Speed Venture Summit Time!
August 6, 2009
OK, YOU HAVE SOME TIME BUT NOT REALLY - THE SVS IS ON OCTOBER 28TH BUT YOU NEED TO APPLY ONLINE BY SEPT 15TH TO BE A PRESENTER!
MORE INFO HERE OR READ BELOW AND REGISTER!
Speed Venture Summit
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VC Investing on the UPSWING!
July 18, 2009
OK, not alot of action on this blog lately since I have been trying to squeeze in some time off … perhaps a little too much time following the TDF, but what better way to come back than to share this Mass High Tech alert in my Saturday morning email?!
As you can see in the quote below, VC investing up nicely on a national basis - check out the full MHT article too:
“Nationwide, across all sectors, venture-backed companies took in $5.3 billion in Q2, 2009, spread across 595 funding deals, the financial tracking organization reported. The total dollars represented a 31.7 percent increase over Q1’s dismal $4 billion invested – the greatest Q2 over Q1 increase in the past five years.”
Let’s hope that this is a “leading indicator” for the general economy too!
Calling New England Web Entrepreneurs!
June 17, 2009
Chip Griffin of Customscoop and various other pursuits has launched a newsletter and blog dedicated to New England’s community of web entrepreneurs - special coverage for Chip since he is working out of NH however the main point of this and some of the earlier brand conversations is that we in NH are an integral part of a New England-wide tech entrepreneur community. Check his intro below, followed by a taste of last week’s newsletter!
About NEWE
New incentive programs like The MassChallenge Venture Funds Competition, and an “Office Hours” idea floated by Chris Pearson not only encourage new innovation, but provide a path to follow to turn a good idea into a successful venture.
Keep an eye out for the eCoast Technology Roundtable eCruise. Tickets and sponsorship spots are still available for the “Best Tech Party On Water”. Check out the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce web site for more information.
The New Hampshire Brand
May 20, 2009
OR is it the New England brand?
Scott Kirsner recently organized a brainstorming session where a great mix of tech economy players from across New England’s who kicked around thoughts on “branding/positioning” New England, check it out from his Innovation Economy blog (including audio).
Brainstorming: How Do We Better Communicate New England’s Innovative Mojo?
We had a great 2.5 hour brainstorming session last night at the offices of Flybridge Capital Partners in the Back Bay, focused on this question: how do we better communicate New England’s innovative, creative, entrepreneurial spirit to the rest of the world?
Having been in the New Hampshire tech sector for the last 25 years I can relate to one of the main points - it is more about a region than about individual states. In fact, one interesting scenario would be a nice combo of inter-related state and regional positioning - something that captures a state’s unique identity within a region known more broadly for its ”innovation quotient”. It would be nice to say goodbye to the “cow hampshire” comments that frequently play out behind our backs! However, I do like it when people think of NH as the “Live Free or Die” state OR as the “First In The Nation” (for our unique position in the Presidential Nominating process = the front!). While I think both of those notions uniquely capture NH’s entrepreneurial spirit - and if you think I am kidding just come on up and meet some of the Presidential candidates who all believe they can be “the one” - I am left feeling that there is more work to be done on our positioning.
Every few years the NH Dept of Resources and Economic Development - (locally known as “DRED”, GREAT people doing great work who deserve a better dept name! ) - embarks upon an exercise in refining the New Hampshire brand. Matt Pierson who is the Chairman of the NHHTC Council, and who also participated in Scott Kirsner’s regional conversation, has worked hard along with his colleagues as part of that effort, so I have confidence that the current efforts in that regard will yield well thought-out ideas and some interesting promotional actions. Until that comes out I am left trying out a new idea, “LIVE GREEN OR DIE”, just laying that out there for now … think about it.
NH Entrepreneur of the Year - 80% Execution, 20% Strategy.
May 8, 2009
Some closure on those earlier posts about the NHHTC Entrepreneur of the Year question and and the selection of Skillsoft …
NHHTC President Presents SKIL Founders EOY Award
As Chuck Moran and his co-founders Jerry Nine, Tom McDonald and Mark Housell accepted their NH Entrepreneurs of The Year award the other night he was able to share several key factors in their success.
He shared that the one thing that drives them above all else is the customer and he reinforced the point by saying that all those who stood with him on that dais spent most of every day directly interacting with customers versus “internal matters”.
He also made the point that they waste no money on things like facilities - they ALL work in cubicles and he likes the side benefits which are constant company sharing since they can all hear each other, AND few if any staff meetings needed for the same reason!
But the one point that jumped out at me - they spend 80% of their time on execution and only 20% on strategy.
The Intrepid Journey of EqualLogic
April 22, 2009
Attended a recent UNH CEO Forum presentation by Paula Long who was one of the co-founders of EqualLogic and Don Bulens who was the CEO that guided it over the finish line. This is the now-infamous NH tech entrepreneur story of going from at attic on Pugratory Road on Aprils Fools Day in 2001 (really) to an all cash acquisition of 1.4Billion by Dell in about 7 years.
What was so great about this presentation was the humility of Paula and Don as they shared, under a “cone of silence” (their term so I can’t tell all), the inside view of the “adventure” in contrast to the outside view which tends to only focus on how wonderfully it ended versus how imperfect the path was along the way; thus their title for the presentation - “The Intrepid Journey of EqualLogic”.
Some really great points made:
“We had nothing to lose so we made a big bet - and went after the big guys.”
“With that nothing-to-lose attitude we also bet on an emerging standard(iSCSI) and non-traditional approaches on the market (mid-market) along with a new selling model for the sector (an unfailing comittment to a channel).
There was plenty of learning along the way, the kind of organizational dynamics that happen in high growth tech companies including a VC-installed “rockstar CEO” from central casting that did not work out as planned… but at the end of the day the most amazing - and telling - thing is that the mission statement contained on the opening slide of their Series A presentation in 2001 was almost identical to a key slide prepared for the IPO roadshow presentation (the IPO that was rudely interrupted by that 1.4B from Texas).
For me the takeaway message is to never underestimate the unique “compass” carried by the founders of a company. Keeping the founders of a company actively engaged and contributing is critical to a a early venture maintaining its “soul” - including its vision and culture - as it morphs into a successful, performing company.
And The NH Entrepreneur Of The Year IS …
April 15, 2009
“It’s a great story”, said Jim Cook, NHHTC Entrepreneur of the Year Chairman. ” They started the company in 1998, attracted venture capital investment, achieved first year revenues of $4M, went public in 2000, and today have grown the business to over $300 million in annual revenue. They not only survived the dot-com hey-days and subsequent crash, they built a very successful company along the way.”
Congratulations go to SkillSoft Corporation co-founders Charles E. Moran, President/CEO and Chairman of the Board, Jerry Nine, Chief Operating Officer, Mark Townsend, Executive Vice President, Technology, and Tom McDonald, CFO and Executive Vice President.
“SkillSoft is based in Nashua, New Hampshire, though thru a merger, it became an Irish company. SkillSoft has facilities in various places including two locations in Nashua, one each in Arizona and Canada, and international offices. SkillSoft is engaged in the business of providing online education tools for businesses.
They provide online courses, video courses, and an online library o f books and other materials, and related materials. Its resources are licensed on a subscription based model, and SkillSoft was one of the first to adopt the software as a service (SAAS) model. SkillSoft actually was based on software as a service model from its inception. In addition, SkillSoft’s products are all web-based, which they have been since the company’s beginning. One advantage that SkillSoft had early on was that it did not have the need to morph from a client server model to a web-based model, as it started as a web-based company. Similarly, SkillSoft has not been faced with the task of morphing its business model from a perpetual license/maintenance model to a software service model, since it was a pioneer in utilizing the SAAS model.
Join us in celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of the SkillSoft co-founders, and learn how they moved their company from a dream to reality. Attend this year’s NHHTC EOY Awards Banquet on Monday, May 4, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester. To register go to www.nhhtc.org
I was fortunate to have worked with Chuck (SDSK) and have now known Jerry and others there for years; these guys are perfect examples of entrepreneurs that simply will not be stopped. If you knew them and their current work habits like I do, you would also appreciate them for the thing that truly successful entrepreneurs know - that the job is never really “done”, that every day you must keep cranking to maintain “your success”!
Angel $ down in 2008, but same number of deals.
April 3, 2009
Total investments in 2008 were $19.2 billion, a decrease of 26.2% over 2007, according to the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. However, a total of 55,480 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2008, a modest 2.9% decrease from 2007, and the number of active investors in 2008 was 260,500 individuals, virtually unchanged from 2007.
Here is the UNH CVR 2008 Angel Report including sector breakdown.
Angels are literally investing directly from their personal pocketbooks so it is not surprising that they are investing less, but it is absolutely good news that the number of deals did not decline! Combine that with the fact the same number of Angels stayed in the game and Angels remain the largest source of start-up capital. IF you have not already done so - get involved in your local Angel Groups!
There are a number of active angel groups and here is the list which looks to me like a tour of New Hampshire! eCoast Angels, Granite State Angels, First Run Angels, Monadnock Angels and Northeast Angels.
Green Meet Tech - Entrepreneurs that is.
March 30, 2009
Was on a panel the other night at a joint gathering of the UNH Sustainability Forum and The Meaning of Entrepreneurship class. As usual, I was the VC who got to deliver the bad news at the end (”the financing and capital ecosystem for green entrepreneurs is still developing …”) . Ahead of me on the panel were two exceptional entrepreneurs - Andrew Kellar of SimplyGreen BioFuels and Tom Roberts of BeachPea Bakery. When I listened to them explain their challenges which are based on their being in an industry that is still developing - especially when they described working through new business models - it was like an echo from the past. I thought to myself - I have seen this “movie”!
Personally, I can remember in the 80’s when personal computers and the accompanying software industry were taking off (Microsoft’s MS-DOS was the rage, there was no Windows yet) and players like Bill Gates, the folks from Lotus and those of us in smaller companies were making up the rules of the game as we all went along ( I remember being excited when we all experimented with “software suites” - I am definitely an old dude) and then as I watched the same thing in the Internet era … and I heard it again last night - and was equally inspired by it! These entrepreneurs are at the forefront of defining an industry, and one that can make a real difference in our world too.
It is time for more cross-pollination between the tech and green sectors. Part of that might be more tech entrepreneurs sharing their experiences from their participation in “the tech industry movie” with this new generation of green entrepreneurs.
NEW - New Venture Capital Models – The Rise of Business Accelerator Seed Funds
March 22, 2009
UPDATE - March 25th! - Spark Capital announced an exciting new program targeted at this same seed stage space . Also great that they were clear about their committment to the broader ecosystem and programs like TechStars, in their own words:
“Start@Spark is also part of a broader effort by Spark Capital to drive greater innovation in the Northeast. Our initial focus on the Boston and New York areas is predicated on our belief in the talent in these areas and our desire to foster collaborative start-up communities. In addition to Start@Spark, we helped to form the Alliance for Open Competition - an organization established to eliminate non-competition agreements. We are also proud supporters of Tech Stars Boston. In other words, we are dedicated to fostering entrepreneurism and innovation. We hope you will join us to build something great. Please submit an application, follow this blog, or follow us on Twitter.”
What is happening to the seed-early stage investment model? A question on the minds of many people right now. And there has been much inspiring conversation about the various options - along with some real innovation by programs like TechStars (including their new Boston program) and YCombinator. Certainly feels like this challenging economy plays into the hands of programs like these as entrepreneurs are looking to be part of something larger to gain from the aggregation of expertise, resources, networks and even some camaraderie!
Recently I have been in two locally organized conversations on this topic. One was at last week’s eCoast angels meeting (NH’s most active and progressive angel group) and before that the “First Fridays” group started by a few of us earlier this year which focused our monthly session on this topic. That discussion was kicked off by Jim St Jean of First Ascent Ventures who has spent some serious time looking closely at these models, see below the 3rd and final in a series of related posts on this topic by Jim. Jim’s work was toward determing if these models can work, read the post to find the answer - here is a hint on one of the programs - and consider this post the first of many on this topic!
New Venture Capital Models – The Rise of Business Accelerator Seed Funds (Part 3) - 03/15/2009
