CED Blog: Entrepreneurs and Innovation in North Carolina
Rick Smith Interviews Steve Nelson
Venture 2008 Preview: VCs Still Ready To Pull Triggers on Good Deals
Posted: Apr. 10, 2008
Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Entrepreneurs seeking funding for new companies and products need not fear that a slowing economy will affect venture capital investments, according to Steve Nelson of the Wakefield Group.
Nelson, one of the region’s most active venture capitalists, will be leading a panel discussion about the capital markets at the Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s Venture 2008 conference next week. The event, set for April 16-18 at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club, will feature scores of presenting companies from as far away as Indiana and investors from across the U.S.
Inn a Q&A with Local Tech Wire, Nelson said entrepreneurs with “great ideas” can still attract investors. It’s also his belief that venture funds will also continue to be able to raise capital.
However, startups looking to find successful “exits” through initial public stock offerings face a difficult challenge, Nelson added.
The interview:.....
Friday Fun: The Leningrad Cowboys & The Red Army Choir
Globalization usually means business, but I thank our friend John Warner a.k.a. SwampFox for sharing this cultural meltdown.
Enjoy!
Another Entrepreneurial Benchmark - the Inc. 500 is Now 5000
Back in the day, when IBM, General Motors and Procter and Gamble drove the national economy, a list of 500 "fastest growing privately held companies" was sufficient to capture the depth and breadth of entrepreneurial achievement in America. Launched at the same time CED was being formed as a spin-out of the Raleigh Chamber, the Inc. 500 has featured many companies before they became world-renowned, including Microsoft, Domino's Pizza, and Oracle.
Starting in 2007, the list was expanded ten-fold to 5,000. The deadline for the 2008 list, to be publicized in September, is April 30, 2008. For more information, visit www.inc.com/inc5000apply/.
Startup Chatter - online, collaborative peer magazine launched
I am a huge fan of Donna Bogatin, internet business blogger extraordinaire who blogged initially under the ZDNet Digital Markets banner and then launched her own blog, "Inside Chatter." Donna joined Don Dodge, Microsoft, and Eric Auchard, Reuters, for "Technology Trends of Today and Tomorrow," the closing media panel on the Tech 2007 here in the RTP. Donna grokked the Triangle entrepreneurial and technology scene as the "real deal" -- lots of solid innovation under the hood supported by a community that does what it takes to help companies start and thrive.
So I was REALLY thrilled when she asked me to be one of the Masthead Contributors
N.C. Ranks First in the Nation for Small Metro Business Growth
North Carolina placed first in the nation in Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking of states with small metropolitan areas having new and expanded corporate facilities. The Greensboro-High Point area topped the magazine list for the second consecutive year because of 30 new and expanded corporate facility projects recruited in 2007. The Raleigh-Cary area tied for sixth with 25 projects and Rocky Mount tied for sixth nationwide with 9 projects.
Recommended Reading from Global Market Leaders
At CED's sold out Globalization conference in Cary, NC on February 14 ,speakers from Quintiles, Lenovo, and Kennedy Covington. shared their global experiences, advice on global success and recommended some of their favorite books to an audience of entrepreneurs.
Oren Cohen, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for Quintiles Transnational Corp., advises that having on the ground experience in the foreign market you are looking to do business in is essential
Institute for Emerging Issues Forum Streaming Audio Link
The 2008 Emerging Issues Forum, focusing on North Carolina's energy future, will be held from 8 am to 5 pm on Monday, February 11 and Tuesday, February 12. The agenda for the conference is here.
Listen to Thomas L. Friedman's address on "New Policy, New Politics." Mr. Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times, specializing in foreign affairs.
Body Parts 101
Steven Nitchberger CEO of Tengion, a Venture 2007 Showcase presenter, and Wake Forest’s regenerative medicine guru Dr. Tony Atala, keynote speaker at Biotech 2007, are featured on a recent CBS News report. View the CBS News video here.
Winston-Salem NC, Westchester County NY, NE Ohio make Top Seven Intelligent Communities
Noting that the list of seven "demonstrates dramatically how broadband technology, enlightened public policy and the power of culture can transform government, businesses and citizens," The Intelligent Community Forum announced its list of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year, each a model for economic development in the 21st Century.
At Home in the Kingdom of Carrberia (aka the Paris of the Piedmont)
Over the years, Richard Florida of the "Creative Class" fame and I have had the opportunity to talk and share notes on what it takes to make an entrepreneurial community. When he was in town 5 years ago at the Emerging Issues Forum, he joined a group of CED entrepreneurs who were -- to say the least -- skeptical about how they would integrate "creative class" friendly maxims into their companies while they were focused on building competitive companies in a tough economic cycle.
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Recent Entries
- Rick Smith Interviews Steve Nelson
- Friday Fun: The Leningrad Cowboys & The Red Army Choir
- Another Entrepreneurial Benchmark - the Inc. 500 is Now 5000
- Startup Chatter - online, collaborative peer magazine launched
- N.C. Ranks First in the Nation for Small Metro Business Growth
- Recommended Reading from Global Market Leaders
- Institute for Emerging Issues Forum Streaming Audio Link
- Body Parts 101
- Winston-Salem NC, Westchester County NY, NE Ohio make Top Seven Intelligent Communities
- At Home in the Kingdom of Carrberia (aka the Paris of the Piedmont)