In a word, plenty. Generation Y (people born 1977-1994) is starting companies at an unprecedented rate, and their approach to business is unlike anything you’ve seen. The generation described by the media as spoiled, entitled, even narcissistic, is proving these notions false every day. Fenn examines and analyzes this entrepreneurial revolution to reveal eight critical lessons every entrepreneur and marketer must learn. Based upon her new book Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success (McGraw-Hill, 2009), Fenn’s talk provides key insight into:

• Building collaborative tribes
• Deploying technology for competitive advantage
• Disrupting the status quo
• Deconstructing the GenY market
• Generating branding buzz
• Leveraging social mission
• Creating dynamic workplaces
• Morphing and growing strategically

Fenn explains why yesterday’s competitive tactics don’t work anymore and why every business must reinvent itself as an “Alpha Dog,” particularly in tough economic times. She tells stories from the entrepreneurial trenches (based on her first book, Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack (Collins, 2005) , imparting lessons learned by a variety of ordinary small businesses that beat the competition, became marketplace leaders, and survived and thrived in good economies and through recessions. Fenn lays out eight success strategies: innovation, customer service, branding, employee engagement, alliances, use of technology, community connections, and reinvention, to illustrate how any small company can become a leader of the pack. Entrepreneurs will come away with solid ideas to transform their own companies; larger companies seeking to market their goods and services to entrepreneurs, or that want to create entrepreneurial cultures of their own, will gain valuable insight into the unique challenges of running and growing a small business. Customized speeches and workshops are available.