A day in Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Venture Northwest 2009

Session 1: Presenting companies of OEN Venture Northwest 2009-Wicked Quick, Giftango, Lucid Commerce

Success story: Dave Moffenbeier of Zeba– Absorbent Technologies

"You could raise money in town, with a great story and distribution strategy" - Dave Moffenbeier

Wicked Quick -                                                  

Wicked Quick is a premium clothing and accessories brand rooted in the world of speed, rebellion and attitude. We currently offer lifestyle product at Nordstrom, Metropark, select Harley Davidson Dealership's and others. We also produce performance gear for professional teams including three-time NASCAR champion team Joe Gibbs Racing.

Giftango –

Giftango is focused on the NEXT stage of gift, loyalty and member cards with virtual cards delivered through computer and mobile phones. This means new promotions, incentives and rewards capabilities for merchants through an all-digital, carbon friendly fulfillment channel that is already proving more popular than plastic.

Lucid Commerce -

Lucid Commerce is the leading provider of media optimization solutions for marketers. Lucid Commerce enables marketers to see exactly what their real return on investment is for every marketing dollar they spend. Lucid Commerce has optimized over $600,000,000 in revenue for its clients.

Session 2: Presenting companies of OEN Venture Northwest 2009- Elemental Technologies, Shore power, Prolifiq and Calidora skin clinics

Success story: Jim Johnson of Tripwire. Tripwire's powerful configuration assessment and change auditing solutions let IT gain configuration control of the entire IT infrastructure.

Elemental Technologies –                          

Elemental Technologies is the leading provider of massively parallel processing solutions for video applications. Using off-the-shelf, programmable graphics processing units (GPUs) for compute-intensive video processing and conversion tasks, Elemental’s products are ideally suited for a variety of video applications including consumer media processing, professional video editing and Internet video processing.

Shore Power –

Shorepower Technologies builds, deploys and operates road-side plug-in stations that allow the nation’s 500,000 long-haul truck drivers to eliminate unnecessary idling during required rest periods, saving drivers an average of $4,000 per year on diesel fuel while significantly reducing associated toxic emissions.

Prolifiq -

Prolifiq provides on-demand software that accelerates sales and helps companies meet regulatory requirements by organizing, sending and tracking approved digital content throughout their sales processes. Prolifiq has transformed the sales operations of leading companies in the life sciences, technology and digital media industries.

Calidora Skin Clinic –                                           

Calidora offers custom tailored aesthetic solutions using cosmetic technologies and products under the care of medical practitioners and aestheticians in a friendly, retail environment. With 7 locations, 4 in Washington and 3 in Southern California, our goal is to become the leading national brand in this emerging, multi-billion dollar industry.

Session 2: Presenting companies of OEN Venture Northwest 2009- Shop Igniter, Advanced Inquiry systems, DesignMedix and Secondporch

Cularis, Inc. –

ShopIgniter is a real-time, social eCommerce platform with an intent-based search engine for Twitter, FaceBook and other popular social networks. It can manage multiple sales channels for products, including their marketing and promotion. Built for boutiques, small businesses and the enterprise, and delivered as a Software as a Service or download, ShopIgniter is a complete end-to-end solution for online sales.

Advanced Inquiry Systems -                  

Advanced Inquiry Systems, Inc. (AISI) is revolutionizing semiconductor test, helping our customers combat rising costs in the midst of falling product prices. Our unique solutions enhance flexibility for device design, greatly reduce test floor WIP, and nearly eliminate pad scrub, enabling at speed wafer test for flash, DRAM and logic devices.

DesignMedix –

DesignMedix develops novel pharmaceutical products for the treatment and prevention of life-threatening infectious diseases based on its proprietary approach to overcoming drug resistance. The company’s lead program for a low cost, safe medicine for malaria is in preclinical studies, with a second program in development for a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

Second Porch -

Second Porch facilitates renting and trading vacation homes through owner’s trusted network, avoiding pitfalls of dealing with strangers. The application spreads awareness of vacation properties across social platforms like Facebook. Owners list and renters search properties free. Revenue comes from premium features via subscription, referral and transaction fees.

Top 3 finalists are: WickedQuick, Prolifiq, Design Medix

Congratulations to Prolifiq , winner of Venture Northwest 2009

A few takeaways from Gerry Langeler

Myth 1 - You can't grow a company here as fast as in the valley. Busted! Mentor graphics is the fastest growing software company.

Myth 2 - You can’t raise Venture Capital in OR. Busted! Dave Moffenbeier has raised a quarter of billion in angel funding

Myth 3 - Nobody has built a major company here in decades. Busted! Tripwire has trumped it.

Myth 4 - Entrepreneurs are easy, it’s investors that are tough - It's a two way street, manage your relationships wisely.

Myth 5 - Nobody has gotten any liquidity here in decades - Keith Oelrich of Insight Schools found liquidity in 15 months.

Myth 6 - Limited Partners have abandoned Venture Capital - Ron Schmitz OR CIO, have dedicated targets for Venture investment

Come to OEN's Seed OR PubTalk at Bridgeport Brewpub at 5pm on Wednesday, October 14th and see companies vie for a spot to present at OEN's Angel Oregon investment conference.Companies interested in presenting for following rounds should submit their applications by Friday, October 16th.

Presenting companies at the PubTalk are:

Coherence Resources - www.coherenceresources.com

in|ur Magazine - www.inurmagazine.com

Virticus - www.virticus.com

Five minute pitch company

fondalo - www.fondalo.com.

DesignMedix, Inc. - Lynnor Stevenson

Jama Software - Eric Winquist

(No video available.)

Little Busy Bodies - Julie Pickens

Wicked Quick - Tarran Pitschka

Register here.

Listen to OEN's Executive Director Linda Weston talk about the upcoming OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards, which are being held Thursday, September 24th at 5:30 pm at the Oregon Convention Center.

Register here.

Business leaders need to be exposed to the latest trends, as well as core business ideologies.  So, OEN has developed the 2009 Executive Series curriculum to provide entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge to make critical business decisions.  This four-week educational series is designed to offer entrepreneurs access to industry professionals via interactive and engaging sessions.  We will assist you in building companies that are attractive to investors, customers, partners and employees via a series of focused, interactive educational sessions. 

Session I – Sales and Marketing -  Presented by Bill Etheredge, WCE Consulting This session will prepare you to address key sales and marketing functions critical to the success of your business venture.  You will benefit from focused discussions on market selection and segmentation, sales channel definition and development, sales methodology, developing engaging presentations and marketing fundamentals.  

Session II – Understanding Cap Table Dynamics - Presented by Brent Bullock, Perkins Coie This session will assist you with the development and design of your business and will educate you on legal issues and capital management strategies.  Specific topics will include selecting the right legal entity, equity structure, pre-money valuation, capital table dynamics, and liquidation analysis.  

Session III – Understanding Financial Statements - Presented by Jared Holum, Perkins & Co. This session will provide you with an overview of the components involved in financial statements.  In addition to an understanding of the usefulness of each type of financial statement, you will learn to decipher book versus taxed based accounting, and will also learn to interpret key financial ratios applicable to your business.  

Session IV - Ask the Expert Panel You will get a chance to ask key questions of a panel of experts, including an attorney, a CPA, a sales & marketing professional, a venture capitalist, and an entrepreneur. The panel will expand on the topics covered in previous sessions, but will also cover key issues not part of the curriculum.  

Registration information:

Pricing: The course is $200 for OEN members for the entire Executive Series and $325 for non-members (includes a one year OEN individual membership), and is available for a maximum of 20 participants.  

Register for the OEN Executive Series

Who should attend: The course is designed for leaders of companies who are beyond idea stage and are up and running but may be pre-revenue. 

Venue: Perkins Coie, 1120 N.W. Couch Street, Tenth Floor, Portland, OR 97209-4128.  Parking in building garage will be validated.  Dates: October 6, 13, 20 and 27. 

Time: 7:30am to 9:30am, coffee, refreshments to be provided.   Check our calendar of events to register or call OEN at 503-222-2270 to register over the phone.

On Wednesday, August 12, you'll want to be at Bridgeport Brewpub to see the first ever So you Think You can Pitch competition.

Five companies have been selected to lay it all on the line and see how they fair in getting the imaginary $$$ of investment from the judges and from the audience.

This will be an opportunity for companies to learn from, and be questioned by, experienced entrepreneurs/investors. The winner of the competion will get an automatic berth in the first round of OEN's Seed Oregon PubTalk.

"So you Think you can Pitch" Competing Companies:

Aokala

Aokala solves problems faced by businesses wanting to sell their products and services with a recurring fee or usage based model.  The Aokala team has decades of experience creating and marketing technology products. We are applying our experience to offer a start of the art Internet cloud based subscription and usage billing platform that automates billing for our customers and gives them a foundation upon which to grown their businesses.
Contact: Gregory Kim, CEO; gkim@aokala.com; 503-761-8215

Cassoni Golf

Cassoni Golf’s detachable pull cart enhances the quality of golf by speeding the pace of play. It increases through-put while it decreases wear & tear on the fairways – a win-win for both the golfer and the course owner. With an accessory, it becomes a detachable shopping cart for lifestyle communities where personal golf cars are a mode of transportation.
Contact: Lou Butenschoen, CEO; lbutenschoen@cassonigolf.com; 503-292-4304

Coupor

Facilitate the integration of paper and digital coupons for the consumer, retailer and manufacturer. Creating a standard for redemption and settlement that allows the retailer and manufacturer to build efficiencies while receiving real-time information about their consumer's impression, intent and redemption activities.
Contact: Daryl Galant, CEO; d.galant@comcast.net; 503-317-2955

The Green Microgym

The Green Microgym utilizes cardio equipment that produces electricity that can be returned to the grid in combination with solar power and energy conservation to create "Green" fitness centers. Our first location opened in August, 2008 (Portland). Our mission is to operate fitness centers that create more energy than they use in order to promote healthy people, a healthy planet, and vibrant communities.
Contact: Adam Boesel, President;  adam@thegreenmicrogym.com; 503-317-2955

Shiskaboom

Shishkaboom is a comics publishing company, built on the online crowdsourced model.  In other words, we’re like Threadless for comic books. We exist to publish great comics by providing the community (and sales channel) for independent creators to find their audience and comics fans to discover new works.
Contact: Chris King, Chief Creative Officer; chris@shishkabook.com; 503-545-8582

Judges:

Ray King – www.aboutus.org

Ray has worked at four startups and enjoys the technical and business challenges that go along with birthing totally new ideas.  In high school he and a friend launched “The Computer Workshop” to train students on the use of Apple II’s and IBM PCs.  This company was featured on EyeWitness news and the New York Times.  Several years later, while in college at M.I.T, he wrote project management software for his father’s architectural firm.  This project turned into a company, Semaphore, Inc. and in 1990 had risen to be rated #1 among all of the competitors in the space (by ARCHITECTURE Magazine).  By 2000, the company had over 2,500 clients, 100 employees and was acquired by Deltek.

Cheryl Krane - Fluffco, Inc

Ms. Krane currently is a portfolio advisor to Irving J Levin and his investment vehicle, Fluffco LLC. She has structured and managed equity and debt investments in private companies for Fluffco since 2002. Prior to working with Irving Levin she founded and raised $4.5mm in angel capital for Poppybox Gardens, a start-up gardening retailer. Prior to that she was a consultant to the venture industry and worked as a venture capitalist for ten years at BancBoston Venturues. She also worked in marketing for two high technology companies. She has held numerous board seats and currently sits on the board of Arxx, Pacific Interpreters, Vigilan, Cielo, and Rodin. She received a B.S. / B.A. from Boston University and a M.S. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Robert Ward – Capybara Ventures
After 14 years as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, Bob returned to his native Portland in 2003 to co-found Capybara Ventures. Bob brings to the fund hands-on expertise in the areas of team building, fund raising, research and development, productization, and financial management. Bob continues to maintain deep relationships with the Bay Area business and venture communities.

Bob was founder and CEO of Acclivity Photonics, an optics-based technology company serving the telecommunications sector. Acclivity's line of micro lenses significantly reduce the footprint and cost of fiber optic components. Bob guided the company through two rounds of venture financing, assembled and managed a world-class technical and business team, and continues to chair the board. Bob was also an early contributor at LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ: LPTH), where he served as director of marketing and director of operations.

Bob's involvement in the local business community includes Angel Oregon (chair), the Oregon Forum (chair elect), Portland Angel Network, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, Portland Venture Group, Venture Northwest, and the Portland State University Science and Industry Advisory Council. Bob and Eric launched the Oregon Angel Fund in 2007 in collaboration with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. Bob earned his Masters degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University and holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Physics from Bowdoin College.

How do you get your customers to care on an ongoing basis? Many companies are finding that the answer lies in asking the question. Do you matter? And...taking steps to make sure that you do.

The beauty of online relationships is that they give you an opportunity to connect directly with your customers and give them a way to shape what you do via feedback and interaction. The challenge is listening and implementing the feedback in meaningful ways so that the consumer gets top customer experience.

Read The Value of Online Relationships by Andy Brownell. He shares some interesting examples regarding managing your brand and making sure that the consumer cares.

Boards and Advisors: Using your external team

to help drive you and your company's success

Paul Gulick, formerly of Clarity Visual Systems and Planar, will lead a lively discussion that will help entrepreneurs drive their organization's success. Come share your challenges, observations and successes with other CEOs of emerging businesses.

We will discuss why and how to structure your board of directors, advisory board, professional advisory teams (legal, accounting, etc.). Learn from the successes and challenges of others, and learn from the shared board room war stories.

Open only to CEOs or Presidents of currently operating companies that have employees. Boxed lunch will be served. This program is limited to 12 participants, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: 309 SW Sixth Avenue (Ironstone Bank Conference Room), Portland, 97204
Registration Fee: $46.00 Member; $151 Non-member (includes one year individual OEN membership)

Register for The OEN CEO Roundtable