CFO Core Concerns Conference 2010
June 30, 2010
Thanks to my friend at HJMT, Lisa Gordon, I got an opportunity to attend the 2010 CFO Core Concerns conference in Baltimore MD June 27-29, 2010. This conference - a 3 day event - was designed by CFO Magazineto help and assist CFOs to identify and mitigate risks in today’s world, as well as take advantage of opportunities. The topics covered were broad - everything from traditional accounting issues (borrowing and debt) to more IT related topics. So you might ask yourself - why should I, as an entrepreneur, spend time with bean-counters and accountants?
Well one thing you’d find if you actually attended is that bean-counters and accountants and especially CFOs are pretty darn smart people - and not boring at all. They have to handle all sorts of impacts to their companies, evaluate risk, take advantage of opportunities, and in general protect the company and track and optimize it’s progress. This is not an easy task. They have to think like entrepreneurs - trying to get the best bang for the company’s buck, protect the company from catastrophic events, optimize it’s assets, investigate new opportunities for growth, decide when best to invest, and be sure that the company doesn’t run out of money in the process.
Equally interesting were the vendors that showed up for the conference - coming from every avenue of risk that the CFOs might be tackling from health care, to import/export regulations to cloud computing, to general IT support and everything in between. The core concerns identified as important at the conference were:
- Credit Markets/Interest rates
- Federal Government policies and regulation
- Health Care costs
- Managing IT Systems
- Federal Budget Deficit
- Accurately forecasting results
- Managing and obtaining working capital
- Consumer Demand
- Maintaining employee morale and productivity
- Financial regulation and changes in regulation
- Currency risks
- Cost of Fuel
- Margin Maintenance
“So what?” you say - why should I care, I’m just a lowly entrepreneur - most of these are things I don’t have to worry about. My answer is - you are wrong. Now you DO need to worry about some of these things within your own company. If you’re developing a music delivery platform and all of a sudden there is a court decision handed down, or a change in copyright regulation - you could find yourself holding a product that is both useless and suddenly illegal. If you don’t pay attention to patent law you might not have noticed that the supreme court allowed a business method patent to stand - strengthening the status of all business methods patents. Assessing these risk is an important part of your job as an entrepreneur. You must envision both the best case “hockey stick” scenarios and the worst case scenarios as well and develop measurement and contingency structures to be sure you don’t get in over your head.
More importantly though - every concern issued above is a problem looking for a solution. A problem that has been stated as CORE to a business’s ability to thrive and grow in today’s world. A problem that there is probably some funding to solve because CFOs who write the checks across the world share these concerns. It is a built in market, with specific desires and requirements, and an awesome potential for the right entrepreneur to create a solution and step into the fray.
You can check out the twitter history to see my CFOCore tweets from the event, that cover most of the main speakers, and check out the speakers and their topics for the event at CVent. As an entrepreneur I was fascinated by the issues that the various speakers raised. Frank Partnoy, a professor of Law and Finance at USD, covered how today’s recession and lead up to a crash were eerily similar to a time 79 years ago when Ivar Kreuger nearly brought the world economy to it’s knees. He pointed out the similarities - and the differences - to today and how that might affect the economy in the next few years. He also said that the Moody’s and other bond rating agencies were useless and should be replaced by cold hard facts. Moody’s rated many failing banks as “A” or better right up until they collapsed - proving that their predictions for an investments risks were practically useless.
Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia University, gave an awesome talk on using Discovery Driven techniques to stimulate, encourage and foster innovation and growth within large companies. In discussing the topic with her after her speech I discovered she has a similar presentation that applies to entrepreneurs, and another that applies specifically to software development. Interestingly, she’d heard little of Agile Methodology, which her proposed tactic resembles.
Michael Hughes CIO At Large for C4si, was heard saying that the end of the company sysadmin could well be approaching - that cloud technologies could, and would, shift the burden of technical support off internal staffs and onto remote and outsourced solutions like no other technology before it. He also claimed that systems security wasn’t as big a deal as everyone made it out to be since most data was obsolete after 1 month anyway (I beg to differ with him on this point - maybe I misunderstood what he was saying).
Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist at the Gallup Organization had a fascinating lecture on measurements of consumer demand, company confidence, and the attitude of the general public. He cited, for example, that while 95% of people favored small businesses and entrepreneurialism, 36% of the same group of people believed that socialism (which is antithetical to the aforementioned concepts) was a viable economic alternative for the United States. Consumer confidence has remained flat for over a year, and those with money have not yet tired of saving and begun spending. Jacobe claims that the recession is not ending but we are entering a long tail where there will be considerable volatility and only small organic growth in the marketplace.
Greg Schaffer, Director in charge of Cyber Security at the Department of Homeland Security came and talked to CFOs about the new, more dangerous, online world we now live in - stating that most company manufacturing and production infrastructure had little or no hacking or security protection - endangering the lives and the livelihoods of many major US Firms - as well as our overall global economy. He pressed CFOs to examine carefully their spends when it came to cyber security risks and evaluate them carefully.
We heard encouraging news on the technology front from Edwin Yuen, Microsoft and Hope Cochran, Clearwire on how broadband ip based 4g networks were coming from companies like clearwire, and that virtual technology had allowed some companies to consolidate from over 600 running servers to just 40 at tremendous cost savings.
We heard discouraging news on the health care front, with some analysts predicting 20-40% raises in health care insurance costs for companies witih under 100 employees over the next few years until 2014. Some said that these rate increases would disproportionately affect companies with under 100 employees. This will force many small businesses out of providing health care benefits and into the state-run pools, which may well not be up to the task prior to 2014 of absorbing so many subscribers, and may create two levels of care: one for the “have-nots” on the public funds and one for the “haves” that are in private insurance or are self paid. Most large companies that self insure were interested in creating wellness programs to be sure their rates stayed low - some claimed that could result in discrimination against overweight people, or those with chronic diseases prior to hiring.
We heard a fascinating panel discussion on risk management and how to plan for and mitigate everything from natural disasters, to cyberintrusion to key persons becoming ill. The panel had the Lizabeth Zlatkis, head of risk management for Hartford Insurance, who stated that you have to put most of your risk management eggs into the baskets of problems that would put your company out of business. While it’s good to have plans for smaller risks - you MUST have plans for the risks that can ruin your business.
We heard from the supply chain manager at OfficeMax, Ruben Slone, about how he used the downturn to implement a series of cost reductions and supply chain optimations that saved his company millions of miles of truck time, improving the environment and saving the company millions of dollars - using just a few simple changes. We heard from Ronald Jadin, the CFO of Grainger - one of the largest catalogs in the world - about how, despite the downturn they continued to grow by optimizing their relationships with customers and suppliers to meet their own needs and the needs of both. They cut turn time on inventory by 20 days in less than a year, while improving on-time delivery of product.
We heard from a career expert at Accenture and author of ”The Workforce of One”, David Smith, about how today’s consumer driven world is changing the expectations of employees - that they want their careers and their day to day jobs to be more like their experience outside work - customized to their needs and their desires.
If you read the above and thought to yourself - hey, I could come up with a solution that solves one of those problems (or even a part of one of those problems) then you probably have a pretty good seed of an idea for and entrepreneurial venture. The first thing that they teach you in “entrepreneur school” is that you must come up with a compelling solution to an entrenched and difficult problem or desire that people have. This conference was FULL of such problems and desires - and is a hotbed of ideas for an entrepreneur to live off.
For more information you may want to consider getting one of the books from the presentation authors. I’ve organized the books into an Amazon Store which you can visit by clicking the link. There is even a link there to subscribe to CFO Magazinewhich I highly recommend you do. So if this interests you - think to yourself - what convention can I attend and learn from that might be slightly outside my normal field and how can that enhance my ability to either run my company or come up with awesome sellable entrepreneurial ideas?
Cody Gate Ventures and GRE bring 250 new jobs to Rochester, NY
June 1, 2010
Cody Gate Ventures, a venture capital investment group has selected Rochester, NY as the site of three new start-up, venture-funded companies from its portfolio. The three companies are Intrinsiq Materials, Quintel Technology, and Omni-ID. Combined the three companies plan to hire 250 full-time employees who will specialize in research, development, and manufacturing of advanced technology products. In addition to creating jobs, Intrinsiq, Quintel and Omni-ID will also make a significant capital investment in the Rochester Region through the purchase of machinery and equipment, and through ongoing capital expenditures and operating expenses. The jobs will be located at the Eastman Business Park.
“We chose to expand in Rochester because of the high-quality of its skilled workforce,” said Cody Gate Ventures U.S. Managing Partner Michael Summers. “We consider ourselves to be an innovation firm, and Rochester has a long history of innovation. We have already established substantive synergies with a number of the great companies and universities that are located here. Those opportunities for collaboration combined with Rochester’s connectivity to world-class research and development facilities, and the great facilities at Eastman Business Park, make the Rochester Region the perfect place for these three companies to grow.”
“This huge win for the Greater Rochester Region’s economy is the result of the dedication and teamwork of Greater Rochester Enterprise; Empire State Development; the State of New York, specifically State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle; Monroe County; and the City of Rochester,” said GRE President and CEO Mark S. Peterson. “The 250 jobs that are coming here are high-paying, highly-skilled jobs for three companies who will greatly benefit from our top-ranked knowledge workforce.”
“Attracting innovative companies that base their success on knowledge and technology is an important step in ensuring that New York State remains competitive in the global economy,” said Empire State Development Chairman & CEO Dennis M. Mullen. “Cody Gate Ventures has discovered that Rochester offers an ideal location-strong public and private institutions, a quality talent pool and widespread infrastructure-for companies looking to expand their horizons. Going forward, I intend to continue to attract successful technology and manufacturing-based firms to New York State.”
Intrinsiq Materials (www.intrinsiqmaterials.com), a leading advanced materials company that generates valuable solutions to unmet needs in the advanced metals and health and wellness industries, is bringing its research and development and manufacturing operations to Rochester. Intrinsiq will hire 158 full-time employees.
Quintel Technology (www.quintelsolutions.com), a provider of next generation antenna systems for mobile networks, is creating an additional research and development operation in Rochester. Quintel will hire 68 full-time employees.
Omni-ID (www.omni-id.com), a provider of high performance radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that excels in reliability for any application, including harsh environments such as on, off, and near metals and liquids, is bringing its research and development operation to Rochester. Omni-ID will hire 24 full-time employees.
Intrinsiq, Quintel, and Omni-ID plan to begin hiring and bringing their operations to Rochester this summer.
Cody Gate has it’s home offices in the UK, which means that Rochester was picked from an international portfolio of sites as the proper place for these three companies to grow. Through sponsorship of the Eyes on the Future conference, and other strategic moves to encourage companies to locate in Rochester, GRE has proven again and again that they can be an engine of growth here in the Rochester area.
ABOUT CODY GATE VENTURES
Cody Gate Ventures invests in businesses to meet the important needs of global corporations and government. What makes Cody Gate Ventures unique is its preferential access to disruptive, government-funded technologies to realize high-value opportunities across a range of sectors. Companies created by the Cody Gate Ventures team in recent years have included sectors such as Mobile Infrastructure, Government Security, Internet Infrastructure and Services, Retail, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, Medical Devices, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology. For further information on Cody Gate Ventures, visit www.codygate.com .
ABOUT GRE:
Located in the heart of New York’s technology corridor, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) is a public-private partnership established to professionally market the Rochester metropolitan region as a competitive, high-profile place for business location and growth. Its efforts support business attraction and expansion, as well as entrepreneurship and innovation. GRE collaborates with businesses, universities, not-for-profit organizations and government leaders to ensure a unified approach to regional economic development. For more information, please go to www.RochesterBiz.com.
The Greater Rochester Enterprise team are here to help you grow your business in Rochester, NY. Call GRE at 585-530-6200 e-mail: info@RochesterBiz.com
Rich Karlgaard talks about the 7 differentiating factors
May 28, 2010
In a recent Forbes Magazine article (June 2101) Rich Karlgaard talks about the 7 differentiating factors that will make or break companies in the recovery. What he’s really talking about though are rules that work for any company regardless of whether they are in boom times, down times or a recovery. And the rules can work to help you figure out what your company’s differentiating factors will be as you create your start-up.
The seven factors that Kalgaard lists in his article are:
- Design - product must STICK OUT to be noticed.
- Speed - you must be able to deliver your product quickly and efficiently, or the consumer will look elsewhere
- Cost - believe it or not, consumers are sensitive to the overall cost of an item - you must be competitive to be in the running.
- Service - over and over awesome customer service has sustained and fed brand growth.
- Communications outside - how are you perceived by the world? How well do your employees promote your product or brand for you?
- Communications inside - how easy is it for your internal staff to collaborate and work together? If you’re running out of a house, like so many entrepreneurs these days, how are you compensating for the lack of daily interaction?
- Purpose - What do you do? No really - WHAT DO YOU DO!? What is the reason your company is on the earth?
Interestingly this list of differentiating factors can be combined with Seth Godin’s idea of each company having a “Purple Cow” - a unique selling point for their company. If you don’t have ANY of these differentiating factors versus your competition - your company might have a hard time selling its wares - or its prospects to a funding entity (grants, angels, venture capital, etc.) I would say that the most successful companies are either at the top, or near the top of each of these categories - the closer to the top you are in each, the more likely you are to succeed.
So walk through each of these with an objective eye. Look at what your competition or potential competition is doing now and answer for yourself (honestly) - am I near the top of my game in one or more of these categories? If so make that your purple cow - and concentrate your marketing and message around that winning strategy. The next thing to do is pick the things you are not so good at and get help improving them. Go for the golden ring!
The best methodology for this is to take each of the factors and give yourself a grade - A, B or F. A means you are better than anyone else at this. And I mean ANYONE else. Four Seasons is better at customer service than virtually any other hotel chain in the world. B means you are “Good enough”, in other words - there are competition that beat you in this factor, and some that are worse than you - but you’re about average. F means everyone is better at this than you. A’s should be targeted for promotion as a strength, F’s should be targeted for immediate improvement, and B’s should be targeted for long term strategic initiatives to move you to an A.
I hope this helps you in finding your strengths and capitalizing on them.
Tenrehte brings home top honors in entrepreneur contest
April 30, 2010
The 2010 Rochester Regional Business Plan competition had their award announcements today at a luncheon event in Downtown Rochester. I’m proud to say that two excellent entrepreneurs - both of whom I know well took home first and second place in the competition. Tenrehte - producers of a smartgrid energy monitor and saver for the home that runs off a home wifi system took the top prize of $25,000. Tenrehte has been featured numerous times in this blog for their excellent work and is an example of a successful entrepreneurial company here in Rochester.
Proving yet again that devices tend to draw more attention than software products these days the runner up winner was OS-Cubed supported entrepreneur Floodwatch USA. Floodwatch has a device that allows remote monitoring for moisture in a “smoke alarm” format device. The device does not need to touch the floor, or have moisture directly touch the monitoring to determine if flooding has occurred. It uses a custom designed infrared chip to determine if water is where it should not be.
I would like to personally congratulate both winners - you are among the top entrepreneurs in the area and it’s about time you both were recognized for your efforts.
RIT 48 - create an entrepreneurial business in 48 hours
March 14, 2010
Starting this Friday RIT students will have the opportunity to create an entrepreneurial web-based business in 48 hours. RIT 48 has selected this blog author to be a judge for this highly competitive and interesting competition. So what is RIT48? They are glad you asked: RIT48 aims to bring together students from various disciplines to pitch, plan, develop and launch a web startup in one weekend— or, as the name suggests, 48 hours. An intense, energy fueled, entrepreneurial event, RIT48 was designed to showcase the innovative and creative spirit of RIT students while offering the opportunity to learn and meet new people. Always had a cool idea for a web startup but never the time or resources to make it happen? RIT48 is for you. You can form a team, develop your idea, and launch a web startup to the world in a mere 48 hours. We’ll bring the coffee.
The competition is open to Alumi, Students and Faculty, but all development of the website or business plan must be completed during the 48 hours of the competition.
I’m excited to say I’ve been selected to judge this awesome event and I’m really looking forward to working with my fellow Judges - Susan Beebe (SM expert), Aaron Newman (SM2/Techrigy), and Liz Lawley (Director of the Lab for Social Computing at RIT) on this task. The top winning team will receive $600. Here is the schedule for the 2 days:
Friday (9AM-All Night): Introductions, Planning, Developing
Saturday (10am-7pm): Testing, Tweaking, Refining, Presenting
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Good luck to the team members and may the best team win!
Do you have a Plan “B”?
September 29, 2009
In follow-up to the TEN Lunch & Learn meeting held at the Infotonics Technology Center regarding “Plan B” technologies, we are reaching out to help you vet your good ideas. The Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program realized this region holds many good ideas not presently being pursued that are well suited for regional job creation and economic advantage. Therefore, through WIRED, ITC is providing a rare opportunity for individuals who have a Plan “B” idea to assist them in the process of vetting those ideas and receiving training around the entrepreneurial process.vuon@earthlink.net to set up an initial interview meeting. You will have the opportunity to discuss your Plan “B” idea/technology to a technologist, receive training around the entrepreneurial process and the resources available to help you through that process, and, who knows, maybe become the next upstate New York Plan “A” enterprise!
Sometimes referred to as an orphan idea, invention, or technology, it is the great idea that an innovator just doesn’t have the time to pursue. However, we are providing the opportunity to vet Plan “B” concepts with a technical expert in residence (TEIR) at the Infotonics Technology Center who will provide technical analysis and investigate potential market opportunities. Furthermore, for the technologies/ideas that show promise, additional WIRED training resources are available for assistance in forming a new company, market analysis, business plan writing, grant proposal writing, etc.
If you are one of those Plan “B” innovators, or know of someone who is, please contact Michael Potter at (585)415-7272 or email
Sorry for the long hiatus - exciting things in Rochester
September 25, 2009
I apologize for how long it’s been since I posted - life has been busy (which is good) and I had a number of family obligations which came up unexpectedly. We should be back to a more regular posting cycle now. Here’s a summary of some of the latest Rochester news in the Entrepreneurial world:
- In August, Aaron Newman -Techrigy/Alterian’s social tracking guru gave a talk at a recent Rochester Open Coffee Club on entrepreneurship in Rochester and how he built Techrigy into an acquisition target in just a few short years. I’ll be posting a more detailed in-depthlook at Aaron’s speech later this month.
- In September TEN graduated a recent class, and a new batch of TEN students entered the queue. TEN continues to be one of the most valuable entrepreneurial resources in the Rochester area. I’d encourage you to take advantage of their services. As a TEN graduate myself I am feeling for the current students who today are deep into the 2nd day of Jack Derby and George Simmons firehosing information into their brains. I know my brain was tired by about the middle of day two :)
- In national news today the US Commerce Department is establishing a new Office for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, specifically to help startups make workable businesses out of great ideas by giving then training, funding, advisement, data access, andhelp with business start-up red tape. Gary Locke, the new Secretary of Commerce and creator of the OEI has a history of examining innovation roadblocks, including looking at the US Patent Office backlog. A direct quote of Locke’s sums it up: “Instead of working to build a great company or discover a new invention, too many of our brightest minds were busy engineering credit-default swaps”. This blog fully supports the idea that government investment in innovation and entrepreneurship can only improve our national economic status.
- They Eyes on the Future conference is only 21 days away. Please be sure to visit the website, register for and attend this free economic summit and (new this year) career expo, so that we can all learn how to keep Rochester in the top 20 once the boom cycle begins again. That’s right - we’re in the top 20 cities nationwide for retaining salaries, housing values, cost of living, etc. So despite how tough the last year has been - it could be much tougher if you live in other cities. Edith Lank in a recent article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Real Estate column published letters from other cities and towns in the country illustrating families who are in danger of having their houses foreclosed on and taken from them after job loss, or being upside down on their mortgage and having been transferred or moved. We are lucky to be in Rochester.
- A new conference to help small businesses keep up with the latest on how new labor rulings affect local businesses has been announced by Genesee Valley Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (GVCSHRM) will be holding a conference and legislative luncheon on October 1st. There will be a solutions exhibit area, Andy Feld author of “Why the current economic crisis is our most wonderful wake-up call” will keynote. Senator Robach, andAssemblywoman John are expected to attend and present at the conference, as well as sessions on EFCA, NLRB, COBRA, and a social media presentation. Afternoon sessions will include Title7, ADEA, FSLA, ADAAA and a session on building capacity. The conference is from 8am-4:30pm. Fees are $147 for GVCSHRM members and $167 for non members. There is a lunch only option for $55.
- A new organization that is charged with retaining NY State investment dollars within NYS has been formed. www.seedny.org is a cooperative venture created by Excel Partners to try to encourage keeping our dollars at home when investing. Loaded with great information for entrepreneurs and funders alike, this site explores the whys and hows of where investment dollars go, and how we can influence their use to better all of NYS. They just held an event in Syracuse and are scheduled to go to Albany on October 13th. From their website: “…Its goals are: to create a public awareness campaign focused on informing all community stakeholders about the critical role that seed funding plays in establishing an entrepreneurial ecosystem that can transform New York into a innovation-based economy. “
That’s all for now - please, attend events, network with your peers, and create a buzz about Rochester and how well we’re doing!
Entrepreneur Profile - Tenrehte, Inc.
June 17, 2009
Company name: Tenrehte Technologies, Inc.
Principal: Jennifer Indovina
Website: www.tenrehte.com
Contact: jennifer.indovina@tenrehte.com
Industry Focus: Wireless semiconductors
# of employees: 5
Startup Stage: Bootstrapping our hardware development system, Linux run-time, and application software which validates and demonstrates our technology. On the business side we are raising seed capital, and engaging initial customers.
Lee Drake: Every entrepreneur learns early that a careful concise, one paragraph elevator speech describing their product or service is a key component of success. What is your elevator speech:
Tenrehte is a wireless semiconductor company which was founded to address consumer demand for smart Wi-Fi enabled products. We simplify wireless product development for electronics manufacturers by providing a turn-key platform which includes a high performance, low power, and low cost Wi-Fi processor bundled with an optimized operating system and a suite of intuitive application development tools. Our products enable customers to create end products more efficiently. Our unique intellectual property provides innovative features for Wi-Fi device manufacturers. On a broader scale, our mission is to improve people’s lives through wireless technology. Tenrehte will revolutionize wireless devices because we understand that the future of consumer electronics depends upon hassle-free plug-and-play connectivity.
Lee Drake: What was the biggest challenge that you’ve faced in building your entrepreneurial business and how did you overcome it?
Raising operating capital. Although my team has been involved in previous start-up companies that have managed to raise the capital to grow a company before does not mean it’s any easier for us this time around. Although the current economic climate has made things “interesting”, we are managing to successfully navigate the situation by remaining focused on the end result. Bootstrapping a semiconductor operation is not feasible for us, however, we have found other creative ways to keep the lights on and we are making good progress.
Lee Drake: What do you anticipate the next biggest challenge will be?
In the short term, the success of our company is dependent upon our ability to validate our business to investors. In the long term, our challenge is the same as every other company; it all comes down to sales.
Lee Drake: What has been the most pleasurable surprise you’ve had as you go down the road of an entrepreneurial startup?
The local Rochester, NY support has been overwhelming. Even though we aren’t revealing too many of our secrets, it’s just incredible to see local elected officials, investors, financiers, and customers getting excited about our technology and our mission. Overall, people want to see us succeed. Indeed this was a bit surprising for me. The very first seed funding pitch I gave was less than 5 months ago to a boardroom full of accredited, but not very tech savvy angels in Manhattan. I stood at the front of a rather large conference room, describing my company and our technology to an audience of harsh scowling faces. I was only about 2 minutes into my pitch when an older gentleman sitting in the back raised his hand and said “So, you make, like, mini-routers that can be put in anything? Cool, it sounds like the Terminator to me.” Everyone in the room erupted laughing. Unfortunately, our technology was not aligned with their investment strategy, so they chose not to invest in our company on that day. However, a managing partner of another investor group was in the meeting and her personal impressions lead her to refer us to more interested investors!
Lee Drake: What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a plumber, a singer, a vet, and an astronaut. I was jack of all trades, apparently. I think if you ask anyone else in my team, they’ll say “Engineer” or “Test pilot”, which is why they are in my team.
Lee Drake: If you could give just one piece of advice to someone with a new entrepreneurial idea, what would it be?
Do not get sidelined by fear. Believe in yourself, your idea, and your team and charge forward. Sure there will be bumps along the way, probably many, so just keep pushing forward.
What is Rochester Startups blog?
April 6, 2009
Lee Drake
I was asked by the folks at SpringStage to be the Catalyst for the Rochester area Startup blog and I eagerly accepted. To get a feel for what Springstage is, and what a “Rochester Catalyst” is I encourage you to review this post, which I will summarize here.
- SpringStage is not an angel network
- SpringStage is not an investment group
- SpringStage is not a business incubator
SpringStage is a network of community catalysts who are in tune with their local entrepreneurship and startup scenes. Our goal is to find entrepreneurs who are interested in promoting startup culture and community in their hometowns. The network formally launched in early 2009. This is the first step in ensuring that there is a visible resource in every community for early stage entrepreneurs.
Today, if you’re new to a city and you want to be involved in the start-up scene there, there is no clear cut way to get involved. Springstage hopes to fix that by identifying and promoting credible catalysts in each community. We are providing the infrastructure for those catalysts to begin promoting their location entrepreneurship scene immediately. “
As a board member on the Eyes On the Future event board, Rochester GVCSHRM, Rochester Neighborhood of the Arts, and JSEC, and a former Rochester Small Business Council board member, and an advisor to Nazareth’s Business development program, as well as a serial entrepreneur and developer myself, I feel I have a good cross-sectional background to publish articles of an interesting and engaging nature in www.rochesterstartups.com. But I do need your help. I’m looking for entrepreneurs (at all stages in development) and in all different growth areas to answer a brief 5 question profile, and I’m looking especially for great articles or interviews from Angels, Venture or other investors.
If you are a consultant who works with entrepreneurs, I urge you to pitch me on a story about your services and how they can help the local entrepreneur be successful. We also want to build a link-list of service providers in the area.
Check out my post on entrepreneur-blog
April 2, 2009
Check out my latest update on entrepreneur-blog.os-cubed.com on why it’s a bad idea to assume end-users are stupid.
