World's largest entrepreneurial competition

China is leading the way. India already has something similar but it has yet to mobilize the same number of people. Imagine if there was a Pan Asia competition. That would include over a third of the world's population. From PSFK:

Broadcast on China’s CCTV national television, “Win in China” (赢在中国) is the world’s largest and most lucrative business plan competition. With over $5 million in prize money, the TV show pits 120,000 entrepreneurs competing to win $1.5 million dollars to invest in the winner’s business plan.

The documentary, produced by Robert Compton, follows the TV show of the same name and features entrepreneur celebrities such as Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group and Chairman of China Yahoo, who served as Head Judge and Liu Chuanzhi, founder of computer giant Lenovo.

CCTV host sums up the role played by entrepreneurs in China: “Today, entrepreneurs are the biggest heroes in our society.”

Links I liked

1. The Harvard Admission Process: How Harvard gets its Best and Brightest

2. Outside of Romeo Dulaire, Alison Des Forges was the Rwandan Genocide's most outspoken critic. A wonderful role model for journalists. Read Slate Magazine's beautiful tribute to her.

3. 17 Career Lessons from IDEO's David Kelley.

4. Big Boys Do Cry: the Tears of Grown Men.

5. Is pub culture really destroying the Indian Fabric?? You may not know this but this past valentine's day brought this topic to the front. Hindu extremists are turning increasingly hostile towards the "modernization" of India and what it brings with it. This piece was in response to that.

What inspires you??

What music inspires you to make the world better?? (photo courtesy: FadderUri)

Echoing Green's Anthony is trying to figure out what music really inspires you to make the world a better place.

Submit your list and win a prize!

Here's what you need to do:

Prepare a list of your songs (artist and title) OR a digital mix tape of your favorite “Bold Songs.” Your mix should contain eight to ten tracks that motivate you to make the world a better place. We recommend that you make your mix using either of the following free services:

• 8Tracks.com – Upload your songs in mp3 format or browse their network to stream your mix tape. We love this new site - we hope you check it out. If you use 8Tracks.com, please start the title of your mix with the words "Bold Songs." Here's a great screencast to get you started.
• iTunes iMix – Create a downloadable mix tape using Apples iTunes software. For help, see this excellent tutorial.

I’ve prepared a sample entry in the comments below. We can’t wait to listen to what you come up with!

The rules:

Submit your mix by September 12nd at 5pm EST by leaving a comment on this blog post (below) with a link to your digital mix tape OR simply leave a comment containing a list of your songs (artist and title). Your comment must also contain a short statement about why you chose these songs. Additionally, entries with profanity or hate speech will be disqualified. All entries that meet these criteria will be entered into a contest for a 4GB iPod nano. Entries will be judged on their creativity and theme by a panel of Echoing Green staffers. The winner will be announced on September 15th at 5pm EST. The winner will have thirty days to claim their iPod prize. The contest is open to anyone except for Echoing Green staff and our beloved family members (and former staff/interns and their family members, etc). Questions? Email me at anthony@echoinggreen.org.

A design competition for the homeless

The Homeless Utility Vehicle (source: Jalopnik.com)

Homeless guy writes about a great design competition taking place for homeless people. He writes:

There is at least one serious design competition for designers, architects, and engineers which focuses on customized shopping carts for homeless people. The results are quite varied. From time to time, people ask me for advice on their designs.

There is a place for such considerations as improving the conditions of homelessness, for the reality is, there is no cure for homelessness. Still, we should give equal time and attention towards ending homelessness, so that such contraptions are no longer necessary.

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