C2C WEblog Bloging Toward A Better Future writes:

“One of Wellesley’s most creative neighbors is Babson College.  While most envision Babson as an incubator for America’s best young entrepreneurs, the Bernon Center for Public Service at Babson extends this often business-centric notion to include social entrepreneurship.  In just 10 years, the Bernon Center has grown…

…to a service organization donating 25,000 hours annually to making a difference in the lives of others.  Every organization and sports team at Babson does a service project annually.  This translates to nearly 1,500 of Babson’s 1,900 students giving service hours each year.”

To read more, click here.

New research by Prof. Joel Shulman suggests that investing in select holdings of entrepreneurs who make up the Forbes billionaires list leads to an annualized return of just over 20%. Read the blog by Seeking Alpha’s Vahan Janjigian.

Name of business:  Channel Maven Consulting http://www.channelmavenconsulting.com

Mission:  Channel Maven Consulting provides strategic consulting to IT channel organizations of all sizes specializing in programs, marketing, and social media.   We work with vendors to understand their current channel programs, define their goals, and assess their resources.

Year Began:  March, 2009

Where:  Newton, MA

Founder:  Heather K. Margolis, MBA ‘06, Heather@ChannelMavenConsulting.com, Office: +1.617.467.4355

Employees: 4 flexible time/part time

How The Idea Began:  Our founder Heather K. Margolis has led channel programs for companies like EMC, EqualLogic, and Dell.  After seeing some fundamental challenges that vendors and solution providers struggle with she saw a great opportunity.  Today, Heather helps channel organizations build smarter channel programs, manage channel relationships to find added value, and engage their communities through social and traditional media.

Favorite Thing about the Business:  One day we’re working with a large storage vendor on their social media strategy, the next day we’re helping a small software vendor with their incentive program.  I love the ability to influence multiple companies and customize projects that suit their needs.

Worst Thing About the Business:  Currently we’re in the growing pains phase of the business… how many more clients can we take on before we are over our heads and when do we make that next hire.

Paragon Lake, started by Matt Lauzon while he was an undergraduate student, has become Gemvara.

According to the company website:

“The term “Gemvara” is inspired by the ancient Sanskrit word for wish, “vara.” In India, brilliantly hued gemstones weren’t just used for decoration, but as powerful amulets that could lead an individual to his or her own destiny.

At Gemvara, we believe that the jewelry you wear should reflect the many facets of your personality and symbolize the destiny only you can dream. That’s why each piece we create is made as you wish, to your exact specifications. From your choice of metal, to the sparkle of a brilliant gemstone, creating one-of-a-kind necklaces, rings, or earrings is made easy using our unique jewelry customization process.

Customize each new treasure by selecting from thousands of designer concepts and an array of gems and precious metals. Each click transforms the look of the piece immediately. You may admire your creation and change every detail until you arrive at your perfect piece. Then, let one of our master craftspeople bring your vision to life, and deliver it to your doorstep.

Gemvara uses only the highest quality materials to create your one-of-a-kind jewelry piece. We source rare gemstones and luminous metals from around the world so you have the widest selection possible. All Gemvara jewelry is made with meticulous attention to detail in the USA. Because we believe in the power of jewelry to create lasting impressions, we construct all items so that they can be admired by future generations too.”

Visit the company website at

http://www.gemvara.com/

Has your private company grown since 2006? If so, it may be one of the fastest-growing companies in America: Apply for Inc. magazine’s 500|5000 Award.

Let Inc. recognize and celebrate your company’s accomplishment on the 2010 list of the fastest-growing companies. One of the most prestigious honors in American business, the Inc. 500|5000 list ranks the 5,000 fastest-growing companies based on revenue growth over the span of three years: 2006—2009.

If your company makes the list, Inc. will share its story with the world and publicize your success across multiple media channels.  Honorees are featured in Inc. magazine and/or on Inc.com. And as a part of the national ranking, Inc.’s top lists provide additional recognition to fast-growing companies by metro area and industry, as well as the top minority- and woman-owned companies.

Apply Now and you will be eligible to be a featured applicant of the week on Inc.com, and you will also be included in all weekly applicant drawings for Inc. conference packages.

Questions? Call Inc. at 212-389-5505 (toll free 800-248-0308).

Everybody Wins! USA, a nationally recognized literacy and mentoring organization, finished second in Education Ideas for Change with its Read to Kids campaign on Change.org’s Idea for Change in America. The Read to Kids campaign now advances to the final round of voting that begins Monday, March 1st at 1pm ET and ends on Friday, March 12th at 5pm ET. The top 10 ideas will be presented to the Obama administration and be part of a national grassroots campaign to promote the idea.

Everybody Wins! USA is working in collaboration with literacy organizations, children’s book authors, publishers, reading associations, educators, libraries and businesses to make reading to children a national priority. Voting for the Read to Kids campaign can be done at: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/launch_a_national_read_to_kids_campaign

The Read to Kids campaign is one of 60 finalists in the final round of voting. The campaign would emphasize the importance of reading aloud to children of all ages and would engage literacy organizations, schools, teachers, parents, libraries, authors, publishers and nearly every sector of business and society that understands that our nation’s future depends on our children’s literacy skills.

About Everybody Wins! USA

Everybody Wins! USA strives to build the skills for and a love of reading among low-income elementary students and was recently cited by the White House as an “innovative and successful community solution.” Through its signature program, Power Lunch, Everybody Wins! brings volunteer mentors into schools for weekly one-on-one, read-aloud sessions, increasing children’s opportunities for academic and real-world success. Everybody Wins! currently serves nearly 20,000 children and adults through affiliates and partners in 16 states and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit http://www.everybodywins.org.

Rich Greif ‘90
Everybody Wins USA
Phone: (781) 424-8539
Email: rgreif@everybodywins.org

While the latest recession hit the toy industry hard, Lincoln Armstrong M’93, of LEGO Americas Brand Marketing, said his company has experienced tremendous growth.  LEGO’s secret to success, Armstrong said, was a focus on core customers bolstered by innovative marketing campaigns.

Armstrong’s talk, entitled “Innovation in Brand Marketing:  The LEGO Experience.” was delivered to a room full of alumni and current MBA students.  The event was sponsored by Babson’s Consumer Products & Retail Career Affinity Group.

Armstrong said LEGO’s recent triumphs come in stark contrast to the series of failed initiatives in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, including the Galidor action figure line, the Clikits line targeted at girls, and Lego Sports.  By 2004, the company found itself having to carefully manage its cash.

Then came the turnaround, which Armstrong attributed to five factors:

• LEGO’s renewed focus on key retailers
• Changing consumer dynamics that placed an emphasis on value
• High parental nostalgia and marketing specifically to dads
• Compelling product development
• Marketing Innovation, including LEGO video games, comic books and captive audience marketing before selected movies and during video game downloads

The result? LEGO sales took off in the last few years while the rest of the toy market has suffered through the recession.

“In 2008 we grew in the U.S. market over 36 percent,” Armstrong said. “Thirty-six percent in an established marked in unheard of.”

The campaign was successful because it leveraged LEGO’s connections to its customers, and found new ways to keep them interested.

“It’s about trying to find a way to get our message out there in a way that we can control it, that increases interest in our products,” Armstrong said.

Throughout LEGO’s turnaround, Armstrong said LEGO operated using four guiding thoughts on marketing innovation:

• Innovation is not always a brand new idea. It can be a subtle change to an existing idea.
• The media landscape is changing quickly, so look for ideas that are relevant to your consumer, not just the latest trends.
• Do your research and follow results that meet your objectives.
• To implement big ideas, look for the “Home Run” but have a backup plan in case you strike out.

- By Andrew Lightman M’11

• Name of business:
InnerCity Weightlifting
www.innercityweightlifting.org
 
• Mission:
To support the academic and life achievement of urban youth who are on a direct path to gang involvement, former gang members, gang members trying to get out, and victims of abuse, through the sport of Olympic lifting. We provide a choice for these students, when other options may not be present. We empower our students/athletes with the confidence to say no: to a gang, to an abusive family member, to the barriers they face each day.
 
• Year Began:
Officially: January 5th, 2010
Unofficially: November 2009

• Where:
Given our target population it is not safe for our students to travel to certain places in Boston. Some students are also not initially safe to train together. Therefore, we operate out of several sites around Boston. Currently we are operating at a gym in Back Bay, East Boston, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale.

We are working with the Boston Recreation Department and will potentially be renovating  five community centers in Boston to effectively reach our target population of students. Efforts are being made to raise enough money to renovate an Olympic lifting studio/center that will serve as the primary location and headquarters.
 
• Founder:
Jon Feinman, CSCS, USAW Coach
Executive Director; Founder
Cell: 413-335-3547
Email: jfeinman@gmail.com
Social Entrepreneur and current Babson MBA student.

• Employees: 7

• How The Idea Began:
Working with gang members in East Boston as part of a year of service through an Americorps program, I realized that there were very few, if any, programs these students were interested in. Furthermore, if they were to join a program, it didn’t take long for them to get kicked out due to a zero tolerance policy or three strike rule. InnerCity Weightlifting is based first upon capturing their interests, and students are members for life, no matter what may happen.
 
• Favorite Thing about the Business:
Interacting with our students/athletes, getting to know them, and building trusting relationships.
 
• Worst Thing About the Business:
Not having enough space/funding to expand our impact as quickly as we would like.
 
 

Company name: Monkey Bed™ http://www.themonkeybed.com

Mission: To help you connect with your inner monkey! At Monkey Bed, our roots may be in big cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco but that doesn’t mean we don’t love our outdoor time just as much as the weekend trail hunter. In fact, us active urbanites need to find better, faster, and more stylish ways to fit it all in. It’s no wonder our first product bears the name, the Urban Blanket Bag.

So what the heck is a Monkey Bed? It’s a place you can discover again what makes you, you. A place to be a kid, or to be all grown up if that’s what you prefer. In short, we hope Monkey Bed products help you connect with your inner monkey. Because c’mon, we’re all just monkeys jumping on the bed!

The Start: Summer 2009 in the middle of a trip to Boston Common with a comical number of bags meant to help the group of us “relax.” Our first orders will be shipping to retailers this April 2010.

Where: A proud member of the Newton, Massachusetts community!

Your name, email, phone: Simeon Margolis M’07, simeon@themonkeybed.com, +1.617.777.4606 and always feel free to also reach out at

http://www.themonkeybed.com

or at

http://twitter.com/monkeybed

Employees: 1 + a wonderful and talented group of designers, partners and advisors.

Founder’s Past: It’s been a windy road to founding Monkey Bed. From highflying days at RCA Records and Island Def Jam Music promoting artists like Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters and Mariah Carey to helping found Web 2.0 and social media startups like Utterli.com and Nutritter.com. Check out our press pack for a full bio and other details: http://www.themonkeybed.com/press

How The Idea Began: Our first product is the Urban Blanket Bag collection. Our high quality, partially recycled messenger bags all come with the same size 4-person fleece blanket with water-resistant bottom zipped sleekly inside along with many other park and office ready features. The Urban Blanket Bag collection was inspired by our overly burdensome trips to places like Central Park and Boston Common carrying so many bags, it made the trip a hassle instead of a relaxing outing.

The idea to found a company that makes kick-butt active gear designed for people who live in the city however, is really an outlet for everything that gets me excited including getting outside and developing product ideas.

Favorite Thing about the Business: After a career in various forms of media, getting to sell something that you can touch and feel is a real breath of fresh air. Besides getting to turn product ideas into reality, my favorite thing is the amazing people, retailers, designers and advisors we’re getting involved with the company.

Worst Thing About the Business: Check back with us next year! Biggest Challenge: Right now it’s all about runway. We’re getting great feedback and gaining retail distribution for this summer. Then the real challenges will begin as we manage our growth, cash cycle and fund raising.

Lesson Learned: Never stop moving. Most of success is luck and the only sure-fire way to create luck starts with showing up.

Company name: Bayside Runner www.baysiderunner.com

Mission: Bayside Runner is the South Shore’s independently owned and operated store for runners and walkers. We are committed not only to helping runners and walkers at all levels find the right shoes, apparel and accessories, but also to inspiring our customers to live a healthy life and to enjoy the benefits of being fit.

The Start: February 2009

Where: Plymouth, MA

Your name, email, phone: Adam Stuhlfaut MBA ‘07, 508-591-8422, adam@baysiderunner.com

Employees:1 (2 if you include me)

Founder’s Past: My passion for running began when I raced my first mile on a cinder track in his 7th-grade gym class. I went on to run competitively at Wayzata High School (Minnesota), where I won the state cross-country championship in my senior year, at Princeton University (New Jersey) and for the New Balance Boston racing club. I also has coached runners at every level and age. Prior to Babson, I was a founding teacher at the Epiphany Middle School in Dorchester, MA, a conference coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Association and the manager of the Gutman Conference Center at the Harvard Grad School of Education. During Babson, I interned and consulted for Puma International and after Babson I worked as a product manager for track & field footwear at New Balance.

How The Idea Began:  I was practically raised inside Talbots stores by my mother who managed multiple stores in the Minneapolis area.  One of my early jobs was at a running store in a suburb of Minneapolis.  I’ve worked other retail and small stores such as coffee shops, so this environment is very comfortable for me.  I can’t remember when I first starting thinking of opening a specialty running retail shop.  In fact, I can’t remember when I didn’t want to do it!  I worked at New Balance from 08-09 and visited many similar shops and my interest in opening a shop was the dream was revitalized.  Also, when I was working at New Balance I noticed that shops like this actually grew during the recession, so I knew that if I found the right location there was potential.  Last June, my wife and I took stock and decided it was a good time to go for it.

Favorite Thing about the Business:When you do what you are passionate about, it doesn’t feel like work.  Starting this business was also a family effort.  One of my brothers designed my logo and webpage, another brother is helping me with my medical referral business (he’s a doc at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth), my dad helps me write copy and build my checkout counter, my father-in-law is a lawyer and helped negotiating my lease, my mother helped merchandise the store, my mother-in-law painted my shoe fitting benches, my wife among all the other support she gives me named the business.  It was amazing to work with my family in this way!

Worst Thing About the Business: Hmmm…I’m still learning so much about the business.  I think I’m only unhappy when there is no one in the store.

Biggest Challenge: Since I’ve only been open for a short time by biggest concern is starting up the cash flow stream.  I have financing that will get me through the first few month, but them I’m on my own.

Lesson Learned: Be flexible, and don’t listen negativity.  Be ready for simple things to take forever and otherwise complex things to work out smoothly.