Great news for entrepreneurs in northern Colorado
1268_ 8/29/12 -
Great news for entrepreneurs in northern Colorado, specifically in the aero space sector - SBDC Network is partnering with a new organization, The Estes Institute; this group is doing some amazing things in Estes Park; the Colorado SBDC Network with enthusiastic business support from the likes of the Stanley Hotel and others. The Colorado SBDC is working diligently to assist any businesses that have been adversely affected by these tragic events. They are working with their Centers and many resource partners building a network of solutions to help get. In addition they put on special events and Kelly Manning, State Director, is here to talk about the Estes Institute. "So SBDC is partnering with this new organization, Estes Institute, and it's going to be hubbed out of Estes Park, and in particular out of the Stanley Hotel. The first event that we're putting on up there is called 'The Launch' - kind of a cool name considering that the event is for the aerospace and aviation industry. It's going to be an investor conference, a three day program, October 30th thru November 1st, at the Stanley Hotel. Keynote speaker is Norm Augustine retired chairman of Lockheed Martin, and he will be a huge draw for Colorado. There will be training programs, pitches, investors, to help Colorado small businesses and mid-size businesses who want to do business or get deals done in the aviation / aerospace industry. Attendees will be there obviously to look for investors, so we're inviting investors not only nationally, but internationally. It will be an 'invite only' event. So it's going to be a smaller event that businesses will actually apply to attend this conference. What we want to do is make sure we show these investors that we have solid companies that they'll want to do deals with. Aside from those deals...get the details...
Related Links:
Colorado SBDC ||
SBDC Business Recovery Intake Form ||
In the News Archives ||
Stanley Hotel ||
Keywords: Kelly Manning, Colorado, SBDC, Small Business Development Center
Network, Stanley Hotel, SBA, Estes Institute, Financial Support - bytes=4754184
LISTEN TO: Kelly Manning, State Director, SBDC Network
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former Chairman of Educational Sales Management (ESM), a provider of student lifecycle solutions to help schools enroll, graduate and place more students. Rick sold the company a year ago to Xerox. Here too is Dorothy Donnelly, National Marketing Director for Hein & Associates, a public accounting firm based here in Denver, and Dorothy is also a board member of ACG Denver. Dorothy pointed out that Rick Fort enrolled, by founding ESM, graduated by selling ESM to Xerox and now he is succeeding by investing into the community - a true entrepreneur who now heads up The Fort Knocks Company. Larry asked, "What are some of the biggest challenges for mid-sized companies today?" Rick said, "For mid-sized companies down to small companies as well, it is in part, finding the right people to help grow innovation, not getting stuck in where-you-are, constantly developing new ideas and bringing new change." Dorothy said, "What I’m hearing from folks is that it is still very difficult to get lending even though it's loosening up a bit. That being the commercial banks are at the will of the lenders and their organizations and not so much able to support business on their own without that stamp of approval." Rick agreed with that and added, "The lending side is one, but it's also the capital side. Now venture capital and the equity groups are starting to loosen up their pockets more and more, making good investments in companies. But there's a leverage that they have too, so it's not necessarily all it's made out to be." They then discussed the possibilities, potential advantages and strengths coming up this next year...Listen for more...


"Venture Deals...Be smarter than your lawyer and venture capitalist". The inspiration for the book came from the Term Sheet Series that Jason and Brad wrote about five-six years ago. This is a particularly valuable book for entrepreneurs looking for money... You'll get an insider's view of the venture deal process, the different players involved on the deal side including how venture firms are setup. And, they talk about how an entrepreneur should think about the fund raising process. The term sheet is a very complicated document and there are a lot of things that people negotiate. But there are essentially only two things that matter which are economics and control. Here they've spent a lot of time helping the reader understand which terms related to economics and which terms were related to control and how and what that meant. It's meant to be a guide not a text book with material that can be very dry and boring. They've made fun of lawyers, venture capitalists and themselves along the way, but there goal was to write something significant and enduring. Comments from readers include..."For a first time entrepreneur, it's a completely enlightening book." Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO wrote a very nice forward to the book where he talks about how useful it would have been to have this book at the beginning of his career, and throughout his career, to look back and reflect on all the deals he's been involved in. Brad tells us how his blog, Ask the VC works with this book. Number one piece of advice for a new entrepreneur from Brad is, "Pick something that you're incredibly passionate about. The thing you want to create, the business you want to start should be something that you're in love with. It's going to be hard. You're going to have lots of ups and downs, there will be lots of things that don't work. If the thing you're working on 18-20 hours a day isn't something you're incredibly passionate about, what's the point?" Second is surround yourself with mentors." ...don't miss the rest of Brad's advice, listen now!


