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Making Business Personal

• This is a presentation topic about Post-Growth Entrepreneurship

Business as Activism

• NGOs and Nonprofits face challenges with donations/subsidies
• There's a need for self-sustaining activism platforms
• Businesses often don't respond to activist pleas
• Activism can be utilized to influence power structures through businesses

Business as Art

• Business can be a mixed media art form
• Avant-garde business approaches are possible
• Efficiency isn't always crucial
• Playful approaches to business are encouraged

Week 1 Assignment

• The presentation mentions an assignment on "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron https://juliacameronlive.com/books-by-julia/the-artists-way-a-spiritual-path-to-higher-creativity/

Science Fiction as Activism

• Science fiction envisions future worlds, acting as a form of activism

Business as Spirituality

• Eastern Religions:
  • Buddhism emphasizes "Right Livelihood" with Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh as guides
  • Taoism stresses that a leader should be imperceptible when work is done by the followers
• Semitic Religions
• Christianity focuses on lending without expectation of return (Luke 6:35) and the importance of Pope Francis' Laudato Si
• Ancient Greeks and Romans viewed usury as harmful, emphasizing the proper use of money for exchange

Business as Self Expression

• Hero's Journey (12-step template by Joseph Campbell) is applicable to entrepreneurial stories
• Entrepreneurs shape their narratives through actions rather than words
• Entrepreneurial purpose should resonate with everyday operational strategies
• Entrepreneurs can create stories of noble quests, avoiding tales of greed or tragedy
• Synchronicity and Scavenger Hunts are important to new business ventures
  • Entrepreneurs should seek quiet moments, acknowledge curiosities, and explore to learn
  • Entrepreneurship is akin to a scavenger hunt, revealing clues in the process

Part II: Status Quo

• The presentation section pertains to the current state of business, focusing on challenges in the system.

Questioning Business - Financial Extraction

• The presentation explores 11th round financial extraction from the perspective of Bernhard Lietaer, extended by Charles Eisenstein in "Sacred Economics"
• The presentation discusses the concept that business extraction is a problematic aspect of the current system.

Growth

• Macroeconomic Growth is examined
  • Includes the topic of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), considering why it's used to measure economic health of countries
  • The concept of achieving prosperity without growth is examined with possible new growth models. The need to move from exponential growth curves to flat ones is posited.
• Kate Raworth's TED talk about a healthy economy is discussed.

Silicon Valley

• The presentation discusses components of the Silicon Valley business model

  • Discusses Capital, Scale, Exit, and provides examples of these such as seed financing, VC rounds or scale implications.

• It critiques the model, showing how profitability is often forsaken in favor of exits.

The Startup Ecosystem and Valuations

• The presentation examines valuations of startups, comparing them with real-world scenarios like Kleiner Perkins' investment in Snapchat.

Pump and Dump

• Startups' shift to being unprofitable shell companies for cashing-out is discussed as a problematic aspect of the business world
• The presentation analyses how the business model of mega investments creates an environment conducive to artificial growth and a casino-like atmosphere.

Speculation and Enterprise

• The presentation analyzes John Maynard Keynes' views on speculation and enterprise showing how speculation can destabilize serious business.