Social Networking is aggregating a lot of eyeballs and
Inventors of widgets are seeking to get their share of the $1.4
billion in ad revenue. * Read this article from
Businessweek -
A
Widgets Worth, by
Catherine
Holahan. *According to an eMarketer report - see chart below.
I am posting this question because I want to know what the
prevailing wisdom is on the topic of who one should let in a
group they set up on Linked In? Should LinkedIn groups have
constraints, be invitation only, etc.? Should everyone who wants
to join be allowed? If it is open to everyone does it dilute
effectiveness for the members? If you are selective what are the
risks of limiting potential connections comment and tell me your
opinion.
Believe it or not, there is still time to sign up for the
Leadership and Human Capital Module of the
OEN Exec Series. Spots are going
fast, so don't wait to sign up! One of the nice features of this
module is the ability to sign up for individual classes within
the Exec Series - something new to the OEN. Interested in
learning more about the class topics or instructors? Then visit
the
OEN Exec
Series pages for more information. So what are you waiting
for? Sign up today!
Then you missed a great panel discussion on the topic of
Startup Risk, hosted by Gerry Langeler of OVP Partners. But don't
fret - you can listen to this great discussion via the SplashCast
player on the OEN website. Visit the
OEN Resources page and,
once the player loads, click on the episode "OEN PubTalk - Starup
Risk Panel Discussion". Turn your speakers up and enjoy!
Recently
Vicki
Ballou of
Tonkon Torp
LLP presented a workshop on safeguarding your IP. Here were
some the links she provided for doing trademark searches,
establishing copyright and for doing patent searches and
applying. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
website:
http://www.uspto.gov
United
States Patent and Trademark Office trademark search
United States Patent
and Trademark Office patent search Copyright Office
website:
http://www.copyright.gov
More and more Portland is getting props for being a
friendly place for entrepreneurs to set up shop. Recently in the
2008 edition of
Business Images of the Portland Region, the official
economic development magazine of the
Portland Business
Alliance, the
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
and the
Oregon Innovation
Council were hailed as stewards of helping Oregon
support innovation across all industries. Read the entire story
High
Tech Firms, Entrepreneurs Find Success.
According to an article written by Mike Rogoway in
The Oregonian, the stalwart or Oregon's economy is no
longer high tech... at least, not in the manufacturing sector of
high tech. Sustainability and software sectors show significant
promise though and investors are currently active in supporting
these opportunities. Read
High
Tech is no longer Oregon's High Point.
Listening to the media stories about the
economic
downturn, the
subprime
mortgage meltdown and the
weak
dollar and one might consider things to be a bit bleak for
business. That all depends from where you are coming from though.
Small businesses are demonstrating growth and that has been
appealing to investors, looking to do equity funding. Read the
story in the
New York Times
Despite
Downturn, Financing Exists for Small Companies.
POSSE, the Portland Open Source
Software Entrepreneur group is holding an
open meeting on
Wednesday at 5 pm at Jax Bar to kick off our speaker series
on “The Portland Entrepreneur.” We’ll be
hosting Martin Medeiros, a lawyer who specializes in open source
and has lots of investment experience and connections to VCs in
the area talk about what makes a “Portland
Entrepreneur.” This is a group where we focus on the
business side of open source, and we’d love to see you
there.
Get on the Bus! The CEO Bus Tour is an
opportunity to visit two successful Oregon entrepreneurs in their
place of business. Find out more...
Register
today! Participants will briefly tour the business facility,
then spend about an hour and a half with the host entrepreneur,
asking questions regarding lessons learned through their
entrepreneurial experience. Attendees have benefited from frank
discussions about the unique challenges the entrepreneurs faced
during the growth phase as well as what challenges lie ahead.
After they’ve completed the second visit, the tour ends at
a pub for some networking. The first stop is
Lumencor
(1:15 to 2:30 PM) to meet Steve Jaffe, CEO. This Angel Oregon
alum can share their experience and how they managed to land
investment from the Oregon Angel fund. The second stop will be
Jibe Consulting (3
to 4:15 PM). There, participants will meet Shane, Moncrieff, CEO
who will share Jibe’s story of how they grew from two
employees to 70 in two years.
On Friday, April 11th, the University of Oregon's Lundquist
College of Business made a unique decision in the 17 year history
of the New Venture Championship. The judges of the competition
combined the prize money of first and second place and then
co-awarded the first prize.
Read
more about the competition and its victors. Co-winners
Klymit from
Bringham Young
University and TakeShape from the
University of Oregon were
both delighted by the unique decision citing that it was more
money than either had expected to take home.
Other links of interest:
Read
the press release about Klymit
OEN member/volunteer and past director of membership and
programs, Jim McCreight recently went on tour to present the
benefits
OEN and an organized
entrepreneurial community can create for economic development.
Read
the Baker City Herald's coverage of the OEN Plug in! to Business
event.
Check out Marshall Kirkpatrick's article posted on
ReadWriteWeb,
Seven
Tips for Making the Most of Your RSS Reader. This is an
excellent list of tips to help you maximize the usefulness of RSS
readers and gives some suggestions of handy tools.
When: Apr
16, 2008 10:00 am
Register
for this event
This Webinar
will review the key elements that make up an effective,
executable marketing plan. We will discuss methods for
opportunity analysis, market and customer segmentations,
product/service analysis, competitive analysis, distribution
models, as well as marketing and financial objectives and the
business development strategies required to meet them.
Participants in the Webinar will learn practical, real-world
approaches to developing a plan that supports funding requests
and lays the foundation for taking a product to market.
About the instructor: Linda Brackett Linda
Brackett is the founder and president of
Connor Bates, a
hands-on business consulting firm that collaborates with
management to assess market opportunities, set a clear strategic
direction, and bridge strategy with execution. Linda has more
than 20 years of experience in planning, managing, and carrying
out the full range of market research, strategy, business
development, and communications functions required to go to
market, expand market presence, and enter new markets with a high
rate of success. Prior to establishing her consulting firm in
1987, Linda headed the marketing function at a technology startup
with global aspirations. She was responsible for all corporate
and product marketing, positioning, sales support, and public
relations during a period of 400% growth. Since then, Linda has
provided research, consulting, and facilitation services to
clients who cite her ability to bring clarity and confidence to
chaotic environments along with her blend of strategic and
tactical expertise as instrumental to their success. Linda
graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, and continued her graduate studies at l’Institut de
Sciences Politiques, Paris, France. She has served in various
roles on the Boards of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN), Health
Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the
Software Association of Oregon (SAO).
Leadership and Human Capital Management
Location: Ernst & Young, 1120 NW Couch Street, 4th Floor,
Portland, OR 97209 The Human Capital section of the OEN
Executive Series is the third of the three modules in 2008. This
four-week course will prepare entrepreneurs to effectively
leverage human capital within their own companies.
Attendees will benefit from complete discussions and prepared
material covering leadership styles, how to build a board of
directors, how to recruit the right employees as well as valuable
management strategies to keep them engaged. It recognizes the
importance of people in building the success of any business and
gives entrepreneurs real solutions about how to recruit a winning
team and manage them for success.
The dates for the Human Capital module are as follows: May 6,
13, 20, 27.
Sign
up for this module for $195 ($260 for non-members)
Or register a la carte at $65 per class session
($115 for non members). Individual class titles listed below:
Session
1: The Entrepreneurs Transitional Roles
Session
2: Leadership Styles and Differences Between Men and Women
Session
3: Using Emotional Intelligence to Enhance Your Business
Session
4: Working with the Various Generations and Determining how to
Utilize and Executive Recruiter
Co-founders Katie Wilson-Hamaker and Caroline Cummings have
had quite a year with their green business venture,
OsoEco. In
one year they have been on the stump raising awareness and money
including
winning the sustainability
sector of OEN's Angel Oregon and they are ready to launch
their "green social shopping" website this spring. They have been
recently highlighted in both the
Oregonian
and on
KMTR
News.
According to
Fortune Small Business Magazine,
Portland
ranks 6th in the Nation as a city that is good for
both launching a company and offering a hiqh quality of
life.
According to
the report, the city (Portland) boasts a thriving entrepreneurial
and venture capitalist community, with 2,571 start-ups (almost 5
per 1,000 local residents) registered in 2007. Also Oregon can
boast three other cities on the top 100 list:
Corvallis
(48);
Bend
(87); and
Eugene
(96).
See
the entire report.
