CTech - Brown Bag Lunch Series

.: CTech Brown Bag Lunch Series CTech is hosting a series of informative brown bag lunch seminars covering a wide range of topics. All of the seminars are free but we ask that you register in advance. If you have questions or to register please contact Irene Turker by email at irene.turker@ctinnovations.com or by phone 860-563-5851. Seminar locations will be confirmed upon registration. Don't forget to bring your lunch!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: How to Build a Scalable Company Presented by John Seiffer: Entrepreneur, Business Advisor, and Angel Investor. Do you know why do some companies scale bigger and easier than others? Do you know what limits the size of your company? Do you know what a start-up should always to do BEFORE it starts to scale? Would you like to improve your firm's ability to scale and grow? Learn what's needed to grow your company. John Seiffer has a unique experience as a "Remote Control CEO." Since 1993 he has run a company from 1500 miles away. He currently blogs at www.BetterCEO.com Please note: Location TBD. RSVP for more information.
Thursday, July 1, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Mastering the VC Game Presented by Jeffrey Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business school, author of “Mastering the VC Game” and co-founder of Upromise. Bussgang writes a popular blog, www.SeeingBothSides.com Jeff will talk about how to get from Start-up to IPO on YOUR terms and share his insights into the world of venture capital from the perspective of a VC and an entrepreneur. You will also have the opportunity to meet the YEI 2010 Summer Entrepreneur Fellows Please note: Location TBD. RSVP for more information.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: In Pursuit of Funding: Lessons From a Long Twisty Road Presented by Mark Borton, founder and principal, Equity Health Partners Seeking funding for a start up is like combining rugby, boxing, football and soccer into a new contact sport. Come and learn about one entrepreneur’s experience and perspective and the techniques used to survive three years until receipt of the first institutional investment term sheet. This case study is not just about money.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Life’s a Pitch: Finding the Pot of Gold Presented by Donna Brooks, a partner with Shipman & Goodwin LLP Whether pitching your company to investors, customers, strategic partners or potential employees, you must be able to convey a short and snappy pitch. The ability to clearly articulate your company’s benefits will greatly increase your likelihood of success. Learn key elements including business plans, pitch meetings, elevator pitches and presentation skills to help position your company to reel in your targets.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Protect What’s Yours: Win with IP Presented by Anne Maxwell, Patent Attorney at Cantor Colburn LLP Intellectual Property (IP) is often a new company's only property. Crucial to any company's success is an early strategy for protecting its IP and avoiding the pitfalls of infringing a competitor's IP. This talk includes a comprehensive overview of patents and will also touch on the basics of trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright. A new company with a solid IP strategy can prevail against larger and more established competitors. This talk will set you on the path to developing that strategy.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Ensuring Successful Product Launches Presented by Daniel E. Wellers, Principal, DWC Enterprises and CTech Associate Member The launch is perhaps the most important piece of a successful new product introduction, yet most do not achieve their expected sales targets. Attend this session to learn about the critical planning steps that must take place prior to launch for maximum market impact.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Building Your Business Online with Social Networking and Web Marketing Presented by Nate Berger, Founder, KnockMedia This interactive session will help you identify and target your audience, establish an internet marketing strategy using grassroots promotion, search marketing and social media and will show you how to leverage existing networks to get your message out and drive traffic to your website.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010; Noon – 1:30 pm Note location change to Fairfield University. Session Title: What You Need to Know About Valuing Your Early Stage Company Presented by Frank Morse, Carter Morse & Mathias, Investment Bankers The ultimate prize for an entrepreneur’s sweat equity, 80+ hour work weeks, foregone vacations and missing family time is “the liquidity event” such as a sale or IPO. Along the way the company will have likely obtained several injections of capital from friends & family, angels or institutional sources and yet company valuation almost always is done on the fly with insufficient thought or strategy. Valuing a company starts out as an art and then gradually moves more to a science. This session will be a discussion on how to think about estimating the value of your early stage company as you progress in the life cycle. Download the PowerPoint presentation
Tuesday, December 8, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Public relations for entrepreneurs: Telling your company’s story Presented by Hank Spring, Patrick McGloin, Nicole Laster, Gaffney Bennett Public Relations Entrepreneurs face a challenging marketplace and a shifting landscape of communications and media outlets. Making your company’s voice heard above the crowd requires a plan, a clear message and follow through. This workshop will provide insight into how to formulate a clear and compelling message, how to determine your target audience and how best to tell your story to the people who need to hear it, whether they be customers, prospects, investors or the general public. The presentation will include an overview of public relations strategies as well as specific example of what to do – and what not to do – when communicating vital information about your business.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Buliding a Software Startup on Microsoft Presented by Larry Gregory, Senior Director, Microsoft Corporation 2009 has been a tough year to start a new business. Venture capital is harder to come by as VCs are demanding more proof of market and maturity before they’ll take a chance on a new idea. Nevertheless, with the creation of new resources such as Microsoft BizSpark and the supporting Microsoft Partner offerings, the cost of starting a new company with Microsoft software has been reduced dramatically. In some ways, getting a new business off the ground is easier than ever. In this session you will learn about resources available from Microsoft for new software startups as well as leading edge Microsoft technologies that serve as the foundation for successful startup businesses.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Two Serial Entrepreneurs Speak from the Heart. Presented by Elena Cahill, Founder and CEO of Globele and Andy Greenawalt, Founder and CEO, Continuity Engine. Both companies are members and operating at CTech. These repeat entrepreneurs speak about their experiences in starting multiple companies, providing perspective on doing it within the same industry, entirely different industries, comparing lifestyle businesses with ones that are pursuing an exit and will cover the key element of how to surround yourself with the right partners and employees. This will be an interactive workshop whereby the entrepreneurs will answer your questions with the utmost candor.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: How to Avoid Burning Cash in Your Start Up Presented by Gregory Sparzo, Adjunct Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute How do you develop your product without burning all your cash? In order to assure that what you are building is actually what customers want, it is critical that you spend as much time on Customer Development as product development. This session will walk through the HOW and WHY of this important aspect of your budding business.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Obtaining Financing for Your Startup Presented by Peter Hicks, Vice President & Group Manager, Emerging Growth & Technology Group, Webster Bank
Tuesday, September 29, 2009; 10:30 am – Noon Session Title: New Perspectives on the Economic Recovery Presented by Don Klepper Smith, Chief Economist & Director of Research, DataCore Partners Don Klepper-Smith will review the dynamic strengths and weaknesses within the national and Connecticut economies. Join us for a discussion of business risks and opportunities as we look to the future.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Pitching Your Company to Investors Presented by Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost This presentation will show you how to formulate a clean and concise elevator pitch and long format pitch: What to include, what to leave out and what Investors need to hear in order to get a meeting.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: What is Your Intellectual Property Strategy? Presented by Marina F. Cunningham, Attorney at Law, McCormick, Paulding & Huber There are many approaches to handling Intellectual Property (IP). IP strategy needs first to be formulated, then periodically reviewed and reevaluated. Given many new sweeping decisions from the US Supreme Court and potential legislation, many companies are merely reactive rather than proactive. The presentation will address various aspects of IP and effects of new case law and legislation and provide insights into various IP strategies and approaches.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Business Development - Where to begin? Presented by Brenda Shipley, The b2s group, LLC Consider this session Biz Dev 101 for software and services companies. We’ll discuss the difference between Sales and Business Development, methods for targeting and securing strategic partners - including The Compass Method, the most common types of business partnerships to consider, and the ones to walk away from.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Need R&D $$ for your latest idea? Presented by Christine Gemelli, CT SBIR Office The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program provides over $2 billion in grant funding to small high tech businesses across the United States. The SBIR represents a way to have the government fund new product development (R&D) without giving up equity or intellectual property rights. Attend this session and learn more about the SBIR program and other programs that will benefit your small business. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, July 7, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Sales Snafus Presented by Brenda Shipley, The b2s group, LLC In a start-up venture, everybody’s in sales and nobody’s been trained to sell. There are hundreds of books devoted to the theories of sales effectiveness, yet sometimes the best lessons are those we learn along the way – or from others’ mistakes. If you’ve ever felt you’ve blown a sales opportunity, you’re not alone. Hear entertaining stories and take away insightful tips from fifteen years on the front lines of sales.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Angel Investors: Are They for Me? Presented by Joe DiMartino, John Sundean, Angel Investor Forum Angels have become an increasingly important source of funding for early stage companies, in some cases taking on the role of venture capitalists. Learn how angels work together to finance start ups and how to make a decision whether they would be good for your business expansion. Presentation and discussion topics will include: Profile of an Angel Investor, the Angel Investment Community, Angels & the Venture Capital World, What Angel Investors are Looking for, Angel Investment Process, Deal Terms & Valuation and a good healthy no holds barred Q & A session. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, June 2, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Integrated Marketing Communications Presented by Frances Trelease, principal, Trelease Communications Learn to create a “strategic selling point” that carries throughout all your marketing communications. Learn how to carefully define your customers – who they are, and why they’ve chosen to purchase your product. Next, identify the unique selling points (USP) of your product. What makes your product distinct from its competitors? Finally, find the right language to express those benefits to your target audience in dynamic language that connects. It’s a tried and true concept called Integrated Marketing Communications. Through this workshop, learn the best way to make your product’s image stick in a customer’s mind -- through repetition of strategic message, look, feel, colors and design. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, May 12, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: State of CT Research & Development Tax Credit Presented by Lisa LaSaracina, Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP The State of Connecticut offers a generous and beneficial tax incentive to technology based companies. Learn more how this credit works and how as a technology company you can find a new source of cash to fund your company. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, April 14, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Negotiation of a Venture Capital Term Sheet Presented by Frank Marco and Paul Hughes of Wiggin and Dana Learn what issues are important for investors and how to negotiate them Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, March 24, 2009: Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Technology Resources at UCONN Presented by John Hanson, Director of UCONN Tech Portal Are there technical resources within a public research university that can be accessed by entrepreneurs? And if so, how? The Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center program is designed to encourage universities to support technology-based economic development in the region. In this seminar, John Hanson, the director of UConn’s EDA Center within the Office of Technology Commercialization, will outline resources that can assist companies as they navigate the “valley of death.” He will explain the roadblocks, provide examples of how to work around them, and give insights on how to create mutually beneficial projects that can cost-effectively move your business forward. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, March 3, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Market Intelligence on a Shoestring Budget Presented by Fred Wergeles, principal of Fred Wergeles & Associates LLC Although it is considered a common business activity for Fortune 500 firms, very few small businesses conduct more than a cursory analysis of their markets and competitors. The irony is that in the fast changing global economy, the importance of understanding the competition has never been greater. And for smaller firms, the stakes are even higher – unless they rigorously monitor and analyze industry trends, emerging technologies, and other market information, they may miss important early warning signals about future developments and unexpected competitor activities. This presentation will identify low-cost techniques that can be used to forecast competitor actions and understand the evolving market environment – how to collect market information from the Internet for free, how to build a network of intelligence sources, and how to exploit market and competitor information to grow your business. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, February 17, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Employment wage and hour laws Presented by Chris Brigham and David Sturgess, Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C. Compliance with wage and hour laws, on both the state and federal levels, is a crucial issue for employers. Intentional, and in some cases, even unintentional, violations of wage and hour laws and regulations can result in liability for the unpaid wages and significant penalties including double damages, attorneys’ fees, additional fines, interest and in some cases imprisonment. Chris Brigham and Dave Sturgess from Updike, Kelly and Spellacy, P.C. will provide an overview of wage and hour laws, with a particular focus on the following key areas: minimum wage, overtime pay and exemptions, recordkeeping, and wage payment laws as well as the resulting liability for non-payment of wages. Our goal is to leave you feeling better informed and able to take proactive steps to ensure that your employment practices are in compliance with the applicable wage and hour laws and regulations. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Thursday, February 5, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Customer Acquisition – Lessons Learned at Home Presented by David Furth, principal, Leap The Pond Selling a named brand is difficult, so what is an early stage company to do? Are there any tricks to make selling easier? The general premise is that there is no magic, unless you create it. If you have the right behavior – maintain focus, do your homework, be respectful, and don’t give up, you will dramatically increase the likelihood of success. During this session, we will discuss three key topics and how they relate to what we all learned at home: 1.Targeting 2. Pitching 3. Closing It is our goal that this will be an interactive discussion. Please come prepared to share your greatest challenge relative to sales. This will provide the whole group with some context and help direct how we focus our time. Download the PowerPoint presentation Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation
Tuesday, January 27, 2009; Noon – 1:30 pm Session Title: Great presenters and presentations; fact vs. fiction Presented by Debbie Fay, principal, Be-Speak Being afforded the chance to present your product or service to a potential client is an opportunity you never want to 1.) pass up or 2.) mess up. If you are avoiding meetings, situations or events because of fear or dislike of public speaking, this is a presentation you don’t want to miss. If you find yourself disappointed in your “performance” or its result and aren’t sure why or what to do about it, Debbie Fay will provide the answers and solutions you’ve been searching for. If you’re thinking “if only I could be a speaker like….” this event has you written all over it. Join us as public speaking coach Debbie Fay debunks the myths and illuminates the realities of what makes confident compelling change-making presenters and presentations. Click the player to the right to watch a video of this presentation

.: CTech Brown Bag Lunch Series