Trent

After hearing about the top 5 companies, I think that I could’ve guessed all but the #1 company.  The top 5 were:

1. Agel (www.agel.com):  Agel Enterprises, LLC has created a nutritional supplement in single-serving gel form packaging that is not a burden to consume, is convenient, tastes good, and quickly absorbs into the body.
2.  Control4 (www.control4.com):  Control4 is the platform for today’s digital home and makes whole-home automation a practical option for any residence. They believe that home automation is not just for the rich and that fully customizable solutions are not just for luxury homes.
3. SkullCandy (www.skullcandy.com):  Skullcandy was founded in 2003 by CEO Rick Alden.  It is the fastest growing consumer electronics company on earth, specializing in audio & gaming headphones, audio accessories, integrated audio devices & mp3 players.
4. Seastone (www.seastone.com):  Seastone Consumer Products Group is the market leader in specialty gift card packages and gift card promotional programs.
5. Mindshare Technologies (www.mshare.net):  Mindshare’s business monitoring survey tools gather continuous real-time threads of customer feedback that can be immediately transformed into actionable intelligence.

I’m going to be honest, I was a little disappointed to find out that another MLM was at the top of the list.  Is it just me, or does it give Utah a bad image to have MLMs topping all of Utah’s lists of awards?

I really would’ve like to see MoveNetworks at the top of yesterday’s list.  From everything that I hear, it sounds like they are the real deal.  They must be, they just raised another $46M that was led by tier 1 VC Benchmark Capital.  It should be fun to see the company grow.

Anyway, congrats to all of the companies that were on the list!

• Nathan Kaiser, nPost.com
• Todd Dean, NorthWest Keiretsu Forum
• Tom Ryan, Atlas Recruiting
• Jim Roberts, UW Technology Transfer
• Rebecca Lovell, Alliance of Angels
• Buzz Bruggeman, ActiveWords
• John Kauffman, Stoel Rives

In addition to the event, we are excited to announce that Chris Pirillo, the well-known technologist, will be broadcasting the event live!  For those that want to check things out, go to http://live.pirillo.com at 2 pm PST (3 pm MST) and check things out!

FYI… spent the evening with Chris & his wife, Ponzi.  They are amazing individuals and have built an incredible business together.  I’ll have to write the details of the trip when I get back.  See you tomorrow!

About 6 months ago, we recruited Carolynn to do some of our Venture Consulting (helping entrepreneurs through the fund raising process).  Immediately, she began going above and beyond her role and led efforts to make a complete overhaul of systems, processes, and operations of the Venture Consulting Arm.  Since then, we’ve kept her very busy on several other areas of our company (sales, marketing, geographic expansion, curriculum development, etc.).

Currently, she is leading our geographic expansion and has opened up our Northwest region.  In a short 9 weeks, she’s developed relationships with angel groups, entrepreneurs, universities, networking organizations, business magazines, and VCs in the region.  Let’s just say that the region is on fire right now.

Not only is Carolynn talented, she understands the world of a startup.  She completely understands the fundraising process and has a bootstrapper’s mentality. She’s done a great job adding value to FundingUniverse and the clients that she serves.  We’re stoked to have her on board! 

Being selected as one of the Junto Partners really jump-started my entrepreneurial career. I ended up investing my $50k into FundingUniverse (which had started several months earlier) and was off and running. It opened doors and provided momentum and infrastructure to a young and energetic entrepreneur. I attribute a lot of any success that I’ve had to the Junto experience.

Though the experience was invaluable, I also felt like there were a few pieces of the Junto program that were “broken.” I didn’t like the deal structure/terms of the $50k.  Also, while I learned a ton from my partners (and they’ll be good friends for the rest of my life), the partnership arrangement didn’t foster the best decisions to build successful companies. I also felt that the mentor program needed some re-structuring.

Despite the challenges, I felt like the Junto Partners program was a fantastic program and needed to exist. Greg Warnock and Alan Hall (the masterminds behind Junto) are sincere in their desire to build entrepreneurship in the state and they love working with young and energetic entrepreneurs. As a result, I felt motivated to provide as much help and feedback to the re-structuring of the new Junto Partners program. Led by Joe Grover (one of my 5 Junto Partners), we met several times to figure out how to create the Junto Partners program with the “issues” being resolved.

That being said, I’d like to help announce the Junto Partners Program 2008. If you are an entrepreneur and are looking to take the needed step to be “plugged in,” you totally should apply to participate. Even if you aren’t accepted as 1 of the 5 entrepreneurs, the 8 weeks of learning (which is free) will be one of the best experiences you will go through as an entrepreneur and will change the way that you think about things. The deadline for the application is this week (April 30th), so don’t wait.

Thanks to Greg, Alan (and Joe) for their hard work to provide such an amazing program for young entrepreneurs. I’ll always be grateful for their mentoring, friendship, and foresight.

Here’s how it works: we are inviting all entrepreneurial companies to apply to pitch. However, this isn’t necessarily a place to pitch for money. You can pitch for feedback, partners, help, fun, and/or for investment dollars. Yes, investors are invited — in fact, we’ll have a few of them on our “panel of experts.” But, the majority of the audience will be other entrepreneurs that are coming to have a good time and network.

Here’s the kicker: everyone in the audience will have $100 in “funny money” that they can use to “invest” in their favorite pitch. At the end of all the presentations, we’ll have 2 winners: one chosen by the panel of judges & another “chosen” by the audience’s investment dollars.

Each company will have several minutes to make a presentation, after which, they’ll answer questions posed by the panel of experts and/or the audience. It should provide a valuable learning experience for the presenters and allow some great exposure to the community. We previously hosted one LivePitch event in Boulder, CO and it turned out to be a huge success. Come and enjoy the opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs in the State.

Here are the details of the event:

When: Friday May 2, 2008
Venue: Miller Business Innovation Center
Building: Karen Gale Conference Center
Rooms: Wasatch and Cottonwood
Time: 9 am - 10:30 am
Cost: FREE! ($10 to apply to present)
Click here for more information or to register.

Also, for all of you Utah bloggers, please spread the word. We’ll announce our panelists (most likely angels & VCs) in the next few days.

1. Diversify Customers. Evaluate your customer base and identify concentrations of customers in the same industry and / or geographic region. Also look at how much business you do with each customer (make a list of your top 10 or 20 customers with total sales in the past 12 to 24 months and calculate the percentage of your total sales that comes from each. Losing any customer that individually represents a large percentage of your total sales (10% to 20% or more) could have a devastating impact on your business. Establish a strategy to expand your customer base and to watch the “concentration risks” carefully. Also, take this opportunity to review all of your customer’s credit worthiness and make sure that the credit limits that you have granted are still appropriate based on their current financial position. Act quickly to make the adjustments necessary to remove these potential risks from your business.

2. Cut costs. Have a look at your business and figure out where you could save, suggests Bill Lenhart, the national director of business restructuring at BDO Consulting in New York. If three employees are doing the job of one, you may need to make job cuts. Additionally, if you have two product lines and one is successful while the other one isn’t, consider selling off that division. “When times are tough, it’s best to focus on core markets and spend money in those areas, not in areas that haven’t been more profitable,” says Lenhart.

3. Ratchet down inventory. When a recession hits, the last thing you’ll want to do is get stuck with shelves of needless inventory. If spending $30,000 a year on boating gear, for example, isn’t necessary, make sure your purchase orders reflect that. For a better idea of what you’ll need as the year progresses, keep an eye on leading consumer indicators such as those offered by the National Retail Federation and the Conference Board. Also, establish inventory targets and make sure the sales and purchasing departments are talking.

4. Maintain prices. You may be tempted to slash prices to free up cash flow. That’s a mistake, says Bradley J. Sugars, a business coach in Las Vegas. Sure, you’ll sell products but you’ll also cut your profit margins and likely dilute your brand in the process. Plus, if customers decide to buy again from you in the future they may expect similar discounts.

5. Reserve discounts. “Don’t go into a discounting war,” says Sugars. Since you don’t want to dilute your brand’s value and you especially don’t want to start competing on price with discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target, tread lightly when it comes to offering discounts. Be sure to reserve them only for current, repeat customers. “You’re trying to breed loyalty” without diminishing your brand’s value, says Sugars.

6. Focus on service. While expanding your business into markets abroad may be avenues for growth, many small-business owners should focus on their existing customers and clients for a boost in revenue. With this in mind, Sugars suggests focusing on service. “It is one of the best ways to add value without costing money,” he says.

7. Invest in employees. When the going gets tough, the employees you have will be your productivity all-stars, says Lenhart. Make boosting productivity within reason, of course a focal point. For those that rise to the top, be sure to reward them accordingly. “You don’t want to lose your most productive people at this time,” he says. Consider offering vacations or time off, which can be cheap incentives. Also, now is a good time to evaluate all of your employees and replace the mediocre and poor performers – especially if your competitors or other businesses in your area are downsizing.

8. Free up cash flow. While you’re attempting to cut costs and grow sales, “now is the time to call in favors,” says Howard Applebaum, chief lending officer of Sterling National Bank in New York. Be sure to free up your business’s cash flow by asking to have payments to suppliers extended. Also, if you have old debts, call them in. Having a good amount of cash on hand, especially in light of the credit crunch, will help you do everything from make payments to employees and vendors to spend on marketing campaigns that may grow future business.

9. Renegotiate contracts. If a contract, a lease or other obligation will soon be up for renewal, try to negotiate lower prices. At this point, you may be able to also make cuts, says Applebaum. If you don’t need 50,000 square feet of office space, consider paring down. “It is really a reality check that requires a tough look at your expenses,” he says.

10. Look to expand your business. If, on the other hand, you’re sitting pretty, Carmen Bianchi, director of San Diego State University’s Entrepreneurial Management Center, suggests giving the competition a gander. “Look for weaknesses and instability,” she says. If they’ve been having trouble, you may be in a good position to pick up their business at bargain-basement prices. Obviously, make sure you can afford it, says Bianchi, but their loss may be your gain.

1. FundingUniverse named #2 Startup to Watch on the UV50 list
2. Participating on the Advisory Board of the yet-to-be-publicly-announced Utah Pulse — the site for “all things business in Utah” — led and sponsored by Zion Bank’s CEO Scott Anderson
3. Recent FundingUniverse SpeedPitching event — 12 awesome companies, 30+ legit investors, 1 great location (Noah’s in Lindon)
4. Recent “hot companies” in Utah that I’ve seen or met with recently:  Lumiport, Open Floor Technologies, Sendside, Velosum, Mangia, SimpleStartup, and Neutron Interactive (there are probably more, but I can’t think of them all right now).
5. v|100 list was announced — though it can sometimes just seem like a popularity list, I’m honored to represent FundingUniverse because the recognition comes from the Utah Business Community
6. Lots of thoughts on various types of financing for businesses including, but not limited to:  unsecured lines of credit (680+ credit score & 2 years of business will go a long way), Dell business credit (an easy $25,000), Google credit line (an easier $125,000), Equipment leasing, etc.
7. The parting of Jeff:  total stud.  We’ll miss him.  In the end, will work out best for everyone.
8. Following up on Entrepreneurship & the Family… for those of you that are entrepreneurs and have a family, I’d love to get your feedback via a quick survey that I set up.  It’s a fun side project for me.
9. Read the book The Illusions of Entrepreneurship and loved it.  You can learn more about it here and here.
10. Being a judge at the BYU Business Plan Competition — a lot of fun.  Went to the final event today and the final 3 winners are:  1.  Klymit (previously Argon… raised $375k through one of our SpeedPitching Events), 2. SchoolTipline (founder is Justin Bergener… one of my Junto Partners), and 3. Greeting Call.  Congrats to each of them!
11. Hiring of our new VP of Sales Jason Emett.  Jason is a rock-star that I’ve known for over a year.  He used FundingUniverse for a separate company and was invited to pitch in front of the Utah Angels.  We’re stoked to have him on board.
12. Looking to hire the following positions in the near future:  COO, CMO, Affiliate Recruiter, Internet Marketing Specialist, Business Loan Specialist, Investor Account Manager, and a few more.

Anyway, I know that there are a bunch of other things that I should be blogging about, but that’ll suffice for now.

If you are an entrepreneur with a family, the spouse of an entrepreneur, or if you know an entrepreneur with a family and would be interested/willing to chat… please contact me at “bblake at fundinguniverse.com”.

• Deal flow reports
• Blogs
• HUGE list of Utah companies with stats on each one
• Events

As you can tell, I am very impressed. It made my travel arrangements last weekend very convenient because I didn’t have to the spend the time figuring out directions, maps, etc. TripIt also has a tool that allows me to share my itinerary with others (those traveling or others that need the information).

Highly recommended.