We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast…..

I’m taking a quick break today from blogging Bootstrapped! to share a fun video and article with you. This past week, Ron and I did a presentation for the Brigham Young University Center for Entrepreneurship. In the presentation, we talked about some key principles from Bootstrapped! and shared insights from our experience building CastleWave as a test case for the book.

One of the highlights of the presentation had to be the $100 bill demonstration. After pulling out a crisp $100 bill and asking who wanted it (imagine a room of 200+ college students and you can probably picture the reaction!), I proceeded to crumple up the bill in my hands. When it was firmly wadded, I again asked who wanted the bill – and of course everyone still did. Then, I threw the bill on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly and even kicked it across the front of the room. The demand for the $100 bill did not subside (obviously!) and this was exactly my point; even though the bill was now worn and abused, it still had value, much like entrepreneurs. In fact, my argument was that entrepreneurs are more valuable when they’re experienced, when they’ve been kicked in the mud and worn down. At that point, I went on with the presentation and left the crumpled bill on the floor – one guy from the audience apparently couldn’t handle the money just sitting there, and kept darting to the front in an effort to pick it up (no, he didn’t get it). A student commented after the presentation that, “That guy must be an accountant!”

Overall, the presentation and the question and answer period that followed were a hit!

You can view the presentation at the BYU eBusiness Blog.

The BYU newspaper also has an article about the presentation in today’s newspaper – you can read that article at BYU News Net.

Enjoy! And have a great weekend!

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