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Funding technology oriented companies

Looking for companies that can have national or worldwide reach 1593_ 8/25/14  [Part 1 of 2]
  - Larry interviewed David Brown, President, TechStars. They have grown so much over the past seven years and Larry was seeking an update. TechStars funds technology oriented companies, typically these are web-based or other software companies, but they’ve funded companies that don’t quite fit that mold as well. They are also looking for companies that can have national or worldwide reach. Specifically, they don’t fund biotechnology companies, restaurants, consultancies, or other local service oriented companies. "How much funding do Techstars companies receive?" You get $118,000 in seed investment upon acceptance into Techstars for 7-10% equity in your company. You also have access to great perks such as free hosting and services, sponsored meals, office space with the other teams, and more. There is immeasurable value in the connections and advice that you’ll receive when you start your company with...listen for more ...David's latest book is 'No Vision All Drive'...
RELATED LINKS: TechStars || TechStars Blog || No Vision All Drive || Entrepreneur Channel || KEYWORDS: David Brown, TechStars, Disney Accelerator, David Cohen, Brad Feld, Jared Polis, Nicole Glaros, Boulder CO, Entertainment, Walt Disney Company, Technology Startups, Europe, bytes=5892287
LISTEN TO: David Brown, President, TechStars

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In Wyoming you make something from nothing = Entrepreneur

Going from four employees to four hundred
1591_ 7/28/14 - A devout people person, he started life out as an accountant but felt like it wasn't a good fit, although he was CFO for Pillsbury Foods and that's where he was introduced to the world of international business. We'd like to introduce you to Gerald (Gerry) Van Eeckhout, Ernst & Young Hall of Fame Entrepreneur. His passion is people, "For me it's all about people", said Gerry. The last company he founded, "I started with four employees here in Denver, and by the time I retired we had 400 employees in ten countries and we were listed on NASDAQ, being very successful. So, I love the cultures, the integration of a variety of things. I just like new and challenging things. I can't play the same golf course twice." Of course, with that attitude, he failed retirement... Gerry's career spanned 50 years. More recently, he's been the CEO of a couple of companies for 20 years in Denver and then retired ten years ago. Now he's busy on corporate boards, in Minneapolis with a medical technology business, one in Las Vegas in the medical electronic information business, and one in Beijing in the wireless internet media business. ...there's more...
RELATED LINKS: Gerald Van Eeckhout, Ernst & Young Hall of Fame || EY Finalist Reception - Slideshow EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program || EY 2014 Finalists || Economy Builders || Mastering Change || KEYWORDS: Gerald Van Eeckhout, Evergreen Enterprises, Passion for People, Ernst & Young Denver, Governor's Mansion, Entrepreneur of the Year, Finalists Reception, EY Hall of Fame, Minneapolis, Beijing, Las Vegas, bytes=5485194
LISTEN TO: Gerald D. Van Eeckhout, Chairman, Evergreen Enterprises, LLC, EY Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

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Fourth generation entrepreneur....

Manages four companies including a family foundation
1585_ 7/21/14 - This is a great entrepreneur's story. Starting with fourth generation owner/president and EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist/Winner 2014, Kristy Taddonio Mullins of Mile Hi Foods. In 1901 Kristy's great grandfather Michael Taddonio arrived in the U.S from Italy and worked as a peddler in Denver selling fruits and vegetables door-to-door. His sons took over operating from their father's garage as Taddonio Brother's produce business. In 1956 the first McDonalds opened in Denver and mile Hi Fruit & Vegetable's was awarded the potato contract. As McDonald's grew so did Mile Hi Fruit & Vegetable. In 1968 grandson Tony Taddonio (Kristy's father) joined the firm and became the sole owner of the company, today known as Mile Hi Foods. In 1973 Tony and his wife Pam created TMT Trucking, a contract carrier with a 48 state authority for interstate transportation. By 1985 they had added a bakery to produce all of the buns used by McDonald's in the Rocky Mountain Region and now supply baked goods for Red Robin, Wingers, Good Times, King Soopers, Wendy's and Famous Dave's. In 1998 Kristy and her sister Toni join their parents in the business continuing the expansion. Listen for more....
RELATED LINKS: Mile Hi Foods || EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program || EY 2014 Finalists || Economy Builders || Mastering Change || 2013 Economy Builders || KEYWORDS: Kristy Taddonio Mullins, Mile Hi Foods, Entrepreneur, Ernst & Young Denver, Governor's Mansion, Entrepreneur of the Year, Finalists Reception, bytes=3273354
LISTEN TO: Kristy Taddonio Mullins, Owner/President, Mile Hi Foods

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Transformed small frozen foods manufacturer

Shifting toward a vision as a fully integrated food company
1579_ 7/7/14 - We are at the Mountain Desert Region EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists Reception at the Governor's Mansion here in Denver, Colorado, speaking with Todd Dutkin, CEO, Fresca Foods. Since 2003, Todd has helped transform Fresca Foods from a small frozen foods manufacturer into a paradigm shifting supply chain partner, and now toward a vision as a fully integrated food company. During this time, Todd has led Fresca to 45%+ annual growth each year. This growth has primarily been achieved through enabling start up brands to quickly grow, scale and reach their revenue and margin potential. Todd has experience growing brands from their nascent stage of development through to the acquisition stage and understands the complexity involved throughout every stage of the process. Prior to joining Fresca, Todd was a senior executive in the telecommunications industry working for Fortune 500 companies. He managed a diverse range of commercial disciplines including Business Development, Corporate Strategy, P&L Management, Product Development and M&A. Larry asked Todd what advice would he give to an entrepreneur Todd relied, "I think one of the things that stuck with me throughout my career as an entrepreneur is to follow your dreams. But not just to follow - be prepared to put hard work behind your dreams to reach your goal. Because, it is truly the one-percent inspiration and 99% perspiration that makes you successful." There's more...
RELATED LINKS: Fresca Foods || EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program || EY 2014 Finalists || Economy Builders || Mastering Change || KEYWORDS: Todd Dutkin, Fresca Foods, Frozen Foods, Fully Integrated Food Company, Ernst & Young Denver, Governor's Mansion, Entrepreneur of the Year, Finalists Reception, bytes=3823807
LISTEN TO: Todd Dutkin, CEO, Fresca Foods

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Continuing business growth at critical junctures

Technology and media and successful entrepreneurs
1575_ 6/30/14 - JB Holston has run a wide range of technology and media enterprises over the last two decades. He served as founding CEO for NewsGator (now Sitrion) from 2004 through 2012. We spoke to JB at the CTA Public Policy & Legislative Session Celebration where he updated us on his role at Sitrion and the exciting developments there. Next he slipped in a big piece of news for the entrepreneurial community in Colorado... Maybe you've heard of BEN Colorado, JB Holston is the executive director. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation has selected the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado (founded by Phil Weiser, Dean of the Law School at CU) to host its first expansion of its innovative Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network. Through a gift of $4 million, the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network in Colorado (BEN Colorado) will strengthen and grow the networks across the aerospace, bioscience, digital/technology, energy, and natural foods sectors. BEN Colorado will initially focus on the Boulder and Denver Metro Area regions. BEN Colorado will work with Master Entrepreneurs and Advisors to open up important networks of influence to a select number of companies on the verge of rapidly 'scaling up'. The goal is to extend, expand, and connect the networks of experience and expertise in and outside of Colorado. Be sure to listen to this interview and check out BEN Colorado..
RELATED LINKS: Sitrion || Colorado Technology Association BEN Colorado || Economy Builders || Mastering Change || KEYWORDS: JB Holston, Sitrion, NewsGator, BEN Colorado, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, Entrepreneurs, Phil Weiser, University of Colorado Law School, Silicon Flatirons Center, bytes=4876228
LISTEN TO: JB Holston, Chairman Sitrion; Executive Director, BEN Colorado

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Mountain Desert Region for Entrepreneurs...

Strategy is for amateurs, execution is for professionals
1569_ 6/23/14 - We are at the Mountain Desert Region EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists Reception at the Governor's Mansion here in Denver, Colorado, speaking with Dan Burns, CEO, Accuvant, an EY Finalist. Accuvant is a cyber security company otherwise known as information security company and security today affects everyone, not only companies and organizations, but people. So the awareness and seriousness of security is just absolutely huge these days. Our goal is to help enterprises protect their data, their information, your information from leaking out to the bad guys. We're a fairly large organization at this point, $700M in revenue, 37 offices across the U.S. and Canada and we're looking to grow this company to $2-3 Billion in the next three to five years. Advice for entrepreneurs: Dan always tells his leaders, "If your best interest is aligned with the success of the people around you, you're automatically going to be successful. So I focus on the success of the people around me and don't worry so much about my own personal success." Dan added, as an entrepreneur you would be best served by focusing 10% of your time on strategy and 90% of your time on execution."...Listen for more…
RELATED LINKS: ACCUVANT || EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program || EY 2014 Finalists || Economy Builders || Blog || KEYWORDS: Dan Burns, Accuvant, EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program, EY Mountain Desert Program, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Cyber Security, Information Security, bytes=3333959
LISTEN TO: Dan Burns, CEO, Accuvant - EY Finalist

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Building across consumer groups

Positioning the company for the eventual recovery
1565_ 6/16/14 - We are at the Mountain Desert Region EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists Reception at the Governor's Mansion here in Denver, Colorado, speaking with Sheryl Palmer, president and CEO of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ. Sheryl tells us a little about Taylor Morrison, a home builder and developer building across America, east coast, west coast and Canada. They build large communities across a number of different consumer groups from first time home buyers to active adults. Sheryl is the president and CEO, a privilege she says, since 2007. Larry asked about the direction her company was taking.... Sheryl said, "Everyone probably recognizes over the past few years it's been a choppy ride for the industry. So, it's been pretty exciting, we brought two companies together that formed Taylor Morrison back in 2006 and so we spent a number of years positioning the company for the eventual recovery that we're seeing today. We've spent a lot of time making sure we have the right people in the organization, the right land positions so that we can deliver the right communities of choice to our customers." When we asked Sheryl what her best advice for others would be, she said, "Make sure you define what success means to you..." you'll have to listen to get the rest of the story!
RELATED LINKS: Taylor Morrison || EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program || EY 2014 Finalists || 2014 Economy Builders || 2013 Economy Builders || KEYWORDS: Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison Corp, Home Builder, EY, Ernst & Young Denver, Governor's Mansion, Entrepreneur of the Year, Finalists Reception, Entrepreneurship, bytes=3253292
LISTEN TO: Sheryl Palmer, Pres/CEO, Taylor Morrison Corp - EY Finalist

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Building Relationships

LISTEN: Industry Briefing and High Tech Session Recap
1561_ 6/9/14 - We are at the CTA Industry Briefing & Legislative Session Celebration speaking with JB Holston, Chairman, Sitrion and Co-Chair of CTA's Public Policy Committee to talk about the legislative session and CTA's public policy efforts in general. JB said their committee got together about a year ago and decided to make some changes to effect better results from their efforts. They began by "...identifying the key issues we wanted to talk about well ahead of the next legislative session and the other thing was to start developing relationships with the legislators so that as the session started we could have conversations with folks that knew us, we'd gone to lunch with, had coffee with, talked about some of these issues informally with. That was a big change in the way CTA had been involved in the legislative process and I think it paid big dividends this year." The other speakers were: Erik Mitisek, CEO, CTA; Bill Mueldener, Principal, Hein & Associates; Annette Quintana, CEO, Istonish; Roberta Robinette, President-Colorado, AT&T; Sandra Solin, President and CEO, Capitol Solutions; Nissa Szabo, Industry Affairs Manager, CTA...Listen for more interesting details of this hugely successful public policy committee's work during this legislative session.
RELATED LINKS: Sitrion || Colorado Technology Association || Event Photos Slide Show || Mastering Change || Software Channel || KEYWORDS: JB Holston, Sitrion, CTA, Industry Briefing & Legislative Session, Public Policy Committee, Legislative Process, Erik Mitisek, Bill Mueldener, Bill Mueldener, Annette Quintana, Roberta Robinette, Sandra Solin, Nissa Szabo, bytes=5765227
LISTEN TO: JB Holston, Chairman, Sitrion

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Smalll Business Impact on economy

Colorado Companies to Watch Winner’s Orientation
Check Out the Photos and Watch a Slide Show "This year's Colorado Companies to Watch winners show the impact small business has on our economy and demonstrate why Colorado is one of the nation's leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. "We want to congratulate each of these companies and wish them continued success."

Tech community dressing up

The 2002 CTEK e-Ball proved to be "Event of the Year"
1535_ 5/02/14 - - It was 2002... and the Good News is that there will be another November 1, 2003 at the Renaissance Hotel - Interlocken! We're talking about the CTEK Entrepreneurs Ball and it's too bad if you weren't there. However, here's the next best thing, Lu Cordova and her CTEK team created a scene that fed the starving west. Being there was more fun than we've had in a long time. (Photos from last year below!) We asked what should you wear - now we'll see who was there and what they wore! Come back often, with over 200 photos we'll be adding and changing the view - again and again-frequently. The Omni was packed and spilling beautiful people all over. It was fun, it was exciting - the food was great - that sound system from Bang & Olufsen was outstanding... and I want one. We wore name tags (which was nice) but it definitely had the glamour and ambiance of a 'ball' !
RELATED LINKS: 2002 E-Ball || 2003 CTEK Portal || Lu Cordova Portal || 2002 CTEK Awards || KEYWORDS: CTEK, Lu Cordova, E-Ball, Trailblazing Creators of Successful and Emerging Companies, CTEK team, CTEK Entrepreneurs Ball, Brad Feld, Rick Patch