Review: CEO Peer to Peer

• Posted by Steve Spencer

Article posted on May 17

Wednesday, May 16th I was pleased to attend a CEO peer to peer event put on by the UTC. Richard and his crew always do a great job with these events. The jist of this weeks VEO P2P was around how to build a stellar team. There was a short presentation by the Canopy group which was somewhat interesting, and I really appreciate him coming and presenting… but I am finding that when VC’s present at events like this, that it tends to get a bit repetitive… it’s “all the stuff you already knew” about VC’s: We like to see a strong team, we like repeat performances, etc.

Converse to that, I really respected the presenters statement regarding how Canopy views the role of an entrepreneur in a liquidity event… There has been some tension on local blogs lately between VC’s and entrepreneurs, alleging that VC’s in Utah attempt to get an unfair share. I don’t know the truth of it personally, but I can say that the presenter said things that implied that Canopy is not that way.

There was also a lot of discussion regarding recruiting in Utah, and some of the hurdles to getting good talent to come here, as well as how to inspire and incent current teams. All good stuff.

A couple of notable attendees to me were Jeremy Hanks, from Doba (I don’t know that much about his company, but hearing him describe the environment… it sounds great), and the folks from iWorld (In the old Wagon Master building on Vine Street… sorry, I don’t have a url). This is not to imply that everyone wasn’t notable… just these two and what they had to say was especially interesting to me.

Summary:

Location: 9
Caliber of people: 9
Presentation: 8
discussion: 8
OVERALL: 8.5 (and in my book that’s REALLY GOOD)

Nice Job Richard, keep up the good work.

• Posted in Local Review