A dozen people share their top 5 tips for success.

1. 12 Essentials to
Blossom and Thrive
Green Ideas 2013
Christine Geith, PhD
Assistant Provost & Executive Director
Michigan State University MSUglobal

2. First, seek out the hard-won
wisdom of others…
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3. “Make sure your outcome is
aligned with resiliency and
issue-drivers of the future.
Make sure you are attached to
the bigger agenda.”
Rick Foster
Endowed Chair of Food, Society and Sustainability, Michigan
State University | Former VP for Programs at the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation | East Lansing, Michigan
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4. “Be SMART: specific
measurable
achievable
realistic
timely.”
Wiley Barbour
Executive Director, International Biochar Initiative
Chairman of the Board, Greenhouse Gas Institute
Washington,DC
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5. “Requirements - clear
requirements and analysis that
breaks them down to small user
stories.”
Prabode Weebade
CEO & Chief Software Architect, Venturit
Okemos, Michigan & Sri Lanka
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6. “A clear project rhythm & set
milestones, with the chance to
reevaluate, help the team to be
productive and also flexible.”
Jess Daniel
Founder & Chief Enabler, FoodLab Detroit
Local Economy Fellow at Business Alliance for Local Living
Economies | Detroit, Michigan
June 29, 2013 6

7. “Select the right leaders:
visionary leaders champion the
work; operational leaders
interpret the vision and develop
plans to carry it out.”
Renee V. Wallace
CEO, Visionary Strategist, Chief Doer
Doers Consulting Alliance | Program Manager, FoodPLUS
Detroit | Detroit, Michigan
June 29, 2013 7

8. “All risk is in the market.
Prepare & continually update a
competitive analysis, profiling
every actual & potential
competitor.”
Gregory E. Bradbury
President & Owner, The Bradbury Group, Inc.
Co-Founder & CEO Drawbridge
Serial Entrepreneur | New London, North Carolina
June 29, 2013 8

9. “Enlist your funders as part of
your team.”
Lynda Barbour
Creative Director of Business Solutions, FHI 360
Washington,DC
June 29, 2013 9

10. “Get traction, fast. As fast as you
can. In my line of
work...Traction=people signing
up, paying you, or using it a lot.”
Brett Kopf
Co-Founder & CEO, Remind101
Twitter Nut | Gen Y entrepreneur | Techie |
Outdoor Junky | San Francisco, California
June 29, 2013 10

11. “…It's Ok to ask for help along
the way, asking for help is a sign
of strength not weakness.”
Anne K. Keehn
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Education, Postsecondary
Success, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Washington,DC
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12. “Don’t assume people
understand…The absence of
objections, questions and
conflict is usually a huge
warning sign.”
James Reimer
Salt Project Director for the University of Notre Dame Haiti
Program | Founding Member FoodPlus Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
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13. “…dealing with change really is
the one thing you need to be
good at.”
Philipp Schmidt
Co-Founder & Exec Director, Peer2Peer University
MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow
Boston,MA
June 29, 2013 13

14. “Give it away…to someone else who
can realize it…In that way you get a
group of people saying, I did it. That’s
the only way to accomplish
something.”
Peter Paree
Program Leader Complex Projects
ZLTO Southern Farmer’s Union
Breda Area, Netherlands
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15. Blossom and Thrive: It Takes a Community
Thanks to all who shared their wisdom!
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16. And thanks to the MSUglobal Team
for hundreds of blossoming and thriving projects!
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17. Christine Geith, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost & Executive Director, MSUglobal
Michigan State University
Office: 517.353.0856
Email: geith@msu.edu
MSUglobal.com
See the complete “65 Tips to Blossom and Thrive”
http://bit.ly/1111xtk
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