Highway 12 Ventures

Why We’re Excited About Our Investment In Everlater

2009-11-09T02:04:36Z

We just made an investment in an exciting young Boulder, Colorado company called Everlater. They have developed a web based travel journal that enables users and travel partners (e.g. tour operators) to easily record, share and discover travel experiences. Unlike blogs, Facebook or picture sharing sites, Everlater encapsulates everything you want to share about your trips with friends and family in one, very elegant and easy to use location.

We really like web-enabled businesses - their disruptive nature, their efficient use of resources, and their ability to rapidly adapt to changes in the user and competitive environment. Everlater is well positioned, as the web has become the primary source for travel information and commerce. Users are able to geographically organize photos, stories and trip details in a beautiful online format and then easily share it with their extended social network. For tour operators and travel agents, the Everlater platform gives them the ability to market directly to their traveler’s social network.

We are also really excited to be working with the founders, Nate Abbott and Natty Zola. Very smart guys, who have been best friends since kindergarten. After spending a year or so on Wall Street, they decided they didn’t want to spend their career in a cubicle somewhere, so they both quit their jobs and traveled the world together. Everlater was born on that trip. They have been all around the world and now they want to change it - it’s exciting to be involved with such young, smart and passionate entrepreneurs.

Nate, Natty and Everlater are graduates of this years TechStar’s program. If your not familiar with TechStars (Boulder, CO and Boston), you should check it out (My partner Mark wrote a post a while back on Techstars as well). It is an amazing program that was started and is still run by David Cohen, in Boulder, CO. Only a handful of companies are selected out of more than 600 applicants each year. Those selected move to Boulder (or Boston) for 3 months during the summer and receive mentoring from a “who’s who” of successful entrepreneurs. They leave with a set of learnings and support network that, in my book, far exceeds any of the top MBA programs.

There is a lot to be excited about with Everlater - great people, great opportunity and a great product. From all of us at Highway 12 Ventures - Congrats to Nate, Natty and the Everlater team. We look forward to working with you to build the company you envision.

A Difficult Decision For First Time Founders

2009-10-26T17:37:18Z

(Before we started this blog, I wrote a series of columns for the Idaho Statesman’s “starting up” series. I looked through my file this weekend and found a few that are probably worth sharing. Here’s the first)

Let me ask you something: If your phone rang today and you discovered that your distant aunt Sadie had passed away and left you her enormous fortune, would you open up an online trading account and start buying and selling stocks with your inheritance? I didn’t think so. Neither would I. We’d find an expert money manager we trusted to help us maintain and grow our newfound and valuable assets, right?

It is with this in mind that I find it puzzling that the vast majority of tech entrepreneurs who come up with brilliant ideas, start companies and then decide after getting them off the ground that they’re the best candidate to run and scale those businesses. Granted this is a generalization but most of the great geeks who I’ve met in my career have strikingly similar backgrounds; great engineering talent, insatiable curiosity and an incredible appetite and passion for all types of technologies.

Unfortunately, none of these characteristics are at the top of the list when it comes to building an organization, understanding a P & L, raising capital and dealing with the never-ending human resource issues associated with a rapidly growing start-up. Nevertheless, the vast majority of tech-startup founders I’ve encountered believe that they are best suited to run their businesses, well after their passion gets them through the first year or two, the first dozen or so hires and first few customers.However, It’s well documented that less than 25% of founders of tech startups are still running their businesses after two years. Why? The same reason that I never pitched for the Yankees; despite my burning desire, I didn’t have the skill sets. Why do most of them cling to running their startups? Probably the same reason that we cringe when we give the keys to the shiny new car to the 16 year-old valet, we know he’s not going to take care of it the way we would.

By no means am I saying that geeks shouldn’t start companies; on the contrary their intelligence, vision and tolerance of risk is the reason that our country continues to be the world leader in innovation. They’re willing to take huge risks to pursue dreams that only they can see and most of the time; they’re also the ideal person to lead the company for the first year or two.Why? Because only they can fulfill the most glaring needs of startups: They need to passionately articulate their vision in order to 1) woo highly talented people to join them 2) get the first customers to buy the product and 3) convince investors to give them capital. Nobody but a founder can do this.

But somewhere around the time that a company passes its employee / customer milestones described earlier, more often that not it’s time for geeks to create a role for themselves in their burgeoning companies other than CEO and find someone who A) is a great cultural fit and B) has a strong track record of scaling young companies.Most importantly, it’s imperative for the founder to stay at the company and find an appropriate senior management position that best suits their skill sets (often CTO). Leaving the company at this critical stage can be crippling. Why? Companies that lose their founders often lose their soul. When the founder leaves, passion soon follows.

Of course, finding the right person to run the business that you’ve given your blood, sweat & tears to for a few years is a daunting thought to contemplate. There are things you can do however to begin a process. One of the best ways I’ve seen to accomplish this is to create a board of advisors and over time, add one or two people that you think could be suitable candidates. By working with them over time, you can get to know their thinking, capabilities, trustworthiness and see if there’s good chemistry between you.

So if you’re a geek/nerd/genius, there’s never been a better time to take the leap and start your own company. Some of the best tech companies in the world were created in market downturns when fear and uncertainly cause paralysis among potential competitors. As for who runs the company after the first year or two, I guess there’s a chance that you may be the next Scott McNealy or Bill Gates and run your company from start-up to a billion dollar market cap. It would also be trite of me to suggest that there aren’t a whole bunch of founders who have built their companies, enjoyed tremendous growth and had exits that created fantastic value for their employees and investors. Usually though, I’ve found that many of these founders have had some good business experience as well. As for the first-time tech founder, it’s probably not a bad idea to incorporate thinking about your replacement as CEO sooner rather than later…

Why I’m Back On Facebook

2009-10-22T17:05:28Z

Last year I begrudgingly shut down my Facebook account. I was a little surprised and overwhelmed by how many people wanted to be my “friend.” I realize that as the founder of the only venture capital firm in Idaho, that clearly had more to do with the position than the person. I soon had a Facebook relationship with many folks that I didn’t know very well. Like most folks, I created a Facebook account to take advantage of what I perceive to be the real value of Facebook, staying closer with good friends and family who I don’t get to spend as much time visiting with as I’d like.

Given that I say “no” to 99 out of 100 entrepreneurs who come to our firm for capital, I was reticent to reject “friend” requests from people who wanted to connect with me on Facebook. Bluntly, I grew uncomfortable with so many people having access to my personal life that I decided rather than “un-friend” so many people (gosh, what a terrible description) that I’d just shut the whole thing down.

Unfortunately, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from spending the last 15 years with a front row seat to innovation, it’s that if you don’t get on the train it’s going to leave without you and it’s become clear that Facebook is here to stay. I feel left out of part of my friends lives that I want to stay close with and I want to be a part of that. So last night I created my Facebook (2.0) page. I’m going to slowly re-connect (on FB) with the friends and family that I have a close and emotional relationship with and I plan on keeping my Facebook circle to those that I’m closest with.

I’m sensitive to the fact that it may be insulting if I don’t accept an invitation from you to connect on Facebook but between this blog, my Twitter account and my somewhat public life, I feel like folks have enough opportunity to interact with me if they want to. For those in Boise, I’ll continue to support Dawson Taylor (The best coffee shop in town) and share a cup of joe with anyone who wants to meet with me, just call Denise and ask her to get on my Friday morning coffee schedule . Thanks in advance to those that see me back on Facebook and respect my desire to keep that private.

Don’t Let The Bastards Grind You Down

2009-10-15T13:56:20Z

And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming ’round
So don’t let the bastards grind you down - U2, Acrobat

After literally thousands of meetings with entrepreneurs in my career, one of the lessons I’ve learned is giving an entrepreneur a quick “no” is much more beneficial to someone than stringing them along. Even better is if I can give them some honest feedback about why I wouldn’t invest. Saying “no” over and over and over again isn’t the most pleasant part of my job and it’s taken me a long time to learn how to do it gracefully. (It’s hardest when I like the idea, but don’t think the person pitching me is the right one to execute on the idea…). Given the sheer number of opportunities that my partners and I look at and a better sense at this stage in my career of what I’m looking for, If I know right away that I’m not interested, I’ve taken to give an entrepreneur a “no” in the first face-to-face meeting instead of false hope about conducting some “due diligence” and getting back to them. It’s been rewarding to see how well that’s been received.

Last week I met with a young entrepreneur who pitched me on his idea for a startup. I knew fairly quickly that it wasn’t something that I’d be pursuing and after 20 minutes I spent some time explaining to him the reasons why. This particular young man took it fairly hard. He kept trying to re-convince me and his body language suggested that he was pretty defeated. It was at that point that I raised my voice and said to him “Who the hell do you think I am to tell you that your business won’t be successful?” His eyes widened and I could tell that I had surprised him. I went on to tell him about some of the great companies that I’ve passed on in my career and how often I’ve been wrong.

I happened to grow fond of this young man during our meeting and after some reflection, decided to share the following story with him which I haven’t told very often. When I moved to Boise in 2000 and decided to start a venture fund, there were an awful lot of folks I met with who thought that my idea had little merit and they were very willing to share their thoughts with me. As a matter of fact, I had well over 200 meetings with potential investors. Given that we only had a couple of institutional investors and about 30 individuals who invested in our first fund, it’s safe to say that I had close to 200 respectable people tell me what a bad idea it was to raise a venture fund in Boise, Idaho (Now that I think of it, I’m certain that some thought that the idea had merit, but that I wasn’t the person to execute on the idea!).

There were many days where I’d come home to my wife after a day of “nos” fairly dejected. She’d kick me in the ass, tell me how much she believed in me, and send me off the next day to pitch a few more people on my idea. Raising the fund wound up taking 18 months. That’s 18 months in a new town with two toddlers and no income. There were more than a few days when I thought to myself that it would never happen. On the other hand, I believed in my business plan and with each person who told me that they thought my idea didn’t have merit, it added fuel to my fire. I’ll even share with you that today, almost ten years later, I remember almost everyone who said “no” to me and proving them wrong still motivates me to this very day.

So my message to this young man and every entrepreneur who reads this is simple: Don’t let me or any other investor who tells you that he doesn’t think your idea is worth investing in dampen your enthusiasm. I guarantee you that anyone who regularly invests in startups has said no to many entrepreneurs who went on to build wildly successful businesses. You and only you will know when and if it’s time to shift gears. Until that time, don’t let the bastards grind you down…

Legal Documentation For Venture Backed Seed Deals

2009-10-09T16:59:00Z

Over the last couple of months, both entrepreneurs and some of my colleagues in the venture capital industry have filled the blogosphere by commenting that investments by VCs in seed stage companies require streamlined documentation and processes. They argue that spending weeks negotiating documents and tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills is inappropriate for an investment of only a couple of hundred thousand dollars in a company that is close to its inception. Even the use of standard form documents, such as those promulgated by the National Venture Capital Association are said to be too burdensome for use in this context. I think this is great news as it suggests 1) that my colleagues are doing more seed deals and 2) that we are interested in creating a process with less friction for entrepreneurs.

However from my perspective, this call for streamlined documentation has created a somewhat Newtonian effect (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). While I agree that the objectives of speed and thrift are unassailable, proponents of a substantially truncated approach to venture investing overlook the needs of institutional venture capital funds. As fiduciaries of our investors’ capital, we are required to be sound stewards of the monies entrusted to us. This requires a degree of documentation that may seem excessive, but is necessary to assure the proper protections are in place. Individual investors not subject to fiduciary obligations can literally write a check with as much, or as little, investigation and paperwork as they feel appropriate; the institutional venture capitalist must always behave as if its own investors are peering over its shoulder (which, if it comes to pass, would always occur on a 20/20 hindsight basis, and after an investment has gone bad).

At Highway 12 Ventures, we believe that there is a happy medium between the two and we’ve worked hard with our counsel (Bob Kraus and Steve Hardesty) to create a simplified set of documents that we believe accomplishes these goals. Lately though, we’ve come across a few entrepreneurs (and their counsel) who have internalized these discussions into believing that seed deals funded by institutional investors should have considerably less documentation and very little if any protective provisions.

Some of the protections afforded by the NVCA documents that should not be given up by institutional venture capitalists include: a right to designate one or more members of the portfolio company’s board of directors, antidilution protection, various protective provisions (requiring an affirmative shareholder vote for certain corporate actions), preemptive rights (the right of current shareholders to maintain their ownership percentage by investing a proportional amount in future financings), a right of first refusal and cosale in the event management shareholders wish to divest themselves of their stock in the company, and drag along rights (requiring all applicable shareholders to agree to a sale of the company when the requisite level of shareholder approval is obtained). Essentially what all of this says is that if you do something that affects our stock, we want a say in the matter.

In addition, certain other provisions may be appropriate depending on the experience of the entrepreneur who founded the company, or the business in which the company engages. Examples of these include: mandated scheduling of board meetings, obtaining certain types and levels of insurance, requiring investor-designee concurrence in certain board actions, and certain levels of financial and business results reporting.

Finally, entrepreneurs should consider that subsequent fundraising will likely be easier if the company already has in place a set of documents meeting the expectations of institutional investors. It is far more common for such investors to provide growth capital to companies than it is for such funding to come from individual investors. A properly structured set of governing documents will reflect well on the professionalism of the startup.

It is very much in the mutual interests of investors, including institutional VCs, and entrepreneurs to keep costs down and to close a financing round quickly. Many of my peers pride themselves in being nimble, able to identify and fund exciting prospects efficiently and effectively. Indeed, it is possible to use standard documents to achieve exactly these ends, and many counsel who are familiar with VC documentation are expert in bringing transactions to a close in a short period of time. The most valuable technique in achieving this end is the negotiation of a fairly detailed term sheet, making the documentation process more streamlined and less contentious. In appropriate circumstances certain terms (such as registration rights) can be truncated or modified, and institutional investors would be well advised to remain flexible in their discussions with entrepreneurs. However, the fundamental protections that fulfill a VC’s fiduciary obligations to its own investors should not be sacrificed.

5 Minutes With Aaron Turner

2009-10-06T03:48:21Z

While there are plenty of high-profile start-ups in the region, there are a growing number of terrific new companies sprouting up off the beaten path as well. RFinity is one of those companies. Based in Idaho Falls near the Montana border, RFinity is setting out to make mobile payments completely secure. With a terrific funding partner in Horizon Ventures from Hong Kong, RFinity is one of Idaho’s best kept secrets. I got to know CEO Aaron Turner a few years ago when I saw him keynote a security conference in New York and when the Idaho native and I were introduced, we became fast friends. He’s incredibly bright and one of the CEOs in the region to keep your eye on. I had a chance to visit with Aaron last week and asked him a few questions:

What drove you to start RFinity?

The motivation behind starting RFinity lies in 2 different areas; first – I truly believe in the potental of the technology that my partner Steve McCown invented and then we refined together while at INL, second – after working for Microsoft for a long time I had the opportunity to see a technology company at its best and worst and I believe that I can create a technology company that improves on my experiences as well as create opportunities for technology development here in Idaho

What’s been the biggest surprise to you in building out the company?

RFinity plays in a very complex space – the convergence of legacy and mobile payment systems and we knew from the beginning that strong partners were going to be key to our success. I have been surprised at how quickly we have closed partnership agreements that we originally thought would take ages and conversely how we haven’t closed agreements in areas that we thought were slam dunks.

How do you see the mobile commerce landscape in 5 years?

Mobile commerce is currently at a very interesting fork in the road. There are those who are proponents of extending e-commerce to the mobile platform, warts and all. There are ourselves and others that are proponents of re-thinking key aspects of mobile commerce to avoid some of the pitfalls that have befallen e-commerce over the last decade. For example, do we really want to worry about massive mobile payment fraud like we have seen associated with credit and debit card numbers? Do we want to see the extension of US network carriers’ dominance from their position as service providers into the mobile commerce market? We at RFinity believe that we should re-think how to strategically tackle the problems we see in e-commerce in a way that makes mobile commerce both more convenient and more secure. The next 12 months will determine which side of the fork we end up on – whether the continuation of the e-commerce path or a new mobile commerce road.

Aaron Turner, CEO - RFinity

What advice would you give to first time entrepreneurs embarking on a startup?

The most important aspect of starting up a business is having a great support network. On both personal and professional levels, make sure that you have mentors and supporters who are 100% behind you. If you have a wife & kids, make sure that they understand the risk that you are taking and the long hours that will be involved and let them participate to make sure that they feel like they are part of the process, not just feeling the after-effects of long-hours and summers without vacations. On a professional level, make sure that the people you look up to support you in what you are doing and are willing to spend time to continue to mentor and advise you on important decisions. From my perspective, this is the ‘relationship capital’ that I think is overlooked by many entrepreneurs as they start a venture. I am very fortunate to have a wife and family who love and support me in what I’m working on and it makes an incredible difference in everyone’s attitude as my responsibilities with RFinity demand much of my time.

What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

The ‘spark’ was a combination of things – the desire to stay on the cutting edge of technology development, the goal of having the flexibility to call my own shots, the financial benefits of creating something with value beyond just products or services, the goal of keeping my family in Idaho. All of these factors combined to motivate me to start RFinity. The idea for the business was as a result of familiarizing myself with the Technology Transfer process at INL and getting feedback from business leaders that I respected that there was a market need for what I was working on. The original idea for our business was based on a military/intelligence community need for identification that we then re-shaped into a commercial application.

What motivates you?

Making a difference in the lives of other people is at the core of what motivates me. On a business level, this usually results in seeing how something I’m working on makes another person’s job easier or allowing a business to focus on what they are great at doing while I help them solve a problem they’re having that is distracting them.

How do you generate new ideas?

Most of my best ideas come from talking through scenarios with people who I think are smarter than I am. Real-time collaboration and doing a lot of doodling on whiteboards and napkins usually sparks inspiration within my brain about how to solve a problem or improve an existing solution.

Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?

We evaluated several options, and eventually signed with Horizons Ventures Ltd based in Hong Kong. Horizons’ global experience and their very strong balance sheet were significant influencers as we closed our first round of funding in September, 2008 with the financial markets in chaos at the time. We were introduced to Horizons through a business associate who had done deals with them in the past and the deal was structured as an equity investment with loans structured to allow us to grow quickly.

How did you decide on the location for your business?

While with Microsoft, I had the opportunity to work in more than 25 countries around the world and in many US cities. With my objective being to raise a family in the best place I could find, I don’t think there’s a better fit for us than Idaho Falls. We had many suggestions from investors and advisors to relocate to CA, but we never really considered the option. We like the reduced costs of doing business in Idaho and have been fortunate to find talented folks who share similar values and have joined our team to make RFinity what it is today.

If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?

William Clark, based on his experiences on the trans-continental expedition. I would want to talk to him about how he led his team to do things that no one else had done before, despite the team being at constant risk to life & limb.

What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Working with a flexible team of extremely smart technology developers.

In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.

Adventure

What company or business do you admire the most and why?

At a local level, I admire what Frank Vandersloot has done in growing Melaleuca and the incredible economic impact he and his company have had. At a US level outside of Technology, I think Marriott represents one of the few companies that has stood the test of time due to their values and commitment to hard work. On a global level, in the technology space, I really like how HTC has grown and positioned themselves at the center of innovation in mobile technologies.

What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?

I love reading to my daughters. We are reading the Inkheart series now and I really like how the author provides examples to kids of how powerful your imagination can be. I also like to play pick-up basketball with a couple groups of guys here in town – there are very few things more satisfying than hitting the winning jump shot. Favorite family activities (which have been reduced a bit thanks to RFinity demands) are riding ATV’s in the Big Hole Mountains and skiing at Grand Targhee.

5 Minutes With John O’Donnell

2009-09-29T23:39:19Z

John O’Donnell is the founder and Executive Director of TechRanch, an absolutely terrific incubator in Bozeman, Montana whose purpose is to help tech entrepreneurs grow their businesses faster, more efficiently and with less investment capital than they could otherwise. TechRanch has developed expertise in bootstrapping, recruiting talent in rural markets, raising capital outside of the major geographic areas of finance, and developing near term strategic plans aimed at getting a company to cash flow positive as soon as possible. We have learned where companies need to proceed slowly and methodically and where they can run fast. TechRanch was founded in 2000 by a group of Montana business leaders, and since that time has served over 60 start-up companies throughout Montana. Within a few years of founding, TechRanch was recognized in such publications as the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. I caught up with John at VCIR Fall in Park City and asked him a few questions:

How did TechRanch get started?

Montana State University and a few business leader across the state wanted to address the need to support Montana entrepreneurs in the knowledge based economy.

How did you get involved?

After 12 years in Seattle my wife and I wanted to try something new. Her extended family are ranchers in Montana so we had fallen in love with the area and the idea of small university town seemed like a great place to raise our kids and start the next phase of our life. When i showed up the leaders behind TechRanch asked if I would consider starting it and get it off the ground…..hard to believe that was ten years ago!

So many incubators from the late 90’s failed. How has TechRanch managed to succeed for so long?

First off we do not consider TechRanch as an incubator. Senator Baucus refers to us as a SWOT team for entrepreneurs across the state in the technology sector. The biggest arrow in our quiver is the Bozeman program with includes an incubator. We like that perspective. Another way we look at ourselves is like that of a fundless sponor, again very different than an incubator. We’ve done well for many reasons including strong financial support, deep partnerships with the right institutions and great people.

John O'Donnel - Executive Director, TechRanch

Who funds TechRanch?

Taxpayers

What do companies get out of being part of the program?

Hard nose council from Gary, access to valuable people and resources, knowledge and being connected to a very strong network.

How long do they stay at TechRanch?

Most clients never stay at TechRanch. In house clients stay 1-2 years.

Does TechRanch do anything else in the community besides incubate companies?

We put together many educational and networking events for people thinking abut starting a company.

What type of companies do you consider?

Anyone that could create the high skilled jobs our stakeholders want to see in Montana. We also want long-term orientation. We would like to see more LigoCytes and RightNow Technologies.

Tell me about a couple of successful graduates.

Elk River Systems does Custom Ticket Printing. They have a small operation in a very small town that employees 5-10 people and another 10 or so here in Bozeman. Bacterin is another good story. One guy walked into my office six years ago and now employees 40 people in a very cool market with great technology from MSU.

What are the biggest challenges that startups face in Montana?

Funding. I am the only full-time resident VC with institutional capital.

What’s in the future for TechRanch?

We willl likely change our model as market conditions change. Not sure how that will evolve but we will still be a hub for entrepreurs, investors, service providers, advisors and people who want to be a part of the our ecosystem.

Who’s in your dream foursome?

Easy, that would would be my dad, my son Jack (both are golf nuts), and Fred Couples (my all-time favorite pro).

Why We Invested in Alliance Health Networks

2009-09-22T19:09:53Z

We recently invested in Alliance Health Networks based in Salt Lake City, an exciting company that is using the power of social networks to provide patients of chronic conditions the ability to support one another through an open discussion of patient experiences. Their first network, Diabetic Connect, has over 50,000 diabetes patient that participate in discussions about their disease and the effectiveness of various treatment options. The site generates revenue from healthcare providers who want to join the conversation by providing the patient community with information about treatment and care options for their conditions.

The Company believes that part of the solution to our country’s health challenges will include more active and informed patients participating in their own treatment and care decisions for their condition, and that a vital part of making that participation meaningful and beneficial will be through the creation of secure and private social networks that allow patients to effectively and openly communicate about their experiences with a particular chronic condition and related treatments. The Company has developed a discussion and marketing platform that will allow the quick creation of a large number if condition social network sites that provide specific benefits for many chronic conditions ranging from sleep disorders, arthritis, obesity, IBS, and other chronic afflictions.

For us, the most important element in any of our investments is the team behind the business. Founder Geoff Swindle and Stead Burwell serve the Alliance as President and CEO respectively, and provide the company with passionate and dedicated leadership based on extensive life and business experiences. Geoff and Stead have brought together an excellent marketing, operations, and patient advocate staff that we believe will create a valuable and worthwhile enterprise providing exceptional value to patients, providers, and investors.

We look forward to partnering with the Alliance Health Networks team to build an important and successful company that “passionately serves consumers and healthcare marketers by creating and growing mutually rewarding connections between consumers seeking to manage their health and the products, services, and solutions that match their needs”

VCIR Fall ‘09, Utah, 9/11 and why I believe in angels…

2009-09-21T15:45:33Z

Sitting in my hotel room with a bit of a fuzzy head after I was over-served at VCIR’s traditional poker tournament last, I’ve been reflecting on what a terrific event it was. When we created the RMVCA two years ago, part of that vision was adding a Fall VCIR event that moves around the region to complement the wildly successful annual VCIR Winter that’s been held in Beaver Creek, CO each winter for the last 20+ years. Fall VCIR was created to highlight a different state in the region each year and over the last two days, Utah simply knocked it out of the park. The location (The Canyons in Park City) was stunning and the host firms (EPIC Ventures, UV Partners and vSpring Capital) and the Utah Fund of Funds put together a spectacular agenda with great speakers like Shane Robison, CTO of HP & Olympic Gold Medalist and Salt Lake City hero Billy Shea.

Without a doubt, the 12 companies that presented were the highlight of the event. It was as good a group as I’ve ever seen at a venture conference. If you weren’t able to attend, here’s a few thoughts on the group:

The American Academy -These folks are partnering with high schools to recapture the ever-increasing number of dropouts. I was surprised at the size of the market and the unique business model this smart team has created to monetize the opportunity.

ClassTop - The #1 learning application on Facebook, ClassTop partners with schools to deliver courses online. They’ve got Stanford, Yale, Notre Dame and a host of other top schools as partners and got some early financing from fbFund.

Infinite Power Solutions - IPS is delivering on the promise of clean energy. They’ve developed and are manufacturing solid-state, rechargeable thin-film micro-energy storage devices. They’ve built the world’s first volume manufacturing facility dedicated to thin-film batteries.

inthinc - This company really blew me away. They deliver a serious ROI by providing real time monitoring of fleet vehicles for large companies. They’ve got an amazing client list and are saving their customers serious money and reputation damage. If we were a growth-stage firm, I wouldn’t have left without giving them a term sheet.

Lingotek - These folks have developed a slick software platform that enables translation to be performed by and through social networks. As the world continues to flatten, translations services will become even more important and it certainly appears that Lingotek’s unique and very low-cost approach should give them the ability to really scale.

LoMain - (no website yet) Perry Evans is a true serial entrepreneur who has come up with a killer idea. LoMain intends to put consumers in charge of how they consume local advertising. By allowing consumers to opt in to when and from whom they receive local marketing, Perry is attempting revolutionize how local businesses and local customers interact. Given his track record, I wouldn’t bet against him.

MapMyFitness - Disclaimer: I’ve been a user for the last couple of years and I love it. MapMyFitness (and their suite of sites such as mapmyride & mapmyrun among others) CEO and founder Robin Thurston and his team have created the fastest growing fitness-oriented training application on the web. I’m particularly fond of their advanced geo-mapping application. They also have a great new iPhone app. If you run or cycle, you need to check this out.

nanoMR - nanoMR has developed a diagnostic device for the detection and identification of bacteria in blood, the major cause of the severe clinical condition known as sepsis. Early detection can prevent this deadly condition, the 10th leading cause of death in the US.

OrangeSoda - OrangeSoda claims to be the only fully integrated online marketing platform specifically designed for the SMB marketplace and judging by their impressive customer list, they sure seem to be making some headway. While many companies have claimed to have figured out automated SEO, OrangeSoda’s traction suggests that they may very well have it figured out.

Revinetix - One of the five fastest growing companies in Utah, Revinetix is making some real noise in the cloud storage space in the SME sector. They claim that their solution significantly economizes bandwidth utilization, radically reduces traffic and improves network efficiency among other benefits.

SpyderLynk - CEO Nicole Skogg is an optical engineer and pioneer in mobile image recognition. She’s leveraged her background to create a mobile marketing service that utilizes a company’s logo and transforms it into a measurable, functioning interactive marketing tool through a cool app called a SnapTag. Consumers take a picture of a SnapTag with a smartphone camera and get discounts, request samples or participate in promotional offers.

Zinch - Zinch has quietly amassed 10% of high school students in America to use their solution to create profiles of themselves as they enter the college arena. Over 700 colleges are relying on Zinch to get better data on prospective students. CEO Anne Dwane, for SVP at Monster and co-founder of Military.com is building a very compelling business and she’s backed by some of the top angel investors in Utah.

My good friend and fraternity brother, Scott Saber - aka "The Buff"

Speaking of angels (not the investing kind) and why I believe in them, Tomorrow morning I’m heading to New York where an angel is working his magic. On 9/11, Scott Saber (”The Buff” to those that knew and loved him), a close friend and fraternity brother of mine was the keynote speaker at a conference in the World Trade Center. He was one of the thousands that perished that day and tomorrow night I’m getting together with many of my fraternity brothers to honor him at one of his favorite places, Yankee Stadium. If you’re a baseball fan, you know that last night, Derek Jeter had three hits to tie Lou Gehrig as the all-time hit leader for the Yankees. Given that Derek needed three hits last night to put himself in this position and the Yankees are off tonight, I can’t help but believe that Buff is up there pulling some strings so that when we all gather to raise a drink to him behind home plate tomorrow night on the anniversary of 9/11, that we’ll witness one of the most historic nights in sports history as Derek Jeter tries to become the all-time hit leader for the most storied franchise in American sports. I know he’ll be looking down and smiling as our group of aging fraternity brothers hug a little tighter because of him.

Tolerance

2009-09-04T17:45:57Z

I know this blog is supposed to focus on entrepreneurism in the Intermountain West so I’ll do my best to make this post relevant, though I suspect I’ll fall short. Last night the #14 ranked Boise State Broncos hosted the #16 ranked PAC 10 Oregon Ducks. It was billed as the biggest home game in BSU’s history and the Broncos didn’t let their faithful fans down. Our defense simply shut down the much-ballyhooed Oregon offense, including star running back and (before this game?) Heisman candidate LeGarrette Blount who had popped off to the press leading up to the game about payback for last year’s loss to the Broncos at home.

The view of "The Blue" at last night's game

Well, BSU’s defense absolutely demolished Blount and his offensive mates, simply beating them senseless. Blount had 8 carries for -5 yards and was tackled in the endzone for a key safety. Blount and his teammates were humiliated and embarrassed. Then it really got ugly, if you haven’t read about or seen it yet, right after the game a BSU player approached Blount and obviously gave him some verbal jousting. Blount completely lost his cool and sucker punched the BSU player in the jaw. A melee ensued and Blount was carried off the field by coaches and police, and even got into it with some fans on the way out.

I want to start with this: In no way do I condone what Blount did. It was completely out of line and athletes need to understand where to draw the line and that this sort of behavior is unacceptable. Having said that, I awoke this morning to read about a firestorm in the local (and some national) news and social media outlets calling for Blount to be kicked off the team and banished from College Football.

I’m sorry but I think this is shortsighted and complete overkill. We as a society have bred our athletes (particularly football players) to be modern-day gladiators. I think very few people calling for Blount to be exiled have a clue as to primal rage that has been cultivated and fostered in this young man to play football at the highest level. We are demanding more and more from our athletes from a performance perspective to the point where the highlight on ESPN each night is the biggest hit that knocks the runner or wide receiver into the next week and then, in an instant, we expect them to turn that rage off immediately and act like the upstanding citizens each and every one of us are.

We are throwing rocks in a glass house folks. Do you text and drive? Do you let your kids consume obscene amounts of high fructose corn syrup, essentially feeding them poison every day? I can make a strong case that each of these activities are crimes far worse to our society than a kid throwing a punch after being humiliated in front of millions on national TV. Do you have any idea what goes on between lineman at the line of scrimmage or in a pile after a fumble? Now had Blount been at a party or a restaurant and done the same thing, he should be treated the same as any of us.

C’mon, the kid threw a punch. he’s TWENTY YEARS OLD for cripes sakes. Thank goodness my investors don’t hold me accountable for what I did when I was 20 because they sure wouldn’t be trusting me with tens of millions of dollars today. Banish him from college sports? Really? Do you have any idea what that kid will be doing in five years if we do that? Suspend him for a game, or two games. Make him go to high schools in Oregon and talk to football players about the mistake he made. But banish him? Goodness gracious, what are we becoming?

So how does this all relate to technology start-ups and entrepreneurism? I guess for me is that I’m drawn to technology for how blind it is to qualitative judgment. Tech start-ups don’t care if you’re black or white. They don’t care if you have tattoos or wear crappy clothing. Tech startups are extremely tolerant and I guess that’s what I’m hoping that this post will make everyone think about before they lynch LeGarrette Blount. He’s a kid who made a mistake. He apologized immediately afterwards and seemed to show genuine remorse. I know I made my share of them when I was young. I’m sure glad that social media wasn’t around then because I’d be sweeping floors today…