|
MEMBERSHIP
Our
records indicate that you aren't currently a Software Council
member. The Software Council is a membership-driven organization,
and we need your support to thrive and continue serving you.
Now
through September 30th, take advantage of our special offer
to attend an event on us! Become a member within 10 days
of attending one of our regular events, and we will discount
your membership fee by the amount you paid to attend the event
(up to $60).
Reference discount code FREEEVENT.
Get
involved: Join other industry leaders by getting active
on one of our committees. The Los Angeles Chapter, Orange County
Chapter, Impact! Sales & Marketing SiG and Software Business
SiG are all accepting new volunteers.
Volunteer
participation requirements are:
1. attend monthly committee meetings,
2. attend events your committee manages
3. maintain a current Software Council membership
Contact Catrina Luedtke at the Software Council office at (310)
325-4000 or Catrina@scsc.org
for more information.
VENTURENET:
AN INVESTOR'S PERSPECTIVE
By David Cremin, managing director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Frontier
There
is no doubt in my mind that networking is a critical skill when
it comes to entrepreneurship and venture capital, so I go to
my share of events each year. However, I like to follow one
key rule when I am thinking about putting anything on my calendar
or when advising companies in the DFJ Frontier portfolio: participate
in actions that will create the most extraordinary results.
That's
why I decided to serve as chair of the evaluation committee
for the annual VentureNet conference in Newport Beach. The event,
hosted by the Software Council of Southern California, includes
an amazing group of the most active Southern California investors
along with representatives from Stradling Yocca Carlson &
Rauth and Delotte & Touche. These representatives drive
in each year to help find the top technology companies looking
for funding. Last year, the event was a huge success, and companies
like Meaning Master and CrystalVoice Communications (now a DFJ
Frontier portfolio company) received funding after presenting
at the conference - a great result!
MORE
>>
Register
now to meet the most active investors from San Diego
to the Silicon Valley, please join us at VentureNet 2005, held
on September 8th at the Four Seasons, Newport Beach. For more
details, visit www.VentureNet.org.
Want
more VentureNet visibility? A limited number of VentureNet exhibit
spaces are still available, so act now to
reserve your space. Even if you're not looking for funding,
by exhibiting at VentureNet you meet those who have the experience,
tools and connections to help you grow your business. The exhibit
fee includes a tabletop exhibit space, a full access conference
pass, and a company listing and hotlink on the conference Website.
The
Software Council wishes to thank the VentureNet Planning, Selection
& Mentoring Committee Members:
Jeff
Carmody, Agility Capital
Jim Armstrong, Clearstone Venture Partners
Kris Kaufmann, Deloitte & Touche
David Cremin, DFJ Frontier
John Morris, GKM Ventures
Ted Alexander, Mission Ventures
Bill Collins, Publex Ventures |
Joseph
Marks, Smart Technology Ventures
Chris Ivey, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth
Mark Skaist, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth
Jeff Cohn, Tech Coast Angels
Mike Stuhley, Tech Coast Angels |
THE
SCIENCE OF HEARING--THE ART OF LISTENING
By Andrea B. Edwards, CustomerCentric Systems, LLC
When we were younger, mom would tell us that we were given two
ears and one mouth for a reason. We should listen more often than
we talk. And, it's been said that salespeople have two modes of
communication: talking and waiting to talk, using our mouths much
more often than our ears!
Many,
many books and articles have been written about the art of listening.
Only, what's the real difference between listening and hearing?
And, why should we care?
MORE
>>
SIX
STEPS TO MAXIMIZING THE VENTURE CAPITAL RELATIONSHIP
By Gavin G. Galimi and Eric Klein, Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP
Your venture capital investors have more value to a growing company
than the capital they provide. Maximizing that value is what can
separate a good company from an explosively successful company.
You probably know this already having carefully considered which
VC investors to pursue on the basis of their industry expertise
and rolodex. But, your venture capital relationships can extend
far deeper. Here are six steps to maximize your company's venture
capital ("VC") relationships and make your VCs partners
in the growth and success of your company.
Wants and Needs List
Every business has a pet list of wants and needs. You may need
to add a COO to your management team. You may want to expand into
a particular region and are looking for potential target companies
to acquire. Perhaps you are looking for a new channel partner.
Whatever your wants and needs, take the time to write down your
list. Then, share the list with your venture capital investors
in regularly scheduled meetings.
MORE >>
TAKING
A SERVICE-ORIENTED APPROACH TO ACHIEVING BUSINESS FLEXIBILITY
By Sandy Carter, IBM vice president of WebSphere strategy, channels,
and marketing
The
business terrain for today's banking, insurance and financial
markets organizations is fraught with challenges from competitors,
complexity, regulations, consolidation and demanding customers.
To navigate successfully, firms must be able to make changes
to their business models quickly and precisely. They must also
be flexible and thus require flexibility in their IT infrastructures.
Many firms are pursuing an approach that addresses these needs
by integrating systems based on a service-oriented architecture
(SOA).
As an IBM vice president in charge of WebSphere strategy, channels
and marketing, I see first hand how integration and SOA strategies
are changing the way IT operates in today's financial services
industries. Essentially, SOA is a methodology that helps organizations
transform applications into component business processes called
services. Combine them or add new ones - companies can change
the processes to address dynamic business needs and leverage
the services across horizontal boundaries. The business process
is no longer bound to a specific platform or application. It
can be treated as a component and be reused or changed.
MORE >>
TECHNOLOGY
PR: MYTHS REVEALED
By Rose Maciejewski, vice president, Ruder Finn
Public
relations is often regarded as a "gray" area within
marketing, one of the least measurable of marketing activities.
Within technology PR, confusion is even more prevalent - clients
may regard it as costly, time consuming and lacking bottom line
benefits. While the benefits of public relations may never be
completely "black and white," the truth is most misgivings
about it are based on "myths" that, upon closer examination,
are not accurate or even remotely rooted in the truth. Tech
PR can and should be cost-effective and also have
a positive affect on your bottom line, but, as with most worthwhile
endeavors, success requires a commitment. The following article
addresses some of the biggest misperceptions about technology
PR.
Myth
#1: Tech PR is cost prohibitive.
The halcyon days of large-scale PR programs that were based
on flash and no substance are gone. While it's fun to throw
a big party on a yacht in Marina Del Rey, it's no longer the
hallmark of a PR proposal to include expensive galas. Today's
journalists want to get right to the heart of the product -
so affordable events, such as Webinars, are much more in line
with their thinking.
MORE
>>
Join
The Discussion
The Software Council's Valley Chapter is addressing cost effective
tech PR at its upcoming September 20 event "Publicity on
a Budget." Register
now and join us for this fun and informative evening.
MEMBER
SPOTLIGHT: INTERVIEW WITH RIGHTSLINE CEO, RUSSELL P. REEDER
Interview by Jennifer Beever
RightsLine, Inc. is an up and coming software company that survived
the downturn of 2000 and 2001. RightsLine now has twenty-seven
employees and last month was awarded a patent for intellectual
property database navigation.
What
exactly does RightsLine do?
What
we do is very similar to a manufacturing environment. We help
companies keep track of all their intellectual property - their
trademarks, their patents, and their copyrighted information.
The first vertical we started in was media entertainment. Now
that Media and Entertainment products are going digital, there
are many new avenues of distribution. Before RightsLine, content
owners had to go back to the filing cabinet to see if they had
rights to distribute content. So, really, the Internet is almost
like the Wal-Mart for this content distribution and all intellectual
property distribution. But content owners now need to implement
new back office solutions to keep track of what rights they
have and what royalties they collect and pay out.
What's
an example?
A
great example - EMI Music is one of our customers. They keep
track of all of the rights that they have with all of their
artists. And, before they do a deal, they can look up what approval
process they have to go through. RightsLine generates the contract
and keeps track of all the terms and conditions and does any
royalty payment processing as well.
MORE
>>
SOFTWARE
COUNCIL SPONSOR WINS NATIONAL BLOGGING AWARD!
ExactTarget, one of the Software Council's Silver Sponsors recently
received national recognition when their Co-Founder and Chief
Marketing Officer, Chris Baggott, was awarded the Best Online
Marketing Blog by MarketingSherpa, one of the most respected marketing
publications on the Internet.
Specifically,
"Chris Baggott's Email Best Practices" was voted one
of the 10 Best Blogs for 2005 in a contest that involved more
than 2,065 reader-judges reviewing some 52 different blogs before
selecting the 10 best. Baggott's was the only corporate blog
that received recognition.
Since
then, Forbes.com has also specifically cited this blog as one
of the best marketing blogs in the country. So, check out Chris'
latest writing at and see for yourself what an award-winning
blog looks like.
Congratulations
to ExactTarget and to Chris Baggott for this recognition!
Blogging
Your Way To The Top
Join us on September 15th in Santa Monica for our Impact! event,
"Blogging Your Way to the Top". Chris Barnes, Business
Development Manager for ExactTarget, will be a panelist at this
event that will focus on how to effectively use blogs to enhance
your firm's marketing efforts. Chris Barnes has worked closely
with Chris Baggott over the years and besides understanding
Baggott's expertise on this subject, Chris Barnes has his own
very active and informative blog. Take a look at Barnes'
blog, and then join us for a lively and informative
discussion in September. Register
Today
30%
OF FAST-GROWTH PRIVATE COMPANIES APPLYING SARBANES-OXLEY PRINCIPLES
PricewaterhouseCoopers'
Trendsetter Barometer interviewed CEOs of 341 privately-held
product and service companies identified in the media as the
fastest growing U.S. businesses over the last five years. The
surveyed companies range in size from approximately $5 million
to $150 million in revenue/sales.
Three
in ten fast-growing private companies are looking to benefit
from provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As they and others
decide which aspects of the Act are appropriate for them, they
must ask themselves two fundamental questions: Will adoption
of those elements make a better company? Do the benefits outweigh
the costs?
Many
Benefits Seen
CEOs from 30 percent of the nation's fastest-growing private
companies say that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had an impact
on them and their business over the past 12-24 months (17 percent),
or will in the near future (13 percent).
MORE >>
THANKS
TO OUR NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS
|
CONTENTS
|
