Startup Stories #2

Adventures from the entrepreneurial edge

Welcome to the second edition of Startup Stories, a weekly collection of first-hand accounts of the real-life experiences of people pursuing their entrepreneurial dream. I received several submissions and found a few more great stories on my own, giving me hope that narrative isn't completely dead in the small business blogosphere. Enjoy!

Chapter 11, Pt. 1: To File, or Not to File? - Ray Capece talks very candidly about taking advantage of Ch. 11 bankruptcy to successfully reorganize his company. Be sure to continue to Part 2 for the lessons he learned from the experience.

Match Your Entrepreneur Story - Inspired by last week's edition of Startup Stories, Gretchen Glasscock tells her own stories about sexism and her entrepreneurial upbringing in response to posts from Donna Fox and John Jantsch.

My Interest in Social Media - Dave Evans retells the story he told me in the car on the way to a Social Media Club get-together. Absolutely the best story I've heard about why someone got into social media.

My Entrepreneurial Mother Story - Denise Hall tells how, at the "ripe old age of 36", she went from "unemployed, homeless and pregnant" to a director of a consulting firm focused on performance improvement for corporations. Inspiring!

Little Bloggers Grow . . . What I Learned When I Blew It - Liz Strauss shares a valuable lesson: the relationship is more valuable than the deal.

Be A Part Time Or Interim IT Manager - Despite the drab, how-to title, this is a great demonstration of how a little narrative transforms a simple point into an engaging story.

Working At Home To Build Passive Blog Income And Giving Up Full Time Job Pay - Don't let the keyword-intensive title fool you - this is a great personal perspective on the challenge many people trying to make money online face - juggling it with more conventional work to meet your needs.

Why I will never advertise in the phone book again - A familiar tale of old-school thinking by large corporations in dealing with small-business customers.

The Dragons - Tim Berry explains the metaphor, "no dragons yet." This one was new to me -- you learn something new every day!

That's it for this week. Want to share your story with a larger audience? Please review the guidelines and then submit your story.