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PSA: World Trade Day May 16, 2013 (Registration)

1384_ 5/15/13 - The 40th annual World Trade Day features technology from some of the world’s most innovative firms like Google, IBM, IHS Global, Microsoft, SAP, SDL, aWhere, and eCustoms. More than 400 expected participants will also have the opportunity to hear high-profile speakers—like Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide's Chief Information Officer Yuri Aguiar and Visa's Global Head of Network Processing Judson Reed—who work at the apex of international business and technology, as well as other Colorado-based thought leaders, like the professional hackers at One World Labs. International business experts from top global companies like Jeppesen, Arrow, MWH, and Hitachi will also be on hand to share how they're using new technology to better their sales and increase their profits. Thursday, May 16, 2013
RELATED LINKS: World Trade Center - Denver, CO ||

JumpStart 2013 Denver's economic development strategy continues
1376_ 4.17.13 - There are more than 25,000 Denver businesses and enterprises, approximately 420 of which have more than 100 employees. However, the 420 firms with more than 100 employees represent nearly 50 percent of the total jobs in Denver. Compared to the U.S. economy, Denver has a significantly higher concentration of persons employed in the energy, healthcare, information technology, finance and professional/business services fields. These firms generally produce high-value products and services. Employees of these firms tend to receive higher wages and are required to hold advanced educational training. Top concerns of Denver’s employers include a strong educated workforce, safe and energetic business areas, and reasonable operating costs as compared to other parts of the state and country. In 2013, OED will continue to focus on retaining three groups of businesses: (1) the largest private and nonprofit employers; (2) high-growth sector companies; and (3) firms with soon-to-be expiring leases. A continuous outreach campaign to owners and C-level executives will demonstrate the city’s commitment to the business community while identifying issues and highlighting the benefits of operating a company in Denver. We are setting focus on the best strategies to advance economic prosperity for the city, its neighborhoods, residents and businesses. The 2013 JumpStart strategy provides a clear signal to the community as to how we are working to build a stronger Denver, with jobs and housing opportunities for all. And, JumpStart 2013 is a road map for our staff — it drives the work plans and priorities for all OED staff divisions. Because economic development is a continuous, multi-year task, this year’s strategic plan also includes a separate longer-term plan that sets forth our strategic direction for the next three years. You’ll see that our 2013 initiatives relate directly to this broader three-year plan. Similarly, our future annual plans will also support the long-term strategy. JumpStart 2013 clearly builds upon our successes from last year. We again have seven main sections, or what I refer to as “pillars” of economic development. Each of our pillars for 2013 includes a series of bold, forward-thinking strategic initiatives to help us accomplish our important mission. The OED will continue to engage in partnerships with business industry groups, including better support for renewable and traditional energy companies located in downtown Denver. This heightened focus will result in more business leaders choosing to live, work, play and stay in Denver.
RELATED LINKS: Denver OED || JumpStart 2013 Denver || Greenprint Denver || Entrepreneurs || KEYWORDS: Paul Washington, Denver, Office of Economic Development, Jump Start 2012, Business Retention, Small Business Advocacy, Business Recruitment, Sustainable Neighborhood Development, Business Lending, Workforce Development, Key Strategic Projects, bytes=6260927
LISTEN TO: Paul Washington, Executive Director, OED, City & County Denver

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From Scholarship Funds to 2nd Stage Growth...

Penny Lewandowski Second Stage Development and Growth
1373_ 4/10/13 - We're here with keynote speaker, at the ACG Denver's April Luncheon, Penny Lewandowski director of entrepreneurship development for the Edward Lowe Foundation. Lewandowski works with entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) as they develop creative ways to grow their communities by serving second-stage businesses. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of building an entrepreneurial culture, as well as the importance of working with growth companies. She also directs the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Team and manages the technology services for the organization. It's been six months since Lewandowski was in Denver, Larry asked for an update on what's happening with Colorado Companies to Watch. Penny said, "Tomorrow evening we will be at the Governor's Residence with all of the finalists - and I think we have 184 finalists. We had a record number of nominations this year. Colorado is always out front when it comes to nominations. Then on Thursday we're going to be judging those companies, and they go through a pretty intensive process with that. We'll probably make an announcement in the next several weeks after we do the judging."

ACG Denver’s David Sloan Scholarship Program. Set your goal to become an ACG Scholar! Each year the Denver Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) awards one scholarship to a promising 1st or 2ndyear student at each of five area graduate business programs, in the amount of $2,500 annually. The scholarship is renewable for a second year based on both the academic performance and the career ambition of the student. To be eligible for the award, the recipient must be currently enrolled in one of five programs with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better...Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS: ACG Denver || M&A Channel || ACG Denver's David Sloan Scholarship Program || Colorado Companies to Watch || ACG Photo || KEYWORDS: Penny Lewandowski, Entrepreneurship, Second Stage Companies, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, ACG Denver, David Sloan Scholarship, University of Denver, bytes=2751741
LISTEN TO: Penny Lewandowski, Director of Entrepreneurship, Edward Lowe Foundation

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Did you see C-Level @ A Mile High?

C-Level @ A Mile High 2013, March 21

1369_ 3/25/13 -Colorado Technology Association

CTA represents Colorado’s technology industry, one of the fastest growing segments of Colorado’s economy. Their focus on advancing the industry, to be a globally competitive nucleus for innovation, technology and economic growth - to foster growth and opportunity for the technology industry, encompassing technology organizations and professionals in Colorado. PHOTO Event: March 21, 2013 C-Level @ A Mile High 2013, to Meet CIO's; Learn what they need; Share your solution, the potential is endless...
RELATED LINKS: C-Level Home || C-Level Agenda || Software Channel || Colorado Technology Association || Check out these photos || KEYWORDS: CTA, Colorado Technology Assoc., CIO, C-Level @ A Mile High, Steve Foster, auction,
Go To: Photo Album for C-Level @ A Mile High 2013

Uptime Institute - ViaWest - First Tier IV Design in N America

Dave Leonard the first ever in North America
1313_ 3/21/13 - As the senior vice president of data center operations, Dave Leonard directs all of ViaWest's day-to-day facility operations and procedures, as well as expansion projects and future data center builds. We're at ViaWest headquarters, to get the skinny on the expansion at this dynamic Colorado icon. Very unique and, another company that launched in 1999 (like w3w3.com and Defrag...) We are talking with Dave Leonard, ViaWest Senior Vice President of Data Center Operations - well known to Frontier, United and Southwest Airlines - as he visits all the ViaWest Data Centers so often. Dave has two separate teams, one that operates the data centers (there are 23 data centers). The second team builds data centers and they are building a new, very large data center in north Las Vegas to compliment their two existing data centers in Las Vegas. So, the expansion is very aggressive and keeps happening throughout our service territory - and coming soon, outside of our service territory. But, Las Vegas is a great example where we are very successful in Las Vegas filling up the existing data centers that we had and demand led us to build a large new data center which will be going online at the end of December. Larry wondered what challenges ViaWest faces in this expansion? "You read about organizations like Facebook and Google building data centers out in the middle of nowhere, where there is very cheap power and very good conditions for free cooling, for instance. We don't site data centers that way. We put data centers where we believe our customers are going to be. There are two things happening in the data center industry, if Dave were wearing his construction hat, that building new data centers have been a good opportunity for ViaWest in two aspects, the green aspect, and the other is the quality of the data centers... Listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: ViaWest || Tier IV Design First in N. America || Uptime Institute || Software Channel || Data Center Communities || Blog || KEYWORDS: Dave Leonard, ViaWest, Uptime Institute, Tier IV, Las Vegas, Data Centers, Green, Lone Mountain, Marketplace, Data Center Operations, Local Partner, Service Territory, bytes=4014814
LISTEN TO: Dave Leonard, Sr. VP, Data Center Operations, ViaWest

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Keys to being successful entrepreneur

Life of the Entrepreneur: Controlling Your Destiny
421_ 9/06/11 [12/10/2007] Nancy Phillips, NCWIT Hero, offers a few keys for being a successful entrepreneur: Maintain a good sense of humor; Overcome the nay-sayers; and Practice real-world economics. Nancy is the Co-Founder, Director, COO of ViaWest (Today, Nancy is President and CEO as this was recorded in December, 2007) and shared her story and poignant points about building and growing a business even in the toughest of times to Lucy Sanders, CEO and Founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and NCWIT board member, Lee Kennedy along with Larry Nelson. Nancy loves technology and people and has a long history with the Telecom industry. She enjoys the challenges of being an entrepreneur for many reasons including her passion to control her destiny. Nancy says her husband claims, "Because I'm a control freak." Phillips has also been a principal, executive and consultant for numerous successful telecommunications companies including France Telecom, MCI and Qwest. Over 15 years ago, she began her career with Teleconferencing Systems Canada as Vice President of Sales and it was in this role that she met Roy Dimoff - the two have been loyal business partners ever since. Nancy shares some excellent advice for managers, leaders and entrepreneurs. Related Links: ViaWest || NCWIT Home || Software || NCWIT Entrepreneurs || NCWIT Blog || Keywords: Nancy Phillips, ViaWest, Lucy Sanders, Entrepreneurs, National Center for Women & Information Technology, NCWIT Heroes, Teleconferencing Systems Canada, France Telecom, MCI, Qwest > 12/10/07 Bytes: 48124972 Listen to: Nancy Phillips, ViaWest > Bytes: 48124972
LISTEN to Nancy Phillips, ViaWest

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Bootstrapping Part 2

"Commissioned sales people may be a thing of the past..."
1362_ 3/7/13 - ...Bill Flagg was convinced he needed the service and would probably buy within the next month. But, the commissioned sales person was so motivated to get the sale in by the end of the quarter, that he gave Bill a 30% discount - on the entire contract, a big dollar amount. Not only did Bill not get value from this sales person, he had to go to the tech guy to get his real questions answered - You need a technology partner willing to work for sweat equity - cast a wide net in the beginning... Bootstrapping, more insights,
Watch Now Part 2 of 2
Crash Course, Bootstrapping || The Felix Fun || Bill Flagg Blog || Economy Builders || PodCast Directory || KEYWORDS: Bill Flagg, Crash Course Bootstrapping, Silicon Flatiron Center, Brad Bernthal, The Felix Fun, RegOnline, PosterBrain, SnapEngage, StickerGiant, SurveyGizmo, SFC Crash Course
Video - Bill Flagg, The Felix Fun - SFC Crash Course Series, Bootstrapping

Crash Course: Bootstrapping

Bill Flagg, Bootstrapping, SFC Crash Course
1357_ 2/28/13 Bill Flagg is an angel partner in four boot-strapped, built-for-life, internet-based companies (PosterBrain, SnapEngage, StickerGiant, and SurveyGizmo). This community of businesses, The Felix Fun, delivers value to over 20,000 customers, with the help of 100 co-workers, generating $15 million in revenue per year, and growing. Prior to this Bill Flagg helped build RegOnline which he sold in 2007. As part of the Silicon Flatirons Center, Crash Course Series for Entrepreneurs, Bill spoke about his experience in bootstrapping his company. Bill tells us he started bootstrapping in high school and then college - he didn't know he could get someone to actually give him money to go out and start a business. So it was really out of his own naiveté that he became a bootstrapper. Bill was co-owner of RegOnline, which was sold to The Active Network in 2007 (he hopes to never sell another great company). In 2008, Bill started The Felix Fun to be an angel partner in helping other entrepreneurs grow great companies and thrive through organic growth. He's always had this thought in mind, 'is this extra dollar going to provide more than a dollar of value to my customers?' Because, if it wasn't going to return the value, then he knew he couldn't sustain the business. That really is the premise he uses in building and helping to build companies he works with over the last 20+ years. There are different strategies that he employs, one is, , using your capital in the most efficient way. When bootstrapping there isn't that much capital - that forces the question very acutely. The second is to really know who your core customers are. Bill says, "A lot of businesses..." Listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: Crash Course, Bootstrapping || The Felix Fun || Bill Flagg Blog || Software Channel || 2012 Software Chnl || KEYWORDS: Bill Flagg, Bootstrapping, The Felix Fun, RegOnline, PosterBrain, SnapEngage, StickerGiant, SurveyGizmo, World Champion, Olympian, SFC Crash Course, Brad Bernthal, > bytes=6946798
LISTEN TO: Bill Flagg, Bootstrapping, SFC Crash Course

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Colorado Entrepreneurial Ecosystem flourishes

Brad Bernthal, Silicon Flatirons Entrepreneurship Initiative
1355_ 2/27/13 - Brad Bernthal is Associate Clinical Professor of Law Technology Policy but, he is also the Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center Entrepreneurship Initiative where they are doing so many things impacting entrepreneurs. Brad told us, "With respect to Silicon Flatirons Center, what we do is create conditions where innovation is likely to occur." With a degree of modesty Brad recognizes he is a law professor and not an innovator and what they do at SFC is not the core engine of innovation. But, innovation comes out of certain scenes. "When we're on our game at Silicon Flatirons, we create a scene in which innovators can connect, ideally find some value through a series like our Crash Course Series for Entrepreneurs, with the Entrepreneurs Unplugged Series which brings serial entrepreneurs to campus, and the New Tech Meetup. All of which helps build out networks and helps create a scene that's sticky, where you get the innovators, new technologists, people with big ideas consistently getting together, making connections, sharing information and good things happen." Larry points out, Silicon Flatirons Center brings great speakers and presenters - and we're talking experience here not just people who talk. We are the beneficiaries of the same rich ecosystem here in the front range, it's a world class place to start a business. We are lucky to have a spirit of getting involved and giving back, that is throughout the startup ecosystem. People coming up... Ken Tuchman who has built a billion dollar business in TeleTech is going to be the guest for Entrepreneurs Unplugged [March 7th]. Looking out a little bit further the annual Entrepreneurship Conference on March 21st, taking on the Future of Entrepreneurial Finance. Larry asked Brad what he saw as the biggest challenges entrepreneurs would want to address today? "In terms of interesting challenges that I'm seeing entrepreneurs, especially in the front range, taking on, the 'makers movement' This is something to watch. This pushing software down increasingly into hardware. That plus.." Listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship || Crash Course, Bootstrapping || Integrate || Economy Builders || Mastering Change || KEYWORDS: Silicon Flatiron Center, Brad Bernthal, Crash Course Series for Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs Unplugged, New Tech Meetup, Entrepreneurship, > bytes=4118050
LISTEN TO: Brad Bernthal, Dir. SFC Entrepreneur Initiative

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Dozens of leaders share success secrets

Software at its best and the inside secrets
1354_ 2/22/13 - Here are just a few of the stars that we have interviewed...Seth Levine, Ryan McIntyre, Terry Gold, Nancy Philips, JB Holston, Ariel Garten, Dave Leonard, Jim Franklin, Eric Norlin, Bob Newman, Dave Jilk, Theresa Szczurek, Vic Ahmed, Rich Liner, Paul Berberian, Gary Gaessler, Adam Wilson, Monte Robertson, Kristin Russell, Bill Swords, Ray Hutchins, Steve Foster, Jason Mendelson, Phil Weiser, Brad Feld...and many, many more!

All these topics are covered and more... The line between the digital and physical worlds has blurred... It was the first time I worked on a holiday too, so welcome to the life of the entrepreneur... Based in downtown Denver, this company is eight years old, with about 150 folks at this point, highly profitable and growing quickly... It's just what it sounds like, it is the ability to interact with content directly with your mind!!! It's all about the customer's peace of mind - they don't have to worry about their most valued applications... They announced they have raised $21.6 million in a Series B financing round... Supporters on the crowdfunding site can be the first to obtain the products... A SaaS model software company and services behind it that helps organizations manage employee misconduct through the use of technology... It processes up to 300 gestures, it works in a variety of different platforms... In the past, utilization prompted faint images or ideas of algorithms designed to sort, classify, and analyze data for application in finite areas such as product design and consumer relations... For entrepreneurs, lawyers and other professionals, work-life balance is often a topic that individuals plan on thinking about when they have time... Read stories, listen to interviews of dozens of leaders talk about the winning secrets in the software business. Whether you are a techie, business owner or an industry leader you'll enjoy the selection.
RELATED LINKS: Software Channel 2013 || Software Channel 2012 || w3w3® Blog || w3w3® PodCast Directory || KEYWORDS: Seth Levine, Ryan McIntyre, Terry Gold, Nancy Philips, JB Holston, Ariel Garten, Dave Leonard, Jim Franklin, Eric Norlin, Bob Newman, Dave Jilk, Theresa Szczurek, Vic Ahmed, Rich Liner, Paul Berberian, Gary Gaessler, Adam Wilson, Monte Robertson, Kristin Russell, Bill Swords, Ray Hutchins, Steve Foster, Jason Mendelson, Phil Weiser, Brad Feld - Feature / Software Channel by Larry Nelson, w3w3® Media Network