Fifty shades of grey hair

Guest blog by Olu Amodeni. Its 6:30am and my alarm goes off in some augmented intelligence cosmic tune. I always keep forgetting to change it to Bill Conti’s Gonna Fly Now (also known as the theme from Rocky), at least that would get me running up the steps in the morning. As I stagger off …

My name is Olu Amodeni and I am an overly attached mother.

Guest blog by Olu Amodeni. It has been three months since I shifted from entrepreneur mode to academic mode. To be honest, it has been hard to switch off the arbitrage behaviour in me. I guess I can argue, as an academic (to be) that I am retailing my knowledge. I wonder what true academics …

From high tower to ivory tower

Guest blog by Olu Amodeni. “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at The University of Nottingham”. As I read through the letter, I could not hold back my deep sense of elation. I was finally going to become a Dr; a Dr of Business. Like a doting parent on the …

My experience of the Growth 100 programme

Guest blog by Aaron Dicks, MD of Impression Digital. When I launched Impression in November 2012 I knew just two things for certain; Nottingham was in need of a high-quality, good value digital marketing agency and that myself and my co-founder Tom Craig were the two people to bring it to market. Beyond that, starting a …

Can you learn entrepreneurship?

Guest blog by MSc Entrepreneurship student, Daniel Wallis. This blog follows on from Liz Radice’s blog posted on 14th April 2014. When asked about my degree and I respond with “Entrepreneurship”, people are often confused and say “Is that a thing? Can you even learn it? Surely you’re born with it?” or “Oh, so like …

Launching New Ventures at Nottingham University Business School

Guest blog by Liz Radice, Director at Backstage Balkans Ltd. Liz studied Serbian and Croatian Studies at The University of Nottingham and now runs her business out of the Business School’s EnterpriseLab. Liz recently spoke to students taking the Launching New Ventures module as part of the MSc Entrepreneurship course at Nottingham University Business School. …

The role and influence of women entrepreneurs in (UK) society today

Written by Dr Janine Swail. As a researcher of women’s entrepreneurship at the Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and on the eve of International Women’s Day, I could not think of a better time to reflect on the role and influence of women entrepreneurs in (UK) society today. My work explores the decision-making …

The ivory tower cannot compete with the cathode ray

The latest series of the UK television series The Apprentice followed the established pattern of its predecessors, relying on clever editing to make a succession of would-be entrepreneurs appear largely irrational, argumentative and sometimes idiotic. For good measure, the inclusion of numerous conspicuously photogenic contestants has seen accusations of “sexing up” added to the traditional …

Think you’re an entrepreneur in the making? It’s not as easy as it looks on TV…

By Dr Janine Swail TV programmes like Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice depict entrepreneurial activity unrealistically and set budding entrepreneurs up for a fall, according to a new report published in the International Small Business Journal. Dr Janine Swail, lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Nottingham, co-authored the report with Professors Simon …

Western Business Schools have Crucial Role to Play in China

By Professor Simon Mosey, Nottingham University Business School Every business school in the western world places enormous stock in its global appeal, but how many of them are genuinely catering for the market they probably covet above all others? Latest OECD figures show that in 2010 the number of students studying internationally exceeded 4m for …