Entrepreneurship :Blogs

Adrian Pittman is co-founder and CEO of Velocity Matters and SOMTU MMS. An Ann Arborite, Adrian has more than 15 years of high-tech marketing and brand development experience. He will be writing about entrepeneurship and innovation in SE Michigan.

Brazil native Antonio Lück, portfolio manager at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has lived in the Detroit area for under four years, yet has built a chain of friendships and activities that many would take a lifetime to amass. This week he writes on how a collaboration between a Brazil university and WSU brought him to Detroit's shores, the seeding of the Detroit Young Professionals volunteer and leadership group, and entrepreneurial gusto in the city.

Dancer and choreographer Anuja Rajendra, the creator and CEO of Bollyfit (Bollywood-themed fitness dance classes) puts a positive spin on downsizing in a region known for both employment woes and beefy waistlines. This week, Anuja shows how we can bhangra our way to a state of cultural understanding, good health, and good spirits.

My, how the ENIAC has grown! Southeast Michigan's IT companies, often overshadowed by snazzier startups, are in prosperous mode. Meet Bill Wagner and Dianne Marsh, co-founders of Ann Arbor software firm SRT Solutions. Their blog? The challenges of growing a tech biz and how the tech community is supporting the region.

Brian Balasia is our guest blogger this week. Brian founded Digerati Solutions while an aerospace engineering student at U of M. He currently sits on the board of directors for the Detroit Regional Chamber, WIRED, and the U of M Alumni Society.  Check back here each week day to read Brian's thoughts on attracting talent to SE Michigan and nurturing innovation.

Hollywood is new on the Michigan scene, but Metro Detroit has always been the beachhead for Carrie LeZotte. The executive producer at One of Us Films and founder of OICmovies.com, Carrie knows her lines when it comes to the movie biz. This week she'll talk about starting a news and entertainment site for the deaf and hard of hearing, film technologies, and how to break in.

Metro Detroit recently got its own version of the venerable Chautauqua gathering of thinkers with the inaugural TEDx Detroit intellectual and creative conference. This week, TEDx organizer and ad man Charlie Wollborg, founder of Curve Detroit Advertising, Marketing & Design, presents another Chautauqua of the mind with his collection of videos aimed at refilling Michigan's economic fountain of ideas.

Chris Ramos decided to buy a bus. He wanted to get people from the suburbs into Detroit. Then he got the idea to run the bus on biodiesel; might as well help save the planet, right? So he quit his job, hired Jennifer Harlan and started The Night Move. It wasn't as simple as it sounds. Chris and Jennifer will be blogging about starting a business in a recession, the obstacles they face and what they've learned so far.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Polish that business plan and sit down with Chris Rizik, the CEO of Detroit's new Renaissance Venture Capital Fund. He will be discussing the flow of venture capital in Michigan and its essential role in financing the state's high-growth, knowledge economy.

Dan Gilmartin is our guest blogger this week. He is the youngest executive director in the 108 year history of the Michigan Municipal League. Dan previously served as the League's deputy director and as an advocate in Lansing and in Washington, where he concentrated on transportation, land use and urban redevelopment. Check back here each week day to read Dan's thoughts on regionalism and how we can build the kind of community that attracts knowledge-based workers.

In the comics, as in life, actions speak louder than words. From toughing out road construction projects to the digitizing of print, Green Brain Comics co-owner Dan Merritt covers the survival of the superhero of American art forms, the comic book.

The recent arrest of an individual for pelting the ice with an octopus during the Red Wings playoffs clashes with Detroit's joie de vivre but doesn't mean time-out. It's Stanley Cup week, and entrepreneur-attorney-philanthropist Denise Ilitch delivers the sports talk.

And the winner is... Diane Durance, executive director of Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest, is here this week to discuss the GLEQ business plan competition for aspiring entrepreneurs. In June, one start-up will win the $100K SmartZone award. In a time when there's talk of taking the nickel out of nickels, a few Gs can mean the difference between boom or bust.

Erika-Marie Geiss is the editor-in-chief and publisher of theWAHMmagazine , a digital magazine for work-at-home parents. A 'mompreneur,' she is a freelance writer, professional blogger, editor and published non-fiction author. Erika will be writing about the personal, professional and economic issues of being a work-at-home professional.

Garrett Myers is the founder and Managing Director of the Gateway Group, a technology strategy consulting firm. Garrett has worked for start-ups, started companies, and raised venture capital money in both Boston and Detroit. He'll be writing about the entrepreneurial and VC cultural differences between the East Coast, West Coast and Michigan.