Please plan on attending Launchup tomorrow night. For more details on the event click here.
See you there!
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LaunchUp #2 - Wednesday May 27th, 6:30 p.m. - @ Utah Association of Counties in Murray
Posted by Chris Knudsen on May 26th, 2009
My blog turns three on April 10th. It lived a short life.
Posted by Chris Knudsen on April 4th, 2009
We’ll next week my blog will turn three. I haven’t blogged much lately. I think I’m losing my will to keep this thing going on a regular basis. I think Russ Page is right - micro-blogging sites like Twitter and Facebook news feeds are killing blogging. I know my blogging activity has taken a major dive ever since I took up Twitter and became more active on Facebook (I’ve been on FB since 2005 when I joined to follow my students at Westminster College). If I go back and look at my history I only have a couple posts with true original thoughts since I started with Twitter back in November 08. That proof enough that I need to think about putting this baby to bed.
I think we’re see the new dawn of social media - that is mass adoption of social media and micro-blogging outside the tech crowd and early adopters. Blogs will still be around. They will melt into many corporate Web sites as people come to expect to find them there. The high traffic blogs will still exist but will also morph into more than just blogs. Many already have. Millions of smaller blogs, like chrisknudsen.biz, will continue to stick around but will be less and less relevant in the world (if they ever had any relevance in the first place). My blog traffic has dropped off dramatically in the last couple of months and I don’t care. I get a couple thousand unique visitors per month. Most of that coming in from searches for old topics I blogged about long ago. So who cares? You can only talk to a wall for so long before you start to lose interest.
At any rate, please drop by occasionally. I’ll post something a couple times a month - maybe - but the days of blogging daily and spending hours of time creating original posts are probably over. A part of me will miss that but a big part of me is excited about moving on to other things.
Please follow me on Facebook here or on Twitter at twitter.com/chrisknudsen as I evolve my social media footprint on the Web.
Out…
2009 v|Spring v|100 - Congrats to this Years Winners!
Posted by Chris Knudsen on March 31st, 2009
Full Name Company Work Title Website Pete Abilla Schmula & Company Founder www.shmula.com Jayson Ahlstrom ClassTop President/COO www.classtop.com Rick Alden SkullCandy Founder/CEO www.skullcandy.com Nate Alder Klymit Founder/CEO www.klymit.com Paul Allen FamilyLink.com CEO http://corporate.familylink.com Curt Allen Agilix President/CEO www.agilix.com Dallin Anderson Code Genetics President/CEO www.codenutrition.com Amy Rees Mediconnect Anderson Global CEO www.mediconnect.net Jeremy Andrus SkullCandy President www.skullcandy.com Coleman Barney Infopia President/CEO www.infopia.com Don Basille FusionIO www.fusionio.com Jay Bean OrangeSoda CEO www.orangesoda.com Grant Logitech VP Digital Beckmann Video Bus. www.logitech.com Justin Bergener Schooltipline CEO www.schooltipline.com Brian Beutler Alianza CEO www.alianza.com Clay Blackham SnappConner PR Partner www.snappconner.com Brock Blake Funding Universe CEO www.fundinguniverse.com William Borghetti Sendside Networks CEO www.sendside.com David Boyce Oracle VP of Strategy of Retail Business Unit www.oracle.com David Bradford FusionIO CEO www.fusionio.com Jeff Brimhall Credibli CEO www.credibli.com Paul MarketSplash by Brockbank HP CEO www.marketsplash.com Craig Burton Gregory SageCreek Managing Butterfield Partners Partner www.sagecreekpartners.com Ryan Caldwell Entice Labs CEO www.enticelabs.com Scott BlueStar Home CoFounder/ Carman Health CEO www.bluestarhomehealth.com Don Cash Omniture VP Mid Market Sales www.omniture.com Nathaniel Mangia President/ L. Technologies Founder www.mangia.net Checketts Josh Coates Mozy Founder www.mozy.com Tom FamilySearch.org Application www.familysearch.org Creighton Architect Brian University of Cummings Utah TCO Director Ed Donakey LDS Church/ Mgr of Family History Strategic Dept. Relationships Adam Edmunds Allegiance President/CEO www.allegiance.com John Edwards Move Networks President/CEO www.movenetworks.com David Elkington InsideSales.com CEO www.insidesales.com James Endicott Exact Wave President/CEO www.exactwave.com Bjorn Espenes Infopia Chairman www.infopia.com Ildar Sterling CFOs Managing Fazulyanov Partner www.sterlingcfos.com Martin Frey Powercode Systems CEO www.powercode.com Stephen Fulling Kynetx Founder/CEO www.kynetx.com Jeremy 9Aisle CoFounder/ Hanks CEO www.9aisle.com Nathan C7 Data Centers President/ Hatch CEO www.c7dc.com Greg Heaps Allegiance COO www.allegiance.com Eliot Lumiport CoFounder/ Jacobsen COO www.lumiport.com Josh James Omniture CoFounder/ www.omniture.com CEO Steve Jones Alianza VP Bus. Dev. www.alianza.com Dr. Greg University of Associate Jones Utah Scientific Director Computing & Imaging Institute Stan Kanarowski Park City Angels Jeremy Kartchner SnappConner PR Partner www.snappconner.com Jeff Kearl SkullCandy Chairman of the Board www.skullcandy.com Maile Keone Alianza VP Marketing www.alianza.com & Client Services Kristen NuSkin Sr. Dir. Of Knight Enterprises Global Product Marketing www.nuskin.com Chris Doba SMB/9Aisle VP Sales Knudsen & Marketing www.smb.doba.com Ken Krogue Insidesales.com President/ CoFounder www.insidesales.com Bruce Law Sprout Marketing President www.sproutmarketing.com Darren Lee NextPage CEO www.nextpage.com Scott C. Lemon HumanXtensions CTO www.humanxtensions.com Dan Levine SkullCandy VP www.skullcandy.com Shawn Omniture Chief Legal Lindquist Officer www.omniture.com Lane Livingston Fibernet CFO www.fiber.net Kyle Love Direct Controls CEO www.directcontrols.com Drew Major Cisco Fellow www.cisco.com Ty D. Managing Mattingly Primay Colors Partner Ned Utah Business CEO www.utahbusinessaccelerator.com Maxfield Accelerator Dave McGinn Agilix COO/CFO www.agilix.com Glen Mella Control4 President/ www.control4.com COO John F. Omniture Exec. VP of www.omniture.com Mellor Bus Dev. & Corporate Strategy Derek Miner OrangeSoda.com CoFounder www.orangesoda.com Clarke Miyasaki SkullCandy VP Bus. Dev. www.skullcandy.com Ryan Money Franchise Foundry VP Bus Dev. www.franchisefoundry.com Mark Newman HireVue CEO www.hirevue.com Russell Page Fifty Studio COO www.fiftystudio.com Dr. Michael Paul LineaGen President/CEO www.Lineagen.com Ben Peterson HumanServicesHQ Co-Founder www.humanserviceshq.com Greg Aptus Advisors Managing www.aptusadvisors.com Peterson Partner David Politis President www.politis.com Politis Communications Michael Proper CentralPointe President/CEO Brad Rencher Omniture www.omniture.com Professor Allegiance/BYU CoFounder of www.allegiance.com Gary Allegiance & K. Rhoads Associate Director of Rollins Center of Entrepreneurship & Technology Kevin Santiago Cymphonix CEO www.cymphonix.com Todd Shepherd Studeo CEO www.studeo.com Allan Smart Voonami COO www.voonami.com Eric Smith Control4 CTO www.control4.com Cheryl SnappConner PR Managing www.snappconner.com Snapp Partner Conner James Lee Sorenson Sorenson Companies Chairman www.sorensoncompanies.com Steve Spencer Twelve Horses President/CTO www.twelvehorses.com Tim Stay Perfect Search President/CEO www.perfectsearchcorp.com Corporation Joshua Steimle MWI CEO www.mwi.com Thomas Stockham Joe Strom Alpine Capital Owner Investments Jack W. Sunderlage ContentWatch President/CEO www.contentwatch.com Benoy Tamang Sapha Founder www.sapha.com Cydni Tetro NextPage CMO www.nextpage.com William Glycosan Founder/ www.glycosan.com Tew, PhD BioSystems President/CEO Kent Thomas CFO Solutions Founder/ www.utahcfo.com Managing Member Brent Jive Thomson Communications CEO www.getjive.com Nicole Governors Office Director www.goed.utah.gov Toomey of Economic Dev. Davis Brad EarlyRun Walters Ventures CEO www.earlyrun.com Russ Warner ShipNomics VP Sales www.shipnomics.com & Marketing Will West Control4 CEO www.control4.com Greg Whisenant CrimeReports.com Founder/CEO www.crimereports.com Tyler Whitaker TM Ventures CTO & Founder www.tylerwhitaker.com Hal Mangia Widlansky Technologies CEO www.mangia.net Dr. Phillip Windley Kynetx CTO www.kynetx.com Gary S. Winterton OrangeSoda.com President www.orangesoda.com Ralph ThinkAtomic Founder/ www.thinkatomic.com Yarro III President/CEO
Launchup Details
Posted by Chris Knudsen on March 18th, 2009
Here are the details for next weeks Launchup event:
Specifics:
Date: Wednesday March 25th
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Doba - 1530 N Technology Way, Orem, UT 84097 - Canyon Park Technology Center Building D (or online) - third floor conf. area.
RSVP: If attending in person, PLEASE RSVP. If on Twitter, tweet: I’m going to #LaunchUp, are you? If not on Twitter, email jeremy @ jeremyhanks . com.
You can attend the event online at http://doba.acrobat.com/launchup1/
Agenda:
Amp Session: 15 minutes: Ben Peterson Ben is one of the smartest and successful entrepreneurs I know. He also knows a thing or two about online marketing. He started MingleMatch in 2000 which he sold to Spark Networks in 2005. He’s been active with the Utah Angels since then, and is currently working on his new startup, Human Services HQ.
Barn 1: 15 minutes: Tweetbooty http://tweetbooty.com/ Tweetbooty is a new way to access amazing discounts and giveaways from qualified local retailers. Our users want to know the answer to one simple question: What are you offering us right now?
Barn 2: 15 minutes: Entice Labs http://www.enticelabs.com/ TalentSeekr™, a patent pending technology from EnticeLabs, connects employers with these “passive candidates” by placing relevant and enticing career opportunities directly in front of them. Both employers and job candidates are given opportunities neither would have had otherwise.
Open Ideas 10 Minutes: we’re going to try an Open Idea period where the floor is anyone’s for 15 seconds
Break for Food: around 7:30, pizza/drinks
Networking: till whenever
I’ll be moderating one of the Barn sessions so I hope to see you there!
Observations from the Utah Valley Big Business Expo
Posted by Chris Knudsen on March 11th, 2009
I dropped in on the Utah Valley Big Business Expo over lunch on Wednesday. More than anything else I was curious to see if the state of the economy would dampen the mood at the annual gathering. Here are some observations:
The show was busy and most of the booth space was filled. That’s a good sign.
I talked to several accounting firms at the show. They say business is stead but for the most part they weren’t hiring or taking on new clients.
Rand Bateman of Bateman IP Law had a great booth. We played some blackjack and caught up on events. He said he was tired of people being so down on the economy and decided to do his part by exhibiting at the show. Good stuff!
I ran into my old partner in crime - Benoy Tamang of Sapha. Sapha seems to be keeping up and doing well.
The guys from Griffen Hill were exhibiting. If you need a good consultative sales training program they are the guys to talk to.
I ran into Lance Black from Eli Kirk. Their business seems to be doing very well. We mainly talked about what a studly programmer Connor Boyack is and how the only time he and I ever see each other is at the Big Business Expo. It was good to catch up.
I also ran into a guy who was my neighbor when I lived in Springville five years ago. He was an electrician back then but graduated from school and started working in marketing for a very well known Utah company. That company has since laid off all their marketing staff except for my friend. He said he tries to do some side electrical work but the market is completely dead.
In Utah, our unemployment rate is up but we seem to be doing better than most places. If you look at the unemployment numbers only Wyoming and the Dakotas are doing better than us. So in my assessment, that means the Wasatch Front probably has the best employment situation for a large metro area in the United States. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we were recently observed as being some of the happiest people in America.
Go team!
Update on Launchup
Posted by Chris Knudsen on February 27th, 2009
As many of you are aware the first Launchup will be held at Doba in about a month. What’s a Launchup? Basically the idea is the 2009 version of a good old fashioned barn raising applied to technology entrepreneurship. Here are some details on the event:
Date: Wednesday March 25th
Location: Still planning on Doba, although we’re checking on one other option here at the auditorium at Canyon Park in Orem. Stay tuned.
Technology: We will be streaming the event in case you can’t make it in person. More details to come.
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Session Presenter: Ben Peterson (Sold MingleMatch to Spark about four years ago - awesome under the radar Utah entrepreneur).
Barns: I’m not sure if I can announce what start ups will be presenting at this time. We have two great companies in the bullpen. More details to come.
Open Mic/Ideas
Break for Food: pizza/drinks after event
Networking
So mark your calander for March 25th and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Find joy in the journey
Posted by Chris Knudsen on February 26th, 2009
This is something I am trying to keep in mind. Everyday is just one more step in a journey that started long ago.
This life has a purpose. What’s yours?
“This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.”
Four newcomers you should consider for the 2009 v|Spring v|100
Posted by Chris Knudsen on February 10th, 2009
After going through the v|100 nominations this afternoon I have to admit that I’m a little annoyed. Some people didn’t learn how to follow instructions in school. At any rate, I would really like to see a high quality group of people who truly deserve to make the list for 2009. Here are four v|100 newcomers you should consider voting for in 2009.
Steve Spencer - Twelve Horses
As President and CTO, Steve Spencer determines the technological direction of the company, while holding all business units within Twelve Horses to their financial and strategic goals. Spencer has more than 18 years of leadership experience in the messaging and data replication industries where he has successfully built various industrial strength messaging solutions sold by such companies as Premier Global Services, MCI WorldCom, Sprint, Pitney Bowes, and Qwest; and data integration products for dotOne Corporation, MCI WorldCom, and Critical Path. He was recently featured in the Utah Business magazine’s cover story,“Forty Under 40: Utah’sRising Stars” - the sixth annual 40 Under 40 list assembles the key leaders andentrepreneurs from the state of Utah. Spencer shares his experience, dedication, and passion for technology with the Email Service Provider Coalition (ESPC), Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO), Utah Technology Council (UTC), as well as his new pursuit, the Utah Tech Spotlight.
Blaine Neilson - Doba
As Chief Executive Officer, Blaine Nielsen leads the company in executing against its strategic vision and coordinates and oversees day-to-day operations of the business. Blaine has been instrumental in building the company’s operations to facilitate the rapid growth the company has realized. Blaine has a wide range of financial management, strategic and operational experience. Blaine came to Doba from Dell where he was responsible for conducting financial/operational audits of various business segments and departments, and providing operational and business controls recommendations. Prior to Dell, Blaine served as a senior auditor with Ernst & Young where he supervised and performed financial audits of SEC and privately held companies. Blaine holds a Masters of Accountancy in Professional Accounting degree and a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University.
Justin McHood - Fast Dynamite
I’ve been working with Justin on various projects over the last two years. He is currently building some cool technology that could revolutionize content distribution on the Web. His previous background is in mortgage banking and lead generation. Justin has also worked for companies like Oracle and Novell. Give him a vote.
Russ Page - FiftyStudio and RegMeUp
From Russ Page’s Bio: Russell Page is a founder and the COO of Fifty Studio, a web development and internet marketing firm based in Salt Lake City. He is also a member of the Utah Jazz game night staff and a partner in a home theater and home automation company.
Russ also has a new start up - RegMeUp - keep an eye out for that one!
Let’s make the 2009 v|100 list the best list yet!
Cydni Tetro: Venture-Backed Startups Are On The Brink Of Extinction
Posted by Chris Knudsen on February 4th, 2009
Here’s a must read from my good friend and former cohort, Cydni Tetro on the future of venture-backed start-ups:
So I am very concerned about the future of venture backed startups and I think we need a community voice around it. Here is the issue (and it is a tad long)
Summary: If you give me $10B I can create 35k jobs. Those people don’t need unemployment or COBRA or Medicaid extensions they need meaningful jobs.
I have not been able to come to grips with the lack of focus on actual job building in the current $850 B proposal and the fact that any of our public servants would actually support it. We all agree that the problem we face is job creation. Therefore, it makes complete and simple sense that what we have to do is focus on job creation. We are a capitalist market and the majority of jobs in our economy are created by people with great ideas, who build companies and provide jobs. They are not created by government programs that include research, proposals, tax cuts and Medicaid.
I work in the venture-backed technology community and the bubble is about to burst with such huge ramifications that we don’t quite appreciate the impact. Both the WSJ and Forbes recently posted articles about the rate of return on VC funds over the last ten years and the numbers are sobering. Our industry was hit by two major downturns, bigger than any before and it shows. But the bigger story is what is happening in the funding communities. Here is how it works: VC’s have funds, they have a 10 year life, most were raised in 1999 and 2000 so they are coming to an end which means new funds have been raised but not all of the capital has flowed to them and then here comes the recession and it looks like this:
• Most existing VC’s, that I am aware of (local and Sand Hill) cannot realistically fund new deals
• For the first time in the history of VC’s LP’s are defaulting on capital calls
• Word on the street is that the biggest endowment in the country is defaulting on capital calls
• LP’s are telling funds to ramp funds down to 30% of where they were
• For the first time General Partners are being laid off from VC’s
• VC’s are having to crush down their portfolio and close startups
• Startups who could be to break even or even profitable in 12 months can’t get funding, so they close the door, creating more job loss vs job creation which could happen if they could get just $3M more dollars to get to break even
My prediction in the next 12-24 months
• We are left with half of the VC funds we have today
• There is little money to fund new deals (In 2007 $30 B went to start ups)
• There are limited exits (M&A or IPO)
• A very small percentage of startups will get any funding
• Trying to raising capital will be incredibly hard with thousands competing for the same dollars
• No new jobs are created because there is no money to fund the startups
Our best path on job creation is empowering people who build companies, innovate and create jobs. There is no money to do this. Even if you were to assume that you only breakeven on startup companies what they did in the meantime is they provided jobs, which gave money to people to spend in the economy, they will inspire others to innovate and launch startups, they will export goods and services, they will contribute to society. Business leaders, innovators, company builders they are who we need to recover and they need capital.
You can assume that for every $1.5B spent on building new companies – startups – you create 5000 jobs. So do the math, give me $10B and I can create 35k jobs. Does this not make sense? It is not over leveraged, it doesn’t mean every person with an idea gets funded. It means it is how you create jobs and growth and innovation and opportunity and money for consumers to spend.
Instead of losing 65k jobs this week give me a $1.5Billion and I will find some great companies to build. But do not even think that $150M at the Smithsonian is doing one thing for the economy – give me that and I will create 1500 jobs, sounds like a better deal to me. Don’t spend the money to increase unemployment benefits – hello – put the money into hands of the people who create economy.
Great analysis. Nice work, Cyd. Now maybe you ought to get that blog up and running 
Stop and enjoy the view
Posted by Chris Knudsen on January 29th, 2009
I’ve had one of those weeks at work. In the middle of some hard issues on Wednesday evening I walked into my office and was hit by a beautiful sunset. Here’s the picture:
Lesson learned: Life is just life. Deal with it. Stop and enjoy the view and things will work out.