Venture BPlan Series

Technology or manufacturing entrepreneurs looking to connect to the region's angel and institutional investors, business service providers, advisors,  and the early stage business community should check out the Venture Bplan events.

A collaboration between the Center for Economic Growth (CEG) and Rensselaer’s Emerging Ventures Ecosystem (EVE), dates include Jan. 25, March 28, May 30, July 25, Sept. 26, Nov. 28.

For more information call Melanie LaRose at (518) 326-0187.

Equity And Venture Bplan Event

The Venture Bplan series next event is Wednesday, May 26, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., at RPI, Heffner Alumni House.

Presenters include Mark Behrens, Nascent Design Inc. and Gregory Peda, Global Consulting Jobs (GCJ).

The Venture Bplan series is Tech Valley's premier monthly venture forum. Center for Economic Growth and Incubator staff take presenting companies through a rigorous coaching process before the event. Businesses at the beginning of the equity fund raising process are especially encouraged to become involved. A panel of professional investors provide questions and feedback on the presentations as do a formal group of area consultants after the event. Presenting companies are invited to apply to the Tech Valley Angel Network forum at half off the usual application fee. Of the many companies that have presented to date, 35% have subsequently received equity funding.

The Center for Economic Growth is located at 63 State Street, Albany, NY; call (518) 465-8975.

Book Look: Private Equity Valuation

The Definitive Guide to Private Equity Valuation is an in-depth guide written by valuation experts from Duff & Phelps LLC, a financial advisory and valuation firm.

Investors and fund managers can learn more about valuation nuances and best practices in valuation, along with regulatory frameworks, historical timeline, and a prognosis for the future.

An A-Z guide gives more than 70 of the most common applications, from absolute return to waterfall analysis. Also listed are best practices on working with auditors, documentation, using third-party valuation experts and internal policies and procedures, and secondary market and LP perspectives.

To help with understanding terms, examples of a number of different valuation scenarios and case studies are included.

For more information visit www.peimedia.com/pevaluation or call (212) 645-1919.

Ranger Aerospace Investment, CAV International

Ranger Aerospace, a private equity consolidator that specializes in the aviation industry, has re-entered the airfield services industry with the majority buyout of CAV International, Inc., a government outsourcing contractor specialized in airfield services and logistics.

Ranger's newest investment platform is called Ranger International Services Group, Inc. (RISG), which acquired a majority stake in CAV International in the 1st quarter of 2009.

Formed and led by Steve Townes, a veteran aerospace CEO, RISG plans investments and acquisitions as the holding company expands its base.

"Starting with CAV International, we intend to grow the largest and best independent airfield services & logistics company in the industry," said Townes.

Ranger Aerospace owned and grew Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG) to 4,250 employees at more than 50 airports in one of Ranger's previous successful ventures starting in early 1997. ASIG, later sold in July 2001 to a giant British conglomerate, is now one of the largest aviation services companies of its type.

CAV International operates in the growing military outsourcing arena, specialized in airfield services.

Investors in Ranger International include First New England Capital, Ranger Aerospace LLC, Ranger's management, and other private investors who joined the firm via a private limited partnership. The group anticipates bringing on other institutional shareholders to support future add-on acquisitions.

The majority investor is First New England, a private equity fund that provides direct investment capital for small and middle market businesses.

For more information see www.rangeraerospace.com and www.cavint.com.

One Way Investors Meet Entrepreneurs

FundingPost's 6th annual Pitching Across America competition is in progress. The competition continues until Aug. 14, with more than 120 venture capital and angel investor judges. FundingPost works to bring entrepreneurs together with leading investors worldwide. Venture investors may search the database after registration.

FundingPost is part of Second Venture Corporation in Stratford. For details call (800) 461-5509 or visit www.FundingPost.com.

CVG Crossroads Venture Fair

The Connecticut Venture Group (CVG) Crossroads Venture Fair is Tuesday, May 5 and Wednesday, May 6 in New Haven.

CVG Leadership Awards will be presented to Rib-X Pharmaceuticals of New Haven and Perimeter eSecurity of Milford.

David Scheer, Scheer and Company of New Haven will be presented with the 2009 Venture Capital Leadership Award for his contributions to Connecticut’s Life Sciences cluster. Since founding his firm in 1981, Scheer has been involved in the founding
and has been a member of the board of directors of ViroPharma, Inc., OraPharma, Inc. (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Pfizer), and Sopherion Therapeutics, Inc. (of which he was chairman).

Crossroads 2009 will showcase emerging and growing technology and life science firms that have established revenues or have received a prior round of professional venture financing.

The event at the Omni New Haven Hotel is attended by leading venture capital and private equity firms seeking investment opportunities. In addition to showcasing exhibiting companies seeking investment capital, Crossroads includes a distinguished roster of speakers on venture investing and the current economic climate.

Online registration for Investors and other attendees is at www.crossroads-cvg.com or call CVG at (203) 256-5955.

Event sponsors include Connecticut Innovations and event hosts Yale University and the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven.

CVG is a non-profit association of venture capitalists that has served to connect members with high-growth companies in Connecticut for more than 30 years.

"Make Fear Fly in Formation" - Bounce

Test pilot Chuck Yeager did it. So did First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. (Or more recently, pop music diva Britany Spears.) "You must do the thing you think you cannot," said Roosevelt, who overcame obstacles with determination. (Yeager broke the sound barrier flying the X-1 with busted-up ribs after a fall from a horse.)

Barry Moltz knows about facing the ups and downs. He is "crazy about business." He's founded and run businesses with a "great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years" - appears regularly on national talk shows, sharing his wealth of experiences in a lively style. Now he's captured the pithy experiences in his book Bounce: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success.

Topics shed light on the cyclical nature of work and life - there are highs, there are lows. A bottoming-out is but an opportunity to "make fear fly in formation." Bounce reads like a conversation with a good coach - and it is.

And Moltz knows his stuff. He's been fired. Had to fire people himself. Succeeded. Failed. Founded an angel investor group, an angel fund, and is a former advisor to the Board of the Angel Capital Education Foundation. He now is a business consultant, author, acclaimed speaker. (He's even appeared as a speaker avatar on virtual reality site Second Life.

As Moltz says, "of all the wild places I have been in the world, from New York to New Zealand, there is never a ride that can compare to the one business can provide."

CNBC Talk show host Donny Deutsch and Barry Moltz.


Yeager photo from the Academy of Achievement, which also features an interview about the day he flew through the sound barrier.

Content Powers "Vertical Communities"

Oh look. Look, look, look.

Match the search engine optimization with great investment news content. Add solid business partners and time-tested news feeds. Then add consistent, insightful commentary on company information. All the time.

The blogosphere is merging with Wall Street powerhouses and media leaders who see and act on the explosive potential of information in real time. The potential of online news matched with people's interests is a frontier now being settled.

And while some of the traditional businesses scramble to stay afloat in rapidly changing environment, online businesses are being nurtured and fed to fuel growth.

Some get it. Others move slowly and miss opportunity. See the power of a platform?

For a listing of frontline investors and channels of content distribution, look at the people partnering with a company called "Stocktwits." (To really explore, readers will need to have a Twitter account first.)

An excerpt:

"We are also working on deals with distribution partners who are eager to bring the Stocktwits commentary into their feeds. One such partner is Bloomberg. We are working with them to create a filtered feed of high-value Stocktwits commentary, that can be incorporated into their already large and growing pipe of alternative content such as online news, blogs other non-traditional sources. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Bloomberg is getting it, and Stocktwits can be part of their answer. Why? Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real Time.

"Those who are insightful, sharp and decisive command large readership. And this is the way it should be. We've only just seen the tip of the iceberg of what the Stocktwits community can and will become. But the power of the platform is clear."