A dialogue between an Entrepreneur and an Intrapreneur

Intrapreneur: Hello, Nice to meet you. What do you do?

Entrepreneur: I run my own business. How about you?
Intrapreneur: I work for a company.

Entrepreneur: It must be nice getting a paycheck?
Intrapreneur: Yes it is. But I bet you have the freedom to do what you want.

Entrepreneur: I do but there are risks that come with it.
Intrapreneur: Like what?

Entrepreneur: It is true there can be huge monetary upside in your own business but if things don't work out you can lose your shirt.
Intrapreneur: What's your biggest risk and how do you mitigate it?

Entrepreneur: Getting customers to buy my product. I have to make sure that there is demand for my idea and that is why I spend a lot of time interviewing customers to assess if there is a good market fit for what I am doing.
Intrapreneur: Interesting. I spend a lot of time pitching my ideas to management in my organization.

Entrepreneur: But isn't it easy to pitch new ideas to a handful of individuals?
Intrapreneur: It depends on the culture of an organization. You would be surprised how difficult it can be to overcome deeply rooted beliefs, navigate internal politics and work with existing processes. Sometimes you just have to admit that your idea is not going to make it.

Entrepreneur: What do you do then?
Intrapreneur: The innovation bug in me keeps me going in search of the next great idea.

Entrepreneur: I know how you feel. You just have to push past rejection and stay focused.
Intrapreneur: I have always been intrigued by how entrepreneurs raise capital for their business. How do you do it?

Entrepreneur: You have to get creative. I have put my own money in my business. I have also asked help from family and friends. You can crowd-fund your idea or pursue angel investors and venture capitalists (VCs). You fake it until you make it.
Intrapreneur: I say the same to my team. You have to believe in what you are doing. Sometimes you might not have all the ingredients to bring that idea to life but you have to somehow make it work because deep down you know it's going to help the bottom-line of the company.

Entrepreneur: But once your idea is accepted it must be easy for you to get the resources you need from the company?
Intrapreneur: Oh no. It's not that simple. I have to ensure that funds are allocated in the budget for my project. It goes up against other competing projects in the company and I often have to fight to procure the best people and technology resources. I usually have to start with a small team and work towards a minimum viable product (MVP).  Even after that there is always the risk the project might get scrapped due to evolving priorities in the company.

Entrepreneur: Wow! I didn't realize all the challenges an intrapreneur had to face.
Intrepreneur: I guess we both have our challenges cut out for us. It was nice to meet you.

Entrepreneur: Likewise. Here is my business card. If you are ever looking for [my product] please feel free to reach out.
Intrepreneur: Here is mine. If you are ever looking for [my company's service] call me or shoot me an email.

Building circuits in CSS with Silon

Last week a buddy of mine sent me a link to Silon, a CSS library. This library allows you to express boolean logic using CSS selectors. As the author of the library notes,

"Silon is implemented using LESS to generate CSS selectors for every combination of inputs that will turn each gate on. In effect, I created a LESS-based DSL that expresses (almost-)arbitrary boolean expressions."

I believe this a great teaching aid for explaining how signals traverse a circuit. There is a slight learning curve as you need to be familiar with basic concepts in HTML, CSS and Less. Once you have these under your belt you can begin your circuit designing journey using Silon.

In my last post, I provided instructions on building a NAND gate using LEGO and showed that boolean logic can be implemented using logic gates built with non-conventional materials.  However, due to mechanical and physical limitations building complex circuity might not be feasible with all materials.

This is where Silon shines! You can abstract away from the physical implementation of a circuit and focus on showing "what an entity does" instead of "how it does it". 


I have implemented a NAND gate using Silon here. Check it out and let me know what you think.

LEGO Logic Gates - NAND Gate

Digital devices such as computers, tablets and cell phones are all built using a set of chips that store and process information. These chips in turn are built using logic gates, a device that implements a Boolean function. Logic gates can be physically implemented using different materials like diodes or transistors but their logical behavior is the same across all devices.

A NAND logic gate is a primitive gate and can be used to derive other standard gates. Inspired by Scott Wiedemann's video I decided to implement a NAND, NOT AND,  gate using LEGO pieces. 

I have provided a step-by-step guide (thanks Lego Digital Designer) to build this gate.  All LEGO parts were ordered through BrickLink.

You can also click here to see a video of this logic gate. 

Happy playing!

Introduction: Hello, World!

Hello, I am Shazada Nawaz.

This blog is my canvas to share topics about Philosophy, Mathematics, Computers, Data and Management.

Let the journey begin...


More about Me? I studied business management at college and consider myself an intrepreneur,  I love to watch public television, and I enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate.