Entrepreneurweek Be Driven

Donna is the author of two books: Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success (McGraw-Hill, 2009); and Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack (Collins 2005). A business journalist for more than 25 years, Fenn is a contributing editor at Inc. Magazine, where she manages the creation of the 30 Under 30 Coolest Young Entrepreneurs list. She writes the Startup of the Week column on AMEX OPEN Forum, and is an experienced international keynote speaker.  She also leverages almost three decades covering small business and entrepreneurship to: teach small business owners how to be more strategic in order to grow revenue and increase market share; enlighten large corporations that serve the small business market on the needs and perspectives of entrepreneurs so that they can make better marketing and resource allocation decisions; provide insight into the youth market to companies trying to market to this very large, quirky, influential, and increasingly affluent market. She does this through keynote presentations, workshops, and private consulting engagements.  Past clients include NAWBO, Alticor, Regions Bank, VeriSign, American Express, Siemens, and Prudential, among others.

Fenn has also been a blogger on BNET/CBSi, a columnist on Lifetuner.com, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Working Woman, Parents, Reader’s Digest, and The Washington Monthly, among other publications. She was a correspondent for The Associated Press in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 1988 to 1992. A member of Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network and Step Up Women’s Network, she lives in Pelham, NY with her husband, Guian Heintzen, and is the proud mom of a Tulane grad and a Cornell senior.

What challenge is your company addressing?

I’m a soloist, so my biggest challenge is balancing reliable sources of revenue with new projects that take time but aren’t instantly lucrative.

Why are you an entrepreneur?

I’m an entrepreneurial journalist, which pretty much everyone in my profession must be these days. Also, I’m unemployable.

What is your best piece of advice to entrepreneurs?

Launch quickly, fail fast, bootstrap for as long as possible, listen for twice as long as you speak, find a great mentor, wear sunscreen, and never sleep in your makeup.