See my new web page… My courses (available now!) and book (launching in February!) are growing beyond this blog and deserve their own site. Click Spodek Academy or the image below! You’ll see videos, fuller explanations of the courses, testimonials, and more. … And new social media sites! To create business connections with customers (and in contrast with my aversion to Facebook and LinkedIn), I’m creating Facebook and LinkedIn pages.[…] Keep reading →

My Inc.com article from last Monday (sorry, I fell behind), “How to Pivot Like a Pro,” began How to Pivot Like a Pro Think you have a good idea but facing resistance? Here’s how to change it to a great idea your customers love and your competitors envy. Changing your business’s direction is hard, especially when you love your current plan. It could be the difference between customers loving you[…] Keep reading →

My Inc.com article today, “11 Reasons Why School Business Plan Competitions Should Die” begins 11 Reasons Why School Business Plan Competitions Should Die Who benefits when venture capitalists ‘give’ money away? Who loses? If the customer is valuable, who is the customer when a business plan competition sponsor pays its award? Whom did the contestant focus on–the long-term customer or the venture capitalist sponsor? Schools once didn’t teach entrepreneurship. Then[…] Keep reading →

See me on a panel on entrepreneurial leadership with the Columbia Business School Alumni Club (all are welcome, membership not required), Thursday, October 13, 6pm-8pm at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY. Register Here! I look forward to seeing you there. From the event page: Entrepreneurial Leadership: Leadership in Starting a New Business Effective leadership is of vital importance at all stages of[…] Keep reading →

Have you ever found young adults self-righteously holding ideas, unwilling to consider alternatives? I have. This summer I also saw a room full of them change their minds in an instant on an issue I know they would have been fixed about before. I taught a summer session of high school students entrepreneurship. One exercise is to project financials for your project for two years. I’ve gotten good at helping[…] Keep reading →

Do you have ideas or potential you’re looking to develop? Do you find having others help while you help them spurs more creativity and action? Then you may want to work with a mastermind group. My friend and fellow coach, Silvia Christmann, is leading two eight-week curated groups, one starting September 15, the other September 20. While I coach, I don’t have any stake in her work. I can tell[…] Keep reading →

Ever wonder how much you can get from a course in entrepreneurial thinking and behavior? When it’s not “just” entrepreneurship you learn a lot more, like how to take initiative and responsibility for your life and career. Here’s a student from the class I taught last semester. Chris is a Cornell student who was taking a class at NYU for the semester. For written testimonials, click here: “This is one[…] Keep reading →