Entrepreneur Stuff

From Zero to Techmeme in 24 Hours

2009-07-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

We lived through an amazing experience last week. We launched a new client, Aloqa, at VentureBeat's MobileBeat conference and spent the week prior socializing the news with bloggers and social networks. On Thursday the Aloqa launch news hit and by Friday morning Aloqa's story was already on Techmeme as one of the most linked-to stories on the web (thanks, Ingrid). All the big boys -- TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOM, etc. -- picked up the announcement as did hundreds of others. From zero to Techmeme in less than 24 hours... talk about a rocket ride!

Oh, and we did very well in the 'traditional' press coverage also.

Selling your product too cheap?

2009-06-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

We all know that expensive wine 'tastes' better than the cheap stuff even before you pour it, right? So how do you apply that same intuition to optimizing pricing/profits from your consumer technology product? A Stanford Grad School of Business professor is hosting a webinar next week that explains literally how the brain processes pricing and other information throughout the consumer decision-making process.

Title: Mind Tricks: How the Brain Reacts to Price-Based Offerings
Host: Professor Baba Shiv
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Registration: www.stanfordinnovation.com

I'll be taking notes ;-) -Mark

New Event: GamesBeat (from VentureBeat)

2009-03-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Since leaving the San Jose Mercury News and heading to VentureBeat, Dean Takahashi has taken a turn toward gaming and he is spearheading a new industry conference called GamesBeat. The Facebook page is here; the link to sign up is here; brief description is below. Should be a great conference! -Mark

Get in the game at GamesBeat 2009! — VentureBeat’s inaugural conference for the gaming industry’s top players will be held on March 24, 2009, at the Mission Bay Conference Center on UCSF’s campus in San Francisco, CA.

Join the Major Leagues -- The latest GamesBeat speaker line-up is a testament to our theme — All the World’s a Game — as we have covered our bases. We have some of the biggest names in the gaming industry representing the multiple ways gaming will shape our experience with the world. Here are just some of the people you will be sharing ideas and connecting with:

Chris Taylor, founder of Gas Powered Games, is co-emcee of the event — besides being a game pioneer, he’s also one of the industry’s only stand-up comedians!

Headliners include John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, Seamus Blackley, head of the games department at Creative Artists Agency and co-creator of the Xbox and Curt Schilling, founder and chairman of 38 Studios and World Series winning pitcher from the Boston Red Sox.

Industry journalists leading our discussions include: Matt Richtel of the NY Times, Geoff Keighley, head of game relations at Spike TV and the host of Game Trailers TV, N'Gai Croal of Newsweek; and Adam Sessler, co-host and managing editor of G4TV’s X-Play show.

The complete line-up can be found on our speaker list and agenda on the GamesBeat Web site.

Media Coverage -- We are also thrilled that these important discussions will be covered by outstanding members of the media, some of which include: ExtremeTech, GamersDaily News, Wall Street Journal, Spike TV, g4tv, Newsweek, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, LA Times, New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Crispy Gamer and 1UP.com.

Opportunities in the Mobile Market

2009-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you about a great panel of mobile entrepreneurs and VCs who will be talking about new opportunities within the next five years.

All dimensions and facets of the mobile eco- system - Devices, Operating Systems, Applications, and Data Access Platforms etc. are undergoing rapid transformation. New business models that didn't even exist a year ago are turning the industry on its head.

This panel will explore the opportunities these trends will create for entrepreneurs during the next five years. Some of the key areas to be explored will be mobile WiMAX vs. LTE, Open OS paradigms, handset capabilities, Location Based Services for Enterprise, M2M Telematics, Search, Social Networks, TV + IP, Marketing Models, Payments and Massive Multiplayer Gaming.

The Panel:

• Margaret Mackanzie, CFO/COO & Co- Founder, Paymo
• Jeff Smith, CEO & Co-Founder, Smule
• Eric Zimits, Managing Director, Granite Ventures

Moderator: Curtis Mo, Partner, WilmerHale

When: Thursday, March 19
6:00 - 7:00 pm: Networking and hors d'oeuvres
7:00 - 8:15 pm: Panel discussion and Q/A
8:15 - 8:30 pm: Additional networking

Location: WilmerHale, 1117 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304
For full speaker bio's and to register Click Here!

Launch: Silicon Valley (VC pitch event)

2009-02-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

My friends at SVASE put out a call-for-entries today for companies to present at the 2009 edition of Launch: Silicon Valley. A total of 30 companies will be selected to present their business plans to a panel of VCs, angel investors and corporate business development exec's. This is an awesome opportunity for unknown companies to get visibility among Silicon Valley insiders--and for the good ones to get a term sheet. Previous companies that have presented at Launch: Silicon Valley have raised collectively $80 million in funding so far.

Currently the following investors are signed on to be part of the panel:
- Draper Fisher Jurvetson
- Lightspeed Venture Partners
- @Ventures
- Asset Management
- August Capital
- Claremont Creek Ventures
- DeNovo Ventures
- Garage Technology Ventures
- Morgenthaller Ventures
- Nexit Ventures
- Opus Capital
- SofTech VC

And more investors will be joining in the coming weeks. If you are interested in being a presenting company, you should send an Executive Summary of NO MORE THAN TWO PAGES to launchsv@svase.org. Deadline for submissions is May 8th 2009; presentations to the investor panel will be June 9th 2009. For excellent tips on what to include in an executive summary, try these suggestions from Guy Kawasaki here. Good luck!

How to Build a Better Startup

2008-08-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Our friend and consummate blogger Dave McClure (whom I've known for more than 10 years when he and Ed Ipser recruited me to help them start the SVASE entrepreneur network) is sharing his hard-earned experiences in how to build a better startup. Dave has teamed up with the girls at DealMaker Media to create STARTONOMICS, which is a one-day workshop that covers everything from funding to architecting to scaling and monetizing your startup idea.

They have assembled a pretty stellar panel of veteran entrepreneurs to keep things interesting:

- Lance Tokuda (Rock You)

- Ted Rheingold (Dogster)

- Dan Olsen (YourVersion)

- Lane Becker & Thor Muller (Get Satisfaction)

- Andrew Chen (Futuristic Play)

The all-day workshop is happening October 2nd at the Mission Bay Center in San Francisco. You can check out the sessions and register here.

Beware the "VC Funding Consultant"

2008-08-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I was invited to a party hosted by GigaOM and I had a conversation that inspired me to issue a warning to all entrepreneurs who are considering the use of a 'funding consultant' to help them score meetings with VCs.

We all know that VCs are busy people and it takes some effort to get a meeting with them. As a result a cottage industry of 'funding consultants' has sprung up. These are people who are supposedly well-connected among VCs and -- for an up-front fee -- will help you score some meetings and coach you on your pitch.

BEWARE! Some of these consultants may indeed provide value, but let me summarize my conversation from last week and you'll see why you should exercise caution:

Me: Hi, I'm Mark. What's your name?
Consultant: I'm Susie. I help companies raise VC funding using my extensive relationships.
Me: That's interesting. Do you specialize in a specific technology or industry niche?
Consultant: I work with all companies.
Me: But do you have a specialty--like mobility technologies, or storage technologies, or security technologies? You know, an area where you know a lot of investors and have connections?
Consultant: I work mostly with technology companies.
Me: Well that narrows things. With which VC firms do you work with mostly?
Consultant: I work with all of them.
Me: You must be busy! Who did your most recent deal?
Consultant: (eyes averted) Long-winded and convoluted response that never actually named a VC firm or an investor.
Me: (trying to be patient) So do you come from an investment background?
Consultant: I've done lots of things. I was once a reporter in Europe.
Me: Oh really! I work for a PR firm that introduces European companies into the U.S. press. We specialize in mobile & wireless companies. Which publication did you write for in Europe?
Consultant: A small one that you've probably never heard of.
Me: Oh. OK. Well... I'm going to go get some tacos now from the buffet. Nice to meet you.

In a quarter-hour of conversation this 'consultant' was not able to name a single company, VC firm, VC partner, or industry sector by name. Something tells me she's never actually made any useful introductions or negotiated a term sheet or anything. Here in Silicon Valley there are plenty of organizations like SVASE, SD Forum, STIRR, VC Taskforce and others that host events where you can meet one-on-one with VCs, get VCs to give you feedback on your pitch, and otherwise make the connections that you need. These events range from $free to maybe a several hundred dollars at the most. No one can guarantee that you will get a term sheet from these meetings, but if you have a good product, good traction, and know your focus then you should be able to score a meeting with a VC without the help of a consultant.

Call-for-entries--Mobile Rules business plan competition

2007-09-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that last year I created a business plan competition (originally called Web2Mobile) for mobile innovations on behalf of my client FinNode. Well, on Monday we're announcing the call-for-entries to the second annual Mobile Rules Business Plan Competition (the name was changed... long story). Nokia is very involved and they've expanded the competition to include tracks for mobile phone applications as well as business plans that foster or leverage the growing mobile ecosystem. Prizes also have been expanded this year to allow for up to six winners.

Web2Mobile/Mobile Rules is open to all qualified entrepreneurs and developers anywhere in the world. There will be one Grand Prize winner and two Runner-Up winners in each track. Prizes will be a combination of cash, development assistance, high-level industry introductions and free products.

The competition was inaugurated in 2006 as the Web2Mobile Business Plan Competition, and attracted tens of thousands of entrepreneurs from around the world. The final winners came from Singapore, Finland, United Kingdom and the United States.

Competition Details & Entry Deadlines

Visit www.web2mobile.org and complete the appropriate online entry forms. Final submission deadlines are:

- Mobile Business Plans (novel ideas that create new value within the mobile ecosystem) – deadline: November 16^th, 2007

- Mobile Applications (including multiplayer/connected games, multimedia, enterprise and infotainment) – deadline: January 25^th, 2008

Good luck. -Mark Addison

Rocket Science vs. Super Bowl XLI

2007-08-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

What do Rocket Science and the Super Bowl have in common? We are both finalists in the PR Platinum award for best Event Marketing. We submitted a case study of the Web2Mobile event that we conceived and produced for an agency of the government of Finland, and last week we received notification that we are one of 5 finalists—in a field of some pretty outstanding names, including Sprint’s Super Bowl XLI event! Here are the others:

Event Marketing:

Chrysler Group and Clear! Blue - Jeep Stick in the Mud
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and rbb Public Relations - Chihuly at Fairchild 2005/2006
Rocket Science - "FinNode: Web2Mobile"
Mall Of America - World's Largest Gingerbread House
Sprint - Sprint at Super Bowl XLI

We are listed as a finalist at the award website, and the winner will be announced October 16^th at an awards banquet in New York.

Business Models for Web 2.0 (a.k.a. ‘Getting Paid 2.0’)

2007-06-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Notwithstanding a few billion-dollar acquisitions, Web 2.0 is still maligned by many for being the next wave of Internet hype without a business model attached to it. But as the technologies and definitions of Web 2.0 mature and get sorted out -- distributed services, AJAX, crowd-sourcing, mash-ups, etc. – the business models are starting to emerge. This CXO Forum will bring together real entrepreneurs to discuss and share real business models and how to make payroll in the Web 2.0 age.

Leading the discussions will be Scott Rafer, a 7-time serial entrepreneur. Scott is currently co-founder and director at Mashery (www.mashery.com) and he has been helping Internet publishers and users develop the ‘next big thing’ since 1995. As CEO of MyBlogLog and Chairman of Winksite, Rafer helped deliver services for media publishing and discovery. Previously, Rafer was CEO of Feedster from 2001 to 2003; he co-founded WiFinder, an online tool for finding public wireless access; BookBroadband, the broadband hotel finder; Fresher Information, a real-time search engine using RSS back in 1999; and FotoNation, a creator of connected photography solutions.

Before the 1995, Rafer headed-up the Internet products group at Kodak Hollywood, worked in investment banking at Needham & Company, and graduated from the management of technology program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Date: Wednesday, June 13^th

Time: 11:30-1:30 (lunch is included)

Place: Montgomery & Hansen LLP

525 Middlefield Road

Suite 250

Menlo Park

This event is a collegial luncheon designed to foster discussion in a confidential format among founders, officers and managers (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO) of startup technology companies. We request that participants be involved in the management of a technology company.

Advance registration only, limited to 25 registrants, no walk-ins admitted.

Pondering PR 2.0

2007-03-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

First of all, I readily confess that calling this ‘PR 2.0’ is a shameless grab at some of the Web 2.0 hype. But ‘Next-Gen’ was taken by the gamers and, besides, there *is* a little bit of Social Media, AJAX and RSS involved here. So, please read on…

Some recent conversations with investors and serial entrepreneurs, coupled with a launch project that Rocket Science just completed, have convinced me that the practice public relations is poised for a change. And it’s not just because of the bloggers; there’s Metcalfe’s network effect at work as well.

Indeed, for the past couple of years we have welcomed the bloggers but we’ve pitched them as just another medium. Wrong! What has changed is the number of bloggers has grown and bloggers started blogging other blogs, so the ability for the blogosphere to push your message to every corner of the earth is now astounding. Have you ever been in the middle of a blog storm? Or been named on Slashdot? I have, and you’d be surprised how much it causes the telephone to ring. We have to respect this trend as a whole new animal.

Here’s a case example: Rocket Science recently conceived and organized a business plan competition called Web2Mobile sponsored by the Government of Finland and Nokia. To promote the competition we tapped the entrepreneur social networks and called upon nine of my blogger friends to engage in dialog and spread the word if they saw fit. In less than six weeks we had 14,388 unique visitors to the competition site and served 2,184 downloads of the entry form to places as far away as New Zealand and Afghanistan. That’s 340 people per day, and none of the traditional media ever picked up the story. It’s not just that we pitched the bloggers; we set in motion a chain of influential, grass-roots conversations that grew exponentially.

So... is PR still about getting that trophy article in the Wall Street Journal or getting that product review in C/net? Often yes, but sometimes no. I believe that technology is now allowing PR to head back to its roots – back to personal relationships, informative dialog, and engaging the accidental influencers. I'd love to hear your comments. -Mark Addison

DEMO redux

2007-02-26T23:46:00.000-08:00

For those of us who have been involved in high-tech for a while, being invited to present at Chris Shipley's DEMO Conference has always represented a right of passage for a start-up. A very select few companies made the grade and tons of press coverage was almost guaranteed. It was worth the $10K.

Unfortunately, Chris sold the conference and now the new owners have expanded the event to three days and 60 companies -- hardly an exclusive or prestigious honor anymore. And the price went up.

So it's no wonder that Valley entrepreneurs have stepped in to fill the vacuum. Two DEMO-esque opportunities crossed my radar screen recently:

1) Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington are actively planning "TechCrunch 20" for later in the Fall of this year. It will showcase 20 companies over two days and companies will be invited based on the merits of their demo, and not on their ability to pay. You can read more here.

2) My guys over at SVASE are planning their second annual "Launch: Silicon Valley" for June 5th. This event will showcase 30 companies in one day. Learn more or submit your application to be a presenter here.

So if you have a great idea and don't (yet) have the bucks, you have some options. Good luck!

In case of broken links, the full URLs are:
1) http://www.calacanis.com/2007/01/31/taking-the-payola-out-of-demo-ing-the-techcrunch-20-conference/
2) http://svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=780

AND THE WINNERS (FINALISTS) ARE....

2007-01-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the results of the FinNode / Red Herring / Nokia business plan competition, we have selected the list of 10 finalists:

- AiroMediaTech (USA)
- Childs Capital LLC (USA)
- Extreme AI, Inc (USA)
- Geniem Ltd. (Finland)
- GDM Group (Russia)
- Intellareturn Corp (USA)
- Mobile Backstage (Finland)
- N2N Consulting (Singapore)
- SMS Card (United Kingdom)
- TalkPlus, Inc (USA)

In the six weeks that we had our call-for-entires open we had 14,388 visitors to the competition site, served 2,184 downloads of the entry form and received 95 completed business plans. We had entries from all over the world including India, Singapore, Russia, Finland, Italy, UK and even Afganistan.

The 10 finalists above will be making their presentations in-person in front of an expert judging panel later this month. We have recruited an A-list set of judges including Janice Roberts from Mayfield, Nokia Ventures, Nexit Ventures, Garage Ventures and others. Moderating our panel will be Joe Jasin from Helio. If you want to be considered for an invitation to attend the after-party on January 24th in Santa Clara, send me an eMail to mark 'at' rocketscience 'dot' com.

Best to all, -Mark

Blogger Confidential: a conversation with Tom Foremski

2006-11-12T23:20:00.000-08:00

If you missed my CXO Leadership Forum on Nov. 7th, you missed a great episode. You are reading this blog so no doubt you understand the influence of bloggers on opinions, trends and company stock prices. At my forum I had none other than Tom Foremski -- the *original* blogger, as my guest.

If you don't know about Foremski's history, it's pretty fascinating. He was the U.S. Technology reporter for the Financial Times and was the first major newspaper journalist to start covering Silicon Valley way back in 1984. Then, two years ago, Tom left the FT to become the first journalist to leave a major newspaper and make a living as a full-time blogger -- starting the popular "Silicon Valley Watcher" blog. It was a pivotal event that made both Silicon Valley companies and the media suddenly take notice and start to treat bloggers seriously. Foremski now writes for his own blog as well as ZDnet and some other major outlets. He's a very influential guy!

During the discussions I was expecting to get a lot of questions about how to get Tom's attention and adoration and coverage of XYZ company on his blog site. Instead, most of the people who attended were more interested in publishing their own blogs, and were asking questions about the business model of blogging. I should have known... this is an entrepreneurial Valley, after all.

In addition to blog business models (which are still being shaped, we learned), we talked about CEO bloggers like Jonathan Schwartz at Sun, the pros and cons of "citizen journalists" with no editorial supervision, the conflicts of interest potential with advertiser-supported blogs, how blogs can promote books and other nifty topics. It was truly excellent.

if you missed it, don't dispair. I have other CXO Forum topics coming up including: Confessions of a Marketing Rock Star – part II (March), Migration Strategies for Web 2.0 Business Models (May) and Sex, Lies & Internet Marketing (November).

All will be held at Fenwick & West's awesome offices in Mountain View (Fenwick is our very excellent sponsor of the CXO Leadership Forum series -- please consider them for your corporate legal services). Hopefully I'll see you there. -Mark

Web 2 Mobile business plan competition

2006-11-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

This Valley is awash in business plan competitions, but this one is different for two reasons: 1) it has a prize unlike any others; 2) I conceived & organized it ;-) Read on...

Call-for-Entries

Web 2 Mobile: A Business Plan Competition for the New Mobile Ecosystem

Web 2 Mobile business plan competition is sponsored by FinNode, Red Herring and Nokia. The competition goal is to seek out entrepreneurs who are creating new services and business models for mobile workforces and the mobile lifestyle. The Web-2-Mobile competition is unique because it offers entrepreneurs more than money: the winning entrepreneurs will be invited to visit Nokia Research Center’s test laboratories to further develop and test their innovation and receive guidance and support from Nokia’s R&D and business development professionals.

The competition is open to all qualified entrepreneurs; more details and the official entry form can be downloaded at http://www.web2mobile.org. Key dates are:

1. Call for entries opens November 1st and will close December 10th, 2006
2. All entries must follow a standard Word document format in order to facilitate fair comparisons
3. All entries will be reviewed by a screening panel which will select up to 10 companies as finalists (decisions made by December 22nd)

Finalists will be announced on January 2nd 2007. The 10 finalists will be required to present their business concepts in person in Santa Clara to a live judging panel that will convene on January 24th, and winners will be chosen at the conclusion of the presentations and showcased in the FinNode offices in Santa Clara

So... tell all your friends! I'll be at the Mobile 2.0 conference in San Francisco next week talking up this competition and meeting with companies. Ping me at mark@rocketscience.com if you are going to be there and want to meet. -Mark

The Secret Lives of Start-up CEOs

2006-08-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

OK, so this post headline reads like it was lifted from the tabloids or something. But it's really not that sinister. I got an e-mail from Nathan Kaiser who runs a great site called nPost.com. Nathan interviews CEOs around the country and posts the transcripts. His site has some 135 interviews already and they cover some great companies: Reed Hastings / Netflix, Scott Heiferman / Meetup.com, Reid Hoffman / LinkedIn, Bob Parsons / GoDaddy.com, Jimmy Wales / WikiPedia, and the list goes on. All interviews are searchable by keyword, company and CEO. He's got an RSS feed too, 'natch.

This site is great not only for entrepreneurs seeking inspiration (Nathan always asks what inspired these CEOs to start their companies), but also for people interviewing at these companies (because Nathan asks about hiring practices). Check it out! -Mark

Raising Capital for Early Stage Tech Companies

2006-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've always accused the VCs of herd mentality when investing. So what is resonating investors today? SVASE is hosting a panel discussion featuring four experiences, outspoken and opinionated early stage investors:

• Jake Seid, General Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
• Warren Packard. Managing Director, DFJ
• Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
• Laura Roden, Managing Director, The Angels Forum
Moderator: John Beck, VP, The Brenner Group

To be discussed:
• What types of startups are getting funded? – Technology? Social? Web 2.0? or what?
• What are VCs looking for from startups – a long term company, or a quick flip to Google?
• What are the most attractive markets – 5 Million free members to the next Flagr/Fligr/Flikr or the Fortune 500?
• What’s the value of patentable IP, and other technology innovations?
• What old business models are looking shaky?
• What new models are you seeing emerging, and which ones look like they’re working?

Register at the SVASE website at http://www.svase.org/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=149&extmode=view&extid=460

Thursday, Aug 3
6.00-7.00 pm: Networking and Dinner
7.00-8:30 pm: Panel discussion and Q/A

Location:
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR Campus), 950 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, 94304

PRE-REGISTERED RATES (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres)
Members - $20;
Affiliates who advertise this event - $29;
General Public - $49
WALK-IN RATES: Add $10.00 to the listed price

Confessions from a Marketing Rock Star

2006-07-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

By design, marketing always looks better on the outside than it often is on the inside. For my August CXO Forum I've recruited a marketing "rock star" from the Chasm Group to give us a and candid look at the truth behind some of Silicon Valley’s best marketing success stories. My presenter, Rene White, had decades of operational marketing experience at Oracle, Tibco, and Interwoven before he went the consulting route. He's going to offer anecdotal ‘confessions’ about what marketing strategies have worked for him, what didn’t (but you never knew it), and what he would do differently today.

If you want to join us on August 9th in Mountain View, CA from 11:30-1:30, you can sign up at www.svase.org and click over to the 'CXO Leadership Forum' section on the calendar of events.

VP Marketing Forum: What CEOs really want from Marketing

2005-11-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

In association with SVASE, I'm hosting a VP Marketing Forum on November 9th. We will present the results of our first-ever survey of start-up CEOs: “Sound-Off: What the CEO really wants from Marketing.” Yup, we surveyed a bunch of CEOs (maybe even yours!) to learn candidly what they are really expecting from you and your marketing team. The answers may surprise (or dismay) you!

Date: 11/09/2005
Time: 11:30 am -1:30 pm [lunch is provided]
Location & Sponsor: Bridge Bank Regional Offices, 525 University Avenue, Palo Alto

Registration Information:
$24 for SVASE Members & Affiliates [lunch is provided]
$39 for Non-members [limited to 25 registrants]
Sign up here: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=78705

M&A for the masses

2005-07-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

We hosted a CEO Forum last week on the topic of M&A. Getting acquired must be on top of mind for a lot of entrepreneurs because the event sold out in only 3 days. The statistic that was tossed about was that in 2004, among all of the VC-backed start ups that had some sort of exit during the year, 78.2% of them exited by being acquired. That statistic was corroborated by a July 2005 report from VentureOne (www.ventureone.com) that concluded:

"Mergers and acquisitions of U.S. venture-backed companies remained a healthy exit in the second quarter, as the median amount paid was the highest on record in nearly five years. However, the IPO market continued to flounder, as the number of initial public offerings declined significantly from a year ago. According to a report from industry tracker VentureOne, 77 venture-backed U.S. companies were acquired in the second quarter of 2005, with the median amount paid for these companies reaching $70 million, the highest median paid since the third quarter of 2000."

We had two entrepreneurs who presented in great detail how they went about negotiating the sales of their companies -- by far the best presentation was from Jim Connor of Sympro (www.sympro.com) who sold his treasury management software business to JP Morgan. Turns out that Jim had tried to sell his company twice before and those deals fell apart, which taught him a great deal about how to prepare your company for a sale and finally do the deal right.

But the one thing that surprised me was how little these CEOs understood the motivations of the companies doing the acquiring. I pointed them to an article that one our PR clients, Valchemy (www.valchemy.com) published on Forbes.com about that very topic. The article can be found at http://www.forbes.com/ceonetwork/2005/05/13/cx_pp_0512millerceonetwork.html. I'll sumarize the main reasons here:

Mature industries consolidate (it's one of those immutable laws of free markets)
Everybody else is doing it (companies and their Boards like to "make a move" to feel good that they are doing something productive)
Organic growth is just plain hard (why duke it out for market share when you can buy your way into new markets?)
Acquisitions are sexy (just announcing the intention to acquire will get the press buzzing and get people talking about you)

Overall, this was one of our most successful Forums and we plan to do a similar one in the Fall. Ping me if you are located in the Silicon Valley area, are the CEO or founder of your company, and want to be invited to the next event. -Mark

Initiation rites

2005-07-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Entrepreneur Stuff. This blog is moderated by Mark Addison, who is president of Rocket Science PR (www.rocketscience.com) and one of the original guys who built the SVASE (www.svase.org) non-profit organization for entrepreneurs here in the Silicon Valley. For the past several years, I've been sending semi-frequent e-mails about the different entrepreneur-related events and topics to an ever-growing "friends" list. Some of my friends told me to get a clue and start a blog instead (or in addition). So here it is; we'll see how it goes.

For those of you who don't know, SVASE is now nine years old and has more than 13,000 members; it's the place for start-up entrepreneurs to meet VCs, learn from other entrepreneurs and hook up with potential board advisors, engineering talent and other essentials to the start-up game.

I hope this blog is useful to some of you! -Mark