It's a great time for entrepreneurs; and here's
1019_ 5/23/11 -
We're at the Colorado Capital Conference, co-sponsored by Rockies Venture Club and TiE Rockies and we've also cornered the president of TiE Rockies, Vic Ahmed and the keynote speaker, Saad Khan. Vic tells us not to go by Saad's youthful looks; the guy is experienced, brilliant. He's doing some very innovative things with his fund, CMEA Capital, which is over a billion dollars under management. Larry asked Saad, ": “What do you think are the biggest challenges today for entrepreneurs?” He replied, "Which company to start. I mean there are so many options today. I think it's a great time for entrepreneurs - more so than ever before because the means of production have come down so that everyone can be an entrepreneur and do it very cheaply, especially in the area that I look at, the web and software. Actually I'm pretty optimistic about what's going on for entrepreneurs. I think access to capital, is something I've heard here a lot. But there is a lot of stuff you can do without venture capital at all. And by the time you need it, those guys will be knocking at your door because things are going so great! So I'm excited about the prospects right now."
Larry asked, "What can entrepreneurs capitalize on today?" Saad replied, "So again, I tend to focus on web technology and in that world everything is free, infrastructure, software, data centers - none of those things you have to build anymore, or buy yourself, so really the only cost is you and your team. So if you are willing to eat Ramen and live and work in the same place, it turns out your costs are pretty low. I think that's a lot of leverage for people. I've actually seen companies that literally got profitable with no external dollars whatsoever. So there is a lot to capitalize on." Listen now...
...
Related Links:
CMEA Capital ||
Colorado Capital Conference ||
RVC Home ||
TiE Rockies ||
Venture Capital Channel ||
Keywords: Saad Khan, CMEA Capital, Colorado Capital Conference, Rockies Venture Club,
TiE Rockies, Entrepreneurs, Web Software, Technology, Access to Capital - 5/23/11 bytes=271788
LISTEN to Saad Khan, Partner, CMEA Capital
Viral marketing approach which has really caught on
1017_ 5/23/11 -
We are here today with Jim Franklin, a guy who has worked with companies that were down and companies that had, let's say a lot of room to grown, and he's really taken them forward. Jim is the new CEO of SendGrid, an email infrastructure company, "where we basically rent email deliverability services in the cloud". And there's quite an interesting story about how the founders came up with that idea. The founders had worked together at three previous companies building web applications. Each time they had to build email services around that one application. None of them felt that was a particularly fun job, so whoever got the short straw had to spend the weekend building out the email infrastructure. And as it turned out, it worked very well. After three times they said, why don't we build a whole company that just does that and does it well? We'll stick it in the cloud and then rent it to other people like us, other web developers. That was essentially the TechStars application in the summer of '09. Larry asked, "So you've been a mentor at TechStars and SendGrid is an outgrowth of TechStars, could you give us a little background there? Jim Replied, "I've been a mentor with TechStars and worked with many companies, oddly not this one in particular. Going through the TechStars program was the exact right vehicle for Isaac and the other founders, to really build their vision for the email services. And then to launch it that summer with the power of David Cohen and Brad Feld writing and blogging about this. They really started a viral marketing approach which has really caught on. Now 20 months later, we have over 23,000 active customers, which has not cost one dollar in sales or marketing expense, which is truly remarkable." Much more to listen to...
Related Links:
SendGrid Home ||
TechStars ||
Foundry Group ||
Economy Builders ||
Blog ||
Keywords: Jim Franklin, SendGrid, Cloud, Email, TechStars, Foundry Group,
Entrepreneurs, Viral Marketing, Vision - 5/23/11 bytes=5382794
LISTEN to Jim Franklin, CEO, SendGrid
Intellectual Property, Trade Secrets, Patents, Copyrights
1015_ 5/16/11 -
It isn't often that we get to share the personal character of an interview but we've decided this was the time to do so. After all that is what w3w3 aims to do, connect people and resources. Neal Cohen a partner at Holme Roberts and Owen - Boulder, is a delightful guy with a great sense of humor and a fun story. Neal grew up in Queens, New York, attended public school and one of the activities he got involved in was fencing, even before high school. He fenced in high school, the public school athletic league, went on to college and got a scholarship to fence in college, and then fenced after college until he was almost 30 years old. All of that predated his legal aspirations. Larry asked for more background. Neal went on, "Well fencing, as you can imagine, does not go a long way to paying many bills. So I had a lot of jobs to support my fencing habit." After college, Neal was a high school English teacher (which also didn't pay very well back then). He was a health club manager and he was a New York City cab driver. (Imagine, a cab driver that speaks English and knows his way around town!). "Which”, Neal said, “oddly enough, was the best paying job of the three, but had its own little challenges. It didn't hurt to have a foil in the front seat...in some circumstances." Larry said, "Mark Weakly mentioned you are a magnificent litigator. Would you mind getting into some of the litigation issues?" Neal told us,when he started out, the firm he was with did a lot of 'securities litigation'. "That", said Neal, "is sort of how I cut my teeth, in securities litigation." Most attorneys don't stay in one area their whole career and so Neal grew into doing 'employment litigation' and employment litigation invariably leads into 'trade secret litigation' because employees will change employers and take trade secrets with them, sometimes. They're not supposed to, of course, and that always leads to 'trade secret litigation', which is one of the areas of 'intellectual property'. Trade secret litigation took Neal into patent litigation and that lead to copyright litigation and other areas like that. This led to Neal's sub-specialty, patent litigation and he's been doing that for fifteen years. "When I was in law school, I met a cute girl who was sitting near me.. .Listen, there's much more...
Related Links:
Holme Roberts & Owen, LLP Home ||
It's the Law Channel ||
Blog ||
Podcast Directory ||
Keywords: Neal Cohen, Litigation, Mark Weakley, Holme Roberts & Owen, Entrepreneur,
Intellectual Property, Coca Cola, Trade Secrets, Patents, Copyrights - 5/16/11 bytes=7322543
LISTEN to Neal Cohen, Partner, HRO-Boulder
Golf Classic for the Good of the Community
1013_ 5/16/11 -
Time for the always great KidsTek Charity Golf Classic - June 9th. This is the 10th Annual and w3w3 is excited to speak with good friends Rich Liner and Pat Maley, founding members of KidsTek. We met back in 2000 thru Cathy Ewing, then president of CSIA and both Rich and Pat were CSIA board members.
KidsTek provides cost-effective tuition-free after-school computer education programs to Colorado's disadvantaged youth. Working in partnership with urban public schools and utilizing existing computer labs, KidsTek classes give students, from elementary to high school, the tools they need to succeed in modern life. KidsTek uses standards and project-based lessons that teach "real world" computer skills using the power of the Internet, the most commonly-used productivity software, and multimedia applications that engage students. Programs range from internet basics for elementary level children to a Cisco Networking Academy at Montbello High School in Denver. Thanks to your support, 900 students were served during the 2009-2010 school year. KidsTek continues to expand programs, and will host technology and computer skills classes at 14 sites this school year. We start out with a little recap of who KidsTek is. Rich tells us, "We are primarily chartered with helping under privileged and under served youth in the k-12 space throughout the front range in Colorado, providing cost-effective tuition-free after-school computer education programs to Colorado's disadvantaged youth. Right now we are working with 14 schools in Denver and Aurora public school systems, primarily through after school programs. We're now doing about 170 project based learning programs for the elementary and middle school kids. In the elementary schools we teach the kids to have fun with computers, how to safely use the Internet and get excited about using the technology. Then at middle school we teach them the skills they'll need to get ahead in life such as the Microsoft Office Suite, PowerPoint, Word and Excel, primarily. Pat Maley tells Larry, "What we're really trying to do is help high-schoolers develop technical skills that are immediately employable after high school or help them get into a technical program in college. And we're using industry training, so we use the same training that CISCO uses in their academy and the same with Solaris. We have two high schools in Denver, North High School and Montbello High School where we have CISCO classes where the kids actually take the class during the school day and at the end of the year they take the same certification that people take in industry.
Larry asked Rich about coming events. "My favorite topic is the Annual Charity Golf Classic" said Rich, "which is coming up this year on June 9th with a silent auction and for a keynote speaker we have Dr. Nate Easley who is the president of the Denver School Board and a big proponent of reforming schools and making them better, doing whatever needs to be done to get these kids better schooled and that's why we are really excited about having him as our keynote this year. Much more to listen to...
Related Links:
KidsTek Home ||
KidsTek Charity Golf Classic ||
Liner Group ||
Wiegers Capital Partners ||
ViaWest ||
Keywords: Rich Liner, Pat Maley, KidsTek, Annual Charity Golf Classic, Microsoft Office
Suite, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, 5/16/11 Bytes: 6407212 LISTEN to
Rich Liner and Pat Maley, KidsTek Charity Golf Classic
Gov Hickenlooper: Fixing the red tape for the state
1020_ 5/23/11 -
Those who attempt the impossible have very little competition. Gov. John Hickenlooper, was the Day 1 keynote speaker at the 2011 ACG Corporate Growth Conference. In this video segment No. 3, he discusses red tap and how the state is going to deal with it. The governor said, "What are specific examples of red tape? We're willing, we'll make a commitment, you show us the red tape and we'll fix it. If you're spending too much time doing paperwork, if you're getting tied up in bureaucracy that's not benefiting the public safety or the public sector and it's taking time away from your business, we'll fix it. But just help us - write it down. By the time this is through we will have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of gaggles of examples of red tape, culled from all over the state. Those 64 county discussions will help and we'll merge then into 14 regional economic development plan or description of what their vision is. And, you know, How important is public education? We want to be defined as pro business. Colorado should be a state where any entrepreneur, on the east coast or the west coast, if they're sick of the big city, why with technology and the Internet, you can do business almost anywhere, Why not Colorado? But if we want to attract them we've got to have good school districts, we've got to have good universities and colleges - we've got to have those elements that become part of a successful entrepreneurial endeavor." He goes onto explain the details and talk about some very experienced professionals that are part of the team...watch and listen for more..
Related Links:
VIDEO link ||
ACG Conference Details ||
ACG Denver Home ||
M&A Channel ||
City of Denver Channel ||
Colorado State Web Portal ||
Keywords: John Hickenlooper, Governor, Colorado, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain
Capital Growth Conference, Ed Tauer, Mayor of Aurora, Tim Wolf, Molsen, Miller, Kristin Russell, SUN Microsystems 5/23/11 Watch
Governor Hickenlooper - VIDEO
The number one tool for leaders and CEO's
1018_ 5/23/11 -
We are fortunate to have Sherry Law founder of Evergreen Communications, a recognized national expert on the subject of high impact internal and external communications. Sherry describes communication as an infrastructure for everything that goes on within an organization. She points out, "That's relating to everything from culture, brand, productivity and performance" - Maybe a short list, but it's all encompassing. Larry said, "When I think of communications, I think of the whole organization, but you focus on CEO communications. Could you describe that?" Sherry replied, "I do because everything about an organization has to do with the CEO. Communication is a key competency for leadership and it's the key to the culture of the organization, and its productivity and its performance. I don't think people really think of communication in that way, but it has that level of importance of infrastructure."
"I know you are a regular contributor to the ColoradoBIZ Magazine and one article in particular caught my attention. It was titled 'I Struggle to Find Any Truth in Your Lies'. Can we get into that?" Sherry's reply... "Since I always have CEO communication on my mind, [it seems like] I was jumping to CEO communications because they often don't tell the truth. It's for a lot of different reasons that they don't tell the truth. A lot of times they're trying to protect their employees from bad news, they're afraid they can't handle it. Sort of like a parent with a small child. In actuality employees can handle bad news. What they can't handle is not getting any news at all. Sometimes it's protecting an ego, sometimes it's protecting a brand. Sometimes it's just someone who is uncomfortable communicating. CEO's are people, like anybody else, and sometimes they just aren't very comfortable saying what they think." Sherry shares a ton of information...be ready to take notes...
Related Links:
Evergreen Communications ||
COBIZ Article ||
ACG Denver Home ||
Podcasting Directory ||
Keywords: Sherry Law, Evergreen Communications, ACG Denver, CEO communications,
Entrepreneurs, Leadership, ColoradoBIZ Magazine, Internal Communications, External Communications - 5/23/11 bytes=8528773
LISTEN to Sherry Law, Founder, Evergreen Communications
Checks for $5,000 to $10,000 a month in college 1016_ 5/16/11 -
This is part 3 of Brad Feld's saga, Jill Van Matre, Associate Director of ATLAS, co-moderates this last Entrepreneurs Unplugged event for Spring 2011 with Brad Bernthal who is a clinical law professor at the law school and Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center Entrepreneurship Initiative, interviewed Brad Feld panel style. Brad started out, "When I was in school, remember I had been tutoring... as a freshman, MIT had this program called UROP, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and basically you can get jobs in research labs. I was in computer science and got a job in Seymour Papert's lab, the guy who created the Logo programming language. I spent a semester helping to put the logo language on a new computer coming out. When I say that, I was kind of the junior grunt on the team that was making sure that things kind of worked. And it was alright, but it paid $6/hr, not quite like my tutoring job. So, somehow, I started doing some consulting, spread sheet stuff... The path to starting my own business was, my senior year in high school I got a job, after tutoring, I got a job working for TechCom. This was an oil and gas software company in Dallas Texas in 1982, husband and wife team. I was their first employee. They grew in 83-84 to about 30 people. I wrote two of their products and got paid $10/hr and I got 5% of gross revenue. While I was a freshman in college, I was regularly getting checks for $5,000 to $10,000 a month." I bet Brad has some other on how to 'Do More Faster'...For more, watch and listen to the video...Next week, "What did you take from Martindale to Feld Technologies?"
Related Links:
Brad Feld Blog ||
Silicon Flatirons, ATLAS, and ITP ||
Brad Feld Video ||
Foundry Group ||
Do More Faster Book ||
Entrepreneurs Unplugged Photos ||
Keywords: Brad Feld, Jill Van Matre, Brad Bernthal, Silicon Flatirons Center, MIT,
Seymour Papert, Entrepreneurship Initiative, Atlas, Foundry Group, Do More Faster Book, 5/16/11
Part 3 of 5 -
YouTube Video - Brad Feld, Entrepreneurs Unplugged
Part 2 of 5 - LISTEN to Brad 8 min.
Part 2, short video: Watch Short Video 'The MIT Experience'
Part 1 of 5
Brad Feld, Entrepreneurs Unplugged LISTEN - Audio
Part 1, short video: WATCH VIDEO
Challenges, Choices and Opportunities for Companies
1014_ 5/16/11 -
We are with Chris Pelley; of course Chris captured our attention years ago. He is very active in the community, he's on the board for ACG, and passionate about social entrepreneurship and involved in many outreach projects and programs. He also is Managing Partner of Capital Investment Management Company (CIMCO) an independent financial advisory firm that specializes in wealth management, retirement planning, portfolio management and business transition planning. Having a good bead on the economic environment, Larry asked, "What are the biggest challenges companies face today?" Chris' humble reply, "That might be an easy one because I've heard it from so many people far brighter than I. But it really distills down to one word, uncertainty." Chris points out that we got a bit of a respite from Congress on the tax situation. But if indeed Adam Smith was correct that the wealth of the nation is its people at work, then we need to improve upon employment - most of that will come from small and middle market companies. In fact 65% plus. Whereas in France 15% of the jobs come from small companies. So how do we work together to bridge the uncertainty around tax policy? The cost of healthcare? And even the regulatory environment? Today in Washington DC there's some debate about cutting expenses and/or raising revenue. What about growing the economy? If we grow from a $10 Trillion economy, which we had in the year 2000, to a $14 Trillion economy which we had in 2008... If we can have a 3% growth rate that will more than generate the revenue we need at current tax rates, I believe. That's just my opinion. To improve the employment circumstances and get us back on track." Larry asked, "what do you think are the greatest opportunities today for companies?" Chris said, " Again, taking from some of what I've read in Forbes and the Economist and what have you. I think outcome of the cleansing of the Great Recession of the 2000s is that the weaker companies have been pushed aside so there's not as much competition. The stronger companies, the old Darwin issue around survival of the fittest, I think, creates some, or ought to create some enthusiasm for companies that have made it. I think employees today are more vigilant because they're concerned. No one can afford to be complacent. At the end of the day it's a lot better than it was in 2008-9, so we're headed in the right direction. And corporations have what, $2.5 Trillion in cash and our government has put a lot of money into our economy, so I think that things are looking better." Chris also has some great advice for leaders...listen for more...
Related Links:
CIMCO ||
Social Entrepreneurs ||
ElderCareUSA ||
Lemonade Day ||
Social Entrepreneurship ||
ACG Denver Home ||
Keywords: Chris Pelley, CIMCO, Capital Investment Management Company, ACG Denver,
Entrepreneurs, Challenges, Choices, Economy, Leadership, Tax Policy, Healthcare, Regulatory Environment - 5/16/11 bytes=5839206
LISTEN to Chris Pelley, Managing Partner, CIMCO Denver
Positioning Your Company for Funding in Today’s Market
5/16/11 - 23rd Annual
Colorado Capital Conference, Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - A Dozen VC's and Angel Investors<<<
>>> FREE Book for every paid attendee! Mastering Change In the Midst of Chaos™ Morning Keynote Saad Khan, Partner, Information Technology – CMEA Capital
- a VC partner in a firm with $1.2 billion under management – three hands-on workshops by the most knowledgeable experts in their fields – formal networking over lunch – money pitches to a panel of investors – a venture capital panel telling you who has the money and how to get your share – high-powered networking cocktail hour...along with 11 additional VC's and Angels! Check it out Here
Achieving Your Personal and Professional Goals 933_ 11/29/10- Don't Let Another Year Go By - The Ultimate Win is Yours - Larry Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the USA. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs. ...listen now a complete step-by-step program including a downloadable manual and resource guide...this is an in-depth strategic planning and goal setting system for achievers...Read More about how to Supercharge Your Business... The links below are valuable and extremely helpful to setting your course for the next year! And they're free. Related Links: Ultimate Win Resources || Training Trends || 3-Filters Technology™ || Podcasting Directory || Your Goal || Keywords: Ultimate Win, Your Goal, Training Trends, 3-Filters TechnologyTM, Setting
Goals, Larry Nelson; 11/29/10 Chnl: Entrepreneurs
Google ranks Colorado’s w3w3.com in the top 10 for the “Business Internet Talk Radio” show
Google has millions of listings in our category. We are ranked in the top 10. Check it at… The same is true for the category “Entrepreneurs Internet Talk Radio” show…see at…
Coming EVENTS w3w3® Media Network Covers the Best
1018_ 5/23/11 -
We are fortunate to have Sherry Law founder of Evergreen Communications, a recognized national expert on the subject of high impact internal and external communications. Sherry describes communication as an infrastructure for everything that goes on within an organization. She points out, "That's relating to everything from culture, brand, productivity and performance" - Maybe a short list, but it's all encompassing. Larry said, "When I think of communications, I think of the whole organization, but you focus on CEO communications. Could you describe that?" Sherry replied, "I do because everything about an organization has to do with the CEO. Communication is a key competency for leadership and it's the key to the culture of the organization, and its productivity and its performance. I don't think people really think of communication in that way, but it has that level of importance of infrastructure."
1016_ 5/16/11 -
This is part 3 of Brad Feld's saga, 
Positioning Your Company for Funding in Today’s Market 
933_ 11/29/10- Don't Let Another Year Go By - The Ultimate Win is Yours - Larry Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the USA. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs. ...listen now a complete step-by-step program including a downloadable manual and resource guide...this is an in-depth strategic planning and goal setting system for achievers..
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