Article posted on Jun 27
Okay, so this afternoon I attended my first Utah Fund Of Funds event (For those of your who were not there at the UTC Venture event on June 8th, Jeremy from UFOF is the kind gentleman who straightened out my inarticulate gibberish that day 
)
While this was my first event, I have to say that it will definitely not be my last.
Not only was the location great, the people in attendance seemed to be bright, motivated, intelligent people. The content was wonderful, and the speaker was clearly extremely knowledgeable about it (from personal experience no less.)
But what impressed me most? Objectivity. I have not had a lot of dealings with the UFOF, but at this meeting it became clear that their goal is to help Utah Entrepreneurs get the right money to succeed… even if it is from out of state. I feel very confident that when finding funding in state or elsewhere, that Jeremy and his team would give good advice. Very good event. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see intelligent people having such open, objective discussion. I look forward to learning a ton!
Article posted on Jun 22
I have to apologize to everyone that I did not get a review up this week of the UTC event on customer support, and also that I do not have a podcast up of the HireVue Spotlight. On the UTC event, I’ll blame Mark… the initial date on the announcement was wrong… so I missed that event (Sorry to throw you under the bus Mark.)
As to the HireVue podcast, that one’s all me. We had a wonderful visit, but in going through the recording, it appears the mic was a bit too close to my laptop fan. So we will be rerecording. Look for it soon.
Also, we are actively taking applicants for the August Spotlight. So if your Tech is cool, or you know someone’s who is, be sure to let us know.
Article posted on Jun 20
First I want to apologize… I am running a bit behind this week. Normally I would have the podcast from the event up by now. I will earnestly endeavor to do so by end of week.
But enough of my whining… on to the review. Friday of last week we met at the Bohemian to hear Ryan Money from HireVue tell us about his company, and to share his wisdom. While Ryan’s product was definitely intriguing (and we will have all sorts of good stuff about it during the podcast Q&A), I think that all in attendance would agree that Ryan’s demeanor, openness, and willingness to tell us all “..let me tell you how I got this scar,” was what made him especially engaging. In addition to getting to know about his product and company it was as much an entrepreneurial peer to peer session as anything.
In regards to the product, it was good to hear how well it addressed two distinct end of the spectrum: Those hiring lots of cheap local labor, and those hiring specialized, expensive labor that they need to scour the globe for. In the first example, in becomes clear how having video interviews of a large number of people allows a person, or committee to quickly go through them and decide yes or no, without taking their valuable time in the actual interview process. In the second example, it became clear how flying people around, impacting their schedules and lives (not to mention paying for the travel), and then compounding that in a large company where they might have to go to more than one location in order to meet several of the key players can be painful and expensive.
The World is becoming a smaller place. It is clear not only that a product like HireVue is needed, but its reviews make it clear that it is THE frontrunner in the space.
Want to learn more about HireVue? Watch here for the podcast. Want to learn more about exciting companies here in Utah? We’ll see you at the next event in August (we’re skipping July).
Article posted on Jun 13
For those of you who know me, you know I tend to be outspoken. So today, when the UTC put on a panel with three VC’s from outside of Utah, I just had to ask the question that was the elephant in the room:
Often Angel investors will put money into a new company in the form of a convertable note. Such notes are often converted when the company does their VC round. Have you seen the valuations on such conversions generally to be based on the initial valuation by the Angel, or based on a certain percentage better than the VC money?
Okay, so that was meant to be the question. Unfortunately I expressed it about as articulate as a drunken schnauzer (ever just have one of those days?)
But regardless, the response from Phil Reed of Highway 12 was that it tended to be based on a certain percentage better than the VC money.
On to the rest of the review: This was my first time inside the Student Center at UVSC, and I have to say I was impressed. Very nice facility. The food was good, there was platy of space, it looked classy.
After the first ten minutes I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical… it felt like we were just going to get sales pitches from VC’s about how cool their Fund was. But once they started to get into the meat of things, I was impressed. Ido Sarig from Weisel Venture Partners was one of the panelists… you know, you hear people talk about smart money and dumb money… I was very impressed to hear Ido speak. He clearly really gets technology and is a very bright guy.
Judy and Mark from the UTC ran the event well, as they always do.
Nice job UTC for another informative event.
Article posted on Jun 12
Okay, so every once in a while I break from the Utah mold, and just throw out a post for fun (This Optical Illusion is one of my favorites.) Well, I stumbled across a post today on Figby that led me over to a real good brain bender on Motion Binding. You gotta check this one out. I find that if I stare at the edge of my screen, so that the image is in the periphery, that I can see the shape. See how it works for you.
Article posted on Jun 08
Many who read this post have probably seen that there are recurring love-hate spats between Utah VC’s and Utah Entrepreneurs on local blogs form time to time. One of the common undercurrents has tended to be around how Utah VC’s are compared to out of state money.  Well, next week the UTC is holding an event described as:
“…a panel discussion made up of Venture Partners from Funds located outside of the great state of Utah. Find out why they are looking at Utah deals and what they are looking for. “
Specifically, the panel consists of:
Darlene Collins, Managing Director of Psilos based in Santa Fe, NM
Phil Reed, General Partner of Highway 12 Ventures based in Boise, ID
Ido Sarig, Venture Partner of Thomas Weisel Venture Partners based in Palo Alto, CA
Moderator:
Todd Stevens, Managing Director of Wasatch Venture Fund and UTC Trustee
I, for one, am already registered. Look for a review of the event here after the fact.
