Book-Selling Guru Gary Hoover Launches Business Academy
Gary Hoover, an entrepreneur who is one of the fathers of the modern-day book superstore, is launching another in a string of business ventures.
The Austin, Texas-based speaker and teacher has established the Hoover Academy, whose goal is to “teach and preach” subjects close to his heart, including business, entrepreneurship and retailing. The academy’s inaugural offering will be a one-day “Power Retailing” workshop Oct. 9 in Austin, Texas.
If all goes well with the initial seminar, Hoover may expand the academy to other cities and may bring on more teachers.
During the 2009-10 school year, Hoover was the first-ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. He continues to teach a course in entrepreneurship for the evening program of the school’s University Extension.
Hoover knows plenty about entrepreneurship. In 1982, he founded Austin-based Bookstop, one of the first book superstore chains. Barnes & Noble bought Bookstop in 1989. A year later, Hoover co-founded what would become Hoover’s Inc., an Austin-based company that provides business data.
Hoover said his UT experience has “reconfirmed” his love of teaching. Thus, the Hoover Academy was born. He said “exploration and curiosity” are at the core of his teaching.
“I am very enthusiastic about the growth and opportunities of the education industry, broadly defined,” Hoover said.
Hoover—who considers himself a learner/teacher/entrepreneur/explorer—said he has more than 100 ideas for business startups, but many of them require outside capital and can’t be established quickly or be bootstrapped. So he decided to “dip his toe in the water” and bootstrap next month’s retailing seminar.
“Many teachers do not receive a very large share of the ‘gate receipts,’” Hoover said.
“Led Zeppelin’s manager, Peter Grant, revolutionized the share of gate received by rock musicians, and maybe it’s time to try some new models in the world of great teachers.”
To visit Gary Hoover’s blog, click here.
Follow Technorati