Day One: The program received coverage from the major daily paper for Austin, Texas.

Days Two and Three: These two days were filled with powerful speakers, highly-productive networking and top-rate educational workshops!

Here are the specifics….

On Sunday, the Austin American Statesman spotlighted ACTiVATE on the first page of its Business section. This well-written article highlighted how the “Texas State entrepreneurship program aims to increase the number of female CEOs.” Barry Harrell’s piece included interviews with current students, Terry Hazell (Program Director at Texas State) and Terry Golding (Director of Texas State’s Center for Research Commercialization). Included were also a few action shots of our renowned speakers: Carol Thompson, Austin-based Leadership Strategist and Women’s Advocate (also recognized as one of Austin’s most powerful women!), and Gayle Evans, former top Executive at CNN and author of Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman. ACTiVATE’s state-wide expansion plans are also shared. (Article link: http://www.statesman.com/business/technology/texas-states-activate-program-aims-to-create-women-616002.html )

At 3:30pm on Monday, the highly interactive Get Sparked workshop began at full throttle.  This workshop was led by Julie Lenzer Kirk and Renee Lewis, both Lead Instructors from ACTiVATE Maryland and Co-Founders of Path Forward Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  It was great seeing them again. The audience was comprised of women from all walks of life who were at various stages of business ownership. Some women were interested in brainstorming possible ideas for their first business while others attended to spark new ideas for their next business.

The session was filled with laughs, ah ha moments, and tools and techniques critical to escaping SHINY PENNY HELL.  I should take a step back and add that first we learned how to recognize when we were in SHINY PENNY HELL (of course after the initial denial)!

Immediately following this session, we transitioned to The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum to Get Connected.  At this cocktail reception, we networked with the Elite 100, the name collectively bestowed upon 100 individuals who mentor, fund, teach and support technology entrepreneurs in Austin and around the globe.  Our honorees were captivating, insightful and personable. We enjoyed making new connections and reconnecting with individuals whom we already knew.

Some attendees were individuals I had only read or heard about.  It was amazing to actually meet them in person! It is now such a privilege to have them as a part of my personal network. It was also a treat to meet the other participants who traveled to Austin to attend the Monday and Tuesday events. Participants and speakers traveled from Dallas, Houston, and the East Coast.

On Tuesday morning at 9am, we returned to the AT&T Center to uncover answers to those Get Funded questions. We learned what lenders and funders seek, heard how other entrepreneurs did it, and were guided through the steps to make better financial projections.  One of our ACTiVATE instructors, Robin Curle, was the day’s kickoff speaker who provided us with a high-level overview of women business owners’ impact on our economy, what investors look for and seven ways to negotiate. Other presenters included:

• Tammy Boyd, Capital One Bank
• Joyce Durst, Growth Acceleration Partners
• Laura Kilcrease, Triton Ventures
• Rebecca Taylor, Taylor-Deininger Partners
• Terri Krivosha, Maslon, Edelman, Borman & Brand LLP
• Laura Mathieu, Capital One Bank
• Julie Lenzer Kirk, Path Forward Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

For a few women in the audience, nervousness set in as the clock struck 1:30pm. It was time for the Fast Pitch Session. It was there that pre-selected attendees presented a pitch to a panel of the following investors:

• Laura Kilcrease, Triton Ventures (Austin’s only woman VC)
• Susan Davenport, Austin Chamber of Commerce
• Susan Strausberg, Amity360
• Omar Khalil, Santé Ventures

The feedback provided was invaluable. Some of the women never gave a pitch prior to that day. It was a day of proving it to themselves that they could do it. Others were familiar with pitching and it showed in their confidence, style and projection. If any of them decide to enter a pitch or business plan competition in the future, they will certainly benefit from the feedback received at this event.

One of the most powerful things that occurred was the “Just Ask” Exercise immediately following lunch. We made incredible connections with other attendees.  What was the most impactful thing that you experienced during that ACTiVATE experience?

Thankfully, last week’s weather was absolutely beautiful! It was Spring Break and we did not have class. I can’t remember the last time that I had a Spring Break (as a student)!  Thankfully Spring Break coincided with SXSW (http://sxsw.com/)!  Several classmates got opportunities to participate in a number of SXSW events.  Being the techies that we are, a few of us focused on the SXSW Interactive. It included days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events, and expos with the latest and greatest products. Other classmates concentrated on the  SXSW Film, SXSW Music, all of the above, or totally avoided the Spring Break madness. One week o’ nonstop events.

As we  wind down from Spring Break, we are getting excited again about our upcoming  ACTiVATE Two-Day Extravaganza in a few weeks: GET SPARKED * GET CONNECTED * GET FUNDED ( https://www.springboardenterprises.org/educationalprograms/eqm/austin ).

The community is invited to attend. These events are not exclusive to members of ACTiVATE. With sessions that focus on sparking creativity, networking with the Elite 100 technology leaders, and securing funding/equity details, I am sure that all attendees would find value in attending. Hope to see you there!

On Monday night, we were visited by the founder of a retained executive search firm. This gentleman has personally interviewed over 40,000 candidates throughout the world.  He  has successfully completed search engagements ranging from senior level field sales talents to CEO’s. His firm primarily works in the technology space.

We were fortunate to have gained insight that he shared from his 30+ years of recruiting experience.  Several of the key takeaways included the following:

• How to identify the “right” candidate (Interviewer dos and don’ts)
• Winning Internal hiring process
• What it means to truly understand another person’s priorities and motivations
• Social media’s impact into the hiring process
• Where do the candidates come from
• Comparison between contingency recruiter and retained search guides

As some of our classmates are planning to hire employees this year, we found the information shared to be invaluable. As a result of this session, I will never conduct an interview the same way that I did before attending this session!

Once again…. our ACTiVATE instructors have and are still providing us with access to the most amazing contacts. In addition to the wealth of information that is shared during our class sessions, each of our guest speakers has made themselves available to us outside of class. Many classmates and I have followed up with some of the speakers and they have provided additional information and  connected us to people in their networks to assist us in advancing our efforts. My network has grown exponentially since becoming involved with this program. That reminds me….I need to reorder business cards

I was honored to had been selected as one of 5 guests of Ms. Katrina Villarreal, SVP/General Manager US Operations of Lee Hecht Harrison, to represent ACTiVATE Texas (http://www.txstate.edu/activate ) at this symposium. Thanks to Charan Saini, our classmate, for introducing Katrina Villarreal to ACTiVATE at our recent Networking Evening.

As always when we are around more fabulous and talented women, there is so much wisdom to be garnered! Here are my top 10 takeaways that I learned while laughing a lot on this Tuesday morning:

The Courage to Lead: Barbara Barra, Executive VP U.S. Operations, Lee Hecht Harrison. Ms. Barra was the keynote speaker and panelist.

“Change is inevitable. Leadership is about your capacity to manage change.”

Keeping The Balls In The Air: Work-Life Balance: Monica “Dr. mOe” Anderson DDS

“Living unhappily is a slow death.”

“Avoid spiritual anorexia.”

“Relax, delegate, and laugh like you are getting paid to do it!”

A Brand Called “YOU”: Lana Varney, Partner, Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP

“It’s a man’s world – INFILTRATE!”

How to be HEARD?

1. Prep your team
2. Organize your thoughts in 1,2,3
3. “Keep talking! Finish your thought.”

Career Management for Women: Yvonne VanDyke, VP of Nursing Practice, Education & Research & Administrator, Seton’s Clinical Education Center at University Medical Center Brackenridge

“Use your spirituality to source your strength.”

“Hand pick your mentors and get them engaged.”

Workplace Taboos for Women: Alicia Bogart, Director-University Programs & Campus Club, UT Austin

“Remember what your mama told you..

1. Never discuss personal issues, religious convictions, or politics
2. Don’t tell PI jokes
3. No gossiping
4. Appropriate attire is always correct
5. Don’t take credit for others work
6. Don’t get too emotional

What If You Don’t Play Golf?: Laura O’Hara, Partner, Strasburger&Price, LLP

“Be authentic, just be yourself.”

“Stay connected and be engaged as a valuable member of the team.”

“Learn what your clients and associates like, even if it takes downloading a sports app!”

The closing by Mr. Dennis Kennedy, Founder and CEO of Texas Diversity Council, stressed the critical need of women on the Board of Directors at corporate levels, he stated, “We need to change the profiles of corporate boards.”  He thanked all attendees and encouraged ongoing dialogue and participation.

So there you have my Top 10 (ok, maybe a few more). The final and most memorable thought was from Lana Varney who reminded us to

“always put a picture of your dog in your power point”

Muffie

Midge Norris is a serial entrepreneur and President of Marketing2Go, a small business marketing consulting practice in Austin TX. Much like her pup, Muffie, she is curious, enthusiastic, and optimistic about finding new ways for her clients to deliver their marketing message to increase sales. Unlike her pup, she doesn’t stay in the office much and you can find her out and about in professional networking circles in Austin and of course, online!

I’m a serial entrepreneur and one of the biggest mistakes I made with my last company is that I just fell in love with the key idea of the business. Even when the market told me I needed to move into a slightly different direction in order to make more money, I was so emotionally attached to my core idea that I just ignored all the data and stubbornly plowed ahead with my original beautiful and elegant idea.

Stupid market, what does it know?

Well, quite a lot, as it turns out.

I’m not about to make that mistake again. The Tactical Information Systems technology *is* cool – an affordable hosted biometric matching solution. For the first time, biometric matching is available to organizations that do not have huge budgets and a large IT staff available to manage the hardware. Nonetheless, going through the process of evaluating technology and assessing the market potential keeps me from becoming so attached that I miss what the market is asking for.

So I prepared a presentation summarizing my market analysis and presented it to the class. This served multiple purposes – the act of putting together the presentation forced me to look at all of my work from a different point of view and the act of figuring out how to explain my ideas to people who don’t really know what I have been up to forced me to see the parts that are still unclear. Additionally, getting up in front of the class and talking gave our teachers an opportunity to review our speaking and presentation skills and provide feedback.

They videotaped the presentations which I found horrifying. I’ve done Toastmasters and spoken at many trade shows, conferences and meetings so I wasn’t too worried about the presentation part. I knew that I would hate to watch the video and I knew I would hate the way I sounded. You have to just get over that. It was horrifying because of the mistakes I made, I knew better.

First, I didn’t introduce myself; this audience knows me already. I have introduced myself three or four times and it’s starting to feel repetitive.  My classmates know that I am a successful serial entrepreneur with strong business and technical skills. However, on the video it translated to “I have utterly no experience but I’m partnered with a really impressive scientist.” I came across as a fluffy bunny when I was really aiming at something more like the Killer Bunny from Monty Python & the Holy Grail.

Second, with a five minute time limit, I went on and on about the technology and honestly almost nobody cares. If you tell them you have a widget and that your widget can yodel, they believe you. That’s all they need to hear about the intricate art and science behind coaxing widgets into yodeling behavior. They are far more interested in how many people will buy them, use them or recommend them. They want to know “Who else sells yodeling widgets?” and “Is the yodeling widget market expected to grow?” I spent a ridiculous amount of my time discussing, in detail, exactly how widgets work and how we got them to yodel.

So I have some work to do. I have to learn to introduce myself properly. One of our instructors says “If you aren’t blushing, you didn’t go far enough.” I have to rework my presentation to actually address the market information, which I do have, and delete all of the stuff I’m in love with.

Next time, it’s business.

GUEST BLOGGER: Mary Haskett is a cofounder of Tactical Information Systems and a serial entrepreneur. Her first experience with a start-up was as the co-owner of a skydiving school. That company was bootstrapped into a profitable operation that operated three airplanes and hosted a skydiving competition viewed on ESPN.  Her second company was HCI Training, an instructional design and development company that developed custom training solutions for large corporations and government agencies such as Dell, USAA and the US Army. HCI Training, also profitable, was acquired in 2007 by Ideal Innovations Inc., a defense contracting firm that has appeared on the INC list of fastest growing companies three years in a row. Tactical Information Systems (TIS) is a local start-up that provides hosted biometric matching services utilizing face, iris finger and palm biometrics. Contact info: Mary Haskett,  Tactical Information Systems, mary@tacticalinfosys.com, 512-589-6279 (MARY)

Heads up!

Our second seminar day will be held on Saturday, January 23^rd. We have been asked to prepare our first formal presentations regarding each of our commercialization progress to date.

Before the lecture began, we each received an opportunity to provide a brief, informal update on where we were in terms of our individual technology commercialization efforts. The updates ranged from classmates still shopping for technologies to new companies being formed with high potential for early wins within the next few months.

As each person shared her experiences to date, it was inspiring to witness the evolution of some of the women in the class.  I recalled comments made during the first two sessions when some classmates shared their concern regarding not knowing what the acronyms OTC (office of technology commercialization) and TTO (technology transfer office) represented nor understood those offices roles within the context of entrepreneurship. Now, these same women are visiting and engaging with various university and non-university TTOs and OTCs. They are also conducting technology validation interviews, etc. Wow! The difference a few sessions make.

At the conclusion of that exercise, we took a break where we mingled with our classmates and instructors while enjoying a wonderful array of food choices that lived up to Chef Vikki Lawyer Bowen’s cooking motto: “Looks good, tastes great.”  (Chef Bowen is the owner of Bowties 2 Blue Jeans Catering Company, a local woman-owned business.)  Some of the choices on tonight’s menu were some of my new favorites (stuffed strawberries and the cayenne candied bacon-wrapped shrimp).

Following the break, Robin Curle provided an interactive session on Value Proposition and Market Entry. The depth of Robin’s experience was evident as she helped us further explore those topics. Robin’s real-world accounts drove home many key points that all entrepreneurs should know when understanding if they truly have a strong, compelling reason why a potential customer would purchase their product or service. Her personal accounts that were interjected into the discussion about How to Sell and Sales and Business Development Strategies were also extremely valuable. References were also made to books on our ACTIVATE reading list.  Before ending class, we discussed Overcoming Possible Barriers then reviewed what we should expect next time.

To date, we have completed approximately 27.27% of our program (this is my unofficial progress tracker).  We are all excited to see what 2010 has in store!

The List

As with a mall or shopping center directory, our technology shopping experience has been aided by a Technology Directory (aka The List) that our instructors compiled.  This Technology Directory is a list of technologies with their corresponding IP status, invention description, benefits, possible application, and other details.

Our instructors created this list by contacting Texas-based universities and research institutions to identify technologies that those entities are interested in licensing or having a startup bring to the market. By providing The List, we were able to easily navigate the m-a-n-y available technologies with their details and contacts. Of all the entities contacted, I learned that some were not able to travel to Austin and a few of them were not interested in providing any technologies.

ACTiVATE Technology Mixer

On Monday, we participated in an ACTiVATE Technology Mixer. We networked with representatives from technology transfer offices and technology commercialization related agencies. During our interactions and their brief presentations, we were able to review available technologies in more detail, learn how to do business with them, discover special funding mechanisms that they provide for startups, etc.  In addition, we  learned which technologies from The List were no longer available.

Technology commercialization entities represented at Monday’s event include:

• Innovate Texas Foundation
• Texas State University
• Texas A & M
• The University of Texas at Austin
• Temple Health and Bioscience District

During the previous class and at the Mixer, we were visited by attorneys from Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.  Their team reviewed current employment, patent, and corporate law related questions and concerns that are most pertinent for entrepreneurs.

It has been interesting to see how individuals and organically formed teams have been progressing.  For about half of the class, the technology shopping continues…

During the pre-class Mix and Mingle and during class, we were privileged to have gained words of advice from Rebecca “Becky” Taylor, General Partner of Taylor-Deininger Partners. Becky advises startups as well as large corporations on technology strategy, investment, product design methods and patent portfolio monetization.  She shared many nuggets with us that she accumulated over the last 25 years of successful business, technology strategy and collaborative venture experiences.  Several technical components of her talk included:

• Inventing and commercialization dos and don’ts

• Keys to working with university technology transfer offices

• Business model design insight

• What it really means to “file internationally”

In addition to the technical aspects of her talk, she also imparted the following advice:

• Learn from stories of persistence

• Learning by doing is grossly underrated

• Understand the true value of relationships

• Don’t hesitate negotiating with service providers

• Seek legal advice to determine if you may retain patent ownership while working for someone else

In closing, she quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” As we each continue our journey of launching a new technology venture, she encouraged us to talk about our aspirations, work towards our goals, and witness how needed elements will fall into place when needed. Overall, it was a highly interactive session that provided great insight.

We are celebrating so many “firsts” in this program.  I must point out that Rebecca “Becky” Taylor was officially our first external (non-ACTiVATE affiliated) speaker!

This is a really fun, fascinating module. I may be a little biased since I hold technology patents and thoroughly enjoy the process of inventing and technology commercialization.