Silverleaf Companies Launches Venture Funding Arm
Co-founder and CEO Shane Baldwin likes to think of Silverleaf Capital as the “entrepreneur’s entrepreneur.” In its first 10 months of life, Silverleaf has already placed more than a half-billion dollars under management. With a board that includes top executives from throughout the U.S. and investors that span a variety of interests including the entertainment industry and well-known professional athletes, the company acts as a “fund of funds” to bring the right investors and deals together.
Baldwin introduces the Silverleaf Companies to Rocky Mountain Voices and discusses their venture capital strategy, including funding technology, alternative energy, and biotech companies in the mountain west.
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Automattic’s Matt Mullenweg on Funding and Futures
“It’s been a busy few weeks,” Matt Mullenweg said with a grin in response to the question about Automattic’s recent $29M funding round. Interestingly enough, this funding trails the initial investment of $1M that wasn’t fully expended.
Mullenweg talks with Brad Baldwin while visiting Park City, Utah (shhh…remember Matt you promised not to tell anyone about how great it is here) about their development team, projects, the open source community and revenue models at Automattic. Mullenweg shares some of the features and enhancements that will appear in WordPress 2.5 to be released in March 2008.
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Benefits of a Virtual CFO
Today, venture-backed, high-growth companies have more choices to spend on core business and outsource the rest. From enterprise software like Salesforce.com to hiring virtual CFOs, companies are trimming expenses.
Mark Marshall, Managing Director of The Accend Group, provides outsourced accounting services and the financial decision making on a virtual model. Like Salesforce.com, Marshall’s organization “rents” the CFO and general accounting services on a monthly basis. One of the top sources for acquiring new customers is venture capitals. VCs want their money going toward core sales and marketing or development, not unnecessary expenses. At the same time, these same VCs like knowing that CFOs with proven track records are close to their investments.
Marshall talks about the benefits of outsourcing to a Virtual CFO and the main questions that organizations ask when considering outsourcing over full-time employees.
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COMPLETExRM: Enterprise 2.0 Foundation for CxRM
CRM is migrating from desktop applications to Software as a Service (Saas). COMPLETExRM is a new company based in Salt Lake City that offers a highly customizable CxRM foundation based on a SaaS platform. This allowed COMPLETExRM to create PlanPlus Online, a custom planning and enterprise-grade CRM solution offered by partner FranklinCovey.In addition to its OEM parnters, COMPLETExRM is offering Enterprise 2.0 integrated sales, marketing, and project management solutions to small and medium business.
To support their growth, COMPLETExRM landed funding and a board seat from Donald L. Lucas, a respected VC and board member at Oracle and other tech companies.
Mercato: Funding Marketing and Sales
Greg Warnock has a soft spot for entrepreneurs. Whether it’s through mentoring, work deals at vSpring Capital, or angel investing, Warnock has seen a lot of companies. He’s also learned that it takes more than good technology and a strong development team to succeed.Trained as a computer scientist, Warnock recognized his bias for technology and unique IP–and he still does. However, after watching startups move from development stage to marketing and sales launch, Warnock has a new perspective on the challenge of emerging as a serious contender. So much so that Warnock and Alan Hall have created a new fund, Mercato Partners, that is focused on funding marketing and sales efforts.
Warnock introduces Mercato Partners to Brad Baldwin and describes the focus for the fund.
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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Are You a TechStar Candidate?
Brad Feld and David Cohen go into detail about their summer project, TechStars, which is bringing 10 startup companies to Boulder, Colorado for an intensive three-month period of education and mentorship from over 30 of the best entrepreneurial minds in Colorado. Each company gets up to $15,000.00 in seed funding plus a chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists at the end of the summer.
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: 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.
Steve Grizzell, Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum Chairman
Venture capital and angel investment success in Utah is not limited to the Salt Lake Valley. Focusing on matching up investors and early stage entrepreneurs Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum chairman Steve Grizzell discusses UVEF’s origins and successes. A 20-year veteran in entrepreneurship, finance, innovation and economic development, Grizzell observes while Utah entrepreneurs and investors face some stereotyping challenges, they are becoming increasingly sophisticated—yet entrepreneurial ‘overhyping,’ corporate inbreeding and soft market research remain problematic.
With significant projected growth in Utah’s future, Grizzell sees the Wasatch Front as rife with opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.
A nonprofit organization founded in 1989, is a support group working together to share lessons learned and to learn the war stories of those who’ve succeeded. UVEF encourages the creation and sustained growth of entrepreneurial ventures through providing networking opportunities, promoting recognition of business accomplishments and contributions, sharing business experiences, and encouraging free enterprise.
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.
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