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OEN Blog

33 Posts tagged with the business tag
Sarena Regazzoni

Congratulations to Angela Jackson and Jim Huston for being selected as the Portland Seed Fund Managers by the Portland Development Commission. It is great to see the city investing in the future of start ups and taking proactive steps such as this to support economic development.

 

The Portland Development Commission has chosen a veteran venture capitalist and Portland business consultant to manage the Portland Seed Fund, an investment pool deploying $500,000 of city money to help launch startups.

 

Read the article Portland Seed Fund names managers by Mike Rogoway,The Oregonian.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: business, investment, pdc, seed_funding
Jeff Fishburn

In the age of Tweets and re-Tweets, status messages and updates, the social media masses are desperate to find new, “undiscovered” content to share with their friends and followers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this chaos we’ve come to call social media, it’s that creating content that is interesting and – more importantly – high-quality and unique, can go a long way in an age where people are all about recycling. But once you have your shining piece of insight, which social media outlet is best for distributing it?

Twitter

  • Founded in August 2006
  • More than 11 million accounts
  • There are more women on Twitter than men (53% vs. 47%)
  • New York has the most Twitter users of any city
  • Just over 85 percent of all Twitter users post once a day
  • Twitter valued at $1 billion in 2009

*Compiled from analytics firm Sysomos and The New York Times via 850 Business Magazine

While any audience can be reached on any social media outlet if you really put your mind to it, Twitter has the ability to reach the most diverse audience. Everyone from consumers, to businesses of all sizes, journalists, analysts and experts are on Twitter, writing about everything from what is going on in their lives, to their company news, other companies’ news and their own insights. No matter who your audience is, you can find them (and they can find you) on Twitter. The more catchy, trendy or unique your insights are, the more likely you are to get people interested in your content and share it with their followers.

Facebook

  • Founded in February 2004
  • More than 350 million active users
  • More than 700,000 businesses have active pages
  • Average user has 730 friends
  • Facebook valued at close to $10 billion in 2009

*Compiled from Facebook and The New York Times via 850 Business Magazine

Facebook’s mission is to “give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” Consumers rule on Facebook. There are, of course, product pages on Facebook, but the goal of company pages is most often to reach individuals, not to do business with other companies. When creating content to share on Facebook, it is important to remember that people are there primarily to stay connected with friends. Think about what you would talk about with friends over dinner or at a party. Humorous and clever articles or comments are more likely to spread. Facebook users also tend to share content that they can personally relate to; causes that are close to their heart, products they really believe in, etc.

LinkedIn

  • Founded in May 2003
  • Over 55 million users
  • Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members
  • LinkedIn valued at $1 billion in 2008

*Compiled from LinkedIn and The New York Times via 850 Business Magazine

LinkedIn is geared at putting you professional network in one place. When it says “relationships matter,” what it really means is “relationships matter to your business and career.” LinkedIn is the best place to do your B2B social networking or to connect with other professionals. The most effective content for LinkedIn is business tips, company news and opportunities for establishing connections and building networks.

Creating content is half the battle, but where you choose to share it is just as important.  It can be tempting to blanket all your social media outlets with something you’ve put together, but the truth is once you start talking about things people don’t care to hear, they’ll tune you out.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: marketing, media, business, social_media, twitter, facebook, linkedin
Scott Etheredge

Attendees of the Oregon Entrepreneurial Network (OEN) June 9th “The Seeds of Suds” PubTalk enjoyed a sampling of the artistry and acumen served up by three successful Oregon “beer-preneurs”. Moderated by KXL Radio’s “Beer O’Clock” show host Lisa Morrison, founders Irene Firmat of Full Sail, Charlie Devereaux of Double Mountain, and Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi Brewing shared some interesting insights of their entrepreneurial brewing success.

Founded in 1987, Irene’s biggest challenge with her Full Sail brand was defining her market when choices of draft beer were often limited to Budweiser, Miller and Coors. Another of Irene’s challenges was cash flow, stating “This business is cash flow driven, and expansion must be justified by cash flow.” Regarding finding the right investors, Irene recommended first ensuring there’s an alignment of vision and values.


Charlie Devereaux feels a key ingredient to brewing success is “having the entrepreneurial gene” and when it comes to experience, “knowing what you don’t know”. One of the biggest challenges Charlie feels entrepreneurial brewers face is the capital intensive nature of the business and in order to grow one must be prepared to “triple down” on spending.


Jamie Floyd agreed with Charlie’s “spend to grow” issue, stating they have many brewer friends who are stuck and likely will never grow if they don’t have the funds or strategy to spend. Jamie’s advice on finding the right investors included engaging on a “soul level” and not to agree just “with a handshake”, as the Oregon Liquor Control Commission will investigate the backgrounds of all investors.


Following the Q & A session attendees of The PubTalk event sampled a number of the speakers’ favorite brews as they again engaged in networking and socializing.


The next OEN PubTalk will be August 11th featuring five companies in a “So You Think You Can Pitch?” speed pitch competition.

 

Scott Etheredge, Intraspeak, Inc. Internal Communications

2 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, business, entrepreneur, startup, entrepreneurs, funding, networking, investment, venture, oregon, startup_portland
Aliza Earnshaw

If you've spent any time in the business section of your local bookstore, you've surely noticed a lot of contradictory titles.

 

Is it true that "Only the Paranoid Survive"? Or will you succeed by "Delivering Happiness"?

Do you need "Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders" to build a great company -- or do you believe "Talent is Overrated"?

Should you commit to "First, Break all the Rules" or "The Discipline of Market Leaders"?

 

Thomas Thurston says choosing the right path isn't a matter of which approach you prefer -- it's a matter of applying empirical research that reveals which business strategies succeed, and which fail.

 

A former research fellow at Harvard Business School, and onetime venture capitalist at Intel Corp., Thurston now helms his own consulting firm, Growth Science International LLC. His services are based on research he's done with Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. Christensen's well-known book, "The Innovator's Dilemma," outlines his concept of disruptive innovation.


Thurston offered a workshop June 3 for OEN members, where he presented an overview of his research and gave participants the opportunity to apply his findings to example cases. Though Thurston's examples were all of proposed new businesses within a $500 million company, his research findings can be just as easily applied to startups.

 

The research started with 48 businesses that Intel had invested in over about a decade. Thurston applied Christensen's disruptive innovation model to see whether he could predict accurately which of these startups would succeed and which would fail. At the time he launched his project, Thurston didn't actually know the fate of any of the 48 startups.

 

He found that prediction became highly accurate -- 85 percent, by his own reckoning -- when three simple factors are taken into account:

 

  • * Is the new business "sustaining" -- that is, a higher-performing version of an existing product or service? Or is it a disruptive product? A disruptive product can either be a low-end, low-cost version of an existing product (that gets improved in later iterations), or it can be something that opens up an entirely new market.

 

  • * Is the company entering the new business an incumbent in that industry, or is it a new entrant?

 

  • * Does the company have a sufficient degree of autonomy?

 

In a nutshell, an incumbent company is likely to succeed if it introduces an improved, better-performing version of the product it's already selling. A new entrant trying to introduce an improved version of an existing product "will almost always fail," Thurston said during the June 3 workshop.

 

That's because established companies in the industry will focus their resources on competing with the new entrant, mustering all the power and influence they have with customers, suppliers and distributors.

 

"You force those companies to one of two strategies: buy you or kill you," Thurston said.

 

While an acquisition may be exactly what the entrepreneur had in mind, it's not always a good exit. Often the established company will compete hard enough to bleed the upstart dry, and then pick up what's left for pennies on each invested dollar.

 

What about companies introducing disruptive products? Well, as it turns out, the decisive factor there is whether the company has enough autonomy. A company that's not stifled by a fearful parent company or overbearing investors can try ideas out, one after the next, failing quickly and moving on to the next idea. Its managers aren't inhibited by having to justify every move they make -- they can glean lessons from each failure and apply them to the next product iteration.

 

This strategy has created some notable successes. As Thurston pointed out, most great companies start with a low-end, disruptive product, and incrementally improve it as they grow. Toyota, for example, introduced its Corona in the 1950s -- a sub-$2,000 car that Ford, GM and Chrysler scorned for its cheapness and low quality. But the car appealed to people who could never afford an American-built car, and so Toyota opened up what was essentially a new market, turning walkers and bus-takers into new car owners.

 

And the cycle repeats itself. Today, Toyota is seriously challenged by Kia and Hyundai, who in their turn will probably be challenged by Indian car maker Tata, with its $2,500 Nano, or Chinese car makers.

 

Thurston's idea is itself disruptive.

 

"One question I get a lot is, 'What about the team?'" he said. "Even with the best team and the best execution, if you have the wrong strategy, your survival chances are very low. Without the right strategy, it doesn't matter how good the team is."

 

It's strong medicine, but perhaps one that every entrepreneur -- and every investor -- should take.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: business, entrepreneurs, innovation, startups, strategy
Scott Etheredge

According to a 2007/2008 Watson Wyatt “Human Communication ROI Study”, companies with the most effective employee communication programs provided a 91% total return to shareholders from 2002-2006 compared with 62% for companies that communicated least effectively. These internal communication-savvy companies are also four times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as companies that communicate less effectively.

 

Why, then do business plans and founders of startups and early growth companies rarely mention the term “internal communication” (a.k.a. “employee communication”) let alone include it among high level business plan strategies and as a future business function? Here are just a few unfortunate reasons:

 

-Internal communication is considered only necessary and of value in larger, more established companies at the level requiring HR staffing.

 

-Among the many hats worn by founders and their first hires in management roles, the internal communication hat isn’t considered strategic or measureable enough to consider being worn.

 

-Many founders and early management have no experience with or exposure to internal communication as a strategic function, thereby not even seeing it on their radar screen.

 

-“Communication” is often associated “Marketing”-- the omnipresent top line business function. Or, internal communication is often considered so synonymous in nature and role that it gets assigned (often lost) within the more visible and glamorous “marketing communications”.


Internal communication in fact and formally is the strategic facilitation of ongoing, proactive dialogue between an organization's leadership and its employees, and the management of information sharing that takes place in the interest of delivering a common business strategy. Naturally roles and responsibilities vary by organization and those with more employees and success find it “easier” to justify the assignment to those wearing other hats or even employing a hat dedicated to internal communication.

 

But the fact remains that when internal communication as a business function is at least atop startup founders’ minds then the stage is set for early its implementation, its ongoing development, and most importantly having its own line as a strategic function in the company’s business plan. At least the startup management-backed and tracked foundation is in place to apply the same consideration for more responsibilities and/or resources to the function as the company grows. In the meantime, with so few of startups' early contributors having the time to quantitatively measure its value, early stage internal communication efforts are behind the scenes or under the radar making their contributions to:

 

-Embracement of change

-Process and policy adoption

-Productivity

-Employee engagement, commitment, recruitment, and retention

-Customer satisfaction – delivering the early promise of the company’s developing brand

Scott Etheredge, Intraspeak, Inc. Internal Communications

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, business, angel_investment, entrepreneur, startup, entrepreneurs, funding, investment, venture_funding, venture, oregon, startup_portland
Scott Etheredge

Four successful entrepreneurs responsible for four dissimilar companies in four unique product categories targeting four disparate markets addressed “The Art of Bootrapping” at The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network’s (OEN) May 15th PubTalk. Yet with all the diversity for which they were responsible, among the advice they offered the PubTalk attendees much was in common or agreement.

 

Staged at the OEN PubTalk’s monthly venue "Backspace" and moderated by Rick Turoczy, founder and principal writer of Silicon Florist, the event featured founders Eric Winquist of Jama Software, Eli Alford-Jones of Paydici, Paul Anthony of Rumblefish, and Eric Doebele of Reliable Remodeler.

 

Common Bootstrapping Takeaways

 

  • Follow the Money. The Investors Do.
  • Potential investors focus on revenue growth
  • “Your customer is your best investor”
  • Target “low hanging fruit” customers to maximize revenue growth potential
  • “Work for your customers—they are your boss”

 

Adapt Business Models

  • Business models were modified a number of times--in one case ten to twelve times
  • Yet changes were rarely to the “core” of the models and more to the revenue models and as additions to the core
  • Additions to models can cause support issues

 

People

  • Focus early on surrounding yourself with the best people possible
  • Portland has many successful people who can and will offer good advice for coffee—tap into them
  • Take caution in offering too much equity to early stage employees. Later you’ll find stronger and key candidates with little equity to offer.

 

Product Development

  • You don’t need the perfect product before taking it to market. It’s better to get product validation from customer prospects or to go back and modify.
  • Avoid one-off  product development just to land individual customers. This often results in development delays and playing catch-up.
  • Be careful about investing too much in any single idea

 

June 9th OEN PubTalk: “Oregon Beer Entrepreneurs – The Seeds of Suds”

Don’t miss the June 9th OEN PubTalk where Oregon beer entrepreneurs Charlie Devereaux of Double Mountain, Irene Firmat of Full Sail and Jamie Floyd of Ninkasi will share their entrepreneurial tips on this fast growing industry.

Where: Backspace
115 Northwest 5th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
Cost: $15 for OEN members; $25 non-members

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, business, angel_oregon, angel_investment, entrepreneur, startup, entrepreneurs, funding, networking, investment, venture_funding, venture, oregon, northwest, startup_portland
Scott Etheredge

Good moves, bad decisions, and the sometimes ugly end result of a startup were shared with attendees of the April 14th OEN PubTalk™.  The PubTalk panel discussion “SplashCast – What Happened?” featured a SplashCast founder and two investors in the company. Founded in 2007, SplashCast’s mission was to help consumers develop videos, text, graphics and music embedded in broadcast "channels." The company raised over $4 million in funding yet closed its doors in 2009.

Pub talk-2.jpg

OEN’s Dave deFiebre served as moderator of the PubTalk panel discussion that included SplashCast founder, lawyer and entrepreneur Tom Turnbull, who held key positions at three venture backed startups and SplashCast investors Angela Jackson and B. Scott Taylor. Jackson, Managing Partner of AB Jackson Group LLC and active angel investor and coach, was Chair of OEN’s Angel Oregon 2010. Taylor, founder and CEO of TAOW, Modern Marketing, author, and serial entrepreneur, was a co-founder of VirtualRelocation.com, which was acquired by Monster.com.

 

Valuable and candid SplashCast issues and startup takeaways provided by panel included:

--Too many SplashCast investors (approximately 70)—seek fewer investors/larger investments
--Too little initial funding--raise money when you can
--Early business plan wins are key to incremental funding
--Cash reserves are cyclical--whether in favor or not
--Three business models resulted in many changes of direction—cash burned too quickly
--Staffed up too early with no market-ready products
--Hired “the big guy” (expensive vp of sales) too early
--Good communication serves investors well—be as forthright as possible, especially with bad news
--Former entrepreneurs as founders and early hires are key—they’ve been “in the trenches’, dealt with many changes, uncertainty, and ambiguity
--Don’t scrimp on legal advice, but keep a close watch on monthly invoices—they can mushroom
--Be open to creativity—this delivers “brilliant moments of execution”
--Contrary to some current opinions, now is a good time, and Portland is a good place for startups—be optimistic, be “scrappy”

 

Upcoming OEN PubTalks April 21, May 12

SW Washington PubTalk™  “Pitch Night” April 21st
The Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council (SWWDC) in partnership with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) will host PubTalk Pitch Night April 21st in Vancouver, WA. Three local entrepreneurs will pitch their start up businesses and engage with attendees, providing an invaluable learning opportunity for entrepreneurs.


When: April 21, 2010 From 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: AHA! 415 W. 6th Street Ste 605, Vancouver, WA

 

OEN PubTalk™ "The Art of Bootstrapping" May 12
Five successful entrepreneurs will reveal of the art of bootstrapping in a panel discussion on May 12th. The founders of Jama Software, Paydici, Rumblefish, Reliable Remodeler, and Urban Airship will share how they used creative solutions and drew from nontraditional resources to build their companies with limited capital. The event will be moderated by Rick Turoczy, founder and principal writer of Silicon Florist, Portland's premier blog on technology and entrepreneurship.


When: Wednesday, May 12, 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Backspace, 115 Northwest 5th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, business, angel_investment, entrepreneur, startup, entrepreneurs, funding, networking, investment, venture_funding, venture, startup_portland
Sarena Regazzoni

Connecting students with Oregon’s hottest start-ups

 

Wednesday, April 14th 2010

 

     How would your company like to gain access to some of the brightestyoung business minds in the Portland area? The Oregon Entrepreneur’sNetwork has teamed up with The University of Portland, PortlandState University and Willamette University’s Executive MBA programto connect yourcompany with the energy and drive that will helptake you to the next level.On Wednesday April 14th, OEN will be sponsoring an intern speeddating event that will provide you with the opportunity tointerview potential candidates to satisfy your internship needs.

     The event will start with an hour long workshop focused ondriving maximum value out of internships. Following lunch is six10 minute sessions with up to 3 students per session to explainyour organization’s intern needs and get to know the candidates.Companies will then have the opportunity to spend another 30minutes talking with their preferred candidates in a networkingformat.

 

Space is limited to 12 companies so reserve your spot now!

 

Location:  University of Portland campus, Buckley Center, Room 163

Schedule: 11:30am- Workshops start

12:30- Box lunch provided and an opportunity to network

1pm- Speed Dating starts

2:30pm- Event ends

 

Cost:

Free for OEN membersNon-members must enroll in a 1 year OEN membershipSee http://www.oen.org/membership_join.aspx for membership pricing info.

 

Companies or students interested in participating should contact Rori Homme at rorih@oen.org or call 503-222-2270.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, media, business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, networking, investment, oregon, northwest, jobs
Sarena Regazzoni
Cleantech Open Launches 2010 Pacific Northwest Competition

The 2010 Cleantech Open business competition for clean technology startups (http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/home/index) is underway, with several key dates approaching:
-- April 22 is the Early Bird Entry Deadline, after which the entry fee increases from $149 to $199 for students, and from $199 to $249 for professionals. Enter at http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/competition/business/index.
-- May 4 - Those interested in entering should attend the Executive Summary Webinar on May 4 from 4:00 to 6:00pm PDT. Register at: http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/events/181/view. This briefing will answer questions and help contestants prepare their Executive Summary entries.
-- May 22 at 11:59PM is the Final Deadline to enter the 2010 competition. Enter at http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/competition/business/index.
Last year, 12 Semifinalist teams, including Green Lite Motors and Shorepower Technology of Portland were selected from 56 entrants.
For information, contact MSullivan@cleantechopen.com.
0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, business, angel_oregon, angel_investment, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, funding, networking, investment, oregon, northwest, jobs
Sarena Regazzoni

Contact:       Jeff Fishburn
        OnPR for Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
        503-802-4408
        jefff@onpr.com
http://twitter.com/jefffishburn

 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 


Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, Software Association of Oregon, Oregon Business Association and the Portland Business Alliance collaborate to connect candidates with entrepreneurs’ issues

 

PORTLAND, Ore. –March 16, 2010 – The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN), Software Association of Oregon (SAO), Oregon Business Association (OBA) and the Portland Business Alliance are presenting the 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate Forums. Tech America will be a supporting organization for the forums.

 

Oregon’s economy is facing great challenges. The state is struggling with serious budgetary shortfalls and that is exacerbated by an unemployment rate that is hovering above 10 percent. With the recent passage of measures 66 & 67 many Oregonians question what the impact will be for Oregon businesses. Policies that support and encourage business growth and economic development are a top-of-mind priority for many Oregonians. These candidate forums are intended to provide an opportunity for members of the business community to ask the candidates from each party what they would do to help support business and economic growth in Oregon.

 

“This is a critical time for economic development in Oregon. We need to position the state as a place where companies can thrive on all levels,” commented Linda Weston, president and executive director of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. “Economic growth and job growth within the state will depend on it.”

 

The two gubernatorial candidate forums will be held prior to the primaries and will be moderated by Laural Porter of KGW News (twitter.com/lauralkgw). Check-in begins at 4:00PM. The programs will begin at 4:30 PM and will run to 6:00 PM.  Tickets for each event are $20 for members of presenting or supporting organizations and $40 for non-members. We encourage attendees to pre-register online using the links below.

 

Both forums will be streamed live over the web.  Individual web stream tickets can be purchased for $10 in advance, but business community members outside of the Portland area may attend a satellite event in their local area at no charge.

 

The Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate forum will take place on Wednesday, April 7 at Portland General Electric’s auditorium located at 121 SW Salmon St, 2WTC in Portland. It will feature Democratic candidates Bill Bradbury www.bradburyfororegon.com  and John Kitzhaber, www.johnkitzhaber.com.

 

 

http://www.sao.org/resource/resmgr/people/BillBradbury.jpg    http://www.sao.org/resource/resmgr/people/JohnKitzhaber.jpg

              Bill Bradbury                                   John Kizthaber

 

 

The Republican Gubernatorial Candidate forum will take place on Tuesday, April 27 at the Multnomah Athletic Club 1849 SW Salmon St. in Portland.  It will feature Republican candidates  Allen Alley www.allenalley.com and Chris Dudley www.chrisdudley.com.

 

http://www.sao.org/resource/resmgr/people/AllenAlley.jpg         http://www.sao.org/resource/resmgr/people/ChrisDudley.jpg

                 Allen Alley                                           Chris Dudley

 


Tickets are required for onsite attendees and individual live stream access.  Registration is recommended for satellite venues.

 

For more information about the forums, or to register for any of these events, please go to:
Democratic Candidates Forum: www.sao.org/event/dgp                                          
Republican Candidates Forum: www.sao.org/event/rgp

 

Follow the discussions on twitter: #pdxGDP & #pdxRGP.

 

About the Oregon Business Association

 

Engaging Oregon businesses—large and small, urban and rural—to find collaborative solutions that make Oregon a great place to live and work.  Oregon Business Association advocates for long-term enhancement of Oregon’s business environment and quality of life, providing bipartisan, statewide business leadership that strives to ensure Oregon’s long-term prosperity. Our members include businesses of all sizes and industries throughout the state – from our largest farm to two Fortune 500 companies.  For more information about OBA, visit www.oba-online.org.


About the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network

 

Founded in 1991, the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing opportunities for Oregon entrepreneurs and to improving the business climate for emerging companies statewide. The organization has members throughout Oregon and southwest Washington. For more information about OEN, visit www.oen.org.

 

About the Portland Business Alliance

 

The Portland Business Alliance is Greater Portland’s Chamber of Commerce representing more than 1,400 businesses in the region. Our mission is to ensure economic prosperity in the Portland region by providing strong leadership, partnership and programs that encourage business growth and vitality. For more information about the Alliance visit www.portlandalliance.com.

 

About the Software Association of Oregon

 

The Software Association of Oregon is the only Oregon-based trade association dedicated solely to supporting the success of our state's software and technology Industries.  Over the last 20 years, the SAO has helped connect leading industry innovators with the people, ideas and networks of our state, building a foundation that fosters innovation, creative thinking and Oregon’s famous entrepreneurial spirit.  For more information about SAO please visit www.sao.org.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: business, entrepreneurship, gubernatorial_candidates_forum
Scott Etheredge

Presenters at this week’s Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) PubTalk stepped up to the challenge of pitching their firms on the heels of OEN’s highly successful Angel Oregon 2010 competition held March 5th.

 

Orbo Sports, Inc., CEO Greg Johnson credits his wife for his initial and ongoing support, with whom he first shared his idea and who responded. “You’re brilliant, honey. Anything you do will succeed.” Orbo Sports is an online sports and lifestyle social network that provides connectivity, collaboration and self-expression for athletes and sports enthusiasts. Orbo Sports offers users a 360 degree online and offline experience and features relevant content about sports and the lifestyle that surrounds them.
greg@orbosports.com
www.orbosports.com
503-703-7749

 

Public Marketspace, Inc. CEO Nathan J. Wagner discussed what he feels is the number one issue with emerging entrepreneurs—competing on the internet with its cost of entry, available URLs, search engine optimization, and social marketing.  Public Marketspace is an online marketing channel for small businesses. The company’s first product, Publicmarketspace.com, is a social media and eCommerce (SaaS) platform for entrepreneurs, an online public market to attract customers, and a company committed to giving back to the merchant community.
nathan@publicmarketspace.com
www.publicmarketspace.com
503-866-4800

 

With the recent worldwide popularity of the 3D blockbuster film Avatar, CEO Mike Green made a strong case for his firm Vizitnow3D in the world of online commerce. Vizitnow3D builds revenue-generating navigable 3D replicas of real world environments, accessible via web browsers and mobile phones that can be used as marketing tools by high-traffic destinations. Introducing a disruptive innovative method of bringing consumers and merchants together in real time, Vizitnow3D capitalizes upon the exploding 3D trend by developing a niche in a wide open market.
Mike.green@vizitnow.com
www.vizitnow.com
541-730-2164

 

Mark April 14th on your calendar for the next OEN PubTalk. Watch for the upcoming announcement that will include the agenda and presenters.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, marketing, business, angel_oregon, angel_investment, entrepreneurs, funding, investment, venture_funding, venture, startup_portland
Sarena Regazzoni

PivotalLeaders_nominate.gif

 

 

Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is proud to be a community sponsor of the inaugural year of the Pivotal Leaders awards. Pivotal Leaders seeks to recognize the Northwest’s top prospective clean technology business leaders, as nominated by their community and selected by their peers.

 

An initiative of Pivotal Investments , Pivotal Leaders is designed to expand resources for innovation in the Northwest’s clean technology sector. By helping to identify and recognize outstanding prospective CEO and CTO talent in the region, Pivotal Leaders will provide opportunities for leaders to partner, collaborate and maximize their chances of success. These leaders’ success is success for all of us.    

 

We hope you’ll help us recognize our future leaders of the clean economy - the people who will ensure that our region’s clean technology businesses will create jobs, draw investment, and seize global markets for clean energy solutions.

 

Please take a moment right now to nominate the people you believe will lead us into a sustainable economic future. Nominations are due on Wednesday March 17th.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: business, clean_energy, clean_tech, pivotal_investments, pivotal_leader
shawnaharch

After encountering the recently launched Idea Mensch web site, OEN couldn’t wait to interview the great mind behind it. Mario Schulzke, who is a principal at Quillion, senior director at marketing ideas agency WONGDOODY, publisher of ScrappyMarketing and a German Ironman-contender-in-training (among many other things), answers a few questions about his own entrepreneurial endeavors – and offers advice for how to be successful in yours.

 

mario-coffeeshop.jpg

IdeaMensch-Logo.jpg

 

1) What is Idea Mensch?

 

Idea Mensch is an interview-driven site where we feature people who are bringing good ideas to life. Interviewees range from ueber-successful entrepreneurs like the founder and former CEO of The Sharper Image to up-and-comers like a recent college drop-out who started a cycling and triathlon training center in Arizona – and lots of people in between.

 

2) What inspired you to create the site?

 

Personally, I am obsessed with ideas. I run an ad agency during the day but have at least another ten ideas or projects that I am pursuing. It's probably not healthy. But I’ve learned that no matter how great an idea is, it doesn’t accomplish anything if you don’t bring it to life.

 

I wanted to use Idea Mensch as a vehicle to celebrate some of the people who are bringing ideas to life – people across all industries, from all walks of life. It has been a fun journey and I’m completely blown away by the smart individuals we've been able to interview. More importantly, there is a community that is starting to form around our site. People are beginning to reach out to one another to help promote their ideas, and there are even a couple of business deals in the making. Good people are helping good people. I love that.

 

3) How do you select thought leaders and entrepreneurs to feature on Idea Mensch?

 

You have to be working on an idea and take the time to submit an intelligent and insightful interview. That's it. Once your interview is live, we hope you’ll help promote the site and bring more people to it. I think the simplicity of this format is surprising to some, as we’ve recently been pitched by various PR agencies about interviewing their clients on our site. It’s funny because (as our "About" section explains) you don't need a PR agency to be interviewed on Idea Mensch.

 

4) Tell us about your own entrepreneurial ventures, and what you’ve learned in the process of pursuing and/or founding them.

 

I spent the first eight years of my career as an agency guy – giving online marketing advice to large companies. On the side I've always been somewhat of a garage entrepreneur, figuring out different ways to make money online. I published a book on how to write complaint letters, ran some pretty big affiliate marketing campaigns in Europe and currently own a number of different web sites.

 

Now I’m helping to start a new kind of agency called Quillion – a digital performance marketing agency (where clients pay only for results we achieve). We also own our own digital properties.

 

In the coming weeks, we will be announcing an online course/community called CareerSparx to help recent college graduates start their careers. We're in a very tough economy and I have seen too many qualified grads who have no clue how to sell themselves to land a job in their field. We are going to help them.

 

5) What advice do you have for emerging entrepreneurs?

 

Borrowing from that large shoe manufacturer down the road from you guys: “Just do it.” If you have an idea and you're excited about it, keep moving it forward. Break it into small steps and do whatever you can do gain some momentum. There's nothing worse than a good idea that just sits there. Also, meet people. Help people. Tell them about what you are doing. Relationships make the world go round. You'll be surprised how people you've met (and have yet to meet) will shape your career and successes.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: marketing, business, entrepreneur, startup, entrepreneurs, networking, ideas, idea_mensch, idea
Larry Williams

Tim McCabe, head of the OECDD, wrote a delightful response to Mayor Daley of Chicago, who had encourage Oregon companies to head over to Chicago after voters passed Measures 66 and 67.  Read more about it on Robin Doussard's blog post at:

 

http://www.oregonbusiness.com/robin/2985-editors-note-portland-takes-on-chicago

0 Comments Permalink Tags: oen, business, entrepreneur, oregon, taxes
Sarena Regazzoni

mangrove logo.JPG

Background:

Mangrove Fund (www.mangrovefund.org) is a Portland-based 501(c)(3) entity which has been focused on providing rebuilding and development assistance to Haiti since its inception in 2007.  Mangrove is now focused on earthquake rebuilding effort in Haiti.  To support this, we are sponsoring and running a “Build a Business in a Day” charity fundraiser and competition.  The competition will foster team-building, real-time strategizing and marketing insight by requiring teams to market, promote and sell a product only handed out that very same day.  We are asking organizations, companies and entrepreneurs to join together in teams and compete for purposes of raising money for Haiti.  All of the proceeds received by Mangrove through this fundraiser will be used to support established organizations and people working directly in Haiti to reconstruct the basic infrastructure of the country.  In the past, “Build a Business in a Day” fundraisers run by the Starve-Ups organization have raised thousands of dollars  for victims of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.  Please join us by signing up one or more teams to compete in this event!

 

Details:
Date:  February 27, 2010.
Time: Competition starts at 8:00 AM.  Team captains will arrive at 7:30.  Competition ends at 5:30 PM, when winners will be announced.
Location:  Check in and competition start will occur at NedSpace, Old Town, located at 117 NW 5th Ave, Suite 210.   Competition will end and winners will be announced at a location to be determined.
Competition: Teams can sign up in groups of 6.  Individuals and teams smaller than 6 in size will be matched with others to create a team.  Each team will be provided with to-be-disclosed products to sell in person, telephonically and online in an event modeled after “The Apprentice”.   The objectives are simple:  (1) raise the most money for Haiti relief efforts by selling the most products, and (2) collect the most names and email addresses of interested people (whether or not they donate).   Each team will have to determine the best way to market and promote their products to obtain maximum profits.

 

The team with the most committed dollars at the end of the competition will win.  Teams will also be able to add to dollar totals if they achieve certain numbers of people signing up for newsletters from Mangrove.  Prizes are to be determined (at a minimum, the winner gets bragging rights).

 

How to Join: We are asking every organization and company to sign up as many teams and individuals as possible for this great event.  To sign up, send an email to BuildaBizEvent@mangrovefund.org with the following information:
    Company/Organization Name (if applicable)
    Name and email address of team leader
    Name names and email addresses of other team members

 

More Information: For more information on Mangrove Fund or this event please contact us by sending an email to Information@mangrovefund.org or calling us at 503.445.4090.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: business, entrepreneur, business_competition, haiti
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