Startup News

Profile: Chris McLennan of Ilesfay Technologies

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November 8, 2011

What do the Scottish bagpipes and cloud computing for multinational corporations have in common? Chris McLennan of Ilesfay Technologies, for one. McLennan is the founder of the Blue Ash-based company that allows workers of a company access and edit large amounts of data from different locations – with that data stored in a central location in the Internet “cloud.” But if it weren’t for a previous entrepreneurial foray into internet commerce based on another of his passions, the firm may never have come about. “Yes, I play the Highland bagpipes and I have since I was 11 years old,” says McLennan, 39 of Sycamore Township. “A few years ago, I wanted to tune up my instrument for a competition, the bagpipes aren’t something that you can use an inexpensive tuner based on air pressure to tune. “So one crazy nights when my ears were all messed up and tired, I came up with the idea of creating a software program to do this.” That led to selling the product online at www.pitchpipetuner.com and McClennan’s foray into owning and operating his own business. “I always had profit and loss responsibility for the engineering group that I had, but doing that project gave me a great exposure into the whole life cycle of a business, from marketing to distribution to the product itself,” McLennan says. Fast forward a few years, and McLennan had another light bulb go off. In his previous position as a software engineer for a specialty engineering firm, he realized that advances in cloud computing were making it possible for multi-site companies to deal with just one set of data. “After doing data analytics myself, it really all hit me that this is a major problem to have your data off in one spot being consumed by distributed work groups other spots,” McLennan says. “This issue has plagued data intensive operations forever. “Now, each site only needs to be connected to one central location, instead of all having servers connected with each other,” McLennan says. “This is not just about servers talking to the cloud, but simplifying the entire IT environment for a company.” Ilesfay (which is Pig Latin for Files), officially started in 2009 with the help of two of McLennan’s former co-workers. They landed Procter & Gamble as a launch customer a year later, and have been growing ever since. This summer, the company received the first half of a $500,000 round of funding from CincyTech, the downtown based public/private tech investment firm. And McLennan says he is working on closing the rest of the round, hopefully by early 2012. “I found that my previous experience really helped encourage my other entrepreneurial bents and really prepared me for this,” McLennan says. By James Pilcher

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Resource: Northern Kentucky ezone

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Entrepreneurship

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October 14, 2011

The Northern Kentucky ezone, a division of Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, provides a support program for businesses ranging from start up entrepreneurs to established companies commercializing a new product, technology or process. Support includes early stage capital in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans and equity investments through the Kentucky Enterprise Funds and the Kentucky Department of Commercialization and Innovation. Since the program began in 2001, the ezone has assisted over 191 companies that have brought more than $116 million in investments to Northern Kentucky. Clients have achieved 44 awards from state funding sources. Programs available to assist in growing high-potential businesses include: Support Program Funding Discover new sources of capital, including Kentucky Enterprise Funds, Venture Capital and others. NKY Entrepreneur Community Register to stay informed on a variety of items including current funding opportunities, local and state issues pertaining to your business, issues/opportunities facing other entrepreneurs and client success stories.

Resource: Queen City Angels

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Entrepreneurship

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October 14, 2011

The Queen City Angels (QCA) is the first group of experienced, accredited investors committed to accelerating the growth of outstanding early-stage businesses in the Cincinnati area and the surrounding region, via smart investments capable of producing a substantial return. The Angels currently include a substantial number of business leaders from the region, counting many former CEOs and founders of successful companies as investors. QCA members are eager to apply their talent and expertise to mentoring and coaching as well as to funding the right ventures. Operating with administrative assistance from C-Cap, the region's capital resource hub, QCA can provide vital guidance for its portfolio companies. Our experienced members assist with business development, strategic planning, capital raising, management team building and more. QCA is interested in funding ventures of promise across a spectrum of industries, building the best new ventures through intelligent investment in the region's future. The group specifically looks for: Potential to become a high-growth enterprise with annual revenues of $10 million or more within a reasonable timeframe.Location within a 150-mile radius of Cincinnati.An entrepreneur who is open to mentoring and coaching.A strong, if not complete, management team to execute the business plan.A reasonable valuation that reflects the risk/reward expectations of Angel investors.A credible exit strategy for investors.A need for capital in the range of $200,000-$1 million.Proprietary technology, early market lead or other strong barriers to competitionQCA is interested in funding ventures of promise across a spectrum of industries, building the best new ventures through intelligent investment in the region's future.

Resource: TechSolve

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Entrepreneurship

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October 14, 2011

Over the past 25 years TechSolve has helped small to mid-sized companies implement business-building process improvement solutions that deliver measurable, top-line and bottom-line results. TechSolve consultants have in-depth business and engineering experience across a wide range of industries (manufacturing, healthcare, aerospace, etc) that enable them to identify and quickly prioritize the best improvement opportunities. TechSolve's work is celebrated by large OEM’s and supply chain programs that have worked closely with TechSolve to optimize their supply chain and we are unique in having an Advanced Machining Lab on site and machining consultants on staff. TechSolve, formerly the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences, Inc. (IAMS), was founded in 1982 by the City of Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the University of Cincinnati and large manufacturers in the region with the objective of assisting local manufacturing suppliers to improve efficiency in the newly competitive global market. TechSolve continues to serve the manufacturing community and has a third party measure the impact of our results ensuring that our results return significant ROI for our clients. In 2005 the group began offering consulting services to the Healthcare community. Its services continue to be in high demand across a wide range of hospitals who have seen the dramatic results our experts, process and tools can have. Unlike other consulting firms that seek to dominate organizations, TechSolve’s approach is dramatically different-- by working collaboratively and teaching teams how to implement the improvement tools and processes for themselves.

Resource: Kentucky Small Business Development Center

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Entrepreneurship

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October 14, 2011

The Kentucky Small Business Development Center has been assisting the Commonwealth’s small business community for more than 25 years. With 15 service centers statewide and an experienced and knowledgeable staff, KSBDC provides unparalleled consulting and training services that help existing business owners and potential entrepreneurs succeed. Services include: one-on-one management consultations, training workshops, market research, loan packaging help, assistance with financial projections and information needed to make informed business decisions. The Center's network is a premier provider of business services that empower entrepreneurs with practical information, skills, and strategies that make measurable, positive impact on the performance of their businesses and, by extension, on the communities in which they work. Kentucky Small Business Development Center strengthens Kentucky’s economy through the delivery of high quality, in-depth and hands-on business consulting to existing and start-up businesses, creating both wealth and jobs. The center's new business offerings include gaining access to experts on funding sources and options, decreasing risk due to extensive research and analysis and saving time collecting and compiling resources. KSBDC is co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is administered by the University of Kentucky in partnership with regional universities, community and private colleges and the private sector.

Resource: Vora Technology Park

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Entrepreneurship

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October 14, 2011

Vora Technology Park provides Class A office space, a secure state-of-the-art data center, and a professional incubator wing for the use of both established and burgeoning high-technology companies, thereby according our partners and tenants the opportunity to exponentially grow their businesses. Vora Technology Park is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vora Group - a Cincinnati based private equity group that specializes in building innovative IT companies worldwide. Founded by high-tech industry veteran Mahendra Vora, the Vora group portfolio consists of 12 ventures in the software, services and infrastructure solutions space, with annual revenues over $100 million (profitable), employing over 2,100 people worldwide. Vora Ventures leverages its huge global resource pool and state-of-the-art infrastructure for its portfolio companies. Vora Ventures also provides management of financial and compliance processes and systems, strategic mergers, acquisition and recapitalization services to its companies. The group offers unique benefits to its portfolio companies by sharing a tremendous pool of Intellectual Property and proven, experienced management. Leading US investment firms such as Blue Run Ventures, General Atlantic Partners, Blue Chip Ventures, River Cities Capital Funds, and strategic partners like Cincinnati Bell and others have successfully partnered with various Vora companies. Built over 21 years, the Vora Group has an impeccable reputation for its integrity, quality, business savvy, and speed of execution. Through its hard work, the group has a maintained a 100% track record of success with all of its IT ventures to-date.

Resource: Hamilton BizTech Center

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Entrepreneurship

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October 11, 2011

BizTech is Butler County's one-stop small business incubator with programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services. The center is different from research and technology parks in its dedication to startups and early-stage companies by offering free business assistance services. The Biz Tech Center provide resources, shared services, business counseling, training, networking opportunities, conference and meeting rooms, technology, equipment and office space. Successful completion of startup programs increase the likelihood that companies will stay in business. To see what program the center offers, check out the registration site. Located in downtown Hamilton OH, BizTech is well on its way to continue impacting the Hamilton / Butler County economy with its mission of assisting small businesses to create jobs and graduate successful companies. In five years, 40 companies have created 150 jobs, generating approximately $3.8 million with an economic impact of about $5.6 million for the local economy.

Resource: University of Cincinnati’s Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research

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Education + Learning

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October 11, 2011

The UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research, established in 1997, seeks to create a world-class center for entrepreneurship education, research and service. The center's vision and mission is to provide a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship curriculum not only for potential entrepreneurs, but also for people in the many organizations that interact with small, entrepreneurial and family owned businesses on a daily basis. Located in the Department of Management in the College of Business, the Entrepreneurship Center seeks collaborative efforts between students from across the University. The Entrepreneurship Center's main mission is to “…remove barriers and create gateways,” for all entrepreneurs – especially student entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Center programs and initiatives, including its Small Business Institute and rigorous curriculum and competitions, among others, facilitate the entrepreneurial journey. The Center's activities include: (1) a faculty-guided, student-based field case study program which provides consulting services for local businesses (Small Business Institute Program), (2) the Young Entrepreneurs Seminar (YES), a day-long event for high school seniors to meet and exchange ideas with local entrepreneurs, (3) the UC MBA Business Plan Competition, (4) the UC Spirit of Enterprise Graduate Business Plan Competition, (5) CEO Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, (6) the Cecil Boatright Field Study Business Plan Case Competition for undergraduate students, (7) Bearcat Bridge Fund and (8) Bearcat Launch Pad. The University is also affiliated with two local incubators, The Hamilton County Business Development Center and BioStart Technology Incubator. The University of Cincinnati Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research is actively engaged in developing a collaborative effort with other colleges of the University, such as Engineering, Medicine, Law, and Design, Art, Architecture and Planning in order to advance the role of technology and entrepreneurship. Other future activities planned include: development of high-tech commercialization with undergraduate student teams and courses for executive education.

Profile: Noel Gauthier of Losantiville

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Entrepreneurship

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September 27, 2011

Founder Profile: Noel Gauthier of Losantiville How did you come to be an entrepreneur? To fulfill a need. Upon graduation my partners and I wanted a place where we could run our individual business, yet maintain a collaborative atmosphere where we could pool our resources. We had seen models like this work in other cities and felt Cincinnati presented a great opportunity to start one here. Most of us have backgrounds in Product Design, the majority of those graduated from the DAAP program at UC. We wanted to build a space that would attract those wanting to strike out on their own, whether that be their own consulting work or furniture brand, but was low risk enough to accommodate the shoestring budgets of aspiring entrepreneurs. What was the biggest surprise in starting your business? Making it past our first year. We knew there was a need, but we had to feel our way around to find the solution. As designers we have a tendency to try and solve every potential problem could imagine, so we had to learn to focus on the problems we actually had. After that first year we expanded into a bigger space and accepted more members. After our second year we were faced with the exciting problem of how best to continue to grow. What are some of the advantages to doing business here? Cincinnati is a great place to be a startup. The combination of great talent from surrounding universities, the concentration of global companies downtown, and a strong manufacturing base make for an area where you really can find whatever resources you may need. There is also an emphasis on entrepreneurship here that is very exciting to be a part of. Receiving a Commercialization Award from the first Cincinnati Innovates helped me decide to start my own business here in the city. Several of our members have benefited the ArtWorks Springboard classes, we were even honored to show National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman the space. What inspires you? Seeing our members succeed. Design is a very competitive field and it takes a lot of personal risk to strike out on your own. By working cooperatively our studio can overcome obstacles or pursue opportunities we would not be able to do individually. When that translates into success for our studio and members, we know we are doing something right. What companies or founders do you admire and why? I am pretty mesmerized by Saul Griffith. The breadth and brilliance of his work impress me every time I see his next new thing. I also pay a lot of attention to Jason Fried of 37signals, his recommendation to be "bootstrapped and profitable" has been a mantra at Losantiville since day one.

Profile: Suprasanna Mishra of StageShark

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Entrepreneurship

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September 20, 2011

Founder Profile: Suprasanna Mishra of StageShark How did you come to be an entrepreneur? It all started in high school when I learned how to create websites on my own. From there, I did a few sites for friends and family and that's when I really began to learn it in-depth. I reached out to small businesses and eventually grew it out to my current web design firm - Kite5. This experience gave me the entrepreneurial experience to start venturing out into new things. My latest such venture is Stageshark. It's been a crazy ride so far, and I'm thankful for all the people I've met who have helped me go from knowing nothing to knowing just a little more than nothing about what it means to be an entrepreneur. I know I have a long way to go, and I'm excited about that journey. How did you come up with the idea? It all started when one day I logged into Facebook to find tons of pictures of a Coldplay concert that had just happened that past night here in Cincinnati. Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and they don't tour often in the United States, much less to Cincinnati. You can imagine that I was pretty mad that I missed it. It was then that I started thinking about a solution -- what if there was an application that would let you know when your favorite bands were in town? This was the thought that Stageshark was born out of, and that is the problem it will solve. What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help? There's no way I could have made my idea a reality without support from the local business community. Specifically, the Cincinnati Innovates competition gave me a way to raise an initial round of funding to take the thought of Stageshark to a functional application. After receiving funding from them, it was invaluable working with CincyTech USA to gain more feedback and advice on everything from hiring to application development. I can't tell you how much I've learned just talking with the people who work there. I would argue that advice from those who've done it before and funding itself are equally important -- it would have been difficult achieving my goals for Stageshark without both. What inspires you? I keep up to date on what goes on in the world related to tech startups and youth entrepreneurship. It serves as little reminders to me that there's other people going through what I'm going through, and that in itself is humbling and inspiring. Reading about those who have been though the cycle and have succeeded fuels my motivation to make Stageshark the best it can be. What's next for you and your company? Look for the application release at the beginning of October this year. We're releasing it to be completely free and completely ad-free. After our release date, we'll immediately be working on the next version and adding in more features - we've got a long list of ideas that we want to pilot test first and then implement if it seems useful to our users. If the idea sounds interesting to you, head to http://stageshark.com and drop us your email. We'll let you know when we launch.