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By VStart, on July 22nd, 2010
We always advise serious entrepreneurs, especially those with big ideas, to make sure an attorney is part of their team from the very start. Not only can they set the company up correctly, they can put standard agreements in place (e.g., stock option, non-disclosure, founder buy-sell, independent contractor, and more). Having such documents can help prevent a multitude of legal issues as the business grows.
Read this article at BusinessWeek to see potential problems for Facebook when a probably “bad” agreement comes back to haunt them when they are really worth something.
Saving money as a startup is usually ingrained in entrepreneurs and spending money on Read More »»
By VStart, on July 16th, 2010
SacMix joined our VentureStart program a while ago and are making rapid progress in becoming a known brand in the Sacramento market — if you are hungry for breakfast, brunch, lunch, happy hour, dinner or late night eats, you can always find a great deal at a restaurant close to you at www.sacmix.com.
All startups need to communicate their progress with potential customers, investors, supporters, etc. on a regular basis to keep mind share and accelerate interest. We got such a note from Tim White at SacMix today, and you can read it on Facebook. It is a good example all startups should follow.
By VStart, on April 15th, 2010
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations Workshop Friday, April 23, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. UC Davis Conference Center 2nd Floor Conference Room
The Office of Research, Office of University Development, and the Foods for Health Institute are hosting a workshop on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Explorations Round 5.
Grand Challenges Explorations awards of $100,000 support early-stage research projects designed to overcome persistent bottlenecks in creating new tools that can radically improve health in the developing world. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a Phase II grant of $1 million. Topics for Round 5 of the Grand Challenges Explorations include:
By VStart, on April 6th, 2010
Micromidas has just completed its first major round of funding, having raised $3.6 million. The funds will be used to deploy their technology at the pilot scale.
Micromidas, based in West Sacramento, develops and scales environmentally benign biological and chemical processes that produce valuable chemical and material commodities from waste biomass. The first Micromidas application for their technology is scaling a process that converts the carbon in organic wastewater into PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a family of bio-degradable plastics that can be used in lieu of conventional petroleum plastics. Their process generates highly functional bio-plastic while simultaneously reducing the quantity of bio-solids that municipal utilities must pay to treat. Micromidas is Read More »»
By VStart, on February 9th, 2010
Brett Owens of Chrometa was one of the first entrepreneurs mentored by VentureStart. We recommended “go get customers” rather than trying to raise money from organized investors. He did that and has been growing ever since with an ever-increasing customer base.
Chrometa maintains an excellent blog and today we saw an interesting post on customer support for software companies and its challenges. Take a look and I think you’ll find that Chrometa have met the challenge well with some good thinking. The very fact their blog talks about this is also great marketing. Go Chrometa!
By VStart, on February 9th, 2010
Don’t miss the first annual Sacramento Med Tech Showcase on March 30, 2010 at Sacramento State University. The theme for the 2010 showcase is “Transforming Medicine Through Technology.” Hosted by SARTA’s MedStart Initiative , the event will raise awareness of the medical technology industry and resources in the Sacramento Region and generate excitement about technology developments by companies founded and funded in the region.
The Showcase will feature:
- Exhibit Hall Showcasing Med Tech Companies in the Sacramento Region
- The Next Wave Med Tech Innovators Challenge, co-hosted by VentureStart
- “Telemedicine- New and Exciting Frontiers in Healthcare Delivery” panel discussion
- “Emerging Trends In Med Read More »»
By VStart, on December 19th, 2009
We saw this today when we went to check a Google account; and it has been like this for at least an hour! So don’t feel to bad if you have an issue or two when you start out.
Take heart!
By ClareP, on June 13th, 2009
It was an honor and a privledge to speak at Thursday’s first Sacramento Entreprenuership Breakfast. As a new VentureStart company, we have not been part of the program for long, but we are already seeing the benefits.
There are three benefits that I want to specifically point to that have positioned our company for success. The first is clarity of vision. The second is laser focus and the third is brain trust.
The Clarity of Vision for us really started with the application form. We all know that we need a perfect 30 second Elevator Pitch but as passionate entrepreneurs we often find it very hard to be that Read More »»
By VStart, on June 12th, 2009
VentureStart needs a GREAT tag line so at yesterday’s breakfast launch we challenged all the Sacramento angels’ groups, investors, entrepreneurs, and business people to compete in providing us with one. It should, in three or four words, be:
- easy to remember
- imply a path to funding
- imply urgency
We recognize that by publishing the tags it could inspire copy cats with small changes in wording, but we’ll take that into consideration when we finally decide. Here are the tag lines submitted:
- Mentor your success!
- One life, one chance
- One life, Make it!
- Your Magic Bullet
- Dreams realized
- Dreams made real
- Well begun is half done
- Dreams Read More »»
By VStart, on May 27th, 2009
While SARTA has initiated VentureStart in the last year or so, communities like Boulder, CO, and Austin, TX, have been trying models for many years to build successful technology/high growth based startup communities. This is something for the Sacramento region to aspire too, and we just saw this on a new initiative in Austin. Take a look and listen.
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