Thursday, May 04, 2006

Thesis Completed! Effects of Globalization on the Poor, by Ryan Pitylak

Direct link to the paper written by Ryan Pitylak (click here).

After spending two semesters reading what seemed like endless sources, I've completed the thesis. Dr. Bencivenga at the University of Texas was an awesome help, providing me with direction, constructive criticism, and corrections.

I strongly believe that poverty can be steadily lowered, and globalization is one way to accomplish this.

I also think that creative entrepreneurs are one of the keys to job creation, which is necessary for developing countries to become more developed. As poor people can find jobs, their wages can increase, and some will most out of poverty. This is crucial to global development, and I feel strongly that finding some way to stop people from starving is one of our most important goals as human beings. This may not be a large contribution to that goal, but it's a start.

Older papers are available at:
http://www.ryanpitylak.com/papers.html

Ryan Pitylak

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Working for Good - FLOW Idealism

I am active in Working for Good, which is a project that was born out of FLOW Idealism. I talk about this project in my speech that I gave last night, and I strongly believe in these ideals. John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, was at the meeting today and discussed the reasons why we has joined flow as a co-founder. My plea to any entrepreneur out there: be a social entrepreneur.

Social entrepreneurialism is important for me because I feel like business creates jobs. After learning about the negative long-term effects of foreign aid on countries, I decided to look at alternative ways to think about how to help the world. I came across Michael Strong and Phyllis Blees, and they told me about FLOW Idealism. What they're trying to accomplish is great because they are trying to find ways to create socially conscious businesses. My feels are: why have a business that hinders society when you could have a business that helps society. And why stop there? Why not help people in developing countries move out of poverty by helping them find ways to increase their ability to earn a living? One of FLOW's missions, which is very important to me, is to help educate people in developing countries about ways to make more money and become financially stable. I am excited, and proud, to be part of such a great project!

Some helpful links if you are interested:
Working for Good: http://www.causealliancemarketing.com/W4G/a-p-ambassadors.html
Flow Idealsim: http://www.flowproject.org/
Zaadz: http://brian.zaadz.com/blog/tags/working+for+good

Ryan Pitylak

Bootstrap Student Introduction to UT Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Society

Last night I gave a talk to the University of Texas at Austin Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Society http://www.utentrepreneurs.org/index.php The talk was about my experiences as an entrepreneur, to talk about some of the principles of bootstrapping, and to talk about the Bootstrap-Student organization.

This opportunity for me to speak was delightful because I truly enjoy helping my fellow entrepreneurs. I love to hear about other people's business ideas and help them succeed with these business ventures. This group was interesting because several people had started businesses while still in school and were struggling balancing the work with school. I've gone through these same struggles myself, and having this opportunity for me to talk about how to manage all of this is really great.

One of my goals with helping to run the Bootstrap Student Organization is to help students build a community with one another. My pleasure is being able to be a part of that building process. Working with Bijoy Goswami to learn how to build communities has been a great learning experience for me, and I hope to apply this knowledge in practical application for building the Bootstrap Student organization.

The talk in available at this website (click here).

Please wait for the file to load. It's about 50MB, and therefore might take up to 15 minutes to load.

Ryan Pitylak