TOMORROW NIGHT, Tuesday January 5, 2021 at 7pm, the Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network (ENET) will hold an online webinar on this subject, a subject for which I have organized and moderated ENET meetings in the past (see further BELOW).
Because of the COVIN-19 / Coronavirus pandemic, ENET changed its meeting on March 17, 2020 to a free Webinar, and on March 19, 2020 held its monthly Board meeting as a virtual meeting rather than an in-face meeting at a Chinese restaurant. At the March 19 Board meeting, it was voted that all the remaining meeting for the program year 2019-2020, which ran through July 14, 2020, which were all free webinars. The Board also voted to reschedule the next July Sunset Networking Cruise of Boston Harbor to July 15, 2021, with no cruise in July 2020. A final decision has not yet been ,made as to whether the next cruise would be in July 2021 or July 2022.
This is ENET’s 30th year since the non-profit group began in 1991. At our kickoff meeting September 1, 2020, I was honored by ENET’s Chair Millie Kwan to offer a few remarks on ENET’s history and progress over the years and then to offer the toast. As we all raised our glasses in the zoom session, my toast was “L’Chaim” – “To Life” to the life of ENET, may it long endure to benefit founders, entrepreneurs and startup companies in Boston, New England and beyond.”
The price to attend this webinar is just $10 (and free to ENET members).
This $10 fee is actually a “package deal”. Beginning with our first virtual meeting in October 2020 (when ENET resumed charging for attendance), the night’s program was expanded to include not only the online webinar an Q and A from 7pm to 830pm, but also two separate online networking sessions, one before the webinar (530 – 645pm) and the second after the webinar (830 – 9pm). See https://boston-enet.org/Blog/9284262 The intended focus of the first networking session is to provide a place for founders and entrepreneurs to mingle, exchange ideas, and network with co-founders and others who want to get involved with startup companies (e.g. workers, interns, investors, contractors). The added intended focus of the second session is to give those who attend the webinar the chance to mingle and ask more personal questions of the evening’s speakers who often join the post-meeting networking. The online networking service is provided by an impressive New England startup company, Grapevine – https://grapevine.today/
Below is more information / article on the January 5, 2021 ENET webinar, to occur tomorrow tonight.
You have validated your idea, built a team, and have funding. This session will focus on expeditiously bringing your product to market cost-effectively. Core topics will include; User Experience, Design Segmentation, Quality Assurance, and Performance and Scalability Testing.
Whatever product you are building, the User Experience defines its acceptance. Customers expect the product’s technology to work and count on the interface to make it easy to use and delight their employees. The panel will discuss converting UX requirements into exceptional product experiences.
Design Segmentation will review what parts of the system perform different functions, the trade-off between hardware and software solutions. Does the solution contain IP which must be developed in-house, or could the IP be purchased or subcontracted? The panel will discuss these topics and what are the best of class design methodologies today?
Quality is job 1, closely followed by scalability and performance. It is one thing to produce Proof Of Concept and Prototype quantities. It is entirely different to build mass production quantities or support tens of thousands of Users. The panel will discuss creating and testing quality early in the product development cycle. The importance of regression testing and revision control to enable quick problem resolution and product quality.
Agenda:
5:30 – 6:45 – Networking on Grapevine Network
7:00 – 7:10 PM – ENET Chairperson’s announcements
7:10 – 7:25 PM – eMinute Pitch – Up to 3 Startup companies’ presentations
7:25 – 8:10 PM – expert speakers on the night’s topic
8:10 – 8:30 PM – Moderator and Audience Q & A with the speakers
8:30 – 9:00 PM – Networking on Grapevine Network
(all times are USA Eastern Daylight time)
A question and answer session will follow the panel discussion, and panelists will be available afterward for responses to individual questions.
Panel Members:
Peter Winston, CEO, Integrated Computer Solutions (ICS)
Peter Winston is CEO and founder of custom software development firm Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc. (ICS) and its user experience (UX) design agency Boston UX. Since 1987, ICS has designed, developed and deployed powerful applications and transformational products that feature intuitive interfaces on touchscreen and embedded technology. In the past five years, Winston has evolved the company to encompass other leading-edge technologies, including machine learning and robotics, and voice and gesture recognition to fuel growth. Today, the global company excels in the areas of embedded, desktop, mobile, and IoT development and UX design, and has developed everything from regulated medical devices to commercial restaurant equipment. Customers include Fortune 1000 companies like Boeing and Intel, as well as small and midsize firms looking to disrupt their industries.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwinston/
Anupam Koul, Board President Envisage, Inc., Envisage, Inc…caring delivery of superior solutions (TM)
Anupam is an entrepreneur, investor, adviser, mentor and hands-on business operator. His background includes an interesting mix of product development and professional services. He has helped build and deploy many successful global products and technologies, as well as built more than one best-in-class global professional services and engineering businesses from the ground-up. Currently, Anupam is a board member at Cultivate Care Farms, and is President of the Board at Envisage where he is tasked with being a strategic advisor to the CEO.
Envisage is a trusted partner to many clients for delivering on complex technology solutions. Our resources provide hands on expertise and strategic consultation that enable firms to complete projects efficiently and more effectively. For more than a decade now, we have demonstrated our expertise and proven our capability through a passion for delivering quality solutions, outcome certainty and transparency to our partners.
Specialties: Information Technology, Enterprise Software, Implementations, Integration, Data, Business Intelligence, Cloud Modernization, Product Development, Embedded Systems & Hardware
Values: Quality, Integrity, Transparency, Consistency, Hard Work & Service
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anupamkoul/
Laura Tenney, Director of Software Engineering, Dell Technologies |Storage Products
Laura is an experienced engineering leader who enjoys developing and leading high-performing organizations, with a focus on strategic process improvements and on-going team development. With 30 years of experience in the industry, Laura has been a leader in software companies that range from startups to multinational businesses such as Xerox and McKesson, and worked in markets that include networking, workforce management, optical character recognition, and health care. Laura enjoys driving positive change, solving challenging problems, and building products that meet or exceed customer expectations. Currently Laura is helping lead the development of the first hardware independent containerized UFS64 File System at Dell Technologies where she has been working for the past 6 years.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-tenney-1bb1a61/
Organizer and Moderator:
Dan Skiba, Managing Director Skiba Advisory Associates, VP Printed Electronics Chasm Advanced Materials, Vice-Chair Meetings Boston ENET
As a Product Development Company Executive, I provide strategic leadership in product innovation and managing global teams, delivering award-winning products to the international market. My ability to problem solve, direct the entire product development lifecycle, and gain commitment to a common goal have driven faster release of products and market penetration. By building synergies across all Product Life Cycle disciplines, we have delivered products that result in 100% product utilization and seamless integration into customer environments. My skills in optimizing international resources have significantly reduced costs and streamlined production, delivering product excellence.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dtskiba/
eMinute PITCH – The opportunity for founders and entrepreneurs to deliver a virtual pitch presentation to all who tune in to that night’s ENET webinar, is offered for each ENET webinar – to occur at the start of each meeting. These 90-second elevator-style presentations enable early-stage startup entrepreneurs to gain experience in presenting a summary of their business plans to expert panels and audiences. If participation in this eminutePITCH presentation is of interest to you, learn more and if you wish register to do a pitch at – https://boston-enet.org/eminute
For more information, or to register go to – https://boston-enet.org/event-3892659
(Please note capacity is limited so pre-registration is necessary)
Hopefully, this ENET webinar will be helpful to entrepreneurs in small and early stage companies I represent. Hope you will join us online at 7pm tomorrow night!
For additional ENET information on Product Development in Life Science & Tech Startups …
Three years ago, on January 2, 2018, I organized and moderated an ENET panel, in Waltham, on the same subject that may also be of interest to those interested in ENET’s panel tonight. The subject that night was also ““ “Product Development in Life Science & Tech Startups “. Slides from 3 speakers. LINK: https://boston-enet.org/event-2616641
Here are bios from our speakers in January 2018 – quite a distinguished panel two tech and one medical device product development executives I was able to recruit for ENET that night. Here are links to slides from each of the three ENET speakers that night:
- Steve Owens, Founder of Finish Line PDS – https://boston-enet.org/resources/Documents/Presentations/010218/Owens.pdf
- Lynn Birch, Vice President, Product Engineering at Skreens – https://boston-enet.org/resources/Documents/Presentations/010218/Birch.pdf
- Lisa Sasso, MBA, CPCC, ACC, President and Executive Coach,, Medical Development Partners, LLC – https://boston-enet.org/resources/Documents/Presentations/010218/Sasso.pdf
Speakers:
STEVE OWENS, founder of Finish Line PDS (www.finishlinepds.com) has over 30 years of successful product development experience in many different industries and is a sought-after adviser and speaker on the subject. Steve has founded four successful start-ups and holds more than twenty-five patents.
Steve has worked for companies such as Halliburton and Baker Hughes. He has experience in the Internet of Things, M2M, oil and gas, and industrial controls. Steve’s insight into the product development process has generated millions of dollars in revenue for start-ups and small businesses. Finish Line PDS provides product and technology development management, mechanical design, and development of electronics, firmware and sensors, as well as design verification testing and other services. Finish Line PDS is a proud sponsor of the Boston ENET. https://twitter.com/FinishLine_PDS
LYNN BIRCH, Vice President, Product Engineering at Skreens
https://www.skreens.com is senior level leader with 20+ years of experience in the areas of business development, product management, and technical architecture and definition with a proven track record of success delivering competitive high technology solutions, products and services. Lynn has recently been working to help bring to market a disruptive technology in display and video delivery technologies that will change the way that content is consumed. Lynn holds both a BS Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s in Business Innovation from Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business.
Lisa Sasso, MBA, CPCC, ACC, President and Executive Coach, Medical Development Partners, LLC
Lisa Sasso (http://meddevpartners.com/) is the President and Executive Coach of Medical Development Partners, LLC (MDP). Prior to MDP, Lisa was the co-founder of Radi Medical Systems, Inc., a high-tech medical device distributor specializing in innovative cardiology products. During her six-year tenure as President/CEO, she grew the company from inception to revenues of $28M with profitability. Lisa’s vision and strategic direction were responsible for the company’s explosive annual triple digit growth. Lisa built a seasoned Medical Device sales force with more than 550 years of combined sales experience. Motivated by excitement for new technologies, she built strong physician advisory boards and a seasoned clinical/sales team. Lisa and her team ultimately helped healthcare professionals make more informed treatment decisions resulting in better patient care. Lisa was recognized for her efforts and ranked #28 out of 100 Women Led Businesses in Massachusetts in 2004.
My Continuing role as ENET Chair Emeritus, Frequent Moderator and Occasional Speaker…
I remain active in ENET, a Waltham/Burlington and Cambridge/Boston based non-profit group, affiliated with IEEE, www.ieee.org that aids not only engineers interested in becoming entrepreneurs, but seeks to aid all tech and life science founders, entrepreneurs, small and early stage companies, and people who invest or work in those companies in Eastern New England and beyond. www.boston-enet.org
A member of the ENET Board since 2002, I was the longest serving Chair in the almost 30-year history of this non-profit group, elected to five 2-year terms, serving from May 2009 through May 2019. During the period of my leadership, ENET’s annual program has grown from 10 meetings per year to 20 for the most recent 2018-19 program year. I continue to serve on ENET’s Ad Board and its Executive Committee as Chair Emeritus, and have signed up to organize and moderate more meetings for 2019-20 than any other Board member, while continuing to serve as the annual cruise director.
Our ENET program year goes from September through July. Our group has 20 meetings per year: 10 meetings in the Boston suburbs (Waltham at Constant Contact through December 2019 and Microsoft Burlington beginning January 2020); 10 meetings in Kendall Square, Cambridge at Draper Labs; and we end the program year with a July sunset networking cruise of Boston Harbor. Each program meeting has 1-hour networking, 1 hour 3-4 expert speakers on startup topic, then ½ hour final networking. Attendance is 60-120. Our meetings are attended mainly by founders and those working in startup and small companies in the tech, e-commerce, clean energy, medical device, medtech and life science spaces – really, the whole of the New England innovation economy.
We also archive meeting slides, so that those who cannot attend, including entrepreneurs and founders from around the USA and beyond can freely view slides from more than 100 past ENET meetings, since 2007. See – https://boston-enet.org/Meeting-Archives
COVID-19 Note: As said above, ENET held free webinars in place of its normal Burlington and Cambridge, MA face-to-face group meetings for the remainder of the 2019-2020 program year, from March 17 through July 14, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. ENET is continuing these webinars as we begin our 2020-2021 program year, with the first two meetings September 1 and September 15 as free webinars. I do note that for paid members of ENET, your memberships have been frozen as they were at March 10, 2020 until ENET again resumes paying meetings. Until then, members as all others may attend ENET’s free webinars with no offset to your rolling membership. Beginning with ENET’s October 6, 2020 webinar, ENET will be charging $10 for non-members who register, and existing memberships may attend without charge and your memberships will be extended by seven months. For those interested in ENET membership, the annual charge is $75, or $65 if you are a member of IEEE, or $45 if you are a student or veteran. For more information or to become an ENET member, go to – https://boston-enet.org/Member-Benefits
On January 30, 2016, at a ceremony at the national meeting of IEEE-USA in Las Vegas, NV, the President of that organization Peter Eckstein (pictured below) presented me with the IEEE-USA professional achievement award for “extreme dedication and contributions to the IEEE entrepreneurial community”. For more information on that award, see LINK: http://www.boston-enet.org/IEEE-USA-Professional-Achievement-Award
On July 18, 2019, I arranged, as cruise director, the final event of the 2018-19 ENET program year, our annual Sunset Networking Cruise of Boston Harbor. In this cruise, that we called the “EntrepreneurSHIP 2019”, ENET was joined by our partners MDG – Medical Development Group, Women in Bio – Greater Boston chapter, IEEE WIE – Women In Engineering and The EntreTech Forum. This was the 17th annual cruise I have arranged for ENET, and it drew our largest attendance of the year 192 – perfect night for and evening cruise, views of the USS Constitution / “Old Ironsides” with the cannon shot and taps at sunset and other great sights of Boston Harbor and great food and networking for all aboard. The cruise sold out two days before we set off from Rowes Wharf.
COVID-19 Note: As said above, ENET voted to cancel the cruise planned for July 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. However, the ENET Board did vote to schedule our 18th annual Boston Harbor sunset networking cruise for July 15, 2021. With Board approval, I contacted both our cruise company, Mass Bay Lines, and our caterer, Off the Vine, made the 2020 cancellation and confirmation of the new cruise 2021 date and asked each to hold and apply ENET’s deposits paid to the 2021 date. Both agreed and were appreciative of ENET’s vote of confidence in them. Both have been outstanding partners for ENET over the years. I also contacted MDG, Women in Bio Boston and the other the groups who partner with ENET in the cruise, and each of them understood the 2020 cancellation. ENET has not yet made a final determination on whether our next cruise will be in the summer of 2021 or summer of 2022.
View of Sunset over Boston’s Tobin Bridge from our ship 7/18/2019 – photo by ENET Chair Millie Kwan
Besides my past work as ENET Chair, and annual cruise director, I am also active in organizing, moderating and occasionally being an expert speaker at ENET meetings.
In the current 2020-2021 program year, I organized and moderated one meeting and in the most recent completed ENET program year 2019-2020, I co-organized five (5) of the 21 ENET meetings or webinars, three of which I also moderated. Below is information and links on those six meetings or webinars:
Knowing Your Competition To Set Your Startup Apart!: ENET Free online Webinar, October 6, 2020
Below is the introduction to the October 6, 2020 ENET webinar that, as webinar organizer and moderator, I prepared.
For the founder and entrepreneur launching a startup company, it is important to understand the market for your products or services, and to understand your competition when you enter that market.
When you are seeking angel or VC investment or trying to recruit co-founders and first employees or contractors, all will be looking for your competitive analysis and how, from your knowledge of the market, you can set your startup apart, including the following:
- Knowledge and mastery of the place your company’s products or services fill in your target marketplace;
- What market niche you intend to enter and can dominate
- Your plan for how your company will penetrate the target
- Identity of your chief competitors, both direct competitors and indirect competitors that could be substitutes for your product or service
- The value proposition that you offer that will enable you to overcome the normal tendency for no change
- Strengths of the competition and your plan to overcome those
- Weakness of your competitors and your plan to avoid those same weaknesses
- Barriers to entry you would seek to create to surmount new competition once you gain market traction
At the October 6, 2020 ENET webinar, our online attendees heard from three deeply experienced panelists, one of whom is an angel investor, two are entrepreneurs and all three deeply involved in product or service marketing in tech, life science and consumer fields, who will share their knowledge and experience with the ENET audience for this webinar on the critical issue of market mastery, competitive analysis and how to use those to set your company apart. We all discovered there is much to learn in this important area for your startup to achieve traction and success.
- Slides from two of the three speakers are available at https://boston-enet.org/event-3892643
Speakers:
Tom Meyer, Managing Partner @ Nassau Street Ventures at Alumni Ventures Group.
Tom Meyer is an experienced investor and venture capitalist, CEO and strategic consultant. Tom was CEO of the venture-backed, big data, software company, Connotate, and enterprise software company, IntroMaps. At Iron Mountain, he launched and ran the Digital Record Center, an award winning, cloud based, content management solution. He was also CEO of Russet Communications, a wireless company which he acquired, grew and successfully sold. He brings a global perspective to business, having lived in Europe and Asia and worked in 40 countries around the globe. Tom has an engineering degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. he offers help and support to promising young entrepreneurs.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasmeyer/
Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien, Chief Operations Officer @ Groupize, a company she and her husband co-founded. They developed software for people to manage events, meetings, weddings, sporting tournaments and more. Groupize evolved into an online place where corporate travel planners can easily book 10 or more hotel rooms for meetings—and Groupize’s technology makes the experience smoother for participants. Prior to Groupsize, Alicia was Vice President @ DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co., from 2005 to 2013, a company that designs and leads luxury bike trips in the world’s most amazing places – from the rolling hills of Tuscany and storied medieval villages of Provence to the Andean foothills of Argentina’s wine country and the lush vineyards of Sonoma. Prior to that she was vice President @ Yankee Holidays 1994 to 2004, She is a graduate of Endicott College, with Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Management
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisa-de-gaspe-beaubien-0002973/
David Uffer, Partner @ Alira Health. The company is an International advisory firm offering integrated strategy, innovation and execution services, and dedicated to healthcare in areas of pharma, life sciences, med tech, diagnostics and HIT. Prior to Alira, from 2013 to 2017, David was Director, Business Development & Licensing @ Covidien (Medtronic Minimally Invasive Therapies Group), where he worked in the areas of M&A, licensing, distribution, co-development, equity investments, pipeline development. In the prior period 1990 to 2013, David held a series of senior management and marketing positions with the following different well-known life science companies: Hologic, Inc., Bovie Medical Corporation, Integra LifeSciences, Boston Scientific, Abbott Diagnostics (Abbott Laboratories). He holds a B.A. degree from Clark University in International Relations, and an MBA degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-uffer-00a176/
M&A and Successful Exits: Free online Webinar, June 2, 2020
Below is the introduction to this June 2, 2020 ENET webinar that, as co-organizer, I prepared.
You are one of them…a dedicated entrepreneur, who has poured her heart and sweat into the venture. Does this single-minded dedication to launch and grow the business have to exclude thoughts of potential future exits? On the contrary, an exit strategy is an important element of the overall business strategy that describes the vision of how you will eventually capitalize on your investment. This is important because the decisions about how you structure and operate the business can have huge implications down the road.
Let us hear from three deeply experienced panelists, all of who founders and entrepreneurs and two of whom are active early stage investors, and all have participated in successful exits that have come in various sizes and forms. They will talk about exit strategy planning and, just as important, what exits look and feel like in real life to an entrepreneur, the founder CEO or CSO, and the investor.
Our panel, including two angel investors and a serial entrepreneur who has had successful exits, will discuss these issues concerning valuation and term sheets.
Slides from all three (3) speakers are available at https://boston-enet.org/event-3461328
Speakers:
Chad Jones, Serial Entrepreneur & Investor; Chief Strategy Officer & Board Adviser, Orb Health; CEO, Velox Medical; CEO, Plesso Ventures, WW Agent of Change, TEDx
As a socially conscious “agent of change”, Chad Jones utilizes his skills as an entrepreneur, thought leader and venture investor to take unique ideas from inception through execution for startups and F50 companies alike. Guiding effective and profitable outcomes – including six exits to companies such as Microsoft, VMware and Intel – Chad continues to pursue his vision of achieving a better world through non-intuitive technology use and entrepreneurship. Chad splits his time as a board member, operational executive and mentor across a wide spectrum of companies. Before his current position of CEO at Plesso Ventures, Inc., he held positions of Chief Strategy Officer at Deep Information Systems, VP of Internet of Things Strategy at LogMeIn, Strategy and PM for DynamicOps (acquired by VMWare) and VP Product Management with Neocleus (acquired by Intel). Additionally, he was co-creator of Softricity app virtualization, acquired by Microsoft, which grew to revenues topping $6 billion. As an investor, Chad Jones has chosen passions that are both close to his heart and that create better outcomes for the plan (effective alternative energy, wireless electricity, etc.). He also enjoys helping the next generation look differently at the world through guest lectures at Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, MIT and Carnegie Mellon. In his free time, he enjoys writing screenplays, playing beach volleyball, heli-skiing, playing guitar, collecting wine and, of course, finding the next great idea that will transform businesses and lives.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadericjones/
Jean Hammond, Angel Investor; General Partner @ LearnLaunch Accelerator
LearnLaunch Accelerator provides the most promising edtech startups worldwide with seed funding, an unmatched team of mentors, intensive coaching and all the tools needed to grow a successful edtech startup. an Institute, Accelerator and Campus that together support the growth of greater Boston’s edtech cluster. www.learnlauch.com Jean is an active angel investor focusing on early stage high tech start-ups. She was honored with the highest award for angels in the US, the Hans Severiens Award in 2014. She was a founder of the Boston branch of Golden Seeds (focused on investing in women-managed businesses) and a member of Launchpad Venture Group and Hub Angels. She is also the founder of JPH Associates and a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the high-tech industry. Her entrepreneurial activities include co-founding and managing Quarry Technologies and AXON Networks and, following 3Com’s acquisition of AXON, focusing 3Com’s WAN strategy. She has played an active board level role with a number of her Boston area investments including Crimson Hexagon, Hire Reach, Home Portfolio, Instream Media, iTeam, Peach Underneath, Pixibility, Playrific, Ten Marks, ZipCar, and a number of others. Her activities with nonprofits include being a member of board of trustees of MIT, a board member of The Technology Capital Network and Mentor at MassChallenge and TechStars. She earned a M.S. from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS in Biology from Boston University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-hammond-77b44b/
Juswinder Singh Ph.D., Scientist and Entrepreneur; Founder and Chief Scientific Officer @ Ankaa Therapeutics
Dr. Singh is a pioneer in the development of a new class of drugs called Targeted Covalent Inhibitors that have revolutionized the treatment of lung cancer and leukemia. His current company, Ankaa Therapeutics. Is a start-up company focused on the development of drugs to treat drug resistance. He was the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Avila Therapeutics, a venture-backed company which in five years (2007-2012) went from startup (in his basement) to a world-class organization with collaborations with Novartis, Sanofi, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Clovis Oncology to advance multiple drugs into clinical development. In 2012 Avila Therapeutics was acquired by Celgene. In 2013 his company Avila received the New England Venture Capital award for Exit of the Year. He was awarded the 2016 American Chemical Society George and Christine Sosnovsky award for outstanding contributions to cancer research. In 2016 he was awarded the Excellence in Innovation Award by the Chinese-American Biomedical Association. He has been a board member and advisor to Trek Therapeutics, Care4ward and TIE Boston.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmhron/
Co-Organizer and Moderator
Mai Zymaris, Associate @ Morrison & Foerster and ENET volunteer
Mai is a Boston-based corporate and IP transactional attorney, represents life sciences and high-tech companies at every step of their business: incorporation, licensing, collaboration & strategic agreements, exit strategies, and IPO. Mai received her JD from Boston College Law School and her LLM from Harvard Law School. Born and raised in Vietnam, Mai possesses local knowledge and market savviness in Asia. She has also built an extensive network there. In 2015, She founded VietChallenge, the most prestigious and largest startup competition for Vietnamese entrepreneurs as well as non-Vietnamese entrepreneurs with plans to expand into the Vietnamese market. Over the past five years, VietChallenge has helped elevate more than 800 startups, startups who have now raised more than $8 million from investors.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mai-zymaris-70625530/
Co-Organizers
Robert A. Adelson, Principal, Business and Tax attorney, Adelson & Associates, LLC. Chair Emeritus, Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network (ENET)
Rob has been an attorney for over 30 years specialized in business, tax, stock and options, employment, contracts, financing, trademarks and intellectual property. Rob began as an associate at major New York City law firms before returning home to Boston in 1985 where he has since been a partner in small and medium sized firms before joining Engel & Schultz LLP where he was a partner from 2004 to 2019. When the senior partners retired, he moved his law practice to his own firm. Rob represents entrepreneurs, start-ups and small companies, independent contractors and employees and executives. Rob is a frequent speaker on business law topics and author of numerous articles published in Boston Business Journal, Mass High Tech and other publications, plus more than twenty articles since 2016 on executive employment topics published by CEOWorld magazine. He has been named among the “Top 20 Boston Startup Lawyers” by ChubbyBrain.com, a website that provides tools for entrepreneurs. Rob has been on the ENET Board since 2002, was Vice Chair 2005-2009, and ENET Chairman 2009-2019. He was also a Co-Founder and Board member of the 128 Innovation Capital Group (2004 -2015). In 2016, he received the IEEE USA Professional Achievement award for “extreme dedication to the entrepreneurship community.” He holds degrees from Boston University, B.A., summa cum laude, Northwestern University (Chicago), J.D., Law Review, and New York University, LL.M. in Taxation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-adelson-b8a1557/
Anthony Corsino, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
Sustaining Your Early Stage Life Science Company during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: ENET-MDG Free online Webinar, May 5, 2020
I was moderator for this webinar and was co-organizer with Dr. Peter Madras.
This was the first of three zoom webinar programs in the series on COVID-19 and was held on May 5, 2020.
Below is the introduction to this webinar by Robert Adelson, Esq. and Dr. Peter Madras, the two co-organizers.
We are living through a medical pandemic that dwarfs any medical issue of the past 100 years. Not only does it threaten the health of every American, it threatens the economic foundation of our society, and that of the entire world. There is no greater priority than preserving our lives and our way of life. For the joint membership of ENET and MDG, that means sustaining our businesses during this financial and medical crisis. This webinar gathers outstanding thought leaders whose positions have brought the issues raised by current events into especially sharp focus. They will outline their thoughts and be available for questions and discussion.
On Tuesday May 5, 2020 from 7 TO 8:45 pm EST, ENET and MDG will present this critically important webinar, addressing existential problems facing early stage medical start-up companies in this financial melt-down. We will consider the question: In order to enhance your company’s survivability, what are the choices you must make to live and fight another day? Our panel consists of two serial entrepreneurs, one specializing in medical devices, the other in biotech; three attorneys, one who heads his firm’s COVID-19 task force, a second who focuses on representing the needs of early stage medical companies and the third whose expertise is in Federal support being offered under recent Federal Legislation and response.
Our moderator, Robert Adelson, is ENET’s chair emeritus who has written two published articles on COVID-19 work force reduction and maximizing unemployment benefits for employees laid off or reduced in hours.
Here are links to slides from each of the five ENET – MDG speakers that night:
Dr. Amar Sawhney, CEO of Instylla, Inc.
Benjamin M. Hron, Partner and Business Attorney, McCarter & English, LLP.
Aaron T. Kriss, Partner and Tax Attorney, Gesmer Updegrove LLP
Here also are two articles of mine earlier published in CEO Refresher magazine and reposted at the ENET website, as relevant to the topic of the May 5, 2020 joint webinar, the articles dealing the topic of COVID-19 workforce cutbacks.
Layoff, Furlough or Other Employee Cut Backs
New Developments for Employee Furloughs in Massachusetts
Pointers for Term Sheet & Deal Negotiations: ENET Meeting, February 18, 2020
Company founders getting ready to raise outside financing do not want to give up more equity than absolutely necessary. Investors want more equity for their investment as a reward for the risk they are taking on the young company. Valuation is used to determine a fair trade-off of cash for equity. However, company founders need to consider the issues.
What is a reasonable valuation for a startup?
Must this determination be made when first obtaining funds?
What terms might an entrepreneur see when presented with a Term Sheet and what are the trade-offs when negotiating these?
How do terms impact founders’ managerial control of investments and operating decisions?
Our panel, including two angel investors and a serial entrepreneurs who has had successful exits, will discuss these issues concerning valuation and term sheets.
- Slides from all three (3) speakers are available at https://boston-enet.org/event-3461318
Speakers:
Ziad H. Moukheiber, CEO, Boston Harbor Angels, Inc.
Ziad H. Moukheiber, CEO, Boston Harbor Angels, Inc.,one of the leading angel investing groups in the US. He is also Managing Partner at EQX Fund LLC, an angel and early stage investment fund based in Boston Massachusetts focusing on Life Sciences and IT.A business leader with over two decade of experience in building scalable organizations and advising companies in sales, marketing, operations, IT, service delivery, and customer service, Ziad founded SilverSword in 1998. He and his team built SilverSword into a leading IT consulting company that provides an outstanding customer service experience for their New England area clients. Silversword was acquired in 2015 by NSK Inc. Ziad is an active angel investor and on the board of businesses and nonprofit organizations with a special interest in technology. Ziad is also a mentor with BUILD a nonprofit organization using entrepreneurship to help at risk students in the Boston area. Ziad earned his BA at the American University of Beirut (1992) and his Master’s degree at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University (1996). Founded in 1979 as the first graduate education program in alternative media, ITP is internationally recognized as a unique and vital contributor of new ideas and talented individuals to the professional world of multimedia and interactivity.
Dr. Mark A. Tepper, President & CEO, Eumentis Therapeutics Inc.
Dr. Mark A. Tepper has over 30 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. He has led drug discovery & drug development programs that span a wide range of therapeutic areas including Oncology, Immunology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology, Metabolic Diseases, CNS, Inflammation and Pain. In addition, he has founded multiple companies based on novel technology in the areas of RNA interference, structure-based drug design, small molecule and protein therapeutics, biosensors, microfluidics and biomaterials. Following a 15 year career in large Pharma in R&D, Dr Tepper became a serial entrepreneur where he founded multiple biotech companies based on technology spun out from academic institutions. His role in these companies included technology sourcing, due diligence, company formation, term sheet negotiations, capitalization, commercialization and business planning and operations, IP licenses and executive management recruitment. At each of these companies he served as part of the executive management team, helping to execute on the business & development plan. In the last 15 years, Dr. Tepper has raised over $200M in capital for his ventures. He has taken two of his companies public, and sold another company in a trade sale. His most recent venture Corbus Pharmaceuticals (CRBP) is developing novel breakthrough medicines to treat serious life-threatening inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Its lead drug candidate, Lenabasum is currently in late stage clinical trials in a number of indications. Corbus IPO’ed in 2014, and currently has a market cap of ~$400M His other companies have included; Primatope Therapeutics (acquired by Kiniksa in Feb 2019), developing novel best-in-class humanized CD40 monoclonal antibodies to treat autoimmune diseases and organ transplant rejection; NKT Therapeutics, developing medicines based on Natural Killer T Cells to treat sickle cell crisis and asthma; RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXii) developing RNAi therapeutics to treat wound healing and scarring; and Arradial, which developed a microfluidics based screening tool for identifying new drugs from human genome targets. Dr. Tepper earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, and a B.A in Chemistry with Highest Honors from Clark University, Worcester, Mass. He did his postdoctoral fellowship at University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester in the laboratory of Michael P. Czech. He has over 50 scientific publications and is the co-inventor of multiple drug related patents. Dr. Tepper’s hobbies include SCUBA diving, fishing, boating, marine aquaria, beer making, and gardening. (Bio and jpeg picture to be supplied)
Deb Kemper, Managing Director, Boston Chapter of Golden Seeds, http://www.goldenseeds.com/ , Twitter: @Deb_Kemper
Deb Kemper is Managing Director of the Boston Forum of Golden Seeds, a national angel investor group. She is also a member of Clean Energy Venture Group. Her investment focus is high growth companies in the clean tech, health care, and technology sectors.
Previously, Deb was a consultant with McKinsey & Company where she served clients in a variety of industries including energy, utilities, electronics, and healthcare. Her functional experience includes manufacturing, product development, operations, strategy, professional development, and leadership coaching. She has provided leadership support to organizations in China, Peru and the United States.
Deb earned her MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College where she was named an Edward Tuck Scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Cornell University where she graduated With Distinction and was a member of the Varsity Women’s Crew.
Moderator and Co-Organizer:
Kristin King, MBA. Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy, Defibtech, LLC
Kristin is an accomplished MedTech executive, serial intrapreneur, investor and strategic advisor to startups developing biotech solutions. With a distinguished career addressing commercial strategy over 20 years spanning technical, marketing, and business development disciplines, she offers multi-discipline expertise and repeated track record for high impact Medical Device development transforming technologies from early concept to successful global divisions at leading Medical Device companies and startups.
Kristin is recognized for her strategic development, business acumen, and her ability to build and lead talented teams to commercialize products that change patients’ lives. Starting her career designing stents, a patent inventor for Johnson & Johnson’s drug eluting stent and progressing through marketing and global commercial leadership roles, she has contributed to some of the world’s most meaningful programs at top healthcare firms including Ansell Healthcare, Becton Dickinson, Johnson & Johnson Cordis, Abbott Vascular, and Pfizer. Her category expertise includes advanced wound care, infection prevention, diabetes care, interventional cardiology/ radiology, and other surgical specialties in hospital, alternate site and consumer retail segments.
In 2017, after founding Ansell Healthcare’s advanced therapeutic segment, Kristin focused her career on the Boston startup community progressing MIT spin off Rogers Sciences to clinical trials, FDA submission as well as proud member of Boston Harbor Angels. Kristin holds a B.S. in bioengineering from Syracuse University, MBA in Finance & Marketing from NYU Stern. Outside of the office she is an avid scuba diver and volunteer for environmental organizations Beneath the Sea and Boston Sea Rovers.
Funding Your Startup Without a VC or an Angel: ENET Meeting, Nov. 19, 2019
Are you trying to launch or grow a startup business?
Do you need money but just can’t find it?
Not ready for angels or VC investors? Or already turned down?
Need to build your company and need money to do it – but how to do that?
This panel addressed these questions and help you understand:
- How to build your company from nothing to something.
- How to do it without VC or angel money.
- How to get non-investor first funding and further cash equivalents
This panel will focus on getting initial money from non-traditional sources when VCs and angels will not help, and friends and family are tapped out. The panelists will speak from experience to show you how they have used SBIRs and governmental grants, strategic partnering and customer-funded development.
Investors want to see something before they invest. Yet it takes money to make your company into something to interest investors. It is a catch-22. This panel offers techniques to show you how to break out of that conundrum – to take your company from nothing to something, and to do so without VC or angel funding.
- Slides from all three speakers are available at https://boston-enet.org/event-3461306
Speakers:
Nancy Briefs, Co-Founder & CEO of AltrixBio https://altrixbio.com Life Science Executive, Serial Entrepreneur – 7 Start-Ups, Independent Bod Member. She is a strategic business leader with extensive experience creating value, driving strategy and launching product commercialization in diverse life science companies. Deep general management and fundraising expertise having raised over $500 M in equity including IPO. Innovative, collaborative and entrepreneurial, strong communicator and tenacious. Trusted advisor and mentor to founders and boards. Energized by turning innovation into commercial reality, working with creative scientists, and communicating value to partners and investors. Extensive regulatory experience with FDA and notified bodies. Ms. Briefs is an inventor on 7 issued US Patents. In addition to serving on numerous corporate boards, she is affiliated with TMA Accelerator Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH), MassBio Advisory Board, The Connors Center for Women’s Health Advisory Board, BWH, Reviewer for the MLSC’s Milestone Achievement Program, Coach, MLCS’s MassNextGen Initiative, EY Entrepreneur of the Year.
Stacy Swider, Director, SBIR Center of Excellence at UMass Lowell Research Institute
The UMass Small Business Innovation Research Center of Excellence offers coaching and other support for small companies as they prepare SBIR/STTR proposals and execute their programs. We can connect Teams to potential research partners in the UMass system, as well as corporate partners such as Primes and investors. Also presently offering a 50/50 matching grant to SBIR companies doing at least 10% DoD business. Stacy has over 25 years experience in startups and broader industry. She successfully commercialized a novel gamma sensor through the SBIR process – – from initial proposal to pilot production.
John Toomey, CEO of Celeriss, Inc, an innovative broadband solution company and a Senior Executive at Edge Velocity Corporation, a leader in secure intelligent networks both on a fractional basis. John is a Business Advisor, Executive Coach and C-Level Fractional Executive. www.JEToomey.com Previously, he was CEO of Visible Inventory, Inc a startup company using sensor based technology to manage and control inventory. In a turnaround situation the company raised the funding and reengineered the products for the targeted markets. Visible Inventory was sold to its largest customer and now has a large installed base of it products. John was also one of three founding shareholders of White Mountain DSP, Inc. a technology startup taken to a mature company and subsequently being acquired by Analog Devices, Inc. John has held senior management positions at Warren Power Systems, Inc, GCA Corporation and Baird Corporation, all technology based companies. John holds a BSBA majoring in Accounting from University of Massachusetts and an MBA concentrating in Management and International Business from Southern New Hampshire University.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnetoomey/
Twitter: @JohnToomey52
Email: John@JEToomey.com
Co-Organizer:
Dan Skiba, President & CEO GOT Interface, Vice-Chair Boston ENET
As a Product Development Company Executive, I provide strategic leadership in product innovation and managing global teams, delivering award-winning products to the international market. My ability to problem solve, direct the entire product development lifecycle and gain commitment to a common goal have driven faster release of products and market penetration. By building synergies across all Product Life Cycle disciplines, We have delivered products that result in 100% product utilization and seamless integration into customer environments. My skills in optimizing international resources have significantly reduced costs and streamlined production, delivering product excellence.
Entrepreneurial Bootstrapping Basics: ENET Meeting, Sept. 3, 2019
Entrepreneurs often think that the only way to grow their business is to raise capital from VCs or angel investors. While outside capital can fuel growth, it also carries a considerable cost in terms of time expended, loss of equity and loss of control. Surveys indicate that for the year ended 2011, of the 543,000 new business created in the U.S., only 29,626 (that is, only 5%) received VC or angel investor funding at the seed or early stage startup phase. And for many companies, the lack of VC or angel investment did not impede growth.
In August 2012, Inc. Magazine published its list of the 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S., and 77% of the founders of those companies set up using only their own personal savings, with two thirds needing less than $100,000 to get started. And while 34% stated that access to external capital has been essential for growth, 42% have not utilized external funding in developing their business. Also, 74% have financed their growth over the past three years largely through cash flow from operations.
So, how do you do it? In a word – Bootstrapping. That is – using your own resources and effectively managing your cash flow to internally generate the funds that you need to operate your startup business.
Apple, Google and HP all began in garages with free rent and we will hear from three experienced CEOs who have also built their business using bootstrapping techniques without VC or angel investment until they achieved important milestones and were well on their away. In some cases, they progressed all the way through to a successful acquisition exit without external funding.
Slides from all four (4) speakers are available at https://boston-enet.org/event-3454806
Speakers:
Igor Belagorudsky, President @ FastCTO, Co-founder and President @ KwipShare.
Igor is an Angel Investor; Startup Founder, Mentor, Advisor and Consultant, and above all, a technical, hands-on professional with over 20 years of experience. Serial entrepreneur having most recently scaled Erecruit from a team of 3 to over 120, through several rounds of investments and to a successful sale for $62.8M. Active in the Boston startup scene as a founder, advisor, pitch competition judge and angel investor. Confident full stack enterprise architect in several technology ecosystems. Trusted leader and mentor of professional services and R&D teams in multiple timezones and industries. Big believer in smart and transparent teams, open communication across the entire organization and leadership by example. Outside of work, avid skier, slow runner, decent hiker and dad.
Cheryl Hajjar, Founder & CEO @ Indigo Pixies and CEO @ Maid Brite Residential & Commercial Cleaning.
Cheryl is a serial entrepreneur, Cheryl has started multiple businesses in her career. From the start up phase to the revenue phase, Cheryl has a great understanding of how to grow a company. She has won grant funding in accelerator programs from MIT, E forAll and the University of Southern New Hampshire as well as raised funding from investors. Her children’s toy company, Indigo Pixies is endorsed by Harvard Business School and was also featured in the Mom Invented Handbook. Cheryl also owns Maid Brite Cleaning; a residential and commercial cleaning company that services the Greater Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire. Cheryl is also a former National fitness competitor, published songwriter, children’s book author and public speaker. She lives in Bradford, Ma. with her 16 year old son Dylan and fiance, Jayson.
Tony Coufal, CTO @ IIoT-Oxys Corporation.
Tony is a multicultural leader with over 20 years’ experience building and growing cutting edge technology focused service companies in the US and LATAM markets. He operated businesses in IT/Telecom, Microwave and Cellular networks, Construction, Electrical, HVAC, Security to name a few. Today he is CTO of IIoT-Oxys Corporation where he helps develop and implement IIoT, Edge, and AI based solutions for manufacturing in the Pharma/Biotech/Medtech, Automotive Manufacturing, Aerospace and Defense, and Agriculture Industries.
Karen Miller, Co-founder @ DoInk (DK Pictures, Inc).
Karen is a serial technology entrepreneur whose previous company she co-founded, DOME Imaging Systems, Inc. a medical imaging company, was sold successfully to Planar Systems, returning $70M on a $2M angel investment.after earlier bootstrapping. Since then, Karen co-founded DoInk, a leading educational app company. The Green Screen by Do Ink app was featured in iTunes as a “Best New App” in Education two weeks after its release and is now a top iOS app downloaded in over 120 countries. The Animation and Drawing by Do Ink app was selected an “App Store Essential.”
Here is a further list of thirty (30) additional ENET speaker panels I have organized and been moderator and occasionally been a speaker over the last 14 years since 2006:
- “Making Your Pitch a Money Magnet” (April 2019) (Moderator)
- “Seeding with the Angels”(Nov. 2018) (Moderator)
- “Winning – Startup Success Stories and Lessons Learned” (Sept. 2018) (Moderator)
- “Using Senior Advisors and A Board of Directors in Your Startup Company “ (May 2018) (Moderator)
- “How to Find, Select, and Build Your Co-Founding Team “ (Feb 2018) (Organizer)
- “Product Development in Life Science & Tech Startups “(Jan 2018) (Moderator)
- “From Zero to Funded: What Do You Need to Get Seed/Angel Investment? (Nov 2017) (Organizer)
- Case Studies in Extremely Successful Startups. (Sept. 2017) (Moderator & Speaker)
- “M & A and Successful Exits”. (May 2017) (Moderator)
- “Compensation and Equity for Early Stage Leadership Teams” (January 2017) (Moderator)
- “Impact Entrepreneurship and Your Triple Bottom Line” (May 2016) (Moderator & speaker)
- “Strategic Alliances for M&A and Successful Exits” (April 2016) (Moderator),
- “ Product Development in Life Science & Tech Startups.” (January 2016) (Moderator)
- “Innovative Ways to Bootstrap Your Startup Company.” (October 2015) (Moderator)
- “Building and Using Board of Directors and Boards of Advisors”, April 2015 (moderator),
- “Founder Agreements and Stock Vesting – Building a Team, protecting yourself, Managing expectations”. February 2015 (moderator & speaker)
- “Entrepreneur Success Stories”, September 2014 (moderator),
- “Raising Money from CrowdFunding”, May 2014 (moderator),
- “Ready, Set, Launch. Knowing when you’re ready & How to start a company”, September 2013 (moderator),
- “Bootstrapping 101: Alternative Ways to fund a Startup without an Angel or VC”, November 2012 (moderator)
- “Seed and Angel Financing”, October 2012 (moderator),
- “Getting Stuff for Free”, April 2012 (moderator),
- “Transforming Your Idea into a Successful Company”, September 2011 (speaker and moderator),
- “Get Going! Launching a Successful Business”, September 2010 (moderator),
- “Licensing Technology”, February 2010 (moderator),
- How to Select and Retain Management for your Startup Company”, February 8, 2008 (speaker and moderator)
- “Getting Initial Money to go from Nothing to Something”, October 2007 (speaker and moderator)
- “Strategic Alliances and Partnerships: to build, finance, and develop early stage companies”, November 2006 (speaker and moderator)
- “Building Boards of Advisors and Boards of Directors”, March 2006 (moderator)
- “Protecting Your Intellectual Property”, January 2006 (speaker)
Business Law Blog by Robert Adelson, Esq. 