ConnectCast v100 Show: Kevin Rollins on economic opportunities in Utah
This is a special edition of ConnectCast and the v100 Show. We were at the vSpring Capital v100 luncheon for the top 100 venture entrepreneurs, where Kevin Rollins, former CEO of Dell, gave the keynote. We spoke with Kevin about the economic growth opportunities that Utah faces over the next 10 years. Utah is currently the 6th fastest-growing state and has the lowest unemployment rate. Jack Sunderlage, CEO ContentWatch, joins the conversation about ways to address the challenges and growth opportunities that lie ahead.
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ConnectCast v100 Show: University of Utah Launches 7 Startups in 2007
In this special, combined ConnectCast and v100 Show, news from the vSpring Capital v100 luncheon for the top venture entrepreneurs. We spoke with Jack Brittain about his position as Innovations Czar at the University of Utah. The U of U is an economic engine for the State of Utah, and 2007 fiscal year-end results prove it. Seventeen companies were launched from technologies developed at U of U within the last year. The companies not only help move research forward through the licensing royalty revenue they bring in, but they provide jobs for the people of Utah and help to strengthen the state’s economy. The 17 companies are based on research in fields such as medicinal sciences, engineering and fine arts.
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v100 Show: Zonder Into a Perfect Vacation Property
Where do you look if you want to rent a vacation home on a beach in South America? That was the question that led serial entrepreneur and vSpring v100 recipient Bob Barnes to start Zonder, a new web and eCommerce-based travel service that connects owners with great vacation rental properties to vacationers.
If your looking for a perfect vacation home, Zonder offers up a similar service of other travel and vacation sites, but does it based on owners who rent out their properties. You can search by location (ex: Kauai, HI), attraction (ex: Disneyland), or use our interactive map to drill down to your favorite region. Enter the dates you want to stay, your price range and the number of people in your party. Then, select from a list of amenities (ex: beach front, hot tub, cabin, ski-in/ski-out, etc.) to find properties that interests you most.
If you own a vacation home, Zonder brings shoppers to your front door. Owners can present their property along side other homes and let interested renters check availability and book their property.
iPodv100 Show: HookSell’s Approach to Online Lead Generation
Benoy Tamang, CMO of HookSell, talks about turning website visitors into leads and leads into sales using unique online direct sales tools. Tamang is the founder of Salt Lake City-based HookSell, a direct response business that focuses on online sales systems. Prior to founding HookSell, Benoy served as president of Blue River Direct, a direct response specialists focusing on alternative health for seniors. He was also President of DMPG, a response promotions company serving the movie industry.
Tamang is also recognized for his strategic role as VP Marketing and Corporate Development at Caldera International, which acquired SCO corporation and became The SCO Group. Tamang has also played strategic roles at Viewpoint Datalabs, WordPerfect Corporation, http://www.novell.com Novell, and Pacific Bell.
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v100 Show: The 2007 Top 100 Entrepreneurs
vSpring Capital’s Dennis Wood talks with Cydni Tetro and Brad Baldwin about The v100 for 2007. From a base of more than 8,000 names, the peer-selection process identified the top 100 entrepreneurs most likely to lead a successful venture in the next 5-7 years in the IT or biotech industries.
The 2007 edition of The v100 list recognizes 36 new and 64 returning members. The combined membership has raised more than $3.5 billion in capital. While only 29 percent claim to be “Utah natives,” 86 percent have ties to Utah colleges and universities. Statistics on revenue and employee growth plus demographics are also discussed.
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v100 Show: What’s missing in sales organizations at startups?
Mentor Associates founder Jack Carroll speaks with vSpring’s Dennis Wood about startup sales organizations. He answers questions such as:
- What is missing in most startup sales organizations?
- What to look for when hiring a sales executive?
- What are the most critical steps in the sales process?
Jack Carroll is the founder and principal of Mentor Associates, Inc. He brings more than 25 years of strategic sales planning and management experience to client assignments. The last eighteen of those years have been dedicated to technology and business-to-business (B2B) selling. He is a dynamic strategist, teacher, and motivator who has directly mentored over 5,000 people during his career. Since 1987, under the banner of Mentor Associates, Mr. Carroll and his staff have served more than 65 companies.
v100 Show: Grant Beckmann Talks about Managing For Growth
WiLife COO, Grant Beckmann, talks about managing growth in startup companies. During the past 18 years, Beckmann has worked with some of Utah’s fastest growing startup companies including Folio (now FAST), Tenfold, NextPage, and WiLife. He discusses what he has learned about hiring, communicating with employees, and other best practices for high growth companies.
Beckmann joined WiLife in 2005. Prior to WiLife, he was the General Manager and Executive Vice President of NextPage, Inc. where he lead the creation of market leading content and knowledge management products for the Insurance, Publishing, Healthcare, and Outsourced Customer Service markets. Beckmann also served as VP of Application Services for TenFold Corporation which he helped grow from 20 to 800 and go public in 1999.
Before TenFold, Beckmann was a Chief Architect at Folio Corporation, an early leader in search engine development. Folio was sold to Mead Data Central and later became part of the LexisNexis division of Reed Elsevier. Beckmann began his career at Boeing Advanced Systems Division where he worked on avionics and materials development for stealth aircraft. Grant holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering & Technology from Brigham Young University.
v100 Show: ContentWatch CEO Jack Sunderlage and Tech Sector Economic Growth
vSpring’s Dennis Wood speaks with ContentWatch President and CEO, Jack Sunderlage, about his participation in some of Utah’s most important economic development initiatives including the Utah Technology Council (UTC), the Utah Partnership for Education, The World Trade Center Utah, and Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) project. Sunderlage is a member of vSpring’s v100 – a peer-nominated group of the top 100 venture entrepreneurs in the rocky mountain region.
Mr. Sunderlage currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of ContentWatch Inc., a provider of Internet Management software and services. He has enjoyed a long and successful career in the Information Technology industry having held key sales and marketing executive positions with Burroughs, UNISYS, Digital Equipment, Compaq Computer, and Hewlett-Packard. His last assignment was Vice President of Global Accounts, West Region for Compaq, a part of HP. Jack took an early retirement from HP in July 2002.
Jack is the Past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Utah Information Technology Association where he continues to be a trustee with the newly formed Utah Technology Council. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for the World Trade Center Utah. In 2006, he was appointed to the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Governing Board for the State of Utah.
v100 Show: Mediconnect Global CEO, Amy Rees Lewis, discusses entrepreneurship
Mediconnect Global CEO, Amy Rees Lewis, talks with Dennis Wood about how her own success as an entrepreneur, the passion to sell that successful entrepreneurs must have, and what to expect from venture financing. Lewis is a member of vSpring’s v100 – a peer-nominated group of the top 100 venture entrepreneurs in the rocky mountain region.
In 1996, Lewis started her first company, PerfectPractice.MD, with only $23,000 in seed capital and went on to build the nations first 100% Web-based medical practice management system for physician offices. She grew the company from a single employee to over 85 employees eventually selling the company in 2002. She is currently the CEO of Mediconnect, an online medical record retrieval company that utilizes web technologies to facilitate the retrieval of patient medical records for the Legal and the Insurance industries. Lewis is also an Owner and a Director of Globerian, a company located in Delhi, India that provides offshore business process outsourcing to US based businesses.
Amy has received numerous awards including the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award” from the Small Business Administration, the “Top Woman on the Move Award” from Utah Business Magazine, the “Free Enterprise Award” from Larry H. Miller, and the “UITA Million Dollar Award”.
Amy has previously served on the board of Young Entrepreneurs Organization - Utah Chapter, as President for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society-Utah Chapter (HIMSS), as Chairperson for the The IPA Association of America (TIPAAA) National Biodefense Committee, and has been featured in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fast Company, Business Week, and many other national publications for her numerous accomplishments.
v100 Show: Control4 CTO, Eric Smith, on Home Automation for the Masses
Control4 co-founder and CTO, Eric Smith, talks with Dennis Wood about how Control4 is bringing home automation to the masses. Smith is a member of vSpring’s v100 — a peer-nominated group of the top 100 venture entrepreneurs in the rocky mountain region.
Control4 manufactures a complete line of home automation products that makes sophisticated home automation solutions practical and affordable for new and existing homes. Control4’s solutions integrate home theater, music, lighting, temperature controls and home security.
Prior to co-founding Control4, Eric co-founded STSN (now iBAHN), the worldwide leader in broadband services for business travelers. Eric developed the intellectual property that made it possible to simplify Internet protocols and offer fast, convenient broadband service to travelers staying in more than 175,000 hotel rooms in 200 cities around the world. Prior to STSN, Eric co-founded PHAST Corporation, which quickly became the leading control system in the residential control systems market.
v100 Show: Identity Management and Reputation-Driven Business, With Phil Windley
vSpring v100 member Phil Windley speaks with Dennis Wood about identity management and the emergence of reputation-driven business. He discusses his interest in identity management and reputation systems and the foundational roles these systems play in both the enterprise software and Internet applications spaces. Windley sees the identity management space changing rapidly as large vendors such as Microsoft and Novell and initiatives such as OpenID launch Internet identity platforms. These new platforms will create an explosion of new opportunities in reputation-driven industries such as new media, e-commerce, and social media.
Windley is currently the executive producer of IT Conversations. He’s also an associate professor of computer science at Brigham Young University, and the author of the popular Technometria blog, as well as a frequent contributor to InfoWorld and Between the Lines. He is also the author of the book Digital Identity, from O’Reilly Media. Prior to joining BYU, Phil served as the CIO for the State of Utah, serving on then-Governor Leavitt’s cabinet and as a member of his senior staff. Before entering public service, Phil was vice president for product development and operations at Excite@Home and chief technology officer of iMALL, Inc. an early creator of electronic commerce tools.
v100 Show : Behind the v100 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs
In this inaugural v|100 Show podcast, vSpring Capital’s Dennis Wood, Human Capital, and Gavin Christensen, Principal, introduce the reason for creating the v|100 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs program and set the stage for future conversations with v|100 members. They discuss how as technology venture capitalist’s, finding and retaining key executive talent is key to the success of a startup. And how creating a program to find and leverage a community of executive talent has been an important initiative for vSpring.
v|100 Show : Behind the v|100 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs [18:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download-
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