Highlights of the March 2006 Issue of FSB: FORTUNE Small Business

The full stories are available at FSB.com.

COVER STORY

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?, by Patricia B. Gray, page 34
Entrepreneurial fever is sweeping the nation's college campuses, as students jam into classes to learn how to launch, finance, and run their own companies. And it's not just B-school students - fledgling engineers, teachers, artists, pharmacists, lawyers, nurses and even dancers have heard the siren call of the startup. But can entrepreneurship be taught in the classroom? As Patricia Gray discovers, there are varying opinions on the matter ranging from the belief that entrepreneurship is inherent to the idea that the classroom helps to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit.
What some successful entrepreneurs have to say:

. "Most of entrepreneurship, for me, is about instinct and intuition. Many times I have been asked by someone considering a new venture if he should go for it. But an entrepreneur knows instinctively when to go for it." Michael Dell, Founder and chairman, Dell

. "I can't think of a single person who doesn't have the entrepreneurial spirit. Education-from the classroom to learning through experience-separates the successes from the failures." David Neeleman, CEO and chairman, Jetblue

. "As a nerd, I could have used more coursework in how to communicate and also a good course in organizational behavior." Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist

. "You can't teach someone not to be afraid when he is almost out of money or to believe in his idea no matter what." Wally Amos, Founder, Famous Amos Cookies

. "If you're passionate about what you're doing, you don't need to go to school. From the time I was 8 years old, I loved making clothes." Vivienne Tam, Founder and CEO, East Wing Code

HEALTHCARE
A New Guide to the Medical Maze, by Michelle Andrews, page 87
Health Advocate, was launched by five former Aetna execs who see a ripe business opportunity in the rising complexity of health care. The 73 trained advisors - including 20 nurses-at Health Advocates call center help employees at client firms with a variety of services including:

. Finding a specialist

. Appealing a denied claim

. Researching treatment options

. Locating a long-term-care facility for an elderly parent

Dr. Annie Liebowitz, co-founder and chief medical officer says, "We're either the single place to go with questions or the single place to go if you don't know where to go." Clients that run small businesses say they find Health Advocate's specialists more helpful than most in-house HR generalists-which is an important selling point for companies whose HR staff, if they have one-are stretched to the limit.

STARTUP Barbara Corcoran on Reality TV, by David Whitford, page 30
Real estate maven Barbara Corcoran displays her flair for the dramatic as she tries to launch a new television show. Corcoran tells FSB's David Whitford "I have a very good reality TV show idea that I love that I won't tell you." Then she immediately halfway relents, "But I'll tell you the vehicle I travel in: a little car that's shaped like a bubble. I'm hoping to go through little towns in the middle of America, waving. 'Here comes the lady in the real estate bubble.' You get it?" The pilot has been shot.

PERSONAL FINANCE Family Ties, by Gay Jervey, page 59 The IRS sued the estate of a Texas businessman, after he put most of his assets into a family limited partnership (FLPs, or "flips") two months before his death from cancer in 1994. This past summer an appeals court held that Strangi's FLP was not valid and set out clear guidelines about how business owners can use FLPs and still avoid problems with the IRS.
'FLIP' TIPS:

. FLPs are overseen by individual states, not the U.S. government

. Every FLP has one general partner and at least one limited partner. The general partner controls the entity and decides how to manage its assets, and should be a neutral third party from outside the family.

. Limited partners have less control, regardless of how much they contribute. A parent can put in most of the FLP's assets, yet he and his kids should all be limited partners. The IRS wants to prevent parents from putting money into a FLP and still managing it.

FSB is available in digital format. To access this version go to: http://mag1.olivesoftware.com/am/welcome/FSB/FSB-2006-02.asp.

 

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Erin Clinton
212-522-4071
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