TAG/ATDC Entrepreneurs

 

The TAG/ATDC Entrepreneurs society has been designed to educate, challenge, inspire and support entrepreneurs as well as those who have a stake in their success.

Opportunities Include:

• Entrepreneur's Speaker Series
• Entrepreneur's Roundtable Discussion
• Brown Bag Series (online video)

* To register for the Entrepreneur Speaker Series and the Entrepreneur's Roundtable Discussion please visit the TAG calendar of events.

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Interested? Join our mailing list - make sure to check off the Entrepreneurs affinity group.

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Thank you to our 2008 Sponsors

      

   

Langley K. Respess
Senior Vice President, Investments
Private Wealth Advisor

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Entrepreneurs Speaker Series

TAG/ATDC Entrepreneurs meetings will be generally held on the first Thursday of each month and will continue to be free to members and $20 per session for non-members. All meetings will be held from 7:30am to 9:00am. Registration, networking and continental breakfast will open at 7:30am. Programs will begin promptly at 8am. All programs will be in the Hodges Connection Room in the Centergy One building located in midtown (75 5th Street, NW).

Past Speakers:

• Mike Cassidy, President and CEO, Georgia Research Alliance
• Monica Doss, President and CEO, CED
• Stephen Fleming, Chief Commercialization Officer, Enterprise Innovation Institute
• Mark Metz, CEO, Optimus Solutions
• Tony Antoniades, General Manager, ATDC
• Knox Massey, Executive Director, Atlanta Technology Angels
• Kelly Gay, Chairman, President & CEO KnowledgeStorm
• Claire “Yum” Arnold, Founder and CEO, Leapfrog Services, Inc.
• Alan Taetle, General Partner, Noro-Moseley Partners

Date	Title	Speaker
01/10/08	Business Launch Competition winners.  Who’s next!	Sandeep Agate, CEO of REACH Call Inc; and Gregg Warren, Founder and CEO if IVOX
GRA/TAG started its Business Launch competition in 2006.  Two companies emerged from amongst more than 80 strong competitors to each take home $100,000 in cash and a suite of services, exceeding $100,000 (to REACH Call) in 2006, and $200,000 (IVOX) in 2007.  Learn what made these two companies stand out from the crowd. Hear a progress report as well. This session will be a timely one for any company interested in participating in the 2008 contest and/or getting ready to raise funds. Entrepreneur's Roundtable Discussion expert participant - Sterling Wharton
02/07/08	The Journey from “bootstrapping” to becoming an Inc. 500 Software Company	David Cummings, Founder, President and CEO of Hannon Hill
Hear Cummings discuss how he bootstrapped his content management software company, Hannon Hill, taking it from nothing and building it into a multi-million dollar organization, in only seven years. Hannon Hill ranked number 247 on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in the United States, as published September 2007 issue. This session will be relevant for companies who have elected to build value without the support of external funding.  David will also impart critical information to those looking to start a company with passion, product, and vision, but without appreciable financial backing.
03/06/08	The South Shall Raise Again: Raising early stage capital in Georgia and the Southeast	Michael Blake, CFA, Managing Director, Adams Capital, Inc.
Blake will discuss the challenges early stage companies in the SE are facing in respect to raising capital.  He will also convey success stories and address his thoughts on best practices. Finally, he will forecast the fund availability outlook going forward, and discuss what GA needs to do to be competitive with the SE and the most successful parts of the USA. Michael Blake has been advising privately held and public companies for over 15 years.  His business experience includes: venture capitalist; investment banker; consultant; business owner; advisor and educator. He is involved in StartupLounge.com as co-founder and co-host of the podcast. Increase your knowledge about venture funding in the SE by attending this session.
04/03/08	Establishing a Go To Market Model	Sterling Wharton, ATDC Entrepreneur in Residence
Sterling Wharton is a successful high-technology entrepreneur with Sales, Partner Development, Executive and CEO experience in a number of startups and a growth companies over the past 20 years. Most recently as CEO of Unitrends, he restructured the company, expanded partnerships and assembled a management team while growing revenues 6x and improving virtually every financial metric. Additionally, Sterling has held other CEO roles as well as senior management positions in sales, marketing, product management and operational positions at Nortel Networks, Alteon WebSystems, Network Equipment Technologies, SofNet, Telebit Corporation and AT&T.  Results include 2 IPO's and 3 high value mergers.  Sterling has extensive experience in developing partnerships and channels in the Telecom, Networking and Storage industries, including Fiber Optics, Wireless Layer 4 - 7 Switching, Security and Virtualization technologies.  He holds a BBA in Accounting from Georgia State University and participated in the AT&T Executive Masters program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
05/01/2008	"How Can a Maturing Tech Company Position Itself for a Capital Raise?"	Panel Discussion Moderated by Dave Chambless
As an entrepreneurial company moves through its life cycle, its capital structure morphs.  In the early days, cash is all about getting started.  This phase soon moves into cash being needed to gain traction in the marketplace to establish the company as a viable entity.  As the company continues to mature, its capital needs evolve as well.  Often, the entrepreneur faces the task of raising capital to fund the business in its product development, and sales efforts.  So, what does the owner of a maturing tech company do to position itself for a capital raise?
06/05/08	Repeat performance – The Serial Entrepreneur Story	Tycho Howle – Founder and Chairman, nuBridges & Leland Strange – Chairman, President and CEO, Intelligent Systems Corp
Some say, it’s in their DNA, when referring to why certain people are motivated to start and build one company after another. Tycho Howle and Leland Strange are such people. Tycho Howle founded nuBridges, Inc. in the spring of 2001 and currently serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Tycho is a pioneer in the eBusiness arena as evidenced by his founding of Harbinger Computer Services in March 1983.  Howle grew Harbinger to become a world-class e-Commerce firm with more than 1,000 employees, 40,000 active customers, and annual revenues exceeding $155 million. Tycho served as both Chairman and CEO for most of his 17-year tenure with Harbinger, and led the company through its many phases of growth including an IPO in 1995. Leland Strange has founded several successful ventures over his illustrious career, including Quadram Corporation, in 1980.  Quadram pioneered the enhancement products industry and was one of the fastest growing electronics companies in the early 1980s.  Today, in addition to his leadership role with Intelligent Systems, Strange serves on the board of directors for Allied Holdings as well as several privately held companies. Both Howle and Strange are inductees into Georgia’s prestigious Technology Hall of Fame. The takeaway from this session will be gaining valuable knowledge on leadership attributes and company characteristics necessary for building multiple successful companies. Sponsored by:
07/10/08	Partnership Building - A Critical Step for Success	Sandeep Yadav, COO of CardioMEMS
Mr. Yadav will discuss how key relationships and partnerships have benefited the development of CardioMEMS since the company's inception in 2002.  CardioMEMS has raised over $80MM to date.  The company launched its first product, the Endosure AAA sensor two years ago and is currently doing a study in heart failure. Prior to CardioMEMS, Sandeep Yadav was an investment banker for Deutsche Bank in New York.
08/07/08	How to Get to the Second Meeting	Charlie Paparelli
Charlie Paparelli invested in close to 20 companies in the last 15 years. Each week is met with entrepreneurs seeking meetings with him and presenting their opportunities. Very few get to the second meeting. There is no fuding unless there is a second meeting. So, the first meeting has to bring the angel or VC back to the table. in this session we will focus on the first meeting - how to get it and how to make it the meeting of your dreams. Charlie will share what he has observed and experienced as an angel investor in the Atlanta technology community. He will reveal his seven steps to a guaranteed second investor meeting. These steps include everything from preparation, qualifying the investor, presenting yourself and presenting your opportunity. This session is based on experience and will be both informative and entertaining. For more on Charlie Paparelli visit him on the web at www.paparelli.com.
09/04/08	TBA	Boland Jones, Founder, Premier Global Services
Sponsored by:
10/02/08	Identifying and Seizing Upon Market Trends	Mike Eckert, former CEO of The Weather Channel and Pathfire, Inc.
Too often technology start-ups fall into the trap of becoming "technologies chasing a market" and evolve into unsuccessful business endeavors.  In other cases start-ups evolve into a real business entity only to soon be overtaken or dis-intermediated.  Yet other technology start-ups become successful businesses.  In today's complex world, as entrepreneurs plan their technology start-ups, beyond only considering technology trends or their own assumptions, they must also consider a number of other types of trends, or they run the risk of missing potential opportunities.  As importantly, they also run the risk of missing business risks and threats.  In this program, comments will be shared about useful techniques to identify trends and how to seize on these; as well as a review of many of the latest technology, societal, economic and marketing trends of the future which entrepreneurs should consider.
11/06/08	TBA	TBA
12/04/08
What issues keep our entrepreneurs up at night? We will ask for your input for the 2008 Breakout Session Educational. This event will showcase eight themes that most interest you. The program format includes networking from 7:30am to 7:55am in the Hodges Room. Participants will be directed to the first session of their choice which will run from 8:00am to 8:25am. The second session will run from 8:30am to 9am. Each participant, therefore, will be able to attend two sessions of their choice. There will be no pre-registration for sessions as we hope that everyone will be able to go to their topics of interest.

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Entrepreneurs Roundtable

The Entrepreneurs Roundtable is a small group roundtable discussion among the attending technology entrepreneurs following monthly TAG/ATDC Entrepreneur meetings. Each monthly roundtable, facilitated by ATDC, relates to the day's society meeting subject and allows participants to:

• tap in the collective knowledge and experience of attending entrepreneurs
• connect to fellow entrepreneurs through a peer-group program
• connect to ATDC staff and member company entrepreneurs who are experienced at the subject at hand

If you have past or current technology entrepreneurial experience, join fellow entrepreneurs in these informative discussions.

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Brown Bag Series

ATDC/TAG Brown Bags are monthly educational webcast presentations on relevant issues to technology entrepreneurs.

"So You Want to be a CEO" Dick Cook, Retired President, CEO, and Director of MAPICS, Inc. (click for video)

In this thought provoking presentation and discussion, Dick Cook relates his experience as well as challenges the group's thinking regarding what it takes to be a CEO. This forum will include:

• Reviewing a comprehensive Position Description for a CEO
• Evaluating the CEO's performance
• Understanding the challenges of the CEO's schedule

Cook has developed a large cadre of talented managers and leaders in a number of varied organizations. His 35 years of experience in both large and small companies has seasoned his approach to coaching leaders. His programs are known for igniting a new sense of commitment to the goals of your company... with you confidently at the helm.

Value to attendees: Attendees will leave with a host of tried and true ideas, in a framework for action. Attendees will be able to assess their own performance against a comprehensive CEO template

Related Items: PowerPoint Presentation, About the Speaker, CEO Performance Plan (Sample)

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"A Checklist For Startups: Ten Critical Things To Do When Planning The Growth Of Your Company" (click for video)

Learn about the top 10 critical legal issues in planning the growth of your company. Learn about early company mistakes, pitfalls that can bite you when you least expect it, and how founders/employees can properly plan to maximize returns

Related Items: PowerPoint Presentation

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"Values-Based Entrepreneurship" (click for video)

Tycho Howle, founder of nuBridges, talks about ethics and values-based entrepreneurship and his personal management style.

Related Items: About the speaker

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Click here to view "Using Your Advisors Effectively" by Tony Antoniades of ATDC (prsented July 12, 2007).

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Advisory Committee

Claire “Yum” Arnold
CEO & Founder
Leapfrog Services

Tony Antoniades
General Manager
ATDC

Neeraj Basandra
Co-CEO and Co-Founder
Primus Software

Michael Cassidy
President
Georgia Research Alliance

Jay Chaudhry
Vice Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer (Founder - Cipher Trust)
Secure Computing

Stephen Fleming
Chief Commercialization Office
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Marc Fleury
Senior Vice President and General Manager of the JBoss division of Red Hat (Founder of JBoss)

Kelly Gay
Chairman, President & CEO
KnowledgeStorm

Don House
Chairman
Version One, LLC

Tycho Howle
Chairman and Founder
nuBridges

Chris Klaus
Founder & CEO (& Co-Founder, ISS)
Kaneva

Tino Mantella
President
Technology Association of Georgia

Knox Massey
Executive Director
Atlanta Technology Angels

Mark Metz
CEO & Co-Founder
Optimus Solutions

Mylle Mangum
CEO
IBT Enterprises

Allen Moseley
General Partner
Noro-Moseley Partners

Sig Mosley
President
Imlay Investments

Tom Noonan
President & CEO (Co-Founder ISS)
Internet Security Systems

Fred Sturgis
Managing Director
H.I.G. Ventures

Sanjeev Tirath
CEO & Co-Founder
Pyramid Consulting