Kevin Koym

Come see The Four Conceptual Shifts

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Sorry for the last minute notice- but I wanted to let you know if you are interested in seeing me present this Monday about the Four Conceptual Shifts from my book The Rise of the Enterprise Tribe, please read the following.
I will be presenting the Four Conceptual Shifts Monday September 8, 2008 at 6 pm at the Bootstrap Austin main monthly meeting.  As many of you already know- Bootstrap Austin is one of the first enterprise tribes that I have worked with.  I will be presenting insight on how entrepreneurs can utilize the Four Conceptual Shifts to their advantage, especially in the context of taking advantage of the Bootstrap Austin Network.  This presentation will be on a different part of the book than I recently did at the Flow meeting in Austin.
Location:
Waterloo Ice House:
1106 W. 38th Street
Austin, TX 78705
map to location
If you are not a member of Bootstrap Austin, please come this evening as my guest.
More information from the meeting announcement can be found below.  I look forward to seeing you there.
Thanks,
Kevin

The rise of social networks like myspace and facebook foreshadow a larger and and more profound opportunity: the possibility of successfully building businesses like never before through bringing entrepreneurs together working with each other. Our very own Bootstrap Austin is one such example.

For the last decade Kevin has been working with entrepreneur networks in Mexico, Chile and Austin. At Bootstrap, he has been a key Contributor in his role as “Architect,” helping us to understand, articulate and implement a living example of what he calls an ‘Enterprise Tribe.’

At our September 8th, 2008 meeting, Kevin will share the insight and research that he has done for his upcoming book, The Rise of the Enterprise Tribe. In this talk he will share with us the first part of his book- Four Conceptual Shifts that create these new business opportunities. Being aware of these shifts enables entrepreneurs to take advantage of the new opportunities that they present.

SXSW 2009: Vote to build your community

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For SXSW Interactive 2009, Matt Genovese of Door64, Sarah Cooke of Net Impact Austin, myself, and one other yet to be announced Austin community builder will be speaking at SXSW Interactive 2009. We need your vote to have these talks added to SXSW Interactive’s 2009 Lineup. Can you spare a moment to vote for these talks?

First, to do so you will need to sign up for an account here:
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/users/register

Here is the first talk to vote for:
The Rise of the Enterprise Tribe
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1207
Social networks are creating fundamental shifts in the opportunity to start / grow businesses. New social organizations are creating real business impact in getting work done, and helping entrepreneurs succeed. Kevin will share insight based on his book, and work with Bootstrap Austin and entrepreneur networks in Mexico and Chile.

Here is the second talk to vote for:
Building Austin: Best Practices For Growing Our Community
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1181
Austin community leaders are leveraging social networking to actively build Austin more than ever before. We’ll bring several of Austin’s cutting-edge community leaders, including NetImpactAustin (non-profits), Door64 (employment), Bootstrap Austin (entrepreneurs) together in dialouge to share how they are building the Austin community, and not just holding networking events.

Thank you for your support. By getting these messages out, we will continue to build Austin into an entrepreneurial powerhouse!

Kevin

Comparing McCain and Obama on Technology Policy

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Lawrence Lessig has produced an informative, short video in which he compares McCain’s and Obama’s technology policy. In the spirit of full disclosure- historically I have not made any political statements on this blog, but this year for the first time I have actively gotten into supporting the Obama Campaign, including being a State of Texas Voting Delegate to the Democratic Convention. There is much hype by both candidates and political parties right now about the other. Lessig, though, has always thoughtfully dug into the issues… in the following video he critiques McCain’s technology policies. I have not seen this information shared wider in the press, which is disconcerting. Instead of worrying about the candidates minor social faux pas on the stage, I offer the following video to inform debate on substantial issues that affect where the US is going.

Insight from Chile: Web 2.0 is not about technology

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As you might know- I spent a good portion of 2003 in Chile, collaborating and learning with some of the best design experts in the world. When I speak of “design” I specifically am meaning “ontological design“- in a few words, that is to say what are the fundamental building blocks, or perhaps even dispositions of how we might look at an issue.

A simple demonstration of this insight can be found in my friend Felipe Contreras Haye’s statement:

Hemos venido a hacer una invitación a varios establecimientos educacionales a sumarse junto a nosotros a un proyecto de Innovación Educativa basada en los principios (NO EN LAS HERRAMIENTAS) de la Web 2.0. (emphasis added by Kevin)

For my friends that don’t read Spanish, I will translate, adding my understanding and interpretation to his statement- “We are sending invitations to various educational establishments around a innovative education based on the principles of Web 2.0, not the tools of Web 2.0. ”

This is a profound insight… why ? Many times the focus of entrepreneurs that I work with in the US, especially because of our technological prowess- we sometimes are drawn to think that technology is driving the dynamic growth of the Internet. Hardly. The social disposition of Internet users drives the net… and education should be directed at the social underpinnings and changing users perceptions of the net- not just training individuals on tools. Tools will change, within 6 months. The ability to “see” opportunities and how to respond to them in the world will stand, no matter what changes in the domain of technology. This need to “see” opportunities and not be blinded by shinny-object technology is essential for all entrepreneurs.

Our conversations are changing; Cooperation is taking hold

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Much has been said about Web2.0 about being a “conversation” between parties on the Internet- shifting from the “broadcast” model of radio and TV where listeners were passive receivers of information to listeners being actively engaged in conversation.  Web 2.0 conversations are happening many places, have been enabled by many service providers, including Austin’s own Bazaar Voice.  Yet there is a shift happening, a major shift.

Just like the Internet was not “just like TV, but better”, the shift that is coming is not “just like Web 2.0 but better”.  A fundamental shift is occurring.  Do you see it?

Activities on the Internet are shifting from (1) broadcast to (2) Web 2.0 conversations to (3) cooperation (taking action together).  Greater than at any point in the history of the Internet cooperative behaviors are taking place- where people are not just talking with each other, but an even greater amount of collective action is happening…. and in this, what is significant is not the large system collective action (as an example, political campaigns like the Obama campaign) but the small scale activities.  What is unique about these new small scale activities, compared to grass roots activities of the past?  This is not just grass roots happening, but the fact that these small scale activities are producing real business impact.  Small groups of entrepreneurs around the world are connecting together, getting real work done, and creating better economic outcomes.

For myself, I have been doing this round the world with working with software developers world-wide- and other business people both in Austin as well as at considerable distance.  Constraints- whether they be financial,  skills, or resource limitations are being more easily overcome than at any point in the history of the world.  Cooperation, not just conversation is the new, coming language of the Internet.  We see this already in open source software projects and in the remix of certain parts of the music industry… but cooperation is not going to stop there.  Although risk abound, a new language and new practices for cooperating world-wide is emerging.  We’ll keep around Web 2.0 just like we have kept around our old TV’s… but it is time to make space for the cooperation-economy, and realize that it is not going to be “just like Web 2.0 but  better.”

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