I continue to be puzzled, or is it defensive about the question of whether contributed revenue can be considered sustainable, especially as opposed to earned revenue.  Perhaps because of my not-for-profit background, I see both types of revenue the result of sales (although we cloak the contributed revenue domain in flowery language and avoid sales language).  This puzzlement has become a problem, as I have come to know colleagues on the for-profit side of business development, who mostly discount contributed revenue as unsustainable, … [Read more...]

Student teams made their final presentations last week.  They were evaluated according to the rubric previously published.  What I would like to do in this blog posting is to feature the winning plan.  I will include the team’s PowerPoint presentation, and a copy of the scoring rubric.  The name of the project is Will Power.  I’m confident that in publishing this it will not be copied, in that the expertise needed to carry out the plan is highly specialized.  Please be reminded that this was a one-credit class.  As such, I … [Read more...]

My friend, Bob Ellis, a business school professor will be evaluating student projects next week. He has provided them (and me) with this rubric. Summary Clear communication of business concept Good understanding of "what business are we in?" Good understanding of key success factors Good understanding of financial aspects Complete analysis of concept feasibility Complete analysis of value proposition Market Analysis Clear identification of target segments Clear understanding of customer buying triggers Competitive … [Read more...]

Here are all but one of the student projects - as promised. Sound for Spaces is a group of musicians and composers that specializes in creating sound installations, designed to aurally transform a space. These installations utilize space in unique ways, surrounding listeners with sound and musical texture. By performing these works in art galleries, Sound for Spaces helps create a unique experience for visitors, while simultaneously attracting new patrons. Installations can also be created to cater to specific needs, tying in directly with … [Read more...]

Within a day or two I will post students’ project ideas and an update on progress, but for this post I want to share some observations of the process over the past 2 weeks of classes. My first observation and perhaps pearl of wisdom comes from student teamwork. I have taught arts entrepreneurship a number of times, but have not formed students into project teams before. Previously I formed students into groups to critique each other’s ideas and business plans. The reason I decided to form students into project groups was twofold. For … [Read more...]

So even from my own (humble) assessment, the 2nd class was a huge success, going beyond my expectations. Approximately half the students (15) pitched their ideas to the class. Each had 2 minutes for their presentations, plus a bit more time to answer clarifying questions. After each pitch, the student taped a paper to the wall with h/her project’s name on it. After all the pitches, each student then gave a 15 second description of h/her project, as a reminder. What was so interesting about this was how easily each could encapsulate … [Read more...]

I have completed my planning for my course that begins next week. The course catalog entry reads, “Frequently the failure of the most creative ideas lies with an inability to build a working model and "business plan." In this course students will learn to build business plans, both linear and non-linear for projects and entities in the arts. Having a pre-existing project idea is not a pre-requisite for this course, as for students without project ideas, the instructor will provide theoretical ones.” The recently completed course read, … [Read more...]

I have learned a lot from teaching this recent class (now at the end of the first half of the semester). The students’ projects are superb: in imagination, breadth of subject area and commitment to positive change. However, it was their work in developing their projects that gave me greater insight into how to teach this difficult subject of arts entrepreneurship. First, asking them to develop their ideas in a stepwise fashion really worked. Asking, what are the next 3 steps (or more) that you would need to take to flesh out or … [Read more...]

Here is the email recap + assignments that I sent to my class this morning. Dear Class, Here’s a recap of last night’s class + your assignments for the next 2 weeks. I congratulated you as a group for your superb ideas. I am genuinely impressed by your imaginations and ability to create in a practical manner. We opened by talking about how ideas develop, grow, sometimes die and are reborn. I stressed that some of the best ideas come after pursing a related one that fails. I talked about how business entrepreneurs need to be … [Read more...]

Class 3 focused on personal branding, and then transitioned to idea development and enterprise creation. We talked about 3 issues related to personal branding: alignment, extension and integrity. We (often humorously) compared students’ responses from their assignments (asking 2 people who knew them personally to describe what makes them distinct as individuals, and 2 people who know them musically to describe what makes them distinct as musicians) to their Facebook pages to how they, themselves want themselves to be perceived. We … [Read more...]