Startups in Boulder, Business is a Real Pitch 1194_ 4/9/12 - With all the successful startup systems, Boulder is thought of as a "Mecca" and others are in in awe. 25 states plan on sending delegates to Boulder in June to observe and learn how the New Venture Group and others like Foundry Group, Boulder TechStars, etc,. are making Boulder the hotbed of startups. Brad Feld is a well-known venture capitalist and supporter of the entrepreneurs in our area and was very involved with this program. Brad was gratefully thanked for the financial donation he made for a porcelain chamber; a $25,000 donation for the first-floor men's room in the Wolf Law Library building to be named after him. The bathroom inauguration, a gift to the Law School for all they have done for entrepreneurship in Boulder. "I don't like to pay whole buildings as they tend to be too expensive... but bathrooms hold a special place in my heart." Brad joked he has being prodded to change the placard from "Inspiration comes at inconvenient times!" Brad proudly visits his masterpiece of plumbing every couple of months. The money will be used to support the needs of various entrepreneurial group functions at the CU Wolf Library. Baker Hostetler, attorney & registered broker dealer, informed the crowd that the laws on funding have not changed since 1930! Jumpstart Our Business Startup Act (JOBS Act) Not just pennies from heaven – but rules up in the air! The rules were finally approved by Congress this week with much bipartisan support. This includes both how to solicit funds and types of funding methods allowed for early and mid-stage companies. Briefly, Rule 504 allows for crowd-funding and new solicitation rules to include non-accredited investors. The new limit is $1 million dollars per year. There were also five pitches from newer companies. First up was Acadium, presented by Rebecca Wolf. Then Antezen – presented by Shashank Shekha. Then GizMonyx – Where innovation meets inspiration – presented by Nate DeVault. Then Cleverlike.com makes the music better with SmartSound – presented by Brian Dickman. and followed by BlogMutt – We work like a dog to fill up your blog – presented by Scott Yates. *Special thanks to Mike Hamers, founder of Lightspeed Commercial Arts for covering this event for us. Related Links: Silicon Flatirons || Foundry Group || Acadium || Antezen || GizMonyx || SmartSound || BlogMutt || Lightspeed Commercial Arts || Keywords: Silicon Flatirons, Brad Feld, Brad Bernthal, Entrepreneurs, Mike Hamers,
Lightspeed Commercial Arts, Foundry Group, Acadium, Antezen, GizMonyx, SmartSound, BlogMutt
Crowd Funding and the Crowd Funding Alliance 1192_ 4/9/12 - We've been hearing about Crowd Funding from Brian Tsuchiya for a couple of years (May 17, 2010 interview). Brian explained at that time, "There's a gap if you're not VC fundable (which is only one in a thousand businesses that are VC fundable, roughly), it's tough to find investors. If you don't have the assets, banks aren't going to lend you the money - You need 1/2 to two million dollars, angels - most angels don't invest that much. You know the average syndicated investment from an angel group is only a quarter million dollars. "What we are focused on is getting that money from a crowd. So imagine 1,000 people, and that's a lot, but as an example, and they each gave you $100. Now there's a lot of money in that. Can you find a lot of people that can give you a thousand or a hundred bucks? Well, that's the concept. You're getting a small amount of money that you would typically think of in terms of an investor, but you get a lot more of those people. The cash funding hole is basically this quarter million to two million dollar range, that's just hard to find. It's just not something people think of in terms of funding their business, but it is viable." Fast forward to March 2012, and now the excitement has a hit a new high! with the recent passage of the JOBS act (H.R. 3606). We know you've been hearing about this legislation - the news is being reported everywhere. During the process of getting involved Brian has reached out to the industry connectors, Woodie (Sherwood) Neiss, author of the bill with his partners Jason Best and Zak Cassady-Dorion among them. Brian's been reaching out, talking to and getting to know them. They're in the process of creating a self-regulatory organization and they've asked Brian to join them. "As part of the conversation", Brian said, "we're going to talk about Crowd Funding Alliance and see if we have their support." If he has their support, Brian will come back and incorporate. He said, "It is his intention, to create the Cloud Funding Alliance, ideally this will be the global trade association, based in Denver, Colorado. We have Wall Street on the east coast, technology on the west coast and we want Denver, right in the center to be headquarters for Crowd Funding." There's more... Related Links: StartUpGuru || Funding Launch Pad || Jumpstart Our Business Startup Act || Venture Capital || Entrepreneurs Channel || Keywords: Brian Tsuchiya, Startup Guru, Crowd Funding Alliance, Entrepreneurs, CrowdFunding, Vim Funding, Jobs Act, H.R. 3606, Advisor, Colorado, Entrepreneur, bytes=4305296 LISTEN TO: Brian Tsuchiya, Startup Guru
Venture capital and software where technology intersects 1178_ 3/12/12 -
Silicon Flatirons, ATLAS, ITP, and the Boulder Software Club present Jim Franklin as the featured entrepreneur with moderators Brad Bernthal and Jill VanMatre. The unplugged series was designed for the function of bringing together people with a diverse set of backgrounds to learn more about and engage in entrepreneurship. Jim Franklin is the CEO of SendGrid, Inc., a Foundry-backed infrastructure applications company. Prior to his tenure with SendGrid, Jim was the Vice President of Enterprise Performance Management and the General Manager of the Crystal Ball Global Business Unit of Oracle Corporation. The Crystal Ball Global Business Unit was formed in 2007 as a part of the acquisition of Hyperion Solutions. At Hyperion, Jim served as VP and General Manager. Jim had held the roles of Decisioneering's CEO, CFO and VP of Sales prior to Decisioneering's acquisition by Hyperion. Decisioneering was the maker of the Crystal Ball brand of software. Mr. Franklin was also the founder of webfamilies.com and the CFO of Vericept Corporation. Jim serves on the board of aWhere, Inc., Denver Software Club and Querio. Jim has also been a mentor for Techstars and the Founder Institute. In this part 1 of 4 video, Jim talks about his early beginnings that lead into business. Jim loved school but had it in his head that he wanted to be a businessman. He took accounting not to be an accountant, but a business person. He graduated with an accounting degree - but what do you do with it? Well he thought, accounting taught you to add and subtract and Law school would teach him to read and write, to be that well rounded person. So he went to law school...watch and listen for more...
Related Links:
SendGrid ||
Silicon Flatirons ||
RVC Angel Capital Summit ||
Blog ||
Keywords: Jim Franklin, SendGrid, Silicon Flatirons, Entrepreneurs Unplugged,
Decisioneering, Foundry Group, ATLAS, ITP, Boulder Software Club, Brad Bernthal, Jill VanMatre -
Watch Part 1 of 4: Jim Franklin, CEO, SendGrid, Inc.
When writing be Clear, Concise and Compelling
1160_ 2/13/12 -
With the ubiquitous blog and posts on Facebook etc. Larry wondered about our writing skills. After all, we're sending and receiving important messages. We contacted Kirsten Nelson, founder of C3 Writing. Larry loves her tag line, Clear, Concise and Compelling. First thing he wanted to know was what were the most common mistakes made when people are trying to write their blogs, brochures, websites and whatever. What are the biggest mistakes? Kirsten said, the biggest and most common mistakes we make when we set out to write something regardless of what it is, internally we know what we want, we know that we want it to look good and we want it to say something. But we really need to dig deeper and ask ourselves some questions. When I sit down with people I ask them to look at, what is it that you want your writing to do? You're writing because there is an end-goal in mind, something you want to cause or affect, and you're using the power of your voice in a written format to reach that goal. If I'm not intentionally specific, if my client isn't intentionally specific about what they want to create, chances are the writing is not going to carry that impact. Equally important to that is who is going to be reading this writing. Who is your audience? We have to be really specific, I don't just mean 'my customers' - Who are your customers? What group or groups of people are we talking about? the reason this is so important is, we have a message we want to get out, how is that message going to be received? What's going to touch on the information my customer needs? What are the emotions that are important to them, the things they like to hear. Again, if you don't do that you're not going to reach the reader emotionally and you're not going to reach your goal. Kirsten also addresses; Being Specific, Knowing Your Intended Audience, Researching Your Industry, Planning Your Presentation, and of course, Being Clear, Concise and Compelling. Whether you are developing a new website, writing a proposal, creating a new ad or brochure, you'll want to listen this interview...
Related Links:
C3 Writing ||
Clear, Concise, Compelling ||
Startup Colorado Public Launch ||
Blog ||
In the News Channel ||
Keywords: Kirsten Nelson, C3 Writing, Clear, Concise, Compelling, Blogs, Brochures,
Websites, Written Format, Your Intended Audience, Your Industry, Your Presentation - bytes=6123000 LISTEN TO: Kirsten Nelson, Founder, C3 Writing
Include the entire state, regions outside of Denver Metro
1142_ 1/9/2012 -
Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 — Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the Colorado Innovation Network to promote collaboration among Colorado’s private, public and academic organizations. The Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) will stimulate economic growth, help create jobs and attract new businesses by supporting innovative business activities and establishing Colorado as the best state for business. “The Colorado Innovation Network is a roadmap for making Colorado the best state for innovation and where every road must lead to new jobs,” Hickenlooper said. “We’ll work statewide with industry leaders to build a business environment which promotes innovative practices, creates jobs and grows our economy.” w3w3® Media Network sat down with Kelly Quann, Executive Director of COIN to discuss how COIN will attract new businesses to the State of Colorado by supporting innovative business activities and establishing a reputation for Colorado as the most innovative state in the country. Larry asked Kelly, "1.How is COIN different from prior attempts to create an innovation council in Colorado? 2.What are your immediate (one-year) priorities for COIN? 3.How will COIN work with the academic sector? 4.What is COIN pursuing or supporting in this upcoming legislative session? 5.How will COIN include the entire state, namely the regions outside of Denver Metro, in its activities? Listen and watch this lively discussion...
Related Links:
Gov. Hickenlooper's Announcement ||
COIN ||
Launch Press Conference ||
Denver Business Journal ||
Kelly Quann LinkedIn ||
Blog ||
Keywords: Kelly Quann, COIN, Gov. John Hickenlooper, The Colorado Innovation Network,
Colorado WATCH Video: Kelly Quann, Executive Director, COIN
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Execution, the difference between success and disappointment
1179_ 3/19/12 -
It is interesting when speaking to many successful business leaders, we find a lot of grads from the 'school of hard knocks'. We are speaking with Tom Krekel, CEO of Full Sail Strategies. He says he learned the hard way, he started his first business back in 1983, which they grew and developed. Over the last 30 years he has run and developed business that ranged in size from the startup that he had to companies that had a couple hundred employees. He wishes he had had access to the kind of resources out there that he now brings to companies through the Mastering the Rockefeller Habits seminar and workshops, they will be conducting in Denver on April 24th. Larry asked, "with the economy we've been through the last few years, with the challenges we've been through, what are the biggest challenges coming up this year?" Tom replied, "It's interesting, we talk about what's happened with the recession, new technology impacting businesses. If you go back to the early 90's, Fortune Magazine does a cover article, "Why do CEO's fail?" They looked at strategy, access to resources - cash? No, it was really all around execution. In their study, what they found was the ability to get people rowing in the same direction, at the same time, whatever you want to call execution, that really was the prime area and that's still true today. You see people who start businesses, thankfully because most of our new jobs come from small business startups. But regardless of the business type, they soon learn to grow they have to change from being a functional specialist to becoming a leader of other people. That's not an easy transition. What I try to do is have them focus on a couple of disciplines. Establish priorities, and btw Tom says he's gone into companies, "...and they pull out their 12 priorities - Tell you what, any more than five, those aren't priorities, that's a checklist." 1.) No more than five priorities and one has to be the top. 2.) You've got to have some metrics so you can see what's happening on a contemporaneous basis. Not things that look backward, but things that will help you predict the future. And 3.) You've got to put in communication rhythm to keep that pace going, make sure everyone is aligned around what the goals are. And you drill it right down to every member of the team." Listen for more great ideas...
Related Links:
Full Sail Strategies ||
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits Workshop ||
Gazelles ||
Entrepreneur Channel ||
Podcast Directory ||
Keywords: Tom Krekel, Full Sail Strategies, Entrepreneurs, Mastering the Rockefeller
Habits Workshop, Gazelles, Leaders, CEOs, Fortune Magazine, Metrics, Predict the Future - bytes=4775500 LISTEN TO: Tom Krekel, CEO, Full Sail Strategies
751_
The Contradiction of Focus When Building a Business
When you ask successful entrepreneurs, "What are the keys to building a successful, sustaining business?" Among other words, they'll say, "Passion, A+ Team, Commitment, Innovation, Focus." While all have substance, the successful entrepreneurs have fascinating stories that support those descriptions, I would like to point out that 'Focus' is a double-edged sword. Let’s be clear, focus is a critical element for building a successful business. It's true that if you don't know where you are going any road will take you there. Then again, if you are so focused on where you are going, you could get side-swiped because you didn't see it coming. So what does this all mean? In my book, Mastering Change in the Midst of Chaos, Chapter 12, "Ground Swells of Change - Prepare, capitalize or fall victim, I discuss five different examples of landscapes and their ground swells of change. I also write about trends of both the past and the future. Trends have an impact on the landscape; however it's the groundswell that will often determine the success or failure of an endeavor, personal or professional. ‘The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.’ said Johann Wolfgang Goethe. A ‘ground swell of change’ is never a solo effort; it takes many active forces to build up a head of steam. Examples include: innovations, inventions, laws, events, in/out of favor fads, something that is displaced or replaced, cultural changes, local events, controversy, fiscal changes, mergers, movements, etc. There's more... Related Links: Amazon || Entrepreneurs Channel || w3w3.com Home || Mastering Change Blog || Keywords: Mastering Change, Chaos, Larry Nelson, Entrepreneurs, Focus, Ground Swells
of Change, Landscape, Trends > Channel: Change 4014776 bytes 12/7/09 LISTEN
Making sure the ecosystem is growing
1157_ 2/6/12 -
For the many years that Larry Nelson aka, w3w3.com has been talking and working together, Jim Franklin says the ecosystem for Boulder/Denver has been awesome for startups, and continues to be. It's from that ecosystem that companies like SendGrid come from. And, they are very involved in that ecosystem and making sure that it's growing. There are a number of great things happening, in particular with the Founder Institute, which Jim has been a part of for the past three years. They'll be hosting another class this spring starting March 19th, applications are open for that. Also, TechStars is now a 24/7 operation, TechStars Cloud in San Antonio, and Boulder TechStar for a Day coming up in the first week of March, and we'll have other events as well. If you're interested in TechStars Boulder, there are a lot of ways to get involved with a mentor. SendGrid came out of the '09 Class of Boulder TechStars. There are tremendous happenings with the Silicon Flatirons group out of the CU Law School. SFC puts on a variety of events that help entrepreneurs and they're also supporting the Startup America / Startup Colorado Initiative that SendGrid and others are working on to host interns over the summer. We'll have a drawing for interns. They will have meaningful experiences shadowing executives and founders in leading tech companies like Simple Energy and Tendril and Team Staff here in the Front Range, like TechStars, with events in the evenings. It will be an awesome experience for them and we hope to host a couple of those interns here at SendGrid. Silicon Flatirons also puts on the Entrepreneurs Series [Jim is the featured entrepreneur on March 5th]...there's much more, listen now...
Related Links:
SendGrid ||
TechStars ||
Foundry Group ||
Startup Colorado ||
Boulder Beta ||
Founder Institute ||
500 Startups ||
Highway 12 Ventures ||
SoftTech VC ||
Angel Capital Summit ||
Venture Capital in the Rockies ||
Open Angel Forum Boulder ||
SF Entrepreneurs Unplugged ||
Entrepreneurs Channel ||
Keywords: Jim Franklin, SendGrid, Founder Institute, TechStars, Startups, Colorado, Startup
Colorado, Foundry Group, TechStars, Boulder Beta, Founder Institute, Open Angel Forum Boulder, Entrepreneurs Unplugged, Boulder Beta, Venture
Capital in the Rockies, Ecosystem, Boulder, Denver - bytes=5520303 LISTEN TO: Jim Franklin, SendGrid
Essential elements of a winning logo design 1169RR_ 2/27/12 - Before a logo is designed it is imperative that the branding strategy, mission statement and positioning are clear. Larry sat down with long-term colleague Michael Hamers, Founder and CEO of LightSpeed Commercial Arts to discuss the visual aspect of building your business. Mike went unto explain, "I need to understand the human side of the company we’re branding… it’s people. Who is this company, what are their Values, what do they think is Important, what is their Corporate culture. My logo will be a symbolic expression that will represent the People, the Product, and the Promise." He added, "Brand identity is the visual and verbal expression of the brand. A logo is the shortest, fastest form of communication available. You can see it, hold it, wear it,, watch it move. It starts with a brand name, then the brandmark builds out into the matrix of tools and communications: from business cards, to websites, fleet trucks to signage, brand identity increases awareness and builds businesses. Next on the list is the tagline. Often I’m involved in creating the tagline as well. The tagline is very important because 75% of the time I am designing to the tagline, or what I often times call a positioning statement. Your company name is who you are (and often is a made-up word anyhow), but the tagline can offer much more information like WHAT you do or HOW you are unique. It’s a slogan, a clarifier, company statement or guiding principle that describes, synopsizes or helps create an interest. Although the brand is much more that a brand mark, the logo is virtually indistinguishable from the brand in the eyes of the consumer. It needs to be unique, memorable and meaningful. The concept needs to be immediately understood. Effective identity is valued because it builds awareness; increases recognition; communicates uniqueness; and expresses a competitive difference...Listen for more... Related Links: LightSpeed Commercial Arts || Logo Design || Entrepreneurs || Blog || Keywords: Michael Hamers, LightSpeed Commercial Arts, Logo, Design, Brand, Tagline,
Awareness, Recognition, Uniqueness, Competitive Difference - bytes: 9385485 Listen: Michael Hamers, Founder/CEO, LightSpeed Commercial Arts
Franchising a whole new perspective for fun and profit 1174_ 3/5/12 - The company's vision of inspired success and creative expression highlights changes in today's culture. Nancy Bigley, CEO & Co-Owner and Stephanie King-Myers President/COO & Co-Owner both made the transition from corporate America to launch Bottle & Bottega and franchise their concept across the country. A month later, in December 2011 they sold their first franchise to Ginger Jones a former pharmaceutical business development manager in Denver, CO. Ginger opened the first Bottle & Bottega franchise in Denver in January 2012. With a high focus on giving back and working within the local community, Jones has in a short amount of time partnered with many wonderful local business owners within her territory to bring inspiration, joy and new business to the Denver community. Larry interviewed Nancy and Ginger about this new franchising opportunity. The owners of Bottle & Bottega, an interactive painting and wine party business for the non-artist, are passionate about a lot of things these days. Primarily though, they are passionate about giving other executives across the country the opportunity to hang up their corporate hats and take the leap into business ownership and become passionate about work again. With 20 years of franchise experience with companies such as Dunkin’ Brands (Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins) Nancy knew a solid and successful business model when she saw it. Partnering with King-Myers in February 2011 the duo refined King-Myers original business model and strategy started in 2009, built their solid infrastructure and launched their franchise offering in November 2011. Bottle & Bottega’s vision for both their guests and their franchisees is to inspire success through creative expression. Inspiring people to push beyond their limits and take that leap of faith and try something they have never tried before is what Jones looks forward to creating at each of her Denver events. “The look of surprise and accomplishment on everyone’s faces as they leave with their new creation really makes what I’m doing worthwhile”, says Ginger. Bottle & Bottega’s vision for both their guests and their franchisees is to inspire success through creative expression. Inspiring people to push beyond their limits and take that leap of faith and try something they have never tried before is what Jones looks forward to creating at each of her Denver events. “The look of surprise and accomplishment on everyone’s faces as they leave with their new creation really makes what I’m doing worthwhile”, says Jones. Listen for more ideas... Related Links:
Bottle & Bottega Home ||
Denver Bottle & Bottega ||
Franchise ||
Crazy Good Marketing ||
Podcasting Directory ||
Keywords: Nancy Bigley, Ginger Jones, Bottle & Bottega, Franchise, Art, Wine,
Interactive, Creative Expression, - bytes=5856342
LISTEN TO: NBigley - Ginger Jones, Bottle & Bottega
2011 Entrepreneurs
Vic Ahmed, Innovation Pavilion 12/16/11
Vic Ahmed, TiE Rockies, CEO, Plug & Play 11/28/11
Barrett Blank, RVCs Pitch Academy Beginning 4/18/11
Brad Bernthal, Silicon Flatirons Center @ CU 2/21/11
Brad Bernthal, #1 Challenge, Assembling Right Team 3/7/11
Scott Casel, CEO, Startup America Partnership 11/21/11
Aneesh Chopra, Startup Colorado Launch 11/9/11
Brad Feld, Entrepreneurs Unplugged - Video 1 thru 5
Louis Foreman & Tom Frey, where Great Ideas Succeed 11/28/11
Jim Franklin, CEO, SendGrid, Inc. Entrepreneur Unplugged
Jim Franklin, Founder Institute 4/25/11
Tom Frey, Inventors, entrepreenurs & revolutionary thinkers
Tom Frey, Futurist, DaVinci Institute 4/4/11
Francisco Garcia, Klinggon - Consumer Product of the Year!
Josh Jacobson, Co Founder, Viktorian Guitars 7/25/11
Kimberly Lucas, President, Goldstone Partners 8/15/11
Dave Mangum, Executive Director, Startup Colorado
Kelly Manning, Financial Challenges & Solutions
Jana Matthews, Leadership in the New Economy 2/14/11
Ron McKey, FlyingBeds.com 10/24/11
Kirsten Nelson, C 3 Writing, Startup America Nov. 2011
Nancy Phillips, Entrepreneurs Unplugged 11/14/2011
Sam Pitroda, Chairman, WorldTel Ltd 10/24/11
Art Rancis, International Entrepreneur 8/1/11
Mark Seglem, ADSS, Federal Budget Crisis 4/4/11
Brian Tsuchiya, New money source - Crowdfunding 11/21/11
Theresa Szczurek, Radish Systems 6/6/11
Why Boulder - Startup Colorado, Launch in Boulder 11/9/11