Auntie’s Post

🧠 We don't need a degree, but a good heart and mind! ♥️ 📊 Startup-Verband and Bertelsmann Stiftung surveyed 1,800 founders to show the influence of social background on entrepreneurial careers: → Nearly 70% of founders have at least one parent with a high school diploma, far exceeding the population average. → Only 14% of founders from a working-class background reported having had contact with other entrepreneurs through their families. Realizing that as a working-class kid, I belong to a minority among founders wasn't evident until it was directly addressed. 👧 My parents were not role models as entrepreneurs, but they were role models in how they made big life decisions: with experience, empathy and a healthy dose of risk avoidance. You don't need a degree for that, but common sense and a realistic judgement! ✨ What the study highlights for me is that the founders of today need to be role models and mentors for founders of tomorrow, especially to those who lack access to the scene. 🤝 This, to me, means bridging gaps in schools to inspire more young people to embark on entrepreneurial journeys and support them on their way. Many thanks to Felix Kiefer from Tagesspiegel and Sebastian Strauß from Süddeutsche Zeitung - I really appreciate that your work has given me a voice on this subject. 🫶 🔗 Links to the whole study as well as to the articles are in the comments below.

🌟 Empower a Neurodivergent High School Student This Summer! 🌟 Do you know a neurodivergent high school student who could benefit from turning their unique strengths into entrepreneurial success? The NOVA Summer Camp: Nurturing Original Ventures & Ambitions is an entrepreneurial mindset course designed specifically for neurodivergent high schoolers in Missouri. Whether they have ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or another form of neurodivergence, NOVA will help them discover how their unique mind can excel in entrepreneurship. This summer, give them the opportunity to unlock their potential and pave the way for a successful future. 🚀 Course Highlights: 1. Use of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile® (EMP) to: a) understand the key characteristics and skills that define successful entrepreneurs, and b) learn how to identify and leverage their natural talents to carve their entrepreneurial path. 2. Create a personalized strategy to further develop their entrepreneurial skills. 3. Learn how to lead in environments that value creativity and innovation. Course Options: 📍 St. Louis County (9667 Page Ave): Tuesdays, 9am – 1pm 📍 Maryville (Location TBD): Thursdays, 9am – 1pm 💻 Online (Zoom): Wednesdays & Fridays, 10am – 11:30am Dates: June 24 - August 16 Instructor: Dr. Annette Kendall, Assistant Extension Professor – Rural Economic Development & Innovation Strategy Contact: kendallan@missouri.edu Join us in empowering neurodivergent high school students to ignite their potential, embrace their uniqueness, and start their journey to entrepreneurial success with NOVA! 🚀 Register Now! Spaces are limited. Jackie Spainhower, Rebecca Penniman MU Extension Business & Communities #NOVA #Entrepreneurship #Neurodiversity #HighSchoolStudents #SummerCamp #Innovation #UniqueStrengths #EntrepreneurialMindset #EmpowerPotential

Hello, future entrepreneurs, and parents with a vision for their children! 💼 Today, let's dive into how STEM education acts as the dynamic launchpad for your child's entrepreneurial journey, propelling them into a universe of innovation and creativity. 🚀💡 Envision your child not merely as a student but as a visionary, equipped with the tools to think critically, solve problems creatively, and pave the way for an entrepreneurship journey that defies limits. STEM education becomes the fuel that powers their rocket of imagination and resilience, preparing them for a future where innovation knows no bounds. 🌐 Excited to ignite the entrepreneurial spark in your child? Send me a DM, and let's explore how STEM can be the driving force behind their innovative ideas! Alternatively, find more insights in the links in my bio on this thrilling journey into the world of entrepreneurship. 🌟 #STEMEntrepreneur #FutureLeaders #InnovationJourney #STEMEducation

Hello, future entrepreneurs, and parents with a vision for their children! 💼 Today, let's dive into how STEM education acts as the dynamic launchpad for your child's entrepreneurial journey, propelling them into a universe of innovation and creativity. 🚀💡 Envision your child not merely as a student but as a visionary, equipped with the tools to think critically, solve problems creatively, and pave the way for an entrepreneurship journey that defies limits. STEM education becomes the fuel that powers their rocket of imagination and resilience, preparing them for a future where innovation knows no bounds. 🌐 Excited to ignite the entrepreneurial spark in your child? Send me a DM, and let's explore how STEM can be the driving force behind their innovative ideas! Alternatively, find more insights in the links in my bio on this thrilling journey into the world of entrepreneurship. 🌟 #STEMEntrepreneur #FutureLeaders #InnovationJourney #STEMEducation

First Blackboard, and now ModMed - I've been an entrepreneur my entire life. I can tell you that there are very few things harder than creating something out of nothing. And when you do that in areas that are important - like education and healthcare - the impact made rewarding beyond belief. The journey is hard, and the destination is unknowable. I was interviewed by Cornell to share some of my thoughts. The thing I want people to take away from the story is that there is no such thing as a solo entrepreneur (and if there was, it would be a lonely tale). Today I'm both a co-CEO and co-Founder. There were many co-Founders of Blackboard. Sharing the burden, sharing the struggles, and sharing the success make the adventure that much more enjoyable. https://lnkd.in/eA7Kk2px

🛑 🤯 The crushing weight of bureaucratic red tape 🚫 halts the brightest of innovations, robbing every one of us. When will we learn? 🤔 Daniel Ge, who still finds himself youngest in every meeting, shared a valuable life lesson with me during my ☕ #48 of my #99coffees 🌟 Daniel's journey started at Auckland Grammar School. Amidst a sea of new faces - "I know you,” Daniel said to Isaac Cleland, from same intermediate school, “let's be friends.” This simple encounter later evolved into a formidable business partnership. Daniel's life took a turn after his parents' split in high school, leading to a move to Australia with mum and younger brother. After starting university there he realized the financial challenges of Kiwi students in Aus. A holiday trip back to Auckland turned into a sales support job, prompting Daniel to transfer to The University of Auckland, balancing full-time work with part-time commerce studies. Isaac one day invited Daniel to join the Velocity: The University of Auckland Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme’s “$100K Challenge” team, alongside Sunny Feng. Their idea was rooted in Isaac's PhD research on nurse rostering optimization. Competition organizers included Kirsten Beckman and Judith Marecek. As winners were announced, Daniel's hopes wavered with each category reveal. They hadn't won categories he'd hoped, but he clung to hope as the runner-up was named. Yet, it wasn't them. "Oh well… better luck next time," he thought. Suddenly, Isaac leaped up in jubilation, a reaction that left Daniel bewildered for a few seconds. Then it hit – unbelievably, they were the overall winners! The triumph led them to the Venture Lab incubator at The University of Auckland. Here, my good friend Ken Erskine, still their mentor, and the Venture Lab team helped transition their idea into the RosterLab business. RosterLab quickly faced a major challenge: their system, crucial for clinical staff rostering, had to be flawless to avoid impacting patient care and staff efficiency. Thankfully, extensive R&D from Isaac's PhD guaranteed the precision needed for this critical task. A pilot at Auckland Hospital was a success, loved by the nurses, doctors, and managers. A non-clinical bureaucrat blocked the paid pilot, leaving team RosterLab without way to earn money for their effort! This lead to a pivot to the private sector. First client, Bupa working with Barbara Garbutt, Anna Francis, Kristen Kerkhof. Many clients later, international successes with Vivien Chan, Peticare Medical Group. The team, bolstered by medical advisors Cathal McCloy and Rahul Gandhi and the board including Mark Bregman and Ken, with Pau Medrano as a board observer. RosterLab hasn’t given up on the public sector. With our new government, I hope red tape will be cut David Seymour, Brooke van Velden, let's empower entrepreneurs to innovate! How was my coffee, Daniel? If anyone wants to share your story with my 9K followers over a cup I brewed at BizDojo, reach out.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak at Stanford's Very Impactful People (VIP) series, hosted by the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Social Entrepreneurial Students' Association. The VIP series brings together thought leaders and changemakers to discuss pressing global issues and innovative solutions. During my talk on building and scaling impact ventures, we explored the philosophy of doing well while doing good—how businesses can thrive economically by addressing social needs. Here are some reflective thoughts and answers to key questions raised by the insightful students: Developing Impact Partnerships: The journey of social impact requires collaboration. It's about having the courage to tackle entrenched societal challenges and the humility to acknowledge that we are but pieces of a giant puzzle. True impact comes from unity, not a solitary effort. Scaling Ventures and Impact: Scaling should never mean parachuting into new territories without regard. Emphasizing localization and ensuring local ownership allows us to work with communities, not just for them. This approach fosters sustainable growth and a genuinely inclusive future. Personal Challenges: My formidable personal challenge was transitioning from clinical practice to systemic change—moving from treating individual patients to addressing the broader system. This shift, filled with uncertainties, was a leap from the known to the unknown, driven by a mission to create a larger, lasting impact. Thanks to Melanie Edwards, Lucy Loughridge, Allyson Bunch, and everyone at Stanford for this enriching experience. #StanfordVIP #SocialImpact #Entrepreneurship

Not people become successful – communities become successful. "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford We know, the people who you are surrounded with determine as much as 95% of your success according to some studies and quotes on instagram. It's not individual people who achieve overwhelming success. It's a community. When you dig deep into evolution and history, you'll discover that the strength and stability of communities and tribes were the pillars upon which success and balance was built. I was lucky enough to finish one of Germany's best universities, WHU, which also has a great alumni community. Over the years, I've been receiving introductions from other WHU alumni to entrepreneurs to investment opportunities and I always take it especially seriously when anything comes from the WHU network. This is the only reason why I became a seed investor in 10% of all German unicorns from 2008 to today. This is a great result but when I checked all my emails and I tried to understand what would have happened if I had invested in every single situation that came from the WHU, I understood that I would have done better than by cherry picking the opportunities that I did. So I could have been an investor in 20% of all German unicorns and the failures would play almost no role. You always hear that you should join a university because of a network or reasoning like that, but it's very hard to understand what this really means. Yes, you find your best friends in life and I found the love of my life and university years is a fantastic mini life where I was 100% focused on doing the best I can to finish this university. But only 15 years later you understand that not only everything good in your life came through that network and you become extremely grateful that all other people around you are also doing well. I'm so happy to see my classmates doing increasingly well, building families, building lives that are amazing and inspire me. Even the ones falling behind at times are seeing opportunities and catching up over time. It's a real natural ecosystem and as long as you stay part of it and you follow, you keep the values and the principles alive, you are moving up together with your community.

Carla Small, a dynamic leader with a profound passion for literacy and education, joins us on this episode of #WisdomOfWomen. Carla E. Small is CEO and co-founder of EarlyBird Education, a tech platform using cutting edge brain science, AI and gamification to prevent dyslexia. Carla led the Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children’s while EarlyBird was in incubation, and left her role to launch EarlyBird. As Executive Director of Innovation at Boston Children’s, Carla designed and oversaw the accelerator responsible for startup and new technology incubation – spinning out five companies with portfolio venture funding totaling over $200 million. Prior to this, Carla was a health care strategy consultant, and Dir. of Product Development and Strategy at startup Work/Family Directions. Carla has served on the School Board of the Codman Academy Public Charter School, and on the advisory boards of Edwards Life Sciences and Medtronic Diabetes. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. 📌Key Takeaways: 🔍Books That Shape Us: Carla shares the influence of Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson, a book that redefined her perspective on career progression. Discover how this book can challenge your own views and reassure you about the many pathways life can take. 🔍 Intentional Career Pivots 🔍Breaking into School Districts 🔍Early Intervention for Dyslexia 🔍Funding Journey and Vision 🔍Women-Led Enterprises and Purpose Do you know a child with reading challenges? Go to www.earlybirdeducation.com and learn more. You can sign your child up for a simple and fund game-based assessment. Highly recommended you check it out. It is backed by evidence-based learning and can help your child overcome reading challenges, including dyslexia, while having fun. No neuropsychology assessment required. It will give you answers and a plan right away. Tune in to the episode https://loom.ly/xP9Clz4 #Wisdomofwomen #womenfounders #womeninvestors #womeninbusiness #podcast

**Blast off into the world of STEM and entrepreneurship!** Hello, future entrepreneurs, and parents with a vision for their children! 💼 Today, let's dive into how STEM education acts as the dynamic launchpad for your child's entrepreneurial journey, propelling them into a universe of innovation and creativity. 🚀💡 Envision your child not merely as a student but as a visionary, equipped with the tools to think critically, solve problems creatively, and pave the way for an entrepreneurship journey that defies limits. STEM education becomes the fuel that powers their rocket of imagination and resilience, preparing them for a future where innovation knows no bounds. 🌐 Excited to ignite the entrepreneurial spark in your child? Send me a DM, and let's explore how STEM can be the driving force behind their innovative ideas! Alternatively, find more insights in the links in my bio on this thrilling journey into the world of entrepreneurship. 🌟 #STEMEntrepreneur #FutureLeaders #InnovationJourney #STEMEducation