6 Free Resources for Entrepreneurs to Watch and Learn

This article is a reprint of Wise Bread's contribution to OPEN Forum from American Express -- where small business owners can get advice from experts and share tips with each other.

Advertiser Disclosure ▾

This page contains affiliate links from which we receive a compensation. Like many publications Wise Bread is supported by affiliate commission from partner companies whose products appear on our site. This may influence which products we write about and the location and order in which products appear. We aren't able to cover every product in the marketplace.

Wise Bread Picks

• Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Cash Back Credit Cards
• 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards

To keep their competitive edge today, even the smallest businesses need to stay on top of the rapid changes in the business world, from better technology to increasing globalization.

But doing that can be hard. You may not have time to read the latest business bestsellers or the Harvard Business Review in between winning new clients and managing employees.

One shortcut is to tap the growing number of high quality videos and webcasts available on small business topics. Squeezing in just one short video or webcast every week can go a long way toward stimulating your creativity at work and rounding out gaps in your entrepreneurial knowledge.

Not sure where to find the right viewing material? Here are a handful of sites with videos that are worth checking out.

Academic Earth

Tune in to talks by leading entrepreneurs at some of the world’s top universities. On the entrepreneurship channel, you can soak up ideas from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, entrepreneurship guru Guy Kawasaki, and Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

America’s Best

This interesting series features interviews on business strategy with the leaders of six entrepreneurial companies, from Columbia Sportswear to Radio One. The businesses have received support from the Small Business Administration – which co-sponsored the series with ADP – so if you’re interested in applying for SBA-backed loans or other programs, you may find the details of these stories particularly helpful in positioning yourself.

Ecorner

Run by Stanford University, Ecorner offers more than 2,000 free videos and podcasts, many with a Silicon Valley vibe. The videos range from practical topics such as “What to Avoid in Term Sheets,” by Altirah Capital’s David Frankel to more esoteric ones, like “The Five Whys,” in which lean startup guru Eric Ries offers tips on discerning the reasons for technology glitches.

Small Business Webcast

Get free continuing education on tax related matters and other financial topics from the instructors at the Small Business Institute of Seattle and Bellevue, Washington. Titles range from “LLCs and S Corps Explained” to “7 Tax Tips for the Self Employed.” Another good source of free finance webcasts: CFO Magazine.

Ted.com

Looking for inspiration from leading entrepreneurs and business thinkers? You’ll find plenty of it on TED. Enter the term “entrepreneur” in the search box and you’ll discover a wealth of interesting videos, including offerings by business coach Cameron Herold about raising kids to be entrepreneurs, Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk on the importance of overcoming self-doubt, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos on the next online innovation.

The next time you feel tempted to while away a few spare moments on YouTube or Farmville, click over to one of these sites instead, and turn your downtime into investment-time.

OPEN Forum

OPEN Forum has wonderful videos of super successful CEOs, Small Business Owners, and other fascinating industry leaders. Get insights, advice, and perspectives from those who have blazed the trail for you.