In the crowded world of business plan beauty contests, the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition sets itself apart by offering the largest crown -- a cool $1 million. Here's the deal: The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business plan competition designed to highlight Michigan as a robust and vibrant venue for innovation and business opportunity. The competition will fuel innovation-based business growth by uncovering the best and brightest new business concepts from local and global entrepreneurs, exposing those opportunities to potential investment capital and fostering their growth within Michigan. The competition targets mid-to-late seed-stage businesses with potential to generate an immediate impact on Michigan’s economy, as well as student concepts with longer-term business viability. With more than $1 million in cash winnings, plus in-kind awards of services and staffing, the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is the world’s largest business plan competition. The competition is led by the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan (composed of four of the region’s key business accelerators: Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, Macomb, and TechTown), the New Economy Initiative, Business Leaders for Michigan, and the University Research Corridor (Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University). Premier sponsors of the event are the Business Leaders for Michigan and the University Research Corridor. These groups have aligned their efforts to bolster and advance Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through a variety of collaborative initiatives, including the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. The mission is focused on job creation, increased capital and statewide economic and resource development. The Competition is from November ...
Safford & Baker is a proud sponsor of the" 2010-11 Savvy Entrepreneur Series" brought to you by the Great Lakes Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF), UM Dearborn, and Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest (GLEQ). The Series is co-produced with, and hosted by, a number of the region’s leading innovation accelerators and research institutions, the series provides early to mid-stage technology entrepreneurs with guidance on key topics that all startups and early growth companies must navigate to realize success. The next event in the Series is "2 + 2 = Infinity" on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 5:30 PM-7:30 PM, covering compensation for the early-stage company: Building a team with passion, critical skills and connections is critical to your success. If your company is starting out, or one with limited resources, and can’t really afford a Fortune 500 pay package, what can you do to attract and retain the talent that you need to compete in this highly competitive world? Learn how to build awesome teams that match your current stage of business development and your current funding status. Learn steps for supporting highly creative and innovative team environment. Collaboration site locations in: Dearborn, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Flint, Midland, and Houghton. I'll be attending the Ann Arbor location. RSVP here. --Matt
Our beloved Tech Brewery, "a community of technologists, entrepreneurs and startups", is featured in a story on "What it Takes to be a Successful Business Incubator" as part of Michigan Radio's "Changing Gears" series, which "explores the economic transformation of the industrial Midwest, through the stories of people driving and experiencing this change." From the article: Each Friday, inside the old Northern Brewery building in Ann Arbor, 4:30 p.m. is known as “beer thirty”. That’s when the self-described tech geeks who are part of this informal business community gather for drinks. The Tech Brewery houses three dozen start-ups – but don’t call it [a] business incubator. “We don’t call ourselves an incubator,” founder Dug Song said. “If anything we call ourselves a start-up coop. Song has his own start-up – Duo Security. He began the TechBrewery after being frustrated by traditional business incubators. In his opinion, they provide little more than cheap rent for lots of start-ups – instead of what it takes to get a company up and running. Read the whole article here -- and it's worth a read. Check out the audio story here. --Matt
Two not-to-miss events this week for the entrepreneur: First up, Detroit Startup Drinks is back and visiting The Bronx Bar tomorrow, Tuesday, October 25th, from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. Come on down, have a drink, and talk about what you're working on. S&B is buying the first round. Details at the Facebook page. Then, come on out to Ann Arbor for a very special Halloween edition of Fourth Friday at the Tech Brewery sponsored by newcomers LanguageMate. There will be catering, an amazing dessert display, kegs of Michigan micro brews, and more birds of prey (no really). Details and RSVP here. Hope you can make it. --Matt
U-M Tech Transfer is bringing in Michigan native Jason Mendelson and his partner Brad Feld of Foundry Group and TechStars fame on November 17th to talk about their new book "Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist". The event goes from 12:00-2:00 at the U-M Law School (100 Hutchins Hall, 625 South State, Ann Arbor, MI) and includes a book signing. More info can be found over at CrowdJuice. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video. --Matt
This Thursday, October 13, 2011, Ann Arbor New Tech is breaking from its usual format for a very special event with U-M's Center for Entrepreneurship and The Ross School of Business Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies: a showcase of the latest batch of startups coming out of TechArb, U-M's student business accelerator, in their new (expanded) incubator space at 500 E. Washington St., Suite 10 (just west of N. Main). Opening remarks and presentations to begin at 5 PM, followed by (free!) dinner and networking until 7:30 PM. All are welcome, but you must RSVP. --Matt
Safford & Baker is a proud sponsor of the Savvy Entrepreneur Series brought to you by the Great Lakes Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF). The Series is co-produced with, and hosted by, a number of the regions leading innovation accelerators and research institutions, and provides early to mid-stage technology entrepreneurs with guidance on key topics that all startups must navigate to realize success. Sites include Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Flint, Houghton, and Midland, with more to be added in the future. The first event for the 2010-11 Series is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 10, 2011 from 5pm to 8:30pm. A complete list of Series dates and topics follows: October 11, 2011, Tuesday. Intellectual Property: How to protect your precious IP without bankrupting your fledgling enterprise and how to navigate the dreaded NDA with prospective customers and partners. November 8, 2011, Tuesday. Building Great Team: A winning organization is more than the sum of its parts, and a losing one far less. How to recruit, retain, incentivize and inspire employees, advisers, board members and key leaders. January 31, 2012, Tuesday. ACE 2012: 12th gathering of over 500 active and new entrepreneurs to celebrate and connect. February 21, 2012, Tuesday. Angel Investors: What are they looking for, how are they different from venture capitalists and why use them? How do they think about valuation? April 10, 2012, Tuesday. Cash Flow: What is it and how can you maximize it and best practices on how to compensate the executive team to sustain it. Even if you have no cash yet, this is a top priority to ...
This is big: In a potentially highly damaging day for the US content industries, the New York District Court has ruled that digital music 'cloud' lockers don't need licences from record labels to store recorded music and that the operators of digital locker services are protected by the ‘safe harbour’ provisions of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, something that will bring cheer to both Amazon and Google who launched their cloud storage services without licences from record labels or music publishers. Read more over at the 1709 Blog. --Matt
I'll be presenting "Representing the Web-based Business" at the 4th Annual Information Technology Law Seminar next week on Wednesday, September 21, at the Inn at St. John's, Plymouth. The seminar is geared toward lawyers and law students. More information can be found here. A seminar overview and schedule follow. --Matt OVERVIEW Global connections and technology have transformed the world for all businesses. Companies need lawyers who understand online business and technology deals and the legal issues connected with them. Navigate key legal issues and learn drafting strategies from a faculty of security experts, a law professor, plus IP and IT law specialists. Build your knowledge to increase your business development opportunities. Attend and Learn to: Avoid costly mistakes when you draft and negotiate technology license agreements Implement best practices in data security and privacy to help your clients guard customer information Effectively advise your clients on the key issues relating to operating a Web-based business Safeguard your clients' domain names and trademark rights on the Web Take a multimedia exploration into copyright protection for Web sites Understand social media in the workplace and how companies are using it themselves SCHEDULE 9:00am-9:15am Welcome and Introductions 9:15am-10:05am The Keys to Technology Licensing understanding the basics critical mistakes to avoid handling the negotiations Mark G. Malven, Dykema, Bloomfield Hills 10:05am-10:55am Trademarks on the Web selecting and enforcing domain names keyword advertising implications on the Internet Mary Margaret L. O'Donnell, Blue Filament Intellectual Property LLC, Birmingham 11:10am-12:00pm Current Trends in Data Security and Privacy dissecting ...
I've been attending Ann Arbor New Tech events since the group's inception back in February 2009, so it's my great pleasure to announce that Safford & Baker PLLC is now an official sponsor. What is Ann Arbor New Tech? It's a group of people from various industries and backgrounds (e.g., entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, marketers, students, etc.) interested in fostering local technology startups by organizing events, sharing resources, and building a supportive community. Ann Arbor New Tech’s signature event takes place on the third Tuesday of each month, at 6:30 p.m., at Blau Auditorium, UM Ross School of Business, 701 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. The monthly event features three to five companies who are each given five minutes to demo and five minutes to answer questions. Open announcements and networking follows. This month’s meetup is Tuesday, September 20th. The presenting companies on tap include: Matt Piccinato, Had That Beer - web/mobile beer checklist app Kevin Krason, Traction - real world lead tracking Trevor Fitzgerald, Ignite Pages - real estate listing webpages Melissa Bugai, Booker - easy online appointment booking Jerry Paffendorf, LOVELAND Technologies - community maps & fundraising in the D - as featured in the New York Times! Hope you can make it. --Matt
