Press Release 8/2/2006

Is a Business Idea Contagious: Radio Host and Entrepreneur Expert Tom Long's New Paper Shows How Ideas Spread Through Markets Like a Virus

Entrepreneurship expert Tom Long offers "Disease Epidemics and Entrepreneurial Tipping Points: Models of Venture Viability from Customer and Financier Perspectives"

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 2, 2006 -- Tom Long, president of Solid Oak Consulting.com and radio host of Voice America's "Acorns to Oaks" along with DePaul University Professor Patrick Murphy presented this original research paper at the noted Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC).

BCERC is considered by many to be the premier entrepreneurship research conference in the world.

Long and Murphy’s paper is of interest to both entrepreneurs and business investors. Whereas discovery is fundamental to entrepreneurship, there is low understanding of how and why some discovered opportunities spread through market systems. The paper draws from epidemiological theories of how contagious viruses spread through human populations and proposes adaptations of epidemic principles to describe venture spread patterns. It profiles venture ideas via epidemiological dimensions (contact rate, market size, adoption rate, useful life). Then cross-references those dimensions to entrepreneurial and financier orientation dimensions. Implications are relevant to the strategic decisions of entrepreneurs and investment decisions of financiers.

You can download this highly informative paper at www.SolidOakConsulting.com through August 15, 2006.

About Tom Long:
Tom Long is the President and Principal Consultant of Solid Oak Consulting, LLC. He is a seasoned executive with 30 years of experience in starting, managing and turning around business groups both domestically and internationally. His ‘Acorn to Oaks’ Radio Program airs every Friday at 4pm Eastern Time at www.VoiceAmerica.com.

Contact Information:
Thomas E. Long
708-524-0886,
http://www.solidoakconsulting.com/publications.htm

Patrick Murphy
312-362-8487
http://fac.comtech.depaul.edu/pmurph12/

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