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Assistant Treasurer to Chairman & CEO

 739_ Assistant to the Treasurer becomes the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
Recently David Hoover was the keynote speaker at an ACG Denver luncheon. Dave is Chairman and CEO of the Ball Corporation. Larry asked, "When you started with Ball in 1970, did you have any information or feeling that you would become the CEO and Chairman?" Dave's reply, "No, not really. When I started with the company I was young, fresh out of business school, ambitious, but it wasn't in my mind. When I started, the company was still privately owned, it went public in 1972, so it's hard to believe it's been almost 40 years, but it’s been a great ride and I've been very fortunate to do the things that I have with Ball." Larry pointed out that many people in the geographic area think of it as Ball Aerospace, and we know that is only part of the business today? "Actually it's about 10% of our business today, and you're right a lot of the people in Colorado know us best for Aerospace. It is our oldest business; it's been around over 50 years and the next oldest business, we acquired and got started over in Golden in the beverage can business in 1969. But aerospace is still a favorite of mine. It's actually grown well over the last decade or so, sales last year were close to $800 million. But the company is close to $8 Billion now, so we've grown the rest of the company faster, primarily through acquisition but also organically." Larry asked, "What advice would you give to businesses that are addressing the changes they are today?" Dave shared some great advice, "I think the first thing you have to do is have a real good grasp on who you are, what you're good at, what your capabilities may be, and then take a look at the environment you operate in. You know, in our case now, it's a global market. Make sure you've got the people, the capabilities and the resources to go after what it is you think you want to."...listen for more...
Related Links: Ball Corporation || ACG Denver Website || M & A Channel || Event Photos || Keywords: David Hoover, Ball Corp, Ball Aerospace, Beverage Cans, ACG Denver, Acquisition, Change, Global Market > Channel: ACG 5408684 bytes 11/16/09 LISTEN

From financial disaster to a multi-million dollar winner

740_ From the depths of a financial disaster to a multi-million dollar winner
 Caterina Fake, Co-Founder, Hunch, a collective intelligence decision making system was interviewed by Lucy Sanders, the CEO for the National Center for Women and Information Technology or NCWIT and Lee Kennedy, NCWIT Director, serial entrepreneur and founder of Boldersearch, along with Larry Nelson, from w3w3.com for the NCWIT Hero series. Before Hunch, Caterina was the co-founder of Flicker. Flicker was one of those companies that really opened up the eyes of people to the power of Web 2.0 and really taking together those features such as social networking and community and things people want to share. Caterina was a cofounder of Flicker, before it was sold to Yahoo. Initially they were trying to develop an online game. The company was dying, ready to collapse. Caterina took no salary for a year, others went without salary for 6 months only one guy, with three kids, was paid. "It was horrible but also the most growth oriented experience I ever had. We managed to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. We had enough to keep going for three months, not enough time to finish this game, but we could finish this photo sharing idea that we came up with. We'd applied to the Canadian government for a grant two years earlier and had forgotten about it. On December 23, we received a letter saying we got the grant - $150K I think, 50K for production, $50K for marketing - we only ended up collecting a fraction of it... but $50K at the time was enough to keep us afloat, to build this new thing which we'd christened 'Flicker'. It was very much a Phoenix from the ashes and a story that ended happily."
Related Links: Caterina Website || NCWIT Home || NCWIT Practice || Hunch || Heroes Channel || Keywords: Caterina Fake, Hunch, Flicker, Lucy Sanders, Lee Kennedy, National Center for Women and Information Technology, NCWIT, Entrepreneurs, > Channel: NCWIT 23761397 bytes 11/16/09 LISTEN

Business Agility with the Cloud

741_ Business Agility with the Cloud: Do you need an IT department/CIO?
 Defrag 2009 - what an education! - it was the place to be. We corralled Matthew Taylor, Vice President of Managed Services and IT & IS Operations, ViaWest, covering seven states and 16 data centers. Matt was a keynote speaker at the Defrag 2009 Conference. Matt said, "I have a long title because we wear a lot of hats at ViaWest, there's a real value to that for organizations." Topic Matt delivered: Business Agility with the Cloud. We wanted to know, what is the cloud? Matthew replied, "Well, there isn't a definition for 'the cloud' and depending on who you're talking to they have a different definition of the cloud. What we have to take this back to is, the user, customer or CIO, whoever you are, what is it you're trying to get out of a solution overall? So to a business person how do you get agility out of a cloud? You get agility out of a cloud ... and for some this is a painful answer... through your CIO. There are people out there, the press, organizations that have said, 'now the cloud is out there and you don't need your IT department/CIO' -- That's absolutely not the case. The customer needs to make sure they have flexibility to be able to scale up or scale down; pay for what they have to pay for but not overpay. At the same time they need to make sure they have a high level of security. So when you combine all these things, you start to say, I really need to understand each portion of my company from an application standpoint. What do I need to do with it and make sure I'm managing the data and the way those applications work together. What is your best approach and to me that is a CIO and why today, the CIO is more important than ever." Listen for some additional suggestions. Larry asked about SAAS (software as a Service) "...in the last couple of years, I'd heard that was the cloud." Matt agrees it was one of the first offerings from the cloud, there are load testing applications etc., watch the smoke and mirrors - do your homework. He also provides...
Related Links: ViaWest || Defrag || Economy Builders || Event Photos || Keywords: Matthew Taylor, ViaWest, Defrag, Business Agility, Cloud, CIO, Hosting, IT Department, SaaS, Change - Channel: News 12195439 bytes - 11/16/09 LISTEN

Critical thinking, emotional intelligence, Consultative Selling Skills

737_ Critical thinking, emotional intelligence,
and consultative selling skills 
Building Leaders and redefining Sales was the focus of an interview with Colleen Stanley, CEO and Founder of Sales Leadership, Inc. Colleen points out on her website, "The perfect storm…the recession, impact of the Internet and a global economy has created a new selling environment. The profile for successful sales professionals is changing. The sales force of the future must be equipped with critical thinking skills, emotional intelligence skills, and consultative selling skills." She shares a great deal of helpful information including: How to create high performance sales cultures/ high performance cultures; Learn the reason some sales producers can’t make the leap to sales management/leadership; The leadership qualities of great sales managers. In addition she answered some tough questions from Larry. "What are some things a sales manager can do to insure consistent growth year after year? Sales managers often complain about poor forecasting from the sales team? Is there any fix?" There is so much more...When you listen to Colleen's interview you'll, Learn the value of having a sales process/methodology/systems; Reinforce the importance of hiring the right people – getting the right people on the sales bus!; Learn the real reason some sales producers can’t make the leap to leadership; be ready to take notes. Colleen has a great book out, "Growing Great Sales Teams - Lessons from the Cornfield." Larry recommends you read it if you really want to grow and improve your sales team.
Related Links: Sales Leadership || Sales Webinar || Growing Great Sales Teams || Economy Builders || ACG Denver || Keywords: Colleen Stanley, Sales Leadership, Development, Critical Thinking Skills, Emotional Intelligence Skills, Consultative Selling Skills, Association for Corporate Growth, ACG > Channel: ACG 9474355 bytes - 11/9/09 LISTEN

Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem with CO Gov. Ritter

736_ Entrepreneurs Unplugged with Governor Ritter and Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem (Track 1 of 2) 
Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., the Colorado BioScience Association, CSIA, Colorado's Technology Association; the Mizel Family Foundations, and the Silicon Flatirons Center worked together to bring this special edition of Entrepreneur's Unplugged featuring Governor Bill Ritter and Jerusalem's Mayor Nir Barkat. (Track 1 of 2) This interesting program started out with an introduction of Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. by Larry A. Mizel, Chairman & CEO, M.D.C.Holding. The Governor shared the five pillars that are the foundation of progress in Colorado. Even in these challenging times they have served Coloradoans well. The he introduced Nir Barkat, the 9th Mayor of Jerusalem. Mayor Barkat's early success as Mayor, significantly, is rooted in the business methods and entrepreneurial approach which he brings to City Hall. Mayor Barkat's roots are firmly in entrepreneurship. In 1988, Mayor Barkat co-founded BRM Technologies, a pioneering software house and later venture cap9ital firm that developed and marketed ground-breaking anti-virus software now standard on personal computers throughout the world. His leadership and business acumen brought him to the position of global chairman of one of BRMs largest venture projects. Mayor Barkat's early success as Mayor, significantly, is rooted in the business methods and entrepreneurial approach which he brings to City Hall. Mayor Barkat's roots are firmly in entrepreneurship. In 1988, Mayor Barkat co-founded BRM Technologies, a pioneering software house and later venture capital firm that developed and marketed ground-breaking anti-virus software now standard on personal computers throughout the world. His leadership and business acumen brought him to the position of global chairman of one of BRMs largest venture projects.
Related Links: Entrepreneurs Unplugged || Gov. Bill Ritter || Jerusalem Website || BD New Tech Meetup || Economy Builders || Event Photos || Keywords: Gov. Bill Ritter,Jr.; Mayor Nir Barkat, Jerusalem, Silicon Flatirons, Brad Bernthal, Robert Reich, Entrepreneurs, >
Channel: Entrepreneurs - 20943044 bytes 11/9/09 Track 1: LISTEN

Entrepreneurs Unplugged: David Cohen, Techstars

731_ Entrepreneurs Unplugged: With David Cohen, Executive Director of Techstars 
Brad Feld, Managing Director & Co-founder of the Foundry Group, Brad Bernthal, Entrepreneurship Initiative Director at Silicon Flatirons and Jill van Matre got to do something many of us would like to do...ask David Cohen, Executive Director of Techstars how he got to where he is including the 'learning experiences' along the way. Brad really got into some deep and important issues. David Cohen is the founder and Exective Director of TechStars. David has a soft spot for technology startups and enjoys helping innovative early stage technology companies succeed. He also has a passion for Colorado and believes it's a fantastic community for any startup. The TechStars program combines these passions with capital, connections and real-world experience to provide a unique opportunity for early stage startups. David is a founder of several software and web technology companies including Pinpoint Technologies (now ZOLL Data Systems) of Broomfield, Colorado. While at ZOLL Data Systems, David was also the CTO. The company was acquired by ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL) in 1999. You can read about it in No Vision, All Drive [Amazon]. David was also the founder and CEO of earFeeder.com, which was sold to SonicSwap.com in 2006. David is also an active startup advocate, advisor, board member, and technology advisor who comments on these topics on his blog at ColoradoStartups.com. If you want to learn more about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur listen to this live recording at the Silicon Flatirons Center 'Entrepreneurs Unplugged' event.
Related Links: Entrepreneurs Unplugged || TechStars || Colorado Startups || Foundry Group || Economy Builders || Photos from Entrepreneurs Unplugged 10/19/09 || Keywords: David Cohen, Brad Feld, Entrepreneurs Unplugged, TechStars, Colorado Startups, Foundry Group, Silicon Flatirons, Brad Bernthal, Jill van Matre, Pinpoint Technologies > Channel: Entrepreneurs 24509370 bytes 11/2/09 LISTEN

Liberty Global - Leading-Edge Coupled with Ultimate Integrity

Liberty Global - Leading-Edge Coupled with Ultimate Integrity
According to a recent article in the Denver Post, Michael Fries is the highest paid executive in Colorado. We appreciated his advice on change which is included in Larry's book, Mastering Change.
      Michael Fries, CEO and President of Liberty Global grew up with a large family, 7 brothers and sisters. Mike said, “In many ways I think my skills perhaps in listening to people, managing people and having a pretty good EQ or a sense of where people are coming from is partially related to the fact that I grew up in a big family." Mike reflected on his early work career, "I’ve only had two jobs. I’ve been lucky to work for, at least in my cable career, two really fantastic entrepreneurs and business people. The first was Gene Schneider, really one of the pioneers in the cable industry – just a fantastic individual. A great leader of men but more than anything has great integrity. And of course, John Malone, our current chairman, and I don’t think you could have a better partner or individual to be working with, who is far-and-away one of the smartest business people I’ve ever come across. But on top of that is a great human being, a really nice individual, loyal and generous and really loves and is excited by this business. It’s kind of TCI-2. So I’ve been lucky to work for some really great individuals. Sue Wyman and Larry did some more probing.
Related Links: Liberty Global Home || Communications Technology Professionals || CTP Home || Mastering Change || Keywords: Mike Fries, Liberty Global, Leader, Communication Technology Professionals, CTP, Sue Wyman, Gene Schneider, John Malone, Mastering Change Channel: CTP Bytes: 21031604 - 8/10/09 LISTEN

Brad Feld and the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Tool Box

Brad Feld and the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Tool Box
Brad Feld was being drilled by Lucy Sanders, CEO and Founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and NCWIT board member, Lee Kennedy along with Larry Nelson about the learning experiences of a new entrepreneur for the new NCWIT series, The Entrepreneurial Tool Box. And as Brad said, “Dave Jilk, was a college friend. In 1987 we launched a company which we then grew, with no financing into a couple million dollar business and sold in 1993. So that was the first real success I had, after a couple of companies that went absolutely no where." When addressing the failures Brad said, "Well you go through this cycle of believing, sort of the optimism of the creation at inception of the company, some progress, whatever progress there is and then ultimately you start to have some problems and you either push through the problems or you don’t. I mean Feld Technologies had all kinds of things that could have caused us to fail. In fact, one of the first things we did was hire a half dozen college friends and part time people, and spent money we didn’t have and all of a sudden we were upside down $20,000 and we had no money, and we realized we couldn’t do that anymore because we didn’t have the money to pay the people and we had to get to a place where we’d make money. In the case of the other failures, I think it was pretty clear at some point we were not making real progress." Chairman of the NCWIT – also co-chair of the Governor’s Innovation Council. Brad Feld said, "My favorite entrepreneurs to work with and invest in their future companies are ones that have had a success, at least one success and one failure. If you’ve had three successes in a row and no failures, you think you’re invincible. Listen for more insights...Brad and Lucy also offer some great insights about change in Larry's new book, Mastering Change.
Related Links: Foundry Group || Brad's Blog || NCWIT Channel || NCWIT Practice || Mastering Change || At www.w3w3.com Channels: NCWIT, VC, Bytes: 12940750 > - 8/10/09 LISTEN: Part 1 of 2; Listen Part 2 of 2
- Part 1 of 2 - Part 2 of 2

Disrupting the Conference Call Market – Gold Systems does it Again

704_ Disrupting the Conference Call Market – Gold Systems does it Again 
Until now it has not been practical for companies to host their own conference calls with any kind of scale, so conferencing service providers have thrived — and your costs have exploded. Traditional conference companies are paid for every minute that each person is on the call. Larry talked with Terry Gold, co-founder of Gold systems about the big changes in that industry. Gold Systems just released their new Conference Server. This is a new conference call product built on top of Microsoft Office Communications Server. Terry shared some great ideas for any entrepreneur as it relates to selling your product or surviving in this economic environment. "Yes, you know we've been through this before, my service anniversary was July 4th, 18 years, and so we've seen a few tough times. When this one happened, and I'll pin it back in October, that's when we saw a big change in incoming orders and the way customers were talking, and we realized it couldn't be business as usual. We were thinking of a new product at that time and made the conscious decision that we had to think of it from a customer's point of view - 'what would make it easy for them to say yes'. We think Unified Communications is part of that, in fact we sometimes think of this as a Trojan horse. Back in October we were thinking, wow, is now the time to go in and try to convince a company to rip out their old PBX's and replace it with something new and kind of unknown? We thought, No. " There are a number of specific ideas ...listen for more...
Related Links: Gold Systems || Conference Server || Feld Thoughts || Podcast Directory || Keywords: Terry Gold, Gold Systems, Conference Call Market, Conference Server, Unified Communications, Microsoft Office Communications > Channel: Software 6233759 bytes - 8/3/09 LISTEN

The history of the Telluride Tech Festival now comes to Boulder

696_ The history of the Telluride Tech Festival now comes to Boulder
The Telluride Tech Festival is '@ Boulder' this year which is a great opportunity to involve some local folks here, and with some of the changes in the economy it's a little more accessible. Larry talked with Sarah McClain, Trent Hein and Ned McClain about the great news for Front Range technology enthusiasts. Larry asked Sarah to give us an idea of what this event was about. "We're talking about the annual Telluride Tech Festival which was an event we founded in Telluride in 2000. It was founded on the idea that Telluride was sort of an incubator of inventions. In 1891 Nicola Tessla, George Westinghouse and L.L. Nunn invented the first commercial grade alternating current power plant in Telluride. That's why we say the beginning of the technological revolution began there. Our event invites technological innovators from around the world to come and present their ideas to us in a small, intimate environment, and it's very interactive. Inside the event and even outside the event we have opportunities to interact with the honorees and sort of foster discussion and ideas." Some of the past honorees are Freeman Dyson, a theoretical physicist; Vinton Cerf, known as the 'Father of the Internet'; Murray Gellman, a Nobel Prize Laureate; and Jill Tarter, she heads up SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). This year it's in Boulder at the NCAR Mesa Top Lab, a really excellent venue. So, mark your calendars for July 30th, that's a Thursday evening and we're going to gather at 5:30pm. You need to RSVP. We'll see you there...
Related Links: Tech Fest RSVP || Tech Festible History || Applied Trust || Dear Ned || Keywords: Telluride Tech Festival, Boulder, Sarah McClain, Trent Hein, Ned McClain, NCAR, Applied Trust, Dear Ned > Channel: ATE 6225609 bytes 7/20/09 LISTEN