unemployment claims remain well above 2007 levels – Austin Business Journal:.

Filed Under: Austin, economy Tagged With: Austin, economy

Not sleeping well?

September 23, 2008 by kkoym Leave a Comment

Not sleeping well?  Me neither. As it ends up, there might be a technology reason for this… and after doing a bunch of research looking into the root causes of my condition, I believe that I have have found something- so much so that I was quoted on CNNMoney.com website about it.  Research that has been sponsored and published in Europe has shown that adults that use their cell phones close to bedtime might get to sleep fast, but sometimes don’t enter into the most restful phases of sleep for an extra hour.  I posited in my own case that my insomnia was possibly caused by working too late- yet it was not untill I started limiting my wireless internet usage that I started noticing that wifi might have something to do with this as well.  A key quote from the aritcle by the original research that I uncovered:

Bengt Arnetz, the Swedish professor who led the study, says there is no doubt that cell phones “have measurable effects on the brain.” He believes that the radiation from phones activates the brain’s stress system, making people feel more alert and decreasing their ability to wind down and snooze.

I have noticed over the last few months that when I stop using the ‘net by 10 pm, but even if I still work on non-computer task, I am able to get to sleep and sleep much better.  If I allow myself to do computer related work after 10 pm, I have significant problems falling to sleep, and I don’t sleep as well.

I can not conclusively state that wireless internet signals create the same issues as noticed by the researcher concerning cell phones- but I do believe that there is some connection both based on the research, and my own personal experience.

If you suffer from insomnia- I have included my original email to the writer of the article in the more section of this post.  Post a comment- and I can point you at more information as well.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: superempowerment

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