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Professor Celeste Johnson, Fairfield University, CT

"Whatever it takes to start a new business" is a great entrepreneurial commitment, the 'chutzpah' magnet for investors. However, "full-steam ahead" zeal can cloud undesirable consequences. New business formation critically demands a stakeholder focus—the life blood of any new venture. In this session, the personal value in helping stakeholders, including competitors will be discussed. Sound counter-intuitive? Perhaps, however, it is seen in the corporate world as co-workers DO compete while collaboratively ascending the corporate ladder. Entrepreneurs must know when and how to collaborate, recognizing that economic benefits are rarely short term. Collaboration IS an investment in one's future by investing in someone else's present. Ethical competitive relationships are foundations for future collective industry projects.