Entrepreneur's Emporium

Inc. introduces its Top 5000 Fastest Growing Company List (c/o Inc.com)

2009-08-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

The third annual Inc. 5000 shows impressive increases in the number of firms devoted to health care and in those that cater to government. Two years ago, Inc. launched an ambitious tenfold expansion of its venerable Inc. 500 list, which dates back to 1982. One big reason we did that was to get a better statistical picture of the overall economy. With the third edition of the Inc. 5000, we can really start to see the business and economic headlines reflected in the composition of the list.

The construction and manufacturing industries serve as a great example. Back in 2007, they were the number one and two industries on the Inc. 5000 with more than 500 companies each. Those industries slipped to number three and four last year, and to the fourth and fifth rank this year, each with less than 400 firms. Meanwhile IT services continues as the field that just keeps on growing, claiming the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row with 658 companies, up from 467 in 2007.

But perhaps most striking is the growth in government services firms on the list in the past year. Inc. puts a firm in the government services category if more than 90 percent or so of its business is with federal, state, or local governments, no matter what the company does. The number of government services firms on this year’s list grew 87 percent from last year to 252, more than 5 percent of the list. It’s worth keeping in mind that all the growth in this sector came during the Bush administration—we won’t see any of the effects of President Barack Obama’s policies until next year’ list. Review the complete company roster via the Inc. portal

eSpace Emerges as Mentor for Space Entrepreneurs

2009-08-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship, a non-profit business incubator for aerospace companies, today announced that it has added new members to its board of directors and a new member to its team of government liaisons. Already lauded for workforce development programs that encourage high school and college students to enter the aerospace industry, eSpace now fortifies its position as mentor with high-level, connected advisors and guides who can help space entrepreneurs succeed in the highly-regulated, tight-knit aerospace industry during a recessionary economy.

“We bring a wide range of resources to the table for start-up space companies, including office space, infrastructure, and grants,” said Diane Dimeff, director of eSpace. “But perhaps our most valuable resource is people with the experience and connections that can help these entrepreneurs build companies. We have the perfect union of knowledgeable representatives from government, industry and academia who can provide advice and help open doors that would otherwise be barriers to entry. All our executives are highly involved and deeply passionate.” Review the complete details via BusinessWire

Council For Entrepreneurial Development Kicks Off RTP CAFÉ Workshop Series (August 13 in RTP)

2009-08-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Joan Siefert Rose, president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in the Triangle region of North Carolina, has announced the launch of the Competitive Advantage through Fundamentals of Entrepreneurs (CAFÉ) Workshop Series. The new breakfast program, which is scheduled to run from August 2009 to December 2010, was crafted in response to feedback obtained from CED’s recently-completed member survey. CAFÉ has been designed as a hands-on fundamentals workshop for area entrepreneurs in varying stages of business and development.

Through CAFÉ, local professionals get the opportunity to learn about the critical issues that affect a company’s success. Topics that will be covered include effective management, sales, raising capital, finance and cost-effective marketing strategies. Meetings will consist of brief panel discussions from prestigious organizations, followed by break-out groups for question and answers led by these established professionals, and networking opportunities.

The CAFÉ sessions will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on select dates at CED’s offices, located at 100 Capitola Drive, Suite 106 in Durham. Entrepreneurial resource booths will be present at each meeting. The first session of the series is titled “Expanding Your Network: An Introduction to Area’s Entrepreneur Support Organizations,” is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13, and is free to attend.

TheIdeaStartup.com Launches New Business Plan Platform

2009-07-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

TheIdeaStartup, an end-to-end business plan and financial forecasting development tool, today announced general availability of its solution for business students and entrepreneurs. TheIdeaStartup is a web-based platform that combines real-time communication, collaboration and business planning software in a team friendly environment. First launched as a beta version in January 2009, MIT Sloan School and Northeastern University have been testing the system and both schools have plans to implement the software for business classes this fall. The system is ideal for collaborative coursework in MBA programs. Currently, most students developing these plans are often faced with ad-hoc methodologies to incorporate financial data, market industry research, and various other components of the process. Development and collaboration tools allow teams to work together and, more importantly, leverage each team member’s skills appropriately.

“I’m strongly suggesting that my students use TheIdeaStartup platform for future development of their business plans in my New Enterprise course,” said Howard Anderson, MIT Sloan School professor and founder of Yankee Group. “Often too much time is spent on the minutia of formatting and setting up collaborative systems rather than on the core strategy development needed in a stellar business plan. With TheIdeaStartup students create bottom-up financial projections in a uniform manner, something that will continue to improve the quality of the business plans our students present.” See the IdeaStart-up web site for access to this new solution

Fortune Small Business Top 100 List

2009-07-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Fortune Small Business has announced its annual Top 100 fastest growing small public companies report. While the companies on this roster span a wide array of industries as you might expect technology, medical, science and insurance are among the most common sectors. See the complete list via the CNN Money portal

AlwaysOn Global 250 Competition

2009-07-15T13:32:00.001-07:00

AlwaysOn and KPMG have officially launched this year’s AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies competition. After 6 years of the AlwaysOn 100, we're expanding our flagship list to better represent the burgeoning startup communities from around the globe. As always, we’re looking for the top emerging private companies that are creating new business opportunities in the global technology industries. This includes private companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in the following sectors: Consumer and Entertainment Devices and Components Enterprise Greentech Mobile and Wireless Network and Infrastructure Services and Enablers.

The winners of this competition will be announced in late July and will be honored at The AlwaysOn & STVP Summit at Stanford, July 22-24 at the Arrillaga Alumni Center at Stanford University. They’ll also be featured in AO’s quarterly print “blogozine” and on the AlwaysOn website. See the AO web site for the complete list of nominated companies

eSpace Incubates First Round of Space Entrepreneurs

2009-07-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship, a non-profit business incubator for aerospace companies, today announced the first three companies participating in the eSpace incubator. Selected from an applicant pool of more than 30 companies, the three participating companies have access to eSpace resources designed to maximize the probability of their business success.

“I’ve been down the road of the space company entrepreneur,” said Scott Tibbitts, executive director for eSpace. “When I started the space company, Starsys Research, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting into. From pricing, sourcing, regulations and beyond, you need to know a lot more than just your technology. That’s where eSpace comes in with our contacts, experience, facilities and funds. We know how to help build space companies. And based on the response we’ve received, there are a lot of entrepreneurs out looking to start entrepreneurial space companies.”

Created with the intention to replicate eSpace centers throughout the United States, the strong response to eSpace is accelerating those expansion plans. eSpace is supported by the Air Force Research Lab, and plans are already in the works for a second center at the AFRL in New Mexico. eSpace also anticipates additional applicants to the highly selective process of inclusion in the incubator. See the eSpace web site for complete details

Revenue Bootcamp presented by Garage Technology Ventures (July 10, 2009 in Silicon Valley)

2009-07-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Garage Technology Ventures presents Revenue Bootcamp, a conference for entrepreneurs to energize their strategies for generating revenue. The conference covers maximizing traffic, generating leads, online advertising, non-traditional monetization strategies, and raising capital. Attendees will hear from industry experts and from entrepreneurs in the trenches, including Chris Anderson, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price, Charlene Li, author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital, and Garage′s own Guy Kawasaki. See the GTV web site for the complete agenda and speaker roster

Changes to SBA 504 Loan Program Will Allow Businesses to Refinance Existing Debt, Expand, Create New Jobs

2009-06-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Small businesses seeking to expand will be able to refinance existing loans used to purchase real estate and other fixed assets as a result of permanent changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Certified Development Company loan program. The changes were authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The permanent changes will allow small businesses to restructure eligible debt to help improve their cash flow which, in turn, will enhance their viability and support growth and job creation. The 504 loan program can be used to purchase business real estate or fixed assets, such as heavy equipment or machinery, and expand current development projects.

“This is one more piece of the Recovery Act that is going to have a direct impact and put more money in the hands of small business owners just when they need it most,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said. “Lower interest rates mean lower payments and less money going out the door each month in debt repayments. That means more cash on hand to keep their doors open, their employees working and to even expand and create more jobs.” See the US SBA press release for complete details

New Economy Initiative Announces $9.25 Million Investment to Assist Automotive Suppliers and Advance Entrepreneurship

2009-05-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

New Economy Initiative (NEI) announced today an aggressive three-year economic recovery program that will help minority automotive suppliers transition to new industries and rapidly grow entrepreneurship in the region. NEI has partnered with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to provide entrepreneurship counsel and proven programs to help spur entrepreneurial activity. In addition to the NEI’s direct cash investment of $9.25 million, the Kauffman Foundation will bring programming development, staffing, materials and expertise to the initiative.
"With the region's tremendous assets – from a talented workforce to intellectual capital in research and technology to an unparalleled work ethic, and beyond – we have some amazing tools for developing the ideas and companies that will be the foundation of our future economy," said NEI interim director David Egner. "These efforts will help activate those assets and accelerate the increases in new businesses and jobs that the region needs." See the Kauffman Foundation web site for complete details

The Most Influencial Women in Technology (Fast Company)

2009-05-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Women who have succeeded in technology deserve recognition: They are an inspiration for everyone, demonstrating what can be achieved through creativity and hard work. In this feature article Fast Company identifies their short-lists of leading women executives, entrepreneurs, gamers, evangelists, activists, bloggers and brainiacs.

Novophage Therapeutics Wins 2009 Global Moot Corp Competition

2009-05-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

A company hoping to significantly slow the onset of antibiotic resistance claimed the grand prize at the 26th annual Global Moot Corp Competition held at the University of Texas at Austin on Saturday, May 9. Novophage Therapeutics from Boston University and MIT beat out 39 teams from top MBA programs around the world to claim the Global Champion prize. Novophage Therapeutics will introduce a new biological therapy that slows the onset of antibiotic resistance and increases the efficacy of current antibiotics. The company plans to offer efficacious treatments for highly antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, allowing infectious disease doctors to better manage the fight against multidrug-resistant strains through co-administration of engineered bacteriophages with current clinical standards of care. Team members include Timothy Lu, Tanguy Chau, Michael Koeris and Ann DeWitt. See the Moot Corp portal for details

MIT Entrepreneurship Center's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program

2009-05-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Track (E&I) is a new offering within the MBA Program. E&I was made available as an option for the first time to selected applicants in the entering MBA class of 2008. It is now a continuing part of the MIT Sloan MBA Program. The track focuses on launching and developing emerging technology companies. It builds a select lifetime cohort of collaborative entrepreneurial MBA classmates, and leads to an MIT Sloan Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Innovation in addition to the MBA degree. The track curriculum heavily emphasizes team practice linked to real-world entrepreneurial projects, balances theoretical and practitioner education, and provides a thorough exposure to the many building blocks of an entrepreneurial career. It begins with the standard first-semester MIT Sloan MBA core, permitting the entrepreneurship cohort to become fully integrated with their classmates in all activities. During the following three semesters, the track requires participants to select from a menu of electives which prepare them to start and build companies, while leaving them free to select the courses for which MIT is world famous. See the MIT university web site for full program details

Inc. 500 Conference & Awards Ceremony

2009-05-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Inc. magazine will hold its 2009 annual "In.c 500" conference and awards ceremony September 23-29 in Washington, DC. See the conference site for further details.

Fortune Small Business - America's 100 Fatest-Growing Small Businesses

2009-05-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

America's 100 fastest-growing small public companies. These small public companies are thriving in tough times. Read on for their success secrets, including global expansion, savvy marketing, long-term planning - and sometimes, old-fashioned luck. Here is the most recent FSB SMB roster.

C2ER 49th Annual Conference: "Energizing Entrepreneurship: Monitoring Progress, Making Change"

2009-05-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

C2ER's Annual Conference June 3-5 in Kansas City offers a unique learning experience because of its national scope, educational content, and access to resources all focused on both the particulars of community research and the trends of economic development. See the Entrepreneurship.org article and event preview

Starting Great Businesses in a Tough Economy

2009-05-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Economic downturn, recession, going out of business signs, foreclosures, consolidations and bankruptcies are all to common in 2008-2009. Nontheless, given the right circumstances, leadership, foresight and patience out of these economic ashes will rise a Phoenix. Yes, we have seen many prominent companies open their doors during the depression of the last 1920s, late 1980s and now in 2008-2009. Entrepreneurship in such demanding circumstances is not for everyone, in fact not for most. Yet, a new wave of millionaires will rise in the coming 2-3 years - these are individuals and teams who have the acumen and to see a new era of recovery and growth in the years to come. Real estate, new Internet services, biomedical advances are just some of the fields that point to future wealth creation and business success. See Entrepreneur.com's excellent portal with new business ideas.