Forge Louisville Education Event
May 28, 2009
If you are in Louisville or find yourself in Louisville today, drop by the Forge Louisville event:
Forge Louisville is proud to continue its quarterly Startup Education Series.
This quarter’s event will address common legal issues that entrepreneurs face and offer an opportunity to ask questions of top lawyers in the area. We’ll address organization (e.g., LLC vs. C-corp), investment term sheets, how to find or pick a lawyer, and more.
Event Subject: The ABCs of LLCs and Other Legal Considerations for Entrepreneurs
Panelists: Aaron Zibart of Wyatt Tarrant & Combs and Dave Watson of Frost Brown Todd
Date: May 28th
Time: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location: bCatalyst, 124 N 1st St, Louisville, KY
Cost: Free
3 vc’s on Venture Capital in Kentucky
May 27, 2009
At the venture club in Lexington, Elizabeth Rounsavall, Steve Gailar and Murray Wilson gave overviews of their investment styles and the state of the market:
Elizabeth with Chrysalis: We closed our fund just in time, 6 months prior to the credit meltdown($175 million fund.) We invest in companies with early revenues and early customers IT, Healrthcare services, emerging technologies. Seeing signs of recovery, announced two acquisitions of portfolio companies during the down turn, both at excellent ROI.
Murray with River Cities: invests similar industries but later stage than Chrysalis. Looking for companies with at least $3 million in revenue. Sees terms getting tougher both from banks lending to companies and in the terms on the term sheet. companies are doing what it takes to get the money.
Steve with Kentucky Seed Capital: Invests in pharma, some biotech. only $5 million to invest so very early stage, just helping scientitst form and build the company. Downturn has hurt ability of these companies to get the follow on funding they need.
High-Tech companies looking at the Mid-West
Good Article in the Wall Street Journal regarding High-Tech companies locating in Midwest cities. The article focused on Ohio but Kentucky could as well have been mentioned. They key takeaways is that the companies relocate for:
Cost of Doing Business
Availability of grant programs and tax breaks
One area that was not mentioned but in my expereience plays a big role as well is quality of Life in the midwest. There still are challenges in terms of getting the follow-on funding and in Kentucky one challenge is the lack of sufficient seed stage lead investors.
Small Busines Education Series
May 26, 2009
The following is a series of seminars being held at 348 East Main Street for those interested in starting a small business. One seminar is on Legal, one on sales and one on Financial matters:
Legal seminar: May 27th, 6pm
Trigg Mitchell of Dinsmore & Shoal And Ken Sagan with Stites & Harbison will go over legal issues around starting a business.
Sales Seminar: June 3rd, 6pm
Kent Howell will review sales strategies
Financial Seminar: June 11th 6pm
Kevin Hanley will review financial matters.
Venture Capital Forum
May 18, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
DoubleTree Suites
2601 Richmond Rd
Lexington, KY 40509
Elizabeth Rounsavall joined Chrysalis Ventures as Associate in August 2007. She provides analytical and transactional support to the investment team for Chrysalis’ three primary investment sectors: media & communications, healthcare, and emerging trends & technologies.
Steve Gailar is President and Chief Executive Officer of MetaCyte Business Lab LLC and managing partner of Kentucky Seed Capital Fund.
Murray Wilson joined River Cities Capital Funds in 1995 following the launch of Fund I in 1994. Prior to River Cities, he was the first associate hired at another regional venture firm for their debut fund in 1992. Murray has been in the industry for nearly fifteen years and has gained experience and perspective from managing growth company investments through several business cycles.
Interview with HBS Professor Josh Lerner on boosting entrepreneurship and fixing Venture Capital
May 13, 2009
Professor Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School, with a joint appointment in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management . I interviewed him regarding his new book Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed–and What to Do About It (The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
1) Dr. Lerner, Your new book is about the failure of public effort to spur VC & entrepreneurship, what was the biggest takeaway from your research?
Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tel Aviv—the global hubs of entrepreneurial activity all bear the marks of government investment. Yet, for every successful public intervention spurring entrepreneurial activity, there are many failed efforts, wasting untold billions in taxpayer dollars. When has governmental sponsorship succeeded in boosting growth, and when has it fallen terribly short? Should the government be involved in such undertakings at all? These issues are particularly timely, given the many billions of dollars governments are spending worldwide to prop up troubled industries from banks to automobiles.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is the first extensive look at the ways governments have supported entrepreneurs and venture capitalists across decades and continents. I look at why some public initiatives work while others are hobbled by pitfalls, and he offers concrete suggestions for how public ventures should be better implemented in the future.
Discussing the complex history of Silicon Valley and other pioneering centers of venture capital, I highlight the extent of government influence in prompting growth. But I also examine the public strategies used to advance new ventures, point to the challenges of these endeavors, and reveal the common flaws undermining far too many programs—poor design, a lack of understanding for the entrepreneurial process, and problems in implementation. The book explains why governments cannot dictate how venture markets evolve, and why they must balance their positions as catalysts with an awareness of their limitations for stimulating the entrepreneurial sector. (emphasis mine)
2) What guidance would you give to local and state businesses if they wanted to spur entrepreneurship?
First, “set the table”: make sure that the environment is an attractive one for entrepreneurial ventures, looking at everything from technology transfer programs to capital gains taxes. Second, if public funds are to be used, make sure that they are used to match private investments. In this way, the market can shape where resources get spent.
Finally, carefully test the ideas with entrepreneurs and venture investors. All too often, public efforts are unsuccessful because they are not “reality tested” prior to their promulgation.
3) Does your research extend to the efforts by universities and their efforts as a whole to spur entrepreneurship?
Certainly, universities can be an important partner in the commercialization process. But their most important role is as a source of new ideas.
4) Many think the VC industry is in crisis, What are your recommendations for reviving the VC industry?
Many of the issues facing the venture industry is cyclical: we have been in an extended period where it has been difficult to exit investments through the public markets or other means.
But there are other steps which the public sector could and should be doing to facilitate these funds. High on my list would be lowering the costs for public offerings by new firms (e.g., by visiting whether Sarbanes-Oxley should apply in full to very small firms) and increasing the supply of scientific and technical manpower, historically the source of some of our best entrepreneurs, by easing the process for immigration of skilled talent. Addressing the issues with the patent system,where awards have become increasingly disconnected from innovation,is also critical.
advice for Women in Technology from Hautemommastuff
May 11, 2009
(This is a guest post by Jen Dotson & Gretchen Farah, Founders of Hautemommastuff.com)
The technology industry has a lower percentage of women entrepreneurs in comparison to other industries. This is odd considering Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing sectors in business. However most of these businesses stay smaller, therefore making it harder to share proportionally the actual growth of these entrepreneurial enterprises. This statistic should not discourage women from fulfilling their dreams. We hope it encourages women to implement their business ideas and untapped potentials in efforts to create new and more profitable growth companies for women, by women.
Hautemommastuff (HMS) started in late 2005 because we asked ourselves “What do we love doing?” “What do we have fun doing?” Besides loving being full-time mothers, we wanted to contribute to the part of our lives not focused on husbands, children, housework, schooling and other household things. At the time blogging was becoming quite a phenomenon, we decided to focus on the fashion and beauty industry because we love it and knew it had an established captive audience. We also saw a need for a fashion/beauty focused blog and newsletter in Lexington. Our first newsletter was sent to 200 of our friends, we now have over 3000 newsletter subscribers and average 10,000 pageviews daily! Google Analytics is a favorite HMS tool to reference referral sources and the geographic location of our site visitors. HMS has readers literally all over the globe - Talk about exposure! We hosted our first HMS event [fall of 2006], and have since hosted over 30 parties at local businesses drawing close friends and lots of new faces. Our local and Internet exposure continues to grow gaining us attention from industry leaders such as Proctor & Gamble, who selected HMS in 2008 as the exclusive partner to launch Tide’s new product line SWASH, targeted to the fashion forward consumer. HMS has evolved into more than just a blog, it is an affiliate marketing program as much as an online magazine, and more. We are often asked “How did you think of this and get it started?” Here is some advice, suggestions and examples from our experiences thus far.
1. Focus – Don’t be everything to everyone. Choose a specific industry. This is typically where passion comes in – take your passion and make it your mission.
2. Define – Do you have an idea, product, service? Make sure you can define exactly what you are going to offer your audience.
3. Identify Target Audience - Get to know them well. Survey your ideal customer, prospect, regularly, and observe them in action.
4. Mentors / Industry Leaders – Identify mentors and use them as resources specific to basic business details regarding incorporating such as LLC, trademarks, taxes, to additional business plan research. Mentors provide critical network ties and constructive feedback on managing your venture. Also find an industry leader and use it as an example, aspiration and guide.
5. Internet / Social Media Tools – Register your domain! Get your .com and set up your domain email account ASAP. Use the Internet to your advantage, be careful there are TONS of social media tools available. Before you set up thousands of accounts, making life harder by having to update / check them all, research and subscribe to those most beneficial to your industry. HMS mostly uses Facebook, Twitter, Technorati, LinkedIn, YouTube and FriendFeed.com. Find out about local social media groups, these serve as networking opportunities and resources helping you build your brand - being known for that you want to be known for. Focus on and maintain things adding significant value to your efforts.
6. Networking /Build Relationships – The old fashion way, word-of-mouth, talk about your business. Think of ways to link businesses in a mutually profitable way. Be authentic when making connections and building personal relationships. Try to have a good balance between talking about your business and just listening to what others have to say. Be open to swap of services, but don’t sell yourself short. If you undervalue your services, others may undervalue them as well.
7. Make Money / Spend Money – We are learning to balance these two. Utilize the Internet to help save money on marketing.
Lessons we have learned along the way are to jump on ideas when we think of them based on industry demands and trends, because if we wait, someone else does it! Also, communicate! And be open and willing to take a step back from your business and reevaluate at any given time.
3 pitch tips you can learn from Billy Mayes
May 7, 2009
Billy Mayes is the master of direct response marketing ads for things like oxy-clean, mighty putty etc. While checking out his show pitchmen, I was reminded of many bad pitches I have seen over the years. I see dozens of pitches a year and regularly they disappoint and many times don’t live up to the underlying idea which is often a good one. Here are the three ways you can incorporate some Billy Mayes into your pitch:
1) Show some enthuisiasm: nothing kills a good pitch more than a speaker who is unexcited, monotone or overtly nervous. You don’t have to have the amped up volume of Mayes but show some life and passion for your idea.
2) Demonstrate it: Nothing sells your idea or product better than a demonstration. For web/software, have a demo or mockup. If you are in biotech or simply in a field where a demo isn’t feasible than use pictures, charts, graphs. Something to liven up the presentation and visually depict your concept
3) No word clutter: Nothing is worse than someone having their entire presentation written on the slides then just reading the slides to you. If you watch the ads for products Mayes presents, the only written words depicted on the screen are the products name and reiteration of the key point or takeaway. Keep the slides and your presentation focused on depictions of key concepts and have you verbally give the information so he audience is listening and not reading ahead.
Follow these tips and you are sure to keep your audience awake and engaged.
Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards Eastern & Southern Kentucky
May 5, 2009
Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards
Eastern and Southern Kentucky
2009 Awards Program
Nominees must reside in or have their business or organization located in one or more of the 55 counties in the Eastern and Southern Kentucky Region as depicted on the Geographical Area Map. These counties are:
Adair, Bath, Bell, Boyd, Boyle, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fleming, Floyd, Garrard, Green, Greenup, Harlan, Hart, Jackson, Jessamine, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, McCreary, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Metcalf, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Taylor, Wayne, Whitley, or Wolfe.
For 2009, Excellence in Entrepreneurship will be recognized among four business cagetories: Business, Small Business, Start-ups, and Non-Profits.
Business - in existence five or more years with greater than 25 employees,
Small Business - in existence five or more years with 25 or less employees,
Start-ups - in existence less than five years, and
Non-Profits - in existence at least six months.
Excellence in Entrepreneurship for any category is determined by satisfying one or more of the following criteria:
- Economic Success of the Enterprise as measured by:
- Growth
- Financial strength
- Workforce
- Contribution to the Community as measured by:
- Service to Community Organizations
- Leadership of Community Efforts
- Grant Funding Acquired
- Financial Support of Community Programs
- Operational Achievement as measured by:
- Innovative Business Practices
- Superior Safety Achievement
- Superior Use of Technology
- Sustainability (Not required for Start-ups or Non-profits)
- At least a five-year record of continuous operation.
Nominations may be made by submitting the 2009 Nomination Form along with a letter of recommendation identifying the nominee by name with a brief statement of qualifications to the Selection Committee on or before June 1, 2009. Nominees will then be contacted and asked to provide more detailed information in a prescribed format that serves as the basis for the selection of the award recipients.
The finalists and recipient for each category will be recognized at a formal luncheon on Monday, September 14, 2009, at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Kentucky.
2009 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards Solicitation Letter
2009 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Nomination Form
2009 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards Southern and Eastern Kentucky Geographical Area Map
2009 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards Categories and Criteria
Events: Open Hack And Web lead Generation
May 4, 2009
Two Events this week worth checking out.
Tuesday 5/5 Innovative Lead Generation using the Web
5:30pm at 348 east main come see Scott Clark and Bill Dotson speak about Mistakes that can suck your lead flow dry Success factors when using search engine marketing for lead generation. Follow Up and Multiple-Touch Leads
Thursday 5/7 Open Hack at Collexion
7:00pm the temporary space at 941 Manchester in the distillery district.
Everyone is invited to an open hack session where we collaborate on some (yet to be defined) software (in Ruby). The goal is to get a better feel for technology, practices, and tools related to performing our craft. The agenda is:
* pitch ideas
* select an idea to implement
* plug a laptop into a projector and start working on it
* as we work, get/present feedback on design decisions
* experiment freely
