Dr. William R. Osgood, Cofounder/CFO
Dr. William Osgood is recognized as one of the world's leading experts in entrepreneurial education and small business development. As an award-winning author, scholar and practitioner in the field of entrepreneurship, he has contributed to the success of millions of ventures, written dozens of business management books, launched a number of entrepreneurial ventures and consulted with numerous organizations on issues dealing with venture creation, finance and high growth strategies. His books have been published in multiple languages, distributed internationally, and are used by academic institutions, government, economic development agencies and private consulting firms in fostering and teaching entrepreneurship.
As an innovator of entrepreneurial learning systems, he authored the first interactive Business Planning Guide; developed BIC-NET as the first public/private small business resource network, which became the U.S. Small Business Administration's national Business Information Center (BIC) network; and defined a Systems Approach to Venture Initiation, which has been praised in academic journals. His knowledge in effectively driving small business start-up and economic growth has been sought after by leading private sector and government organizations including Microsoft, IBM, The World Bank, Bank of America, Verizon, American Express, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Education and State Economic Development Agencies.
Known as Dr. Bill to many, he has taught and guest lectured at numerous colleges and universities including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Babson College, and has been a featured guest in television, radio and social media including WCVB-TV, WMUR-TV and Comcast Newsmakers. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes Dr. Bill as a small business development expert and named him Small Business Advocate of the Year.
Ahead of his time, Dr. Bill's signature approach to entrepreneurial education is combining multimedia platforms to provide step-by-step, interactive learning systems. Through a series of steps, interactive exercises, plug-and-play templates and customizable worksheets, skills are developed incrementally and immediately applied to real world business situations across the learning continuum. Dr. Bill refers to this educational technique as Business Knowledgement™; just in time learning with immediate application to contemporary business management challenges.
His entrepreneurial education techniques have been utilized in multiple arenas including collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education Vocational Rehabilitation in assisting individuals with disabilities with self-employment and small business development; with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in developing a work assessment profiling system that advanced the quality and competitiveness of America's workforce; with large corporations such as IBM and Microsoft Corporation, in improving outreach and support to small businesses; with State Economic Development Agencies in creating virtual business accelerators; and with Universities in developing entrepreneurial training for owners and managers of child care centers.
His small business development proficiency stems from his early career as manager of urban affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston where he developed a program for providing subsidized business planning and management support to growing small business ventures, authored the New England Business Resource Directory, and began teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship at Northeastern University, University of New Hampshire and Boston University. As past Director of New Hampshire's Small Business Assistance Center, he took the lead in establishing one of the first Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) in the country and launching New Hampshire's High Tech Council.
Dr. Bill holds a Doctorate with highest honors in System Development and Adaptation from Boston University with a concentration in Organizational Behavior, a Masters in Business Administration from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Business Science from Southern New Hampshire University. He is a strong civic leader and a United States Veteran.