 | | January 26, 2007
The May Report: 01/26/2007: TECH Cocktail 3: Single Hop meets the more mainstream business crowd of 350+ with style and panache at Amira /The Entrepreneur in Residence program / Intellext and more
Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, 773-525-3944
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EMPLOYEE LITIGATION: AGE BEFORE BEAUTY -- PART FIVE
In a discrimination case where everyone agrees that certain facts exist, the way those facts are perceived can still be argued. When this occurs, typically a judge will acknowledge these facts do indeed exist and return a summary judgment, where neither, both or one party is determined at fault.
Since HR knew that Bob felt he had "good reason" to think he'd been discriminated against, the company should have protected itself by having an outside party come in to first forensically copy the key computers, and then conduct a computer forensic examination of any of the key computers involved just in case Bob actually had or knew of potentially damaging evidence. A neutral third party could have been agreed to by the parties and appointed by the court.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Scoop section:
-- Beejal needs to talk to someone about Microsoft Vista for her TV show
-- Jim Bray: How to hear the great panel on medical device cos. at NU
-- Link to the Art Norman report on Channel 5 about MIT-EF and Inventables
-- John Banta's update on Illinois Ventures from 2006
-- Briefly noted: Tech Cocktail 3 reviewed and detailed; the Entrepreneur in Residence program, Intellext and Eric Lefkowsky, by Ron May
-- Deals:
-- Microsoft runs afoul of Wikipedia
-- Motorola news (3 items)
-- Al Wasserberger: Intellext cuts deal with AOL
-- Howard Wolinsky of the Sun-Times: Intellext deal with AOL
-- The Intellext job opening for a media sales person
-- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation: Do Video Games Help Kids Learn? on February 8th
1. READER COMMENTS AND RESPONSES
1a. Anon.: TMR reports on Motorola are correct
1b. Kelly Yocum: Updates on John Chubb
1c. Robin Cook: Defends East Rogers Park
1d. John Golde: TMR ads work
1e. David Naylor: StarThis openings
1f. John Katsantonis: Digital divide comment
1g. John Katsantonis: Viruswarn: New Social Engineering Tactic Being Employed to Spread Malicious Code
1h. John Katsantonis: Once again, Motorola has screwed the pooch
2. OTHER (Events)
2a. Tuesday, Jan. 30: MEF Wheaton meeting: John Walsh President of Alignmentnow speaking about how to "Attract More Business"
[Editor's note: May here. It is now 8:30pm and with the exception of about 30 minutes I have been at the computer since 8:30am. Too much. No mas. On Monday I have a very interesting story on Alien Technology and Advanced Equities; the MIT-EF, Body Worlds and more.]
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The Scoop section:
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Beejal needs to talk to someone about Microsoft Vista for her TV show
Subject: microsoft vista
Date: 1/26/2007 10:06:18 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: beejal@firstbusinessx.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Hi Ron,
Thanks again for your help on the other story.
I am also looking for someone to talk about Microsoft Vista. Either someone from Microsoft, or someone who has tested the software.
My number is 312 - 535 - 0499. Email: beejal@firstbusinessx.com
Thanks,
Beejal
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May here. Thanks to the people who responded to the first request for help for Beejal. As I said, she is with First Business which produces TV programs related to consumer products. Their shows appear on The U, WCIU, I believe. Please get in touch with Beejal if you know someone, even yourself, who might want to be interviewed for the show. It will count as part of your 15 minutes of fame.
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Jim Bray: How to hear the great panel on medical device cos. at NU
Subject: Re: Jim, I'm kicking myself for missing your mt. Can you give me a brief synopsis?
Date: 1/26/2007 5:08:31 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: j-bray@northwestern.edu
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
CC: j-coney@northwestern.edu
Ron,
You missed a good event - our panelists were very insightful! You can find the entire audio of the event on our web site at www.itec-evanston.org. Click on the "Recap of Launching a Biotech or Medical Device Start-Up" link in the "What's New" column on the right hand side of the page.
Best regards,
Jim
At 03:05 PM 1/19/2007, you wrote:
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Link to the Art Norman report on Channel 5 about MIT-EF and Inventables
http://www.nbc5.com/video/10827596/index.html#
[You have to scroll down to the bottom of the page for this link]
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John Banta's update on Illinois Ventures from 2006
From: John Banta [jbanta@illinoisventures.com]
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: RE: John, can you give me an overview of investments and liquidity events in 2006 for Illinois Ventures?
Sent: Fri 1/26/2007 2:21 PM
Ron,
Thanks for your interest and your patience with my travel schedule.
To date, we've participated to some degree or another in about 30 projects, nearly all deriving from Midwest-based research and/or having a presence in Illinois, and more than half of which involved de novo start-ups. Collectively these companies have raised in excess of $150mm in third-party co-investment.
New projects we launched or became involved in during 2006 included:
* Fluensee, Inc., which delivers RFID-enabled technology and
services to track and manage physical movement of their asset inventories
* Caden Biosciences, a life sciences tools company developing
assays for high-throughput screening of GPCRs.
* Advanced Biofuels, which is involved in development of
next-generation alternative domestic renewable fuel production platforms
* Cbana Laboratories, a supplier of microfluidic and
microanalytical devices for both government and private applications
* One Llama, developer of a music recommendation technology for
digital music listeners
* Solidware Technologies, Inc., an automated software quality
engineering company
* Binachip, a developer of software to support migration of binary
and assembly code from embedded processors into mixed hardware/software platforms.
Follow-on financings were completed by numerous portfolio companies during the period including iCyt, Phoenix Energy, Semprius and others. Also during the period Fluensee, Inc. acquired Mobitrac, the Chicago-based provider of Transportation Execution Systems.
Good summaries of many of these projects are available at www.illinoisventures.com - I'd be happy to answer questions you may have about individual projects, or better yet put you in touch with their management.
Best,
JB
John Banta
CEO & Managing Director
IllinoisVentures, LLC
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Briefly noted: Tech Cocktail 3 reviewed and detailed; the Entrepreneur in Residence program, Intellext and Eric Lefkowsky, by Ron May
* Thursday night was the third Tech Cocktail event. The first was held last summer on July 6th at STATE on Webster, I believe, and the second was in early October at The Gramercy at 2438 N. Lincoln Ave. and this event was held at a restaurant/bar called Amira on the first floor of the NBC Tower. I have not only attended all three, I would say I have made a study of the crowd at all three. I will have my formal anslysis on Monday after I have compared the attendance at all three events. My general observation is that we are experiencing regression toward the mean by which I mean that this is now a more traditional business crowd, far more people who live on regular paychecks and far fewer fringe folks. The first event was a fringe group and proud of it --- it was the hidden away web developer and blogger crowd that did not carry business cards and was involved in what we broadly call Web 2.0 technology. Many of the people there had their own blogs.
The second event started to draw a more mainstream business crowd and the third event, held Thursday night, January 25th, we are now in the BIGFrontier, FirstTuesday redux territory. No boring panels, not much on "education" but a lot of fun. It is interesting that my most valuable discussions came with people who hung out until the drinking crowd had mostly left. I do like the sense of style and flair that the organizers have shown. The first event had a strong Feedburner presence, less so last night and MidPhase and Single Hop have stepped into the fore. There are also software, internet and service provider vendors who had tables in the "other room" across the hallway. That was one improvement from the second event. The "businss" could be conducted in more quiet. The whole look and feel of the event last night was very night clubby from my limited experience. The florescent green martini glasses and the green apple bubble gum and other accoutrements.
I divided my cards into five piles. 1. Entrepreneurs, CEO and founders. 2. Techies and programmers. 3. Sales, marketing, customer support, operations, and consultants inside firms; 4. Service providers such as lawyers, accountants, real estate folks, headhunters, PR people; and 5. Web developers, creatives, writers.
That web developer pile was much larger proportionately back in July. The number of folks in #3, the sales and marketing people within real firms was much smaller proportionately.
I would be interested in your feedback on this observation. There were plenty of entrepreneurs, most of them have never gotten venture except for Fulgoni, Moog and Costelo. Lots of small start-ups represented though.
Overall, a great evening. I enjoyed it as I usually do. I agree with Chris Cleveland about look and feel and the energy level. People are really having a good time. There is a old folks club emerging here. I would estimate that the overlap of people at this event with other events I go to be no more than 20% tops. So, Tech Cocktail is drawing on a group of people who don't go to many of the typical tech events. If I am wrong and they do go to other events, then I am missing out on where the action is.
We now start with my tape recorder.
As I arrived right about 6:10pm, it was obvious that many people were there already. The official 6:30pm start time is not reality. People probably start coming about 5:30pm.
Right out front were about six people standing in the cold, several of them smoking --- although apparently smoking was allowed inside. Amira is a restaurant and bar and not all the people there last night were there for Tech Cocktail so they put a bright green luminescent band on my right arm to go along with my hospital band. Now I am a "sick partier."
I spoke to Drew Hulbert who is with Single Hop. He told me as he was puffing on a cigarette that Single Hop is doing excellent. MidPhase and Single Hop have about 30 employees, he said. "Sales are off the ground, we're flying."
If you want a single shared hosting account, go with MidPhase, Drew explained. Single Hop is for bigger customers.
Now we have my tape from beginning to end. I have done as little editing as possible.
Matt Wolf from Single Hop.
Samantha Smith
Brad Spirrison was standing there with Dick Costelo of Feedburner.
Dick Costelo of Feedburner fame. A three day beard. That Miami Vice light look. They have 32 employees now. They won't disclose revenues. "But you are cash positive?," I asked. "No, we're not profitable," Dick said. I seemed confused, so I reiterated the question and Dick said, "I am positive that we are not cash flow positive."
The two women standing with Dick are with Feedburner in marketing.
I asked Dick about a firm in their space. I could not think of the name and he figured out that it was NewsGator. "They are a subscriber service, Feedburner is a publisher service," he explained. The two are complimentary, Dick said. They are not competing with each other and also, they have in common one investor, Brad Feld, a VC in Colorado.
Sheldon Rosenfield.
Richard Kingston from BOB told me that Jon Van wrote a Trib article about them on January 15 in the tech section. Van said that broadband wireless is here to stay.
A guy sitting there was Michael Hallenborg and he is a sales guy for BOB who closed a big T-1 deal Thursday.
Michael Marziani from Blue Crest Capital. They do debt financing.
Phil Maher who would not tell me his last name until the very end of the evening when he got me going on blogging again. His email is phil@philmaher.com
Carolyn Shelby builds websites and she is also a blogger, I found out later. Her specialty is SEO. She also some a nascent romance developing with David Dalka or so it seems. I also gather that she knows a lot of inside "dirt" about Google and that she has gotten into some trouble with her blog comments.
Patrick Stanakas and Steve Potts from ForceLogix were there. They are regulars at any events tied to Weinstein. They were at the Midwest Venture Summit and they also went to the poker tourney last spring where Patrick came in second.
John Kennedy tells me that he is getting a million dollars from the United States Marines to teach the Marines what he taught in his cognitive classes at Camp Monadnock. John did say that the cognitive function classes he taught played into this. This is why he spends the vast majority of his time in Cal-ee-forn-I-ay.
Steve Riess is a headhunter with 20 years of experience.
Ellis Booker was there. He is the editor of B2B Magazine or so I thought.
Melissa G. was there.
Michael Szanto works for a hedge fund, Taboun. mjszanto@comcast.net
Ron Kirschner
Zak Boca and Dan Ushman from MidPhase and Single Hop.
A woman named Tricia.
Richard Kingston, an overweight, well dressed, cigar chomping, garrulous fellow is the CEO of BOB, a firm that was an exhibitor at the ITA party on November 29th. BOB stands for Business Only Broadband. Richard was sitting down toward the coat room at the side seat of one of the tables. He got a good view of the traffic in the room that way. He was talking to one of his sales guys and Sheldon Rosenfield was also sitting there. By the way, the cigar was a number 2 Montecristo which cost him $15 and he only smoked it much later in the evening when he was engaged in a friendly conversation with a cute woman over at the bar.
Richard told me that they have 23 towers in the Chicago and they provide the high speed primary back up internet, T-1 to 300 megabit connections for firms looking to get access directly to tier one transit providers. (Level 3, Global Crossing, AT&T). There is a primary internet and it is a very low latency. Latency is speed. It is high speed, low latency. Refers to the time it takes from the time you hit send for it to be received. So, low latency means very fast. Large companies such as Career Builder, Sara Lee and others use them for access to the internet.
Richard Kingston says he has been in the forefront of wireless technology since the early 2000s. BOB itself has 15 employees and was incorporated in 2005. He was part of a firm that deployed the first true third generation wireless networks in North America called Money Mobile. They were Qualcomm to deploy their DBDO technology which is now their PTMTA (did I hear those letters right?)card technology.
Kingston was president of XO Communications in the Midwest and he worked in MFS which was originally Chicago Fiber Optic.
Richard says that they are low profile and while they feel that brand recognition is important, they like to only talk about things when they do something worth talking about.
Most of the employees came from previous relationships. Richard would not disclose revenue. "We're a private company," he said.
Jeff Hill took three stabs at his wallet to get me a card. Seems the green martinis were having their effect.
Paul Davidovich and Chris Rollyson came in together.
Bill Laveist is multi-media manager with Johnson Publishing.
Brian from Deloitte. He was at the last two parties too.
Terry Doheny, John Kennedy. Second time I mentioned Kennedy. That is because I ran into him a number of times. The same goes for Doheny. It is not hard for someone like me to spot the people I know well. There are an awful lot of very new faces.
Terry Tierney with Terry Doheny at BeyondIf Solutions.
Harvey Daniels and John Mascarhamas (spelling?). Harvey has known me many many years and he is one of the old timers in the IT recruiting world. He has worked at the AMA since god lost his shoes.
Charlotte Aseltine.
Regina someone saw me at the event I attended Wednesday night.
Joel Chappeta, sr. VP somewhere.
Joe Hildebrand, Business Division Manager at CIMCO.
Shannon Smith, Biz dev. manager at Burwood Group, Inc. (www.burwood.com), which does IT and something consulting.
A woman said she met me a couple of years ago.
There were two women whom I met at the i.c. stars event.
Steve Whiteman does IT at WGN.
I saw David Weinstein. He did not stay very long because his dad is back in the hospital and is having a pacemaker put in. I may go visit him on the tenth floor of NMH (Feinberg).
David and I discussed the Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program which I talked to Kristi Lafleur about. That story is further down in this section. David saw Kristi's response to me since he was copied on it. His point was that this is why we don't talk about programs until the work is done on them.
I asked Gian Fulgoni if he favors an EIR program. He said that yes, he is if it is done properly.
Some guy said, "My name's Mike. I don't like talking into tape recorders."
I run into that a lot. Two things stand out about this event for me. One is that a lot of people don't have business cards and second, a lot of people are reluctant to just answer questions in my tape recorder. Now at the event in October, they appeared to be doing more podcasting than at this one. And they also seemed to have more media types at the last event, but I could be wrong about that because there were a number of people with cameras.
I did not see Lambert Smith, but I believe that the guy from BusinessPOV was there.
John Hagstrand from Map something was there. They are a web service for realtors.
I told Chris Cleveland of Diesel Point that he lied to me. When I spent an hour talking to him at the end of August, he had told me that there were no networking events in Chicago that he would consider worth attending. So, since then I saw him at the ITA on November 29th and at Tech Cocktail last night. Chris has a chug along, solid software business with about eight or so employees. He brought his marketing guy for this event as well, which he also did at the ITA.
Why did you come here?, I asked. "It's a good crowd, a lot of energy," he said. How did he know that?, I asked. He got that from the "look and feel of the communications," he said.
Jim Eiden was there. He has gained weight. "My December has been utter hell. My mother-in-law died. She was diagnosed with cancer on December 2nd and she died on January 5th." Jim said that they are going to open their Christmas presents this coming weekend.
I talked to Keith Waxelman and his fiancee who is a consultant with Boston Consulting Group. I joked with his fiancee that she will have to carry the freight for the next four years because Keith is probably an unemployed and unemployable MIT grad. He has just taken over the tough job of running the MIT-EF's "Below the Radar" innovation awards program. The last guy who did that job, Darrell Dvorak, really botched it. Keith will do much better, I think --- and hope.
Keith's fiancee informed me that she too is an MIT grad.
Matt Moog was there. He ran CoolSavings for years and he has started a new firm, Viewpoints Network. One of his people was also there. I ran into him later in the evening. Matt said that he fed me a lot of sandwiches. That was during my notorious three hour visit to his office way back when. Look for the TMR archives on that. After he took over from the guy whose name I forget with the big office. OK, that guy was Steve Golden and he has since moved on to other things which I reported on.
Matt's father was the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer.
I somehow thought that I saw my ex-wife (NOT) Darcy sneak by me. But after asking a number of people, it turned out that I was probably mistaken. That woman had Darcy's hairstyle.
I was telling Fulgoni about Darcy being link my ex-wife and he said, "It's enough to make you never get married." Darcy, send any responses on that directly to Gian.
The guy standing next to Gian used to work for him at IRI. Then we talked about how us recruiters made tons of money on IRI with their high turnover. Gian mentioned a woman he knows who made a fortune in recruiting, knowing nothing of the market research business or of recruiting and she started a firm and did very well which just leads one to wonder, "What does it take to be a recruiter?"
My answer to that was "not much."
I ran into Tony Paolella from NeuStar Ultra Services whose brother Mike has been an entrepreneur in Chicago. Mike went to work for FreeScale which was spun off from Motorola and FreeScale was just bought, Tony said.
Bob McClamroch works for Chicagoist.com. His email is chicagoist@msn.com
Valerie Pajak was there. She is in the MIT-EF and gave an interesting talk on the future of biotech at the last meeting. I will have that for you on Monday. She also attended the fascinating panel on Wednesday night on Body Worlds, the exhibit being displayed the Museum of Science and Industry showing the work of Gunther Von Hagen. This is a bit strange, but it is based on a process known as plastination. This is when people donate their bodies and organs for preservation and I cannot do justice to that event right now. Let me get that for you also on Monday.
Oh, as I am sitting at the front table where people are coming in, the bobsy twins enter. That is, if you don't know by now, Hoch and Howerton. They are never separated. Howerton did leave fairly shortly because he said he wanted to talk to companies. I do understand that someone focused on networking and not just partying might be frustrated at Tech Cocktail, at least prior to about 8:30pm. It is loud, it is noisy, it is a lot of people crammed in. But that is part of the fun. They never seem to have enough space for the crowd they are getting which is growing significantly for each event.
Back in July, I would estimate 230 or so. Last night, all in, I would say at least 350. People came and went and it took a long time for many people to get in. Amira was probably monitoring the size of the crowd for the sake of fire codes. WindyBits writes that it was 500, but it was not 500 at once. That 500 figure represents the "wind" in WindyBits. 500 might have gotten the restaurant in trouble. I think it was more like 350 and not 350 all at once.
Gail Miller is starting a social networking site, but she says that she has not decided on the name yet.
Mike Brandfon who works for Steve Lundin who was also there -- but Steve left fairly early -- told me that he met his wife at Intelligentsia. "How?," I asked. "I hit on her," he said. They dated eight years, and he met her in 1996. Doug Zell, the founder of Intelligentsia, went to college at Madison with Mike. And Doug was Mike's best man at his wedding.
I asked Ron Kirschner if it is possible to get diabetes Type I when you are 27 years old. I think Mike Brandfon told me that he was diabetic. I was diagnosed as Type II (aka adult onset) when I was 28 so I was curious what age has to do with the diagnosis. Apparently nothing. Dr. Kirschner explained that you can have high levels of certain components of insulin that are precursors to real insulin, "those people have Type II and if you have low levels of it, you have Type I," he said. Thanks Ron.
Melissa G. was there and we talked about the podcast she did with Jeff Willinger who was not there last night. Melissa said that she is moving into the offices of the ITA next week. She first thought about it at their party on November 29th. She is taking one office. The rent is very reasonable, she said, but she would not quote a figure. My sources tell me that it could be a barter deal centered on a partnering relationship or it could be somewhere between $10 and $15 a square foot. Who knows, but I will keep on trucking to find out, of course.
Here is the podcast that Melissa did with Jeff Willinger (you know that Melissa's firm is called NetWorlding). I believe that this interview is on YouTube.
Melissa looks like she is a video pro and Jeff might remind one of the look of Charley in the 1960s movie by that name with Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom based on the book "Flowers for Algernon." He is smiling most of the time and I sense this may be one of his first times on "TV."
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8014939437920251536&q=jeff+willinger
&hl=en
Also, Willinger tells me that he just got a big packaging and printing job from Deloitte and OSHA which will "make my quarter," he said. Well, especially if it is added to the stuff he sells on eBay, it certainly will.
Michael Messenger is a support engineer and a technical writer for Interwoven.
Ola Ayeni is from Text2StoreMobile (is that right?)
I now discovered that the boys at Single Hop had pulled the wool over our eyes. The girls wearing tight fitting Single Hop tee shirts were all very cute. Hot, hot, hot. So, I assumed naturally that they were employees of Single Hop. I found out that they were hired specifically for the event, probably coming from an agency.
I will say that these guys have a sense of style. That is how Tech Cocktail distinguishes itself. They have a theme for each party. Last time it was the limos. This time the green martinis, the green apple gum, etc. And the women wearing Single Hop T-shirts was a nice touch.
Several people keep chasing me for a sit-down get together. Two of them were there last night: Jim Figliulo of timeXchange.net and Julian Preto from CDW who wants to set me up with a blog. There is also Jennifer someone from Barrington whom I met at the last Tech Cocktail in October and Joel Lefkovitz whom I met while waiting for a haircut back in December.
I told both Jim and Julian that we will meet next week.
Anshu Dewan was there. I have seen him at at least one TiE meeting.
John Kennedy said that he was leaving the room to go get a drink with the grown-ups. Kennedy is fifty.
Jim Courtney is with XNet but he must be new because his name is not on his card.
Tom Sherman and Ian Carswell are with WindyBits. They want to write about the tech scene in Chicago. Gee, that sounds like a really original idea. I said to them that that's what I do and they asked if that is a problem. I said absolutely not. It is a big world and they know people I don't know and visa versa. They printed their take on the event this morning. I have included their write-up here after my write-up.
Harris Khan is with Citrone.
Now we have encountered a problem. Some guy whose name I don't know represented himself falsely as working for BOB and he told me that they just sold the number one sales rep from SparkPlug.
I asked him for information on SparkPlug. He seemed to know some information. He told me that they (SparkPlug) bought a firm in Iowa which is not that impressive. And they have with a company in Arizona and they have a connection of some sort to Louisville.
The reason I write this is that the guy finally admitted that he was making it all up and just bsing me. He was trying to say that BOB is more impressive than SparkPlug which just got $22MM in venture capital. He said that SparkPlug has five or six access points in Chicago and they (BOB) have fourteen. I challenged those numbers by saying that the CEO of BOB, Richard Kingston, said they have 23 towers. Kingston came over and told whomever I was talking to zip it.
I was ticked. I said that this is how I get such a bad rep. This was a case of a guy feeding me false info. deliberately. But was it?
Could it be that this guy was a BOB employee and that there could be some truth in what he said? He certainly seemed to know facts about SparkPlug and BOB.
Jason Jacobsohn was there from the CEC. By the way, so was Kapil Chadhoury.
Rollyson was talking to Todd Allen. You know, Dever was nowhere to be seen.
William Knowles was there. He is a very knowledgeable guy on anything having to do with hacking and security.
Jim Eiden is developing a site called mobflix.com. Jim has over two hundred movies and movie quotes. The guy who is building his site is the same guy who developed Mike Vincent's website. He plays Phil Atardo in The Sopranos and he played in Raging Bull, Casino and Goodfellas.
Jim said that his wife and his father-in-law are having a very tough time with the loss of Jim's mother-in-law. She went to the doctor and the cancer was in the kidney and other internal organs. She was 66 years old.
Kit Miller has a mortgage firm and he used to be involved in raising angel money. Jeff Pulver is the reason that Kit was at the party. Pulver started Vonage.
Dan Malven and his brother were there.
Moshe Yudkowsky from Disaggregate was there. He is my yamica buddy.
Mike McCune was there and he goes to a lot of events.
A cute and tall redhead named Linda Rothstrom was talking to Paul Davidovich. I warned her about his reputation with women.
Now, finally, this far into the evening the first piece of real news. Remember Jane Burke, remember Endeavor Information Systems?
Well, Endeavor was sold to (merged with) another firm and the new name is ExLibris.
The two programmers I met at the October Tech Cocktail party were there last night, but they were laid off in early January along with forty or more others. That layoff constituted 30-40% of the company.
There names and contact info.:
Kristen R. Stenglein
steng3@gmail.com and cell is 773-406-8278. Kristen lives in Oak Park. Kristen wrote me a short note on the back of her card.
Eric Wettstein was also there. He may still be at Endeavor, I don't know. It was so noisy, we really did not talk.
Martin Noven who used to be in Judy Barr Topinka's office is now working for Alexi Genoulias, the new state Treasurer. The guy standing at the bar with him also works in the treasurer's office and he promised me more info on the venture fund in the not too distant future.
A very pretty Indian woman from south India, Madras.
Dan Lyne from World Business Chicago was there.
Mike Maginity from Macro Partners was there.
Bruce Montgomery was standing out by the entry way. I ribbed him on how he managed to get his mug on TV when Art Norman's piece was aired on Inventables, especially since he has nothing to do with Inventables. Bruce's response, for print, was that "First of all, would you please quote that Ron May can kiss my a**?"
"We were just there like everybody else," Bruce said.
I noted that Kapil Chadhoury only shows at parties, not business networking events.
I talked to Steve Miller and Bruce Barron about how many VCs were there. Well, there was Matt McCall and Kirk Wolf (or is it Wolfe?) from MK Capital. Ron Kirschner was there, but he is an angel investor.
MK just did a deal with Junction, I believe, and Miller and Barron are in on Experiencia and McCall is of course an investor in Imago in Madison and Feedburner here.
Aashish Dalal is the founder and CEO of Park Whiz. He wanted to talk to me so we sat at the entrance where it was quieter.
Aashish says that he is launching his site, www.parkwhiz.com in two weeks. I have heard that before. Anyone can buy or sell their parking space nationally. It is a parking space market place. He attended the TiE meeting on wireless.
Chuck Cone is with ROI something.
I have now, at about 9pm, entered the "other side" where the vendors are. I like that change from the last time. The vendors were crunched in with the mob last time. It is better to create a separation between the party crowd and the networking/business crowd.
Michael (I think this is a woman) Salvatore is CEO and founder of Audiosnacks.com, www.audiosnacks.com.
Nick Allen of Network Blackbox was also there.
Eric Olson's girlfriend describes herself as "Eric's girlfriend." I told her that she should not hang her identity on some guy. What if you dump him tomorrow?, I asked. She said, "He's a keeper."
John from Menuism. It is a community based restaurant review guide. They cover Chicago and other places.
Dave Goodman took too long to tell me what he does.
Leon Chism works for Viewpoints Network, LLC with Matt Moog. He would not say why Moog left CoolSavings. Leon@viewpoints.com
Collin Anderson was there from Neuros, www.neurostechnology.com. His offices are in the Evanston tech incubator. And he was also at that dinner for Networked Robotics that I attended on December 5th.
Keith Schacht has a firm called JobPoint. FreshWater is a side project for him. He helps websites that already traffic add a job board.
So, on Monday of this week, he launched a Chicago Job Board site which includes the sites of ePrairie, the ITA, Chicagoist, and GapersBlock. His software is powering those sites' job boards.
Ken Rheingans of BarCampUSA, which has no connection I should note to BarCamp Chicago, tells me that they will be holding a national BarCamp on August 23-26. Mark your calendars now. This sounds like it is not to be missed. BarCamp is the unconference as the handout said.
They expect 5,000+ technologists and not all computer guys. It will also include biotech, green technologies, robotics, industrial automation, biomedical engineering as well as the usual suspects of .NET, Java, Linux, Web 2.0, wireless, etc.
There is also a BarCamp in Madison in March. Check out www.barcampmadison.com
Also, for the August event which is being held an hour west of Milwaukee go to www.barcampusa.com or email kenrheingans@hotmail.com
The big event will be on a large acreage called Jefferson County Fair Park.
Anne Schlitz was there with a friend. She reviews sites but would not say for whom.
Robert and Hedy Hirsch are the parents of one of the founders of SwapSimple.
Dave Dalka was sitting at a table in the main room by the coat room and this is where serious discussion began.
Some guy named Bleiman came up. He is Chris Cleveland's marketing guy and he said that Diesel Point is doing well.
John Mascarenhas says he will go anywhere he can get a free drink and some food.
He also is the guy who asked me once why I do what I do. For the trouble I cause. The scoops, the thrills, the dirt, the inside poop. And if a few people happen to be helped or become road kill along the way, oh well.
Do you really believe that I have been sitting here since 9am to write this so that I can ruin people's lives?
Dalka says that corporate America won't let you do meaningful work once you have an MBA. Hey, there is an idea for a book or an article. Not how we have too many MBAs, but how the having of an MBA constrains the person holding it.
Someone mentioned www.aintitcoolnews.com run by Harry Knowles. The guy who mentioned the site does not know if it is still around.
I then explained to the guys sitting there what my reluctance to blog is. It has a lot of
Tom Utroske is a recruiter with Spherion. Roy Crowell is the head of the firm. I recall him from divine interVenture days.
Local Launch does SEO. They do IYP, Internet Yellow Pages. Some firm was just bought by R.H. Donnelley.
Someone mentioned Durbin Media. I get mixed up on my tape about who is saying what. Phil Maher was part of the conversation, and David Marr was there too. So was Dalka.
David Marr can be reached at dmarr@softhome.net. Phone is 847-997-0017.
Phil Maher just came from San Fran. phil@philmaher.com
Josh Schneider Metnick has been MIA for a long time. He was there last night. He spends most of his time with Chicago.com. His number is 312-505-5674. He sold his place at the Hancock. He put it up for sale a month after September 11th, 2001. It took a long time to sell at the time. I think he said he lives at 35th and Halsted, is that right?
Josh sold AIS to Exodus for $20MM in cash in January 1999 and Josh's part of that was $5MM. His partner was Mike Hakimi and others in the deal were Jared Polis. They also had a healthy employee option pool. Chicago.com has positive cash flow.
Adam Fendelman got married, you know.
There are two aspects to the business that Brad and Adam are in. First is MidwestBiz.com or as we have known it, ePrairie.
Second is the speed networking business which has really taken off, Josh said. In fact, it has done so well that the New York Times wrote about it in their business section a few weeks ago.
The overhead of running an event was too high to be profitable, Josh explained. But they have improved the software significantly so that it runs itself and they can now make money without having to have someone show up to run it. They have a speed networking event in Dubai. They charge a few hundred flat fee and then tack on per head after that. Josh said that they had one event for a 500 person accounting firm (in upstate New York, I believe), so the networking is turning a nice profit now. The prices are negotiable.
Josh invested in Chicago.com with some of his own money, I believe he said. Also, if you recall, his firm Epigraph which never took off did get $6MM or $7MM in venture funding.
Here are some cards I collected. Anna typed them up this morning. I still have many more.
CEO's/Founders
Eric R. Haszlakiewicz
Systems Architect & Co-Founder
Swap Simple, Inc.
erh@swapsimple.com
www.swapsimple.com
Dr. Peter J. Meyer
President
Tminus2
peter@tminus2.com
www.tminus2.com
Collin Anderson
President
Neuros
canderson@neurostechnology.com
www.neurostechnology.com
Ian Andrusyk
President & CEO
FastServers.Net
ian@fastservers.net
www.fastservers.net
Tom Sherman and Ian Carswell
Windy Bits
www.windybits.com
Jim Figliulo
ACTUS Technology
timeXchange.net
www.jimf@actustech.com
Bryan R. Johnson
President
Brain Tree Financial
bjohnson@braintreefinancial.com
www.braintreefinancial.com
Chris Cleveland
Dieselpoint
ccleveland@dieselpoint.com
www.dieselpoint.com
Richard S. Kingston
CEO
Business Only Broadband
rich@bobbroadband.com
www.bobbroadband.com
Kathryn N. Odell
President
High Level B2B Lead Generation
kodell@sales-onsite.com
www.sales-onsite.com
Nick Allen
President
Network Blackbox
Nick@networkblackbox.xom
www.networkblackbox.xom
Paul Caswell
Weave Technology
paul@weavetechnology.com
www.weavethepeople.com
David J. Goldblatt
Vice President & Co-Founder
Swap Simple, Inc.
djg@swapsimple.com
www.swapsimple.com
Michael Salvatore
Founder & CEO
MP3 Audio Tours for Travel, Museums, & More!
audiosnacks@gmail.com
msalvatore@audiosnacks.com
www.audiosnacks.com
Aashish Dalal
Founder & CEO
ParkWhiz
sdalal@parkwhiz.com
www.parkwhiz.com
Blagica Stefanovski
Founder
B Solutions, LLC
Blagica@Bsolutionsonline.com
www.Bsolutionsonline.com
David Carman
CEO & President
Breakfast Network Club
davidcarman@breakfastnetworkclub.org
www.breakfastnetworkclub.org
Scott E. Miller
IPDG
scotte@integratedpdg.com
www.integratedpdg.com
Programmers and Techies (this is not my card which I classify as web developers) We'll have that on Monday.
Kristen R. Steinglein
steng3@gmail.com
Eric Wettstein
System Analyst Manager
Endeavor Information Systems, Inc.
eric.wettstein@endinfosys.com
Michael McCune
Technical Engineer
Falkor Group, LLC
mmccune@falkorgroup.com
www.falkorgroup.com
William Knowles
Director
C4I.org
wk@c4i.org
Ron Cotoni
Systems Administrator
Single Hop
rcotoni@singlehop.com
www.singlehop.com
Tim Courtney or is that Jim Courtney?
XNet
www.xnet.com
Michael S. Messinger
Technical Support Engineer
Interwoven
mmessinger@interwoven.com
www.interwoven.com
Artemio Ortiz, Jr.
Senior Designer
McGraw-Hill Irwin
artemio_ortiz@mcgraw-hill.com
www.mhhe.com
Oh, Mike Carruth was there too, taking up a lot of space as usual. Look who's talking.
I have to call it quits for today. It is 6:02pm. And did I mention that Katie Spirrison was there? I believe that Valerie Pajak's husband showed up and left quickly. Did I mention that Spencer Maus showed up? I did not see Frank Gruber or Eric Olson but there were a lot of people there.
Here is the WindyBits review posted this morning at 8:47am.
http://www.windybits.com/articles/2007/01/26/techcocktail3-event-review
Event Review: TECH Cocktail 3
TECH cocktail has gained a reputation as the party for the Chicago technology community, and last night’s affair did not disappoint.
Returning for round three of the TECH Cocktail series, Eric Olson and Frank Gruber continued their tour de force. (Check out their pre-TC3 podcast.) The number of presenters increased, but it was the number of attendees that truly impressed. The unofficial count stands a bit north of 500, something for anyone in Chicago technology to be excited about.
The Scene
Keenly aware of the TECH cocktail's growing popularity, WindyBits arrived fashionably on time, just past 6:30, and found the NBC Tower's Amira already packed. SingleHop, one of the event’s principal sponsors, decked out the joint with ice sculptures of frogs and neon appletinis. Not only did the frogs provide decoration, they were also functional; the bartenders poured the drinks through the ice to cool them off. Served in a neon green martini glass, the glow-in-the-dark drinks scattered throughout the room gave the feel of rave to the event (minus the ecstasy and lollipops). Matt Wolff (see his blog) of SingleHop/midPhase pulled off another good one.
The event was split into two rooms: a larger room with the ice sculptures, the bar, and as one might expect, most of the people. Women clad in white Singlehop tees roamed the room with huge bowls of green gumballs. Yes, gumballs. They weren’t too bad. The law firm of Handler, Thayer & Duggan gave away a trip to Vegas, creatively accomplished by a combination of business cards and roulette. WindyBits advanced to the final round and pinned our hopes on 22, but it was not to be. Moshe Yudkowsky of Disaggregate hit 26 and took home the prize. He also publishes KosherWineReview.com, and we expect him to make friends at the casinos with some meshuval wine.
Adjacent to the main room was the demo room, where about 10 companies showed off their (soft)wares. It was quieter here and the conversation was a bit more serious. The gumball girls stayed away, and we had a chance to meet some of the most interesting people of the night.
Name Dropping
A key aspect of the TECH Cocktail gatherings is the balanced backgrounds of the attendees. Here is a small sampling of the people WindyBits spoke with last night:
Kirk Wolfe (MK Capital, a venture firm in Northbrook, IL)
MK Capital has recently invested in three Chicagoland companies. We’re happy to see a Chicago venture firm investing locally.
John Li (Menuism.com, a food review site based in Chicago with a nationwide focus)
If you haven’t heard of them before, you’re hearing it from us now. This idea is hot. Expect a complete business and team profile in the near future.
Aaron Everson (Jellyfish, a comparison shopping engine from Madison, WI)
Jellyfish are out-of-towners, marking the increasing reach of the TECH cocktail events. Eric Olson recommended the demo of their “Smack Shopping™” feature. We recommend it, too.
Ted Kasten (pre-launch personalized fantasy sports search service from Chicago, IL)
No site yet. But he has domain experience, energy, and is looking hard to build a team.
Julian Pretto (CDW, hardware, software, and services sales and consulting, Vernon Hills, IL)
Great to see people from established, successful companies working the TECH Cocktail crowds.
Mark Scheffler (BusinessPOV video website)
We are regular viewers of BusinessPOV and were excited to meet the man behind the site. If you haven't sampled the site, you need to; it’s the best execution of video journalism we’ve seen on the Web.
Local and semi-local, big and small, TECH Cocktail pulls them together. We missed the presence of Frank Gruber, the casualty of a flight cancellation (damn you, O'Hare!), but we thank Eric and him for their efforts.
A Final Word
Thank you, TECH Cocktail attendees, for your encouragement and support. We're looking forward to profiling many of your companies, incorporating your advice on our site and service, and keeping the rest of you informed until we see you again.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 8:47 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
* The proposed Entrepreneur in Residence program under the auspices of DCEO is still being developed. I spoke with Kristi Lafleur and in very general terms, they want to do the program right and set it up in the most fair and professional way. They do not want it to be skewed in favor of any particular institution and they also have to consider issues along the lines of the fund-of-funds debate that we are all familiar with in the venture capital world. If you recall, one issue behind the fund-of-funds debate was whether money should be given directly to entrepreneurial firms or whether it should go through a venture firm which then invests it. That same issue applies here. Do you have an intermediary? Another issue is the involvement of the private sector. Single year vs. multi-year grants is another issue. There are many things that have to be ironed out.
Bottom line. It can be a complex matter putting a public program together and public policy is a challenge. You want policies that will hold up over time and will be effective. Kristi told me that they thought in September when I wrote about this program that they were further along than it turned out that they were. There were several proposals floating around and it looked as though it would concluded more quickly than it was.
So, I would assume that the program will be in place sometime in the next few months, but that is just a guess on my part.
One more thing. Kristi did take exception with the use of the word "clout." The person sending the emails below used it first and I repeated it. I must say that I do not think of the word in perjorative terms. This is "the city that works," after all. I see "clout" in a humorous light and almost use it nonchalantly.
But for a public servant who takes a great deal of pride in the work that her department is doing, it is an offensive term. Kristi's point is that the programs she is involved in are driven by results, outcomes and merit. Grants and other government awards are based on merit. They are not based on relationships. To the extent that relationships play a role, it is within the rubric and the confines of professional standards and merit. In other words, to put it bluntly, they do not give grants based on who they know. But people they do know and work with in the private sector are selected on their quality.
So, when someone uses the word "clout" which is a standard part of the lexicon in Chicago, I can understand her taking umbrage. I was way too dismissive about the complex process of government in the emails that follow and I apologize for that. I tend to be flip, no pun intended, on some topics in this town. We joke all the time about voting early and often, after all. But for someone who has done a great deal to help the technology industry in Illinois like Kristi and who puts her all into her job, her reaction is a very understandable response.
On further reflection, I think that I tend to conflate the word "relationship" with "clout." The fact that somebody knows somebody does not mean that the relationship will corrupt any governmental decision process. Many people have relationships with people in government but that does not mean that something fishy is going on. Relationships are a regular part of business and government, but "clout" implies some form of coersion. If you hire a guy just because he is someone's brother-in-law, and you are "forced into it," now that is the use of what we would call clout. It implies that the decision is based on the connection and the pressure brought to bear associated with that connection and not on merit. That pressure factor is key. I am glad to have had the chance to clarify my muddled thinking.
Keep this in mind when reading the following emails.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: RE: Kristi and folks, can you tell me what's blocked the EIR program? See below.
Date: 1/25/2007 2:00:10 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: Kristi.Lafleur@illinois.gov
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
CC: aarora@lisletech.com, dweinstein@chicagolandchamber.org, ecw@williamblair.com, al@intellext.com, bob@vcbob.com, msummy@ildceo.net, jaime_viteri@commerce.state.il.us
This is incorrect—we have received recommendations from a variety of sources on the EIR program, and the most important thing, from our perspective, is that we have a program that is at once useful to the investment community and private sector, as well as the universities and public sector interests. While we would like to have the program operational as soon as possible, we cannot sacrifice quality and an outcome driven focus. As always, our number one concern is making sure we are investing taxpayer dollars as efficiently and effectively as possible.
I think it is telling whenever a criticism comes from someone who is unwilling to reveal his or her identity. This Administration has a very strong record of accomplishment and investment in the technology sector and with the tech community that is creating better jobs and putting more people to work.
Kristi Lafleur, Chief of Staff
Illinois DCEO
312.814.3341 (o)
312-814-1400 (f)
kristi.lafleur@illinois.gov
--------------------------------
From: RONALDMAY@aol.com [mailto:RONALDMAY@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:00 PM
To: Lafleur, Kristi
Cc: aarora@lisletech.com; dweinstein@chicagolandchamber.org; ecw@williamblair.com; al@intellext.com; bob@vcbob.com; msummy@ildceo.net; jaime_viteri@commerce.state.il.us
Subject: Kristi and folks, can you tell me what's blocked the EIR program? See below.
++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Investigate This
Date: 1/24/2007 1:35:37 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Name withheld upon request
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Do not print my email address under any circumstances.
There was a full EIR proposal floating around DCEO for a few months. Unfortunately it was developed by some folks inside the system and died because it had no clout behind it and didn't include people like Weinstein and Arora as a substitute for big backers. No political gain, no program announcement.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Re: Investigate This
Date: 1/24/2007 2:26:52 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: Name withheld upon request
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Remember, please do not reveal my email address.
By clout I meant "no one powerful enough cares". Usually when that happens the default goal becomes "are there perks we can hand out to anyone we want to be friends with?".
You have to wonder whether Kristi Lafleur is the victim or the obstacle since there's only one person above her in DCEO. Doesn't someone at her level have the influence to get a $1 million program through?
-----Original Message-----
From: RONALDMAY@aol.com
To: Nane withheld upon request
Sent: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 1:39 AM
Subject: Re: Investigate This
Very interesting. I have been sending emails to Kristi Lafleur about this and no answer on the EIR program when she told me it was a done deal months ago. I suspected that they ran into some obstacle.
Who would provide the "clout" for this to happen?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: Re: Investigate This
Date: 1/24/2007 2:32:22 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: Name withheld upon request
To: RONALDMAY
Again please do not reveal my email address.
The problem is the best companies do NOT create jobs until much later in their lives. It's ten guys in a garage for years that create the Googles. The companies that create lots of jobs early are the ones that die fast. If job numbers are what you want the last thing you'd do is an EIR program.
-----Original Message-----
From: RONALDMAY@aol.com
To: Name withheld upon request
Sent: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 1:42 AM
Subject: Re: Investigate This
To your point, for an EIR program, the beneficiaries are individuals not companies and it is harder to sell the benefit to the public. "We helped Mr. X" is not as effective as "we created x number of jobs."
* I had a good talk with Al Wasserberger on Wednesday morning. I am mostly to blame for not talking to him earlier. The announcement about the deal that Intellext has done with AOL was made in a one paragraph entry in the Trib. and that announcement said that terms of the deal were not disclosed, so I wondered if AOL had not purchased Intellext. No, it was a business alliance, not an acquisition. Howard Wolinsky wrote an article in the Sun-Times which I reprinted in today's Scoop section. Howard, things have gotten to the point where you are the best reporter PR money can buy. What has happened to your investigative instincts, Howard? You wrote that entire article without finding out or pointing out the major shift in direction that Intellext has undergone, and without any reference to a number of employee departures.
It seems to me, that to use the expression that Brian Connolly gave me, you are "phoning it in." I know, Connolly and I are two of Dan Miller's five faves. We are on speed dial on his cell phone, the Razr.
Bob Geras had said to me in October when he visited me in the hospital that Intellext was on the verge of a big deal and this deal was it. It sure took long enough. These negotiations go back to at least September which is why I became so suspicious when we did not hear anything. A big deal is in the works. When one hears that, one figures that thirty to sixty days out, there will be an announcement.
When no announcement was apparent by December, I started getting suspicious and also when Al no-showed at a number of events like the ITA and the CEC, I was even more suspicious. Then when I found out that some of his people were leaving, more suspicion. BTW, Al was not at the Tech Cocktail party Thursday night because he was in Florida at the educational fair.
OK, in this case it appears that I have been wrong to suspect things.
Intellext is changing direction, there is no doubt about that. They were going for the enterprise market and they decided to shift to the consumer market about six months ago.
But within the consumer market, there are multiple sectors under the header of consumer. They have been feeling their way around. Al explained that one firm they talked to was Best Buy and they have opted against an "off the shelf" package. They did decide to try that approach but it was a non-starter. They did talk to a number of consumer electronic retailers. But it turned out that those guys, like eBay, were more interested in using the tool for their website. For example, while you are looking at the Apple iPod and they show you the eBay options.
That use is different from packaged software.
They have decided to go for the consumer market that is tied to the internet. One of the first markets they thought about was the educational market. They have decided to focus on using the technology to help internet publishers and portals develop deeper user relationships and drive more page views.
They are not being exclusive in their relationships. The deal with AOL will not preclude deals with Yahoo!, etc.
This is a bolt on arrangement with AOL. The product will not be used under the name Watson or Intellext. It is AOL@school.
It will be AOL's job to sell the tool to the consumer market place. That may reduce the need for Intellext to do its own sales.
Al mentioned a job order that he has posted on LinkedIn and the ITA website. I ran that job description in the "Scoop section" today.
It is for a media sales person.
Chris Bochenski was more of a traditional channel software sales guy and he left Intellext because that was not the skill set they needed. The same goes for Sean Sexton.
Chris got a job with Microsoft with Al's help. Bob Biddle also left very recently. He is more of a packaged software guy. My info. is that he moved on from Intellext to go to a West Coast-based internet security vendor as head of sales/marketing. I will try to get the name of the firm for you. Leigh Winter left to get married and she moved to California.
Al says that there will be announcements in the next few months. The reason the deal took so long to put together is that AOL is a big company, Al said.
Intellext should have been mentioned in the recent Wall Street Journal article on search engines, but they were not.
Al has hired a PR firm on the west coast named Nadel Phelan. They want to get coverage in places like AdAge and ClickZ.
Were any of the people who left the firm let go because of lack of money?, I asked. Al said that in a start-up you are always scrambling. There is never enough cash or people, he said, but cash was not the issue with the employees.
Al also explained that he is under strict orders not to disclose the terms of the AOL deal, even the structure of the deal without any numbers.
I told Al that just as in the movie "Wall Street" I will just track where he goes. He said that he will visit New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Seattle every month.
* I had a number of things wrong in my report about the MIT-EF and I will give that to you tomorrow. Three of the board members are supposed to be MIT alums. All of them do not have to be. Spencer Maus is also stepping down from participation on the operations committee. I also got the board and the executive committee mixed up. The board is the president and the program director, the membership director and so on. the exec. committee is Balbus, Berez, Swibel, Fricke, Lepkowski and Oldach.
I also was mistaken about Oldach. Scott is out of the country a lot, but he has been an active participant, Balbus told me. Balbus also says that he is not a perfectionist, but he does have high standards. His point was that he never blames anyone for trying. Maus tells me that he brought Balbus into the MIT-EF and that he also indirectly helped them land Gardner Carton, now Drinker Biddle Gardner Carton, as a sponsor and host. BTW, they have a number of new corporate sponsors such as Mitsubishi.
More details on this later plus my write-up of the meeting with predictions for the future.
* I don't have much to add about Eric Lefkowsky at InnerWorkings, who was the topic of a Barron's piece that I published on Tuesday, but I have a little.
The first time I heard about InnerWorkings was when Matt McCall mentioned the firm. Here are the only three references to InnerWorkings in TMR prior to the Barron's article:
++++++++++++++++++
01/10/2006
Deals
....
Peter Barris, a managing general partner of New Enterprise Associates, has
joined the board of InnerWorkings, a Chicago-based enterprise print
management and business process outsourcing company. www.innerworkings.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
5/9/2006
Subject: Re: "TicketsNow, FeedBurner, 37 Signal and Hostway are just the beginning here..."
Date: 5/8/2006 3:41:27 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: mccall@portageventures.com
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Ron,
Two comments:
1) When I made the comment regarding "just the beginning here", I was referring to local early stage firms getting national recognition as leaders in their respective markets. For example, while 37Signals has been around, it is only in the last year that it has been getting the significant national attention. Same with TicketsNow. Since we are entering a period where execution and domain expertise are driving success in many of these cases, there is no reason why Chicago can't start to turn out more and more successes. In fields like networking equipment, it is highly unlikely you see a breakout company from this region. Innerworkings is another example of a company deep under the radar. I am fairly confident that we will continue to see a steady stream of these firms emerging in the coming couple of years.
2) There are firms that are not taking venture money, or that are waiting until much later to raise VC capital. I think this is great news. It means that you have entrepreneurs intent on running lean businesses and focusing on customer needs. When they finally raise capital, they are disciplined and know the value of money (not to mention they have a lot of data points around market adoption). Not many of these firms go all the way without going the VC route. Some do it to accelerate growth and others do it for a badge of acceptance before going public and some do it to take some money off the table.
Regards,
Matt
++++++++++++++++++++++
5/12/2006
* I have a ton of more stuff. But let me get this out and then the next report will be mostly my own writing.
Innerworkings is a good firm, says Matt McCall, and it can found at www.iwprint.com. I talked to Jeff Willinger about them and he said that they buy companies like his.
__________________________________
May again on Thursday, Jan. 25th. After I read the article in Barron's I emailed Matt to ask him about it. His response was that he does not know much that could add light to the story, but he did say that "Peter Barris, their lead investor, is the Managing Partner at NEA, one of the largest, oldest venture firms in the US so there are some very credible players at the table with them."
Matt also pointed out that all the stuff about Starbelly is not hard to find and is hardly a secret. He wrote: "Everyone knows Eric founded the firm and everyone knows about the history of Starbelly (you wrote extensively about this). Any institutional investors could simply do a Google search and pull up you stuff and other writings."
Matt did say that keeping a low profile on one's past business dealings is not uncommon. If I were to visit North Carolina, how much do you think they would know about Flip's past?
Matt cited the example of Vonage. He said "Vonage played down Citron's role given his past issues. He was clean (from what I can tell) in his Vonage dealings." And as far as he knows, the same goes for Lefkowsky at InnerWorkings. The bit in the Barron's article about the Potemkin village where InnerWorkings has puffed its software and numbers to make it look like they are more successful than they are which comes from former employees is not new or unusual. I don't agree with it, but how many firms have pulled that trick. Start with page of 48 of Barry Moltz's book. Then look at Efoora and a slew of other folks.
Matt, I do notice a pattern here. In general, when it comes to a question of criticizing fellow VCs, I notice that you are somewhat reticent. You tend to base your opinion on a topic on the reputation of the VC involved and I can understand that. You guys do have a "club" of sorts and it is probably a violation of the unofficial VC protocol to publicly criticize a fellow venture capitalist unless the evidence is overwhelming.
Speaking of Chicago dot com implosions, I had a call from a former employee of USatWork.com, the first firm we had to go kaplooie in 2000. If you recall, they laid off 280 or more all at once. I attended a party they held for the pinked slipped people at some bar in Wrigleyville.
The guy who called me is now a screen writer living in Phoenix, Arizona. He was a copywriter at USatWork.com. He told me that the two guys running the firm were the problem, but that they had some stellar staff on board. The staff had "Google quality" people, he said.
_____________________________
Deals:
_____________
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP announced plans to open a Silicon Valley
office this March. It will be located in Menlo Park. www.sonnenschein.com
++++++++++++++++++++++
Ann Arbor firm gets $1.6 million for 'smart armor' for Marines: Ann
Arbor-based Solidica Inc. Thursday announced a $1.6 million, 12-month
contract with the United States Marine Corps to advance Solidica's
proprietary armoring technology. The effort will validate Solidica's
Gradient-Modulus Energy Absorbing Material to the Marines' field
requirements, and to explore optimal platform configurations. Solidica's
technology uses layered bonding analogous to what's used with resins in
stereolithography, to layer metals instead, allowing layers of dissimilar
metals to be bonded at the molecular level. That creates novel materials
with properties not found in nature -- such as, in the case of this
material, potential improved armoring capabilities. The new armor tiles will
also be integrated with Solidica's Pantheon vehicle sensing, diagnostic and
telematics system, which can be embedded in metallic parts. That gives the
material the capability of live damage assessment through a wireless grid of
Solidica's Solo sensors embedded within the armor. More at www.solidica.com.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GeneGo in new partnership: St. Joseph-based GeneGo Inc. said Tuesday that
its flagship product, MetaCore, now fully integrates with DecisionSite
software from Spotfire Inc., an analysis software firm based in Somerville,
Mass. The integrated products allow users to analyze genomics data,
including gene expression and proteomics, more quickly and accurately in
Spotfire DecisionSite, and launch MetaCore to perform pathway and network
analysis. DecisionSite users can also automatically upload chemical
compounds into GeneGo's MetaCore and MetaDrug in order to study their
biological effects, including mode of action and potential toxicity. The
analyzed data can be sent back to DecisionSite, allowing the user to search
for additional experiments run in-house. GeneGo's MetaCore 4.2 assists
pharmaceutical scientists in the areas of target selection and validation,
identification of biomarkers for disease states and toxicology. The second
product, MetaDrug, is designed for prediction of human metabolism, toxicity
and biological effects for novel small molecules compounds. More at
www.genego.com or www.spotfire.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Cebit tech fair cuts a day as exhibitors cancel: Cebit, the world's biggest
technology and telecom trade fair, will be a day shorter from next year in
the face of cancellations from key foreign exhibitors such as Nokia and
Motorola. Ernst Raue, one of the fair's managers, said on Tuesday the price
structure for exhibitors would be changed and organizers would concentrate
more on attracting foreign companies and orientate themselves more clearly
toward trade visitors. This year, he told a news conference, the fair
expected about 6,000 exhibitors. Last year, 6,262 attended, while visitor
numbers dropped for the fifth year in a row to 450,000 -- 6 percent fewer
than a year earlier. Raue said exhibitors' main complaints about the fair
were high costs, an unclear concept and no real sense that the fair was more
for trade visitors than for consumers. Rival German consumer-electronics
show IFA, held annually in Berlin, has been growing as Cebit shrinks. This
year's show will run March 15-21 in Hanover.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Electric supercar maker to open tech center in Rochester Hills: Tesla Motors
Inc., a new manufacturer of all-electric vehicles, has announced it is
opening a technical center in Rochester Hills. Tesla's local center will
create 60 high-paying science and engineering jobs to continue its White
Star vehicle development program. Tesla Motors made news earlier this year
with the launch of the Roadster, the second fastest vehicle in the world
from zero to 60 mph. The $92,000 Roadster has been sold out with 270 orders
placed in 2006, and delivery expected to begin in May of 2007. The purpose
of the White Star program is to develop an all-electric sedan using the same
proprietary technology. The development of the new sedan has been underway
for several months and will be accelerated with the opening of the technical
center. Based on an analysis conducted by the Michigan Economic Development
Corp., Tesla's project will create 76 direct and indirect jobs. It also will
invest $48 million in tooling in Michigan.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Biofuels plant to offer shares to public: Corunna-based Liberty Renewable
Fuels announced Tuesday that it has filed a registration statement with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public
offering of up to 20,000 of its Class A membership units. Liberty is a
development-stage company organized in June 2006 to develop, construct, own
and operate an ethanol plant to be located in central Michigan. With the
sales of its membership units in its initial public offering, Liberty
intends to build and operate a 110-million gallon per year dry mill
corn-processing ethanol plant in Ithaca, about 45 miles north of Lansing.
The company expects the ethanol plant will annually process approximately 40
million bushels of corn into approximately 110 million gallons of fuel-grade
ethanol and 354,000 tons of distillers grains for animal feed. When
available, a written preliminary prospectus related to the offering may be
obtained from Liberty Renewable Fuels, 3508 E M-21, Corunna, Michigan 48817.
More about the company at www.libertyrf.com. An electronic prospectus is
available at
www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1373025/000119312507009142/ds1.htm.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DHR Adds Philip Ruben To Its Board
Executive search firm DHR International has appointed Philip Ruben to its
board of directors. As a partner in the corporate practice group at
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC, Mr. Ruben concentrates on representing public
companies, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and both public and
private equity transactions. David Hoffmann, chairman and CEO, said: ?I am
delighted that someone with Phil?s knowledge base has decided to join our
board. DHR has grown tremendously over the past few years, and so has the
complexity of the organization. With DHR?s tremendous growth has come new
and exciting challenges, and Phil?s expertise in corporate law will help the
organization maneuver through these challenges. Phil?s presence and
background will greatly compliment the DHR Board as a whole.? DHR
International was founded in 1989 and recruits senior-level management for a
broad range of industries and functions.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nintendo's Wii to provide AP news: Yet another reason Nintendo's Wii is
cool: Nintendo Co. is launching an online news service available through the
popular console. The Wii News Channel, scheduled to debut Saturday, will
primarily feature top news stories and photographs from The Associated
Press. Consoles with a broadband Internet connection and the Opera Web
browser will be able to access the free news channel, which will offer AP
news in multiple languages. Japanese-language news will come from a separate
agency. There were no immediate plans to sell advertising space, said Perrin
Kaplan, vice president for marketing at Nintendo's U.S. headquarters in
Redmond. News will be displayed through an interactive map, which users can
navigate with the Wii's wireless controller, Kaplan said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer
Tue Jan 23, 12:56 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - Venture capitalists invested $25.5 billion in 2006, marking
the industry's biggest burst of dealmaking since the dot-com bust clogged
the financial spigot for entrepreneurs five years ago.
A renewed interest in Internet startups, combined with expanding
opportunities in the health care and alternative energy markets, spurred a
12 percent increase from the $22.8 billion invested in 2005, according to
figures jointly released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson
Financial and the National Venture Capital Association.
Last year's activity, spread across 3,416 deals, generated the highest level
of investment since venture capitalists forked out $40.7 billion in 2001,
the end of a manic era driven by a lemming-like pursuit of dot-com riches.
After hundreds of their Internet bets flopped, venture capitalists recoiled
in despair through 2002 and 2003.
Last year, venture capitalists poured $4 billion in Internet startups, a 25
percent increase from $3.2 billion in 2005. It was the industry's largest
commitment to the Internet since 2001 when the high-tech financiers pumped
$10.2 billion into the sector.
Venture capitalists also upped the ante substantially in biotechnology,
which received $4.5 billion last year, up by 17 percent from 2005.
The most robust growth occurred in the industrial and energy category, where
venture capital investments more than doubled to $1.8 billion. About 40
percent of that money was earmarked for alternative energy projects.
Now that venture capital's investment volume has increased in each of the
last three years, the chances of creating another bubble are rising, too,
particularly since the industry has raised a total of $56 billion in the
past two years.
So far, though, venture capitalists have been proceeding at a moderate pace
of growth that suggests they may have learned from their past mistakes.
"It's not crazy out there right now. We are just in this kind of steady
state," said Rob Shaplinsky, founding partner of Bridgescale, a venture
capital firm in Menlo Park.
Over the past three years, the industry has invested an average of $5.9
billion per quarter, compared with a $16.7 billion quarterly average from
1999 through 2001.
The final three months of 2006 provided another example of venture
capitalists' restraint, with fourth-quarter investments totaling $5.7
billion, unchanged from the previous year.
"We are pleased that, to date, quarterly investment levels have remained
prudent and no major over-funding has occurred," said Mark Heeson, president
of the National Venture Capital Association.
Venture capitalists have had a strong incentive to be more careful with
their money this time around because it's taking longer for them to cash out
of their investments.
During the financial frenzy of the dot-com boom, many startups generated
huge paydays for venture capitalists by completing initial public offerings
of stock less than three years from their inception. Today, startups are
usually five to seven years old before they are making enough money to
attract a buyout offer from a larger company or assemble an IPO that would
pique the interest of more discriminating investors.
Despite the greater caution, some red flags are being raised in trendy areas
like "Web 2.0" - a catchall phrase for the Internet craze devoted to social
networking and the sharing of content largely contributed by members of a
Web site's audience.
"'Web 2.0' has become a buzzword and it always scares me when an
entrepreneur comes in with a pitch and starts spouting buzzwords," said Tim
Draper, founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture
capital firm in Menlo Park.
With dozens of sites vying to strike it rich like YouTube Inc. did in its
recent $1.76 billion sale to Google Inc., online video looks particularly
ripe for a shakeout.
"You can still hit it big there, but the percentage (of startups) that will
is going to be very, very small," predicted Mike Carusi, general partner
with Advanced Technology Ventures in Palo Alto.
Even if the Web 2.0 craze crashes, the financial damage should be minimal
because none of the big names in the sector have gone public yet, said Josh
Grove, a senior research analyst for Dow Jones VentureOne, a venture capital
research firm.
________________________________
Microsoft runs afoul of Wikipedia
___________
From my AOL IM:
JSpirrison: interesting - http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/24/microsoft.wikipedia.ap/index.html
++++++++++++++++++++++
Microsoft in hot water over Wikipedia edits
POSTED: 10:30 a.m. EST, January 24, 2007
Story Highlights• Microsoft offered to pay a blogger to "correct" Wikipedia articles
• Wikipedia "disappointed" Microsoft would take this approach
• Microsoft says entries were inaccurate and heavily slanted
Adjust font size:
(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has landed in the Wikipedia doghouse after it offered to pay a blogger to change technical articles on the community-produced Web encyclopedia site.
While Wikipedia is known as the encyclopedia that anyone can tweak, founder Jimmy Wales and his cadre of volunteer editors, writers and moderators have blocked public-relations firms, campaign workers and anyone else perceived as having a conflict of interest from posting fluff or slanting entries. So paying for Wikipedia copy is considered a definite no-no.
"We were very disappointed to hear that Microsoft was taking that approach," Wales said Tuesday.
Microsoft acknowledged it had approached the writer and offered to pay him for the time it would take to correct what the company was sure were inaccuracies in Wikipedia articles on an open-source document standard and a rival format put forward by Microsoft.
Spokeswoman Catherine Brooker said she believed the articles were heavily written by people at IBM Corp., which is a big supporter of the open-source standard. IBM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brooker said Microsoft had gotten nowhere in trying to flag the purported mistakes to Wikipedia's volunteer editors, so it sought an independent expert who could determine whether changes were necessary and enter them on Wikipedia.
Brooker said Microsoft believed that having an independent source would be key in getting the changes to stick -- that is, to not have them just overruled by other Wikipedia writers.
Brooker said Microsoft and the writer, Rick Jelliffe, had not determined a price and no money had changed hands -- but they had agreed that the company would not be allowed to review his writing before submission. Brooker said Microsoft had never previously hired someone to influence a Wikipedia article.
Jelliffe, who is chief technical officer of a computing company based in Australia, did not return an e-mail seeking comment.
In a blog posting Monday, he described himself as a technical standards aficionado and not a Microsoft partisan. He said he was surprised to be approached by Microsoft but figured he'd accept the offer to review the Wikipedia articles because he considered it important to make sure technical standards processes were accurately described.
Wales said the proper course would have been for Microsoft to write or commission a "white paper" on the subject with its interpretation of the facts, post it to an outside Web site and then link to it in the Wikipedia articles' discussion forums.
"It seems like a much better, transparent, straightforward way," Wales said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
_________________________________
Motorola news (3 items)
___________
#1: Motorola Foundation Gift to Fund Study in China for Chicago Students
(CSRwire) SCHAUMBURG, IL - January 17, 2007 - The Motorola Foundation today
announced a grant to the Chicago Public Schools Chinese Connections Program
that will fund opportunities for Chicago students to study abroad in China.
The Chinese Connections Program, which provides Chinese language instruction
in 28 schools citywide, is the largest Chinese language program in the
United States, with 6,000 students studying Chinese language and culture in
grades K-12.
The Motorola grant will extend learning beyond the classroom, allowing
students to apply their language skills in a cultural immersion program.
These "Motorola Scholars" will travel to China for two weeks --attending
classes, visiting Chinese businesses like Motorola's China headquarters and
experiencing cultural landmarks.
"The Chinese Language Program unites Motorola's support for Chicago Public
Schools with our long-established presence in China as an employer and
member of the community," said Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola
Foundation. "This on-the-ground experience will give Chicago students an
edge as they begin thinking about business careers -- further strengthening
Chicago's role as a partner with China."
Motorola is the largest corporate contributor to the Chinese Connections
Program.
"Learning another language is more than a luxury for our students -- it is a
necessity," said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. "We need to prepare our
students to compete in the global economy through programs like Chicago's
Chinese Connections Program. This is a perfect example of how many different
groups such as the People's Republic of China and Chicago's business
community are coming together to support students."
About Motorola Foundation
With more than 68,000 employees globally, Motorola seeks to benefit the
communities where it operates. The company achieves this by making strategic
grants, forging strong community partnerships, fostering innovation and
engaging stakeholders. The Motorola Foundation has as its funding focus,
education, community and environmental issues. For more information, on
Motorola Corporate and Foundation giving, visit
http://www.motorola.com/giving.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#2: Will 'unlocked' cellphones free consumers?
Marguerite Reardon for News.com
The major cellphone operators' hold on which devices U.S. consumers can use
on their networks may be slipping as large manufacturers like Motorola and
Nokia dabble in selling "unlocked" phones.
Up until recently, unlocked phones - handsets that can be used on multiple
carrier networks - have been available only in "gray" markets where
Americans have bought phones from overseas. Now manufacturers are selling
them on their websites and through certain retail channels.
"Cellphones rank just behind keys when it comes to items that Americans
don't leave home without," said Albert Lin, an analyst with American
Technology Research. "And as cellphones become the most important thing
people carry with them through their day, they will look for products that
fit their lifestyles better. And believe me, they will want more than 5 to
20 choices. They'll want hundreds of options."
Walk into any supermarket in the U.S. and it's easy to see that Americans
have more choices in terms of products they can buy than most people in the
world. But when it comes to choosing a cellphone, consumers in the U.S. are
limited to a handful of devices offered by a few manufacturers, and those
devices are sold solely through a single service provider.
This means that Verizon Wireless subscribers are limited to phones sold
specifically for the Verizon network. And Cingular Wireless subscribers are
limited to handsets that Cingular sells. It also means that when subscribers
switch from one service provider to another, they are unable to take their
phones with them.
This is true even if the carrier they are switching to offers the same phone
made by the same manufacturer. For example, a Motorola Razr sold for
Cingular's network won't work on T-Mobile's network, even though both
Cingular and T-Mobile use the same underlying network technology, GSM.
Worldwide, the cellphone market is split about 50-50 between phones sold
through carriers and phones sold through other channels directly to
consumers, says Lin. In Asia, about 80% of cellphones are sold independently
of a carrier. And in Europe, roughly 70% of cellphones are sold unlocked.
But in the U.S., between 90% and 95% of cellphones are sold through a mobile
service provider.
The subsidy game
The driving force behind the carriers' control in North America is the fact
that they subsidize the cost of the handsets. Typically, for customers
signing a two-year service contract, operators knock off $50 to $80 from the
cost of the phone. As a result, some consumers get phones for free instead
of paying $100 or more for a device.
This has greatly expanded the market by making phones more affordable, but
it's also given mobile operators complete control over the relationship with
consumers. The carriers decide which cellphone manufacturers they will work
with and which devices they will sell. They also decide which features can
be activated on their network.
As a result, only a fraction of a manufacturers' total line of products is
offered. For example, even though Nokia introduced roughly 50 new products
into the market last year, only a handful were offered by operators in the
U.S.
"In general, phone makers do better in markets where the handset purchase is
separate from the service purchase," Lin said. "More brands compete in lower
concentration, which means more suppliers are competing in the market. It's
also good for consumers because, in these markets, products come in a wider
range of prices with a lot more feature variation."
Last year, Nokia opened several of its own retail stores in the United
States, including its flagship store in Chicago. In these stores, Nokia is
pushing unlocked versions of its high-end, smart phones. It also sells its
fashion phones unlocked through retailers like Neiman Marcus.
Stores such as CompUSA are also buying unlocked Motorola, Nokia and Sony
Ericsson phones from distributors and selling them.
While it's clear that phone manufacturers are testing the waters in the U.S.
market, the companies are reluctant to make a major push that might upset
carriers they do business with.
"We would welcome a path that provides more direct sales access to
consumers, so we can promote our brand," said Bruce Brda, a vice president
at Motorola. "But today the carrier subsidizes the phones, and that's great
because it makes our phones more affordable to more people. Until that goes
away, I see unlocked phones being a very small piece of our business in
North America."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#3: Nokia's profits surge
Despite falling prices, Nokia squeezes out profits on sales of 106 million
handsets in the fourth quarter of 2006.
By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: January 25, 2007, 7:40 AM PST
Nokia, the No. 1 cell phone maker in the world, reported a 19 percent
increase in profits based on strong sales and steady profit margins.
In the fourth quarter, Nokia posted earnings of $1.65 billion (1.27 billion
euros) compared with earnings of $1.39 billion (1.07 billion euros) in the
same quarter a year ago. For all of 2006, Nokia saw profits of $5.59
billion, up from $4.69 billion in the previous year.
Nokia shipped 106 million handsets in the fourth quarter, an increase of 27
percent from a year ago. It gained market share in every region of the world
except North America.
The company's chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, called 2006 a "good"
year for Nokia. "We had record sales, but as good as 2006 was it could and
should have been better. We are looking for ways to continue to improve our
business."
Kallasvuo noted that there had been some production delays in the fourth
quarter for Nokia's higher-end multimedia phones, which have cameras and
music players embedded. But he said those issues have been improved. As a
result, sales of these devices grew only about 6 percent during the quarter.
The company had expected sales of these more expensive phones to grow about
24 percent.
But even as total shipments of handsets increased during the quarter, the
average price of Nokia's handsets fell. Prices have fallen consistently
throughout the year as Nokia targets emerging markets such as India and
China with lower-end phones. In the fourth quarter, the average price was
$116 (89 euros). In the third quarter, it was $120, and in the fourth
quarter of 2005, it was $128.
Unlike competitors such as Samsung and Motorola, Nokia still managed to make
a profit despite falling prices. Motorola, which is Nokia's biggest rival,
saw profits drop 48 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 when it reported
earnings last week. The company is cutting 5 percent of its work force in an
effort to improve operating expenses.
Samsung Electronics also saw profits decline 8 percent in the fourth
quarter. The company blamed the shortfall on poor sales of products other
than mobile handsets, which actually sold well in the quarter. Samsung
reported it had sold 32 million handsets in the fourth quarter.
Sony Ericsson also bucked the profit trend and reported that it had more
than tripled profits during the fourth quarter, mainly through sales of
high-end devices.
________________________________
Al Wasserberger: Intellext cuts deal with AOL
Subject: What you've been waiting for
Date: 1/24/2007 2:45:34 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: Al Wasserberger [email withheld on standing request]
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Ron,
We still need to catch up on the phone this week.
This is the announcement that Bob was hinting was coming. It took a
long time to get done, but it's an important one and worth the wait!
Al
_________________
Al Wasserberger
Chief Executive Officer
Intellext, Inc.
444 N. Wabash Ave, Ste. 300
Chicago, IL 60611
http://www.intellext.com/
_________________
AOL@SCHOOL and Intellext Team to Launch Study Tool for Students and
Teachers
Free AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar Helps Students Find the Best K-12
Educational Content on the Internet While They Do Their Homework -
Without Having To Search
Orlando, FL - January 24, 2006 - AOL@SCHOOL (www.aolatschool.com), AOL's
comprehensive online learning service provided to teachers and students,
and Intellext(tm) (www.intellext.com), creators of next-generation
contextual search software, today announced the availability of the
AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar. Created using Intellext's next-generation
Watson(tm) contextual search technology in conjunction with AOL@SCHOOL's
search engine, the Sidebar has the capabilities of interpreting the
topic the student is working on and automatically finding safe,
age-appropriate and relevant search results from AOL@SCHOOL's collection
of the best K-12 education content on the Web. The AOL@SCHOOL Desktop
Sidebar can be installed on school or home computers at no cost.
With the launch of the AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar, students and teachers
are able to search the more than 48,000 sites which have been reviewed
and selected by a team of experts, and receive a manageable list of
high-quality educational resources. By using Intellext's Watson
contextual search technology, the high-value content from AOL@SCHOOL
resonates pro-actively without the use of regular search engines.
"This software will transform the way that students do their homework,"
said Mark Stevens, KOL Education Director and General Manager,
AOL@SCHOOL. "At AOL@SCHOOL, we are dedicated to making learning fun and
engaging while keeping kids safe as they surf the Web."
Intellext's Watson, the product research conducted by co-founders Dr.
Jay Budzik and Dr. Kristian Hammond at Northwestern University, removes
the burden of search from the shoulders of computer users. By reading
and understanding what people are working on and using that knowledge to
proactively find and deliver useful information to the user, Watson is
able to find information the user didn't know existed.
AOL@SCHOOL provides valuable, and in many cases exclusive,
age-appropriate educational content, at no cost, from industry leaders
including Hotmath.com, NASA, Iknowthat.com, Turnitin.com.,
Icoachmath.com, Will Interactive, World and I School, AMDG Online High
School Courses, InfoSource, Immersion Presents, System80.com, and
Headsprout, among many others.
About AOL
AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most
popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software
and services, runs the country's largest Internet access business, and
provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned
subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia.
AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and
Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
About AOL@SCHOOL(r)
AOL@SCHOOL(r) is a no cost K12 educational portal of resources,
references and tools that provides valuable age-appropriate educational
content from more than 20 educational partners including Hotmath,
InfoSource and Iknowthat.com. A service for teachers and students, the
site is designed to help schools make online materials a more effective
part of the classroom experience. All of the content can be accessed at
http://www.aolatschool.com.
About Intellext
Intelligence in Context. This statement forges the foundation of
Intellext, a visionary company that pushes the boundaries of
contemporary search. Intellext uses contextually-based search technology
to serve consumers, business users, enterprises and publishers. Since
launching in early 2005, Watson has received awards from Gartner and
KMWorld Magazine, the prestigious Chicago Innovation Award, and
recognition from PC Magazine, the San Jose Mercury News, Boston Globe,
CBS News, Red Herring, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Watson is an intelligent search tool that frees computer users from the
search box. The application understands what users are doing on their
computers and proactively finds relevant information in real-time, from
desktop search applications such as MSN Search Toolbar and Google
Desktop Search, Internet search engines, news sites, shopping sites,
blogs, research services, and corporate knowledge and document
management systems. Results are delivered to the user's desktop in a
non-intrusive sidebar.
Press Contact:
AOL@SCHOOL
Sandra Correa
AOL
212-652-6366
scorrea03@aol.com
Intellext
Erik Orgell
Nadel Phelan Public Relations
831-440-2401
erik@nadelphelan.com
__________________________________
Howard Wolinsky of the Sun-Times: Intellext deal with AOL
Intellext joins with AOL in school project
Free customized version of Watson available to students
January 24, 2007
BY HOWARD WOLINSKY Business Reporter
Chicago-based Intellext Inc., the developer of the Watson "search engine of search engines," is going back to school in a high-profile deal with America Online.
Intellext and AOL today will announce at the Florida Education Technology Conference, a national show in Orlando, that they are teaming up to make available a free customized version of Watson, known as AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar, to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
"AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar will be a tutor looking over the student's shoulder and providing help," said Jay Budzik, co-inventor of Watson and Intellext chief technology officer. "No matter what students are doing on their PCs, they will always have safe and educational content available to them."
Watson, which Intellext has marketed previously with Microsoft and eBay, runs searches of the entire Internet visible in a side box as users write e-mail or other documents or while they are browsing the Net.
AOL@SCHOOL Desktop Sidebar, aimed at the school market, focuses on content selected by education experts at 48,000 Web sites to provide high-quality educational information, Budzik said.
For example, while a student is writing a paper on Abraham Lincoln, the Sidebar will point out a site with the full text of his speeches and another with Civil War photographs.
AOL@SCHOOL is used on 500,000 computers in school libraries and classrooms, and also is available for use on home computers.
"This software will transform the way that students do their homework," said Mark Stevens, Kids Online education director and general manager of AOL@SCHOOL.
Al Wasserberger, chief executive officer of Intellext, declined to release financial details, but said AOL "will bear the expense for thtware."
The deal is the first aimed directly at consumers, and others will be coming in the months ahead, he said.
The relationship with AOL will help boost Intellext's profile because the AOL site will say the technology is powered by Intellext, according to Wasserberger.
The AOL site shows how Intellext drives consumers back to a sponsor's page, he said, adding the education site is ad-free.
hwolinsky@suntimes.com
________________________________
The Intellext job opening for a media sales person
Subject: I need help finding a Sales Director for Media Markets
Date: 1/25/2007 4:07:21 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: Al Wasserberger [email address wihthheld on standing request]
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
Ron,
Thanks for the time on the telephone yesterday. As we discussed, I am looking for a senior sales professional to help me do more deals like the AOL relationship we announced yesterday. Qualified candidates can apply online at www.linkedin.com/e/vjb/224916. Here’s the job description:
Sales Director, Media Markets
We are a small (for now), growing (by leaps and bounds), venture-backed technology company that is forever changing the way computer users get information.
Watson, our flagship product, transcends the boundaries of contemporary search and information access. Watson is an intelligent search tool that understands the context of what you are working on, and automatically finds relevant information from a multitude of sources and delivers it to the user. By eliminating the middle man – the search box – Watson is able to find information the user didn't know existed - in places they otherwise might not have looked.
In addition to making our free, ad-supported software available directly to consumers, we have recently started repurposing our technology for use by B2C Internet Media companies to drive more traffic to their content. We have signed the first few media customers, they are now referenceable, and we are now ready to "put the pedal to the metal"!
We need an experienced sales professional to take the lead selling to mid and top-tier Internet portal and media customers. Reporting directly to the CEO of the company, the Sales Director will be responsible for bringing in new business across the US.
Every part of the sales process, from lead generation and qualifying, through proposing, negotiating and closing will fall into your purview. You will work with the CTO and development team to help drive new features or even products for the Internet Media marketplace, and with the CFO to find new revenue models and with company counsel and to paper your deals.
The successful candidate will be a very experienced high-energy self starter who thrives in a hands-on selling environment. If you have at least 5 years successfully selling to B2C Internet companies, are a voracious closer, and have been a part of an entrepreneurial venture, you just might be our Sales Director. It would be even better if you've managed a sales team, so as we grow the company you might grow into a sales leadership position.
This is a very visible position that we be as rewarding as it is challenging! Are you up to it?
NOTE FROM AL: Applications that come through my LinkedIn network with recommendations will be given the top priority and will be responded to first. Please only reply if you have been selling to Internet Media Companies for at least 5 years.
Thanks,
Al
__________
Al Wasserberger
Chief Executive Officer
Intellext, Inc.
444 N. Wabash Ave, Ste. 300
Chicago, IL 60611
http://www.intellext.com/
_____________________________________
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation: Do Video Games Help Kids Learn? on February 8th
From: Solomon, Andrew [asolomon@macfound.org]
To:
Subject: Do Video Games Help Kids Learn?
Sent: Thu 1/25/2007 11:50 AM
Media Advisory
DO VIDEO GAMES HELP KIDS LEARN?
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will host a panel discussion on video games and learning on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago. A reception will follow. The event is open to the press and public. In October, MacArthur announced a $50 million initiative to support research and innovative projects focused on understanding the impact of the widespread use of digital media on our youth and how they learn.
WHAT: A panel discussion on “Do Video Games Help Kids Learn?”
WHEN: Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago
WHO: Sasha Barab of Indiana University will demo his latest project, Quest Atlantis, an immersive online world designed to help teach science to junior high school students.
Nichole Pinkard, Director of Technology at the University of Chicago’s Center for Urban School Improvement, will share her experience creating an innovative digital media after school program.
David Williamson Shaffer, a professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn, will discuss his latest research on games and learning.
Jonathan Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation will present an overview of the Foundation’s digital media and learning initiative.
CONTACT: Andy Solomon, (312) 726-8000, asolomon@macfound.org
###
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. With assets of $5.5 billion the Foundation makes grants of approximately $225 million each year. More information is available at www.macfound.org.
_____________________________________
1. READER COMMENTS AND RESPONSES
1a. Anon.: TMR reports on Motorola are correct
From: Name withheld upon request
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL
Sent: Tue 1/23/2007 8:25 PM
RON-
Please do not print my name with anything as I have long had affiliations with Motorola.
I have found your analysis at Motorola to be very accurate. I am fearful that the wonderful technical and strong business culture grown at Motorola over the past twenty years has been widdled away by the current management team. People have done fantastic work over the past few years that remained unrewarded and invisible to customers, consumers, etc. It is frightening that the 2001-2003 years of Galvin, Breen, & Zavirofsky might actually have been great innovation years with little commercial success, but nonetheless possibly cyclical in the nature of overall industry device design and network maturity.
As you might have heard, the Board used to be accused of protecting the Galvin family, but it appears they have grown again into a protection unit for Zander when sales of the rusty razr continue to drag the entire company's stock down. It is a shame, because the real employee-base is definitely working their tails off and not seeing much reward from senior management. I guess that's why several of the innovative younger execs have left for Apple, competitor start-ups, etc. .....
Again, please do not print my name with anything as I have long had affiliations with Motorola. I am happy to chat with you off the record.
[Name withheld upon request]
____________________________________
1b. Kelly Yocum: Updates on John Chubb
Subject: RE: Kelly, tell me in more detail what is going on with the cases. Thanks.
Date: 1/23/2007 1:21:32 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: kellyy@convurge.org
To: RONALDMAY@aol.com
I have to be careful what I disclose as its currently under
investigation, but here are some updates:
Chubb was arrested for battery last week for beating his roommate. He
was arrested Thursday and released Saturday. His landlord discovered
(via his roommates) the hundreds of files of illegal/stolen ID's,
personal identification information, lawsuits (15+ against Chubb),
drugs (the narcotics unit was dispatched to his apartment and
confiscated the drugs purchased in others names/identities), along with
counterfeit travelers checks/money orders/and gift cards. In addition,
the items Judge Bush demanded Chubb to return - yet he denied having
were discovered along with active ConVurge cards that he has opened and
has been using post employment (in addition to the other 15 illegal
cards he had issued).
I am well aware of the "plausible story" he has told you as he has been
able to make others wonder if there's another side to this - however
there's no shade of gray in the black and white theft from things such
as direct deposit where he paid himself 52 payrolls over the course of
9 months of an additional $175,000+ when he was only on a $45K/year
salary. Or how about re-directing employees' deductions directly to
his own accounts? In addition - what business would authorize $75,000+
business credit card expenses for his vacation to vegas and purchases
such as disney.com, my247md.com, sendmemymeds.com, target.com,
orvis.com, petco, along with his car payments insurance, etc. This is
only a small fraction of the fraud uncovered in the investigation that
we are allowed to make public at this point.
He didn't show up for court today - could it be that its because the
things he told Judge Bush he DIDN'T HAVE were actually discovered in
his apartment and turned over last weekend which would find him in
contempt of court?
The FBI is going to be in our office tomorrow morning tracing John's
continued activity on our network which was happening AFTER he got out
of jail which would violate his bond.
I'll keep you posted.
Kelly
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Kelly, tell me in more detail what is going on with the cases.
> Thanks.
> From: RONALDMAY@aol.com
> Date: Fri, January 19, 2007 9:08 pm
> To: kellyy@convurge.org
____________________________________
1c. Robin Cook: Defends East Rogers Park
From: Robin Cook [orgdevguy@sbcglobal.net]
To: Ron May
Subject: E. Rogers Park
Sent: Mon 1/22/2007 2:07 AM
Ron, I have to take exception to your characterization of East Rogers Park in your item about Dave Ormesher last week.
I have lived here for 32 years - the entire time I've been in Chicago. There has always been a substantial disconnect between the neighborhood's image & its reality. The entire time I've lived here, it has been a solid middle to lower middle class area. Yes, it has changed over the years, but never really from an economic standpoint. It is certainly not an "urban pioneer" situation. It's simply a nice, safe (as urban areas go) residential area. You did get 1 thing right - it's one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city at this point. One of the things I love here is going out to the park/beach on a nice day & hearing 30 or more languages!
For some reason, E. Rogers has an undeserved reputation as a high crime area - nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, when the annual crime statistics are published, the 24th district consistently has the 4th or 5th lowest crime rates in the city. Add to that the fact that it & Edgewater are the only North Side lakefront neighborhoods with no Lake Shore Drive barrier between residential & the lake & you've got something quite extraordinary. I'm West of Sheridan & literally a block & a half from the lake!
In fact, the only real complaint I have about my neighborhood is the binge drinking, out of control behavior of the Loyola students on my block!
Shalom,
Robin
--
Robin Cook
"Organizational Development Guy"
1227 W. North Shore
Chicago, IL. 60626
(773) 262-7018
OrgDevGuy@sbcglobal.net
http://www.virtualstrategist.net/Issue5/5-2-1.HTM
_______________________________
1d. John Golde: TMR ads work
From: Golde, John [John.Golde@GBC.com]
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: RE: The May Report: 01/19/2007: Motorola cuts 3,500; Sources inside the firm with strong board connections say that Ed Zander may already have one foot out the door and much more
Sent: Sat 1/20/2007 11:03 AM
Ron, I rented the garage – thanks your letter gets the job done.
______________________________
1e. David Naylor: StarThis openings
From: David L. Naylor [david.l.naylor@starthis.com]
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: RE: Question.
Sent: Mon 1/22/2007 11:47 AM
Ron,
If you are talking about the Senior Software Executive position currently
advertised on Monster and elsewhere, the position has an advertised base
salary of $45,000 per year plus excellent benefits, and a commission package
that brings the on-target earnings to around $125,000 per year.
In terms of sales/marketing/business development staff we are at a head
count of around 3 full time equivalents.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron May [mailto:ron@themayreport.com]
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 11:13 AM
To: naylor@starthis.com
Subject: Question.
David, how many sales guys do you have now? And how much does this job pay?
Ron
Ronald May
ron@themayreport.com
773-525-3944
__________________________________
1f. John Katsantonis: Digital divide comment
From: John Katsantonis [jkatt@ix.netcom.com]
To: ron@themsyreport.com
Subject: The digital divide community does not get enough credit or attention in my tech reporting.
Sent: Sat 1/20/2007 7:57 AM
The thing about helping others, Ron, whether 1:1, through a charity or church or other formal organization, or not is this: the fundamental nature of the act, if it to succeed, is to not seek credit nor praise nor draw attention to oneself.
The act of helping, alone, is its own reward.
Thus, it would be out-of-character for anyone (other than Chris Dever) to shamelessly self-promote whatever one might be doing, in order to help either the community at-large, or one single individual.
Know what I mean??
thanks~jk
1h. Peter Spevacek: Digital divide issues
From: Peter Spevacek [peter@interlangua.com]
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: Digital Divide
Sent: Wed 1/17/2007 9:23 AM
Ron it was good to see you again at the MIT forum. You were spirited. I think the spirit is what we all expect out of the May report. To jog your memory you…I asked the digital divide question at the forum. If you ever want to follow up on this item you wrote, we’d be glad to contribute any information or help we can.
Ron May here again. This note reminds me that there is a trend that we have not talked about which we should discuss. A lot of our tech community members are involved in other endeavors outside of tech and especially community building or charitable ventures. Dawn Geras is probably the most well-known person doing good, but there are many others. Jeff Coney did not go to the nanotech event because he was at a meeting in Evanston for job creation. That was told to me by Jim Bray who works with Jeff. Anna Belyaev is involved in a number of community things, so is Bruce Montgomery, and Dan Bassill, Michael Maranda, Layton Olson, Dave Ormesher and many others. Who else should be on this list? Many, I am sure. Stel V. from OnShore is involved in that art and technology group. I believe that David Weinstein may also be involved in some do-good for the community activities. At the AMC party, I actually sat down and talked to someone I often see and I'm ashamed to admit mostly ignore, but Mark Baldridge is doing good by helping kids and learning to cook.
The digital divide community does not get enough credit or attention in my tech reporting. It is almost as though it is a separate world.
Thanks. Keep up the spirit.
Peter Spevacek
President
www.InterLangua.com
InterLangua provides language tutors over the internet from developing countries to US students and companies using real-time, full-motion video and voice.
USA 161 East Erie Street. #306 Chicago, Illinois 60611. tel. 312 546 3446
Guatemala Calzada Roosevelt 22-43 Zona 11 Edificio Tikal Futura, Torre Luna. Nivel 6. Oficina 6A Ciudad de Guatemala. Tel 2440-3677
___________________________________
1g. John Katsantonis: Viruswarn: New Social Engineering Tactic Being Employed to Spread Malicious Code
From: John Katsantonis [jkatt@ix.netcom.com]
To: adam@midwest.biz; brad@midwest.biz
CC: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: Fw: Viruswarn: New Social Engineering Tactic Being Employed to Spread Malicious Code
Sent: Sat 1/20/2007 7:43 AM
This is a pretty bizarre new thingie, and between yourselves and myself and our journalistic peers ---- never mind all the news junkies and unsuspecting civilians out there ---- it might be in the public interest to run this.
Dave Gray is my old Dallas computer geek and compadre-in-arms, and VirusWarn is his free service.
FYI~jk
----- Original Message -----
From: David A. Gray
To: VirusWarning Mailing List
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 1:03 AM
Subject: New Social Engineering Tactic Being Employed to Spread Malicious Code
What Is It?
The Bad Guys have devised a cunning new bit of social engineering to convince unsuspecting users to open their messages and let their malicious software install itself onto your computer. The tactic is to give the message a subject that looks like the message is about a breaking news story that the sender hopes you will want to read.
I first read about the "Storm worm" yesterday on eWeek, a well regarded electronic newspaper that caters to the IT industry.
Since reading the news article, I've seen two such suspicious messages in my own Inbox.
Russian missle shot down Chinese aircraft
Russian missle shot down Chinese satellite
Note that the word "missile" is misspelled.
One of the two contained an attachment, obviously a payload of some sort. Although the other showed no obvious signs of containing a payload, I took no chances and deleted it, too. Although I cannot confirm this, and have no intention of risking a test, I suspect that both of the above messages are variants of the message reported by F-Secure at http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/small_dam.shtml.
What Should You Do?
Beware of messages from unknown senders that appear to be about breaking news stories. If you run with the preview pane disabled, as I do, you can safely delete the message.
As a rule of thumb, if anything about a message looks suspicious, don't open it. Instead, toss it into your Deleted Items folder and let the message archiving feature of your mail program dispose of it.
References
At http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/small_dam.shtml, Finnish security company, F-Secure, lists the headline "Storm worm uses European storm as a decoy," referring to F-Secure Trojan Information Pages: Small.DAM.
At http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_99104.htm, McAfee identifies the same worm as W32/Storm.worm.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2085606,00.asp?kc=EWEWEMNL011507EP28A is "Storm Worm Hits Computers Around the World," reported by the Reuters news service, and carried on the Web site of electronic newspaper eWeek.
David Gray, MBA, Chief Wizard
WizardWrx, formerly P6 Consulting
V: +1 (817) 812-3041
TZ: USA Central, GMT -6
E: dagray@wizardwrx.com
W: www.wizardwrx.com
5006 Cloyce Court
North Richland Hills, TX 76180-6944
USA
Tell me what you need, and I'll conjure it.
__________________________________
1h. John Katsantonis: Once again, Motorola has screwed the pooch
From: John Katsantonis [jkatt@ix.netcom.com]
To: ron@themayreport.com
Subject: MOTOROLA SNAFUs AGAIN
Sent: Tue 1/23/2007 10:02 PM
Once again, Motorola has screwed the pooch.
The most pathetic thing about the 3,500-employee layoff...??
If you do the math on the company's promise to save $400 million over the next 4 years ---- an impressive figure ---- those 3,500 employees' annual salaries average $28,571.43.....so what does THAT tell you?? They're all blue-collar jobs.
Were these employees responsible for the company's business decisions, lack of flexibility or smarts? I doubt it.
Will they be replaced by 10,000 Indians? Probably.
Shouldn't Motorola have taken that cost-cutting bite by dumping the Suits responsible for it's unthinkable inability to profit during an expanding market??? Absolutely.
Too bad there aren't 1,000 fewer upper management types on the street. But, at the risk of sounding neo-post-Marxist, it's always the worker who dies for management's sins.
"You say you want a Revolution....???"
sigh~jk
____________________________
2. OTHER (Events)
2a. Tuesday, Jan. 30: MEF Wheaton meeting: John Walsh President of Alignmentnow speaking about how to "Attract More Business"
Subject: MIDWEST ENTREPRENEURS' FORUM, INC., Volume 11, Issue 1 Tuesday January 3 0th Attract More Business by John Walsh President of Alignmentnow
Date: 1/25/2007 1:25:24 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: MEF@mail-list.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com
Come join us on Tuesday, January 30th for our Wheaton Meeting
This newsletter is provided free of charge to the Entrepreneurial
community, courtesy of The Midwest Entrepreneurs Forum Inc. This
document may be freely redistributed by e-mail. We encourage you to
share it with your friends. To subscribe, send a blank message to
Mailto:MEF-on@mail-list.com.
MEF REPORTER
MIDWEST ENTREPRENEURS' FORUM, INC., Volume 11, Issue 1 ,
Tuesday January 30th 2007
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m
Cost: Free to members, $20.00 for non-members
IIT Students with valid student ID Free. Students
from other Universities with a valid student ID $5.00 No Credit
Cards only checks and cash please until further notice.
Our meeting will be held at:
Daniel L. & Ada F. Rice Campus
of Illinois Institute of Technology
201 East Loop Road, Wheaton IL
(directions below)
In an ongoing effort to provide our members with the tools they need
to successfully develop their businesses, we are presenting another
educational presentation, entitled: "Attract More Business "
How often do you get to meet and listen to someone who has been successful
both as an officer in corporate America, as an entrepreneur, motivational
speaker, and as a very successful business consultant. We are very
fortunate to have John Walsh President of Alignmentnow www.Alignmentnow.com
speaking about how to "Attract More Business "-
. What stimulates prospects and how to convert them into clients
. How leadership moves your results
He has fulfilled the roles of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive
Officer and is now President of Alignmentnow. This enables him to address
audiences in an extensive variety of industries - from automotive to x-rays
and including chambers of commerce, financial, manufacturing, distribution,
and service associations. He brings such vast experience knowledge to our
meeting that I am sure the audience will benefit greatly from his
presentation.
He is an inspirer, facilitator and a thought-provoker who challenges his
audience to think, to plan to take action, in the disciplined strategic
manner about the marketplace and customers that surrounds you and your team.
John Walsh started his career in sales with AT&T and, due to his
effectiveness, rapidly moved up to sales and marketing management positions.
He has served as VP & General Manager for companies in the Fortune 300, such
as Verizon/GTE and Federal Signal Corporation. John has also been President,
COO, and CEO for several privately-owned and family-owned companies.
Additional responsibilities include serving on Boards of Directors and
Boards of Advisors for several privately held businesses.
John also served as Chairman of the Board for the Management Association of
Illinois, which services over 800 member companies, and Chairman of the
Board of the American Electronics Association - Midwest Council.
John Walsh has a business degree from Michigan State University, where he
also played football for coach Duffy Daugherty. His MBA was attained at
Northern Illinois University. John has passed on his knowledge to others by
teaching Marketing Management, Sales Management, Business Plans, and
Channels of Distribution as an adjunct faculty member for the Keller
Graduate School of Management - MBA Program.
John uses audience interaction, humor and advanced learning techniques in
all his business seminars. He is an expert at innovation, a master of
creativity, and a motivational speaker who increases productivity and raises
profits through high-impact, user-friendly keynotes speeches and business
seminars.
His presentation is guaranteed to leave you with new ideas and ways to
implement them. You will be inspired and motivated to take action.
As always come with questions as we always have audience participation.
_________________________________
END OF REPORT |