Name: Matt Pernichele

Title: Venture Consultant

Matt Pernichele brings a wealth of personal entrepreneurial experience to the FundingUniverse consulting department. He helps clients prepare for and approach investors for capital and works to refine many different aspects of their businesses in the very important foundational stages (pre-funding)

Matt is our longest-employed consultant and is usually talked about in glowing terms by the entrepreneurs he consults with.

---

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in business? I was given a “management” position and equity share equal to that of the founders in a software startup. I agreed because I really liked the product and the market. With each principal having an equal share and no other arrangements, no one was in charge and no one was accountable. Ever. I recognized this from day one but stuck with it for two years while the company spun its wheels in the hope that I could get my partners to impose some organization on the business or that it would, magically, succeed without it. Needless to say, it did not.

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? After the above example, I was told by a friend about the idea of “fast fail” that is, when you enter an endeavor make sure you will be able to tell pretty quickly if it will be a failure or a success so you don’t waste too much time on it.

Where did you work before FundingUniverse? Most recently I was doing some accounting work for Consonus.

What drew you to FundingUniverse? I found the idea of working with startup entrepreneurs exciting. It’s a great job where I learn useful new things every day and meet a lot of committed, creative people.

How will you help FundingUniverse grow? Hopefully by getting people in a position where their plans can get funded and by directing investors to real, quality deals I will help FundingUniverse become the place where good deals can get good exposure.

What’s your favorite things about FundingUniverse? Learning about my clients businesses.

What do you do when you’re not working?
Hike and take care of my high maintenance children.

How has FundingUniverse helped you grow professionally? Working at FundingUniverse has exposed me to a lot of different business models and personalities that I would not have otherwise encountered. I have also learned a great deal about my clients industries; from aircraft manufacture to SaaS to men’s hair care products.

First, talk about the Economy….Let’s call it a ‘fortune of reversals’

First it was housing, banking, and insurance. Now, retail and automotive. Not a good time to have big stores, big shelves and lots of goods from manufacturers who want to get paid. With the credit crunch, big ticket item sales are near impossible, everyone clobbered but the category leaders… i.e. Circuit City and Linens ‘n Things have been slammed. If smart, Walmart, Target and Costco will find ways to get by. Next, it’s clogging auto dealers who sit with big inventories. No one’s buying a car that doesn’t need one right away. I hear 2009 autos are sitting in the ports waiting for 2008 autos on the lots to clear out. Not going to happen this year. And it’s no solution to throw money at them, the big-3 need to change big-time. They need some kind of structured re-organization. If we as citizens must invest in them to keep the entire Midwest economy from crashing, the big-3 must find a way to make better cars, have fewer dealers, and dump their legacy obligations. Sorry, I think big unions (more mouths to feed), big stores and big inventories should be jettisoned. And I say, down with expensive marketing plans, good products should sell themselves!

My travels

This week, I hit Flagstaff (think Grand Canyon) and Tempe (mainstreet for ASU). First, we dedicated the new Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies and AZ Governor Janet Napolitano cut the ribbon of this new 10,000 square foot incubator, which by the way, is already filled with ten awesome technology companies (more about these companies next time). Later that day, the new Northern Arizona Angels group met at the ultra beautiful Pine Canyon Golf Club. Investor presentations were made by Protein Genomics (they make skin), Norchem Drug Testing (like they say, drug testing), Density Investments (new age green building), Ambature (super conductor material) and Visible Energy (making sense of energy).

Spressions

“Be careful what you wish for”… remember when we longed to get rid of our biggest problems: high gas prices and the Iraq war? Don’t you wish we were back there now?

Accordion to me…This week’s advice to entrepreneurs

Looking to fund your company? Wherever you are, there are probably angel investor groups in your region. While November and December may be shot, if you have a killer company, you should apply to the angel group(s) in your area and then, others nearby too. [ look at their directory at http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/ ] Get some professional advice, know your domain, make sure your company can exploit its unfair competitive advantage, and know your true valuation boundaries. Concentrate on proving the details on how your sales will be brought in. Very few companies know enough how they will get their sales. And…don’t talk about fast exits or IPO’s. Of course you are open to the right liquidity event, but right now, no one knows when, how and where. Ah, but you must be ready and wise. Got an idea or something you need help on? rick@hotventures.com

The tables could barely hold the number of investors that attended our Speed Pitch event on November 4th in Salt Lake City. Traditionally we have 10 tables with about 2-3 investors per table, but at this event we had at least four per table and some had more than that.  We truely had investors spilling into the aisles!

The flood of investors attending was telling for two reasons.  1.  We are in a downturn economy which typically means that investors are more tight fisted with their resources.  To have so many of them at our event was intriguing and 2.  The strength of investor turnout is a tribute to FundingUniverse and their ability to bring quality and certified companies to the table.  It takes a Hurclean effort to put these events together but the results for both the Investor and the Entreprenuer are immeasurable.

I am excited to report that EVERY company that pitched was offered invitations for follow up meetings, were given referrals to other investors or in most cases were given both.  Shortly after the event, we asked all entreprenuers to share some of their thoughts on the event.  Here are just a few of the we received.

Fantastic!  Great experience, great opportunity.
- Jason Izatt, CEO, Izatt International

Do what you can to get into this event.
- Shane Willard, CampusBook

Pony up the [dough] and attend.
- Alan Martin, CEO, CampusBook

It really helps to hone the pitch.
- C. Lunceford, Miralinx

Must do. If not for the money then for the experience
- Cary Snowden, CEO, ListPipe

Our next speed pitching event will be on December 12th and we are excited to end this incredible year on a high note.  If you are interested in learning more about how your company can present at one of our events or if you are an investor looking for qualified, certified deals contact one of our representatives at 877-638-3616 option 1 to learn how you can attend our next event.

Joel Nielsen is a Venture Consultant at FundingUniverse.  He can be reached at jnielsen@fundinguniverse.com

Hey everyone, here’s the maiden launch of my blog for FundingUniverse. This is my chance to rant and rave on the subject of Angel Investing: Trends, Deals, Happenings, Phenomena and Kooky Stories.

Where am I coming from?
You can check out my Web site at but please allow me to get this background stuff out of the way. I’ve put in 34 years of hard labor in start-ups, turnarounds and fast-growth technology companies. I work mostly with IT and BioSciences companies, investing in them, helping them find money and sometimes as a board member or advisor. I’m on the board of several angel groups, technology incubators and have advised almost 100 companies, and have co-founded several successful tech companies, and I am most proud of Knowledge Adventure, which we sold for $100 million in 1996. Soon after I was an early shareholder in Bill Gross’ Idealab, which quickly became the most famous tech incubator in the world, and recently has morphed into one of the most notable tech operating companies in the U.S. Idealab created Overture.com and sold it to Yahoo for $1.6 billion, and now runs a few dozen companies, among them the hottest solar company, eSolar, new automotive company, Aptera Motors, and robotics company, Evolution Robotics.

What me worry?
Okay, I won’t dodge the question. Worried? Well, just a little. How’s this economic disruption affecting angel investing and entrepreneurial companies? Well things are going to be more difficult… plenty. Right away, any borderline investor deals are probably going to get killed, and the deals that do get done will be at terms a lot more investor favorable. However, for those companies that have an oh-my-gosh, true competitive advantage in a large market that’s screaming for a solution, don’t worry, you’re still good. While many angels have pulled back or are waiting, there still are investors who need to keep their capital employed. I mean, even if billions of dollars of capital has been withdrawn, there still are tens of billions remaining that must be employed, right? In any event, I suggest you make plans to keep yourself busy now though mid-January, cause once we hit Thanksgiving, deal closings will be few and far between.

I like “Recession-Resistant”
There is no recession-proof. But no matter whether you’re entrepreneuring or investing, make sure your company does something truly important. No…wait, you better make sure it provides something that’s absolutely essential to the buying public. If it isn’t, go find a way. The next year or two may not be your best years, but they can be years that you survive and build. I call that recession-resistant, but you may want to look for satisfaction in simply getting by.

Question: What’s a word for high gas prices and the war in Iraq? Answer: Nostalgia
What I’m saying is if you look back six months, it looked like high gas prices and the war in Iraq were making our lives unbearable. Now… I betcha you wish those were still our big problems!

Name: Frank Poulsen

Title: Venture Consulting Manager, Investor Liason, Distance employee and king of diatribe.

Frank’s the grand poobah over the venture consulting arm of FundingUniverse. He makes sure our consulting is producing results for clients. He’s also the guy responsible for maintaining good relations with our investor network by catering to their every whim.

Frank currently lives in Idaho and works remotely. When we’re lucky, he occasionally graces the FundingUniverse headquarters in Utah with his presence.

---

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in business? I think the biggest mistake was taking the second job that I did, no offense to anyone in the car industry, but I have never worked in such a crooked and upside down business in my life. Thank goodness I got out of that.

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? “He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, shun him. He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a wise man, follow him”

Where did you work before FundingUniverse? I worked as a business analyst with an auto group in Southeast Idaho, previous to that I worked with a joint venture between a Venture Capital firm and a regional entrepreneurial center as an analyst and consultant.

What drew you to FundingUniverse? The excitement of working in the Private Equity industry, i have always been fascinated by it.

How will you help FundingUniverse grow? By ensuring quality consulting and new approaches to our work, this will help to increase our sell-ability as the word get’s out that we are truly the best in the industry.

What’s your favorite things about FundingUniverse? Of course the people. We have a great team of young accomplished professionals that work hard and play hard.

What has been the funniest moment at FundingUniverse? Well I would have to say that Michael Jones is a terminally funny moment, get to know him, you will see.

What has been the weirdest moment at FundingUniverse? I don’t think we should talk about that publicly.

 

This morning started with a great visit to a local Angel Group’s monthly meeting.  I always enjoy seeing companies pitch to investors and am especially intent on observing nuance, which tells so much about what the investors are looking for.  I would like to share some of those observations today that may help entrepreneurs gain a more intricate insight into preparation for a fundraising pitch.

Observations:

1.  Without fail the first question after every pitch was calculated to determine the details of the offering. i.e. pre-money valuation, percentage of ownership offered, preferred or common stock, liquidation preferences etc.  I will let you draw your own conclusions but I think this means it is important to the investors.

2.  The company that received the most interest did so in large measure because of the dynamic character of the CEO.  Though the business model, market, financials, deal, traction etc. was all in order, it was the leader that created the buzz.  I heard private discussions such as “I like this guy” and “This kid knows his stuff.”  Oddly enough, the CEO of this company was the youngest of the five presenting.  

3.  One particular turn-off to the investors was either the total absence of the CEO, which happened in one case, or when the CEO deferred to a present or not-present CFO for answers on valuations, deal terms, or financial projections.  In short, the CEO must be present and he should be able to answer all the important questions.

I will leave you to draw the conclusions hear. I think it sufficient to say that it is difficult to understand everything an investor is looking for unless you can get the input of someone who sees it all the time. (shameless plug)

Name: Brian Nielsen

Title: Funding Consultant

Brian points our clients in the right direction for funding. Out of the numerous options available, he consults and recommends the best financing/consulting/credit building/equity capital source based on the individual needs of the client.

If you ever see his face on a celebrity’s body, don’t be alarmed, you’ve just become privy to his amazing Photoshop talents.

---

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration. (Thomas Edison)

Where did you work before FundingUniverse? I worked with a company called XanGo as the sole representative of their Korean language department. XanGo was featured right along-side FundingUniverse in Utah Valley BusinessQ Magazine’s ‘Top 40 Under 40′ and was also named a ‘Best Company to Work For’ by Business Q. (Spoiler-alert: I like working for FundingUniverse more)

What drew you to FundingUniverse? I have always had a passion to learn everything there is to know about entrepreneurship. One day, as I was searching through my BYU’s business school’s alumni job postings, I came across the FundingUniverse sales consultant position. I had to do a little background research but soon came to find that this was precisely what I was looking for.

How will you help FundingUniverse grow? I like to think that my personality is such that those clients who speak with me will want to tell their friends and business acquaintances how professional and helpful Funding Universe is. I want them to have such a good experience that they will want to see us grow too, and therefore help in the process.

What’s your favorite things about FundingUniverse? The team, of course. Everyone that works here is very energetic and fun. Another thing I’ve come to love is our recently organized business learning library. We have several people in the office who have temporarily donated their books to start a library from which we can borrow books to continually add to our knowledge of entrepreneurship and investing. It’s being put to good use.

What has been the funniest moment at FundingUniverse? One day, Trent came out to ask everyone to step into his office; he even threatened to fire about three people if they didn’t come in. After entering the office, he then proceeded to show us a video clip of the comedian Jim Gaffigan talking about bacon. My condolences to anyone that got fired for not watching that video. After showing the clip, he described how our consulting packages should include, not only one-on-one professional consulting, but also a five pound bag of Costco bacon. Here’s a link to the video he showed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxwCy69_YcQ. [Brian later noted that this video prepared for a company meeting should be included as "funniest moment": http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/XQ7LYJO17cmSVLEu featured are CEO Brock Blake, CTO Trent Miskin and Utah Regional Director Rob Sanders]

What has been the weirdest moment at FundingUniverse? A couple weeks ago, I emailed a particular client to confirm an appointment time; I received a response a few hours later. Well… I think this gentleman mistakenly sent his “funny” business spam-mail to the wrong person because what I received was, well…I won’t go into detail. Note that this is my “wierdest” moment and not my “funniest” moment at FundingUniverse.

What do you do when you’re not in the office? I have several hobbies. Right now, I am taking a web development class so I can make web pages–just for fun. I also took several aviation classes in the past and would like to get back into that to finally get my private pilot’s license. Also, I am taking bagpipe lessons every Wednesday night (pretty unique, eh?). Other hobbies of mine include snowboarding in the winters and longboarding in the summers.

FundingUniverse wants to help you improve your business proposition to an investor. The best way for us to do this is to actually play the role of the fund analyst.  The only real difference is we will actually provide you with constructive feedback, advice and consulting on how to make your proposition effective and attractive, rather than throwing it in the trash and never even replying to your email or phone call.

So here are a few things to understand about an investor and therefore what to expect as a client.

1.  Investors won’t read your 25+ page business plan and neither will we.  Rather we will help you carve it down to a direct and compelling document that is simple to understand and easy to digest quickly.

2.  Investors want to see your executive summary first, if you cannot convince them you are worthwhile from the Exec. Summ. then your business plan will probably just bore them. We will help you condense your plan down to the most critical material then it will be a simple process to add to it and make a good business plan.  This is much easier than reading your doctoral thesis and trying to find a few nuggets.

3.  It is best to get refered to an investor instead of spaming the transum with your B-plan.  We will help you understand the strategic and proper way to contact an investor.  Believe it or not you are probably only 2 and maybe even 1 relationship away from a funding source if you just took the time and worked strategically to tap your network.

4.  Investors are not evil but, they are in business to make money.  if you do not understand the details of deal structure, the terms of the deal and equity finance generally, you stand the risk of getting the raw end of the deal or loosing the opportunity to negotiate a better deal for you.

So, before you go looking for Venture or Angel funding, let us play the part of the fund analyst so you don’t have to face a barrage of rejection with little (or more likely) no feedback or response.

Name: Zach Mangum

Title: Senior Funding Consultant

Zach is one of two senior consultants in charge of fitting clients with fundraising solutions that meet their needs. He leads a team of consultants who contact and qualify entrepreneurs who apply for funding.

Zach’s usually the first guy in the office even if he’s been up all night taking care of his infant first-born.

---

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in business? I don’t know what the biggest one was, but a week or two ago I sent a confidential email to a few colleagues here at FundingUniverse and accidentally sent a copy to a client as well. The content in the email was enough to embarrass me more than I’d like to admit!

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? “do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda; “do more than is required”

Where did you work before FundingUniverse? Sage Communities - Finance Intern

What drew you to FundingUniverse? (1) I wanted experience with a startup, (2) I wanted to learn about entrepreneurship and how to effectively start a successful business, (3) I wanted experience in the world of angel investing/VC/entrepreneurship, (4) FundingUniverse had everything I was looking for as well as a great name both locally and nationally.

How will you help FundingUniverse grow? By constantly evaluating and improving our screening process to help us bring on as many entrepreneurs as possible and assist them in getting prepared to raise investment capital.

What’s your favorite things about FundingUniverse? (1) my co-workers, (2) the industry, (3) seeing businesses get funded, (4) Michael Jones

What has been the funniest moment at FundingUniverse? Watching Michael and Kendall play ping pong.

What has been the weirdest moment at FundingUniverse? Seeing broken ping pong paddles every week.

 Last week Funding Universe hosted a “Live” Pitch event on the Novell campus in Provo, Utah.  Five companies were selected to present their products and services to a panel of six investors and business experts.  Approximately 150 spectators attended the two hour event.

Live Pitch was born from another Funding Universe event called “Speed” Pitching.  ”Speed” Pitching is similar to speed dating.  In speed pitching, ten screened businesses meet in a room filled with 30-50 investors.  The goal for business owners is to pique the interest of Angel and Venture Capitalist for future funding.  For the Entrepreneur they get the undivided attention of 30-50 investors and the investors benefit because they can be introduced to 10 vetted businesses through Funding Universe in less than two hours.

Businesses are allowed four uninterupted minutes to present their venture.  They then have three minutes to answer questions and bing bam boom they are done.  Four minutes is not a lot of time to explain an entire business, so the pitches have to be precise, thorough and engaging.  Many businesses who have participated in our “Speed” Pitch event have asked Funding Universe if they could watch a Speed Pitch before participating in one.  Alas, “Live” Pitch was born.

Last week the five qualifying businesses screened to present were 

ListPipe, a new SEO company focused on providing custom content through an online subscription service.

Izatt International, a local development group focusing on iPhone applications.

Gruvie, a social utility that enables you to wrangle all your social networking accounts into a single login.

Lignin Bio Fuels, an alternative fuel company that produces transportation fuel out of non-edible biomass.

Estamar Strategy, a consulting group managing business investment opportunities

After presenting, the audience was allowed to invest $200 in “FU Funny Money” into any of the five companies.  The audience in conjunction with the six panalists produced the top two companies.  The two “Live” Pitch winners were Ian Ellis of Gruvie and Cary Snowden of ListPipe.  (In a bit of unbiased reporting, I would like to point out that I only had one client in the competition and he won)

Our next Speed Pitch event will be on October 24th at the Larry H Miller Campus in Sandy, Utah.  We invite you to come out and see how Funding Universe facilitates the interface of Small Businesses with Angels and VC’s.  

Joel Nielsen is a Venture Consultant at Funding Universe and can be contacted at jnielsen@fundinguniverse.com