Week #2

Our first busy week, immediately caused a decrease in blogging time, so time to catch up.

Beatiful weather on the road to the Foundation

Noam Wasserman was our first teacher this week, a Professor from Harvard Business School, talking about the struggles when starting a new venture, and he explained the Rich vs King concept. Are you in for the big bucks, or do you want to stay in control of your own empire? A question that almost no entrepreneur asks himself during a startup, but which will influence almost all of his decisions. Better get to know yourself!

That same evening we found Peter Kurzina, Seniour lecturer at MIT Sloan school of management, at our dinner table. He is a specialist in company’s turn-arounds and crisis management. He gave us a speed class on leadership the following day, sharing his insights in how to be a good leader, and not a manager. Very interesting and useful seminar.

One of the Entrepreneurship initiatives from the Kansas City area organized the Pipeline Innovator of the Year Award event on thursday, which we attended all day. Starting early in the morning with 10 presentations of innovative companies, followed by a 400+ person network drink and dinner, it was quite a long, but good day. I finnally spoke to the CEO of the company where I’ll do my internship, Reggie Chandra, who also won the Innovator of the Year 2010 award. Nice to speak to the guy that I’ll be working with for 3 months.

Builing along the road to the Foundation

We had another busy day scheduled for friday, an intellectual property lecture from Andrew W. Torrance from the University of Kansas, specialized in intellectual property law, and Peter McDermott, intellectual property lawyer and shareholder at Banner & Witcoff Ltd. They gave a very interactive, energetic and informative lecture on the legal side of intellectual property law. We also played a game made by Andrew that simulates the effect of Patents on the speed of innovation and the growth of wealth because of these innovations. Very interesting results, where it seems that the current patent system is hindering innovation and global growth of wealth, in contrast with the believes of most people involved in patents.

On saterday, with a very heavy cat (;-)), we went to the Harry Truman Presidential Library & Museum, where we indulged in the life and decisions of H. Truman during his presidency. He was the vice-president that suddenly had to step up, because the president died, in the middle of the 2nd world war. He decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan, and he also tried to make rigorous reforms in the american goverment (including medical insurance law) and for the country as a whole. A truly great leader and visionary person.

Panorama view of the park in front of the Nelson-Atkins Museum

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