How to Build a Tech Startup if You Don’t Write Code

1) Come up with an idea that solves someone's problem. (Check out the ULTRA BrainStorm Workbook.)

2) Make a Powerpoint. Here's my example (I recorded it).

3) Go talk to 25 potential customers and show them your presentation. a) Try to sell it to them. b) Get feedback on your idea.

(Related: Crazy Might Work? The Importance of Market Validation)

4) Repeat step 3 until you have five people willing to pay for it (not a friend or family member).

5) Go to CoderNights and tell anyone willing to listen to you about your traction.

About the Author Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Steve is a co-founder of Snapifeye. He has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and is a previous Startup Weekend winner.

Local Startup Works to Grow Home Brewing in MKE

Local Startup Works to Grow Home Brewing in MKE

What do you get when you mix boiling water, grain, malt, a living organism, time, and a healthy dose of instruction? BrewU.

BrewU is a local startup whose main goal is to help eliminate limitations on home brewers by offering a facility that will provide expertise, equipment, and space to home brewers of all experience levels. We were one of 15 teams that formed out of Startup Weekend – Milwaukee 2013 and received “Honorable Mention” from the panel of judges on Sunday night of the competition.

Since Startup Weekend, we have continued to work on evolving and validating our business. More specifically, we have worked to organize our first official Brewing Workshop. The workshop took place on January 25th at Braise in the 5th Ward and was a total success. We quickly sold out our class with 16 people who were interested in learning the home brewing process. More importantly, we were able to gain a ton of feedback from the participants and will be able to use it, along with our own thoughts to improve the workshops going forward. The second part of our “first class” will be the Bottling Workshop that will take place on February 8th, 2014. The participants that signed up will learn the bottling aspect of home brewing by actually bottling the batch they brewed in January.

Our overall goal for these beginner workshops are to walk participants through the entire home brewing process and ensure that they receive the full experience by actively participating in the class. Our hope is that our newly empowered brewers will want to continue home brewing when they leave the class whether it’s with us or on their own!

We are currently finishing up planning for the Bottling Workshop on February 8th and then  will plan out our next workshops for March/April. For the long term, we will be networking, hustling, connecting, and researching to execute our vision which includes continuing to iterate and refine our model, identifying possible investors, securing our own space, and brewing more beer!

Feel free to get ahold of us if you, or a group are interested in a workshop or private team-building event.

We look forward to brewing with you!

BrewU Team

Chris Welker, Drew Stauffacher, Leo Osma, Steven Wroblewski, Tyler Knudtson

The team can be reached at brewumke@gmail.com , on Twitter at @brewumke, and you can sign up to hear about our next event on our website.

JSOnline: "Co-working space 96square aims to help Milwaukee start-ups collaborate"

From yesterday's edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Visit JSOnline to read the full story.

Investor Office Hours @ 96square

We founded 96square to increase the number of collisions between entrepreneurs, investors and technologists in Southeastern Wisconsin. To specifically address the best site to buy generic propecia need to foster stronger connections between entrepreneurs and investment groups we've opened our doors for office hours with various groups.

We are excited to host three days of investor office hours in February:

• February 11th - Brian Taffora + Pat Farley, CSA Partners LLC - 100% Booked
• February 12th, - Troy Henikoff, Techstars Chicago - Apply Here
• February 25th - Brian Taffora + Pat Farley, CSA Partners LLC - Grab a Slot

If you are an investment group looking to hold office hours at 96square please contact us.

Startup Milwaukee's Leadership Team Grows

Milwaukee - Startup Milwaukee announced today that veteran fundraisers Charles P. Ries and Jason Parry have been appointed to the Development Committee of our Board of Directors.

"With decades of combined fundraising experience we are delighted to have Jason and Charles join the board" said Matt Cordio, Startup Milwaukee's Executive Chairman, "Jason and Charles will play a critical role as we raise the funding necessary to support our mission of building and networking Milwaukee's startup community."

MEET THE TEAM:

Jason Parry – Jason is the vice president, development and communications at Penfield Children’s Center joining the agency’s executive team in November 2012. Prior to Penfield, Jason served as the director of development for the Diederich College of Communication and College of Professional Studies at Marquette University and as the cheap cialis prices major giving and planned giving specialist at WUWM - Milwaukee Public Radio. From concepting and visioning to executing and securing seed funding, he has been actively engaged in several innovative programmatic and capital initiatives during his time in the nonprofit industry.

Before entering the sector, Jason spent six seasons in the media relations department for the Milwaukee Brewers serving as the club's assistant director of media relations. He has his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in business management and sports marketing and his masters in nonprofit management and leadership from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn.

Charles P. Ries – Charles is Senior Director of Development Design and Innovation at Marquette University. He joined Marquette’s Advancement staff in 1998. Prior to joining Marquette he was Vice President for Development at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA and Senior Vice President of the Oram Group - a fund raising management and consulting firm founded in 1940. During his thirteen years with The Oram Group he worked with over 200 non-profit organizations solving a variety of fundraising and organizational challenges. He has worked with non-profit organizations for over 35 years.

Ries is also a published author. His poetry, short stories, articles, book reviews, and essays have appeared in over 200 print and electronic publications. The Charles P. Ries Collection is housed in the Raynor Achieves at Marquette University. He is on the board of John Michael Kohler Art Center and Chairs the Development Committee of Milwaukee LISC (Local Initiative Support Corporation). He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a founding member of Lake Shore Surf Club in Sheboygan. Connect with Charles on LinkedIn.

For more information email Matt Cordio (matt@startupmke.org).

Five Startups Begin gener8tor’s Winter 2014 Program

Madison, Wis. - gener8tor, a Wisconsin-based startup accelerator, kicks off its Winter 2014 Program in Madison this week in its new office at 30 W. Mifflin St., 5th Floor. This is the fourth gener8tor program since its inception. gener8tor recruits, mentors and trains entrepreneurs leading high-tech business ventures from around the world. Since June 2012, the 18 startup graduates from gener8tor’s previous three accelerator programs have gone on to raise more than $10 million in financing and created close to 100 jobs. Over the course of the 12-week program, which begins on January 3, 2014, gener8tor invests its community, capital, mentorship, network and expertise into each company. In addition to gener8tor’s initial $20,000 cash investment, each participating company is guaranteed $50,000 of additional follow-on investment from gener8tor and its investment partner, Angels on the Water. The program culminates with a Launch Day event on April 3, 2014, where each entrepreneur will pitch his or her company to a crowd of community members and potential investors.

“The Winter 2014 Program consists of some of the most innovative startups from around the world,” said Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor. “We’re really looking forward to helping these companies grow and achieve their full potential.”

Out of over 380 applications, the five companies participating in the Winter 2014 Program are listed below:

Edison DC Systems: Edison DC Systems has developed products that allow you to demonstrate the high efficiency benefits of direct current power systems in your data center through simple rack based solutions. As a member of Facebook’s Open Compute Project, Edison DC Systems has taken an industry leadership role in defining the next generation of direct current power infrastructures. Edison DC Systems offers complete end-to-end direct current solutions to power your cloud. (Milwaukee, WI)

Liv Blends: Liv Blends is the Nespresso machine for freshly blended beverages. 16oz cups come pre-packaged with fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts - insert a cup into the machine, blend, and you're ready to go. No need to source, clean, cut, and measure ingredients - nor mess with the clean up. Eating fresh, healthy foods has never been easier.(Cambridge, MA)

Men’s Style Lab: Men's Style Lab is a concierge clothing service that provides effortless style for everyday guys. After connecting you with a personal stylist, Men’s Style Lab sends you customized wardrobe selections based on your lifestyle and personal preferences. You only pay for the items you keep, send back the items you don't, and shipping is free both ways. (Des Moines, IA)

Driblet: Driblet is a smart water management solution. It offers cutting edge, innovative technology to deliver the most accurate and on-time measurements in a simple format directly to your smart devices. It also keeps track of your water using habits (volume, temperature & time), in order to provide tailored feedback and advice to help you reach your consumption goals. (Monterrey, Mexico)

Review Trackers: Review Trackers is a review monitoring solution for multi-businesses. It’s designed to meet the needs of small businesses to enterprises with thousands of locations. Review Trackers recently surpassed 2,500 paying locations. (Chicago, IL)

For more information, email troy@gener8tor.com, visit gener8tor.com or follow them @gener8tor.

2013: A Year of Rapid Growth

Heading into 2014 it is clear to outsiders Milwaukee’s startup scene has momentum. Many of the programs the Startup Milwaukee community has launched in 2013 have contributed to that momentum. Here are the top five major milestones accomplished by the Startup Milwaukee community in 2013, a year of rapid growth:

1. 96Square Opens for Business | October 2013 96square is the only co-working space providing entrepreneurs with access to affordable scalable office space and a unique mix of tenants: high-growth startups, investors, technical and creative talent. Read about the launch of 96square from the Journal Sentinel.
2. Startups Connected with Mentors through Startup Milwaukee's Mentorship Program | June 2013 Startup Milwaukee’s mentorship program kicked-off in June and is wrapping up in early 2014, we’re already seeing the companies involved making tremendous progress towards their goals of generating revenue and building sustainable high-growth technology companies in Southeastern Wisconsin. Read more from the Journal Sentinel’s coverage, click here.
3. Startup Milwaukee Organizes Second Annual Startup Weekend Milwaukee | November 2013 Startup Weekend Milwaukee took place November 1st through 3rd, designers, developers and entrepreneurs attended all with the goal of launching a company in 54 hours. Out of the weekend 15 ideas were launched and several of the teams continue to work on building their businesses. Read the Business Journal's follow-up article on the event here.
4. Connecting College Students with Internships at Local Startups | March 2013 Launched in spring, Startup Milwaukee’s internship program has connected over 13 college students internships at local high-growth companies. Read more from the Business Journal, click here.
5. Startup Milwaukee helps bring entrepreneurs from Madison and Milwaukee Together | November 2013 Startup Milwaukee has partnered with Capital Entrepreneurs, Forward Tech Festival, gener8tor and 100state to create a series of cross-state meeting of the minds. The first event held at 96square has resulted in more collaboration between the two cities. Read more about the collaboration from the Wisconsin State Journal.

Not included in this list includes the launch of Startup Milwaukee's Founders' Club, the launch of our Capital Connections events and the Launch of  Coder Nights at 96square (props, to Brennan Stehling for making that happen).

If you want to take an active role building Milwaukee’s startup community please reach out to me, matt@startupmke.org. We are always looking for the next generation of startup community leaders to join the Startup Milwaukee team.

Matt Cordio is co-founder and Executive Chairman of Startup Milwaukee. Cordio is also co-founder and CEO of Skills Pipeline a company that connects startups to Fortune 100 companies with seasoned IT and creative talent. 

5 Simple Rules for Social Media

Social media is a great marketing tool that startups can use to build a following and interact with potential customers. From Facebook to Twitter and over to Instagram and Foursquare, here are a couple of simple etiquette rules to follow for your social media use. 1: Social Media is a Conversation not a Megaphone.

The best way to use social media is to engage with your customers.  The reason it is “social” is because it should be a two-way conversation not a megaphone.  Make sure to provide useful information and respond to your followers with comments, likes, re-tweets, and posts.  Build relationship online the same way you would in real life.

2: Keep Your Account Active.

Social media requires continuous updates and interactions.  You need to keep your content fresh.  This means posting new pictures, articles, or information at least a couple of time per week.  If you have great content it is ok to repost it a few times, but make sure to leave ample time (a week of so) between re-posts of the same content.

3: Post Wisely

If you post too frequently and flood your followers with content they will quickly block everything you say.  Make sure that you post enough to stay relevant but don’t post more that 3 or 5 times per day unless you are having direct interactions with your followers.

4: Posts Live Forever.

Make sure that everything you post is something you are comfortable showing your customers, boss, colleges, and friends for years to come. Even if a post is deleted it is likely that someone saw it and will remember what you said.

5: Visuals Rule.

The best social media posts are visual.  Statistics are good, articles are better, and conversations trump both.  However, people are visual creatures and you will get better response when you post images that your followers find useful and can understand.

About the Author

Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the Cofounder of Snapifeye. Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend.

2014 Mentor Wish List

For 2014 one of Startup Milwaukee’s goals is to accelerate the growing startup community in Wisconsin.  One of the best ways that already established companies can help boost our startup eco-system is to provide mentors.  Your company can benefit from providing mentors to local startups.  These benefits include: 1)   Exclusive access to new ideas and technology.

2)   Inside knowledge of innovative Milwaukee companies.

3)   Personal development for you staff.

1. Cultivate leadership skills.
2. Encourage the entrepreneurial mindset.

4)   Social recognition to greater Milwaukee community.

1. Public relations opportunities.
2. Sponsorship opportunities.

5)   Access to potential new customers.

6)   Give back to the community.

The ability to act as a mentor will benefit your employees and our state as a whole.  In order to make lasting economic growth in Wisconsin we must foster an environment where innovation thrives.  Consider providing a mentor for one of the areas listed below in 2014.  To be part of the mentorship program in 2014 please e-mail Tim Grove at: Tim@startupmke.org

Startup Milwaukee Mentor Wish List
Law
	Intellectual Property
	Incorporation
	Contract
Business Development
	Customer Validation
	Strategic Partnerships
	Lead Generation
	Negotiation
	SEO/SEM
	Lean Startup
Design
	User Experience
	General Design
	Creative Direction
HR
	Hiring Decisions
	Insurance
	Benefits
	Management
Funding
	Pitching
	Financial Models
Selling
	B2B
	B2C

About the Author

Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the CEO of Snapifeye. Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend.

Pairdd is Hiring

Are you a coding wizard? Do you want to work with a fun Milwaukee Startup?! Look no further:

Pairdd is looking for a coder/developer to help out with site changes!

Pairdd is a new local startup working to make cooking gluten free easier. We send all the measured ingredients needed to cook a great gluten free meal to the homes of many – And they are growing which means that we are looking to add to our team!

Applicants should have experience in the following areas:

Pairdd is looking for a coder to help work within Shopify on front end styling and UX/UI design. Preferably applicants will also have experience in back end development.

Languages Required:

• HTML

• CSS

• PHP is a plus

Bonus Skills (not required)

• Photoshop

• UX/UI

• Experience with design

• Experience working with an ecommerce site

Time Requirements

Pairdd is looking to find a coding rockstar for contract work on an as needed basis ASAP.

Think you have what it takes?

APPLY - send your resume and past work to letseat@pairdd.com

Pairdd is a product of Blue Bananas LLC, a local startup incubator funded by Assurant Health. Blue Bananas is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All aspects of consideration for employment and employment with the Company are governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.

Pitch your startup to corporations at OnRamp!

In an effort to increase connections between Wisconsin’s start-ups and established corporations, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor are launching an event (OnRamp) that will give young companies the opportunity to pitch their products and services to established corporations. Startups wishing to participate in the event are encouraged to apply through the program's f6s portal.

The inaugural OnRamp event will be held Friday, December 6, 2013 at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headquarters. The event is intended to help startups in the critical effort to find sales channels and to provide a way for established companies to engage with the entrepreneurial community. It highlights the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor’s commitment to helping Wisconsin’s emerging entrepreneurs succeed.

Participating corporations include the Milwaukee Bucks, American Family Insurance, Assurant Health, Granite Microsystems, Menasha Corporation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Nordic Consulting.

Startups wishing to apply are encouraged to research each of the participating corporations to better understand which corporations they would like to pitch. Each participating corporation will receive those startup applications that requested to pitch to them and those whose applications indicate a potential customer opportunity. Participating corporations will then choose 4-6 startups to pitch them at the event.

Those startups selected to pitch at the event will be notified on 12/4 and 12/5 and offered a time slot to pitch at the 12/6 event. Because of the short turn-around time, we ask that each startup be prepared to pitch any of the participating corporations on 24-48 hours notice. Selected startups are requested to arrive at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Headquarters at 333 W. State St. at least 30 minutes before their scheduled pitch.  No technology will be available at the event. Startups are encouraged to bring brief handouts of powerpoint presentations or sales collateral to aid in their presentation. Startup pitches will last 15 minutes with 10 minutes available for Q&A. 

To prepare for the event, gener8tor and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel are hosting a Meetup at the Milwaukee Ale House at 5:30 pm on 12/5. The Meetup will feature the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Marty Kaiser (editor-in-chief), Betsy Brenner (president and publisher), and George Stanley (managing editor) in addition to the gener8tor founding team. Startups wishing to learn more about the OnRamp Wisconsin event are encouraged to attend and ask any questions. 

At the conclusion of the OnRamp Wisconsin event, participating corporations will select one startup to either purchase from or mentor (at least two lunches/coffees). Organizers will notify each selected startup with appropriate follow-up steps.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor are grateful to each of the participating corporations, volunteers and supporting partners including StartupMKE, Digital Fertilizer, and Capital Entrepreneurs. 

Anyone with additional questions or follow-up is encouraged to contact Joe@gener8tor.com.

gener8tor Winter 2014 Application Deadline

The application deadline for gener8tor's Winter 2014 accelerator program in Madison is Monday, December 1st.

gener8tor invests its community, capital, expertise, mentorship and network in capable, early-stage entrepreneurs with innovative business models. gener8tor works with the startups in its portfolio to create successful, scalable companies.

gener8tor is seeking to invest in technology-enabled businesses, including software, IT, web, SaaS and hardware. Accepted companies receive $70,000 and 12-weeks of mentorship-driven programming. gener8tor is a proud member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) and is sponsored by American Family Insurance.

If you or anyone you know is interested in applying gener8tor, check out gener8tor's website and application page on f6s by December 1, 2013.

Please email Joe@gener8tor.com with any questions.

Does Your Business Have Innovation?

According to Eric Ries of the Lean Startup the difference between a small business and a startup is innovation.  A small business executes on an existing model and a startup creates a new one.  So what is innovation? “Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, inarticulated needs, or existing market needs.” – Wikipedia

A new restaurant can be innovative in it is marketing or styling’s.  A cheese company might age their cheese a bit differently than its competitors. It might do things in a distinctive way that is innovative. However, compared to Facebook it seems these businesses are a bit less innovative.  Restaurants and cheese have been part of the human fabric  for hundreds of years and Facebook has been around about ten.

So what is innovation and does your business have it?  This question is based on a false premise.  It is not a question about the existence of innovation, rather the questions is about the degree. We should be asking, “How much innovation does you business have?” or  ”How can your business be more innovative in its space?”

In general there are two kids of innovation, disruptive innovation and incremental innovation.  Incremental innovation is the improvement of an existing system.  It is an innovative way to make something that exists better.  Disruptive innovation is a new system that completely replaces an old one.  Stay tuned for to find out more about the differences between incremental innovations and disruptive innovation in a future blog post.

About the Author Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the CEO of Snapifeye.  In addition, he is the Founder of Laylines Consulting and previously worked at a San Francisco based consulting company.  Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and was the winner of Startup Weekend Madison

Strengthening Wisconsin's Entrepreneurial Community

Tuesday night Startup Milwaukee has partnered with fellow entrepreneur-led organizations 100state, Capital Entrepreneurs, Digital Fertilizer and gener8tor to brainstorm solutions that strengthen Wisconsin's entrepreneurial community. Wisconsin continues to lag the country in many of the key measures of entrepreneurial activity, but entrepreneurs from around the state are determined to reverse these trends.

So Tuesday night at 96square join 150+ entrepreneurs from Madison, Milwaukee and Northeast Wisconsin as we brainstorm practical ideas to strengthen and support Wisconsin's entrepreneurial community, RSVP here.

Create Your Winning Press Kit

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.  (This is part 3 of a 3 part series. If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List and Part 2: The Press Release.)

The press kit provides additional support for your media campaign. Typically you send a press kit to follow up if a journalist is interested in your story. Every press kit is a bit different. However, there are a number of standard documents you should include. You can be creative with the press kit and include more than what is listed here.

FAQ:  People are likely to have additional questions about you and your product. Provide answers to those questions here. Include relevant details that were not critical to your press release.

Bios: Provide background information about your core team in this document. This is similar to a resume--however, it is written out. Start with most recent items and work your way backwards. This should be fairly straight forward.

Fact Sheet: The fact sheet is a bulleted list of all the important information contained in your press release and press kit. Think of this as an outline of your press release and press kit.

Company Background: Write about your company's background and history. You can talk about previous accomplishments and important events.

Picture: Include a picture of you or your product. Make sure it is relevant to the story.

Now that you have a great media list, a compelling press release and an awesome press kit, it's time to find your business some exposure. Send your press release to the people listed on your media list, then follow up with your press kit when reporters and journalists contact you!

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Announcing 96square

See also: "96square has launched."

96square has launched.

Dear friends, The Startup Milwaukee team is excited to announce the launch of 96square, a co-working space for high-growth startup companies in Southeastern Wisconsin. Located in the historic Blatz Wash House, 96square provides entrepreneurs with access to affordable  scalable office space; mentorship; potential investors; talent and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

96square is a game changer for Milwaukee's community of innovative entrepreneurs. As research shows, the startups are responsible for all net new job creation--and we all know Milwaukee and Wisconsin desperately need more jobs. At Startup Milwaukee we are happy to step forward and provide a place where entrepreneurs, talent and capital can collide and accelerate the growth of Milwaukee's top startup companies.

We are excited to have great companies such as Alithias, Find My Spot, Onkol, Rent College Pads, SAR32 Technologies, UCAP, LLC, Voxelmetric, Wisconsin Super Angel Fund and more already located at 96square.

The meaning of 96square goes beyond having a "cool name." The city of Milwaukee is approximately 96 square miles, and 96square will be the epicenter of entrepreneurship and innovation in our great city.

Are you a startup, designer, developer or engineer looking for affordable dedicated desk or private office space for your team? Learn more and apply for 96square membership at 96square.org. Memberships start at just $110/month.

Your first chance to check out 96square is this Thursday, October 24 at our Capital Connections event featuring CSA Partners and Scanalytics. RSVP to reserve your free tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/8508341679

Thanks to the many people who have made this endeavor possible: Ronnie Reum of SAR32 Technologies, Heather Johnston of Find My Spot, Marvin Bynum of Godfrey & Kahn and many more.

See you at 96square!

Matthew J. Cordio, Executive Chairman Alicia Boknevitz, President Tim Grove, Corporate Secretary Joe Poeschl, Treasurer Michael Anderson, Community Outreach Director

Roadmap to Protecting Your Company’s Value: Navigating Your Legal Issues

You can protect the value of your privately held company by working with your lawyer to make strategic business and legal decisions and by ensuring that your legal documents are consistent in implementing those decisions. Many privately held companies face similar legal issues and all can benefit from developing a legal plan to help protect company assets, both tangible and intangible. Use the following information as a roadmap when considering your company’s legal issues and driving your company’s business plan.

Company Structure

Your company’s legal structure provides the framework for conducting your business operations. It is critically important that you take into account your long-range business, legal and tax planning goals when developing your company’s legal structure.

Three primary choices for your company’s legal structure include:

(1) limited liability company/tax partnership

(2) corporation/ tax C corporation

(3) corporation/ tax S corporation

Each alternative offers advantages, which you should consider in light of your long-term business strategy. In certain circumstances, a mature company may change its company structure in order to take advantage of benefits provided by the new structure.

Protecting company intangible assets

You and your executive team can protect your company’s intangible assets through a combination of legal contracts and protective filings. You may choose to protect intellectual property through patent, trademark and copyright filings. You will often need to protect your company’s intellectual property through protective contract provisions in license agreements and other customer or vendor agreements. Contracts with your employees also provide important safeguards, including non-competition agreements, confidentiality provisions and assignment of invention agreements, to assist in preserving company value.

Raising Capital For Growth Initiatives

Growth oriented companies often look to private equity groups for additional investment. Legal documentation defines the investors’ rights and shields the company from exposure. You may need to amend your company’s operating agreement or corporate by-laws to define the new investors’ economic rights. The operating agreement or shareholder agreement may provide contract rights that limit transfers of any new stock or securities that are issued in connection with the investment. Your company may need to issue a private placement memorandum and subscription agreement in order to comply with applicable securities laws and regulations and to protect your company from potential securities related claims.

Several common investment structures for a private invest- ment include preferred stock or units, common stock or units, participating preferred stock or units, convertible promissory notes and warrants (options to acquire stock or units in the future for a defined exercise price). Common issues that arise in the course of investor negotiations include investor rights in company governance (e.g., board seat, veto rights over certain defined actions and voting rights), future equity dilution if new investors or key employees are issued equity, future adjustments to investor equity based on post investment performance, and staged investment structures (i.e., the investors contribute additional post-closing funds as goals are achieved).

Incentivizing employees

You can use an employee incentive equity or compensation plan as a tool to protect the value that key employees provide to your business. Equity plans can include sales or grants of stock or units, options to acquire equity in the future and specially tailored cash bonus plans. Some cash bonus plans may provide special payouts on the successful sale of a company, which provides management a powerful incentive to remain with a company through the completion of a transaction. Vesting provisions help protect a company from risk that it will have to make a payment if the employee chooses to follow another opportunity or does not satisfy performance goals.

One frequently used tool to incentivize a key employee is a profits interest. A profits interest is normally attractive to an employee because, if structured properly, the employee is not taxed at the time of grant and future payments on exit can qualify for capital gain treatment if the company is sold at a profit. Meanwhile, if a company does not increase in value or produce operating profits after the grant, its preexisting owners will not experience economic dilution.

Corporate governance and shareholder agreements

Executives and owners should periodically review your company’s operating agreement, By-Laws and any applicable shareholder agreements to ensure that your company’s and its stakeholders’ interests are properly governed in light of current events, business strategies and legal developments. Operating and shareholder agreements often provide rules that limit or prohibit shareholders from transferring equity to certain parties, provide options or requirements that a company purchase equity from the owners in certain circumstances, such as termination of employment, death, disability, or bankruptcy, and require a company to make cash distributions to shareholders or partners if a company is a tax flow-through entity.

Dispute resolution

Defending and/or settling disputes with third parties in a cost efficient manner, potentially including former employees or governmental regulatory agencies, directly protects your company’s cash resources as well as its (and your) reputation. Creating an employee handbook with appropriate legal provisions can reduce the probability and impact of litigation with former employees.

Other key contracts:

Other key contracts often include finance-related contracts with lenders (e.g., promissory notes, security agreements, inter-creditor agreement, etc.), lease agreements with landlords, and key vendor and customer agreements. Contract terms must protect company access to critical assets and resources

Add-on acquisitions:

Companies that are poised for growth often accelerate their growth process through acquisitions of smaller companies that will add a critical market segment, technology or other component to the business. Legal due diligence and review of the target company’s contracts and legal rights (including the strength of intellectual property protection) helps the acquirer measure the value of the target’s business. Legal negotiation and documents play a key role in accomplishing the acquisition, including preparing and negotiating a letter of intent, drafting and negotiating the purchase contract and designing contracts with key employees of the target company.

Exit Strategies:

A privately-held company’s likely exit strategy should influence all of its le- gal decisions. Common exits include a sale to a strategic or financial buyer, management buyout, partial sale through a company recapitalization trans action, transfer to a family member or members, initial public offering and sale to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan).

Your privately-held company’s executive team can use strategic legal planning to maximize and protect the value of your company’s tangible and intangible assets and to support your company’s overall business strategy.

About the author: Daniel P. Cooper is a shareholder in Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.’s Business Law Practice. He can be reached at 414-298-8134 or dcooper@reinhartlaw.com.

How to Write a Killer Press Release

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets. This is part 2 of a 3 part series. (If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List.)

The keyword in news is new. It's easy to communicate your news to local media with the standard format of a press release.  This format makes it easy for them to digest your information.  A well written press release can make or break your media campaign.

The 11 Critical Parts of a Press Release:

1. Media contact: The contact person at your company for questions or interviews.

2. Release date: Most press releases are either: “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,” or “UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL: Day, month, year.” (Under embargo means that the media should not publish the news until the embargo expires.)

3.  Headline: The headline should catch the reader’s attention and contain the main topic of the post. A good headline goes a long way. Here’s five easy tricks to writing catchy headlines.

4.  Sub-headline: This is a note or summary that contains other important information. Punctuate like a title and center align.

5.  Dateline: "MONTH, DAY, YEAR (City, State)." The dateline is almost always bold and listed in that order.

6.  Introductory paragraph: Write the most important information and any important details.  If someone reads this paragraph and this paragraph only, they should know what the story is about.

7. Body paragraphs: These paragraphs contain more information and details. The body should be about two paragraphs maximum.

8.  Quote: Supply a quote from an executive or founder. This can be used as a statement from your company in lieu of an interview.

9.  Other information: This is for other details that are not critical to the story. Keep this section short.

10.   "ABOUT [YOUR COMPANIES NAME]" Include information like your corporate mission, website, history, etc. This should be single spaced.

11.  After the article, include three hash marks (###) to mark the end of the press release. (See example below.)

Stayed tuned for Part 3: The Press Kit

Part 1: 5 Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

Part 3:  The Press Kit

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Five Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that viagra shop usa will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.

This is the first part of a three part series. Let’s get started!

The first part of your press kit is your media list. The media list is a collection of names and email addresses for local reporters and journalists. Pick reporters and journalists who are likely to cover you and your business. The best way to get ignored is to send a press release about a new product to a reporter who covers music and arts (don’t be this person). If you don’t have a good media list even the world's best press release will fall flat. This is the leg work that will make your media campaign successful.

Here are five easy ways to make a targeted media list:

1) Define your audience. Who are you trying to reach? Who are your customers?

2) Identify the publications that your audience reads.

3) Look at each of these publications and get to know the type of content they publish.

4) Find the journalist who has previously covered topics similar to yours.

5) Find that journalist’s contact information and add it to your media contact list.

Follow these five easy steps to find a handful of reporters and you will be well on your way to a successful media campaign!

Part 2: The Press Release

Part 3: Create Your Winning Press Kit

About the Author:
Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve.