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The Investment Community Still Has Money for the Middle Market

Formerly an attorney and investment banker in New York on Wall Street, David Strong moved to Denver and is now a partner at the Denver office of Holme Roberts & Owen. During our discussion Dave said, "We are still seeing a vibrant economy in the middle market in Colorado, defined as anywhere from $20 to $100 million. There is definitely huge pressure on larger cap deals – credit markets have been tightened significantly – those deals are becoming harder to do. But what we’ve seen is a lot of capital, at least in the middle market waiting to be deployed. Buyers who raised their money before the credit crunch, before investment community got so skittish. They are looking for value in their market, and I think, still finding it. Those deals still have some leverage, though not as much as prior to the big credit crunch. Terms, everything is a little tighter. We’ve seen valuation go down, exit multiples go down, with the pressure. But we are still seeing good companies getting good valuations and those deals are still getting done." Then Dave got into the selling side...listen for more.  LISTEN
Related Links: Holme Roberts & Owen || It's the Law Channel || ACG Denver Events Calendar || M&A: ACG DEnver Channel || - Bytes: 22896956

The Music Industry Fights Piracy for Survival

In the nine years following the development of Napster, the music industry has changed dramatically. To match the new methods of downloading music illegally, there are new means of detecting such activity and new legal ramifications. Richard Gabriel, attorney with Holme Roberts & Owen goes on to point out other dicey issues. "The ethics of downloading music illegally and who should be responsible for such activity continue to be debated. This debate relates to the broader question of whether the music industry's business model, i.e. charging for the distribution of music-faces an existential threat not merely from piracy, but the proliferation of artists willing to share their music for free." Whether or not individuals can justify downloading copyrighted music from peer-to-peer networks or other outlets, the fact remains that this conduct is illegal. To underscore that message, the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) has brought thousands of lawsuits against individuals who have violated the copyright law. At the same time, organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have suggested that the advent of file sharing cannot be stopped by litigation. What if it was your music? LISTEN
Related Links: Holme Roberts & Owen || It's the Law Channel || Electronic Frontier Foundation || Silicon Flatirons || - Bytes: 24960839

Social Entrepreneurship is Answering the Tough Questions

"The problems of the world will not be solved by governments and traditional charities," said Chris Pelley, Managing Director of Capital Investment Management Company (CIMCO) and Board Member of the Association of Corporate Growth in Denver. In the business community, many people are puzzled by the term, social entrepreneurship. Chris feels, it is the business people in our society who will ultimately make a tremendous difference in this field of philanthropy and problem solving. Larry asked, "You’re a registered investment advisor, how did you get involved in this?" I am intrigued by this idea. I was introduced to it by a friend at Oxford University; he mentioned it to me because he knew my daughters were interested in the subject. Being a father who cares, we were invited to attend the “Skoll World Forum Conference for Social Entrepreneurship” at Oxford, four years ago. People are going to get involved in this for a number of reasons. First and foremost; 87% of the children leaving colleges and universities want meaning in their lives more than they want money in their lives. These concepts are exploding around us. Parents and business people might want to discover more to help their teenagers and young adults through the new Ashoka Support Network. LISTEN
Related Links: CIMCO Home || ACG M&A Channel || ACG Denver Events || Ashoka || - Bytes: 27056486 -

Money, Music and More: Bringing Balance - Your Soul Patch

Part one of the interview with Jason Mendelson and Ryan McIntyre, both Managing Directors with the Foundry Group was focused on intellectual property and the current 'copyright paradigm'. IP isuues are hot topics with their portfolio companies. Both men are dedicated to the success of the companies they work with. Larry had to ask, "How do you bring balance to your business and personal lives?" Jason's been playing the drums since he was 3, a percussionist, and actually supported himself playing music with big names like Aretha Franklin. Jason and Ryan met at Mobius in California. Ryan had built a recording studio in his home – 600 sq. ft of recording space, and had a band. Jason showed up one day, "..the idea was that I would be a consultant to the band." Things took off from there. Ryan said, "In general our lives are hectic with a thousand calls in the air, generally multi tasking, always thinking about the past, present and future, and the great thing about music... it’s then. When I’m playing music there’s no room in my head for anything other than the moment. That’s a liberating thing and it is great for bringing balance." BTW, the music at the beginning and end of this interview is a small part of the second album produced by Jason's and Ryan's band 'Soul Patch'. Enjoy!  -  If you missed Part 1 you can check it out HERE.
Related Links: Foundry Group || Ask the VC || Venture Capital Channel || Soul Patch || - Bytes: 24152505

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 - LISTEN

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 || BYTES: 19751395 - LISTEN

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  LISTEN

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 - LISTEN

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...  LISTEN
Related Links: TriCalyx || NCWIT || Women in IT || Bytes: 16982834

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. LISTEN
Related Links: Collaboratory || C2B2 || CU TTO Channel || Tech Transfer Office ||  - Bytes: 19941149