Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs, Inspired By Women Entrepreneurs

by Elle Kaplan | Nov 19, 2014 | Entrepreneurship, inspiration, Leadership

Recently I had the opportunity to speak at my alma mater, Columbia University, with Columbia Women in Business. As a guest of Self Magazine, I spoke as part of a “Self-Made” panel of women entrepreneurs. The subject of this presentation – women and...

Bootstrapping vs VC Funding

by Elle Kaplan | Nov 17, 2014 | Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Success

When I founded LexION Capital, I received several offers to fund the firm. These ranged from an infusion of capital to partnership to part ownership in exchange for backing. I turned them all down in favor of funding the firm entirely on my own. In fact, this was...

Successful Entrepreneurs Learn to Stay Fearless

by Elle Kaplan | Oct 22, 2014 | Entrepreneurship

Great ideas take flight when you are free of fear. Everyone faces fear, and that includes innovative, successful entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur’s very job is to swim upstream. The trick is maintaining faith in yourself and in your ideas despite doubt. If you...

Entrepreneurial Creativity: Three Ways to Hack Into Innovation

by Elle Kaplan | Oct 7, 2014 | Entrepreneurship, Leadership

An entrepreneur can adopt a strategic management style that helps nurture an entrepreneurial mindset in her entire team. To foster a culture of entrepreneurial creativity and innovation, guide your employees to start thinking like intra-preneurs–people who bring...

Management Mistakes To Avoid As An Entrepreneur

by Elle Kaplan | Sep 29, 2014 | Entrepreneurship, Leadership

The Peter Principle: things that work well will be applied in more and more challenging applications – until inevitably, they reach a point at which they have exceeded their ability to be effective. Unless this principle is heeded, even an excellent tool or...

Women CEOs

by Elle Kaplan | Sep 22, 2014 | Entrepreneurship

In over a dozen years on Wall Street, I often found myself in the lonely position of being the only woman in the conference room. But fast-forward just over a decade, and I am now the CEO of a leading independent wealth management firm, LexION Capital, the only 100%...