Mike’s presentation was entitled “Top ten things to know to stay in business (how to not screw-up your startup)”.  Many of the things he mentioned are the type of suggestions most of us have heard before but need to be reminded about.  Mike’s casual, confident style kept the presentation from seeming like a lecture and made it feel more like advice from a trusted mentor.  He mixed his thoughts in with real world examples that stimulated lots of questions and discussion.

Here’s Mike’s Top Ten:

1. Your original idea will not work.  Business must be flexible and ready to change when this happens.
2. It will cost 300% more than your best estimate.  Be overly conservative with cash.  Be optimistic with customers and pessimistic with cash flow.
3. It’s the people, stupid. Hire quality people and only quality people.  One “great” person is better than a dozen “good” people.  Always hire people smarter than yourself.
4. Not all money is the same.  Be careful where you raise money and know that there will always be conditions you did not expect.
5. Generate enough cash to pay your bills.  Become really good at managing cash flow and set up your entire business around cash needs.
6. Make a profit.  Profit allows you to stay in business, grow and invest, and keeps peace in your relationships.
7. Either grow or die.  If you are not growing you are dying.  Change and adaptation are critical to growing a business.
8. Most businesses fail from ego or greed.
9. Do it yourself.  No pretty offices and staff.  Learn to do everything you possibly can yourself so that you know everything.
10. Don’t believe the hype.  Your own hype or anyone else’s can be detrimental, look at the facts.

Mike summarized with the point that building a business can be the best time of your life, enjoy it!

Top Ten Things reprinted with permission from Mike Thomas, CEO the Blue Sky Group

Not only am I new to the Wyoming Technology Business Center but I am new to the networking organizations: e2e and StartWest.  I took over for Heidi Peterson when she left in August and this will be my first opportunity to attend a StartWest event.   

It looks to be a great event, too.  We have a speaker lined up (Mike Thomas) who has “been there and done that” to the level that most of us with the entrepreneurial spark only dream of doing. 

I have to admit that I have not even dreamed of doing what he did:  co-founding a company that sold for over 100 million.  That’s a level of success that most of us don’t really get.  Yet he has done that and more including forming  venture capital company and a Lusk, Wyoming beef ranch.  I can’t wait to get some tips from him. 

Jon Benson (CEO of the Wyoming Technology Business Center) always makes me tell a little bit about myself when he introduces me so maybe I should do that here as well. 

I grew up in Western Kansas where my parents were both school teachers.  My Dad had a seemingly limitless flow of ideas for small businesses to do during the summers and I was cheap labor.  I think that’s where my own entrepreneurial spark started -  not far from the tree.  Of course like all children of that decade I rebelled and instead of pursuing a business of my own I did the exact opposite - I joined the military. 

After I got out of the military I went to undergraduate school and got my business degree.  Filled with ideas, excitement and brand new diploma I was quickly hit with a pile of school debt and slumping economy.  I ended up back working for the Federal Government where my military experience and a degree gave me a boost up the pay scale.  I moved to Denver and ignored my business dreams for the next ten years. 

A number of events lined up to allow me to get my graduate degree and jump out of the safety of the government GS pay scale and land in a shooting star company in Laramie.  Aspen Tree software gave me a taste of success.  Huge clients and a bigger than life entrepreneur made my spark turn into a burning desire.  When the company was sold and it was decided we would all have to move to Boulder, I declined. 

I started my own company using relational databases to connect with flash design dynamically.  It’s pretty old hat now but in ‘99 it was cutting edge.  We grew our company from 3 guys with a dream working out of a room the size of closet into 11 employees in two states.  Then came the dot bust and I was asked to move to Dallas.

Really, if Boulder did not make sense for me, Dallas made even less.  My wife and I started our own company providing technology training and assistance for people in their homes.  Unfortunately we did not have the assistance of people like Jon Benson or the technology incubator and we set ourselves up to fail with a debt financed start-up. 

So I got a job. I worked for the University for five years before I found my calling and luckily the people doing the hiring saw the fit. Now I get to help people grow their own businesses every day.  I hear about exciting products in Wyoming and get to be a part of the explosion of new technology and employment growth at it’s very beginning.  

That’s a little about me and our speaker for this coming Wednesday.  Please join us and take the time to look me up. I’d love to hear your story and see if there is some way I can help you achieve your dream. 

Last Monday, I took in the first day of the 3rd Annual Wyoming Business-to-Business Idea Expo put on by the Wyoming Business Council.  The breakfast keynote speech by Tim Gard was a hoot but also full of useful tips for surviving your business and your business travel.  I went to several breakout sessions but the two on using social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in) to help promote your business and on search engine optimization (SEO), both put on by Chris Hansen, were standouts.  The best came last, however, when the regular bimonthly Laramie e2e networking meeting hosted speaker Yoshi Noguchi, of InterBusiness Corporation, who gave an extraordinary overview of cloud computing.

Wednesday through Friday, I was at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.  This event, which is now held annually, had record attendance (1600+) despite many other national conferences having a down year and attracted a star lineup of keynote speakers and panelists:  the head of technology acquisitions for Google, the CTOs of Amazon and Facebook, and many, many other influential technologists.  The conference is primarily aimed at undergraduate and graduate students in Computer Science, CS faculty, and mid- to high-level executives in large high technology companies.  So I was a bit of a fish out of water but, frankly, the Google keynote was worth the price of attendance all by itself.  It gave me some confirmation for a product idea I’ve been chewing on AND a different, probably much easier, approach for how to implement it.

(BTW, for any of you with daughters, nieces, or young female acquaintances currently studying Computer Science or a related field:  One of the main things that goes on at the Hopper conference is interviewing and recruiting for both internships and fulltime jobs.  The economy may be down and competition for jobs may be hot but GHC is a great opportunity for young women to get both inspired and hired.  And a lot of scholarship money is available each year to underwrite attendance for those whose colleges don’t send a delegation.)

On the way back home to Sheridan, which included a 3-hour flight delay in Denver, doled out in 20- and 30-minute units, a diversion to Cheyenne for the medical emergency of one of my fellow travelers, and an approach to the runway through a driving rain/snow storm, I got to apply some of the Tim Gard lessons on keeping your sense of humor when all about you are losing theirs.  I even made a gate attendant in Tucson laugh, which helped me smile the rest of the day as the travel got harder and harder.

ag

——————————————–
Anne Gunn
ompeag @ wyoming.com

Design Team Selected for Wyoming Supercomputer

March 3, 2009 — The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and its managing organization, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), announced today (Tuesday) the selection of an architectural design team for a supercomputing center dedicated to advancing scientists’ understanding of climate, weather, and other Earth and atmospheric processes. Read More

UW Experts

Visit the UW Experts List at: www.uwyo.edu/news/experts

Wyoming Angels announced today that Cheyenne-based Green House Data Center Inc. has received the first investment made by the fledgling angel investor group.  Green House Data Inc. provides co-location and managed hosting data services for companies like the National Outdoor Leadership School, Awhere and IDES at its 100 percent wind powered and truly green data center.

“Green House Data is uniquely positioned to take full advantage of the current data center industry supply and demand imbalance that is allowing many facilities to sit well above at 85 percent occupied,” said lead investor Michael Kmetz of Wyoming Angels as well as president and CEO of IDES Inc. of Laramie.  “It is really exciting to be a part of something so unique with such a tremendous upside potential.  As one of the few truly green data centers in the country, the company has attracted national and international attention.”

“We were really pleased to get early support for our business model from the Wyoming Angel Network,” said Shawn Mills, president and CEO of Green House Data Inc.  “Having this group of investors and successful entrepreneurs as part of our syndicated investment round has brought a wealth of strategic guidance, customer introductions and unique insight to our business.”

As part of the investment, Green House Data has promised to return annually to update the angel group on the company’s progress and prospects.

ABOUT WYOMING ANGELS

Wyoming Angels is a new, statewide loose-knit investor group started in 2007 by Venture West Network Inc. and supported by Laramie Economic Development Corp.  The group holds quarterly meetings to evaluate new investment opportunities and regularly seeks new, active members.  More information is available on the web at www.wyomingangels.angelgroups.net.

ABOUT GREEN HOUSE DATA INC.

Green House Data is one of the nation’s only high-density data center and hosted computing facilities that is entirely powered through renewable wind energy. The company’s green data center offers the region’s lowest cost, high-availability co-location and managed hosting services. The company’s green operations deliver a zero carbon footprint computer facility that is approximately ten percent less expensive than its competitors. For more information visit: www.greenhousedata.com .

You can hear the piece or read a transcript at NPR but be forwarned, Katz’ comments on rural living may raise your blood pressure.

Katz asserts that folks who live in rural areas impose a substantial cost on society.  It is true that some of us are lucky enough to live in rural and small town areas because we choose to; but that is hardly the vast majority of rural dwellers.  I have to wonder where does Katz think food, minerals, lumber, and other raw materials come from?  Who does he think produces them?

Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Time: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Heavy Appetizers and Host Bar Provided

Location: Holiday Inn

RSVP to: Heidi Peterson at the Wyoming Technology Business Center (email: hpeters4@uwyo.edu or call 307.766.6283)

About Fred Dowd:

Fred Dowd was born in Casper, WY in 1937.  His family left Wyoming shortly thereafter, and he was raised and educated in New York City and West Hartford, CT.  Despite receiving only a high school education, Fred built a money management firm that was one of the most successful in the nation, the Fred L. Dowd Company.

Upon graduation from Windsor High School, Fred worked as a machinist for United Gear and Machine in Windsor Locks, CT for a few years, moving on to sell Fuller Brush products until 1959 when he joined Phoenix Mutual Life.

Fred was a leading producer for Phoenix Mutual by 1962, later a leading producer for American General Corporation as well.  While with American General Corporation, Fred became Series 6 licensed and began selling mutual funds as well as insurance products.

In 1964, Fred participated in the lawsuit against the IRS on behalf of physicians in Colorado and their right to form professional corporations to fund meaningful retirement plans on a deductible basis as well as other professional corporation tax benefits.  The Empy Case was victorious in June 1969 at which time the IRS announced they would recognize professionals for corporate tax treatment throughout the U.S.

Having pioneered the professional corporation concept, Fred formed his own firm named Professional Corporations, Inc. to specialize in helping physicians incorporate and also to manage the necessary benefit programs for these corporations.

In 1975, the Fred L. Dowd Company began to manage the investments as well as the insurance using primary mutual funds and bank trust department common funds.  In 1985, Fred received his series 7 license, and the Dowd Company became a fully functional wealth management firm with the primary focus on growth stock portfolios, soon achieving a track record in the top 2% nationally.  He maintained this track record until the sale of his firm in 2005.

Dowd Company was the first firm in the U.S. to waive 50% of management fees if they did not outperform the S&P 500 (our benchmark) by at least 3% net of all fees and transaction costs.

NBIA’s 23rd International Conference on Business Incubation is designed to give you a maximum return on your investment. These challenging times require innovative thinking, and the NBIA conference will inspire just that!

Expert presenters

The conference features more than 60 educational sessions covering all aspects of business incubation. Whether you are interested in improving your services, increasing client funding opportunities or developing a new incubator, you will learn about it at the NBIA conference. And that knowledge is proven effective in the field: Most speakers are incubator managers themselves, sharing ideas that have produced real-world results.

Unique voices

The conference features three don’t-miss keynote presentations. During Monday’s lunch, Carl Schramm - president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated solely to the promotion of entrepreneurship - will share his thoughts on the state of entrepreneurship.

On Tuesday morning, hear an insider’s take on today’s economic climate from Thomas Hoenig, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The U.S. Federal Reserve System has worked closely with central banks from around the world to coordinate a unified response to the global economic crisis. Hear what one of America’s most influential central bankers has to say about these challenging times.

And on Wednesday morning, Dinah Adkins - NBIA’s president and CEO, who is retiring after the conference - reflects on her 21 years guiding the world’s largest business incubation association. Dinah has been a leading voice in the industry; you won’t want to miss hearing her unique perspective on business incubation.

Outstanding incubators

This year’s conference features tours of two outstanding incubators. On Tuesday night, tour the Arts Incubator of Kansas City, one of the nation’s leading arts incubation programs. Located in the heart of Kansas City’s arts district, the incubator has become a leading advocate for the arts in the region.

On Wednesday, join the optional tour of our conference host, the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, home to the Angel Capital Association. This is your chance to tour a top example of an innovative incubator that is deeply connected to its region’s development.   

We know budgets are tight. We also know that finding new ways to make your program more effective and efficient is always a good idea. Learn more about the conference and register at www.nbia.org/nbia_events/conf2009/. It’s an investment in your program’s future!

 Contact   rmorris@nbia.org,  or by mailing to: NBIA, 20 East Circle Drive #37198, Athens, OH 45701.

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) - your source for knowledge and networks in business incubation.