Andrew Donohue and I have been doing this radio show on KOGO AM 600 each week. It’s actually turned out to be a lot of fun — a way to sort of sum up the week’s events while laughing with (and at) each other. You can catch the latest installment on the right side of this page or just subscribe to the podcast here.
Each week, we’ve been doing a Goat and Hero of the Week. The heroes are people who deserve a little praise for the work they did over the week and the goats are people who, well, don’t (or they’re people who eat anything and are sometimes used for photo-op, wildfire protection efforts).
Sometimes we have trouble deciding on whom to choose as the hero. We’re working on that. But two weeks ago, I said a hero these days is anyone with the courage and mind to start a business right now.
Seriously, I think that’s a bold step with so much dower news out there. But it’s entirely logical and I’m meeting these entrepreneurs everywhere. It’s logical because right now prices for supplies and office space and other needed things are relatively cheap. And, more importantly, there are a ton of smart people out there looking for something to do — some way to help or be a part of something great.
So if you have an idea you’ve been sitting on and if you can raise a little money, or invest some you’ve saved, get it on. It’s the only way this economy is going to emerge from the doldrums.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I don’t think that even when I was in college did I run across people with so many ideas about how they could make something bold happen. And then I saw this:
Fresh off the settlement of a long-running intellectual-property dispute, wireless chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) said it will offer a half-million dollars in prizes to entrepreneurs with ideas for startup ventures in the mobile and wireless space.
And I decided to highlight it. Why?
Because, well, alright. This is great.
First, let’s keep things in perspective, it’s not a lot of money and the contest appears to be open to anyone in the world so good luck scoring big. Nonetheless, it is great. Google recently put up $100 million to fund start-ups this year.
I bet there are other companies in San Diego looking to help stoke some innovative fires in creative ways. If you know of a company or investment group locally (and that’s crucial) that is not looking to get money but rather to invest it into something different, drop me a line and I’ll help you promote it — whether it’s a contest like this or some kind of other challenge.
Maybe there aren’t many, but what the heck.
Like I said, there are a lot of smart people out there willing to work their butts off to make their idea come to life. If we can help connect them at all, I think that’s great.