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How are Women Changing the Landscape of Business?
 
Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, Chief Executive and author. She was born in Texas, raised in Holland and educated at Cambridge University. She worked in BBC Radio for five years where she wrote, directed, produced and commissioned dozens of documentaries and dramas. In Magaret's first book, The Naked Truth: A Working Woman’s Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters, she brings up almost every important issue for women trying to climb the traditional corporate ladder. In some cases she offers solutions, either from her own experience and research, or through the shared stories of women she interviewed for the book. Melodie Reagan (in Denver) talked to Margaret (in England) about the changing tide in entrepreneurship and her new book, How She Does It: Redefining power and the nature of success for the 21st Century. The information is timely, useful and very eye-opening. Between 1997 and 2007, privately held businesses owned by women grew at three times the rate of all American privately held firms. Listen to the interview and then attend a program hosted by TiE Women's Forum where you can have a chance to interact with Margaret directly. Larry and Pat will be there.
Related Links:
TiE Women's Forum ||
Margaret Heffernan ||
Auromira || Podcast Directory ||
BYTES: 27115836 - 4/28/08 >
Keywords: Margaret Heffernan, Melodie Reagan, TiE, Women's Forum, Working Woman’s Manifesto,
How She Does It
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Communication: Top 3 Tips for CEOs to Improve Performance
Effective communication impacts every aspect of the organization. Sherry Law, entrepreneur and founder of Evergreen Communication and Board Member of ACG Denver is an internal and external communications expert. Larry asked, "Where does an organization start in making sure that it’s communicating effectively?" Sherry points out that it starts with the CEO and his/her vision. "Not just what it is, but articulating it so everyone understands, making it compelling and saying it often. Make sure vision supports strategy and goals. Make sure you have a dialogue between leaders and everyone else (both customers and clients). Just as important, make sure that communication is considered and addressed in every area of the company, especially if introducing change of any kind. Here are the 'top 3 tips' for CEOs. (1.) Show your true self. Personality doesn’t matter, people will accept who you are if you’re authentic. (2.) Tell the truth, don’t spin it, and don’t promise anything you can’t do. They want honesty. (3.) Communicate often. People put their own viewpoints on what you say, and you need to make sure that they truly understand the direction you want to take. All this and more from the ACG Denver Member of the Year.
Related Links:
Evergreen Communication ||
M & A Channel ||
Blogging ||
BYTES: 19751395 - 4/28/08 >
Keywords: Sherry Law, Evergreen Communication, ACG, Performance, Effective Communication, CEO
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Learn what Actually Goes Through a Venture Capitalist’s Head
Have you ever wanted to learn firsthand what actually goes through a venture capitalist’s head while doing deals. Jason Mendelson, Managing Partner of the Foundry Group levels with Larry as he is asked some probing questions about how Venture capitalists think. Larry wanted to know answers (and opinions) about: Whether it be the initial funding, later rounds, time of acquisition or IPO, what are the incentives that drive a VC’s behavior? How are valuations arrived at? Why do some companies get “better deals” than others? What exactly makes up a “good” deal? Join Jason Mendelson, who has over 10 years experience in the venture world and has structured more than 500 deals in excess of $8 billion dollars. Check this out: Assume a VC decides to invest in a company. What do they REALLY care about when negotiating a deal? There are so many terms to keep track of? How on earth do VCs value private companies? Why do some companies get higher valuations and some lower? What are the terms that can really matter? To the point that I lose control of my company? (Hint: Control and Return). Jason also shares the three key issues when VCs consider investing in a startup.
Related Links:
Foundry Group ||
Ask the VC ||
Venture Capital Channel ||
Podcast Directory ||
Keywords: Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group, Venture Capital,
Ask the VC, Valuations, Funding, IPO, Acquisition - Bytes: 25253410 - 4/21/08
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Best Practices for Building a Successful Online Business
  "When you look at the web analytics, how many people come to your site, how they got there, so many people go to the search engines. A lot of my customers find that 30 to 75% of their business comes from search engines," says Lee Kennedy. Lee has worked with Brad Feld, been the CIO at Webroot Software and today is CEO/Founder of TriCalyx, a consulting business focused on helping people build an online business. 85% of the world’s online population, purchase online! And that’s up 40% over the past two years. And then for people in the 75K and higher income bracket it’s more like 90+%. Even for people who don’t buy online, they come online to research their purchases. With search engine optimization, there’s quite a mystique around SEO because it’s not one of those things you can totally get your arms around. I'll try to demystify it. Basically it’s figuring out how to get your web site [and the words people are searching to find your web site] ranked on the first page of Google. If you are selling on your site, there are so many ways to bring traffic to your site that really cost you nothing...
Related Links:
TriCalyx ||
NCWIT ||
Women in IT ||
Blogging ||
Keywords: Lee Kennedy, Tricalyx, Search Engine Optimization,
Online Business, Bytes: 16982834 - 4/21/08
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Intellectual Property Can Save You or It Can Get Ugly
Don't despair. The scary aspect, that a cheap patent lawsuit could cost $1 to $2 million to defend... Still, patents can make a difference when you are seeking an investor. Jason Mendelson, managing partner of the Foundry Group and Ryan McIntyre, also a managing partner of that Venture Capital firm go onto point out that a bigger patent case can cost $10 million and up. "Most are spurious with the intent to halt progress of a competitor, or put small startups out of business. The idea of a 7 or 8 figure legal bill, for a startup company to  defend your intellectual property will destroy most companies. Even venture backed startups do not have the resources to fight that. They typically end up settling and making some sort of agreement where they have to pay royalties to the plaintiff." They talked about 'patent trolls' and pointed out that prior to 2007, 92% of the cases that went to trial, the plaintiff won...ouch. They discussed other IP issues and Jason said “Trade Secrets" are the forgotten stepchild of IP. When you hear trade secrets you think of KFC recipes. You don’t find too much Trade Secret protection happening in the VC world – I think that’s a mistake.” We don’t like the ‘patent paradigm’ we’re in, but in order to have a defensive strategy you’ve got to have a shield. We do encourage our companies to get patents. If nothing else, as a bug spray to the patent world. BTW, the music at the beginning and end of this interview is a small part of a CD produced by Jason's and Ryan's 'Soul Patch' band. Enjoy!
Related Links:
Foundry Group ||
Ask the VC ||
Venture Capital Channel ||
Soul Patch ||
BYTES:23115131 - 4/28/08 >
Keywords: Jason Mendelson, Ryan McIntyre, Foundry Group, Venture Capital, Ask the VC, Trade Secrets,
Intellectual Property, IP, Patents, Soul Patch
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Parents Have a Great Influence on Their Children's Success
Terry Morreale, producer and director of the Women in IT Channel, is passionate in her drive to bring the stories of “Women in IT” out, for many reasons. Terry says she loves interviewing these amazing women and learning about their experiences, their motivations, what makes them get up in the morning. But, another reason the Women in IT channel is so special to her is, she sees it as an avenue to inspire women to think about technology as a choice for them. Terry, a senior engineer at Applied Trust Engineering has for a long time been passionate about the concept of 'economic independence' for women. "Economic independence provides the opportunity for any person, man or woman, to be able to make life decisions in the best way possible." Being economically independent is not having to worry about decision making based on ‘I’m not going to be able to pay my rent’. I think it is extremely powerful. I want women, everyone to have that opportunity, to do whatever they want to do with that economic independence in their back pocket. "I hope that the Women in IT Channel is a resource for women who are at this inflection point in their life. Whether they are a middle school girl trying to decide if they want to take that computer class that’s offered, or a high school girl thinking about what they want to go to college to learn about." There's more...
Related Links:
Women in IT ||
Applied Trust Engineering ||
NCWIT Heroes ||
Podcast Directory ||
BYTES: 24237769 - 4/28/08 >
Keywords: Terry Morreale, Applied Trust, Women in IT, Economic Independence, Computer Class
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Challenges and Choices in Building a Virtual Company
Terry Morreale has interviewed a number of 'Women in IT' with all types of backgrounds, with a diverse group of job responsibilities and all with different goals and challenges. Terry is a Senior Engineer at Applied Trust Engineering and Director of the Women in IT Channel. She interviewed Beth Just, President and CEO of Just Associates at  her home office. They have 44 employees and they all work virtually with most in Colorado, but others spread across the country. Beth is very proud about how her current team is working, but she points out some of the difficulties in building a virtual team. "Initially we found that it is recruitment because there are some people who can work out of the home and some that just can’t. Some people just can’t ever turn their work off, and some can’t seem to get to it.. So, the quality of the work they’re doing is constantly interrupted by their kids or dogs or that next load of laundry. We found that we had to structure our interview questions to solicit responses that would help us know whether they had a ‘responsibility character’, whether or not they could stay focused...
Related Links:
Just Associates ||
Women in IT ||
Applied Trust ||
Podcast Directory ||
Keywords: Beth Just, Terry Morreale, Just Associates, Applied Trust,
Women in IT, Virtual Company
Bytes: 20433505 - 4/21/08
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Colorado: The Silicon Valley of Renewable Energy
(Part 2 of 2) ConocoPhillips purchased the old Storage Tek site in Louisville, and their current plan is to create a 5000 to 10,000 person research and training center related primarily to their interest in renewable and alternative energy. They’re doing that here in Colorado, but they’re not the only one setting up offices here! David Hiller, Executive Director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory and Carl  Koval, Professor at CU Boulder in the Dept. of Chemistry and Bio-chem (and he also serves as the CU institutional coordinator for the Collaboratory; and also the faculty director for CU Boulder’s Renewable and Sustainable Energy Initiative) discuss the growth of the this past year. A year ago when we were starting the Collaboratory we used this phrase, kind of tongue in cheek – “Colorado the Silicon Valley of Renewable Energy”. But it’s no longer tongue in cheek. These companies are not only investing in research, they’re moving here. They range from Fortune 50 companies to very large international energy companies such as ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Shell, DuPont and more... In addition, there is a great deal of interest from the private sector.
Related Links:
Collaboratory ||
C2B2 ||
CU TTO Channel ||
Tech Transfer Office ||
Keywords: David Hiller, Carl Koval, CU Tech Transfer,
Collaboratory, C2B2, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Shell, DuPont - Bytes: 19941149 - 4/21/08
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