An entrepreneur should be fair to all participants in the ecosystem

July 22, 2010

Most people would say that entrepreneurship is selfish and creates value only for the entrepreneur. I totally disagree and I believe that sound entrepreneurship should create value for and be respectful of all participants in the ecosystem. An enterprise has an important social role, as it affects the lives of many people and can provide an example to follow....
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In search of a ‘messiah’

July 13, 2010

Individuals can make a huge difference. Coco Chanel is credited with single-handedly (albeit accidentally) turning sun tanning from a sign of poverty into a global fashion trend when in a 1923 cruise from Paris to Cannes she stepped off the Duke of Wellington’s yacht with a startling suntan. In a less haphazard turn of events, Steve Jobs is credited...
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The 3 Essentials to Start-up

July 8, 2010

With all the buzz, chatter and meta-discussions of what it takes to build a great company, aspiring entrepreneurs end up to exaggerate the ‘prerequisites’ and magnify the skills, capacities and luck needed to an extra-terrestial level, after all being more avert or frightened than excited to start-up. While there are no universal laws applicable when it comes to anything...
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Being an entrepreneur means being a constant salesman

June 11, 2010

One fellow entrepreneur giving a presentation once said that selling is good. When I heard it, I smiled with a childish and grateful joy. I totally concurred that this is the perfect way to describe and explain my idea of entrepreneurship and business. Entrepreneurship means selling constantly. From day 1 when an entrepreneur sets his mind on a business...
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Are you Changing Jobs for the Wrong Reasons?

June 9, 2010

The times when employees stayed in a company for all their careers are long gone. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average baby boomer will switch jobs 10 times. The average number for younger generations will be much larger (I will analyze this in a future post). Employees today want to control their careers even during bad economic conditions. As a result, job changes are inevitable but could potentially destroy a career when decisions are taken without strategic thinking or for the wrong reasons. Surprisingly, even senior executives, with substantial experience in decision taking, make mistakes...
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The graveyard of ideas and the value of being wrong

June 5, 2010

To be creative, you must be prepared to be wrong. To make great things, you must be prepared to fail. Creativity requires the willingness to think the unthinkable, to articulate the untested, to experiment with the unknown. And you will often be wrong. Making stuff is mostly a trial error affair. In fact, error and failure feed creativity. As the saying goes “good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment”. Why then, are we so afraid to fail? Why is being wrong an embarrassing experience that we try to avoid at all costs? (even at the...
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Only take a NO from someone who can say YES

May 31, 2010

Any business developer who has successfully navigated through the maze of corporate decision making and purchasing processes can tell you that a deal cannot be closed until it is approved by the person who has the power to say yes. What is also true, but often forgotten, is that an opportunity should not be considered dead until it is rejected by that same person and nobody else along the way.  Yet, it is very common to see sales deals fade away at middle levels of large organizations, rejected by managers who don’t have the power to approve them. This...
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Authority, and it’s limit

May 30, 2010

Reason, that is. Back in ancient times, the classical period arose when the authority of god was displaced by reason. Today, we are lucky to have almost gotten rid of the first, in the context of business at least. However, the very problem of authority versus reason is still there, taking various forms to influence our actions. Quite frequently, for example, expertise is at odds with common sense, and I think it is of value to bear this in mind when making decisions. Let’s take an example to make this more clear. You have no expertise on legal matters,...
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7 productive uses of LinkedIn for business development

May 28, 2010

Veterans of the trade will tell you that a fundamental tool for business development is information. The stereotype of the salesperson who is highly social, talks to a lot of people, listens a lot, asks many questions and knows the backgrounds of people, companies, and entire industries inside out, is because of this fact. You just can’t be effective at business development without knowing and understanding the network of people and companies that you must navigate in order to find and act upon opportunities. Successful networkers and business development experts have been using these tricks of the trade for...
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The middle of the road

May 27, 2010

Sometimes there’s no “best of both worlds”. The “middle of the road” solution is not adequate, may not even make sense. Sometimes you just have to choose one or the other. Some choices only make sense if you fully embrace them. But it’s tempting to try to build consensus. To avoid taking a stance. To try to please anyone. To cover your ass. To brainstorm. To dilute responsibility and design by committee. It’s so tempting, and so (superficially) democratic, that many organizations have distributed responsibility and decision-making processes in a way that you need to take the middle of...
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Prevention is better than cure

In his recent post Nobody is Perfect, Nikos Moraitakis argued that employers would benefit...

Strategy is the ability to say No

If you have a strategy then there must be some things that are not...

The paradox of top performance

Top performance in any facet of life can only be achieved when someone’s heart...

A good read

We live in social times, yet text triumphs over speech. You feel more connected...

Are you the right profile for a private equity firm?

Before the burst of the current economic crisis acquisition activity by private equity (PE)...

How to protect your job in the recession

Do you have a survival plan? During this troubled economic situation that we all...

What kind of girl do you think I am?

Don’t try this at home: Guy: “If I gave you a million dollars, would...

Nobody is perfect

Effective management structures are those that can be operated through people who are less...

Multitasking in meetings

About a year ago I picked up a new habit: multitasking in meetings. I...

The New IS/IT Leader: A True Business Partner

One of the most significant changes that have marked the business landscape in the...

How to Search the Global Job Market

Job hunting is a marketing activity. The following tips would be helpful in developing...

Look where you want to go

One of the most fundamental principles of windsurfing is “look where you want to...


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Manylogue's purpose is to provoke interesting individuals in the Greek business community to publish and spread their thoughts and ideas about doing business and running a business.

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