Thursday, January 28, 2010

Angel Venture Fair Opportunity

I received notice today that the next Angel Venture Fair will be held in April and the application deadline is February 2, 2010. Although this is short notice, I would encourage anyone who is seeking capital to apply. Please let me know if you require assistance. Please see more information at Angel Venture Fair

Monday, January 25, 2010

Ben Franklin Energy Idea Contest

BFTP has announced a new funding contest for energy-related businesses. Please see the announcement below. FYI, I have been informed that BFTP will not conduct its annual Big Idea business plan contest this year due to funding cuts. The Big Idea contest was open to a wider range of technologies than this present contest.

Please let me know if you are interested in applying. Please also pass this information along to anyone that you feel would be eligible and interested:

Ben Franklin Technology Partners and PennTAP Announce the $35,000 NEW Energy Idea Contest

State College, PA – The Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA (BFTP/CNP) announce their sponsorship of the “NEW Energy Idea Contest.” The grand prize of $35,000 will be awarded to either an entrepreneur or one early-stage, pre-revenue company in the process of developing a new energy or alternative energy related product/process improvement.

Prize money for the contest is being provided by Ben Franklin as well as PennTAP utilizing a donation made by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Interested entrepreneurs can visit http://newenergyplan.benfranklin.org for rules, entry forms, and FAQs. The deadline for applications is April 15, 2010.

To qualify, contestants must have a viable, new energy/alternative energy-related product or process improvement idea and cannot have received BFTP funding in the past. Additionally, applicants must be located in any one of the 32 counties in the Central and Northern Pennsylvania region. These include: Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Elk, Erie, Forest, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Perry, Potter, Somerset, Venango, Warren and York.

“Saving energy and alternative energy is on everyone’s mind,” remarked Stephen Brawley, President/CEO of Ben Franklin. “Improvements to existing technologies, new hardware or software products that increase efficiency, new battery or fuel cell applications, engine and turbine technologies, and agricultural based alternatives are all examples of the kinds of proposals we’re hoping to get from this competition. Ben Franklin is very proud to partner with the PennTAP program, as the technical assistance they provide their clients in energy related initiatives makes a huge contribution in the state.”

Heidi F. Sullivan
Proposal Coordinator
Ben Franklin Technology PArtners
5340 Fryling Road
Erie, PA 16510
Telephone: (814) 898-6650

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Bringing in Investors and Losing Control

Nearly every entrepreneur I have worked with is highly and irrationally concerned about losing control of their company if they bring in investors. They have heard horror rumors about entrepreneurs being left out in the cold by greedy VCs. I used the term "horror rumors" instead of "horror stories" because the latter term would imply that there is even a wisp of truth behind them, which there is not.

You heard that right: There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that effective entrepreneurs get pushed out by investors.

To prove this point, here is a challenge I throw down to all readers of my blog:

Name one instance of a tech company that reached national prominence through VC investment and in which the original entrepreneur was pushed out by the time the company "hit the big time."

To help you out, I will list a few of the cases in which the original entrepreneur(s) did remain at the helm (CEO, President, Chairman, etc.) as the company grew monstrous, went public, etc. These are the biggest names in entrepreneurial business success, some of them going back 50 years. VCs were involved in most, but not all of those listed below, although massive outside investment was involved. I have included a range of types of companies for your reading pleasure.

Microsoft (Bill Gates), Oracle (Larry Ellison), Google (Sergey Brin), Twitter (Jack Dorsey), Wal-Mart (Sam Walton), Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg), Dell (Michael Dell), YouTube (Chad Hurley), MySpace (Tom Anderson), Starbucks (Howard Schultz), Nike (Philip Knight), Digital Equipment Corporation (Ken Olsen), Best Buy (Howard Schulze), Apple (Steve Jobs), Amazon.com (Jeff Bezos), McDonalds (Ray Kroc), Cisco Systems (Len Bosack), Intel (Andy Groves), Research in Motion [Blackberry] (Mike Lazaridis), Wikipedia (Jerry Wales), Outback Steakhouse (Chris Sullivan), Turner Broadcasting System (Ted Turner), Sun Microsystems (Scott McNealy), Netscape (Marc Andreessen), Silicon Graphics (Jim Clark), FedEx (Fred Smith)Yahoo (Jerry Yang).

Note that in the last case Jerry Yang was forced out more than a decade after the company hit the big time, but the CEO position is never a lifetime guarantee at any major company.

So what are you afraid of? Go out and get the money!

Hiring a CEO Part 2: Who to Look For?

I have consistently seen that an absolute requirement for a startup CEO to be effective is to posess and deploy high-level sales skills. If the original entrepreneur is the CEO and does not have effective sales skills, then he or she must at a minimum perform the sales function of recruiting someone who does have these skills. Usually the entrepreneur will need to convince that person to come aboard for little or no salary.

Sales skills are required long before an entrepreneur is ready to sell his or her product. Primarily, I am referring to the application of those skills in the task of raising capital. Make no mistake about it: Raising capital is a sales function. And a highly complex one at that.

The personality traits required as the bedrock for effective sales skills are:
1) self-confidence
2) an outgoing personality
3) an energetic drive to accomplish goals

In seminars I have often told groups of aspiring entrepreneurs about the above requirements. Then I tell them this: "If you do not posess this personality then go out and get it." I mean this literally. Either change your personality or hire someone with this personality. Either option is feasible with enough willpower.

There are numerous books and courses on the topic of self-confidence, people skills, etc. and they really do work of one really wants them to. One well-known example is the Dale Carnegie books and courses. If necessary, this would be time and money well-spent. The answer to the question asked in the title of this post: "Hiring a CEO, Who to Look For?" may be YOU.