Marvell’s Smile Plug will let teachers run their own classroom wireless networks

Chip maker Marvell is announcing its Smile Plug development kit aimed at turning classrooms into much better computer learning environments.

To be unveiled this week at the Consumer Electronics Show today, the Smile Plug is part of Marvell’s larger “Classroom 3.0″ environment that is aimed at creating a connected, secure learning atmosphere that simplifies and speeds the deployment of technology to students around the world.

Marvell collaborated with Stanford University to create the Marvell Smile … Continue Reading

The Apple collection: Secret Stanford warehouse houses company history

Thirty-five years of Apple memorabilia make up a museum-like collection of company archives that are hidden away in an off-campus Stanford University warehouse.

Stanford’s Apple Collection takes up more than 600 feet of shelf space in a climate-controlled facility at a location kept secret from the public, said the Associated Press, which paid a visit to the archives.

Should you ever be let in — and one can only dream at this point — you … Continue Reading

Tech elite pay tribute to Steve Jobs at memorial service

The technology industry’s top luminaries paid tribute to Steve Jobs at a memorial service at Stanford University on Sunday night.

The attendees bid farewell to Jobs, who died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 5, in the same Memorial Church where David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, was memorialized in 1996. It’s the kind of ceremony you imagine takes place when one king dies and another is crowned. Except in this case, it seems like there is … Continue Reading

Why do big companies get stuck?

Everyone knows they need to engage with growth, but the resistance companies face in moving resources from areas that work into new areas is tremendous. This is why big companies are so slow to innovate, says Geoffrey Moore, author and venture partner at MDV. In this Entrepreneur Though Leader Lecture at Stanford University, he explains that while there are no shortage of great, groundbreaking ideas at big companies – including many that could threaten startups … Continue Reading

Diffbot launches APIs for monitoring web pages

Internet search startup Diffbot launched its API today for visually scanning, parsing and extracting information from web pages. Diffbot detects what type of layout a page has, then searches it for common visual cues to monitor when any content changes on a page, or to extract specific information for developers to use.

The Palo Alto-based company was founded in 2008 by two former Stanford students, CEO Mike Tung and CTO Leith Abdulla, with seed funding … Continue Reading

3 ways to become more likeable

No matter how good your product is, if you’re running a startup, you need to be likable. Entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki lays out three ways to become more enchanting to the people you meet – both investors and customers – in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University.

In the end, he says, it comes down to having a genuine smile (as opposed to the fake one of flight attendants), knowing how … Continue Reading

Innovation can’t be taken for granted

Innovation is a chief driver of the economy, but it doesn’t come easy. Jlabs CEO Judy Estrin, in this 2008 Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture at Stanford University, notes that real innovation often takes decades – and both society and the business world have become extremely short-sighted. As a result, they settle on incremental advances, rather than significant ones. In addition, as companies become more risk averse, support for real innovation has dwindled, which ultimately is … Continue Reading

Reid Hoffman’s entrepreneurial rules of thumb

As the co-founder of popular business social network LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman knows a thing or two about successfully launching a startup. In this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University, he details the rules he has historically used when creating a venture: Look for disruptive change, aim high, build a network around your company, plan for good and bad luck and maintain flexible persistence. Most importantly, he says, remember these rules are just rules … Continue Reading

Education’s entrepreneurial opportunities

There’s a ton of research and development in the pharmaceutical sector – but in the education system, which is just as large, there’s virtually none. 17 percent of pharma’s revenues are reinvested in R&D – but with education, the figure is just 0.1 percent. Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer of the United States, calls this a missed opportunity – and notes that Washington is trying to spur startups to focus on this – in this … Continue Reading

Can you objectively compare ideas?

Ideas are easy to come up with – even off the wall ones. But figuring out whether there’s any demand for them isn’t. Idealab founder and CEO Bill Gross shares his thinking on how to objectively test – and compare – ideas in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University. Along the way, he tells the story of how testing for Carfinder.com was done – and the unusual way the company fulfilled initial … Continue Reading

Right idea, wrong time: Twitter in the pre-Twitter days

Twitter’s a ubiquitous service these days, but 11 years ago it was just the beginning of an idea rolling around in Jack Dorsey’s head. Dorsey, in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University, tells of the days he first tested the idea – broadcasting his notes and thoughts to friends and family via an email list from his then-revolutionary Blackberry. Things didn’t go quite as smooth then as they did when he launched … Continue Reading

The essential qualities of passion

Before he was CEO at OptiMedica, Mark Forchette was a sales representative for a consumer products firm. He knew nothing about sales at the time, but was a passionate user of their products – and won the company over with that enthusiasm, something he says is an essential quality for success in the startup world. Forchette relates the tale to students in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture, given at Stanford University.

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How proximity affects workplace relationships

In an era where more and more workers are telecommuting for part of the week, if not entirely, the importance of physical proximity is often overlooked. In this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture, given at Stanford University, Ori Brafman, author of “Click: The Magic of Instant Connections,”  reveals how distance affects the building of relationships, both personal and professional. Besides data points from studies, he also hosts an interactive demonstration of the effects of proximity – … Continue Reading

Answers are easy. Finding problems is hard.

Most entrepreneurs think they know what problem they’re trying to solve when they decide to launch a company – but that certainty fades quickly as they begin digging into the situation. Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University, says it’s not the answers that are hard, but finding the right problem to solve. Systrom tells how he and co-founder Mike Krieger went about the process and lessons they … Continue Reading

Today's bad idea: Compensating solely on performance

In most companies, the better you perform, the more you earn. But Geoffrey Moore, author and venture partner at MDV, says focusing exclusively on that metric can hurt a company in the long run. Instead, he tells students in this Entrepreneur Though Leader Lecture, given at Stanford University, those who develop new initiatives or ideas deserve a second look, since they’re creating the power that fuels a company’s long-term growth.

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(Can’t see the video? … Continue Reading

The long, slow death of the IPO

IPOs traditionally have been the pinnacle of success for companies, but Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of SecondMarket argues that’s no longer true. The IPO market, he tells students in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture at Stanford University, is dying a painful death. Silbert cites several reasons for this, ranging from Sarbanes-Oxley to the shift to online brokerages, which cut into the research budgets of brokers, who shifted their focus to large cap companies and … Continue Reading

The pros and cons of dorm room startups

Aaron Levie co-founded Box.net from his dorm room, but he quickly learned that there were some strong advantages and disadvantages to that. While the company’s overhead was minimal, providing customer service from an accounting class is hardly ideal – and investors are instinctively more wary of entrepreneurs who don’t commit. Levie discusses how he weighed the pros and cons in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture, given at Stanford University.

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(Can’t see the video? Click … Continue Reading