SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 1
The 49th STATE ANGEL FUND is now OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Recently, the Municipality of Anchorage announced the opening of the first application period of Anchorage’s 49th State Angel Fund (49SAF) effective Monday, May 14 through August 5. The fund was created after the Municipality of Anchorage was awarded a federal allocation of $13.2 million from the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The 49SAF will provide investments to earlystage highgrowth businesses showing significant economic potential either through direct investments in Anchorage based businesses or by taking a partnership interest in locallyfocused angel or venture capital funds. The 49SAF will invest anywhere between $30,000 and $3 million in a particular business venture based on a variety of factors that are outlined on the 49SAF website at www.49saf.com . The initial review of applications will be conducted by the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) and 49SAF program staff. The plans are then sent to the 49SAF Advisory Committee, a group made up of members of the business, finance and economic development community, for investment recommendations. Potential investments then undergo due diligence and are forwarded on to the Mayor and Municipal CFO for final approval. In order to fully inform the public on the specifics of the 49SAF program, as well as to give local investors more information on angel fund investing in general, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation are hosting a 2012 Anchorage Angel Fund Forum May 17th from 8:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. at the Egan Center. Attendees will receive an overview of the specifics of the 49SAF program and will hear about national angel fund trends from keynote speakers John Sibert, former Executive Director of the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation and Former Managing Partner of the Global Financial Group as well as Mr. Steve Mercil, CEO of RAIN Source Capital and Chairman of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds. To learn more visit their information online at: http://www.49saf.com
UMC is listed at The Climate Leadership Index Hsinchu, Taiwan, November 13, 2015 – United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC”), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that it has again been listed as a Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) component by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), earning the highest Carbon Disclosure Score among Taiwan semiconductor companies for the third consecutive year and the highest ranking for Carbon Performance Bond among all Taiwanese enterprises. This achievement underscores UMC's continuous efforts toward corporate climate change policy and transparent disclosure of climate changerelated information, which has achieved industryleading performance and earned international recognition from investors. Mr. Po Wen Yen, CEO at UMC, said, "UMC sees climate risk as an opportunity. We incorporate climate change concepts within our operational development, and work with supply chain partners to enhance overall industry competitiveness. Being recognized by international investors for our corporate climate change transparency highlights UMC's industry leading position in sustainable operations and further motivates us to establish and achieve higher CS goals.” Since 2006, UMC has participated in CDP, improving on its scores every year to achieve the only “A” grade among all Taiwanese semiconductor companies. The company received this year’s honor due to its continued excellence in climate change initiatives, green foundry development, active reduction in
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 2 greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation and carbon reduction. In addition to its CDLI listing, UMC has received the Enterprise Environmental Protection Award from the ROC Government for 13 consecutive years. Earlier this year, the company announced its “UMC Green 2020” goals, to further reduce water, energy, and waste by 10% over current levels by 2020, further demonstrating UMC’s longterm commitment to sustainable business practices. Mr. Paul Dickinson, cofounder of CDP says: “As the world looks beyond the Paris climate change negotiations and prepares for a low carbon future, reliable information about how companies are responding to the transition will be ever more valuable. For this reason we congratulate those businesses that have achieved a position on CDP's Climate Disclosure Leadership Index.” About UMC UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC's robust foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company's sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include 28nm gatelast HighK/Metal Gate technology, ultralow power platform processes specifically engineered for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the highestrated AECQ100 Grade0 automotive industry manufacturing capabilities. UMC's 10 wafer fabs are located throughout Asia and are able to produce over 500,000 wafers per month. The company employs over 17,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com . Note from UMC Concerning ForwardLooking Statements Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statements and reports on Forms F1, F3, F6 and 20F and 6K, in each case as amended. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forwardlooking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
UMC's Automotive Semiconductor Revenue Doubles YoY on Strong Sales Fast business growth as customers migrate additional auto grade 1 and grade 0 products to UMC Hsinchu, Taiwan, November 17, 2015 – United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a global semiconductor foundry, today has announced that revenue from its manufacture of semiconductors used in automotive applications has doubled (YoY) from 2014 to 2015. Fullyear 2015 revenue for automotive ICs at UMC is expected to be hundreds of millions of US dollars. The explosive growth has primarily been fueled by toptier customers migrating devices from consumer grade products to
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 3 more stringent grade 1 and grade 0 semiconductors that have been used for critical automotive functions, as well as increased demand from IDM and fabless auto semiconductor corporations. "As customer gain increased confidence in UMC's automotive manufacturing capabilities, we are committed to continuously improving and enhancing our foundry automotive solutions," said Po Wen Yen, CEO of UMC. "With our comprehensive UMC AutoSM technology platform consisting of AECQ100 qualified technology solutions and robust manufacturing that meets rigorous ISO TS16949 automotive quality standards, UMC is wellpositioned to further enable auto chip designers to take advantage of the increasing silicon content in cars." UMC manufactures semiconductors that are used in automotive applications for customers that include Japanbased suppliers including Shindengen, TDK Corporation, New Japan Radio and Ricoh Electronic Devices, as well as other International corporations in Europe and U.S. Products include a wide range of applications ranging from infotainment, headsup display (HUD), advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and millimeter wave radar to essential engine, drivetrain, power management and navigation applications. UMC has a successful history as an automotive IC supplier, being the first foundry to receive ISO 22301 certification for business continuity management and implementing a comprehensive "Automotive Service Package" that incorporates zerodefect practices within its manufacturing procedures. In addition, UMC is developing certified design models, IP and Foundry Design Kits specific to the UMC Auto platform in order to fulfill the increasing pace of evolvement of the auto industry supply chain. Automotive ICs manufactured at UMC have been widely adopted by the world's most wellknown carmakers in 3 continents. About the company UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications spanning every major sector of the electronics market segments. UMC’s robust foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company's sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include 28nm gatelast HighK/Metal Gate technology, ultralow power platform processes specifically engineered for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and the highestrated AECQ100 Grade0 automotive industry manufacturing capabilities. UMC's 10 wafer fabs are located throughout Asia and are able to produce over 500,000 wafers per month. The company employs over 17,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com . Note from UMC Concerning ForwardLooking Statements Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statements and reports on Forms F1, F3, F6 and 20F and 6K, in each case as amended. UMC does not undertake any obligation to update any forwardlooking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 4
SXSW: What investors can learn about angel tax credits AUSTIN. Texas–Most states offer some type of tax incentives for investors who pour capital into earlystage companies. Problem is, neither the companies in need of capital nor the investors who may be willing to supply it tend to be informed about the incentives, blunting a potentially powerful tax tool that could help more startups access the financing they need to get started or expand. “I think many investors don’t take advantage of it because they don’t know about it, which is frightful, to be honest with you,” Amy Millman, one of the founders of Springboard Enterprises, a nonprofit advocacy group for womenled businesses, said at an event at the South by Southwest tech festival here. “At the same time, most entrepreneurs are not educated enough to talk to their investors about the way it adds extra value to those investments. It’s a missed opportunity.” It’s important to note right off the top that such credits are often available only to socalled accredited investors – individuals with net incomes well into the six figures or assets valued at more than a million dollars. Generally, the tax credits, which must adhere to a number of criteria, can be taken off angel investor’s (a common term for individuals who invest in startups) topline income. “States are giving the tax credits because they want to encourage startups, and they realize those companies create jobs,” added Barbara Boxer, who heads up two investment groups Belle Capital USA Fund and Women Angels, LLC. Citing recent studies on the corresponding sales and property tax bumps and other economic ramifications of providing the tax credits, she noted that states tend to bring in more revenue than they sacrifice by offering the tax breaks. Still, there are misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the programs, and it’s often difficult for investors to keep track of what does and doesn’t apply to them. Here are some of the important points Millman and Boxer say that angel investors tend to overlook. The TAX credits are sometimes transferable, refundable, and even sellable. “In fact, many don’t know this, but the tax credits are often transferable,” Mr. Boxer said. “So if you’re a resident of Wisconsin and you invest in a Nebraska company, you can transfer those credits.” In other states, Boxer added, the government will actually cut you a check if your tax credit exceeds the total amount of credits you can apply to your return. In other words, the benefits cannot merely reduce your tax burden to zero, they can put money back in investors’ hands. Additionally, some states’ laws actually allow investors to sell the tax credits to other individuals. The invesment rules vary widely from state to state Currently, 27 states offer some form of tax credit for accredited investors that take a stake earlystage companies. That number appears likely to remain fairly constant, as several states, such as Delaware and Massachusetts, are currently considering legislation that would create such a program, while others like Minnesota and Hawaii have recently seen or are about to see their credits expire. Among the most “egregious” holdouts, Boxer argued, are California and Pennsylvania, both of which have historically churned out a large number of technology companies. In addition to the rules mentioned about around interstate transfers and refund payments, Boxer noted that the rules can vary from statetostate in terms of the size of the investment and the period for which investors must maintain their stake in the company. A study by another researcher at American University in Washington, D.C. suggested that Washington state has the most generous tax breaks for angel investors, while Mississippi investors face the least favorable system. “The devil really is in the details,” Mr. Boxer said.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 5 There’s an effort in Congress right now to implement a federal angel investor tax credit, Millman noted, which could help set a national standard and alleviate some of the discrepancies. Break the rules, and you could owe a ton back (but may not have to pay) Speaking of that holding period, Boxer added, most states require investors to hold onto their stake for somewhere in the the neighborhood of three to five years in order to obtain the tax credit. Should an investor pull back on an investment before that period has ended, explained, not only would they lose the breaks moving forward, but they could also be on the hook to repay the credits they had received over the past, say, two or three years since they made the investment. However, don’t expect coffers to immediately come knocking. “I don’t think it happens very often,”she said. One of the main reasons, she added, “is that few states are keeping good data and know whether you’re following the criteria.” Maryland and Wisconsin two of the notable exceptions, in which the government has a system in place to closely monitor the investments and the corresponding credits, she said.
The 757 Angel group is ready to take flight Angel investors are finally descending on Hampton Roads in a big way. What's significant about the 757 Angels, the angel investment group formed out of Reinvent Hampton Roads, is the coordinated effort to match investors with startups and long term commitment from 42 investors who have already signed up. This group's first meeting will be March 31, where investors will listen to pitches from two to three startup or early stage companies seeking anywhere from $100,000 to $3 million in capital. "This is an important venture for Hampton Roads," said Paul Hirschbiel, chair of the entrepreneurial study group of Reinvent Hampton Roads, a project of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. "It will help solidify the entrepreneurship environment." The group is one of three entrepreneurial initiatives spurred from Reinvent Hampton Roads after the foundation commissioned a study of the community. Besides 757 Angels, the initiatives included 757 Connected, a digital platform that will help connect entrepreneurs to mentors and encourage them to establish successful businesses, and the E64 Project, a regional entrepreneur network that will support events, incubators, maker spaces and accelerators across the region. "None of these are silver bullets to solve the issue, but they are all additive and are all ones we saw absolute need for," said Mr. Hirschbiel, who is vice chairman of the Memory Center in Virginia Beach. In 1999, Hirschbiel helped found Envest Ventures, the firstearly stage venture capital firm in Hampton Roads. Envest focused on growing small to midsized businesses within the area. Venture capitalists also fund earlystage, highpotential companies in exchange for equity in a company. Venture capitalists mostly provide capital they have raised from others, while angels generally invest their own money. Venture capitalists invest larger amounts of capital into a company, typically investing no less than $3 million, a number often times too large for smallersized startup companies. Angel investors are not new to the Hampton Roads area, Hirschbiel said. But the efforts of the angel investors are not well coordinated, causing many startups to look outside of the area for funding.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 6 Just last year, Mr. Hirschbiel said, two strong startup companies left the area to receive funding in Baltimore, Maryland and Danville, Virginia. Danville is a small town in the southcentral region of the state, with a population of just under 43,000. The Hampton Roads metropolitan region has a population of 1.7 million people. Until 757 Angels, the region had lacked a group of coordinated and unified angel investors. 757 Angels will present qualified startups or early stage companies to a coordinated group of angel investors. Since its launch Feb. 1, the 757 Angels has 42 commitments and is still accepting investor applications, Hirschbiel said. "The response has been overwhelming," he said, noting that the angels are individual investors as well as companies. 757 Angels, a notforprofit, will be funded through membership fees. Accredited business entities public, private or foundations with more than 25 employees will pay $5,000 per year for three years. Those with fewer than 25 employees will pay $2,500 a year for three years, and accredited individual investors will pay $1,250 a year. Members are required to make an investment of at least $10,000 over a rolling three year period, and are expected to attend as many meetings as possible. All members must be qualified as accredited investors. An accredited individual investor is anyone whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with a spouse, exclusive of primary residence, exceeds $1 million. It can also be defined as any person whose individual income history exceeds $200,000, or with a spouse $300,000, in each of the two most recent years and who is expected to have the same income level that year. Accredited institutions include banks, insurance companies, registered investment companies, business development companies or small business investment companies. It can also include an employee benefit plan if a bank, insurance company or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million. Other accredited institutions can be charitable organizations, corporations or partnerships with assets exceeding $5 million. The 757 Angels board is comprised of 10 local business and community leaders heavily connected in the investment field, Hirschbiel said. Although the investors signed up rather quickly, it's taken quite awhile for these angels to find their wings, Hirschbiel said. "We're definitely flying this airplane," he said. "But there's a lot to still be done." A lot of that work has came from Monique Adams, executive director of 757 Angels. "She's done a tremendous job at building something from scratch," Hirschbiel said. Adams, a Virginia Beach resident, has held finance positions at the Bank of America in Norfolk and JP Morgan in New York and Los Angeles. Her past corporate clients in Hampton Roads included Dollar Tree, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Standard Forms, The Finance Co. and the Navy Exchange Command. Extensive pro bono work has been spent on organizing 757 Angels, Adams and Hirschbiel said. This group's website, www.757angelsgroup.com , was put together pro bono by Concursive, the Norfolkbased software company. The city of Norfolk provided the angel group with an office space on Main Street in downtown Norfolk. "Norfolk really stepped up for us, and we're thrilled," Hirschbiel said. TowneBank donated furniture for the office space. Adams and her team will operate out of the Norfolk office, but member meetings will rotate locations throughout Hampton Roads.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 7 Before companies are selected to pitch to the investors, they undergo a lengthy screening process. A 45day cycle starts with a company application deadline and ends with a member meeting. The time between is split into a prescreening and a screening process. A maximum of three companies will be selected to present each cycle. During prescreening, Adams will eliminate companies outside of the group's scope of interest and notify them by email. Companies within the scope of interest will under go further analysis by Adams and be presented to the board for further study. The companies selected by the board will move into the screening process and assigned a vetting team. The vetting team will assist in preparations for the board presentation, and Adams and the vetting team will take a deeper look into the companies. The board will then hear five minute presentations from the companies and discuss them with the vetting teams. The board will select the companies to present to the 757 Angel members. "We want it to be an efficient, streamlined process," Adams said. Angel investors are open to funding a startup from any industry as long as it has highgrowth potential, Hirschbiel said. "That's why we have that vetting process because we want to present companies that are at a realistic valuation and have all the growth potential to warrant the risk that the members are taking," he said. According to Adams, the current application pool represents half a dozen industries. Two major requirements for the startup companies: They must derive a significant portion of their revenue from outside Hampton Roads, and they must be located in or be willing to relocate to Hampton Roads. Following company presentations, 757 Angel members will discuss their interest in the companies. Those interested will connect with the company on their own terms, Hirschbiel said. Unlike other angel groups, there's no commitment. Members can individually decide if they would like to invest in a company. All interested members will invest based on the same negotiated term sheet. "This is a connecting and matching service for angel investors and startup companies, it's not a commitment for individuals to make a choice," Adams said. There are no rules or regulations on what the investment criteria will look like for angels, Hirschbiel said. Investments will most likely be structured as equity. "We want to simplify the process as much as possible, but individual members can determine their interest and negotiate final deal terms such as the valuation, structure, board membership and oversight," Hirschbiel said. 757 Angels does not require investors to be directly involved with the companies they invest in, but Hirschbiel suggests that members invest more than just money. "It's not just putting money into a company that's the least of the risks. Investors need to be involved in the board and with mentoring and funneling the company in the right direction," he said. "We will follow all the investments that our members make, but it's up to investors to help grow the company." Because members agree to a three year membership and pay a fee it will help grow the angel momentum, something necessary in our community, Hirschbiel said. "Many of our members clearly understand that this is all about building our regional economy," he said. "The legs of our stool the port, military and tourism aren't going to provide solid growth rates. It's important that we diversify our economy, and many of our members are involved because they understand that it is necessary but they are also looking for a return on their investment." Becoming involved in an angel group helps to ease the time commitments, creates a more efficient system that seeks to be standardized and acts as a platform for better deal flow, Adams said. "By joining 757 Angels, investors join a network of likeminded investors interested in being involved with and growing our economy," Adams said. With the creation of 757 Angels, Hampton Roads will join the nationwide angel investment movement, Adams said.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 8 The amount of angel investment groups in the U.S. has tripled since 1999, according to the Angel Capital Association. 757 Angels is a member of the association as are 21 other angel groups in the midAtlantic as well as five other groups in Virginia.
Atlassian made its way to IPO Today, we are thrilled to extend our congratulations to Mike CannonBrookes, Scott Farquhar and the entire Atlassian team on its IPO! Until recently there was a conventional wisdom around Silicon Valley that great technology companies could only be built on the west coast of the US in regions like Silicon Valley. Investors often said (half jokingly) that one should "always invest in companies within driving distance” as so many multibilliondollar software and technology companies were created ‘only’ on the west coast of the US. But, we have always believed differently. We believe that the lessons and technologies of the Valley (and other tech hubs) are ultimately borderless. Cloud services, internet commerce and viral marketing now makes building the next generation of disruptive companies possible from just about anywhere. As evidence, we look no further than Atlassian. Mike and Scott, who founded and still lead Atlassian from Sydney, Australia are the definition of worldclass entrepreneurs with the courage to defy the conventional wisdom. Mike and Scott founded Atlassian in 2002 on just $10K of personal credit card debt, and have since run the company with growing revenues and real cash flows for more than 10 years. The company was founded to help software teams work better together. From the beginning, their products were designed to help developers collaborate with other nondeveloper teams involved in software innovation. From dayone, we were attracted to the company’s premise that great products could sell themselves, and their deep investment in product development to create and refine highquality and versatile products that users love. Atlassian makes products affordable for organizations of all sizes and transparently share simple pricing online. In short, Atlassian does so many things the right way. We were privileged to partner with Mike and Scott and become the first outside investors in 2010, and have been honored to play a small role in assisting in the growth of this remarkable team and company!
Millennials Are Leading the last Industrial Revolution The Fourth Industrial Revolution will leverage technology to create a more inclusive world. What’s unique about this industrial revolution is the focus on progress for the sake of social good. This focus is evident in the rise of social enterprises, the ratification of the Sustainable Development Goals, and unique partnerships that shift systems through “conscious movements”. Millennials are at the forefront of this new industrial revolution. Millennials want to know first hand about the state of the world. For instance, in the 2015 Global Shapers Annual Survey , over half the millennials surveyed named social and economic inequality as the top issue affecting the world today. Climate change, access to education and youth unemployment were also highlighted as serious issues that must be addressed on a local and global level. “Millennials quickly realized that protesting was not effective in driving sustainable change. And they turned to the institutions they initially fought against, deciding to work within the system to move them forward.”
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 9 The same survey also highlighted millennials’ low level of trust in institutions – from federal and local governments to corporations. Even notforprofit enterprises were trusted by less than half of the millennials surveyed. It is clear that these institutions, from the perspective of the millennial generation, will need to adapt. And, after the financial crisis of 2008, when signs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution were beginning to surface, millennials tried to change institutions by fighting against the system. Images of protesters flooded the media. But millennials quickly realized that protesting was not effective in driving sustainable change. And they turned to the institutions they initially fought against, deciding to work within the system to move them forward. In essence, millennials have worked with institutions to create a new type of social movement – conscious movements. Conscious movements adapt the enthusiasm and organizing principles of traditional social movements. They funnel the energy of the millennial generation and the gravitas of established institutions to bring about positive social change. “Conscious movements recognize the importance of both online and inperson meetings.” From the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum to Lean In, conscious movements create a powerful combination that brings together old and new power, online and offline interactions and global reach with local impact. A shifts between the old and new powers Many people talk about “new power”, which is more open and participatory than “old power”, which is closed and hierarchical. It seems like these two types of power are completely incompatible. But conscious movements manage this tension and turn it into an opportunity. The Global Shapers Community, part of the World Economic Forum, brings together young people with CEOs and world leaders. Shapers take part in crossmentorship schemes where they learn from world leaders, and these leaders, in turn, learn from the Global Shapers. The millennial perspective is so important to include that a Global Shaper was recently named a cochair of the 2016 Annual Meeting at Davos. Making real connections online and offline Conscious movements recognize the importance of both online and inperson meetings. In a world that emphasizes online interactions over inperson gatherings, conscious movements flip this logic on its head. Lean In is a conscious movement launched by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer. Lean In encourages women to further their careers by launching Lean In Circles – inperson gatherings where women discuss their professional challenges, seek advice and share resources. Lean In’s website provides women with the tools to create meetings, access expert videos (for professional development during meetings) and interact with other circles nearby. But the focus remains on building trust through small, inperson meetings. Bridging local and global Even though the world is more global than ever before, most of our daily contact still takes place locally. Of all the telephone calling minutes in the world last year, only 2% were crossborder calls and the average person consumes just 12% of their news on foreign sites. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is providing a new approach to the world’s biggest problems, and conscious movements play a key role.” Conscious movements make the most of both the global and the local. +SocialGood unites changemakers around the power of innovation and technology to make the world a better place. Globally connected influencers work with +SocialGood to share ideas of what’s working in global development and adapt it to
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 10 their local communities. When the Social Good Summit took place in New York during United Nations General Assembly week, over 100 local meetups took place around the world, from the Philippines to Rwanda. As someone who has not only participated but also helped nurture several of these conscious movements, I have seen the benefits to organizations, millennials and the world at large. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is providing a new approach to the world’s biggest problems, and conscious movements play a key role. Who is more invested in creating a better world than the millennial generation? And who is better placed to connect, scale and leverage the enthusiasm of millennials than established institutions? Conscious movements will become a crucial type of partnership as the Fourth Industrial Revolution changes systems and creates a more inclusive world.
Angel Term Sheets Over the last month we have had two great opportunities to review our processes and practices in angel investing with two US experts in Dave Berkus and Rob Adams. One thing is clear and that is as an industry we need to move towards using preference shares rather than ordinary shares. This is virtually mandatory in North America now. It makes sure the entrepreneurs appreciate our cash. Movac and Sparkbox both use these types of instruments. The real benefit is when the investee company has a disappointing result but some cash is returned. With preference shares the investors get first call on the cash. As many investee companies end in this situation this return can have a significant influence on angel investor aggregate returns. The other area which is a bit more controversial is the idea that when angels invest the founders must give back their shares and have them vest back over time. This ensures the founders commitment to the business for a few years. Basil Peters at ACA and Rob Adams on his current tour made it clear that as far as they are concerned this is a mandatory requirement. This has been negotiated with the recent Parrot Analytics deal and I see this as the way to go for future deals.
ACA 2013 Conference high lights The attendee list showed about 700 people attending. There were 23 kiwis in attendance. We were the largest represented country outside North America, with China next at 17. Most kiwis attended the Kiwi Landing Pad function on the Tuesday evening. We were privileged to see three of NZ’s most successful women entrepreneurs in the USA ( Victoria Ransom , Linda Jenkinson , Claudia Batten ) form a panel to judge our four companies presenting at the ACA showcase and then to follow on with a small inspirational speech each. On the Thursday evening we hosted a dinner function involving 12 international guests (guests included Bill Payne , John May – Chair ACA; Mr. Jim Conner – Sand Hill Angels ; Basil Peters – angel thought leader; Ian Sobieski – Band of Angels leader; Nelson Gray – Scottish leader; Allen Yeung – Hong Kong Business Angel Network leader; Dan Rosen – Alliance of Angels leader; Steve Flaim and Dave Berkus – both past Chairs of
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 11 Tech Coast Angels ). 41 attended the dinner including representatives from Kiwi Landing Pad, NZTE , and ATEED . Many long lasting international connections were made that night. Golden Seeds : I made a point of connecting with the Golden Seeds leadership (in particular Loretta McCarthy ) to reinforce to them that NZ angel community was fully behind Br idget Liddell’s initiative to form a women’s angel group in New Zealand. This initiative is building momentum. I noted that there were quite a few Golden Seeds attendees at the Summit and others belonging to other women’s networks. There are a lot of women’s angel networks being established around the world. Government Support for Angel Investing: I was surprised to learn to the extent to which Governments and/ or States support the local angel investing communities. Government coinvesting by way of grants/loans and/or equity is common throughout much of the world. There is growing international recognition of the need to support the innovation sector, particularly as a key plank in job creation initiatives. However it is becoming increasingly clear to me that in terms of a step change in New Zealand that there needs to be tax incentives to encourage investment in this high risk asset class. Coinvestment by Government can make a difference in terms of attracting enough angel investment, but if one wants to really move the dial, taxation is the only way to do this. NZ Angel Community operating near world class: Many kiwis made unsolicited comments that our Wellington 2012 Summit was just as good as ACA if not better. It is clear that we have been getting some of the best angel speakers in the world. Basil Peters will be an outstanding key note speaker at the AANZ Summit (31 Oct/1 Nov) in Dunedin this year. Angel Network Funds: About 20% of the networks in USA have an associated fund, usually a sidecar fund which coinvests alongside the angels. I have a feeling this will be a growing trend. However some networks run a Main fund ( or flipped side car fund) which makes the investment decisions and angels can coinvest alongside this. John Huston runs such a fund at Ohio Tech Angels . Syndication: The Wiltbank US data shows that syndication amongst angel networks has been increasing over the last decade but has accelerated on the last two years.
Blog Advertising Skyscraper Raises $500k Seed Round Led By Mr Howard Lindzon and Mr. Tom Peterson Of Social Leverage Skyscraper, the recently launched service that aims to make direct ad sales easier for bloggers, just announced that it has raised a $500,000 seed round led by Stocktwits founder and CEO Howard Lindzon and Tom Peterson of Social Leverage. The service launched out of Vancouver’s GrowLabs accelerator program earlier this year (it was still called Skyscrpr back then) and its focus is squarely on making direct ad sales as easy as possible for small to medium publishers.
Pocket’s First Publisher Partner Is KickstarterFunded LongForm Journalism Project Matter Pocket, the saveforlater service that recently upgraded its API in order to make it easier for devs to integrate its services, today announced a new effort on the content partnership side, with new longform
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 12 storytelling publication Matter. Matter was a Kickstarterbacked initiative, which raised $140,000 ($90,000 more than it was originally looking for) to bring extended, wellresearched science and tech reporting to the web a single story at a time.
Top Technologies to Be UnInvented At the second annual Silicon Valley Insiders Poll , a panel of 101 executives, innovators, and thinkers weigh
in on some of the biggest technological, political, and cultural questions of the moment. Silicon Valley celebrates and rewards innovation (or so it brags). Industry leaders often speak winsomely of disruption, progress, and human invention. So when we ran an unscientific poll of leaders and thinkers in tech, we had to ask: Which technology do you wish you could uninvent? What innovation do you think should go “back in the box” and be banished forever? The two winning responses were: selfie sticks and nuclear weapons. But let’s go through some runnersup first. Some respondents thought of communication technologies they use or see every day. Two would dismiss 24hour cable news. Three said that email should be abolished. Five called for Facebook’s destruction or the reduction of social media more generally. Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google, would get rid of the telephone (but not the smartphones that followed). Aaron Patzer, the CEO of Fountain.com, wanted to deinvent “the Newsfeed” as a concept. “The front page of every (popular) site on the Internet today is the same: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Medium, Quora. They are endless scrolls of trivialities and shared links. These sites have simply become the newspapers—albeit customized by our interests and friends—of yesteryear,” he writes. Others looked more to innovations that eroded human health. Individuals voted to scrap cigarettes and heroin. Jillian York, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wants to annul “genetic testing for the masses.” Jeremy Howard, CEO of the healthcare company Enlitic, took a more targeted approach. “Leaded petrol,” he said. “It killed 5,000 people a year in the U.S.A., and it led to 2 million children a year having toxic levels of lead in their blood. And yet the dangers of the substance were known about and discussed back in 1922, before it was first added to gasoline.” Now we get to the two “winning” categories. About a quarter of respondents decried seemingly smallminded gizmos—the socalled “selfie stick” category, which more than 10 percent of respondents would specifically prefer to see eliminated forever. One respondent targeted the Shake Weight. Another went after Segways. Jennifer Pahlka, the founder and executive director of Code for America, said the Salad Shooter should go away. Her response seemed to cover the whole bracket: “The world is full of products no one really needs.” The other largest category was technology of war. Specifically, nuclear weapons, which more than 10 percent of respondents would also uninvent. Tim Wilson, a managing partner at Artiman Ventures, would deinvent chemical weapons as well, in addition to human knowledge of nuclear fusion and fission. “All came from extensive research into the periodic table. If we missed some rows/columns we may be better off,” he wrote. Other panelists went after similarly worldhistoric technologies. Two respondents would retract gunpowder. (Which is a more risky move, given the role guns played in 18th and 19thcentury democratic revolutions.) Two more wanted to get rid of drones. And Kate Crawford, an academic at Microsoft Research, went after a specific tool with some history behind it.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 13 “It's a tough choice, but the land mine would be in my top ten,” she said. It’s “a fully autonomous weapon that’s been around since 1277, still killing indiscriminately around the world. But it’s far less sexy to talk about than killer robots.”
Indian Prime Minister signs US tech deals at Northern California September 27, 2015 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed tech deals during a twoday tour of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies, highlighting India’s tech ambitions and his “Digital India” initiative. Among the Silicon Valley heavyweights to announce deals were Google , which confirmed plans to launch free WiFi in 500 Indian railway stations, and Microsoft , which pledged to help bring lowcost broadband to 500,000 Indian villages. The visit stands in stark contrast to the style of Xi Jinping , China’s PM, who summoned US tech leaders to a meeting during his US visit last week — but excluded Google and Twitter , whose services are blocked in China, from the roundtable meeting. The opportunity of the India market has become a focus for US tech companies as more Indians come online, including 100m in the past year, but there are still nearly 1bn Indians who lack internet access. “One of the greatest opportunities we have in the world today is to connect everyone to the internet,” said Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg as he introduced Mr. Modi at the Facebook headquarters. In an hourlong presentation at Facebook that was frequently interrupted by clapping, laughter and people chanting his name, Mr. Modi called for other world leaders to embrace social media. “When I came to government, I saw that one of the problems that governments have is that there is a big gap between the government and the people,” he said. “But with social media we have daily bonding.” “We used to have elections every five years, but now it is every five minutes. This is a huge strength of democracy,” he said. However, Facebook’s effort to provide free access to its services and other apps through the Internet.org programme have met with a backlash, with some Indian media companies walking away from the project this year because of concerns over net neutrality. On Saturday night, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella , an Indianborn engineer, announced the broadband plan at a dinner in Mr. Modi’s honour. Google, in tandem with Indian Railways, said it would bring the first stations online within months, with the network expanding to cover 100 of India’s busiest stations before the end of 2016. “This will rank it as the largest public WiFi project in India, and among the largest in the world, by number of potential users”, said Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai , another Indianborn executive at the top of the US tech industry, in a blog post. Qualcomm , the US chipmaker, said it would ”invest up to $150m in Indian startup companies across all stages as part of its commitment to India”. Members of the Indian diaspora play a vital role in San Francisco’s tech community, and many welcomed Mr. Modi’s visit, the first time an India prime minister has been there in three decades. “For the first time there is a feeling that this is a man who wants to make a change, wants to make a difference and has the integrity to pull it off,” said Amit Shah, an Gujaratborn entrepreneur who is now a partner at Artiman Ventures. However, he cautioned that there were still many obstacles for startups and entrepreneurs in India. “For most startups the Indian market itself is still mythical,” he said. “It is very hard to penetrate, it is very difficult to do business. But I do believe that as he keeps reducing red tape, there is huge opportunity there for US companies and US startups.”
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 14 Mr. Modi has also encouraged US tech companies to move factories to India, and invited Apple to manufacture there during a meeting with chief executive Tim Cook. However, Apple did not announce any such plans. Learn more at: http://www.artiman.com/blog/199/#sthash.CbLoTYLS.dpuf
Cybersecurity trends beyond 2020 With all companies now targets of cyberattacks, and the average cost of a successful attack rising to $4 million, the demand for security talent is at an alltime high. But while cyber security jobs are up 74 percent in the last five years, more than 209,000 cyber security jobs in the U.S. are unfilled. To add to the complexity, this problem is asymmetric: a hacker only has to be right once while critical data must be protected 100 percent of the time. Last night, we asked our expert panel from Trustwave , AMAG Pharmaceuticals , Cybric , IBM Security & Mobile , State Street , and CloudLock about challenges and trends in the space and what has changed over the last five years to merit such an upward spiral in the cybersecurity space. According to Josh Bregler, senior director and security architect at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, “compliance models aren’t keeping up with the attackers.” “The complexity of the threat,” said Mark Morrison, SVP & CISO, State Street. Hackers are looking to exploit vulnerabilities, he continued. The issue lies in having the resources to do basic blocking and tackling. And this is not a small feat, considering that the number of bad guys outnumbers the good, and they’re nothing if not clever. So, how do we solve the issue of cybersecurity? Security does need to have a bigger piece of the IT budget, however this is not a problem companies can spend their way out of, said Morrison who estimates that IT security represents about four to six percent of the overall IT budget at an average company. Most of our panel agreed that training – across the board – is a huge component of keeping mission critical data safe. And not just the training of IT folks. State Street’s 50,000 employees are being told “see something say something. They’re becoming Cyber Sensors.” Hackers often get in through back channels and human action is often the reason. Employees can be sloppy; they need better security hygiene. They open phishing emails. They plug in USB thumb drives from insecure sources. They leave computers in cars. All this makes companies vulnerable. According to Morrison, 70 percent of hacks come in via known vulnerabilities. “Cybersecurity needs to be a way of life,” said Ron Zalkind, founder & CTO, CloudLock, “not just our job.” The entire panel agreed: our generation needs to ingrain the importance of cybersecurity within our children in order for them to fully grasp the criticality of it – and act on it. Another question posed to our panel: is cloud the answer? Almost everyone agreed that it really depends on the situation. “There is no silver bullet for security,” said Bregler, whose company, AMAG, is 100 percent cloudbased. Companies using legacy infrastructure aren’t going to be able to move everything to the cloud. Ernesto DiGiambattista, founder and CEO of Cybric, believes that trusting a thirdparty to secure your company (such as a managed service provider) sounds like a simple solution, but the reality is that this is very complex and companies need to view the risk holistically.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 15 At the end of our session, we asked panelists what technologies they are excited and/or hopeful about. Analytics that can help spot anomalies is what Ron Zalkind is excited about. John Amaral, SVP Product Management, Trustwave, believes that organizations can have all the right technology, but need to improve execution and this is critical. Michael Loria, VP corporate and business development at IBM Security & Mobile, says there’s no going back. Tactics and defense are going deeper, and he looks forward to a new defense and depth strategy. DiGiambattista says the first piece is about how data is just everywhere today, bringing new risk issues. But regulators are becoming much more stringent and CISO’s are becoming much more aggressive. They’re VERY concerned about risk. “It’s about orchestration in the automation.” State Street’s Morrison thinks it’s important to determine what to protect and why, and realize you won’t be able to protect everything.
Turning Cyber Threat into Opportunity at the B2B IT forum The modern security landscape is becoming a competitive arms race between cyberattackers and defenders. Threats have matured, risks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and vulnerabilities across the enterprise are commonplace – and evolving. While security spending has ballooned as a result – Gartner forecasted that $77 billion would be funneled globally toward IT security efforts in 2015 – it is not stemming the tide as a record 79 percent of U.S. businesses reported a cybersecurity incident this year, reports Raytheon . With limited resources, a lack of security talent and myriad competing technological tools, today’s security professionals struggle to mitigate the deluge of pervasive attacks. Has enterprise security posture improved significantly enough to even reduce the risks of breaches? What’s the best methodology for CIOs and CISO’s to take – do it themselves, opt for automation or outsource their security to managed service providers (MSP’s) – or is there a hybrid option to consider? The level of understanding required for today’s executives has risen substantially. To cope, security professionals are asking many of the same questions; often at the most basic level. Have I sufficiently communicated – and implemented – security “best practices” across my organization? Does the governance of my security organization operate efficiently? On the other side of the coin, the market opportunity for security companies is massive – and growing. Digital security efforts over the next five years are expected to continue rising dramatically according to Gartner, reaching $170 billion by 2020. Tuesday, December 8 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA as we explore “The Paradigm of Security: Turning Cyber Threat into Opportunity.”
New AVL 5×5 Plan Outlines Innovation Strategies By 2020, Venture Asheville aims to facilitate 50 new highgrowth companies in Asheville and connect ventures to $10 million in new equity investment. Attracting and growing Inc. 5000 companies, cultivating innovation and talent, Asheville Fiber, and Venture Asheville Elevate (our new mentor program) are all part of the EDC’s next 5year strategic plan called AVL 5×5 Vision 2020.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 16
15 HighFlying Ventures That Put Asheville’s Startup Scene on the Map in 2015 Looking back over the past year or so, we’ve identified some of the top performers in Asheville’s emerging startup scene: 1. FLS Energy – Twotime Inc. 500 company and an industry leader in megawatt solar farms, explosive growth from $8M revenue in 2009 to $150 Million last year 2. DoctorDirectory.com – WNC’s largest tech deal in history, acquired for $65 Million by Everyday Health 3. Theraworx – Life science startup that raised over $7M in funding at a company valuation of $122 Million; grew revenue by over 450% last year, and has expanded into national and international markets.
Partnership Gwinnett Hosts Economic Outlook Conference “Gwinnett County is proud to be closing out yet another successful year in economic development including more than 1,600 new jobs and $125 million in capital investment,” said Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash, who delivered opening remarks.“Our success is a testament to the community’s collaborative approach to economic development through the work of the Partnership Gwinnett team.” The Outlook conference highlighted Gwinnett’s economic development ‘wins’ in 2014, including a total of 23 relocations and expansions. Almost one third of the expansions and relocations were international companies. Since the launch of Partnership Gwinnett in 2007, 53 of Gwinnett’s 179 business wins were international companies. In addition to the Gwinnett’s global success story, it was clear at yesterday’s event that the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem in this community are accelerating. Of the six award winners announced, four were recognized for their contributions to this ecosystem. Community leaders Eric Van Otteren, Economic Development Manager for the City of Snellville and Dan King, chapter leader of the Gwinnett Angels, were both recognized for their facilitation of startup initiatives. Van Otteren founded a young entrepreneur alliance that has resulted in a student shark tank and a special class of business licenses for student businesses. Gwinnett resident and board member of Atlanta Technology Angels, Dan King, led the charge to create a Gwinnett Chapter of ATA. Since its launch, members have seen presentations from eleven companies have invested more than $200,000, with approximately half that figure directed to Gwinnett startups. In the Innovation category, Jose Hevia, owner of Cheeky Mexican Taqueria in Suwanee, was recognized for the RFIDenabled beer wall concept he invented. DraftServ Technologies has garnered nationwide attention from the likes of Major League Baseball, Good Morning America and even late night talk show host, Jimmy Fallon. Lawrenceville entrepreneur Sam Tesh was recognized for his innovation as the CEO and founder of Loudfund, a new model of financing artists where fans fund projects and artists share royalties and rewards with their investors. This innovative startup is similar to other crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, but caters specifically to musicians.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 17 “The recognition of our efforts on behalf of Partnership Gwinnett are just another example of the momentum of the tech and start up ecosystem in this community,” said Tesh. “We launched Loudfund here because we knew that Gwinnett’s support of and engagement with entrepreneurs would help maximize the success of our company.” Eagle Rock Studio Atlanta and Gwinnett County Public Schools rounded out the list of 2014 award winners. The 2014 Partnership Gwinnett Economic Outlook sponsors and supporters include: Presenting Sponsor: Jackson EMC Keynote Sponsor: Wells Fargo Platinum Sponsors: Gwinnett Village CID and City of Suwanee Gold Sponsors: Comcast, Merial, Pond & Company, Primerica and Quantum Bank Silver Sponsors: ADP, BB&T, CAB Incorporated, MetroPower and Precison Planning, Corporate Sponsors: Atkins, Georgia Power and MDA Community Partners: Greater Gwinnett Championship and Leadercast.
Calendar for business acceleration in Georgia Tech Greenhouse Accelerator Pitch Night Join The Green Chamber of the South for An Interactive Evening with the Cleantech Startups of the Greenhouse Accelerator. The event will help you meet and mingle with a special segment of Atlanta’s green entrepreneurs. When: November 17th, 5:00p 8:00p Where: Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center, 250 14th Street, NW, Atlanta 30318
Organic Pioneer Robert Rodale's Legacy
Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale, Inc., wrote on the Huffington Post about the legacy of her father, Robert Rodale, on the 25th anniversary of his death. "To him, organic alone was not enough. He believed we needed a commitment to making things better." The article also contains a very interesting document called "The Seven Tendencies of Regeneration", which links agriculture with communities and personal spirit. What a cool way to unify our work with the earth, our work with our neighbors, and our work on ourselves!
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 18
Insightful Data on VC & Angel Investing One of the best email newsletters we get is from Anand Sanwal at CB Insights. They look at data from the professional investing world and spin it around in most interesting and clever ways. Example 1: Let's say you are an entrepreneur looking to use the typical Silicon Valley / tech / VC model for raising money and you're at "Seed" stage. Of course you're special, but what have over a thousand other companies who've been where you are experienced? Anand and team looked at a cohort of companies that raised seed in '09 and '10, and followed them through November of this year. What they found was that 77% of the companies "are either dead, the walking dead (bad outcomes), or became selfsustaining". Of those 1,027 companies studied, 40% raised a second round, allowing them to chase that gold ring; 12% exited (yaaaay!), and 48% went zombie or "selfsustaining". Here's a telling comment: Anand says being selfsustaining is "a potentially good outcome for the company but probably not good for their investors". Wow! "selfsustaining" gets lumped in with "dead"! Too bad those investors used financial vehicles that equate the two! What's this mean for investors? What's this mean for entrepreneurs? Maybe we're reading the data wrong, but we're just not sure about this investing model for either investors or companies, especially in the food and ag space. Looks like bad odds, unless the company and investors figured a way other than seed equity to work together. Is that possible? (Spoiler alert: it is!)
Bay partners on track for 2020 Once a week or more, we get a call from someone asking if Bay Partners is still going or if we’re retiring. The answer is, we are not retiring and Bay is alive and well. With major exits recently from Guidewire, Eloqua, Buddy Media, Zenprise, TeaLeaf and others, our funds are still growing strong and bringing in one of the top ROIs for our investors in the industry. Our General Partner Neal Dempsey even made the Forbes Midas list with some of our portfolio liquidity events. We have more to come too, so stay tuned. At Bay, we continue to focus on early stage enterprise software companies, and enjoy meeting with entrepreneurs around the world. We attend events where we can interact with entrepreneurs and learn about new innovations and what technologies might be of interest to us. There’s still a lot of exciting things happening in Silicon Valley and we plan to be part of that buzz for a long time to come. Check out our new web site here, which we think will give you some of the latest information about what we’re up to and the kinds of portfolio companies we’re managing these days. But no matter what technology is hot right now or what the buzz of Silicon Valley is, we remain focused on the same thing that has driven us since our founding – exits. Whatever that finish line may look like for our portfolio companies – an IPO, acquisition or sustained growth and expansion. We’re here to guide companies to that finish line and help them live their dreams.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 19 Bay is thriving, and we want your company to thrive too. We will be posting some guiding principles for entrepreneurs here on our blog, and we want to hear from you too. Tell us what lessons you’ve learned and we’ll share and compare notes. Get in touch with us here, or follow our Twitter page @baypartnersnews. We’re listening.
Money trends in VC and Angel investing The Super Angel vs VC discussion is still making the rounds: Mr. Michael Arrington, Chris Dixon, Dave McClure, Fred Wilson et al. Must be a slow summer for financing news. You take the smartest money you can get that's right for your growth stage and capital needs. That's it folks. All well and good to talk about taking 100% angel funding until exit for digital companies and sometimes that is the right strategy, but venture capital is required for more capital intensive businesses in life science, clean tech and advanced manufacturing. And even in digital businesses, lots of capital can be required to scale a company and/or prepare for a high value IPO vs going for a quick M&A. We angels need VCs to help carry some of our companies over the finish line. And VCs need angels to do the hard work of getting companies ready for venture funding. Sometimes we have to help them reinvent themselves along the waythe companies that is. VCs are reinventing themselves these days. The work of an angel investor sometimes reminds me of a summer many moons ago when I worked on an Arabian horse farm. It sounded so glamorous until I realized the bulk of the work after you buy/breed the horses is mucking out the stalls, cleaning up the horses, training them on proper deportment and getting them ready and prettied up for showtime. It took weeks to get my clothes and hands clean. I just threw away my boots! I'll devote my next several posts to profiling some of the CEOs of my portfolio companies. Some have had all angel, some angel and VC financing. So far, most all of them are doing well. Knock on wood..
Tips on social enterprises Mr. Bill Gates talked about latrines more than education, entrepreneuring or anything else in his Reinventing Capitalism interview with Brent Schlender, which wound up a fantastic, 3day Techonomy conference at Lake Tahoe. The Gates Foundation claims more lives are lost in the developing world due to poor sanitation and open defecation than to any other cause. He said "Latrines are fascinating. No one wants to read about it. It's one of the greatest under investments." Gates talked about flush toilets not having received much investment in the past century,"only the low IQ guys are thinking about toilets" and while they are today's gold standard, flush toilets are neither economical nor water efficient for the developing world. Well engineered latrines are his aim: "We're gonna have a breakthrough in latrines." One of Bill's favorite sourcebooks on "this superimportant topic" is 'Water and Sanitation.' "It's quite lurid" said Gates, with a sly smile as if he were describing some especially juicy porn. While Bill was bullish on latrines, he was pessimistic about our political process. He talked about how complex legislation such as the Financial Reform bill has become, and how there are only a handful of experts who understand such legislation "and they're all biased!" Bill said he is worried what impact this will have on our democracy. He also bemoaned all the hidden taxes in various bills. "The amount of money we are spending [via disguised taxes] in this legislation no one understands is insane." However, Gates is optimistic about continued world progress. He said if you looked back to the 1800s "when people were knee deep in horse manure and choking on coal fumes, many thought, we're all going down."
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 20 While Bill clearly had poop on his brain, he is the penultimate techonomist and passionately believes that technology can solve most of the world's problems. I like the mature Bill Gates so much more than v1. 27 years ago I was a cofounder at a software company with a license and development agreement to help Microsoft release Multiplan for the first Macintosh. We had to deal with a young, smart but sometimes obnoxious crew at MS, including Rob Glaser who'd just graduated from Yale and was completely full of himself, and Alan Boyd who while brilliant was also a piece of work. The MS team kept moving the project goalposts and going "off the deal reservation." In hindsight, we didn't handle the situation very well, and the product, while good, was late to market. Months later we were still trying to get paid. I ran into Bill Gates at Roger van Oech's first "A Whack on the Side of the Head" conference and tried to talk to him about the late payment in hopes of moving Alan along the path to approval. I was quite surprised that Bill was intimately familiar with the project details, and more surprised when he started screaming at me about all of my company's failings in front of 150 other attendees. (later I learned this was one of his more effective communications techniques circa 1984). I was so ticked off, I seriously considering giving him more than a whack on the side of the head. But looking at this skinny kid with huge glasses (I was much svelter then, but even so had a significant body mass advantage and as a former athlete, had way more upper body strength) I decided decking him, however satisfying it might be wasn't worth jail timeespecially given the 150 witnesses. At the top of my lungs, I told him to perform a physically impossible act on himself and stormed away. A couple weeks later, our check arrived in the mail. Over the years, I've sometimes regretted my restraint. It might have been worth it to be known as the software gal who decked Bill Gates. But now, as I see how Bill has reinvented himself with a goal of reinventing both philanthropy and capitalism, I'm glad my better judgement held the line. I'd be ashamed now to be known for having decked the man who will likely do more to save the world than any other in my lifetime. PS: I stood in line for 40 minutes to say hi to Bill at the Techonomy dinner. He was very gracious but didn't seem to remember me. He did seem to remember the projects (Multiplan and sw we developed for Rob Campbell's Forethought, developer of Powerpoint). The current version of Bill is the best yet!
InnovateHer Finalists Move To Next Round of Competition The InnovateHer Challenge is a national competition aimed at unearthing products and services impacting and empowering the lives of women and families. SBA’s national 2015 first place winner was Philadelphia’s Bethany Edwards, who won out against 15 finalists from across the country. Her firm, LIA Diagnostics, designed a pregnancy test to provide a better experience for women at a stressful moment in their lives. Additional information on the ChallengeHer Competition: www.sba.gov/InnovateHer . The three InnovateHer finalists are: Yasmine Mustafa, Roar For Good cofounder and CEO. Mustafa is the creator of Athena Safety Jewelry; a sleek and discrete simple that protects women from assaults with the touch of a button. Once pressed, it emits an alarm and messages emergency contacts. Mustafa was the winner of the competition hosted by the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs, and their partners University City Science Center, Robin Hood Ventures, Techgirlz, and Colliders Accelerator. Mary Tiffin, Mangata LLC President/CEO. Tiffin designed and patented a sleek glove with builtin highpowered LED lights for runners, cyclists, and other athletes who want to exercise at dusk or dawn. Tiffin was the winner of the competition hosted by Bucknell University’s Small Business Development Center in Lewisburg, PA and their partner, Pennsylvania State Representative Lynda Schlegel Culver.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 21 Patrice Banks, Girls Auto Clinic founder/CEO, engineer and automotive technician. Banks owns Girls Auto Clinic, which offers dialogue about the workings of vehicles and how to service them through female auto repair garages, maintenance workshops, books, and an apparel line. Banks was the winner of the competition hosted by The Enterprise Center of Philadelphia. The U.S. Small Business Administration is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government whose mission is to help small businesses start, grow and succeed through loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses. SBA also helps people recover from disasters and rebuild their lives by providing affordable, timely and accessible financial assistance to homeowners, renters and businesses.
New health IT is branding Philly as a tech hub A radio wakeup call from Safeguard Scientifics CEO Mr. Steve Zarrilli got us thinking about the importance of marketing. We were only half awake when we heard a familiar name on the radio Monday morning. (Yes, we wake up to WHYY. We like passing in and out of sleep to the news, it does strange things to our dreams.) “I’m Steve Zarrilli, CEO of Safeguard Scientifics and a partner in the Health Care Innovation Collaborative,” the voice said. Huh, the venture capital firm on WHYY? Suddenly, we started paying attention. It was an ad spot for the Health Care Innovation Collaborative, a coalition of local companies and institutions that wants to turn Philly into a hub for health IT, and its new program that aims to connect new healthcare ideas with legacy corporations. Other WHYY spots also included Independence Blue Cross CEO Dan Hilferty and Penn Medicine CEO Ralph Muller.
Crowdfunding Experience from UK and Sweden Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now allow nonaccredited investors to invest in startups located in their state. As more states follow suit, it is useful to look at data detailing other countries’ experiences. Both the UK and Sweden have experimented with “equity crowdfunding” for nonaccredited investors for a number of years now. Their experiences so far have been interesting, as have the implications for the UK and Swedish angel communities. A 2014 report estimated that equity crowdfunding grew by 201% in the UK in 20132014, with an average amount raised of £199,095. Thirtyeight percent of investors were professional or high net worth individuals, who tended to have a larger average portfolio size (£8,000). For retail investors the average amount was only £4000. A key lesson from the UK relates to information provided by equity crowdfunding platforms. A study conducted by the UK Financial Conduct Authority noted that the material on some of the platforms was misleading, especially in terms of how shares would be treated in the event of a buyout. The platforms implied equal treatment when in fact they would be diluted in the event of a VC round. This issue will become more important as crowdfunding grows. In order to make crowdfunded investments more appealing to later investors, an increasing number of deals in Europe have prenegotiated clauses specifying that crowdfunders will be bought out at a set price in a later funding round. Interestingly almost 95% of the funded deals were eligible for the country’s angel tax credit programs, providing significant income tax relief and no capital gains tax on stock held more than three years.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 22 Although tax credits have proved useful in stimulating angel investing in the US, it is unlikely that they would be able to be used concurrently with crowd investments. As seen below, some states require a minimum investment well above the average crowdfunded amount. Others are open only to accredited investors or have almost impossible filing requirements for the business. This difficulty could be exacerbated when the SEC finalizes rules for Title III of the JOBS Act , allowing interstate investment along with instate programs. For instance, the business is required to file investor details with the state tax authority. Since only some investors would be instate, this quickly becomes burdensome. States also require different holding periods for equity, which would mean the business would have to keep track of which investors were allowed to sell and which were required to hold. Of course, a federal angel tax credit could quickly alleviate many of these issues.
Northern California vs. Saginaw Valley I’ve been making trips around the state talking about the unique aspects of BlueWater Angels. As an angel network, we apparently are quite innovative. I really didn’t realize the extent to which our industry relies on cookiecutter deal structures. That’s fine, since it leads to greater operating efficiencies, but it often leads to other problems. The trouble seems to be from not understanding where the tools of silicon valley apply and where there are strong differences in our markets that require different approaches. Read the rest of Ken’s Blog No where is the difference between the Silicon Valley and the Saginaw Valley startups more pronounced than in the gross margins the companies face. Software, delivered through the cloud, usually has a gross margin of over 90%. That means that startups may have high fixed costs but their followon funding is all about buying market share and generating sales…not providing production feasibility. The investments we see in Michigan have real production costs beyond the proof of concept and they have real working capital costs that need funding for the company to grow. This simple difference has profound consequences for the deals. First, when a company with a gross margin of 50% adds $1m of new sales it will need to finance inventory and receivables. In many cases A/R takes 90 days to clear and their is another 3 months of inventory carrying costs. That means the $1m of sales will require another $500k of working capital. We have to worry that growth will continually outstrip financing forcing more rounds and more dilution. Second, the most successful software startups go to market with an MVP that can be sold without complex integration in a another product. The greatest gadget for a car, for example, has a long complex riskadverse supply chain that must be penetrated. The carrying costs of production capacity necessary to prove capability must precede a long slow sales cycle adding to the capital requirements for the startup. Finally, the lower gross margin reflects real operating activities that can be a source of problems as materials and operations introduce new risks. In software, if it works today, it works tomorrow. Computers can be frustrating but they are always consistent. Once it works, it works. Bits don’t have supply shortages or quality control issues. So, BWA does business a little different at times but that’s probably a good idea. On a completely different front, the lobbying work the ACA has been doing in Washington is having an impact. Angels across the nation have put a full court press on Congress and they’ve been making themselves heard at the SEC. The threat of increasing the financial minimums to be an accredited investor may not be inflationadjusted (which would literally double the threshold). But the real big news is that as Congress has become more engaged the discussion has turned to how to get MORE angels, so there is now open discussions of adding other exemptions for competency based on education like accounting or legal degrees or even MBAs. God forbid, America might once again become a nation of capitalists.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 23
Apax and Palatine recognized at BVCA Investment Awards The awards, sponsored by Ramboll Environ and media partner Responsible Investor, were established in 2009 to recognise and celebrate outstanding Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) practices within the private equity and venture capital community. Entrants were divided into two groups: those with more than £1bn under management and those with less than £1bn. There are also two categories: one for ESG engagement with portfolio companies and another for the overall ESG framework in place at firm level. The winners of the BVCA Responsible Investment Awards 2015 are: Firms with more than £1bn under management Winner: Apax Category: Overall ESG framework Category: ESG engagement with portfolio companies The judges commented that Apax’s strong and aspirational submission demonstrated how seriously the firm takes responsible investment. Responsible investment was found to be fully integrated throughout the firm’s investment process with detailed questionnaires at entry to a portfolio firm as well as subsequent comprehensive action plans. The judges also remarked on the evident strong buyin from Apax’s leadership and commended interesting nuances such as the firm’s cooperation with the Carbon Trust. Firms with less than £1bn under management Winner: Palatine Private Equity Category: Overall ESG framework Category: ESG engagement with portfolio companies Palatine have continued to demonstrate an incredibly strong commitment to the improvement and evolution in their approach to responsible investment. It is ingrained in everything the firm does. The judges were particularly impressed by the use of independent reviews to rigorously assess Palatine’s ESG efforts, and the development of a continuous risk improvement process. The wide range of portfolio companies included in the submission only added to the impressiveness of their excellent entry. The BVCA Responsible Investment Awards was judged by an independent panel of institutional investors comprising: ● Patricia Hamzahee , Founder, Integriti Capital ● Jonathan Ord, Investment Manager, London Pensions Fund Authority ● Dushy Sivanithy, Principal, Pantheon ● Hugh Wheelan, Managing Editor and CoFounder, Responsible Investor ● David Williamson, Senior Environmental Adviser, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 24 Jeremy Lytle, Investor Relations Partner, ECI, and Chairman of the BVCA's Responsible Investment Committee, said: “The BVCA Responsible Investment Awards are the only awards of their type in Europe and were created to both showcase and applaud the commitment to Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance practices within UK private equity and venture capital. And that is exactly what we have done this year. Special congratulations to both Apax and Palatine for two truly outstanding entries, and they were very much reflective of the quality of submissions we received. They demonstrated that, regardless of firm size, responsible investment is now firmly embedded within the investment strategies of our industry, demonstrating a robust approach to ESG that is now characteristic across the board and making a positive and practical difference to businesses around the country.”
Talena is the new solution for massive data Even casual technology watchers know that organizations are awash in huge volumes of data. But we may not recognize the sheer scale of the numbers involved. It is estimated that 2.5 exabytes of data are created every day. To put that into perspective, the amount of all digital information generated prior to 2003 was a mere 5 exabytes in total. In fact, 90% of the world’s data was created in the last two years alone, and that growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing. With all of this data, just 0.5% is currently analyzed, and that percentage is shrinking as more data is collected. This data is coming from many sources such as machine logs, mobile devices, physical sensors, and even cars and satellites. Thanks to new big data frameworks like Hadoop and Spark, NoSQL data stores like Cassandra, and modern data warehouses like HP Vertica, this data can now be managed and analyzed for insight at huge scale. These applications start as small projects and quickly grow to large production clusters, and the data becomes more critical as companies begin to rely on it. With this growth and reliance of data within one application comes a need to protect and manage it, and companies are only now beginning to face up to that. This is where Talena comes in. Talena is not just about backup, which is generally regarded as an insurance policy by IT departments. Data is now regarded as a strategic asset but due to the sheer size, exploiting this asset has become difficult. That is where Talena’s story resonated with Canaan. Talena is the first to focus on Big Data workloads, which have a fundamentally different set of requirements for data availability management including: ● They are 100x the size of traditional environments, sometimes scaling to petabytes. A data management product must scale horizontally and elastically to support this volume. ● They are often distributed across thousands of nodes. Deploying an agent on each node to copy data for backup, archiving, or even test/development management is clearly unmanageable. A far better approach is needed. ● They can handle petabytes of data, so storage optimization is particularly important. A storage optimization process must accommodate the variety of data formats that now power a modern application portfolio. For example, compressing a Cassandra database is fundamentally different from compressing a Hive database.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 25 ●
They are data aware as well as file aware. For Big Data, a data management solution must also be data aware, not just file aware, so that it can effectively back up and recover data at a granular level. The Talena solution delivers an entirely new architecture that overcomes the limitations inherent in traditional data management operations. Via the Talena software environment, companies can implement multiple workflows including test/dev management, backup and recovery, archiving, and disaster recovery. The CEO/cofounder, Nitin Donde came from senior engineering roles at 3Par, EMC and AsterData. The rest of the team has a pedigree from great companies like Hortonworks, Couchbase, Sumo Logic, and NetApp. We are excited to welcome the Talena team to Canaan and look forward to a great journey together.
SaaS Metrics now becoming simple As the softwareasaservice business model is rapidly becoming the business model of choice for new software companies, executive teams are continually challenged by the metrics they should be using to gauge their performance. The best work we have read on this subject is a paper by the good folk at Bessemer Venture Partners. The paper is entitled “Bessemer’s Top 10 Laws of Cloud Computing and SaaS” and can be found at http://www.bvp.com/cloud . Another excellent piece on this subject is by David Skok at Matrix Partners , and can be found at http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saasmetrics/ . In our opinion, both these pieces are a must read for all SaaS executives and entrepreneurs. However, for early stage companies, what if you don’t have enough data to really have robust metrics mentioned in the above articles? The acronyms can be a little intimidating: CMRR, CPipe, FCF, CAC, LTV, CLTV, ACV, ARPU, COGS, GAAP Revenues and others – Renewal Rate, Churn, Growth Rate, Bookings, Revenue per employee, Expenses per employee, Profitability per employee! It eis tough being a B2B startup CEO! Should they focus on building their business, motivating their employees, hiring, enhancing their management team, closing deals, or managing so many metrics? It is a unique, but very real dilemma. We fundamentally believe that there are six metrics every SaaS company MUST track. We believe that the data required to do this requires the bare minimum that every company must have from day one. 1. CMRR or Committed Monthly Recurring Revenue: This is the new “bookings”. For the best definition on CMRR (different from MRR in that it is increased by new contracts going into production and reduced by the churn (see below)), see the Bessemer paper. The CMRR MUST ALWAYS BE INCREASING. The growth rate of your CMRR is your real growth rate. CMRR must also ONLY INCLUDE RECURRING SOFTWARE REVENUE. It should not include one off deals, services deals or any other “outof –theordinaryneeddealbecauseitisstrategicbutdoesnotfitintobusinessmodel” deal. Pure software. Pure recurring. Simple. 2. Churn: There are two kinds of churn that must be measured after Year 1. The first is customer churn and the second is revenue churn. Even in Year 1, the focus should ALWAYS be on those customers and those deals that you think will derive lasting value from your product. 3. Why is Churn important? Lets use numbers to illustrate this. Suppose your CMRR is $100,000. And you are growing (in terms of NEW CMRR) at 15%. So, in a normal situation your CMRR should be $115,000. But if your revenue churn is 20%, that makes your entering CMRR $80,000. So, your
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 26
4.
5.
6.
new CMRR, after churn, is now $95,000, a DECLINE of only 5%. This gets even worse if you are not growing. A revenue churn rate of less than 10% is an absolute MUST. In terms of customer churn rate, every company must identify its key customers, and ensure that the churn rate on those is less than 5%. For example, if your CMRR is $100,000, losing a customer with $1000 in CMRR, is far less critical than one with a CMRR of $10,000. Cash flow is a critical metric. You should always know your exact burn rate, and how many months you have before you require more funding or are profitable. Any entrepreneur who does not have this information at their fingertips at all times will not succeed. This is not to suggest that you have a full time CFO from day one, but you must have a financial controller who you trust explicitly. Over time, you must follow other key metrics like CAC as well. The next 3 metrics can all be categorized together – they are revenue, expenses and profitability per employee. Needless to say, as a business achieves true scale, revenue and profitability per employee needs to be going up, and expenses per employee must be going down. The CEO should divide this into revenue per R&D employee and Sales employee as well.
First enterprise customers – revenue or user engagement? Since we are seed investors in enterprise technology, I am often asked this question. The answer on the surface seems quite obvious — generate as much revenue as you can to prove that customers find value and are willing to pay. My answer is the less obvious one — focus first on user engagement and the revenue and bookings will follow. Wait, isn’t user engagement more of a consumer metric? It is, but it is equally as important to focus on this metric in the enterprise. No matter what business you are in, you need to ensure that your ultimate customer (the end user) is happy and absolutely loves using your product. I have seen countless situations where a startup extracts initial dollars topdown from an enterprise but ultimately cannot get traction because the end users don’t love the product. Without love of product there is no user engagement, and without user engagement, there is no longterm customer. This is especially important in the age of SaaS as switching costs are quite low for substitute solutions. This is also the reason why next to VP of Sales, I would argue a VP of Customer Happiness/Success is a crucial hire. One is for generating new revenue and the other is for expanding existing customers and reducing churn. It is also why a number of companies have been created to help understand and monitor user engagement in the enterprise to proactively determine issues before they happen (totango, gainsight, and preact — full disclosure, my fund is an investor) What is user engagement in the enterprise? When understanding initial customer traction, we like to understand how a product/solution can/will become a daily habit for the user. It is pretty clear that the more an end user interacts with the product the more important it becomes and ultimately the more value it provides. Another important metric to optimize for would be expansion of users within an existing account. In other words, how do you sell into one user and create viral loops (sharing dashboards, etc) and expand the active user base for the product. Once again, this sounds like a consumer metric but quite an important one —the more people that use it the more it becomes part of the ingrained workflow creating more value. The challenge sometimes is that many enterprise tech companies are designed to work in the background, invisibly to automate tasks or aggregate data to reduce noise. If your tech is seamlessly analyzing data in
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 27 the background, you need to find ways to show the user how awesome your product is by either sending alerts or creating some other eye candy to remind the user that your product is working and important. I have seen a few of our portfolio companies implement some simple changes regarding this and see their usage increase significantly. So to recap, revenue matters but the path starts with optimizing for the end user in the enterprise and focusing on engagement. Once you create happy end users who love your product, the revenue will follow.
Revenues kill the dream I was on the phone yesterday with the CEO of one of our portfolio companies, and we were talking about goals for the next few months and in particular, what the company needed to get a Series A done. Her answer was quite simply “make the product delightful.” She continued: “I want to iterate to continue to make the product faster, better, and easier to use. I want to get the user to the “a ha” moment even faster.” And with that I knew that she got it. The company paid user base is already growing rapidly but rather than focus on a couple of features that can boost MRR in the near term, she would rather focus on the longer term. This reminds me of a quote from Yossi Vardi, founding investor in ICQ (creators of IM and sold to AOL). “Revenues kill the dream.” It may sound counterintuitive but what Yossi is really saying is don’t sacrifice long term opportunity for short term revenue.
Why Celebrating Fundraising is Dangerous I always get a little suspicious of founders that celebrate raising money a bit too much. It’s probably our Midwest roots that say “Don’t talk about yourself.” And the media coverage of fundraising further perpetuates the cycle, but fundraising can be eyepopping and eyeballs still sell. On the positive side of the fence, closing a fundraise is an accomplishment. It means there is some external market validation of you, your team, the productmarket fit and of course the potential. “See, Mom? This wasn’t that dumb of an idea!!” On the negative side of the fence there is the harsh, twobyfour in the face reality of ‘now the work begins’. The more you trumpet how great you are, the bigger the target on your back. There is a balance and there absolutely should be celebration of your accomplishment. Just do it with your team. And a neighbor or two. Speed and stealth is a way to take the market by storm. Heads down and happy. Cash never solves problems by itself, but it can certainly create and amplify new and old ones. Used wisely, it can truly be the fuel your company needs to go to the moon. The day after raising money should be not just back to work. It should also allow for bigger thinking. “What if we added a zero to this month’s expected sales? What would that take?” Imagine achieving that goal…that is something to celebrate. Having cash in the bank should make you think like that. “What if by year end we could double sales? What about 10x by the end of 2016? What resources do we really need to make that happen and by when?” You might just surprise yourself and hit those new, bigger goals. Zenefits, in May of 2014, asked the question, what if we moved this year’s sales goals from $10M to $20M ? What would it take? Then they figured out what it would take at day 1, week 1, and months 1 through eight to hit $20M.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 28 And they nailed it. Look where they are now — likely doing $10M a month in sales. Think backward about how to utilize cash to make those BHAGs reality. Not having cash sharpens your day to day focus. Having it can do the opposite. As Marc Andreessen always has said there are two emotions a founder experiences: “Euphoria and Terror”. We know that. Euphoria at a fundraise is real. Terror kicks in when you realize the expectations that money can come saddled with. Having cash should free your thinking and your actions and provide some breathing room to continue to build what got you here in the first place. But it is not the time to put your feet up and exhale. There are loads of startups in the ditch that got too comfortable, didn’t think big enough, and did not realize the opportunity in front of them. The work is truly just starting. Every day you aren’t throwing everything you’ve got towards growth is a day you’re destroying value. But you now have a bigger platform to launch from. And more ammo for the ride. Just don’t celebrate it so loudly.
Smart Growth The natural tendency of a startup is to grow. Everything is up and to the right when starting from scratch. Often, it’s easy to get caught up in the flurry of activity without truly producing results that drive your business forward. No startup takes a direct path to success, even the ones that look like it from the outside have daily strife and major roadblocks they have overcome. But some startups make it a lot harder on themselves by building brick by brick, before realizing six months later they don’t like what they’re seeing in the rearview mirror. And those bricks can be anything — business partnerships, talking to investors, building product, hiring, or talking to other CEOs. If those actions are not driving your core business metrics forward, it’s fake work . With so many potential roadblocks, what should you be spending your time on? What is the ultimate indicator of success for a startup? In the public markets, if you want to get there, it’s cash flow. And that will come. But you can’t have cash flow without revenue, so that is the metric that should guide nearly every decision a startup makes. Even companies like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat have that guiding principle in mind. For those companies, the question is when to generate revenue, but every activity they undertake every day is geared to grow the KPIs that will eventually maximize revenue, and cash flow, one day. Snapchat wouldn’t be able to charge advertisers some of the highest rates in the industry without first spending years building an incredibly engaged and growing consumer base with enticing demographics for advertisers. WhatsApp couldn’t have monetized even for $1 a year/user prior to building the network that allowed users to skip SMS texting and communicate almost solely over the app. For B2C and B2B companies, the question you should ask yourselves daily isn’t “Are we growing?” but instead “Are we growing smart?” Could you devote more salespeople and grow profitably twice as fast — could you build out product and sell a higher dollar contract to more customers? Is it smart to go from $1M to $10M in sales this year, and is it smarter to aim for $20M (and hit it) ? The advice we give our founders, and if you’ve read any posts on our blog previously you’ve probably seen it, is that salves solves all. Revenue (and cash) in the door solve almost every problem a company can have. So, if you’re looking in the rearview mirror and wondering what went wrong, or looking ahead and wondering which direction to take, the best option is probably to follow the revenue. Listen to what your customers (not just one, but many) are saying, build what they’re willing to pay for. They might care about something entirely different than you, but your business is reliant on their satisfaction. With capital flooding the venture markets, it’s easy for companies to spend money on the wrong things, to invite the wrong partners into their business, and to raise too much money for the stage of their business. When all else goes to sh**, in your industry, the capital markets, with your cofounder, or otherwise, those companies that generate meaningful growth and significant revenue and cash flows are the ones that will be around, and have all the leverage they could ever want. I liked this quote pulled out of a fun interview I had
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 29 with the Rocketship.fm team recently, and it spurred me to write this post — “If it doesn’t directly correlate with revenue, cut it.” Don’t spend the time, the money, or the energy focused on things that don’t generate revenue, or correlate directly with revenue generation either today or down the road. If you do just that one thing, you’re growing smart.
12 Companies Get Funding Through Element 8 12 Companies Get Funding Through Element 8 New and followon investments fuel growth in range of clean technologies SEATTLE (June 19, 2015), So far this year Element 8 members have invested $1.4 million in 12 companies (both new and followon) with several more in the due diligence stage, the organization announced today. Since its founding in 2006, Element 8 members have invested more than $20 million in nearly 60 companies. Investments spanned a number of categories from renewable energy, to water technology, energy efficiency, green chemicals and green building. Investments in renewable energy production and storage include: ConnectDER (www.connectder.com); Empower Micro Systems (www.empowermicro.com), Axiom Exergy (www.axiomexergy.com) and WISErg (http://www.wiserg.com); and Energy Storage Systems (www.energystoragesystems.com). Additionally, Element 8 members invested in energy efficiency with Intellihot (www.intellihot.com), Indow (www.indowwindows.com) and SparkFund (www.sparkfund.co); water technology with APANA (www.apana.com) and PotaVida (http://www.potavida.com); green chemicals with TBF Environmental Technology (www.tbfenvironmental.com); and green building with Green Canopy Homes (www.greencanopyhomes.com). “We continue to see strong interest in gridrelated technologies,” said Bill Lemon, cochair of Element 8. “From technology to produce clean energy, to batteries to store it and to technologies and funds to more efficiently consume it, it’s clear that as renewable energy gains marketshare, the industry is responding with increased innovation.” Element 8 is comprised of angel investors from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond, themselves successful executives and entrepreneurs, who provide investment capital, contacts and strategic advice to help earlystage companies achieve market success. Members, whether seasoned investors or new angels, gain access to quality deal flow and the tools for successful investing. Cooperative due diligence, a powerful business network, and relevant, timely education allow members to make individual investment decisions, and to build a unique and diverse portfolio that matches their interests and goals. “Element 8 is the ‘goto’ group for early stage clean tech companies,” said Kristi Growdon, executive director of Element 8. “Our portfolio companies tell us that no other group has quite the same level of understanding of the space, connections and the willingness to be an active partner in the success of the venture. The variety of technologies we’ve invested in so far reflects that sentiment.” About Element 8 Founded in 2006 as Northwest Energy Angels and renamed Element 8 in 2014, the organization was the first angel investment group in North America to focus exclusively on cleantech, and continues to be a leading funder of early stage companies across the continent. Element 8’s accredited investors are committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through clean technologies. Element 8 partners with outstanding entrepreneurs to build successful companies, and leverages its members’ collective expertise to accelerate the transition to a cleaner future and better world. To date, members have invested more than $20 million in nearly 60 companies in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Montana, New York, Oregon, Washington, Washington, D.C. and British Columbia, Canada.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 30 More information is available at: www.element8angels.com .
79 extraordinary Women of Influence for 2016 The New York Business Journal has named its second class of honorees for its Women of Influence Awards, and 79 extraordinary women made the cut. Earlier this fall, we put a call out to our readers to nominate female business leaders in the New York City area who innovate, succeed and pay it forward — with a heavy emphasis on that last part. We were looking for women who have demonstrated a track record of success in their businesses or careers, and who also put a premium on mentoring those around them and supporting the next generation of women in business. Among the new class of honorees: Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chavez, Partnership for New York City president and CEO Kathryn Wylde, GlamSquad CEO Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Skylight Group founder and CEO Jennifer Blumin, startup investor Joanne Wilson, and Yahoo chief revenue officer Lisa Utzschneider. We will honor this year’s winners at a luncheon to be held Jan. 20. If you are interested in attending, you can find more information here . Our Women of Influence program is part of a national effort by American City Business Journals — the premier company in the country devoted to the reporting of local business news — to identify and celebrate women business leaders and to foster business environments that will create even more successful women in the future. To take a look at last year's impressive group of honorees, click here . In the weeks ahead, readers will learn more about our Women of Influence. Please stay tuned. Upcoming Events Women of Influence January 20, 2016 See More Events Congratulations to all our winners: ● Christina M. Alfonso, founder and CEO, Madeira Global ● Carol Barash, founder and CEO, Story2 ● Christina Bechhold, cofounder, managing director, Empire Angels ● Deborah Bial, founder and president, The Posse Foundation ● Naama Bloom , founder and CEO, HelloFlo ● Rachel Wilkins Blum, founder and CEO, Conception Events LLC ● Jennifer Blumin, founder and CEO, Skylight Group ● Rebecca Cenni, founder and CEO, Atrium Staffing ● Anna Maria Chavez, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA ● Lauren CoapeArnold, vice president, corporate social responsibility, Guggenheim Partners ● Susan L. Combs , president, Combs & Company ● Asha Curran, director, Center for Innovation & Social Impact, 92 Street Y ● Susan Daimler, vice president and general manager, Streeteasy and Zillow NYC
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 31 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Kiana Danial, CEO and coach, InvestDiva.com Susan Danziger, founder and CEO, Ziggeo Kirsten Flanik, managing director, BBDO NY Jayne Fleming, pro bono counsel, Reed Smith Nely Galan, founder, Galan Entertainment/Adelante Movement Adrienne Garland, founder, Womancon Sharna Goldseker, executive director, 21/64 Gail Gottehrer, partner, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP Carrie Hammer, founder, Carrie Hammer Custom Apparel Clare Hart, CEO, Sterlingbackcheck Leith Hill, CEO at Wisdom Foods LLC, owner at Ellary's Greens Laura Hinds, chairman, Women's Luxury Guild Lisa Humbert, EVP, chief info risk officer, BNY Mellon Julie Kampf, CEO and president, JBK Associates International Inc. Kim Kaupe, cofounder, ZinePak Karin Klein, partner, Bloomberg Beta Julia Landauer, CEO, Julia Landauer Racing LLC Lauren LeaderChivee, cofounder and CEO, All In Together Julie Levi, president and founder, Progressive Promotions, Inc. Anna Ly, sr. manager, business and creative tech partnerships, Sesame Workshop Jennifer Markas, founder, Damsels in Design Colleen Mcintosh, SVP, corporate secretary, assistant general counsel, CVS Health Corp. Mary Kate McGrath, editorinchief, PureWow Katie MichaelBattaglia, design director, Nemo Tile Christina Minardi, president Northeast region, Whole Foods Market Tamara Nall, president and CEO, The Leading Niche Mari Kim Novak, chief marketing officer, Rubicon Project Mary Nittolo, president, The Studio Carin Pai, executive vice president, Fiduciary Trust Company International Georgette Pascale, CEO, Pascale Communications Michele Penzer, partner, Latham & Watkins LLP Joanne Podell, vice chairman, Cushman & Wakefield Alexandra Sandra Poe, partner, Reed Smith Sarina Prabasi, CEO, WaterAid America Margarette Purvis, president and CEO, Food Bank for New York City Carol Raimo, managing director, Protiviti Jennifer Rhodes, agent, Ideal Properties Group Lorey Flick Roberts, principal, ADS Engineers Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, founder and CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen Dagmar RosaBjorkeson, EVP, president of Biosimilars, Baxalta Eren Rosenfeld, managing director, global head of talent development, BlackRock Sandy Rubinstein, CEO, DXagency Lisa Balter Saacks, VP global business development, Gust Jordan Salcito, founder, Bellus Wines, and beverage director and sommelier, Momofuku Viktoria Sater, president, Viktoria's Gourmet Foods Josephine Savastano, regional VP, senior VP, Wells Fargo Judith SchumacherTilton, president, Tilton Automotive Group Mona ScottYoung, founder and CEO, Monami Entertainment LLC
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 32 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Christine Sfeir, CEO, Semsom Leslie Short, CEO and president, K.I.M. Media LLC Cynthia Shoss , partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP Luvleen Sidhu, chief strategy and marketing officer, Bankmobile Daria Siegel, VP, economic development at Alliance for Downtown New York; director, LMHQ Monique Skruzny, founding partner, MBS Value Partners Tara Stacom, executive vice chairman, Cushman & Wakefield Leigh Stein, author, copresident, Out of the Binders Inc. Lisa Utzschneider, chief revenue officer, Yahoo Karen van Bergen, CEO and senior partner, Porter Novelli Jill Vitiello, founder and president, Vitiello Communications Group Lynn O'Connor Vos, CEO, Grey Healthcare Group Pelli Wang, venture director, SeedInvest Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, CEO, GlamSquad Joanne Wilson, owner, cofounder, Gotham Gal Ventures, Women's Entrepreneurship Festival Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO, Partnership for New York City Tiffany Yu, director, REVOLT Media & TV
Bootstrapping as an ART Funding is one of the biggest challenges and often a deterrent for most business founders. Insufficient funding is the primary reason why 80% of businesses fail within the first 18 months. There are at least 4 options to secure funding for businesses to achieve their goals and objectives. Option 1: Venture Capital can be used to raise large amounts of capital from organizations, typically in exchange for equity and rapid growth. This can be a daunting and time consuming experience for the founder. Option 2: Angel investors can be leveraged to raise limited amounts of capital from highnetworth individuals, typically in exchange for equity and/or profit sharing. Option 3: Government and private sector grants are sometimes available and usually involve a lengthy application process. Option 4: Bootstrapping is the art of creative financing or alternate approaches to start a business with little or no money. Bootstrapping is often associated with organic growth and high personal risk. Christina Bechold, one of the founders of Empire Angels , recently hosted a fireside chat at the impressive Samsung Accelerator location on the Art of Bootstrapping. Two successful NYC cofounders shared their experience that bootstrapping can be a realistic and rewarding experience. Tze Chun, founder of Uprise Art , is passionate about providing art for spaces where you live and work. Her online gallery features artwork by the best emerging artists, and makes collecting original art easier and more affordable. Tze was featured in Forbes.com, Martha Stewart, Under30CEO and Marie Claire. Will Nathan, cofounder and chairman of Homepolish , is determined to make your space beautiful. His interior design startup brings top decorating talent into homes and offices across the country. Will’s work at BuzzFeed as a frontend software developer was featured in Mashable, AdAge, and Digiday. Tze and Will inspired us with their creative financing options to external fundraising. They have succeeded in building sustainable seven figure businesses without the help of venture capital firms or significant angel investment. Both Tze and Will began with inspiration and an investment of less than $1,000. They each made a conscious choice early on to bootstrap and currently remain inspired to stay the course.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 33 Bootstrapping can be an attractive option for startups, as it offers founders the luxury of keeping their equity, time, and control of decisions. Time not spent pitching for funding can be reinvested to develop a superior product and service. Often the minimum viable product (MVP) can be delivered faster to enable customer acquisition and drive revenue. Bootstrapping also incents founders to be aware of all resources available to them and to be adept at managing them in optimal and creative ways. Every investment is a complex decision with tradeoffs. Every decision matters, whether it is personnel, financial, product, or physical. “We think about sustainability on a daily basis,” noted Tze. Tze and Will candidly shared the creative financing options that worked for them. ● personal savings ● friends and family round ● a small business loan from Bond Street ● acquiring talent by compensating for dollars with titles or options ● lean team and operations Will also commented on the pitfalls of bootstrapping. ● It can feel quiet and lonely in the beginning without the instant credibility of a VC investment ● You have to wear many hats, some which you haven’t worn before ● There are tax disincentives associated with bootstrapping Of course, it takes much more than financing to succeed. Perseverance, hard work, relationships, trust, and passion for the customer play a critical role in building a sustainable business. “…We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.” – Mother Teresa.
E.coli and Salmonella detection in the food industry Ten teams from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are currently participating in a business accelerator program created by the Enterprise Institute and funded by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. The teams are comprised of mix of students, faculty, and entrepreneursinresidence. The South Dakota Engineering Accelerator is focused on highgrowth business creation and the commercialization of engineeringfocused projects from the university system and the general public. One team in the accelerator is developing a new technology which could prevent millions of illnesses due to foodborne pathogens each year. “We, Module Innovations, are developing bacteria sensing strips for food processing industries which help them by providing rapid, onsite detection of pathogenic bacteria. These color changing strips will be accurate and reliable without any instrument and trained manpower,” explained Vivek Agarwal. Vivek, a graduate student in the Materials Engineering and Science Program at SDSM&T, has been working on this project for a year now. “I visited one of the health centers in India and found that slow diagnostic techniques cause a lot of suffering due to related to health issues. I also read articles about recalls of food due to contamination and loss of millions of dollars that companies have to face,” said Viviek. “With the help of my undergraduate level background in Nanobiotechnology, we came up with the idea of making a rapid diagnostic test.” While attending graduate school in Rapid City, Vivek is also able to work remotely with his team in India to further develop the prototype of the bacteria sensing strips. “As an engineer, I know the technical details of our project. But I felt that to commercialize our product, I need to know more about business side of it. So, I decided to join South Dakota Engineering Accelerator,” explained Vivek. “The most valuable thing we’ve
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 34 realized in the program is that we need to know our market really well before thinking of commercialization. Our next business step for the project is to do the market study really well and estimate the cost of our product in real world.”
Computer science students create a mobile application to streamline communication when going out with friends Ten teams from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are currently participating in a business accelerator program created by the Enterprise Institute and funded by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. The teams are comprised of mix of students, faculty, and entrepreneursinresidence. The South Dakota Engineering Accelerator is focused on highgrowth business creation and the commercialization of engineeringfocused projects from the university system and the general public. Five students from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Charles Bonn, Johnathan Ackerman, Joseph Mowry, Daniel Andrus, and Evan Hammer, make up one of the teams participating in the Engineering Accelerator program. These computer science students are in the process of developing a mobile application which will simplify the system of communication between groups of friends when going out. The team’s project is appropriately named Crowd Control, as it will allow friends to ease their experiences of going out in groups. “The idea for our project came to mind when a evening out didn’t go as planned,” explained the team. The logistics of getting a large group of friends can oftentimes be confusing, especially with group texts that can be frustrating to navigate. It can also be worrisome to get seperated from your group in crowded locations or to be unable to find your group in a large area. For these reasons, the team will be integrating features that will offer users seamless group messaging and GPS location of their party. According to the team, Crowd Control has been in the works for about six months now. They chose to participate in the South Dakota Engineering Accelerator in order to help them further their idea and to be able to make potential users aware that Crowd Control will soon be able to simplify their experiences going out with friends. The team agreed that they most valuable thing they’ve learned so far in the accelerator is the different legal aspects of entrepreneurship that they must consider when launching their idea. As a team, their next business step is to develop their minimum viable product in order to test their idea in the market for their mobile app. About the Enterprise Institute: The Enterprise Institute began in 2001 when a group of business leaders and entrepreneurs decided to help identify and launch highgrowth businesses in South Dakota. The mission of the Enterprise Institute is to encourage and assist the establishment of growth enterprises in the state. Since 2006, the nonprofit has organized and currently administers seven member managed angel investment funds in the state of South Dakota. To date, the funds include over 130 individual accredited investors and have raised over $7,500,000 to invest in startup companies in the state and region. About the Blackstone Charitable Foundation: The Blackstone Charitable Foundation was founded at the time of Blackstone’s IPO in 2007 with substantial commitments from the Firm’s employees. Influenced by the enterprising heritage of the firm and its founders, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation is directing its resources and applying the intellectual capital of the
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 35 firm to foster entrepreneurship in areas nationwide and globally. Through its investment expertise across several asset classes and geographies, Blackstone has a unique perspective on the global economy and a heightened understanding of how entrepreneurial activity is often the crucial catalyst in the growth of successful businesses, industries, and communities.
Welcoming Beth Steinberg to Felicis Ventures as a Key Advisor for Talent and People Operations Pursuing the right talent along with building a unique, sustainable company culture should be top of mind for every CEO. So important in fact that in two surveys we conducted among our portfolio companies, it was highlighted as one of the most crucial areas where we can help. We listened and sought out one of the most experienced and respected executives in this field: Beth Steinberg . We’re very excited to announce that Beth has joined Felicis Ventures as Senior Advisor for Talent and People Operations. Beth will assist us in offering our companies strategic advice in critical areas like attracting top talent and developing a scalable company culture in a high growth environment. Beth is an incredibly talented individual who dedicated nearly her entire career to developing successful organizational and people operations strategies partnering with exceptional leaders. She served as the first VP of Human Resources at Facebook, then as VP Talent & Organization Development at Sunrun (IPO) and next as SVP, People Operations at Brightroll (acquired by Yahoo). We have relied on Beth’s counsel not only to address our founders’ organizational challenges, but also to pursue awesome technology solutions to reinvent people analytics and operations. Beth’s unique insights reinforced our efforts to make some of our most strategic bets in this space, including Greenhouse and CultureAmp. Without a doubt, she will continue to have a tremendous positive impact on the people within the Felicis community, and beyond. We couldn’t be more excited to have her on board.
Welcoming Harley Finkelstein, Chief Platform Officer at Shopify, to our Founder Advisory Council At Felicis, we have long believed that great companies can be built anywhere in the world, aided by the democratization of access to capital, customers and talent. We have been fortunate to back companies based in 11 different countries. We also recognize that Silicon Valley remains the central hub for entrepreneurship; founders come here, against all odds, leaving behind everything known to them, to start something new. Unsurprisingly, immigrant founders founded 52% of all new Silicon Valley companies between 1995 and 2005. True to our DNA, Felicis founders hail from over 29 countries. Our founders have told us that support from someone who has been in their shoes is invaluable. That is why we are thrilled to announce that Harley Finkelstein, Chief Platform Officer at Shopify, has agreed to join our Founder Advisory Council. Welcoming Harley to this role will allow our founders to learn from one of the most talented operators in our portfolio. We strongly believe that deepening our team’s operational experience is one of the best ways we can serve our founders as they build great companies.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 36 A former attorney, Harley took a nontraditional path to become one of Shopify’s earliest employees, eventually helping to grow the company to power over 150,000 merchants. We have been privileged to support Harley as he and Tobi, Shopify’s CEO, led the company to become one of Canada’s epic tech success stories. Harley is a special person. Warm and personable, he is a great hustler, community builder and operator. Shopify’s Build a Business competition is a strong testament to that effect. It has grown under his leadership from 1,378 new businesses launched in the first annual competition, to more than 21,000 in last year’s competition. With five portfolio companies based in Canada, plus close to another half dozen in the US with Canadian founders, Felicis is deliberately long on Canada. We look forward to having Harley as our eyes and ears for the best Canadian companies yet to come.
Agios Announces Initiation of Phase 1b Frontline Trial of AG221 or AG120 in Combination with Intensive Chemotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Patients CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc., (NASDAQ:AGIO), a leader in the fields of cancer metabolism and rare genetic metabolic disorders, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1b, multicenter, international, openlabel study of AG221 or AG120 in combination with induction and consolidation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation who are eligible for intensive chemotherapy. AG221 and AG120 are firstinclass, oral, selective, potent inhibitors of mutant IDH2 and IDH1, respectively, and are being developed in collaboration with Celgene. "The fiveyear survival rate for AML is just 20 to 25 percent, and treatment options for newly diagnosed AML patients have not changed in decades," said Courtney DiNardo, M.D., lead investigator and assistant professor, department of leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "By combining a targeted therapy such as AG221 or AG120 with standardofcare intensive chemotherapy in the newly diagnosed setting, we have the potential to provide significant clinical benefit early in the course of treatment." "Having established favorable safety profiles and durable single agent response rates for AG221 and AG120 in advanced AML, we believe there is a compelling case to evaluate our IDH mutant inhibitors in the frontline setting with standard of care," said Chris Bowden, M.D., chief medical officer of Agios. "Our goal is to advance AG221 and AG120 as rapidly as possible in a broad population in order to bring better treatment options to patients in need. This study is the first wave of our frontline strategy, with a second trial, being conducted by Celgene, combining our IDH mutant inhibitors with VIDAZA(R) in patients not eligible for intensive chemotherapy planned for the first quarter of 2016." About the Phase 1b Frontline Combination Trial of AG221 or AG120 in Newly Diagnosed AML Patients Eligible for Intensive Chemotherapy The Phase 1b, multicenter, international, openlabel clinical trial will evaluate the safety and clinical activity of AG221 or AG120 in combination with induction and consolidation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed AML with an IDH2 and/or IDH1 mutation who are eligible for intensive chemotherapy. The study will evaluate continuous dosing for up to one year with AG221 administered at an initial oral dose of 100 mg once daily in patients with an IDH2 mutation or AG120 administered at an initial oral dose of 500 mg once daily in patients with an IDH1 mutation. AG221 or AG120 will be administered with two types of AML induction therapies (cytarabine with either daunorubicin or idarubicin) and two types of AML consolidation therapies (mitoxantrone with etoposide [ME] or cytarabine). The primary endpoint of the trial is to determine safety and
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 37 tolerability, and the secondary endpoints include: characterization of pharmacokinetics, establishment of the recommended Phase 2 dose, and evaluation of 2HG levels and clinical activity of the combination with standard induction. This study is open for enrollment and will include approximately twenty centers that will enroll up to 90 patients. All patients will receive induction therapy in combination with AG120 or AG221. Patients who achieve a complete remission (CR), CR with incomplete platelet recovery (CRp) or CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi) at the end of induction therapy will go on to receive consolidation therapy. Following consolidation therapy, patients may continue on maintenance therapy and receive daily treatment with AG120 or AG221 for up to one year, until relapse, development of an unacceptable toxicity or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Please refer to www.clinicaltrials.gov details. About Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) AML, a cancer of blood and bone marrow characterized by rapid disease progression, is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults. Undifferentiated blast cells proliferate in the bone marrow rather than mature into normal blood cells. AML incidence significantly increases with age, and according to the American Cancer Society, the median age of onset is 66. Less than 10 percent of U.S. AML patients are eligible for bone marrow transplant, and the vast majority of patients do not respond to chemotherapy and progress to relapsed/refractory AML. The fiveyear survival rate for AML is approximately 20 to 25 percent. IDH2 mutations are present in about 9 to 13 percent of AML cases. About IDH Mutations and Cancer IDH1 and IDH2 are two metabolic enzymes that are mutated in a wide range of hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, including AML. Normally, IDH enzymes help to break down nutrients and generate energy for cells. When mutated, IDH increases production of an oncometabolite 2hydroxyglutarate (2HG) that alters the cells' epigenetic programming, thereby promoting cancer. 2HG has been found to be elevated in several tumor types. Agios believes that inhibition of the mutated IDH proteins may lead to clinical benefit for the subset of cancer patients whose tumors carry them. About Agios/Celgene Collaboration AG221, AG120 and AG881 are part of Agios' global strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation. Under the terms of the collaboration, Celgene has worldwide development and commercialization rights for AG221 (CC90007). Agios continues to conduct clinical development activities within the AG221 development program and is eligible to receive up to $120 million in payments on achievement of certain milestones and royalties on net sales. For AG120, Agios retains U.S. development and commercialization rights and Celgene retains development and commercialization rights outside the U.S. Celgene is eligible to receive royalties on net sales in the U.S. Agios is eligible to receive royalties on net sales outside the U.S. and up to $120 million in payments on achievement of certain milestones. For AG881, the companies have a joint worldwide development and 50/50 profit share collaboration, and Agios is eligible to receive regulatory milestone payments of up to $70 million. About Agios Agios is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat cancer and rare genetic metabolic disorders through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism. In addition to an active research and discovery pipeline across both therapeutic areas, Agios has multiple firstinclass investigational medicines in clinical and/or preclinical development. All Agios programs focus on genetically identified patient populations, leveraging our knowledge of metabolism, biology and genomics. For more information, please visit the company's website at agios.com. Cautionary Note Regarding ForwardLooking Statements This press release contains forwardlooking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forwardlooking statements include those regarding the potential benefits of Agios' product candidates targeting IDH mutations, including AG221 and AG120; its plans and timelines for the clinical development of AG221 and AG120; and the benefit of its strategic plans and focus. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "potential," "possible," "hope," "could," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forwardlooking statements, although not all forwardlooking statements contain these identifying words. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from Agios' current expectations and beliefs. For example, there can be no guarantee that any product candidate Agios is developing will successfully commence or complete necessary preclinical and clinical development
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 38 phases, or that development of any of Agios' product candidates will successfully continue. There can be no guarantee that any positive developments in Agios' business will result in stock price appreciation. Management's expectations and, therefore, any forwardlooking statements in this press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to a number of other important factors, including: Agios' results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. FDA and other regulatory authorities, investigational review boards at clinical trial sites and publication review bodies; Agios' ability to obtain and maintain requisite regulatory approvals and to enroll patients in its planned clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; competitive factors; Agios' ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for any product candidates it is developing; Agios' ability to maintain key collaborations, such as its agreement with Celgene; and general economic and market conditions. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Agios' Quarterly Report on Form 10Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, and other filings that Agios may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. Any forwardlooking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Agios expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Jonathan Yingling, new Chief Scientific Officer at Bind Therapeutics CAMBRIDGE, Mass.(BUSINESS WIRE)BIND Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIND), a clinicalstage nanomedicine company developing targeted and programmable therapeutics called ACCURINS(R), today announced the appointment of Jonathan Yingling, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. In this position, Dr. Yingling will be responsible for leading BIND's research and development efforts to identify and pursue new product opportunities where the unique attributes of ACCURINs can be leveraged to provide meaningful improvements in patient care. "We are very pleased to welcome Jonathan to our leadership team, where he will significantly enhance our ability to discover and develop novel ACCURIN therapeutics," said Andrew Hirsch, president and chief executive officer, BIND Therapeutics. "As we continue expanding the application of our ACCURIN platform to develop potential breakthrough therapies, his scientific expertise in oncology, proven ability to build high quality research groups, and experience advancing promising science from the lab to the clinic make him ideally suited to successfully execute on our longrange strategic vision." Dr. Yingling joins BIND from BristolMyers Squibb (BMS), where he was vice president, Oncology Discovery and Translational Research. During his tenure at BMS, he was responsible for the oncology research portfolio as well as translational capabilities in oncology and immunoscience, contributing to the discovery and development of potentially transformative medicines in immunooncology. He championed several small molecule drug discovery programs including IDO (indoleamine2,3 dioxygenase), TGFβ and other important intracellular tumor cell targets. He also expanded the biologics portfolio with the addition of FS102, a novel antiHER2 monoclonal antibody, and several proprietary antibody drug conjugate assets. "I'm excited to join Andrew and the talented team at BIND to utilize my drug discovery and translational science expertise to develop innovative medicines leveraging the ACCURIN platform," said Jonathan Yingling, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at BIND. "I am impressed with the leadership team, the capabilities of the organization and the flexibility of the worldclass nanomedicine platform to address significant challenges in developing bestinclass medicines. With the strong foundation and scientists at BIND, I look forward to
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 39 joining the team at this critical juncture as we accelerate our transition into an integrated drug discovery and preclinical development organization. I'm committed to focusing our discovery and research capabilities on developing innovative therapeutics addressing significant unmet medical need with meaningful impact on patients' lives." Dr. Yingling began his pharmaceutical career as a senior biologist in oncology at Eli Lilly & Company in 2000. During his 13year tenure, he served in various positions of increasing responsibility including CSO of Angiogenesis & Tumor Microenvironment Biology, Vice President Oncology Research; and Vice President of Translational Science and Technology. In those roles, he led innovative drug discovery programs focused on the tumor microenvironment, contributed to the expansion of Lilly's oncology portfolio into targeted therapy and biologics culminating in the acquisition of ImClone in 2008 and integrated tailored therapeutic capabilities across Lilly Research Laboratories. As vice president of Translational Science and Technology, he led target enablement and screening, structural biology, fragmentbased drug design and lead optimization biology capabilities across multiple therapeutic areas. Dr. Yingling earned his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Duke University and was a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University. ABOUT BIND THERAPEUTICS BIND Therapeutics is a clinicalstage nanomedicine company developing a pipeline of ACCURINS(R), its novel targeted therapeutics designed to increase the concentration and duration of therapeutic payloads at disease sites while reducing exposure to healthy tissue. BIND is leveraging its Medicinal Nanoengineering platform to develop a pipeline of ACCURINS targeting hematological and solid tumors and has a number of strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies to develop ACCURINS in areas of high unmet need. BIND's lead drug candidate, BIND014, is a prostatespecific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted ACCURIN that contains docetaxel, a clinicallyvalidated and widelyused cancer chemotherapy drug. BIND is currently enrolling patients in a trial with BIND014 for nonsmall cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, with squamous histology. In addition, BIND is enrolling patients in a clinical trial with BIND014 for advanced cervical, bladder, head and neck and cholangio cancers. BIND is advancing BIND510, its second PSMAtargeted ACCURIN drug candidate containing vincristine, a potent microtubule inhibitor with dose limiting peripheral neuropathy in its conventional form, through important preclinical studies to position it for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. BIND is also developing ACCURINS designed to inhibit PLK1 and KSP, both of which BIND believes are promising antimitotic targets that have been limited in the clinic due to systemic toxicity at or below therapeutic doses. BIND has announced ongoing collaborations with Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca AB, F. HoffmannLa Roche Ltd., Merck & Co., Merck & Co. (known as Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the United States and Canada) and Macrophage Therapeutics (a subsidiary of Navidea Biopharmaceuticals) to develop ACCURINS based on their proprietary therapeutic payloads and/or targeting ligands. BIND's collaboration with AstraZeneca has resulted in the Aurora B Kinase inhibitor ACCURIN AZD2811, which became the second ACCURIN candidate to enter clinical development. BIND's collaboration with Pfizer has resulted in the selection of an ACCURIN candidate that is entering INDenabling studies. For more information, please visit the Company's web site at www.bindtherapeutics.com . ForwardLooking Statements Disclaimer This press release contains forwardlooking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forwardlooking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines; our expectation that ACCURINs may lead to meaningful improvements in patient care, our ability to expand and develop novel applications for the ACCURIN platform; the ability of Dr. Yingling to successfully execute our strategic vision; our transition into a drug discovery and preclinical development organization; BIND510, including without limitation the filing of an IND applicable with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; our collaborations with Pfizer, AstraZeneca,
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 40 F. HoffmannLa Roche Ltd., Merck and Macrophage; and upcoming events and presentations. These forwardlooking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forwardlooking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: the fact that the Company has incurred significant losses since its inception and expects to incur losses for the foreseeable future; the Company's need for additional funding, which may not be available; raising additional capital may cause dilution to its stockholders, restrict its operations or require it to relinquish rights to its technologies or drug candidates; the Company's limited operating history; the terms of the Company's credit facility place restrictions on its operating and financial flexibility; failure to use and expand its medicinal nanoengineering platform to build a pipeline of drug candidates and develop marketable drugs; the early stage of the Company's development efforts with only BIND014 in clinical development; failure of the Company or its collaborators to successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates; clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome; delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials; serious adverse or unacceptable side effects or limited efficacy observed during the development of the Company's drug candidates; inability to maintain any of the Company's collaborations, or the failure of these collaborations; the Company's reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials and manufacture its drug candidates; the Company's inability to obtain required regulatory approvals; any conclusion by the FDA that BIND014 does not satisfy the requirements for approval under the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway; the fact that a fast track or breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the Company's drug candidates may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process; the inability to obtain orphan drug exclusivity for drug candidates; failure to obtain marketing approval in international jurisdictions; any postmarketing restrictions or withdrawals from the market; effects of recently enacted and future legislation; failure to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; failure to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, or thirdparty payors; failure to establish effective sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties with such capabilities; effects of substantial competition; unfavorable pricing regulations, thirdparty reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives; product liability lawsuits; failure to retain key executives and attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; difficulties in managing the Company's growth; risks associated with operating internationally, including the possibility of sanctions with respect to our operations in Russia; the possibility of system failures or security breaches; failure to obtain and maintain patent protection for or otherwise protect our technology and products; effects of patent or other intellectual property lawsuits; the price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially; significant costs and required management time as a result of operating as a public company; and any securities class action litigation. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on November 2, 2015, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forwardlooking statements made in this press release. Any such forwardlooking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forwardlooking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forwardlooking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 41
Marin Software starts Initial Public Offering Northern California – March, 2013 – Marin Software Incorporated (NYSE: MRIN) today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,500,000 shares of common stock at $14.00 per share. The shares are expected to begin trading on The New York Stock Exchange on March 22, 2013 under the symbol MRIN. Marin Software is selling all of the shares being sold in the offering. The underwriters have been granted a 30day option to purchase up to an additional 1,125,000 shares of common stock from Marin Software at the initial public offering price. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as lead bookrunning managers for the offering. UBS Securities LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated are acting as bookrunning managers, and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC is acting as comanager. A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 21, 2013. This offering is being made solely by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from: Goldman, Sachs & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 18664712526 or by emailing prospectusny@gs.com or Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 60 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005, Attention: Prospectus Department, telephone: 18005034611 or by emailing prospectus.CPDG@db.com. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
Ruckus Wireless starts Initial Public Offering on the NYSE Ruckus Wireless, a leading supplier of advanced wireless systems for the explosive mobile Internetworking market, opened for trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “RKUS” after its initial public offering. Barclays is the Designated Market Maker (DMM) for the company’s stock. President and CEO Selina Lo, joined by members of Ruckus Wireless’ leadership team, celebrated the company’s first day of trading by visiting the NYSE trading floor for the stock opening and by ringing The Opening Bell. "We are thrilled to welcome Ruckus Wireless to our growing community of venture capitalbacked technology companies from Silicon Valley,” said Scott Cutler, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Listings, NYSE Euronext. “Ruckus Wireless is at the forefront of supplying advanced wireless solutions and innovations in the marketplace. We congratulate Ruckus Wireless on its IPO and look forward to a longstanding partnership with the company and its shareholders.” “Ruckus, our partners and our customers have worked extremely hard to get to this point, but this really is just the beginning,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “We’ve built an exciting business that has grown as people’s addiction to the mobile Internet redefines the wireless world in which we live. We are proud to be delivering simply smarter and better wireless for this new, mobile world.”
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 42
About NYSE Euronext NYSE Euronext (NYX) is a leading global operator of financial markets and provider of innovative trading technologies. The company's exchanges in Europe and the United States trade equities, futures, options, fixedincome and exchangetraded products. With approximately 8,000 listed issues (excluding European Structured Products), NYSE Euronext's equities markets the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE MKT, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca represent onethird of the world’s equities trading, the most liquidity of any global exchange group. NYSE Euronext also operates NYSE Liffe, one of the leading European derivatives businesses and the world's secondlargest derivatives business by value of trading. The company offers comprehensive commercial technology, connectivity and market data products and services through NYSE Technologies. NYSE Euronext is in the S&P 500 index. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyx.com About Ruckus Wireless (NYSE: RKUS) Headquartered in Silicon Valley and formed in 2004, Ruckus Wireless is a leading supplier of advanced wireless systems for the explosive mobile Internetworking market. The company has developed a wide range of indoor and outdoor “Smart WiFi” products for mobile operators, broadband service providers, and corporations around the world. Ruckus invented and has patented stateoftheart wireless technology, such as adaptive antenna arrays that focus and direct WiFi transmissions over the best signal path, automatically avoiding sources of WiFi interference. For more information, visit http://www.ruckuswireless.com . (Source: Ruckus)
New trends on Domain Names The first .com domain name was registered in 1985, and by the end of that year there was a total of about six domains registered by different people and companies. Things have certainly changed a lot since then, and there are hundreds of millions of domains currently registered around the world. Over the last 30 or so years, a lot of naming trends have come and gone. Some companies who have jumped in on these trends have found themselves a year later with a name that seems completely outdated and unfashionable. So let’s take a look at some of the things we’ve seen over the years and try to determine whether or not they will have on any future trends in 2016 and beyond. The Good Kind of FourLetter Words We’ve said it many times , but length is an important component of a premium domain name. Often, the shorter the better because it’s easier to remember and easier to type into a web browser. This is why many companies would register and use an acronym of their name and focus on it rather than their full company name. However, according to this study on WhoAPI, as of 2013 every single possible combination of four letters and .com have been registered. There are 456,976 possible combinations between aaaa.com and zzzz.com, and now they’re all registered. That doesn’t mean you can’t get them, of course. (We have quite a few of them for sale.) Threeletter .coms were all registered way back in 1997, so if you’re looking to register a brand new, short domain you’re looking at five letters and up.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 43 Getting Creative with Country Code Top Level Domains This is a trend that started with websites like Bit.ly and About.me, and, for that matter, del.icio.us. It was cute and creative and it stood out from the tens of millions of “plain old” .com domain names that everyone else was using. There was a lot of variety here. .ly, .be, .us, .it, .me, and many more options are available, and many companies tried to fold that country code into their branding. The more complicated names like del.iciou.us, however, was a trend that wouldn’t last. Even know, if you were to type that into your browser it would just redirect you to delicious.com. The trend hasn’t gone away, though, and it remains an option for some company for reasons we’ll discuss a little later. Dropping Vowels More than 100,000 domains are bought and sold every day, so people feel like they need to get creative with their domain name and brand. It can be hard to build a brand on a generic name, so many companies do things like drop the vowels to create something more unique. This means that there’s a good chance the madeup domain will be available to register, and it may even look cool on printed material and in your logo, but chances are it will be too hard to remember and too likely misspelled to really justify going this route. I and My The success of certain companies and their branding efforts is often bring a lot of others behind in their wake. Sometimes the original company and the naming trend that followed don’t last long. Other times, even if the product stays, the branding trend won’t. MySpace, for example, had everyone using MyThis and MyThat to name their products or services. Apple’s iProducts had people scooping iEverything domain names, just in case they hit on the next thing the giant company might want. Neither of which is much of a trend these days. What Do the Studies Say? In a recent study, we get to see how some domain trends differed between more established companies and those that are just getting started. This study took a look at 350 companies on the INC 500 list that were established before 2012 as well as another 350 who were funded after 2012. It looked at everything from the domain name itself to the domain extension and name type and several other characteristics. What they found was that 54% of the names for established companies fell into the “Descriptive” category, which is to say that they were purely descriptive of what a company or product does or how it functions. However, of the newer companies, 41% fell into the “Invented” category, which is to say they are completely made up words, or mashedup words, or foreign words not normally used by English speakers. There are several potential reasons for this. Copyrights and trademarks can highly limit the potential usage and force the creative naming by necessity. At the same time, it could just be the desire of younger companies to look even more unique. 2016 and Beyond While the definition of a premium domain remains steady, a lot of the above trends are going to impact the way companies establish their brand online. Establishing a unique identity will certainly take a little more creativity as we go forward, but history has shown that getting too obscure or following too many trends might not be the best way to go. Choosing a domain name isn’t something you should take lightly. Explore your options and determine whether a descriptive name, an acronym, or something completely madeup will lead to the most success.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 44
Business Blogging one on one In this day and age of digital content and the internet, it has become more important than ever to take your marketing efforts online. More and more customers are relying solely on the internet for shopping, research, and connections, which means you should also learn to rely on the internet to connect with those customers. Businesses that are onlinesavvy find more success than those that aren’t, so now is the time to act. However, the internet can be overwhelming at times, especially if you’re not 100% sure on how to take your marketing strategy online. One of the best places you can start is with a blog. Business blogging is one of the most crucial components of marketing your business and product online. But wait, we hear you say. Isn’t blogging only for young, 20somethings who want to document everything that happens in their lives? While blogging certainly is a great platform for that kind of content, most businesses are already using blogs to promote their company. And given the nature of modern search engines and the expectations of internetsavvy customers, it is working really well. Let’s take a deeper look at how blogging can help you. Why Blogging? So, why is blogging so important for your business? You might have heard about search engine optimization—SEO, for short—and how those optimization processes can help you rank better in the search engines. To simplify a complicated topic, SEO, when it’s done right, will give search engines like Google and Bing a reason to place your content higher in search results than content that doesn’t follow best practices online. This means great exposure for you. Blogging the right way is an important part of SEO. Why? Because good, relevant, and useful content that is regularly updated is important to search engines and customers. It shows that you are actively participating in the conversation and that you are providing answers to important questions about your business and industry. This constant flow of new content also provides new things to share around the internet. It gives people something to link to, it gives you a chance to connect a blog reader to other parts of your website, and it’s a chance to show off some of your character. Customers are always looking to connect with something for which they are passionate. Sometimes, a customer will come to a site and find that there is no meaningful content other than product descriptions and About Us pages. Unfortunately, those customers often go to other sites to make their purchases. However, a blog gives you a way to connect with your customers, both current and potential, by showing the passion you have for your industry. This also builds your customers’ trust in you and shows off your expertise. How to Blog Now that you know about the benefits of blogging, you’re probably chomping at the bit to get going on creating one for your company. That’s good. That kind of enthusiasm will take you a long way. However, you need to know how to blog properly to achieve the benefits we discussed above. So, where do you start? One of the most important ways to blog correctly is through creating meaningful, unique content. If you’re constantly rewriting the same information with different words, you’re going to get penalized by search engines, and your rankings will fall. Find ways to create unique content so your customers always have something new to read when they come to your blog. Creating unique content is important, but you also need to publish that content on a regular basis. Don’t write a post and then wait three months to write another post. Some companies publish multiple blog posts a day. That may not be completely within your capabilities in the beginning, but try to publish a new blog post once a week. Creating a content calendar is a great way to remind yourself to do so. After creating your posts, make them shareable ! Customers want to share new discoveries with their friends, which increases traffic to your blog, and, ultimately, to your product. Add social media sharing buttons to your blog so your customers can post it to their favorite social media sites.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 45 Treat Your Site Well Your blog and your website are just like your company. They need to be tended to regularly so that they grow and flourish. If you neglect your blog, it won’t be successful and chances are that you will never want to blog again. This is a mistake you don’t want to make because it can crush your online presence. Take some time before you start your blog to think up of some meaningful topics you believe will help your readers better understand your industry or product. The sky is the limit when it comes to blogging for your business, and the sooner you get started, the quicker you can increase your exposure to new clients.
The Feds grows Pressure to Startups The Federal Reserve’s quarterpoint hike in shortterm interest rates is unlikely to have an immediate effect on runaway startup valuations, but it could exacerbate the cracks already forming in Silicon Valley. As with other asset markets, from stocks to bonds to real estate, venture capital has been powered by years of nearzero rates. Endowments, foundations and family offices have dialed up their exposure to venture capital in recent years, while mutual funds, hedge funds and big banks have taken riskier bets on startups in the hunt for stronger returns. With hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, these firms can have an outsized impact in the venture world, where investments are often measured in the tens of millions. Through the first three quarters of this year, startups in the U.S. raised $54.6 billion, up 38% from the year earlier period and on pace for the highest fullyear total since the dotcom boom days of 2000, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. Meanwhile, this year at least 63 companies raised capital at a $1 billion or higher valuation for the first time, a rate of more than one per week. But a weak market for tech initial public offerings has made it harder to justify big valuations for private companies. Square Inc., for example, priced its IPO in November well below its prior valuation. According to Dealogic, the number of U.S. tech listings fell to 28 from 62 last year. And since the start of 2014, 41 of 90 tech IPOs are trading at prices below where they last raised private capital. “The tide is not turning because of the 0.25% rate increase, but because it is becoming obvious – even before any rate change – that the prices are wrong,” says Rory O’Driscoll, a partner at Scale Venture Partners. Following a stockmarket selloff in August over broader worries about growth in China, venture capitalists say investors began scrutinizing the valuations of startups, making it harder to raise capital. Mutual funds such as Fidelity Investments Inc. and Blackrock Inc. BLK 2.72% marked down the value of many of its startup investments in the third quarter, including companies that have commanded multbilliondollar valuations, like messaging service Snapchat Inc., online storage company Dropbox Inc. and healthbenefits startup Zenefits Inc. Those markdowns have been “so detrimental because the best companies go through this linear path of just up and to the right,” says Max Motschwiller of Meritech Capital Partners. “As soon as there’s a sense of negativity, it becomes really hard to reverse that story. Also this week, the Journal reported that Internet retailer Gilt Groupe Inc. is in talks to sell itself for a quarter of the $1.1 billion valuation it achieved four years ago as it struggles to grow. And on Wednesday, the chief executive of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp., which commands the second largest valuation among startups at $46 billion, suggested his company will m iss this year’s sales targets . Years of cheap capital and everrising private valuations have encouraged companies to keep growing at all costs, said Mr. O’Driscoll, often with little proof they can generate profits. “We have reached the end of sloppy growth,” he says.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 46 As for the Fed, Silicon Valley investors would be more concerned if the central bank continues to raise rates beyond Wednesday’s small increase. “The challenge is that it’s like pulling loose yarn on an old sweater,” says Charles Moldow, a general partner at Foundation Capital. “Once the pulling starts, no one knows how much of the sweater will be left intact when the exercise is done.” (Corrections & Amplifications: Through the first three quarters of this year, startups in the U.S. raised $54.6 billion. Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the total.)
Top five martech challenges for 2016 The evolution of marketing technology has come a long way this year. When I first published MarTech and the Decade of the CMO — the white paper that predicts the 10x software revolution that is coming to marketing — CEOs were just starting to think more deeply about integrating technology into their marketing organizations. Today, it’s at the forefront of their conversations and meeting agendas. We recently gathered CMOs and VPs of marketing from an array of industries at our second annual Foundation Capital CMO Tech Tour for a day of frank conversation about the marketing opportunities and challenges that are just around the corner. And over the course of the year, we’ve had hundreds more conversations with entrepreneurs and MarTech leaders about many of the same topics. So with 2015 coming to a close, it seems like the perfect time to share our predictions for the top five biggest challenges marketers will face in 2016. 1. Marketers will embrace point solutions, driving widerscale MarTech adoption. One thing I consistently hear from senior marketers is that they face a huge challenge when deciding how best to approach the task of automating their entire marketing function and, more specifically, how to evolve their marketing activities as a whole into a technical discipline. This oftentimes manifests itself in the conversation about whether singlepoint or stack solutions represent the future of marketing. “Single point” refers to a marketing platform or software that addresses a very specific customer need or a solution that helps manage a specific aspect of marketing automation like social media, CRM, analytics, or email. The theory behind singlepoint solutions is that an organization would find the best, deepest solution in a single vertical of their marketing activities, then integrate that software, either manually or systemwide, into their daily activities. In 2016, we’ll see marketers actively embracing singlepoint solutions, which will drive technology even deeper into the heart of marketing organizations across the world. However, challenges will arise as this adoption spreads, especially when overarching integration is required across large marketing departments. As a marketing leader, you will have to evaluate: ● Compatibility: will these single point solutions play nice together? ● The value (the time and complexity) of having to train a staff on multiple unique programs ● The risk that the platform you choose might shutter one day due to competition or get gobbled up itself by a stack solution 2. CMOs will define the MarTech stack (and reject the suite of standalone products). On the other side of the spectrum, the “stack solution” is a onetorulethemall business or marketing platform that contains all the functionality needed to execute and organize a company’s activities. A stack solution brings together what would otherwise be disparate singlepoint solutions into one program.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 47 This ubersystem may be the silver bullet that marketers have been looking for — one program, one training, and one place that organizes various assets, plans, and metrics. Practically speaking, however, one size doesn’t always fit all, and CMOs and their staffs often have nuanced, constantly evolving needs that may be better served by oneoff or singlepoint solutions. Ultimately, CMOs will define what they need in a marketing stack and usher in a systemwide approach to driving technology into marketing. This kind of topdown approach will happen simultaneously with the adoption of singlepoint solutions. At its core, the allinone promise of the stack is what everyone wants, but finding the best fit for a range of needs presents a much larger challenge than do the (relatively) simpler singlepoint solutions. As the various implementations and experiments in singlepoint and stack solutions evolve over the next 12 months, a clear winner may emerge, but it’s far too early to tell. The startups we work with are actively looking to remove the pain points between singlepoint and stack solutions, and we’re continuously learning from CMOs about what types of solutions best serve their needs. 3. Virtual Reality will become a reality for brands. Samsung’s $99 Gear VR was recently released, and the consumer launch of the Oculus Rift is just a page flip of the calendar away. As Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and some of today’s biggest brands start diving into VR mania, the question we’re asking ourselves is if VR will finally emerge as a major new entertainment, marketing, and computing platform in 2016. The immersive social and digital worlds of virtual reality promise new experiences and applications, many of which haven’t even been imagined yet. The looming decision for brands in 2016 is whether they begin shifting their focus to VR by adding budget and peoplepower to this burgeoning opportunity or use this period to listen, learn, and then strike when the right moment hits. There will surely be some firstmover advantage as we have seen with other new platforms (e.g., GE and other brands jumping on Instagram early), which will certainly keep some CMOs up at night. Brands are still figuring out their mobile strategies and learning what it means to market in a digital world, and VR adds yet another layer of complexity. The questions every marketer needs to be thinking about right now are: ● How will VR affect my brand marketing, advertising, content production, and userexperience design? ● What’s the best way to prepare for VR? ● Is first to market worth the cost and potential pitfalls — or is not being recognized as a trailblazer just as costly? ● Who will brands partner with to create experiences? Startups or bigger players? Fastmoving startups may have the innovation upper hand to break new ground. These answers will surely begin to surface over the next year, but one thing is for certain — VR must be on the minds of today’s CMOs so they can be best prepared to choose the right path for their brands in the future. 4. Brand marketing moves beyond TV to video. As I discussed at our CMO Tech Tour, consumer habits are shifting like never before — mobile and social are the new channels of discovery for television, and where and how to watch video has become a choice with nearly endless possibilities. This shift in behavior has marked the slow decline of traditional TV, but a new landscape of original programming, clips, and ondemand video content of all kinds has arisen from the ashes, which marketers must not only understand but fully incorporate into their brand marketing strategy. In the past five years, with the help of companies like Netflix and Tubi TV, consumers have taken all of the power. Today, viewers, especially millennials, choose what they watch, when they watch it, and on which
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 48 device. According to a comScore study, millennials spend 60% of their video viewing time ondemand via mobile. And we forecast that by 2020, 40% of all video content will be streamed. Furthermore, AT&T research shows even when people watch linear TV today—almost 88% are also engaging with another device. This seismic shift will affect every corner of marketing and brand advertising. And it will create new opportunities internally at organizations, with agencies, and at startups that can build groundup solutions for this new world. 5. Agencies will evolve to new models (finally). In this new world of video, the agency model for development and implementation will be forced to flip or pivot. If they don’t, new entrants will step in to fill the gaps, leaving moretraditional agencies struggling while they cling to old models. This new agency paradigm will focus on technology platforms that can deliver unique, personalized video content to users no matter what device they’re on or what kind of content they’re enjoying. And in turn, the way brands deliver advertising to television and video will rapidly restructure. Startups like TubeMogul are already leading the charge, offering programmatic media buying across channels with a unified view of performance. MagnaGlobal and TubeMogul research predicts that digitalvideoadvertising marketing will grow to $50B by 2020. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We believe that at least half of all TV advertising will shift to digital because of the changes we are experiencing in consumer behavior. The combined opportunity will be an addressable market of at least $175B per year. No matter where your brand’s TV or video budget lies today, understanding these consumer shifts and then cementing a newfound strategy for advertising will be a pivotal challenge for marketers over the months ahead. These predictions are already starting to take shape in boardrooms across the globe. So which startups will be there to help CMOs? And which CMOs will lean into the changes and push their brands forward faster and in a smarter, more technically driven way? It’s an exciting year ahead, and we can’t wait to see the answers 2016 holds.
Revolar brings safety for family members Revolar transforms the way people keep themselves and those they love safe by providing a simple way to notify friends, family or a monitoring service that they feel threatened or are in trouble. Revolar is a discrete, wearable device that uses Bluetooth Smart™ to signal an alert to your loved ones via a text or email message. You can wear Revolar under clothing or on a keychain, clipped to a purse, etc. If you ever need help, simply press Revolar and an alert message with your live location information is sent to your friends and family. With one press Revolar sends a yellow alert, which lets your contacts know you don’t feel comfortable and want them to know your location (the system then begins tracking your location until the alert is cleared). A
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 49 rapid double press of Revolar sends a red alert, which tells your contacts you are in immediate danger and to get you help right away. We’re often drawn to entrepreneurs because of the passion they bring to building their businesses. This is particularly true of the Revolar team, who are truly on a mission to enhance personal safety and make the world a safer place. Founder and CEO Jacqueline Ros created Revolar as a direct result of the experience of her little sister, who was assaulted twice as a teenager. This mission of Revolar is personal. Based in Denver and with a team of 9 (and growing), Revolar’s product launches in Q1 2016. You can find out more about Revolar as well as preorder one for yourself or a loved one at www.revolar.com .
INTELISECURE its recognized at the PARTNER ENGAGE AWARDS DENVER, CO–(Marketwired – Dec 8, 2015) – InteliSecure , the leading managed security service provider (MSSP) delivering critical asset protection for enterprise organizations globally, today announced it has been recognized by Symantec Corporation as its North American Managed Innovation Partner of the Year. The honor was bestowed at Symantec’s 2015 Partner Engage conference held in October, where each year Symantec recognizes its most innovative and experienced industry partners. “The Symantec partner awards are an opportunity to recognize the great work our partners are doing and the positive impact they’re making with customers, the community and Symantec,” said Stephen Thomas, vice president, Americas channel sales for Symantec. “Our channel partners are critical to our business. Each year, we recognize partners who demonstrate innovation, growth and commitment to our joint customers. I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners as we continue to advance security together.” InteliSecure CEO and cofounder Rob Eggebrecht : “We thank Symantec for this honor that once again shines the spotlight on InteliSecure’s reputation and track record for remarkable managed security services innovation. InteliSecure is leading the way as decisionmakers heed the call to lock down and protect their most sensitive missioncritical data, communications and intellectual property, as industrial espionage and the assault on enterprise assets continues to escalate in frequency, complexity and scale.” InteliSecure is raising eyebrows and filling a critical void as traditional cybersecurity point products and automated tools continue to miss the mark. The daily theft and compromise of highly sensitive intellectual property, including customer and patient records, M&A correspondence, blueprints, formulae and other missioncritical assets, can have a devastating impact on the enterprise; from damage to business unit operations and financial instability, to shaken customer and investor confidence and corporate reputation. The company recently acquired UKbased Pentura following successful completion of a Series B equity investment round led by Charlotte, NCbased Frontier Capital . In October, theDenver Business Journal named InteliSecure the region’s second fastest growing company among organizations earning between $8M and $24M annually. About InteliSecure Headquartered in the booming Denver Tech Center, InteliSecure protects more than 500 enterprise customers and three million users globally with managed security services tailored to safeguard enterprise assets from the escalating frequency and scale of global cybersecurity threats. InteliSecure challenges the status quo with unmatched human intelligence protection through its acclaimed Critical Asset Protection Program™ methodology, comprised of robust managed consulting, technical, incident response and security assessment services. By identifying and prioritizing critical assets such as intellectual property, InteliSecure delivers the continuous security monitoring intelligence required to protect organizations from internal or
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 50 external compromise. InteliSecure is one of North America’s fastest growing companies, ranking on the Inc. 5000 in 2015 and 2014, #2 on the Denver Business Journal’s fastest growing companies, and is the recipient of numerous industry awards and accolades. InteliSecure supports leading security solutions from Symantec, McAfee, IBM® Security QRadar®, Websense, Proofpoint, Blue Coat, LogRhythm, Titus and Qualys, among others.
HR TECH Conference showcases trends in 10 Billion Industry It’s hard to believe another HR Technology Conference has come and gone. As active investors in the broader HR software and services segment, it’s always incredibly insightful to mingle with innovative new companies, attend demonstrations of the latest HR tech/human capital management solutions and brainstorm strategies with our portfolio companies in attendance. As we reflect on what we learned at the conference this year, we’re just as bullish on the space as we have been in years past. Here are some takeaways Richard Maclean, one of our Managing Partners, and Principal Scott Hoch brought back from this year’s show: ● The market is still relatively unpenetrated by softwareasaservice (SaaS) solutions. In fact, I’d say we’re in the fifth inning of movement to SaaS and the automation of antiquated systems across the employee lifecycle. This midgame stage creates a better environment for our strategy with plenty of time left to play, but not an overhyped earlyinning venture market. ● Our HR technologyfocused portfolio companies are in three of the four highest growth subsectors: ○ #1 Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)—25% growth— WilsonHCG is generating tons of buzz as one of the few legitimate players. ○ #3 Talent Acquisition/Management—15% growth—Recently named as the #1 social recruiting and talent management software built for the hourly workforce, talentReef has proven the ability to help employers quickly identify and manage the talent required to efficiently run daytoday operations, thus resulting in better service and reduced employee churn. ○ #4 HR Information Systems—10% growth— ECI , an HR, payroll and employee benefits management company, is in a unique space with strong revenue and high growth. Let’s delve a little deeper into these segments, as well as a couple other we’re finding interesting. ● Talent Acquisition / Recruiting: There is a war for talent going on right now, which makes talent acquisition highly strategic. Solutions involved in talent attraction and conversion are a strategic imperative, which is why job boards such as “SnagaJob” are trading for upwards of $150 million. ● HR Big Data and Analytics: Big data and analytics are the next big thing in HR Tech, with workforce analytics solutions that use data and analytics to screen, target, compensate and develop talent, as well as measure performance. Other big hits are solutions that empower people to spend recruiting dollars more effectively and solutions using data and analytics to predict workforce events like attrition and job fit. ● Talent Management Software: This segment continues to be high growth because once you have a good employee it’s a strategic imperative to keep them. It’s all about employee engagement. ● Benefits Administration Software: While this segment isn’t growing quite as fast as the others (5%), it is still strategically important and a good demand driver spurred by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA is a big deal with a big trend that will persist: HR departments can’t manage the
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 51 compliance and HR systems needed to solve the problem, so be on the lookout for ACAautomated reporting and analytic solutions that will. The growth of these HCM segments validates our strategy to allocate capital, add value and deliver strong returns going forward. We’re excited to see the continued growth of the industry, as well as what our portfolio companies will do to meet the evolving HCM needs of organizations worldwide.
Silicon Valley Catalyst is born Palo Alto, U.S., and Oslo, Norway. June 15, 2015 – Garage Technology Ventures, Norway’s StartupLab, and Silicon Valleybased MADPartners today announced the launch of Silicon Valley Catalyst, a new joint venture to fund and grow brilliant emerging European technology companies in Northern Europe that are ready to launch in the U.S. The collaboration brings together a team of experienced Silicon Valley and Nordic venture players to provide investment capital and intensive individualized support to startups at a level beyond the standard incubation/acceleration programs being offered in the Valley and around the world. Unlike standard acceleration programs, Silicon Valley Catalyst will provide a customized support model for each individual startup, including intensive development focused on the specific needs of the company, with a particular focus on the requirements of companies bridging to Silicon Valley from the Nordics. Qualifying companies will be accepted from a broad range of sectors, but the joint venture will focus primarily on information technology, communications and software. Each company selected will receive $100,000 in seed funding. As part of Catalyst, each company rapidly develops the agile processes, techniques, and tools used by the best Silicon Valley companies. The initial partners in Catalyst are Garage Technology Ventures in Silicon Valley, StartupLab in Norway, and MADPartners in Silicon Valley. Nordic One, an alliance of the leading tech incubators in the Nordic region, is also supporting the initiative. The initial partners are looking to add additional partners, especially venture firms and incubators in Northern Europe, as the initiative expands. “In an increasingly competitive landscape, startups must find new and smarter ways to grow their business,” said Tor Bækkelund, who bridged his own company from the Nordics to a global success, and is now a partner at StartupLab. “Our overall ambition is to help startups fasttrack their development by focusing on getting their first global customers, partners and financing.” Catalyst aims to attract ambitious technology entrepreneurs with compelling products or services ready to realize their international potential. The focus is to help Nordic Startups on an individualized basis with: ● Customer acquisition ● Team building ● Operational infrastructure ● Financing “Too many programs are focused on pitching and fundraising,” said Pekka Parnanen, who has successfully bridged many of the leading Nordic companies to Silicon Valley, and is the founder of MADPartners, a market access and business development firm. “The only way to build a successful company is to get customers. That’s the right priority for good entrepreneurs.” “There are a lot of great ‘acceleration’ programs for entrepreneurs, but ‘batch’ programs can only take a company so far,” said Bill Reichert, a serial entrepreneur and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures. “As we have learned throughout the years, each great company follows a unique path, and so we have designed our training and coaching accordingly, based on our experience investing in over 100
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 52 companies. We want Catalyst to be customized so that each participant gets useful support in the areas where they need it most.” Silicon Valley Catalyst is not intended to compete with accelerators and incubators. “We work with incubators, accelerators and investors to help them take their most promising companies to the next level – specifically to launch and grow their companies in the U.S.,” said Reichert. “The companies may have already graduated from an accelerator program and now are ready for a catalyst to jumpstart their launch and growth in the U.S.” “We are looking for ambitious technology entrepreneurs with compelling products or services ready to go global,” said Alexander Woxen, a partner at StartupLab in Oslo Norway. “Emerging technology companies need to expand beyond their regional beginnings and step up to the world stage. Silicon Valley Catalyst is designed to provide support for those companies.” “The work is intensive for three months, and then Catalyst provides ongoing support, according to the needs of each company,” said Woxen. “Underlying the model is an alignment of interests between the entrepreneurs and the Catalyst partners – through their equity interest, the Catalyst partners win only if the entrepreneurs win.” Additional information about the Garage Silicon Valley Catalyst is available at the website, where startup companies can also apply for consideration: Silicon Valley Catalyst: http://www.garage.com/garagesiliconvalleycatalyst/ About StartupLab StartupLab is a leading Nordic technology incubator and an early stage investor located at Oslo Science Center. Currently 80 companies are part of the incubator. StartupLab is run by experienced entrepreneurs with extensive international networks. The team at StartupLab is the initiator of the Nordic One, the Nordic alliance of leading tech incubators, backed by Nordic Innovation. For more information about StartupLab, visit: http://www.startuplab.no . About Garage Technology Ventures Garage Technology Ventures is a seed and earlystage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. When Garage launched in 1998, the firm pioneered the acceleration model, working intensively with startup companies like Pandora Media and LeftHand Networks, and nearly 100 other startup companies, to help brilliant entrepreneurs build brilliant businesses. Bill Reichert is managing partner of Garage, cofounding the firm with Guy Kawasaki after a career as a serial entrepreneur, launching four high tech companies in Silicon Valley. For more information about Garage visit: http://www.garage.com . About MADPartners MADPartners is a boutique market access and business development firm focusing especially on the needs of the Nordic and Baltic companies in Silicon Valley. MADPartners has a proven track record of bridging over 50 companies from the Nordics to Silicon Valley. For more information, please contact Pekka Parnanen: pekka.parnanen@gmail.com About Nordic One Nordic One is an alliance of leading tech incubators in the Nordics, including STING (Sweden), KoppiCatch (Finland), ScionDTU (Denmark), Innovation House (Iceland) and StartupLab (Norway). Nordic One’s mission is to unite the startup hubs across borders in the region. Our goal is to strengthen the support system for Nordic entrepreneurs.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 53
Garage investment Sixense wins award at The CES 2015 Garage investment, Sixense , had a very successful Consumer Electronics Show 2015. Virtual Reality was one of biggest topics of the show and Sixense won two major “Best of CES” awards for their VR platform. ● Best VR from The Verge ● Best Virtual Reality Experience from Tom’s Hardware As part of their CES VR demo, Sixense showed their Virtual Retail (vRetail) platform for the first time in public. It received great reactions from developers, retailers, OEMs and others who saw how VR is going to transform the ecommerce experience. Other coverage: ● Verge article by Adi Robertson about her visit with Sixense at CES ● Gizmodo article by Sean Hollister about his experience with Sixense vRetail ● TweakTown article by Anthony Garreffa about Sixense Stem Sixense received very positive responses to their demos on Samsung Gear VR reinforcing their belief that mobile will be the platform that represents the future of virtual reality.
Top Reasons Affinity Angel Investing Produces Better Returns Affinity investing to develop communities has incredible intrinsic value, however its value by the numbers should not be overlooked: angels investing through affinity groups produce some of the strongest results in the earlystage technology sector. There are two parts to the reason why: one, the critical importance of investing through a network and, two, the positive correlation between affinity and meaningful assistance. Excitingly, New York City affinity angel networks are pioneers in this area, and it should help grow Silicon Alley for the foreseeable future. Investing through a network, as opposed to by yourself, carries a strong correlation to improved returns. There are many reasons for this, briefly summarized as deal size, deal flow volume, and quality of diligence. According to the American Capital Association (ACA), fully 73% of allocated angel capital in 2013 came through coinvestment in groups, and the trend has been rising since at least 2011, when it was 67%. Because deal size often comes from coinvestment, both between members and between groups, entrepreneurs tend to know certain groups by name and brand and flock to them, which increases deal flow volume to those groups. As a member, you certainly notice this: Golden Seeds, the number one angel group by deal volume according to the ACA, Sand Hill Angels, and others all receive deal flow both from entrepreneurs who recognize their brand and their own members’ referring deal flow and this combined network effect is very powerful over time. It also produces a positive due diligence correlation: high deal flow volume produces higher volumes of interested members who participate in diligence and the presence of a variety of skill sets. “Large angel groups like Sand Hill Angels have been successful by bringing the collective expertise, resource and network to startup entrepreneurs. Through a single point of contact, the founders can reach out to over 100 investing members with diverse background for help and advice. A large angel network
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 54 generates stronger deal flow, due diligence and syndication opportunities,” said Leo Chan, Director of Screening for Sand Hill Angels. These critical factors, which most angels are aware of, are drastically amplified through affinity investing in communityspecific networks; is a relatively new phenomenon whose positive results are giving it increased currency. Affinity networks, such as my own syndicates Gaingels, which invests in LGBT founders, and Blue Jay, which invests in Johns Hopkins alumni, are capable of serving as the primary firstline of desirable funding for their entire category. Over time, entrepreneurs learn to associate the affinity with the brand: for example, Berkeley Angel Network has become the primary earlystage funder of companies associated with Cal, which gives it unique and prior access to a deep pool of deal flow long before those founders seek out more traditional regional angel networks, and often months or years before they will seek out traditional venture capital. “Angel groups provide individuals the ability to leverage the group’s time and expertise for diligence, collective bargaining power for better terms, and an extended network to source capable advisors for portfolio companies and potentially superior deal flow. Working with a group over time also gives one better insights about one’s fellow angels, an important factor in weighing other people’s inputs and judgment calls,” said Catherine Chiu, CoPresident of the Berkeley Angel Network. Moreover, the presence of affinity, with that between university alumni being a particularly strong example, helps to produce a warm relationship that makes traditionally more difficult things such as terms negotiation and board voting less acrimonious, which in turn makes affinity group members very willing to make real effort to assist portfolio companies. At many affinity networks, this has become the central tenant of membership: regardless of whether they are invested in a particular portfolio company, members are expected to open their rolodex and spend critical strategic time assisting portfolio companies. Over time, this additional mentorship and business development assistance from a wide pool of members has a very strong positive net effect on the performance of portfolio companies, particularly at the preinstitutional earlystage, where every strategic introduction helps on the path to success. “There are many people who want to do more than invest and this desire materializes itself in many ways. When dealing with early stage private companies, it can get personal. Affinity investing is where one seeks to get a return on investment while investing in businesses where there is a personal affinity. For example, an alma mater, a minority community. It is exactly because it is more than just an investment, that the entrepreneur can expect more personal support from the investors than if it were just money,” said David Beatty, cofounder of Gaingels.
Savvy Ladies will honor Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO of Lebenthal Holdings. New York, NY, August 06, 2015 ( PR.com ) Savvy Ladies, a nonprofit organization providing personal finance education and resources for women to help them plan for the future, will honor Alexandra Lebenthal and Stephanie Newby at the 10th Annual Savvy Ladies Benefit Gala, Celebrating the new face of business: today’s female entrepreneur. The Gala will be held on Thursday, October 15th at the famed NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square in New York City. Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO of Lebenthal Holdings, will receive the firstever Sayra Fischer Lebenthal Award for Professional Excellence in Finance, named in honor of her grandmother, who in 1925 cofounded Lebenthal & Company with her husband Louis. After his death, Sayra became the first women to run a brokerage firm. Carrying on the family tradition, Alexandra Lebenthal is one of the most recognized women
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 55 on Wall Street. Like her grandmother she has continued to make history by creating the top womanowned capital markets business, and most recently a successful wealth and asset management business. Stephanie Newby, CEO of Crimson Hexagon and Founder of Golden Seeds, will receive the Savvy Ladies Change Maker of the Year Award, given to an individual who has made a significant difference in the financial lives of women. Newby wanted to change corporate culture by creating leadership opportunities for women and ultimately, fostering more female executives. She founded Golden Seeds in 2004, an investment firm that provides earlystage funding for womenled businesses. The company has grown to one of the largest funders in the country, investing over $75 million into 72 companies. Stephanie continues to lead and innovate as CEO of Crimson Hexagon, a provider of social media analytics software for leading brands and agencies. “I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening than by celebrating the accomplishments of these extraordinary business leaders, or a more appropriate place than the NASDAQ MarketSite,” said Savvy Ladies Founder and Board Chair Stacy Francis. “Both Alexandra and Stephanie are icons who have challenged convention and become powerful influences on the role that women play as entrepreneurs. They inspire us to be leaders and reflect the Savvy Ladies mission that all women need to be leaders of their financial lives.” About Savvy Ladies Savvy Ladies is a nonprofit organization that provides personal finance education and resources for women of all walks of life. Its unique programming has helped over 12,000 women across the spectrum of age, life experience, and income level to identify their goals and make proactive choices about their finances. Savvy Ladies offers over 50 programs and events each year that broadly disseminates financial planning resources and creates a secure forum for women to network and ask financiallyrelated questions. Savvy Ladies offers a free, confidential financial helpline for women who have specific questions that require a oneonone consultation with a Certified Financial Planner™. The Savvy Ladies organization is unique in that it is completely independent of any financial institution or company.
AffiniPay gains Growth Equity Investment Austin, Texas September 30, 2015 – AffiniPay, a leading payment service provider for associations, today announced that it has received a growth equity investment from Great Hill Partners. AffiniPay has experienced annual revenue growth of more than 35% since inception and currently processes over $1.5 billion of volume for approximately 20k clients. AffiniPay expects to use the proceeds to drive growth in sales & marketing and product development and expand into new professional services verticals. “Since 2005, AffiniPay has differentiated itself from traditional payment providers with its robust proprietary technology, endorsement partner gotomarket strategy and simplified pricing strategy,” said Nick Cayer, a Principal with Great Hill Partners, “We are excited to partner with Amy and her team to help AffiniPay continue on its growth trajectory.” As part of the transaction, Matt Vettel, a Managing Partner with Great Hill Partners, and Nick Cayer will be joining AffiniPay’s Board of Directors. Great Hill Partner’s other merchant acquiring investments include Vanco Payment Solutions, Network Merchants, Inc., BlueSnap and Accelerated Payment Technologies. AffiniPay represents Great Hill’s ninth payment investment since inception.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 56 “AffiniPay has experienced rapid growth in recent years, primarily driven by its LawPay division, which counts 42 of the 50 state bar associations and the American Bar Association as endorsement partners,” said Amy Porter, AffiniPay Founder and CEO, “We want to build off this momentum and expand into additional professional services verticals, leveraging our secure payment processing capabilities and strong customer support. To help us navigate the next stage of growth, we sought a financial partner with a strong payment processing background who had experience investing in companies with technologydriven channelbased gotomarket strategies. Great Hill, having invested in eight payment companies, was a perfect fit.” AffiniPay has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in America by Inc. 500|5000 the past four consecutive years and, in 2015, Amy Porter was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. In additional to closing the investment round, AffiniPay, located in Austin, TX will be moving its headquarters in December to accommodate its rapid growth. Based in Austin, Texas AffiniPay is a fullservice merchant account and online payment gateway provider. AffiniPay was created in response to demand from local, state and national organizations to work with a payment processor that understands the unique needs of association payment processes. Eventually AffiniPay’s Association Partners asked them to extend their custom payment solutions and friendly customer service to their members. Not only are AffiniPay’s services used and recommended by over 1,000 professional and trade associations across the US, they are the processing leader in the legal industry. AffiniPay’s unique LawPay program is endorsed and recommended by over 80 state and local bar associations. For information please visit https://www.affinipay.com/ . Great Hill Partners is a growth equity firm that has raised $3.8 billion in commitments since inception to finance the expansion, recapitalization, or acquisition of companies in a wide range of sectors in businesstobusiness and businesstoconsumer industries including software, financial and healthcare technology, digital media, eCommerce, and internet infrastructure. Great Hill targets investments of $25 million to $150 million. For more information, please visit www.greathillpartners.com.
PlanSource Raises $70 Million to grow Innovation ORLANDO, Florida., Aug. 24, 2015 PRNewswire PlanSource, a leading provider of cloudbased health exchange and benefits administration technology, has received a commitment for a minority equity investment of $70 million from Bostonbased private equity firm Great Hill Partners. PlanSource expects to use the funds to drive growth in sales and marketing, invest in continued product innovation, and expand its operating and technology infrastructure. "2015 has been a standout year for PlanSource," said Dayne Williams, CEO of PlanSource. "The partnership with Great Hill and this infusion of capital will allow us to continue to fuel our growth and speed the delivery of technology that is helping thousands of families shop, enroll and manage insurance and other essential benefits coverage." With this investment, Chris Busby and Matthew Vettel from Great Hill Partners will join the PlanSource Board of Directors, which includes existing investors Lemhi Ventures and Timucuan Asset Management. William Blair & Company, LLC, acted as exclusive financial advisor to PlanSource.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 57 Deep roots produce explosive growth PlanSource was founded in 2008, but its roots stretch back to the 1990s and the birth of human resources software and cloud computing. The company built the first singlesource multicarrier webenabled benefits management and billing platform. PlanSource has experienced explosive growth in recent years, buoyed by a clear market strategy and innovative products. As of June 2015, PlanSource has experienced: •82% yearoveryear increase in recurring revenue •77% yearoveryear growth in employees on the PlanSource Platform •97% customer retention rate In addition to growth in key financial metrics and customer satisfaction, PlanSource has recently signed strategic partnership deals with leading insurance carriers, including MetLife and Humana. And while the majority of its growth has been organic, the company also expanded through its acquisition of ClearBenefits in March 2015. Additionally, PlanSource has had the privilege of powering the technology behind the state of Utah's health insurance marketplace, Avenue H, which has become one of the most successful state health exchanges since the passing of the Affordable Care Act. The benefits technology market has evolved rapidly in recent years. The Affordable Care Act has placed new reporting requirements on employers, and PlanSource has been quick to deliver tools that ensure compliance and simplify the reporting process. The company is driving trends in how benefits are bought and sold, working closely with some of the country's largest brokers and insurance carriers. Its highlyconfigurable benefits administration system, which can be run by employers or set up as a private or public health exchange, allows consumers to shop for benefits in the same consumerfriendly way they shop for other products online. A history of backing successful technology firms Since its inception, Great Hill Partners has focused on partnering with rapidlygrowing middlemarket companies. In March 2014, Great Hill Partners invested in bswift, a provider of SaaSbased benefits technology. In November 2014, bswift was sold to Aetna for $400 million, highlighting the strategic importance of benefits technology in today's market. "Benefits technology is an exciting space to be in at the moment, and we believe PlanSource is uniquely positioned to succeed," said Chris Busby, Partner at Great Hill Partners. "PlanSource has thoughtfully navigated an increasingly complex industry and positioned itself for future growth. We have nothing but confidence in the company's ability to continue to drive growth and innovation in the benefits technology sector, and we are looking forward to a successful partnership." PlanSource provides the industry's most flexible and extensible health exchange and benefits engagement platform in the cloud. More than 8,000 employers and 3.5 million consumers use the PlanSource Platform for benefits shopping, enrollment, billing and ongoing administration. PlanSource partners with leading insurance carriers, brokers and government entities to provide both exchange and nonexchange solutions to companies of all sizes. PlanSource – One Source. Many Benefits. Learn more at www.plansource.com. Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that has raised $4 billion in capital commitments to finance the expansion, recapitalization or acquisition of growth companies within the business and consumer services, media, communications and software industries. Great Hill targets investments of $25 million to $150 million. For more information, please visit www.greathillpartners.com.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 58 PlanSource is a registered trademark of PlanSource, Inc., and PlanSource owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The newest rules in venture capital The old adage that “Only 10 venture investments matter each year” has officially been debunked. A new study by Cambridge Associates, the benchmark for VC performance data, found that the distribution of venture capital returns changed dramatically after the 1999 Internet bubble. Today the majority of venture capital returns annually come from investments that are further down the tail and outside of the top 10 industrywide outcomes. This is in stark contrast to many preconceived notions in the industry. According to Cambridge Associates, since 2000, over 60% of the industry returns on average came from investments that were outside of the 10 largest outcomes. This is a significant departure from the pre1999 era when the top 10 investments were a much larger percentage of the total pie. Another interesting finding from the study is the democratization of returns across fund managers since 2005. Counter to conventional wisdom, between 40% and 70% of value creation in any given year has come from new and emerging managers, with established funds generating a minority of the industry’s performance over the same period. The data bodes well for smaller funds too. Over the same period, managers with less than $500 million have accounted for a majority of the industry’s returns, despite investing less money on average than the larger funds. The last insight in the Cambridge report is that nontraditional venture markets are rising in their importance. California, New York, and Massachusetts are still the largest markets for venture capital returns, but at least 20% of returns consistently come from outside these hubs. We expect that these last fifteen years are the new normal in venture capital. Great technology companies continue to pop up outside of traditional venture capital hubs, and we have seen that in our own business as we have traveled to Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah this year, as well as international markets like Iceland, Estonia, and China. Surprisingly, only 17% of our companies are headquartered in Silicon Valley today. Meanwhile venture managers who have concentrated portfolios should consider a diversified approach. As the distribution of returns moves from the head to the tail, a manager needs to make more investments each calendar year to be successful. The time when a manager could drive to all of his or her portfolio companies, and routinely expect a handful to generate 100x returns, has come to an end. While Greycroft successfully raised a small fund recently, we hope the many institutions who read the Cambridge Study will follow this advice and look for other emerging managers. There are so many small funds out there struggling to attract capital, just like we did back in 2010. If these managers have a good strategy they too can generate top returns.
A decade and Counting Greycroft LLC is pleased to announce that our latest venture fund, Greycroft IV, has officially closed. The fund is our fourth early stage fund since the firm’s inception in 2006, bringing our total capital under management to $800MM. As part of the new fund Ellie Wheeler, who has been with Greycroft for almost five
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 59 years, was promoted to Partner, where she joins Alan Patricof, Dana Settle, Ian Sigalow, John Elton, and Mark Terbeek. We plan to make the first investments out of the new fund in January 2016. We have come a long way since our first fund in 2006. Greycroft I was comprised of all individual investors and family offices. It wasn’t for another four years, in 2010, that we added institutional investors with Greycroft II. The original investors from our first two funds still account for roughly 2/3rds of our capital today. Greycroft IV is a continuation of the same investment strategy that the firm pioneered almost 10 years ago. We continue to be one of the only VC firms that has no minimum ownership threshold and no board seat requirement, which has resonated well with entrepreneurs who alltoofrequently hear that VCs require 20%+ ownership. In addition, we have a syndicatefriendly approach and always bring in at least one institutional coinvestor alongside us. This has been well received by other VCs and angel investors who frequently get cut out of their best seed investments by larger funds. Even when we are leading an investment we are happy to make room for other groups. The challenge of our model is that it only works with smaller fund sizes. Greycroft IV is a $200MM fund, which we feel is the largest fund size that works with this particular strategy at this time. We made a commitment to stick to the $200MM level many years ago when we raised our first institutional venture fund and held fast to that promise. If you read any of the trade press around venture capital you will see that the pressure to raise more capital is today’s siren song. It is not unique among fund managers and many entrepreneurs are facing these same pressures too. Our feeling is that at some point additional capital goes from being an asset to being a liability, because it has to be returned with a multiple in order to declare victory. We realize that staying small may be counterintuitive to some in the industry who believe that bigger is always better. In fact, on a per partner basis, our capital under management shrunk from $35MM to $33MM between Fund III and Fund IV. In 2014 we broadly surveyed CEOs of venturebacked startups. The two most important features in selecting a venture capital firm were “Partner Reputation” (rated most important by 38% of respondents) and “Low Dilution” (ranked most important by 25% of respondents). Notice that “Valuation” was neither #1 nor #2 on the list. Our venture model is optimized against the top two criteria. Partners get a good reputation by being helpful, which we try to be at every turn. Partners also get a good reputation by being flexible, which requires abandoning arbitrary industry rules. Our model has worked remarkably well in good times and bad, which is why we aren’t in a hurry to change it, despite the pressure to do so. With very modest capital employed we have experienced a number of very large realizations in companies such as Buddy Media, Huffington Post, Maker Studio, Trunk Club, and Braintree, not to mention existing portfolio companies such as Extreme Reach, AppAnnie, and The RealReal. With our strong investment team, which now numbers 20 people between New York City and Los Angeles, and a consistent strategy for the past decade, we are looking forward to the next phase in Greycroft’s future.
Wave Systems Secures Financing Agreement Lee, MA December 15, 2015., Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX), an enterprise security software provider, announced today that it has completed a financing agreement with Marble Bridge Funding Group, Inc. (MBFG) in the form of a secured accounts receivable and purchase orders financing facility of up to $3
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 60 million. The Company has also engaged GrowthPoint Technology Partners to advise it in evaluating its strategic alternatives, including potential M&A opportunities. Advances on the accounts receivable facility will be made on qualified accounts receivable that are approved by MBFG. The duration of this facility is for 12 months with an automatic 12month renewal unless Wave terminates the facility or is in default with MBFG. Advances on the purchase order facility can be made on qualified purchase orders or contracts approved by MBFG that will convert into an account receivable within 45 days from funding. The duration of the purchase order facility is for 9 months or the termination of the credit facility, whichever occurs first. Additionally, Wave issued a total of 5.5 million warrants to MBFG and its colender of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $0.15 per share. These warrants cannot be exercised for a period six months after the effective date of the transaction and will expire on the fifth anniversary of the issue date. “Closing on this financing agreement is an important development for Wave as it provides capital to help finance current operations and was an important condition for us to engage a firm to advise us on pursuing our strategic alternatives,” said Bill Solms, President and CEO, Wave Systems Corp. “This type of financing facility is not new to Wave as the Company factored its royalties from Dell for several years. Wave is continuing to pursue raising additional capital to meet our needs as required.” About Marble Bridge Funding Group Marble Bridge Funding Group is a strategic commercial finance partner providing funding, capital strategies, cashflow management, and advisory services to growthdriven entrepreneurial companies. As a privately held direct lender, Marble Bridge finances growing businesses from startups to companies with over $50 million in sales, with a variety of customized programs and services. Since 1997 Marble Bridge Funding Group has been working with bankers, brokers, CPAs, financial advisors, and local, state and federal agencies to provide capital and related financial services to our clients. We remain a visible presence in the community, assisting government and private institutions that serve small businesses. About GrowthPoint Technology Partners GrowthPoint Technology Partners provides M&A and financial advisory services to technology companies around the world. We have the depth of expertise acquired from hundreds of completed transactions. As former CEOs, founders, inventors, venture capitalists and advisors, we bring a wealth of strategic and financial experience to our clients with the sole objective of helping them achieve success. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, GrowthPoint has completed transactions with virtually all of the major technology companies and has client relationships that span the globe. Our uniqueness is the depth of our technology expertise and curiosity. Whether it is M&A, capital raising or strategic advisory services, we bring the same process expertise and focused commitment to every engagement.
Senet Deploys First Low Power Wide Area Network June 30, 2015, Camarillo, CA Semtech Corp. (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog, and mixedsignal semiconductors, and Senet, a leading network as a service (NaaS) provider, today announced the deployment of Senet’s nationwide LoRaWANTM network, based on Semtech LoRaTM technology, for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Senet has completed the deployment of 50 towers with network coverage of more than 15,000 square miles. Three towers are in Silicon Valley to enable application development by major corporations and startups in the area that plan to connect to their network.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 61 “We plan to rapidly scale our deployment in North America with more than 200 base stations in 2015 and aggressive goals for deployment in 2016” More than 15,000 Square Miles Already Deployed with 50 Base Stations, Including Silicon Valley Coverage for Local Application Development. Senet deployed the network to serve customers of its EnerTrac subsidiary—to optimize propane and heating fuel delivery and inventory—and is now opening the network to other IoT application verticals such as agriculture, smart parking, building management, supply chain management, water metering, water leak detection, industrial asset tracking and healthcare. Senet offers lowcost connectivity in existing deployed areas and deploys/manages the networks in other areas that desire LPWAN connectivity. “We plan to rapidly scale our deployment in North America with more than 200 base stations in 2015 and aggressive goals for deployment in 2016,” said George Dannecker, CEO of Senet. An application developed for the Senet network is also compatible in other LoRaWAN networks deployed in Canada, South America, Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore and most other South East Asia countries that are utilizing the same frequency band for LPWAN. In addition to Senet, six other major telecom companies have announced nationwide LoRa network deployments. “Senet is a proven pioneer for LPWAN with more area deployed than any other provider in North America,” said Marc Pegulu, General Manager of Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Division. “We are very excited about the volume of devices that are connecting to the Senet network.” LoRa RF technology enables longrange, lowpower connectivity that previously had been unrealizable. Competing shortrange technology requires multiple repeaters and indepth infrastructure to achieve wide coverage and has limited network capacity to be able to connect a high volume of nodes, making the return on investment unattractive for many applications and limiting deployments. LoRa solves these limitations and enables simple IoT connectivity. A single LoRa base station can connect to sensors over 15 miles away in rural environments, and in dense city environments, it has deep penetration capability for indoor coverage. Both Senet and Semtech are active members in the LoRaTM Alliance, which is one of the fastest growing alliances with over 80 members since its launch in March 2015. The goal of the LoRa Alliance is to standardize LPWAN and create a large ecosystem to scale IoT and machinetomachine (M2M) applications. The LoRa Alliance will host a LPWAN workshop at the Sheraton Palo Alto on Thursday, July 23. Visit www.regonline.com/loraworkshop for details and registration information. Senet, Inc. is a leader in the rapidly emerging Internet of Things (IoT) / MachinetoMachine (M2M) marketplace and the first public Network as a Service (NaaS) provider in the US for a low cost / long range ISM network. Through its established countrywide network, Senet enables monitoring services that help America’s most efficient and environmentallyconscious businesses improve profits by managing and measuring the status of widely distributed assets businesses such as residential fuel oil and propane tank automation, water and gas metering, commercial lubrication distribution, solar irradiance, and many more. Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixedsignal semiconductors for highend consumer, computing, communications and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit www.semtech.com.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 62
MultiTech, Senet and Semtech to Sponsor Workshop June 29, 2015, San Ramon, California LoRa™ Alliance members MultiTech, Semtech and Senet will host a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) handson workshop in Silicon Valley to demonstrate how to connect to Senet’s North American LoRaWAN™ network and how to build private LoRaWAN solutions based upon MultiTech’s Conduit LoRa gateways. As part of the workshop, participants will also learn how to configure sensor devices to connect to LoRaWAN networks through the ARM© mbed™ IoT Device Platform. The public workshop for companies interested in developing or connecting solutions into LoRaWAN networks will be at the Sheraton Palo Alto from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 23. “Solutions developed for LoRaWAN can easily connect into any deployed LoRaWAN network.” The LoRa™ Alliance’s standardized protocol for LPWANs, LoRaWAN, will easily connect numerous types of IoT applications, such as smart vending, smart parking, pet tracking, moisture sensors for agriculture and building management sensors, into wide area networks. Bouygues Telecom (France), KPN (Netherlands), Proximus/Belgacom (Belgium), Fastnet (South Africa Telekom), Swisscom (Switzerland), and Senet (USA) have all announced LoRaWAN network deployments and many more large scale deployment announcements are expected this year to enable the connectivity of billions of devices and sensors predicted for the IoT. “Standardization and a strong ecosystem of partners working collectively is the only way to scale and enable IoT,” said Staale Pettersen, president of the LoRa Alliance. “Solutions developed for LoRaWAN can easily connect into any deployed LoRaWAN network.” It will be a oneday workshop and space is limited to 100 attendees. Attendees in groups of two will receive a MultiTech mDot, an ARM mbed programmable LoRaWANready module, supporting both 868 MHz and 915 MHz ISM bands, connected to 4 sensors to develop and test their targeted application. More information, including registration, is available at www.regonline.com/loraworkshop. LoRa™ Alliance is an open, nonprofit association of members that believe the internet of things era is now. Our mission to standardize Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) being deployed around the world to enable Internet of Things (IoT), machinetomachine (M2M), smart city, and industrial applications. The Alliance members will collaborate to drive the global success of the LoRa protocol (LoRaWAN), by sharing knowledge and experience to guarantee interoperability between operators in one open global standard. The technology utilized in a LoRaWAN network is designed to connect lowcost, batteryoperated sensors over long distances in harsh environments that were previously too challenging or cost prohibitive to connect. With its unique penetration capability, a LoRa gateway deployed on a building or tower can connect to sensors more than ten miles away or to water meters deployed underground or in basements. The LoRaWAN protocol offers unique and unequaled benefits in terms of bidirectionality, security, mobility and accurate localization that are not addressed by other LPWAN technologies. These benefits will enable the diverse use cases and business models that will enable deployments of LPWAN IoT networks globally. Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixedsignal semiconductors for highend consumer, computing, communications and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 63 traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit www.semtech.com. Senet, Inc. is a leader in the rapidly emerging Internet of Things (IoT) / MachinetoMachine (M2M) marketplace and the first public Network as a Service (NaaS) provider in the US for a low cost / long range ISM network. Through its established countrywide network, Senet enables monitoring services that help America’s most efficient and environmentallyconscious businesses improve profits by managing and measuring the status of widely distributed assets businesses such as residential fuel oil and propane tank automation, water and gas metering, commercial lubrications distribution, solar irradiance, and many more. About MultiTech MultiTech designs, develops and manufactures communications equipment for the industrial internet of things – connecting physical assets to business processes to deliver enhanced value. Our commitment to quality and service excellence means you can count on MultiTech products and people to address your needs, while our history of innovation ensures you can stay ahead of the latest technology with a partner who will be there for the life of your solution. For more information, please visit www.multitech.com. LoRa and LoRaWAN are trademarks of Semtech Corporation.
Senet Deploys First Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) June 30, 2015, Camarillo, CA Semtech Corp. (Nasdaq: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog, and mixedsignal semiconductors, and Senet, a leading network as a service (NaaS) provider, today announced the deployment of Senet’s nationwide LoRaWANTM network, based on Semtech LoRaTM technology, for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Senet has completed the deployment of 50 towers with network coverage of more than 15,000 square miles. Three towers are in Silicon Valley to enable application development by major corporations and startups in the area that plan to connect to their network. “We plan to rapidly scale our deployment in North America with more than 200 base stations in 2015 and aggressive goals for deployment in 2016” Senet deployed the network to serve customers of its EnerTrac subsidiary—to optimize propane and heating fuel delivery and inventory—and is now opening the network to other IoT application verticals such as agriculture, smart parking, building management, supply chain management, water metering, water leak detection, industrial asset tracking and healthcare. Senet offers lowcost connectivity in existing deployed areas and deploys/manages the networks in other areas that desire LPWAN connectivity. “We plan to rapidly scale our deployment in North America with more than 200 base stations in 2015 and aggressive goals for deployment in 2016,” said George Dannecker, CEO of Senet. An application developed for the Senet network is also compatible in other LoRaWAN networks deployed in Canada, South America, Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore and most other South East Asia countries that are utilizing the same frequency band for LPWAN. In addition to Senet, six other major telecom companies have announced nationwide LoRa network deployments. “Senet is a proven pioneer for LPWAN with more area deployed than any other provider in North America,” said Marc Pegulu, General Manager of Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Division. “We are very excited about the volume of devices that are connecting to the Senet network.” LoRa RF technology enables longrange, lowpower connectivity that previously had been unrealizable. Competing shortrange technology requires multiple repeaters and indepth infrastructure to achieve wide coverage and has limited network capacity to be able to connect a high volume of nodes, making the return on investment unattractive for many applications and limiting deployments. LoRa solves these limitations
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 64 and enables simple IoT connectivity. A single LoRa base station can connect to sensors over 15 miles away in rural environments, and in dense city environments, it has deep penetration capability for indoor coverage. Both Senet and Semtech are active members in the LoRaTM Alliance, which is one of the fastest growing alliances with over 80 members since its launch in March 2015. The goal of the LoRa Alliance is to standardize LPWAN and create a large ecosystem to scale IoT and machinetomachine (M2M) applications. The LoRa Alliance will host a LPWAN workshop at the Sheraton Palo Alto on Thursday, July 23. Visit www.regonline.com/loraworkshop for details and registration information. About Senet Senet, Inc. is a leader in the rapidly emerging Internet of Things (IoT) / MachinetoMachine (M2M) marketplace and the first public Network as a Service (NaaS) provider in the US for a low cost / long range ISM network. Through its established countrywide network, Senet enables monitoring services that help America’s most efficient and environmentallyconscious businesses improve profits by managing and measuring the status of widely distributed assets businesses such as residential fuel oil and propane tank automation, water and gas metering, commercial lubrications distribution, solar irradiance, and many more. About Semtech Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of analog and mixedsignal semiconductors for highend consumer, computing, communications and industrial equipment. Products are designed to benefit the engineering community as well as the global community. The company is dedicated to reducing the impact it, and its products, have on the environment. Internal green programs seek to reduce waste through material and manufacturing control, use of green technology and designing for resource reduction. Publicly traded since 1967, Semtech is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SMTC. For more information, visit www.semtech.com. Semtech, Semtech logo, LoRa and LoRaWAN are trademarks of Semtech Corporation.
Alliqua BioMedical, Inc. grows throughs business acquisition LANGHORNE, Pa., June 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Alliqua BioMedical, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALQA) ("Alliqua" or "the Company"), a provider of advanced wound care products, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Celleration, Inc. ("Celleration"). On February 2, 2015, Alliqua announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase Celleration for an initial purchase price of approximately $30.4 million, comprised of both cash and stock. The merger agreement provides for additional contingent payments in stock and cash, under certain circumstances, if stated revenue thresholds are reached over the next two years ending December 31, 2016 or if certain milestones are satisfied in connection with product sales in the U.K. Celleration is a privately held medical device company, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, which is focused on developing and commercializing the MIST Therapy® therapeutic ultrasound platform for the treatment of acute and chronic wounds. Celleration's MIST Therapy System is an FDA 510(k) cleared device that uses painless, noncontact lowfrequency ultrasound to stimulate cells below the wound bed to promote the healing process. "The completion of this acquisition marks another major milestone in our Company's path towards building a broad and innovative portfolio of advanced wound care technologies," said David Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Alliqua. "Celleration's FDA 501(k) cleared MIST Therapy and UltraMIST™ devices are complementary additions to our portfolio that fit squarely within our acquisition criteria for new technologies.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 65 We are also pleased to be expanding the Alliqua team with some highly skilled individuals from Celleration, including nearly twenty sales resources, and we look forward to their contributions in 2015 and beyond." Cowen and Company, LLC served as Alliqua's exclusive financial advisor in connection with this transaction. Financing Alliqua obtained a Senior Secured Term Loan from Perceptive Advisors in the principal amount of $15.5 million to finance the initial cash purchase price of the acquisition. Further details of the acquisition and the Senior Secured Term Loan can be found in Alliqua's Form 10Q, filed with the SEC on May 14, 2015. Alliqua is a provider of advanced wound care solutions. Through its sales and distribution network, together with its proprietary products, Alliqua provides a suite of technological solutions to enhance the wound care practitioner's ability to deal with the challenges of healing both chronic and acute wounds. Alliqua currently markets its line of hydrogel products for wound care under the SilverSeal® and Hydress® brands, as well as the sorbion sachet S® and sorbion sana® wound care products, and its TheraBond® 3D advanced dressing which incorporates the TheraBond® 3D Antimicrobial Barrier Systems technology. It also markets the advanced wound care product Biovance®, as part of its licensing agreement with Celgene Cellular Therapeutics. In addition, Alliqua can provide a custom manufacturing solution to partners in the medical device and cosmetics industry, utilizing its proprietary hydrogel technology. Alliqua's electron beam production process, located at its 16,500 square foot GMP manufacturing facility in Langhorne, PA, allows Alliqua to custom manufacture a wide variety of hydrogels. Alliqua's hydrogels can be customized for various transdermal applications to address market opportunities in the treatment of wounds as well as the delivery of numerous drugs or other agents for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. For additional information, please visit http://www.alliqua.com. To receive future press releases via email, please visit http://ir.stockpr.com/alliqua/emailalerts. Celleration develops and markets a proprietary technology that has been proven to accelerate healing in wounds by delivering therapeutic, lowfrequency ultrasound without direct contact of the delivery device to the wound surface. Celleration's core product, the MIST Therapy System, has been clinically shown to positively impact the wound healing process and to provide clinical and economic benefits to institutions treating nonresponding wounds. MIST therapy has been performed more than 1.2 million times on over 85,000 patients. There are 19 peerreviewed published articles, including eight Randomized Controlled Trials and one Metaanalysis, documenting the clinical outcomes of MIST. Legal Notice Regarding ForwardLooking Statements This release contains forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 66 "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forwardlooking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties outside of our control that can make such statements untrue, including, but not limited to, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity to pursue its complete business objectives; inadequate capital; the Company's ability to obtain reimbursement from third party payers for its products; loss or retirement of key executives; adverse economic conditions or intense competition; loss of a key customer or supplier; entry of new competitors and products; adverse federal, state and local government regulation; technological obsolescence of the Company's products; technical problems with the Company's research and products; the Company's ability to expand its business through strategic acquisitions; the Company's ability to integrate acquisitions and related businesses; price increases for supplies and components; and the inability to carry out research, development and commercialization plans. In addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise our forwardlooking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
AirXpanders makes Initial Public Offering in Australia PALO ALTO, California., May 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ AirXpanders Inc., a company developing novel technology for women who require tissue expansion for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy, today announced the opening of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in Australia. The company's IPO, fully underwritten by Canaccord Genuity, aims to raise AU $36.5 million and seeks to list on the Australian Securities Exchange. AirXpanders is a medical device company focused on the design, manufacture, sale and distribution of its AeroForm® tissue expander, which is approved for sale in Europe and Australia. The company is expecting results from its pivotal trial shortly and anticipates that AeroForm will be reviewed for clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year. Subject to receiving marketing clearance, AirXpanders is aiming to commercialize AeroForm in the U.S. in early 2016. Tissue expanders are used in breast reconstruction procedures following mastectomy to expand and stretch the skin and underlying muscle prior to the placement of a permanent breast implant. Tissue expansion via traditional salinebased expanders is described by patients as an unpleasant, painful and time consuming procedure. Patients must regularly attend the surgeon's office over a period of weeks or months to receive a series of saline injections through the skin and into the tissue expander. AeroForm is needlefree, and activated by a patient via a wireless remote control. To date, in clinical trials and commercial settings with multiple leading Australian and U.S. breast reconstruction surgeons, AeroForm has been successfully used in more than 350 patients, providing faster and less painful tissue expansion with a significantly reduced need for surgeon office visits. AirXpanders estimates that in the U.S. alone, the current market for tissue expanders is approximately 120,000 units per year; however, many women are still not fully informed of their reconstruction rights and options. Major efforts are underway to improve the visibility of women's options and AirXpanders is fully committed to helping inform women of their choices. The company estimates that if women in the U.S. were fully informed of their options, the addressable market is approximately 350,000 units per year.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 67 "We believe that every woman deserves a comfortable, efficient breast reconstruction journey and the highest possible quality of life following a mastectomy, and that AeroForm is the best innovation in tissue expanders in decades. As a result, we consider AeroForm to be an attractive and compelling new alternative for this important patient group in a significant market," said Scott Dodson, president and CEO of AirXpanders. "We are pleased to invite investors to share in AirXpanders' exciting future as we scale up our manufacturing capacity and our sales and marketing infrastructure to undertake a full commercial launch of AeroForm in both Australia and the U.S." AirXpanders Inc. (www.airxpanders.com) is a tissue expansion company focused on the area of breast reconstruction. By employing a revolutionary patientcontrolled expander, activated by a wireless remote control, the often painful process of reclaiming one's body after cancer can potentially be eased with this needlefree technology. This technology is easy to use and may enable the patient to proceed to a permanent implant much faster than the current standard of care. At this time, AirXpanders' products are not cleared or approved for sale in the U.S. AirXpanders is backed by Vivo Ventures, GBS Venture Partners, Prolog Ventures, Heron Capital, Shalon Ventures, Correlation Ventures and Western Technology Investments.
Janrain obtains $27 Million in Series D Funding Portland, Oregon., The company Janrain, the leading provider of Customer Identity Management Solutions, announced today that it has secured $27 million in Series D funding led by HighBar Partners, with participation from existing investors Millennium Technology Value Partners, Split Rock Partners, Epic Ventures, Emergence Capital, RPM Ventures and DFJ Frontier. The new funding will enable Janrain to continue building upon its industryleading Customer Identity Management Platform while broadening its scope to include deeper analytic insight into user engagement. Founded by Larry Drebes, Janrain securely manages customer data for more than 2,000 global organizations in over 70 countries. Customers, including many top Fortune 500 multinational companies, choose Janrain because of its ability to capture and protect data at massive global scale in an environment of heightened data privacy concerns and regulation. The new funding will be used to further build out Janrain’s data analytics capabilities by enriching existing customer data with relevant and actionable behavioral and crosschannel insights. “We see our core Customer Identity platform as the clear leader in a rapidlygrowing market,” said Larry Drebes, founder and CEO of Janrain. “The organization today is structured to serve that market efficiently, which then allows us to look at adjacent problems and areas of expansion. Janrain recently added robust Engagement functionality to its platform, and the Company sees a number of similar opportunities in the market as enterprises look for new ways to activate their audiences and offer a wider variety of identitybased marketing use cases.” “Janrain has a talented management team and the most scalable, enterpriseready solution for Customer Identity Management,” said John Kim, CoFounder and Managing Partner at HighBar Partners. “Its list of bluechip global brands and customers reinforces our belief in the platform’s technical maturity and natural evolution toward a deeper, more synchronized view of consumer behavior. We are excited to partner with the Janrain team and current investors to further advance the next generation of marketing solutions.” As part of the transaction, John Kim will be joining Janrain’s Board of Directors.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 68 To learn more about Janrain and its Customer Identity Management solutions, please visit www.janrain.com. About HighBar Partners: HighBar Partners is a private investment firm that provides strategic growth capital to enterprise and infrastructure software companies. We are a creative and engaged investor with resources and relationships to assist management teams with financial, strategic and operational execution. Our professionals employ a disciplined owneroperator investing philosophy that stems from founding, operating and investing in over 100 companies in the technology sector. We structure our investments to align all stakeholders and work in partnership with management teams and coinvestors to fund growth and develop significant value beyond the financing. Janrain makes it easy to know your customers and personalize every interaction. Our Customer Identity Management Platform helps companies build a unified view of its customers across all devices by collecting accurate customer profile data to power personalized marketing. The platform encompasses social login, registration, customer profile data storage, customer insights, single signon, and engagement. Janrain powers customer identity management for brands like Pfizer, AMC, Samsung, Whole Foods, Fox News, Philips, Marvel, Mattel and Dr. Pepper. Founded in 2005, Janrain is based in Portland, Oregon, with offices in London, Paris, and Redwood City, CA. For more information, please visit www.janrain.com and follow @janrain.
Autotask grows presence through business Acquisitions Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management technology, has agreed to acquire Soonr, a leading provider of enterprise secure file sharing and collaboration services for IT business managers. Soonr offers a file sharing and synchronization (FSS) solution with enterprisegrade functionality in a hybridcloud environment. The Soonr solution improves business continuity and reduces risk through better security, flexibility, productivity and collaboration of endclient data. “Autotask delivers innovative offerings that manage missioncritical business processes for our customers. This acquisition fits perfectly within that objective and represents a significant managed services’ revenue opportunity for all MSPs and ITSPs,” said Mark Cattini, President and CEO of Autotask. “FSS is a fundamental element of business continuity that ITSPs are expected to provide. Soonr provides a HIPAAcompliant, SaaS solution with 99.99 percent uptime that is ITapproved, easy to deploy, and simple to use.” As enterprises look for secure ways to manage their data with administrator controls, Soonr has been designed specifically to address these requirements and offers significant advantages over consumerbased products, such as enterprisegrade configurable security, collaboration capabilities and data privacy certifications. Soonr improves the endclient experience and increases loyalty by enabling technology service providers to securely and effectively manage valuable data flows. “Autotask provides IT business management software that allows customers to deliver technology services more efficiently,” said Ahmet Tuncay, CEO of Soonr. “We are thrilled to be part of the Autotask team and to enable Autotask’s endclients to improve productivity with better mobility and data protection assurance.” The Jordan Edmiston Group, Inc., acted as the financial advisor to Soonr in the transaction. For additional information about the acquisition, go to http://www.autotask.com/soonr. About Soonr Founded in 2005, Soonr is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California with an additional office in Denmark. Soonr’s mission is to make organizations more productive and competitive by securely connecting office and
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 69 mobile workers and their critical information. Soonr file sharing and collaboration services have been in commercial production since early 2007 without a single security breach or a data loss incident. About Autotask Corporation Autotask Corporation helps IT organizations worldwide work smarter with a complete, cloudbased IT business management platform that enables efficiency, accountability and access to the metrics that drive intelligent business decisions. With builtin best practices and workflow automation, Autotask speeds time to revenue while continually improving service delivery. Autotask is available in seven languages and used in over 90 countries. Headquartered in New York, Autotask has offices in Beijing, Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Munich and Sydney. Visit autotask.com for more information. Autotask® is a registered trademark of Autotask Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Neustar Recognizes QualityHealth for its Innovative Data Verification Aug 16th, 2013 (Jersey City, NJ) — STERLING, Va. — Neustar , Inc., a trusted, neutral provider of realtime information and analytics, has recognized QualityHealth , the healthcare industry's leading performancebased marketing provider, with its annual Best in Lead Quality Award. "This award reflects QualityHealth's strong industry leadership and innovative approach to verifying individual consumer data, which ensures that more consumers can be effectively matched with product and service providers who will meet their health and wellness needs," said Ted Prince, Senior Vice President of Media and New Ventures for Neustar Information Services. The award was presented at the Interactive Insights Summit, a leading industry event sponsored by Neustar. QualityHealth operates an online community providing information on a range of health and wellness issues, connecting their members with appropriate pharmaceutical, health and lifestyle partners who provide relevant information, discounts and other offers. Being able to rely on the accuracy of our members' contact information is essential to enable partners to contact them efficiently and responsibly. "We can't put a number on the value of accurate consumer data," said Rob Rebak, QualityHealth's Chairman and CEO. "If we have the wrong information, we literally don't have a business. We chose Neustar Information Services because the quality and accuracy of their data is unmatched." With Neustar's OnDemand Verification solution, QualityHealth can instantly verify the accuracy of contact data that consumers provide in a web form. The solution leverages the full power of Neustar's marketproven, realtime consumer insights engine, IANSM (Identifiers, Attributes, Network), to verify in real time both the nametoaddress and nametophone number combination for every QualityHealth community member. "The ability to authoritatively verify phone and address information in real time sets Neustar's solution apart in the industry," commented Rebak. "This allows us to uniquely match community members with service providers using the best contact channel, improving the customer experience as well as the services we provide our client partners. Neustar's capabilities have helped us raise the bar in our market — and increase our engagement and conversion rate by forty percent."
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 70 "We are excited to see QualityHealth setting a new standard of excellence for lead conversion by leveraging Neustar's data solutions to provide their clients the best marketing solutions available," added Prince. Neustar, Inc. is a trusted, neutral provider of realtime information and analysis to the Internet, telecommunications, technology, financial services, retail, media and advertising sectors. Neustar applies its advanced, secure technologies in location, identification, and evaluation to help its customers promote and protect their businesses. More information is available at www.neustar.biz . QualityHealth is the largest and most efficient online customer acquisition solution for healthcare marketers. The QualityHealth proprietary platform delivers superior results for clients and meaningful value to healthcare consumers. The company was founded as Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., in 1999, and is located in Jersey City, NJ. QualityHealth .
Integral Files SEF Application With CFTC ■ ■ ■
Regulatorycompliant FX trading platform, delivered as a service Provides seamless user experience to preserve the best elements of OTC markets Eases the transition to regulated markets
PALO ALTO, Calif. (August 5, 2013) — Integral Development Corp. ( www.integral.com ), a leading provider of FX trading solutions and services, announced today that it has filed an application with the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch a Swap Execution Facility (SEF) under the CFTC's recently announced SEF rules issued pursuant to the DoddFrank Act. INFX SEF is a whollyowned subsidiary of Integral Development Corp. "Over two decades, Integral has solved some of the toughest technology problems in capital markets for the benefit of our clients. As a natural extension of our OTC FX platform FX Grid®, we took on the challenge of helping our customers, partners, and liquidity providers navigate the new regulatory landscape. We have created a SEF that preserves what is best about OTC markets – relationships, choice, resiliency, and bespoke business models, thereby minimizing any potential disruption to our customers' foreign exchange trading businesses." said Harpal Sandhu, CEO, Integral Development Corp. Pending approval, Integral will be offering a regulatorycompliant FX trading platform. This will include all necessary connections to liquidity providers, clearing houses, SDRs, etc. Integral's cloud services require no upfront investments. Customers benefit from the payasyougo business model. Integral's SEF will support request for quote (RFQ) and an integrated order book. Customers will enjoy a seamless transition between regulated and nonregulated instruments. For our liquidity providers, Integral offers easy access to a large institutional market while taking care of all the integration issues. For buyside firms, Integral provides onboarding and workflow solutions that are tailored to their interests while easing the transition to regulated markets. Integral develops and operates FX Grid®, a global multisided trading network connecting active market participants with all major sources of FX liquidity. Integral's business model supports all FX market participants with the solutions they need to build their own private FX exchange, and to deliver branded trading services to their clientele. FX Grid connects all segments of foreign exchange from retail to institutional banks and brokers, to money center banks, investment management firms, to algorithmic trading firms on a global scale. Founded in 1993, Integral maintains development, support, and sales offices in Palo Alto, New York, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangalore. For more information, visit www.integral.com. © 2013 Integral Development Corp. All rights reserved. Integral technology is protected
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 71 under U.S. Patent Nos. 6,347,307 B1; 7,882,011 B2 and 8,417,622 B2, patent pending applications and related intellectual property.
HCAP Partners Selected for the ImpactAssets 50 San Diego, California (October 21, 2015) – HCAP Partners (formerly Huntington Capital), a Californiabased mezzanine debt and private equity firm, announced today that it has been selected for the ImpactAssets 50 2015 (IA 50), a free, publicly available online resource for impact investors and their advisors. The IA 50, now in its fifth year, is the first publicly available database of private debt and equity impact investment fund managers. “HCAP Partners is honored to be recognized by the IA 50 showcase for the third year running,” commented Tim Bubnack, HCAP Partners managing partner. “Our fund’s inclusion on this list reflects our continued focus on positively impacting underserved businesses with flexiblystructured growth capital and valueadded resources.” HCAP Partners places a particular emphasis on companies located in low and moderate income areas (“LMIs”) and companies employing individuals residing in LMI areas. Founded with a vision to stimulate the economic wellbeing of communities while seeking to generate abovemarket rate returns, HCAP Partners seeks to create high quality jobs within our investments through active portfolio engagement and collaboration with senior leadership around the key themes of economic opportunity and health and wellness. The ImpactAssets 50 is the only free, public, searchable database of outstanding impact investing fund managers. The showcase includes a range of funds spanning diverse issue areas and investment, with demonstrated and compelling social and environmental impact. Fund managers included in the IA 50 2015 manage a combined $13.6 billion in assets devoted to creating measurable, positive impact. The IA 50 selection committee is chaired by ImpactAssets' Chief Impact Strategist, Jed Emerson, and includes experts from The CAPROCK Group, Toniic, UBS and Blue Haven Initiative. The IA 50 is not an index or investable platform and does not constitute an offering or recommend specific products. It is a not a replacement for due diligence. In order to be considered for the IA 50 2015, fund managers needed to have at least $10 million in assets under management, more than 3 years of experience as a firm with impact investing, documented social and/or environmental impact and accept investments from the US. Clickhere for additional details on the selection process. About HCAP Partners HCAP Partners (formerly Huntington Capital) is a provider of mezzanine and private equity for underserved, lowermiddle market companies throughout California and the Western United States. HCAP Partners invests $2 million to $9 million in established businesses in the healthcare, technology, services and manufacturing industries generating between $10 million and $75 million in revenues. The firm has invested in over 50 companies since it was founded and proactively works with its portfolio companies to achieve favorable financial outcomes and measurable impact value creation. Partners Tim Bubnack, Morgan Miller and Frank Mora lead HCAP Partners’ management team. For more information, please visit www.hcapllc.com or call (858) 2597654. About ImpactAssets ImpactAssets is a nonprofit financial services firm that increases the flow of capital into investments that deliver financial, social, and environmental returns. ImpactAssets’ donor advised fund (“The Giving Fund”),
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 72 impact investment notes, and field building initiatives enable philanthropists, other asset owners, and their wealth advisors to advance social or environmental change through investment.
HCAP Partners Expands Team to Impact Investing Initiatives San Diego, California (October 28, 2015) – HCAP Partners (formerly Huntington Capital), a Californiabased mezzanine debt and private equity firm, today announced the addition of Bhairvee Shavdia as Impact Associate. Bhairvee will be responsible for identifying, monitoring, and assessing impact performance for existing and prospective investments. Bhairvee joined HCAP Partners from San Diego State University’s Zahn Innovation Center where she created and led the University’s incubator platform for social enterprise. Prior to this, she was an Investment Professional at H.I.G. Capital, where she participated in the origination, investment analysis and due diligence of private equity and distressed debt transactions. Before joining H.I.G. Capital, Bhairvee worked in investment banking focusing on cross border M&A transactions. Bhairvee holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a dual concentration in Finance and Actuarial Science and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. HCAP Partners managing partner Tim Bubnack commented, “Bhairvee will fill a key role, supporting HCAP Partners’ focus on impact investing activities, and engaging with our portfolio companies in the development of actionable plans designed to create high quality jobs. We are pleased to welcome her to the team.” About HCAP Partners HCAP Partners (formerly Huntington Capital) is a provider of mezzanine and private equity for underserved, lowermiddle market companies throughout California and the Western United States. HCAP Partners invests $2 million to $9 million in established businesses in the healthcare, technology, services and manufacturing industries generating between $10 million and $75 million in revenues. The firm has invested in over 50 companies since it was founded and proactively works with its portfolio companies to achieve favorable financial outcomes and measurable impact value creation. Partners Tim Bubnack, Morgan Miller and Frank Mora lead HCAP Partners’ management team. For more information, please visit www.hcapllc.com or call (858) 2597654.
Using the sun and rocks to provide renewable energy when needed Pasadena, Californiabased Edisun Heliostats is moving closer to bringing its solar battery demonstration project to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. The project would test the company’s renewable technology on a commercial scale using an array of mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy and convert it into high temperature heat. That heat is then channeled through a heat exchanger to generate electricity immediately, or it is used to heat locally sourced rock up to more than 900 degrees, the energy of which can be used at a later time to create power. “We’re revolutionizing the idea that we can deliver the power any time regardless of when it is captured,” said Peter Stricker, Edisun’s chief commercial officer. Edisun, founded by Idealab in 2014, is changing the concentrated solar power industry by lowering costs and providing the ability to store energy for later use. “We are trying to do inexpensive but smart. We are trying to use every engineering tool and cost to make it economical,” he added.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 73 Edisun got unanimous approval in concept by NELHA’s Board of Directors this week to go forward with the project at the North Kona ocean, science and technology park. Next, Edisun must submit a final proposal for approval, which Stricker expects to do in early 2016. The project would come online later that year and would likely require one employee to maintain. If given final approval by NELHA’s board, which officials expect, the project will take over the 4acre spot makai of Queen Kaahumanu Highway vacated last year when Keahole Solar Power closed its Sopogy operations, said NELHA Executive Director Greg Barbour. Edisun will utilize much of the existing equipment, with the exception of Sopogy’s mirrors, which Barbour said might be able to be used by another tenant within NELHA. The site is already connected to Hawaii Electric Light Co.’s grid. “When we see somebody very reputable like the Energy Excelerator selecting them for demostration, we get very excited about that,” Barbour said. The project was one of eight companies making up the 2015 GotoMarket cohort to receive funding. “We’re very exicted and we think it’s very cool.” Edisun completed a successful prototype in Pasadena that produced 25 kWh capable of being stored for five hours and then dispatched to meet demand. The Kona commercial demonstration project would produce 100 kWh that could be stored eight to 12 hours without expensive batteries, Stricker said. The company uses the rock as the “battery” to store energy for later conversion to electricity. “We’ve demonstrated that we can deliver on demand,” Stricker said. During the Kona commercial demonstration period, Edisun will provide electricity to NELHA, not including tenants. The energy will be used to offset costs to operate the facility’s main water pumps 24/7. Barbour said the energy could reduce annual electricity costs by about 10 percent. However, the goal, Stricker said, is to provide HELCO, if the utility agrees and government approval is obtained, the renewable technology to generate electricity that can offset the use of fossil fuels to meet demand during peakuse hours. It can also help balance load and generation on the Big Island electric grid. “We think we’ve got a really good solution,” Stricker said. “In addition to generating and dispatching our solar power, we can take power off the grid (for use later).”
A Billion Problem Solvers raised at Public Schools Thanks to initiatives like Hour of Code and major moves by some of the country's largest school districts, coding and computer science are finally starting to enter the mainstream of K12 education. But as millions of students learn JavaScript, Python and beyond, we must make sure that teaching coding is about more than just creating millions of new programmers. The case for coding as a pathway to employment is easy and it's no coincidence that the public school systems in the country's two hotbeds of technology The New York City Public Schools and the San Francisco Unified School District are among the first to mandate that computer science be taken seriously. There's been a 57% growth in software jobs in NYC alone over the past seven years, and analysts predict that by 2020 U.S. companies will have 1.4 million open programming jobs. Software is in almost everything we touch, so the demand for software engineers is increasing exponentially. If our kids can't fill these jobs, then someone else's will and we'll have to continue to import talent. But focusing on computer science as a gateway to good jobs would be akin to thinking about English Language Arts only in the context of script writing. It's shortsighted and completely misses the fact that coding is a new literacy that can help kids develop and achieve across every core competency. According to a recent study by Tufts University, kids who study computer science improve transferrable skills like sequencing, which has a direct positive correlation with improved reading comprehension.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 74 The logical problem solving and algorithmic thinking at the core of computer science force kids to think about thinking a process referred to as metacognition that has proven benefits related to selfmonitoring and independent learning. In addition, when a kid studies computer science and coding, she masters a series of important tools for logical problem solving that are the core of 21st century thinking. She learns how to quickly create a hypothesis, translate those ideas code to see if they create the appropriate action and then learn from the result. Given the importance of coding in our modern world, it's time to stop treating it like a niche activity. Educators have long debated which we should teach first reading or the basics of mathematics. Coding has now elbowed its way into the conversation and we need approaches that are appropriate and compelling for each grade level. The good news is that modern tools like tablets allow us to introduce kids to sophisticated concepts in highly entertaining ways. Leave a child alone with a tablet, and they learn to interact with it instantly. If we teach them how these machines work starting from an early age, we allow them to build confidence at a reasonable pace and dramatically increase the odds they will continue to pursue computer science as a teen and adult. Those of us who've made careers in technology would love to see coding taught the same way we teach kids to read and use math make it a core part of K12 curricula, break ideas down into bitesize chunks and give kids more than a decade to truly master key concepts. In the near term, perhaps we can get people to think about teaching computer science and coding as something akin to teaching music. We know the benefits of incorporating music into mainstream education. They're virtually the same as coding: Music and coding both inspire creativity, improve cognitive skills and improve executive functioning skills like persistence. And just as when we teach kids music we don't do so with the notion they will all become rock stars or professionals we shouldn't teach computer science thinking all kids should become or will want to become programmers. However, all kids can learn how to leverage technology to enhance their own natural abilities and interests. Even the aspiring dancer or politician can benefit from being able to use technology creatively and confidently. Dancers can create light and sound shows that pull on an audience's emotions. Politicians can develop powerful databases of supporters that translate into donations and campaign volunteers. Take this idea a step further and imagine a world where everyone believes they can solve big problems with tech and has the confidence and knowhow to collaborate with people around the world in pursuit of a solution. I, for one, am very excited about the prospect of living in that future.
BLACKBERRY to acquire emergency alert systems BlackBerry has announced that it’s acquiring AtHoc , a Califbased company that develops emergency alert systems for government agencies, military bodies, and other organizations. The AtHoc software is designed to enable the exchange of “critical information in realtime during business continuity and life safety operations.” This covers things like sending alerts to employees en masse, collecting information from people’s handsets for situational awareness, and communicating with other related organizations. The AtHoc platform is about as crossplatform as they come, with support for iOS, Android, PCs, radios, IP phones, sirens, fire panels and speakers. It’s all about getting crucial information out, regardless of the
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 75 endpoint. The company already works with the U.S. Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security, so it has a solid pedigree. AtHoc’s technology will be integrated into BlackBerry’s enterprise offerings, including BBM Meetings — the businessfocused version of its popular messaging service. This could mean that live video feeds are added to AtHocpowered alerts, which may help collaboration around critical situations. “AtHoc and BlackBerry share a common vision of a securely connected world,” explains Guy Miasnik, president and CEO of AtHoc. “Federal departments, state and local agencies, and commercial enterprises alike depend on AtHoc to communicate reliably during their most critical moments. Becoming part of BlackBerry will give us the ability to scale more quickly to expand our global reach and introduce new applications for the AtHoc platform, while continuing to serve our government and enterprise customers.” With its smartphone business falling behind the giants of iOS and Android, BlackBerry has been slowly transforming into a softwarefocused company, so taking on a firm such as AtHoc feeds into this broader strategy — providing securitycentric tools to organizations.
GIMBAL, INC. ANNOUNCES JEFF RUSSAKOW AS NEW CEO SAN DIEGO, California – July 27, 2015 – Gimbal, Inc., the leader in location and proximitybased mobile engagement, today announced Jeff Russakow as president and chief executive officer. In this role, Russakow will work closely with Gimbal’s global customers, partners, employees and the executive team to further extend the company’s leadership in location and proximitybased mobile engagement. Russakow will also serve as a member of Gimbal’s board of directors. Russakow succeeds Rocco Fabiano, whose leadership was instrumental in Gimbal’s successful transition out of Qualcomm in 2014, and in establishing the innovative company’s early market leadership. Fabiano will remain focused on Gimbal’s future success as chairman of the board. Russakow brings more than 20 years of executive management experience to Gimbal, including senior leadership roles at enterprise and consumer software leaders SAP, Adobe and Symantec, and in the digital media and advertising world as EVP and chief customer officer at Yahoo! More recently, Russakow was the CEO of Findly, a growth SaaS company, as well as executive chairman of Symphony Advanced Media, an innovator in the multiscreen media analytics space. He began his career at McKinsey & Company. “Gimbal brings to the market truly enterprise grade solutions and a compelling business vision at a time when the revolutionary advances we have seen in mobile, digital media, and personalized customer experiences are finally reconnecting to the physical world in which we all actually live,” said Russakow. “Having done early research in this space nearly 25 years and many technologies ago, I have closely followed Gimbal’s ascension as the undisputed market leader in proximity and mobile engagement. I am thrilled to work with this exceptional management team to drive continued growth for both Gimbal and the exciting community of enterprises and consumers it serves.” “The Gimbal board is excited to have Jeff join the team as we further extend Gimbal’s leadership in the location and proximity mobile space,” said David Wise, current Gimbal board member and senior vice president at Qualcomm Technologies Inc. “Jeff brings tremendous experience in digital media, advertising, software and SaaS that will be instrumental to scaling the Gimbal business to the next level. We look forward to working with Jeff and the management team to drive Gimbal’s vision of a proximallyengaged world.” Dr. Russakow holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
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SMART Insights about Working Capital and Leasing for Startups 76
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