Article posted on Feb 20
Yesterday afternoon I attended the Mountain West Capital Networks’ luncheon to honor Alan Hall as the Entrepreneur of the year.
I am sure there are probably several news articles, or blog posts that will be covering Alan and all of his business successes at the moment. But that is not what I will be touching on here. That is not what I found so striking about Alan.
Unfortunately, although Alan somewhat, and have had a small number of discussions with him, I can’t claim to know him very well personally, so much of what I say here is from the perspective of an impressed observer, rather than a long-time friend. But I have been none the less touched by Alan (rather he knows it or not.)
My first exposure to Alan was at a Funding Universe Speed Pitching event in Kaysville. I sat at a table with Alan, and a student from Weber State that is part of the program he has helped star there to foster Entrepreneurs. I was so struck by the talent of the young student. But I was more struck by Alan’s interaction with the Entrepreneurs presenting to us. Not just by the insight of his questions… I have sat with a lot of folks with great business insight. But by his kindness. Alan was gentle, and supportive to everyone. Even if there were areas that most of us might have berated them for their lack of preparedness, Alan gently and, dare I say, lovingly nudged them in the right direction.
Since then I have heard wonderful stories of Alan helping businesses, programs, and the like. I don’t wish to diminish this at all, but I am guessing that many of you have heard or read about it lately anyway… so I want to move on to something else.
I have had the true pleasure of hearing Alan speak many times. the most striking thing about hearing Alan speak is not the fire in my belly that I walk away wit, or the great business ideas, or the efficiencies I now understand. When I hear Alan speak I walk away, really and truly knowing that I need to be a better person. Alan has a wonderful way of giving you relevent business advice while using words that have unfortunately become so foreign int he setting. Words like Love, Kindness, Charity, and God. This is not to imply that everyone needs to share Alan’s religious views to walk out of the room really touched. He is just a good man.
At the end of the luncheon people were lining up to shake Alan’s hand. I was one of them. When Alan turned to me he looked me in the eye, grasped my hand, and asked me how I was doing. That may sound like nothing, but it was. The way he held the handshake, the eye contact, his tone. I knew that Alan was not just saying, “hi.” He had given me his full attention. It was just he and I for that moment… he made me feel important enough to be fully focused on. I knew that when he asked how I was, that he really and truly wanted to know.
As I watched, Alan treats everyone that way. He cares, and loves, and makes sure that you can feel that he knows that you, and everyone are important enough to really gets his attention.
Alan, thank you. Thank you for always showing me, and all of us what we can and should be.
Congratulations. You deserve it.
Article posted on Feb 20
I have been asked to let everyone know that Josh Coates, founder of Mozy, will be doing a lecture series next week. Before I post the details, let me throw my two cents in here… Obviously Josh is a successful Entrepreneur. But what really strikes me about Josh and my interactions with him has been something else, or more appropriately, something in addition to his Entrepreneurialism and success.
Josh is from outside of Utah. Now, that may sound like no big deal, but spend ten minutes wit Josh and you’ll know what I mean… He definitely brings a Non-Utah perspective (which is not to say he doesn’t “get” Utah, just that he has a broader view.) That, combined with a sometimes shocking frank, and candid style is sure to jolt you, awaken you, and make you think a bit during this series.
So, enough of my insights 
On to the details:
Starting Tuesday, February 24th, Josh Coates will present a weekly lecture series on how to build a successful Technology Startup. Coates is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has experienced both spectacular success and dismal failure in the arena of the technology startups (but mostly success!) This six-part lecture series will provide candid advice about how to navigate the well-worn path of venture startups:
– Technology and Fundamental Business Concepts (Feb. 24)
– Raising Capital: The Simple, Well Understood Path (Mar. 3)
– Pro-active Product Development for the Enterprise Market (Mar. 10)
– Hiring the A-Team: Rocks and Clowns (Mar. 17)
– Practical Internet Marketing (Mar. 24)
– Personal Liquidity and Financial Exits (Mar. 31)
Please submit your attendance intentions at this link to ensure we have seats available for everyone
This lecture series will be hosted at the Novell Cafeteria (Bldg G.) “We are thrilled to be able to host the Coates’ lecture series again this year.” said Shauna Theobald, Program Director for the Technology Center at Novell. “Attendees from last year’s series raved about the positive impact Josh’s advice had on their businesses. Josh has firsthand knowledge of how to lead a tech-based venture to success. ”
This free lecture series is open to the public every Tuesday from 12-1:30p.m., starting Tuesday, February 24th. Sponsors include the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, the Provo Technology Xelerator, the Technology Center at Novell, and SiliconSlopes/Omniture.
About Josh Coates: Josh began his career doing research in parallel computing at UC Berkeley and went on to found two venture backed startups related to large scale data storage technology. His extensive experience ranges from high performance computing and data center operations to venture funding, financial modeling, marketing and mergers and acquisitions. Coates has been honored for his innovation by MIT and Ernst and Young and featured in Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. He currently volunteers as an adjunct instructor in the Computer Science department at BYU.
Article posted on Feb 05
For those of you who haven’t heard, Fusion-IO, a Utah based company is making some real waves. Fusion-IO (doesn’t roll off the tongue, does it… They’re gonna need to get a cool nickname soon… Fusio or something) has been spear heading some pretty cool stuff with Solid State data storage devices (as described fully in an October Press Release.)
Additionally, they have had some really impressive news to announce of late in general… Looking at the specifics kinda gives one that same feel of breath-holding awe as when you see the shuttle engines just starting to fire, and are ready to see it start to launch upward. Specifically, the have announced:
September 8th: At DEMOfall, Fusion-io Introduces the Evolution of Enterprise Flash Storage
October 3rd: Fusion-io Puts Ultra-High-Performance Data Storage into Hands of High-End PC Users with the ioXtreme
October 9th: Fusion-io Achieves Record Sales in First Quarter ‘09
Fusion-io Experiences Record Q2 2009 Sales Performance
