549_ Building a Successful Online Business for a Female Entrepreneur
Lucy Sanders, CEO and Founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Larry turned the table on NCWIT board member, Lee Kennedy. Lucy, Larry and Lee (the 3 L's) interview successful female entrepreneurs. Lucy and Larry decided to turn the table on Lee, and put the spotlight on this CEO/Founder of TriCalyx, a consulting business focused on helping people build an online business. She has worked with Brad Feld, and had been the CIO at Webroot Software. Lee has been on a number of other startup teams and moved to Boulder from the Silicon Valley. Like so many others, she quickly saw and experienced the entrepreneurial excitement and supportive cluster. She has an interesting makeup of strengths and interests. Lee is very technically inclined and has a marketing background. Her two partners really carry the ball in in the software development and other techie areas...that's building a well-balanced team. TriCalyx does a great deal in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Lee pointed out that 85% of the world’s online population, purchase online! And that’s up 40% over the past two years. Then for people in the 75K and higher income bracket it’s more like 90+%. She has some great advice for parents of young people that can help in supporting their children’s move into IT. In fact, you might want your children to listen to this interview also.
Related Links: Tricalyx || NCWIT Heroes || NCWIT Practice || Find It ||
Keywords: Lee Kennedy, TriCalyx, Lucy Sanders, NCWIT, Search Engine Optimization, Online Business, Entrepreneur > Bytes: 13755771 > LISTEN 9/8/08

548_ Supporters of Techstars Come From California to Massachusetts
"TechStars has some great companies here including a hardware company, a software company, tools, and a wide range of different companies." Three ardent supporters from Microsoft commented on the Techstars Investor day and about what lessons were learned by all. Dave Drach, Managing Director, Business Development Team, Denver, CO; Don Dodge, Director, Emerging Business Team, Waltham, MA; Anand Iyer, Evangelist – San Francisco, CA were the three Microsoft champions interviewed by Larry. "There were 150 investors from across all the United States, to see the 10 companies." "So, it’s pretty interesting to see the innovation coming out of TechStars here in Boulder. It’s great to see the passion and sparkle in their eyes when they get up to demo their product and show something that’s never been seen before. So, it’s pretty interesting to see the innovation coming out of TechStars here in Boulder. One company started out with an optical recognition of receipts and evolved into their picture, mash-up, automated demo we witnessed today. So a significant evolution of blending the technology and team into something that’s very impressive now. Any startup company can engage with Microsoft. We have a website called the Microsoft Startup Zone. We're very active in the Boulder/Denver community. We’re active with some of the VCs in the area, like Brad Feld. At Microsoft in the Emerging Business Development Team, our total goal, we want to find startups, help them succeed, and build partnerships with Microsoft and get them the resources they need to succeed. What better place to do that than TechStars.
Related Links: Microsoft Startup Zone || Don Doge Blog || Tech Stras || TechStars Investor Day Photos || Keywords: Dave Drach, Don Dodge, Anand Iyer, Microsoft, TechStars, Investor Day, Brad Feld, Entrepreneurs, Emerging Business Development > > Bytes: 10403320 > LISTEN 9/8/08

545_ Using Consulting and Angel Funding to Bootstrap a Vertical Strategy
AWhere (pronounced: aware) was formed as a pure consulting company (GIS: Geospatial Information Systems), discovered a pain point, and built a product to address that pain. Mark Weakley, Partner at Holme Roberts & Owen, Boulder and Larry asked John Corbett, Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President of AWhere along with Jim Pollock, President of Vertical Market Development for AWhere, how AWhere used consulting and later angel funding to build their vertical strategy. They raised better than 600K and talked about what they are doing to secure a 'bigger raise' and other funding issues. They talked about converting the company from a consulting company to a product company. They talked about taking advantage and riding the coattails of larger players: exploiting the hype and educational wave that Google Maps and MS Virtual Earth is creating in the location intelligence and location services market. They showed how this dovetails into multiple possible exit strategies without worrying about the exit. They also described their vertical strategy: dividing their market into a series of vertical industries, then using Angel funding to accelerate their entry into the first two. Once they validated the first 2, they'll have confidence and working business models to more aggressively attack future verticals. There's more...
Related Links: AWhere || HRO Named Go-To Firm || It's the Law Channel || Holme Roberts & Owen || Keywords: John Corbett, Jim Pollock, AWhere, Geospatial Information Systems, Mark Weakley, Holme Roberts & Owen, Boulder, HRO > Bytes: 14159039 > LISTEN 9/2/08

543_ Over 400 People Attended the TechStars Investor Day
"One of the things that is so impressive about TechStars is how the whole community and entrepreneurs here really support the individual companies, really engages with the companies and really helps to mature them very rapidly," said Dave Drach, Managing Director, Emerging Business Team for Microsoft, one of the sponsors of TechStars. Larry asked Dave and David Cohen, co-founder of TechStars some of the stats about this amazing project. The mentorship and other support mechanisms for the participating teams is extraordinary. David pointed out, "They can’t get very far with the $10 or $15 grand we give them at the beginning of the summer, so most of the companies, not all, are seeking a couple hundred thousand dollars up to half a million bucks. What they want to do is use that money to work on their product over the next year to get to a better place and eventually approach VCs when they get there. We work with them after the summer to work through those terms of investors, between them and investors. We had good luck last year, we had 8 out of the 10 companies that did end up doing a seed round."We don’t only support companies on the Microsoft platform; it’s great to see the ideas. One of the companies that we had last year, SocialThing, have now sold the company to AOL. It was a great idea, a great result and they’re all thrilled about it, as are we."...listen now for more insights...
Related Links: Microsoft Startup Zone || Tech Stars || Blog || Colorado Starhannel || Keywords: Dave Drach, Microsoft, David Cohen, Tech Stars, Microsoft Startup Zone, Investors > Bytes: 8796267 > LISTEN 9/2/08

550_ I Went from Ready to Give up to Winning in IT
BBC reported, “…reQall is the site that offers to be your constant companion and memory jogger, so you need never forget anything ever again…” Terry Morreale, producer and director of the Women in IT Channel talked to Deb Miller about her extraordinary journey that led to another turning point in her life. Deb said, "I went from ready to give up to winning." Terry (also a winner), is a senior engineer at Applied Trust Engineering and is very interested in the entire journey that young girls go through that eventually lead to a successful IT career. Deb Miller, Vice President, Products for QTech has been reinventing herself for most of her 30 year career. She’s worked in companies ranging from large to small, from high-tech to high-touch, from publicly traded to venture-backed to self-funded. Her previous positions include Global Development Manager for Educational Systems at IBM, Director of Development at Sybase, Vice President of Development at a venture-funded startup, and COO of Performance Velocity, an executive training firm. She was the founder and CEO of Pensieve Software, which developed a voice recognition application that she recently sold to reQall. Ded says that, "It's all about people."Deb and Terry share the same passions and this is an interview you'll want to share with others.
Related Links: reQall || Women in IT || Tech Radar News || Applied Trust || Keywords: Deb Miller, reQall, Terry Morreale, Women in IT, Applied Trust Engineering, Memory Jogger > Bytes: 10130393 > LISTEN 9/8/08

547_ Carbon Nuetral and Some Very Tasty Beverages
The 12th LOHAS conference was held at the St. Julian hotel in Boulder this past June. Kari Nelson, Producer of the Green Team Channel interviewed Gail Plemmons of the Mendocino Wine Company at the event. We have all heard of low sulfate levels in wine and some can even feel the difference, but what does 'carbon neutral' have to do with these tasty beverages? The Mendocino Wine Company, an exhibitor at the LOHAS Forum, makes environment-friendly wines from vine to packaging and is the first carbon neutral winery in the country…Not to mention, these wines are fabulous. The Mendocino Wine Company portfolio currently includes three high quality new brands (with more to come): • Big Yellow • Roselle • Tusk'n Red.that are both friendly to the environment and your wallet. It also includes three established and wallet friendly brands: • Parducci • Sketchbook • Zingaro. In Kari’s words, “All of which are très chic because if you buy these wines you know a thing or two about climate change, sustainability and our environment.” The Mendocino Wine Company wants to make a difference in Mendocino County. Paul Dolan, partner wants to make a difference in the world. Paul believes that having the courage to challenge ourselves to do things differently causes change and allows us to make a difference.
Related Links: Parducci Wines || Mendocino Wine Company || Green Team || Conscious Economy || Green Source || Keywords: Gail Plemmons, Mendocino Wine Company, Kari Nelson, Green Team, Green Source, Parducci Wines, Paul Dolan, LOHAS > Bytes: 3109096 > LISTEN 9/8/08

546_ Fast Start Program with Up to a Million Dollars in Early-Stage Funding
"The Fast Start Program has been a part of Meritage’s DNA from the beginning. The Fast Start Program allows us to invest up to $1 million in an early stage idea," pointed out Stephanie Smeltzer McCoy, Managing Partner of Meritage Funds.
The purpose for the fast start program is to deal with the risks; technology risks, market risks, and execution risks, faced by every company we view. Meritage does not take technology risks in our investments, we leverage proven technology. So what we’re really focused on is market risk and execution risks. "When an entrepreneur comes to us with a very innovative idea, often what we’re faced with is market risk and we use our Fast Start program to help both ourselves and the entrepreneur get their arms around that market risk. We combine operating expertise along with venture capitalist expertise. Every portfolio company has two partners on it, an operating partner and a venture capitalist partner. Our operating partners are highly successful entrepreneurs – combined they have founded, built, run and exited companies worth $25 billion." Listen to more in Stephanie's own words.
Related Links: Meritage Funds || Venture Capital Channel || CTP Channel || Find It || Keywords: Stephanie McCoy, Early-Stage Funding, Meritage Funds, Venture Capital, Network-Enabled Service > Bytes: 5547052 - LISTEN > 9/2/08

544_ Colorado Company Looks at Raising Capital in Silicon Valley and CO
Back in the 'dotcom' era, Matt McAdams raised raised capital. Today, Matt is Founder and CTO of TrackVia and pointed out that in 1999 it was a great deal easier to raise venture capital then it is today. TrackVia is a client of Mark Weakley, Partner at Holme Roberts & Owen, Boulder. Mark and Matt discussed some very important 'do's' and 'don'ts' about raising capital in the Silicon Valley vs. Colorado. Here are a few questions that were covered. How did you go about getting meetings with VC firms? Is it effective just to submit a business plan through the firm’s website, or did it require personal introductions and/or more creative routes of reaching the firm? Does it matter whether you’re meeting with an associate at the firm, or with one of the partners? In other words, should you push to have a partner attend your meeting? What was your experience like in Silicon Valley, as a Colorado-based company? Do you think it’s more effective to identify a list of just a few VC firms that look like a great fit, and really work on those firms, or is it better to cast a very wide net and take every meeting you can get? Matt feels strongly about management teams, personal introductions, persistence and improving what you are selling. VCs currently want to see real business traction from startups, in the form of product users/customers. Listen to Matt's discussion and you will hear some very practical, pragmatic thoughts from an entrepreneur who has raised money recently, as well as back in the dotcom boom days.
Related Links: TrackVia || PodCast Directory || It's the Law Channel || Holme Roberts & Owen || Keywords: Dave Drach, Microsoft, David Cohen, Tech Stars, Microsoft Startup Zone, Investors > Bytes: 8796267 > LISTEN 9/2/08