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 …

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. …

Growth 100: Business owners in the classroom

Research Associate, Jeannie Holstein, comments on the Growth 100 programme so far. The first cohort of the Growth 100 programme, delivered by The University of Nottingham’s Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and designed to give 100 Nottingham-based owners and directors the knowledge and skills to help them expand their businesses, has just graduated, and it seems an …

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 …

Business schools should be wary of producing MBA ‘heroes’

By Paul Kirkham, Nottingham University Business School Producing MBA graduates who aim high and are committed to making a difference is a key function of any business school. What we must be increasingly careful to avoid, however, is the temptation to produce what we might call “heroes”. Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the …