Archive for March, 2011
March 30th, 2011
On April 26, 2011 Bootstrappers Breakfast Walnut Creek (East Bay) will discuss Legal issues for Bootstrapping a Business
The important things to know in the first 5 minutes of starting your business. Just a few simple things can make the job of starting a business a lot less painful. Pete Tormey is our presenter.
Pete is a registered patent attorney who specializes in providing patents for Software, Electronics, Life Science Instrumentation and Business Methods. Pete has co-founded two companies and brings extensive experience in both engineering and marketing to our meetings.
Mr. Tormey (Antero & Tormey, LLC) is rare among patent agents and attorneys because he provides solid financial analysis on the value of patents before recommending patent protection. Mr. Tormey has an MBA in Marketing from St. Mary’s College in California, and a BS Electronic Engineering from San Francisco State University. He practices exclusively before the US Patent Office. Pete is a registered patent agent and an experienced entrepreneur, who has worked with young companies and entrepreneurs in many phases of their businesses. Pete draws on his marketing and technical background to deliver valuable practical insights and resource opportunities.
Bring your questions join Pete and other Entrepreneurs Who Eat Problems For Breakfast. We collaborate and discuss innovative ways to operate more efficiently, gain revenue and reach company goals.
March 21st, 2011
GloMantra, the company behind, myBantu – Online Virtual Personal Assistance is Khanderao Kand’s second start-up. During the early stages of the start-up, Khanderao faced numerous issues on which a lot of time was spent. The issues ranged widely from registering a legal entity, forming a company structure, finding investors, deciding terms and percentages for investors and so on and so forth.
Khanderao believes that the success of a start-up does not depend on such formalities but on execution, team building, product development and launch and winning customers and their confidence.
He wished that he could consult someone on such matters and this motivated him to organize “Startup Bootcamp”. The aim of this Bootcamp is to help fellow entrepreneurs start their venture smoothly. This is being organized by Global Indian Technology Professionals Association (GITPRO). Khanderao floated GITPRO in 2009 to provide a networking platform for Indian origin professionals for professional and self development and thereby contribute to the community.
Startup Bootcamp For Early Stage Startups and Would be Founders
Saturday 26th March 2011, 2:30pm-7:30pm
Topics include (see http://www.gitpro.org/siliconvalley.html for latest agenda)
- “Lessons Learned in Starting and Selling a Startup” by Shan Sinha, Founder-CEO of Docuverse acquired by Google
- “Building Product and Team with Focus and Right Startup DNA” by Edwin Khodabakchin, Serial Entrepreneur, CEO of Feedly. Sold Earlier Startup Collaxa to Oracle
Feet $25
Location: HP Oakroom Hall, Cupertino
19111 Pruneridge Ave,Building 48, Cupertino, CA
March 18th, 2011
Steve Blank will discuss Practical tips and experiences — “Customer Development for Entrepreneurs”. Bring your questions and join other Entrepreneurs Who Problems for Breakfast at our morning round the table discussion.
Join other entrepreneurs who eat problems for breakfast.
About Steve Blank
Steve grew up in New York City and was lucky enough to arrive in Silicon Valley in 1978 at the beginning of the boom times. Since then, he has been a founder or early employee in eight start-ups, both winners and losers, which include: two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier, SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video game company, Rocket Science Games.
Steve currently calls himself a ‘retired entrepreneur’ and is a lecturer at Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. He has been recognized with awards from both universities. In 2009 the San Jose Mercury News listed him as one of the “10 Influencers in Silicon Valley.” Outside of entrepreneurship Steve has an interest in conservation. He has served on the California Coastal Commission, and currently is among the directors of Audubon California, the Peninsula Open space Land Trust, California League of Conservation Voters and is a Trustee of University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow Steve at his website: http://steveblank.com/.
March 3rd, 2011
On Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Leslie Murdock, co-founder of Murdock Martell, Inc., will be our featured guest at Bootstrappers Breakfast(R). Murdock Martell is a financial and accounting professional services firm. Leslie has been a pioneer in providing financial advisory services to Silicon Valley companies for over 25 years. He also founded Murdock & Associates / Horn Murdock Cole, which he built to 150 professionals and sold to a private equity firm. It is now known as Accretive Solutions. Prior to Murdock & Associates, Leslie held several positions with Ernst & Young in Silicon Valley and Dublin, Ireland.
Leslie serves on the Board of Acterra, is a Founder and past board alumni of The CleanTech Open. He is also Treasurer of the Irish Literary & Historical Society and is past-President of both the San Jose/Dublin Sister City Program and the San Jose Conservation Corps. Leslie is a CPA and a Chartered Accountant.
Leslie’s discussion “Start-up Finance & Administrative Nuts & Bolts” will focus on the following key points.
- How much is enough when it comes to Finance and Administration
- Staying or of trouble – what you need to know
- Timeline for getting things done
Bring some questions, join the discussion and meet other Entrepreneurs Who Eat Problems for Breakfast.
March 3rd, 2011
We had a good discussion on the Bootstrappers Yahoo Groups about possible banks to open an account with for your business. Here is a round-up of the discussion.
The choice of bank for your business matters greatly. Even if you do not yet have institutional or angel funding, our fellow bootstrapper has recommend banking with one of the listed bank’s technology department. They may not lend to you right now, but they will understand your kind of business and may be helpful for advice, referrals to funding sources and contacts overseas and elsewhere. Banks that focus on retail, manufacturing, distribution (i.e. old economy) will not have loan officers that can do this for you. You should also consider the operations capability of your bank depending on your needs, i.e. foreign exchange, branch network etc.
The banks that our Bootstrappers are using for their business needs are as follows and they have some tips on them:
* Traditional route for technology startups:
o Bridge Bank
o Comerica Bank
o Silicon Vally Bank
o Square1Bank
* Bootstrappers often just use regular banks
o Chase
o HSBC
o US Bank
o Wells Fargo
* But the most common answer was actually credit unions. They usually have no fees and better interest rates.
o Keypoint
o Tech CU
o Valley Credit Union
Another point brought up during the discussion is the presence of a number of venture lenders that operate providing working capital and equipment financing to startup companies, again focused on those that have raised venture capital. One lender that was mentioned was Western Technology Investment. There are many others as well.
Contributors
Leonard Greenberg Assistyx
Massimo Paolini MPThree Consulting
Carl Ludwig Ludewig Multimedia
Herman A. White Tech CU
Leslie Murdock Murdock Martell
Hemant Thakkar Trusttone Communications Inc
Rick Kadet
Susan Luschas
