Educating yourself on business and politic on daily basis is a must if you want to make it as an entrepreneur - my suggestion, subscribe to the WSJ and the Economist.

Another must for an entrepreneur is to know what they don't know and ask for help. I have met with several entrepreneurs who are too stubborn and egotistic to admit their weak points - they, in my eyes, are just limiting their potential. I truly believe that by teaming up with partners who compliment your skill set you will increase the chances of success. I can say this with clear confidence as I have seen the growth and success rate of my Invenio Group partners in the last two years.

" We know what we know,
We know what we don't know,
We know who knows what we don't know."
- Invenio Group

Certified Online Marketer and SEO specialist : Dan Marques
Netoworking Guru (He can start a convo with a mute): Matt Lauzon
Tech Maven: Ahmed Hashim
Finance King: Michael Katcher
the list goes...

Why hold yourself back, ask questions and work with people who compliment you.

(1) Pick the entrepreneur
(2) Find what board they sit on
(3) Contact/get involved with the organization
(4) Ask to have a formal induction

The majority of the time your favorite entrepreneur, assuming you idealize good hearted people, sit on some kind of the board. It might at the local museum, hospital or foundation. I suggest doing a simple search on Google and locating your entrepreneurs cause -chances are you too will be interested what they support. Contact the organization and see in what shape or form you could get involved. After you build a rapport with the organization you can graciously ask one of the representatives to give you a formal introduction to your favorite entrepreneur.

Moral of the story:
People help people they like. People like people who like what they like.

*Sorry if I sound like Valley ditz.

Entrepreneurs take risks with their businesses; employees take risks with their lives.

The world has changed, the days of working up the corporate ladder are done with, the days of social security and medicare is gone, it is time to take care your own destiny.

You know where I said so I want to get your take on things for chance. What's riskier, being an entrepreneur or working for one?

Like my blog mentor, Dan Marques, I too have started a thought of the day.

"Success is getting you want, happiness is wanting what you get" - unknown

This summer is going to be fun. When I say fun, I mean a well balanced life. I will be working on Paragon Lake (number one online engagement ring jeweler), Invenio Capital (niche fund for the first round college ventures), and Invenio Group (colloborative entreprenuership network at Babson College). My broader goals for the summer are to read 15 books, raise 250k for Invenio Capital and develop the "Open Book Sales" concept.

As for business news, Skype has now offered outbound calls to LAN lines for free! You now have no excuse for not calling every potential lead to sell your product. My sugestion: set aside one hour each day this summer to call prospective customers. Your customers are the ones that will be the ultimate deciding factor.

Transparency: can it be a sustainable business model?

I have been thinking about this question for a couple months now - I coined the phrase "Open Book Sales". Think about it for moment… you let your customers know what your actual cost of goods and expenses itemized for each product (ex. $.50 labor, $.05 hosting etc) to make you break even on the item. You show your customer what percent profit the top three competitors are making and you let customers choose what percentage they want to give you. After the customer places the order the site records what percent the customer gave and ranks the customer on the website for the whole world to see -would you really want to be known at the cheap skate at the country club?

Open Book Sales would start an operating cost war between companies and in the end customers and savvy entrepreneurs would benefit. I plan on trying this business model out over the summer -keep your eyes peeled.

This week has been extremely hectic for me, finals at Babson College on top of big strategic moves with Invenio Capital have hindered my blog posting capabilities. I have however made a pact that I will post at least once a day throughout the summer. If I slack it is your duty, as Jason fans to poke fun at me. Post time:

Tomorrow it will be Money Day - opps I mean Mothers Day. Over one million rose buds and 250 tons of chocolate are handed down on Mothers Day. Marketers and Retailers play on consumers' insecurities day in and day out but on this special day it is taken to the 10^th power. Everywhere your Mom goes she sees signs saying that "Good Mom's receive flowers on Mothers Day" so basically if you don't get her anything she is a "Bad Mom". I just find it interesting that almost all the American holidays are in place to help keep the economy rolling. Think about it... almost every month there is a new holiday that extracts plenty of greenbacks from consumers.

• Valentine's Day, February 14.
• Roses are a must at $70 a dozen.
• St. Patrick's Day, March 17.
• Purchase a green outfit or be sentenced to hundreds of pinches.
• Easter
• Got to get your kid the new bunny costume right?
• Administrative Assistants' Day
• Box Chocolates and sweets keep your phone calls running
• Mothers' Day, second Sunday in May
• Make sure to purchase jewelry and roses or else your mom won 't think you love you her.
• Fathers' Day, third Sunday in June
• Tie and nice shirt at the minimum.
• Parents' Day, fourth Sunday in July
• Any product from Sears will work
• Grandparents' Day, Sunday after Labor Day
• May I suggest a new Ipod for old granny.
• Thanksgiving, last week of November
• How can you celebrate the day of giving thanks with out outfitting your house with turkey cut outs and plates of pumpkin pie - did I mention the sweet black hat!
• Halloween, October 31.
• 50 pounds of candy just isn't enough
• Christmas/Hanukah, last week of December
• My favorite: Spending 70% of your disposable income in one week is flat out impressive!

America , keep the spending rocking and maybe one day we all will celebrate "Shopping Day"

Eliot Wasmund is one of the top college entrepreneurs and recently posted on how Kobe Bryant can be motivational and inspiring. Check out the whole piece!

Inspiration from Kobe Bryant Eliot Wasmund

I don't know how many of you are into basketball, but I think many of us could learn something from Kobe Bryant. Yes, Kobe Bryant. I wasn't always a fan of his until I learned more about his childhood and what makes him who he is.

I highly suggest you read part of his story I found it very inspiring and motivating. Here are some quotes that I have taken from parts of his story (basically, I ended up with no restraint):

Hunger defines me. I've always been hungry, but now my appetite has risen to a new level.

But I savor that challenge. Feed off of it. That challenge helps give me purpose and inspiration. It helps me define life.