ULDRICH, Jack 1964-

PERSONAL: Born 1964.

ADDRESSES: Home—Minneapolis, MN. Agent—c/o Author Mail, AMACOM Books, American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Minnesota Office of Strategic and Long-range Planning, former director; Pentagon, Washington, DC, former policy analyst; NanoVeritas Group (consulting firm), Minneapolis, MN, president. Senior associate, Foresight Institute; member, NanoBusiness Alliance. Military service: U.S. Navy; served as intelligence officer.

WRITINGS:

(With Deb Newberry) The Next Big Thing Is ReallySmall: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business, Crown Business (New York, NY), 2003.

Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis &Clark's Daring Westward Adventure, AMACOM (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including CityBusiness, Futures Research Quarterly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Business, and St. Paul Pioneer Press.

SIDELIGHTS: Jack Uldrich is a business and government consultant who has served as an advisor to the Pentagon and to former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, as well as to law firms, venture capital firms, and a variety of Fortune 100 companies. Currently the president of the NanoVeritas Group, a consulting firm that advises businesses and other organizations on how to best profit from nanotechnology, he is also the author of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business, which he wrote with the assistance of Deb Newberry. Nanotechnology, which is a broad term that applies to a wide range of technologies involving components designed at the molecular level, is seen by many, including the co-authors, as the wave of the future. Many people do not even realize that nanotechnology is not science fiction or something that is still in the research-and-development phase: it already exists in products ranging from self-cleaning windows to stain-resistant trousers. However, this is just the beginning, asserts Uldrich, who believes that the world will be completely changed by nanotechnology by 2020 and that businesses would be wise to prepare for this revolution.

Upcoming applications for nanotechnology include uses in medical equipment, the military, computer technology, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. All sorts of products will consequently become more durable, efficient, and compact. The Next Big Thing Is Really Small goes on to offer suggestions to businesspeople on how they can plan for the future and take advantage of this new technology. Although a Publishers Weekly writer felt that "the business advice is general and obvious," the critic added that Uldrich and Newberry "clearly present . . . many intriguing and important applications of this burgeoning field." Indianapolis Business Journal contributor Matt Hannigan called The Next Big Thing Is Really Small "a fascinating, quick read that can be of interest for anyone who is curious about the next major direction technology might take."

Uldrich's book Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis & Clark's Daring Westward Adventure uses the extended example of the famous early nineteenth-century Louis and Clark expedition to illustrate various models for best business practices, including the willingness to share leadership responsibilities, having a goal one can be passionate about, the willingness to adapt as situations necessitate change, being diversified, and preparing for possible setbacks. Uldrich maintains that the lessons of the past are still applicable to the present. A Publishers Weekly critic agreed with this notion, writing that "the parallels between these men and today's leaders are intriguing and well thought out." Although Financial Executive reviewer Jeffrey Marshall felt that the comparisons are "uneven, ranging from stirring to banal," Library Journal critic Dale Farris held the opposite opinion, asserting that Into the Unknown "is not embarrassingly banal, as are so many other 'leadership lesson' titles."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2003, David Siegfried, review of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business, p. 1024.

Financial Executive, June, 2004, Jeffrey Marshall, review of Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis and Clark's Daring Westward Expedition, p. 17.

Indianapolis Business Journal, April 26, 2004, Matt Hannigan, review of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small, p. 50.

Library Journal, March 1, 2004, Dale Farris, review of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small, p. 89.

Publishers Weekly, January 6, 2003, review of TheNext Big Thing Is Really Small, p. 48; March 1, 2004, review of Into the Unknown, p. 62.

Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2003, Ron Bailey, review of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small, p. W14.*