新利18数字彩票|新利18lcok

External Partners Alumni Search Submit Return to home Search Search About About Olin Home Why Olin Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Leadership & Strategy News & Media Events Contact Us Programs Programs Home Explore Our Programs BS in Business Administration MBAs Specialized Master's Doctoral Executive Education Dual Degrees Faculty & Research Faculty & Research Home Faculty Directory Research Research Centers Olin Brookings Commission Olin Award Student Resources Student Resources Home Career Services Center for Experiential Learning Entrepreneurship Academic Calendars Student Organizations For Current Students For Military Veterans Admissions Admissions Home Scholarships & Aid Attend Program Events Visit Olin Ask a Student Student Profiles Request Information Refer a Candidate External Partners Alumni Olin’s entrepreneurship director releases novel based on 1904 World’s Fair-era entrepreneur November 21, 2022 By Jill Young Miller 3 minute read Home News Olin’s entrepreneurship director releases novel based on 1904 World’s Fair-era entrepreneur Doug Villhard is a serial entrepreneur, investor, Olin&＃8217;s academic director for entrepreneurship, a philanthropist&＃8212;and now an author. Company of Women,&＃160;his first book, published November 15 and is live on Amazon. The 364-page historical novel is based on the real-life E.G. Lewis. At the time of the 1904 World&＃8217;s Fair in St. Louis, Lewis was an early advocate for a woman&＃8217;s right to vote and owned the largest women&＃8217;s magazine in the world&＃8212;until he ran afoul of a government conspiracy reaching up to President Teddy Roosevelt. &＃8220;As an entrepreneurship professor and as an entrepreneur, I fell in love with this story,&＃8221; Villhard said in an interview. Villhard Like Villhard, Lewis was an entrepreneur whose mind was always spinning with ideas. His&＃160;Woman&＃8217;s Magazine&＃160;employed a multitude of women and reached nearly every household in the country. It was based in an octagonal, domed building Lewis had built that is now University City&＃8217;s City Hall. Lewis came to St. Louis in the late 1890s selling dubious products to kill insects. As his wealth and influence grew, temptations challenged his family, coworkers and his marriage. Luckily, he had strong, smart women in his circle. &＃8220;I think he had one of the most entrepreneurial minds and creative minds that I that I&＃8217;ve ever encountered,&＃8221; said Villhard, who last year&＃160;sold a company he cofounded. &＃8220;The more I researched him, the more I couldn&＃8217;t believe no one had ever written a book about him. I felt like this was a story that needed to be told. It also lets me weave in the major themes that I teach in class, too.&＃8221; &＃8220;Feedback is a gift&＃8221; is one theme, and Villhard takes it to heart. At his request, 20 people read his manuscript. He asked them to tell them everything they liked and everything they didn&＃8217;t like. &＃8220;And that led to a wonderful revision,&＃8221; he said. Fall in love with the customers&＃8217; problems Another theme is to fall in love with the customers&＃8217; problems. &＃8220;We teach at Olin if you try to chase money, you&＃8217;ll never get it,&＃8221; Villhard said. &＃8220;You have to fall in love with the customers&＃8217; problems. You also have to fall in love with your own team and make sure you create an awesome environment in which they want to work. And then the rest works itself out. And Lewis was a guy who was obsessed with his customers.&＃8221; In the early 1900&＃8217;s, nearly two-thirds of Americans lived on farms. The postal system had just been expanded, allowing&＃160;Woman&＃8217;s Magazine&＃160;to connect with those rural households. &＃8220;Women on these farms had money, by the way. They wanted to participate in the economy. And Lewis saw this as an opportunity,&＃8221; Villhard said. Based on Lewis&＃8217; earlier experience selling door-to-door, he realized that they wanted goods and services for themselves, their kids and their households just as much as city folks did. &＃8220;He wanted to bridge that gap.&＃8221; Ninety percent of startups fail because &＃8220;they literally make something that nobody wants because they don&＃8217;t go out and talk to customers,&＃8221; Villhard said. &＃8220;And Lewis&＃8217; whole philosophy, and my whole philosophy and really the modern way of teaching entrepreneurship, is no other opinion matters than the customer&＃8217;s. &＃8220;E.G. Lewis was somebody who figured that out early.&＃8221; About the Author Jill Young Miller As research translator for WashU Olin Business School, my job is to highlight professors’ research by “translating” their work into stories. Before coming to Olin, I was a communications specialist at WashU’s Brown School. My background is mostly in newspapers including as a journalist for Missouri Lawyers Media, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post and the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida. Contact Us For assistance in finding faculty experts, please contact Washington University Public Affairs. Monday&＃8211;Friday, 8:30 to 5 p.m. Sara Savat, Senior News Director, Business and Social [email protected] &＃160; Kurt Greenbaum,Communications [email protected] Twitter: WUSTLnews Share article Apply Now Visit Us Request Info One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 [email protected] 314-935-7301 News & Media Events Faculty Directory WashU Center for Career Engagement Washington University home Olin Links Sitemap Privacy Policies Title IX Accessibility ©2024 Washington University in St. Louis