Quint Studer speaks on the first day of Entrecon at the Rex Theater in Downtown Pensacola.

EntreCon got a great kick-start on Thursday with talks by the editor of Inc. magazine and the founders of “The Elf on the Shelf.”

Quint Studer, who came up with the idea for the local conference for entrepreneurs and small businesses, opened EntreCon by giving an overview of the newly created Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of West Florida. Quint and his wife, Rishy, recently seeded the center with a $1 million donation to the university.

EntreCon runs through Friday and is bringing some of the nation’s top entrepreneurs to town to share their stories and the lessons they learned along the way. The two-day event at the Rex Theatre has drawn more than 200 people and is sponsored by UWF and the Studer Community Institute.

Following Jim Ledbetter’s talk on Thursday, I got to spend some time talking with him. He’s the editor of Inc. magazine and Inc.com, and we talked about the trends he’s seeing among entrepreneurs as well as trends in the business world.

Michael Spooneybarger taped my interview with Ledbetter and Joe Vinson has edited it into three clips. The questions I ask in each of the clips are:

Clip 1:

 — What are the key characteristics of today’s successful companies?

— If disruption is so great, why aren’t more businesses doing it?

— For entrepreneurs looking to start a small business, what does disruption look like?

Clip 2:

 — What are some key traits that successful entrepreneurs have?

Clip 3:

 — What are some communities that have created business-friendly environments?

— What role does government play in helping businesses succeed?

— Where do organizations like the UWF Center for Entrepreneurship fit in?