BUSINESSWEEK: "WHERE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONNECTS TO THE CLASSICS." 

Follow the classical steps of epic mythology on towards epic success in business, art, & life!

Jack Bogle: Founder and Former CEO of Vanguard: (Dr. E's) course The Hero's Odyssey in Artistic Entrepreneurship and Technology is an inspiring tribute to the relevance of classical ideals in our modern lives. --Enough: True Measures of Business, Money, and Life, Wiley 2008

BusinessWeek: From Beethoven to Bob Dylan: Every artist is an entreprneur:  --  so argues Dr. Elliot McGucken, a visiting professor at Pepperdine University.

William Ferriss, former Chair of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA): Many thanks for the impressive work that you are doing. I look forward to keeping in touch and commend you on the innovative teaching you do.

Bijoy Goswami of the Bootstrap Network:  Elliot is an incredible guy . . . we spoke for two hours . . . he teaches a class and has written a book on how the artistic and entrepreneurial journey map onto the stages of the hero's journey.

Michael Warder, Vice Chancellor Pepperdine University: (Dr. E) speaks to creative students who are steeped in the digital revolution in a very powerful and responsible way. 

SUBSCRIBE TO Get a free "Hero's Odyssey" podcast & book chapter from Dr. E's upcoming "The Hero's Odyssey in Art, Entrepreneurship, & Technology!"

See some of the glowing reviews for Dr. E's "Hero's Odyssey" ventures here, from students and  festival, seminar, & lecture attendees!   Dr. E has spent the past ten years empowering artists and entreprneurs with the precepts of classical mythology in the form of his photography, festivals, lectures at SXSW and ITConversations, blogs, and class which has been offered as an MBA class, upper-level undergraduate class, and freshman seminar at UNC Chapel Hill and Pepperdine University.  And now, he is finally bringing the spirit to life in the form of several "Hero's Odyssey" books.

John C. Bogle, Founder & Former CEO of the Vanguard Group: Your message to our nation's young students--a message of idealism and enlightenment--is a breath of fresh air that must--and will--find its way into the musty corridors of our colleges and business schools. Perhaps your happy acronym--CREATE (Center for Renaissance Entrepreneurship, Art, Technology, and Economics) will help.  Keep up the good work!

BusinessWeek Reports: From Beethoven to Bob Dylan:  Every artist is an entrepreneur. . . --  so argues Dr. Elliot McGucken, a visiting professor at Pepperdine University.

I.D.E.A. to Exit: An Entrepreneurial Journey: Author and Professor Elliot McGucken, Ph.D. describes the entrepreneurial process to his arts students through an analogy to ancient literature. He describes the first stage of the entrepreneur and that of the classic "hero" story as a odyssey in which the hero, or entrepreneur, "embarks on a quest that requires separation and departure from the familiar world.. . . The entrepreneur moves into the unknown and the unproven. . ." Departure from the familiar is what keeps many from not exploring their entrepreneurial world at all. --Jeffrey Weber: I.D.E.A. to Exit: An Entrepreneurial Journey, p. 3, (Published 2010 by Mill City Press)

The Wall Street Journal: After winning (the Merrill Lynch Innovations Grant Contest for an artificial retina for the blind titled Multiple unit artificial retina chipset to aid the visually impaired and enhanced holed-emitter CMOS phototransistors), he got to tour the New York Stock Exchange. Dr. McGucken caught the entrepreneurial bug. Eventually, he launched an internet company devoted to his longtime passions: writing and classical literature. . .The Web site is filled with Dr. McGucken's poetry and commentary and discussion groups on classic literature. "It's all written in a classical context with a Generation X attitude," he says. He sells ads to online vendors in fields ranging from life insurance to pantyhose and has a deal with Amazon.com that gives him a cut of sales generated by his site. . . HE HAS RESISTED the siren call of big business, although he has talked to venture capitalists and he almost sold out to a larger company before that company was taken over. Dr. McGucken wouldn't mind being part of a larger site, but he doesn't want to be a larger company. "If I was to try to squeeze huge profits out of it to please venture capitalists, it would ruin the spirit of it," he says. . . 

The Hero's Odyssey @ IT Conversations! Free Podcast! Artistic Entrepreneurship & Technology 101: Talking Portraits with Tom Parish 52 minutes, 23.9mb, recorded 2007-04-09 Download Audio Tired of being a starving artist? Dr. Elliot McGucken's Artistic Entrepreneurship & Technology 101 puts together a new approach to entrepreneurship and the arts through a fascinating application of the classic odyssey of mythological heroes. McGucken, a physicist, has taught the class at both UNC Chapel Hill and Pepperdine, and has expanded the concept through blogs, a festival, and an upcoming book. In this interview McGucken describes how the course applies the structure of the monomyth, the fundamental pattern of the great hero narratives throughout history, from Odysseus, Jesus, and Buddha to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix. Also called the Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell identified this pattern in his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces.

McGucken even takes it a step beyond, using examples from modern real-life success stories like Richard Branson and Kid Rock. McGucken explains why the web's democratization of both the means of production and distribution can be used by the big companies to continue to exploit artists, or instead used by indie artists themselves who preserve their own rights in their successful journey. It's your choice, if you take it.

The Kauffman Foundation's Thoughtbook: Elliot McGucken has an artful way of teaching entrepreneurship to artists. He explains the entrepreneurial process, for instance, by comparing it to the classic "hero's odyssey" in myths and epics. Typically, in the first stage of the story, the hero embarks on a quest that requires "separation" or "departure" from the familiar world (here McGucken finds strong parallels to the decision to start a company) -- and after many twists, the odyssey ends with the hero's "return" (exit strategy). Every aspect of classical story, including antagonists, mentors, reversals of fortune, and the seizing of the sword from the stone, may be found in the realm of entrepreneurship," McGucken claims. And there's more. The college course he designed -- open to students in any major, working in any of the visual, literary or performing arts -- mixes classical concepts with cutting-edge practical advice, such as how to use open-source DRM (digital rights management) to keep the ogres from snatching your profits. The course is called Artistic Entrepreneurship and Technology 101. First offered this past spring at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with support from the Kauffman Campuses Initiative, it has drawn rave reviews from students. The core message of AE&T 101 is that "ideals are real," and in fact are practical: that you don't have to choose between being a starving artist or selling out. By starting a venture of your own that combines high artistic standards with sound business principles, you can "rock your dreams," McGucken tells students; he says that in the arts as in business, pursuing "fundamental value" pays off.

Jack Bogle: Founder and Former CEO of Vanguard: (Dr. E's) course The Hero's Odyssey in Artistic Entrepreneurship and Technology is an inspiring tribute to the relevance of classical ideals in our modern lives. --Jack Bogle in his book Enough: True Measures of Business, Money, and Life, Wiley 2008

Business Week reports: Where Entrepreneurship Connects to the Classics: Elliot McGucken, a professor of entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University, bemoans that "a lot of schools have dismissed the idea of teaching the great books." In a recent lecture at Pepperdine, McGucken points out that that one lesson of the classics is, "Chance favors the prepared mind…. Instead of viewing risk as a bad thing, we can also view it as a good thing." The classics inspired America's Declaration of Independence, which McGucken sees as an entrepreneurial document. Life has a way of "calling us to adventure," he concludes. Though many entrepreneurs launch businesses based on some "whimsical occurrence," it's their educational and life backgrounds that enable them to recognize the opportunity.

Pepperdine Awarded Grant to Develop Curriculum for Artistic Entrepreneurship and Technology: Keith Hinkle, vice president for advancement and public affairs at Pepperdine underscored the importance of the foundation’s grant.  “The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s support of Dr. McGucken’s work is already having an impact on Pepperdine students. Elliot is among, if not the leading scholar in America on the subject of artistic entrepreneurship and technology and we are fortunate he is leading the dialogue here at Pepperdine.” --Pepperdine University News Release

Go Into The Story (the web's #1 screenwriting blog): The Hero’s Journey as entrepreneurial model? December 6th, 2008 by Scott Meyers 
GITS reader and long-time friend Richard Rumble source this interesting site that uses Joseph Campbell’s theories re The Hero’s Journey as the basis for teaching entrepreneurship. At first, that might leave you scratching your head, but check out this outline from Dr. E's website: Artistic Entrepreneurship 101 Outline:
1 Structure (based on wikipedia’s monomyth): The executive summary of your artistic business venture.
1.1 Departure (or Separation): Taking that first step–blog your vision.
1.1.1 The Call to Adventure: Artistic passions & dreams
1.1.2 Refusal of the Call: Is it practical?
1.1.3 Supernatural Aid: Use the force, Luke. The harder you work, the luckier you get.
1.1.4 The Crossing of the First Threshold: Business structures / market research
1.1.5 The Belly of the Whale: The business plan, raising funds, intellectual property
1.2 Initiation: Building the team, incorporating
1.2.1 The Road of Trials: Striving toward profitablitity
1.2.2 The Meeting with the Goddess: First customers! Early success!
1.2.3 Temptation: Shifting marketplaces.
1.2.4 Atonement with the Father: Competing or collaborating with the big guys–the Microsofts and Apples, the Hollywood studios
1.2.5 Apotheosis: Realizing the full potential of the core business.
1.2.6 The Ultimate Boon: Newfound business acumen!
1.3 Return: It is all for naught without the road back!
1.3.1 Refusal of the Return: Don’t lose site of the core business!
1.3.2 The Magic Flight: Exit strategy! IPO or selling the company!
1.3.3 Rescue from Without: When business competition is your best friend.
1.3.4 The Crossing of the Return Threshold: The venture is a success!
1.3.5 Master of Two Worlds: You know what it takes–like Richard Branson you can do it again.
1.3.6 Freedom to Live: Financial freedom to pursue your dreams!!

UNC Chapel Hill News reports: Students Line Up for New Artistic Entrepreneurship Course based on Hero's Odyssey Mythology: When UNC Professor Elliot McGucken put out the call to adventure to "make your passion your profession" with a pilot course for artistic entrepreneurs, students answered. More than 110 students applied for the new course, The Hero's Odyssey in Arts Entrepreneurship and Technology 101. The course, geared towards students with an interest in the intersection between the arts, entrepreneurial ventures and cutting-edge technology, was originally slated for 40 spots, but the overwhelming response triggered an increase in class size. Nearly 50 students are enrolled for the spring semester. Students from a range of creative disciplines--from painting to film production--will develop their artistic vision over the course of the semester. McGucken hopes the course will both inspire artists to pursue their creative passions and give them the practical tools necessary to launch and develop their ventures. "Every artist is an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur is an artist," explains McGucken. --Univeristy of North Carolina, Chapel Hill News

Go Into the Story's Scott Meyers: "With my students, I make the point that when we conceive of a story, in effect we become a Protagonist in our own story: The writing process. Stumbling upon that initial story concept is like The Call To Adventure. When we type FADE IN, we Cross The First Threshold. As we write, we confront Trials (lose our way, lose our confidence) and Temptations (to quit). And eventually as we get to FADE OUT, we emerge ‘victorious’ on our own hero’s journey. Given that, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find outfits like this using Campbell’s theories as business models. What about you? What do you think about this application of The Hero’s Journey? And have you ever thought of yourself — in the writing process — to be your own Protagonist on your own hero’s journey?"

CharlesLaurenFilms.com: The Purpose of Myth: It seems hard to remember, especially when people are feeling down in times like these, but our myths aren't just there so stories can be written using their framework and convention. They aren't there just for entertainment and movies like Star Wars, but they exist in all of our minds and are archetypes because we are supposed to use their ideas to live our lives. . . . Not surprisingly, the heroes in our own world follow the exact same chronology of life events as Frodo or Luke Skywalker. Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, my buddy Lakshmi Mittal, just about everyone follows the same path. As I thought about this I found a great website (Dr. E's herosodysseyentrepreneurship.org) which outlines the events in an entrepreneur's life and how it relates to the ordeals that the hero must go through on his odyssey, which can be found in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Exodus, Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's Inferno! It was pretty cool to see this structured and in writing! Starting a business in a recession might be the perfect option for a lot of people. Companies aren't expanding into new markets, thus leaving room if you want to sneak into a niche somewhere. In fact, most are retreating into little protective shells so they can stay in business. If you have lost your job, have some savings and have an idea about what you can do to improve the world, maybe you should consider taking the Left Hand Path and starting your own company! If you do, here is what you can expect! The site:HerosOdysseyEntrepreneurship.org --Charles Lauren Films