Press Release
Contact: Robert Albright |
Phone: 919-549-7500 ext.123 |
CED Hosts Innovator's Quarterly Workshop August 2
Participants Will Evaluate Business Feasibility of Ideas with Seasoned Mentors
July 23, 2003, Research Triangle Park, NC — The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is offering a half-day workshop to help potential entrepreneurs learn more about starting a business. The Innovator's Quarterly Workshop, part of CED's comprehensive training and mentoring programs, will be held at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School McColl Building on Saturday, August 2, 2003, from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
The Innovator's Quarterly Workshop is designed to help prospective entrepreneurs understand entrepreneurship, investors, and the start-up process. Most participants in the Innovator's Quarterly Workshop are corporate and academic researchers, but the program is open to anyone working with an innovative technology or idea and is interested in starting a new venture.
Peyton Anderson, vice president of business development and co-founder of RTP-based SciQuest, Inc., will speak at the upcoming half-day workshop. He said potential entrepreneurs would gain valuable business insight at the Aug. 2 event.
“The Innovator's Quarterly Workshop gives aspiring entrepreneurs a unique perspective on how and when to pursue a new venture,” Anderson said. “In addition, the program will also offer tools needed to succeed when starting and growing a business.”
Each workshop participant will learn how to compare their technology and idea against the investment criteria of angels and venture capitalists. Well-established entrepreneurs like Anderson, along with investors and service partners, will deliver the content of the program, combining panel discussions with interactive workshops and take-away tools.
The panels and workshop groups will cover the following key topics:
- Understanding Entrepreneurship -- the entrepreneurial mindset & characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
- Understanding Funding Sources and The Business - grants, loans, bootstrapping, venture capital and angel investment criteria; science vs. business and technology vs. product; articulating a value proposition; understanding potential customers and competition
- Understanding the Start-up Process -- intellectual property protection and ownership; considerations with current employer; business formation; management and team/partner issues
Registration is open to anyone who is working with a technology or idea and considering commercialization possibilities. Service partners working with such companies are not able to register for this event. To register for the next Innovator's Workshop, visit https://secure.cednc.org/programs/capital_connection/innovators_quarterly_workshop/register.htmls
CED's suite of training and mentoring programs assist entrepreneurs at various stages, from idea to initial funding, by providing mentors and instruction. The programs provide entrepreneurs with tools to evaluate their ideas, refine their business concepts and produce solid business plans and strategies. Programs include the Innovator's Quarterly Workshop; FastTrac Tech, a comprehensive entrepreneurial training program for entrepreneurs starting or growing high-tech businesses, including technology transfers and corporate licensees; and STREAK, a mentoring and critiquing program for young high-growth companies seeking equity or strategic investment. http://www.cednc.org/programs/capital_connection/
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org
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