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No Man’s Land by Doug Tatum.  Contains a great outline and description of the inflection points small companies struggle through in their growth trajectory (or not). Traction by Gino Wickman.  Defines the "Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)" - a practical method for entrepreneurs to simplify their business down to 6 key components in order to run a successful, profitable business. Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital by Robert Finkle.  A compendium of essays by the investment industry leaders or pioneers regarding their views, experiences and insights regarding management’s role in creating and capturing value. Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross.  If you [...]

The Minnesota Emerging Software Advisory (MESA) honored Matt Quinn recently at a reception as the first graduate from our program. From Matt Quinn, EmergingSoft CEO: EmergingSoft has benefited greatly from the mentorship, practical business guidance and accountability provided to our organization over the past two years with MESA. We are very pleased with our partnership with MESA and are honored to be the first graduate of the program. We offer a special thanks to Jerry Grabowski and Todd Krautkremer, our assigned mentors, and the entire MESA team for their support. From Todd Krautkremer, primary MESA Mentor: Mentoring companies like EmergingSoft [...]

MESA is pleased to announce the addition of John Tedesco to an already stellar team of Mentors. John is an entrepreneur, chief executive and company director with 15 years’ experience building and running venture-backed technology businesses.  He is the founder of three SaaS companies providing information services, financial services and location-based services to both businesses and consumers. He has an established track record in identifying market opportunities, building world-class teams and delivering award winning products and services to market. John started his first company while at GE Capital’s real estate division where, at the age of 25, he was named [...]

We are pleased to be partnering with Robert Befidi as the newest member of our mentorship team. Robert has more than 15 years of domestic and international experience in a diverse set of industries.  He has been involved with companies that range from early stage startups to some of the largest organizations in the world. He has had roles spanning the executive leadership, investment, finance, corporate development and technology functional areas. Robert is a principal at Kibora, where he focuses on engagement execution.  Prior to Kibora, Robert co-founded Gordian Capital, a private investment company where he led capital raising, deal [...]

Clinical Healthcare has made steady progress in their quest to transform how physicians practice the "Art of Medicine".  Lead by a strong management team of Arnel Rillo and Tom Tack, they have advanced to a stage where they are ready to embrace the guidance and advice of the MESA team of Mentors with Barb Stinnett and Robert Befidi serving as primary and secondary mentors.  MESA looks forward to working side-by-side with Clinical Healthcare to help them achieve their vision.

The MESA program sounded like a great addition to the circle of advice that we had already been listening to, both paid and unpaid. What we experienced was a unique kind of counselling that demanded from us more than a friend or a paid adviser might be able to. The format that this program provides and the quality of people that are in the program as mentors is a powerful mix that had real results for our company. MESA has been critical for us because we were at a crossroads in more than a couple of areas. Our sessions with our mentors [...]

Please join us in welcoming Jeff Fritz as the newest distinguished MESA Mentor! As the innovation-centric Chief Executive Officer of Storyworks OnDemand, Jeff Fritz is focused on the successful commercialization of disruptive ideas – typically fueled by technology.  Jeff believes that improving the way the community accesses, shares and uses information translates into better outcomes for everyone.  Jeff is committed to building more effective platforms so that future generations can be assured of better outcomes for the rest of their lives. Jeff has founded and led several successful organizations in the Software-as-a-Service, Consumer Engagement, and Digital Media sectors over the [...]

With a servant heart, Paul Prins recently brought a new technology to market to revolutionize how churches and other non-profit organizations interact with their communities.  With a little mentoring Fresh Vine is well positioned to capture substantial market share and become a well-known Minnesota-based software company.  MESA looks forward to partnering with Paul to help grow his business.

Livefront has renewed its annual membership as a strategic Resource Network Partner with MESA.  Livefront is a premier developer of mobile and web-based applications, and is a trusted partner MESA refers our clients to when they are in need of high-quality, responsive, professional services.   See the "Resource Network Partner" tab under "Members" for more information on Livefront.

Andrew Starks and JJ Parker, co-founders of Digital Signage & Broadcast Systems firm Tightrope Media Systems, have already benefited from mentorship since engaging with MESA in the fall of 2011.  Tim Butler and John Lewis, MESA Mentors formally started assisting Andy and JJ earlier this year, and are excited about helping take an already successful pioneer in Digital Signage to the next level.

Josh Smith, Chief Executive Officer of  Toovio has developed such a compelling conversational, real-time, yet easy-to-use marketing solution that the team at MESA couldn't resist an opportunity to come along side Josh and his team to provide just the right guidance at a critical juncture in their development.  Todd Krautkremer and Jim Moar, Founding Mentors with MESA,  foresee a substantial opportunity for a well-conceived solution whose timing couldn't be better for entry into the market.   Josh is precisely the type of entrepreneur who fits the MESA profile as a founder that embraces the advice of our mentorship team.

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal by Katharine Grayson, Staff reporter Date: Monday, February 27, 2012, 1:15pm CST Katharine GraysonStaff reporter - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Why bother with Brazil when you can expand into Minneapolis instead? That’s the question SalesForce.com   Inc. CEO Marc Benioff offered up in response to a query about why the software giant isn’t expanding into more emerging markets overseas. In a Feb. 23 earnings call, Benioff said he sees more opportunities in smaller U.S. markets than he does in regions abroad. He highlighted Minneapolis in the response — even going so far as to call the [...]

MESA is excited to welcome Workface as the latest emerging software company to mentor.  Serial entrepreneur Lief Larson, who has previous successes starting, building, and selling technology companies, has shown a great attitude and approach to working with MESA mentors Barb Stinnett and Jay Coughlan.  Workface has developed an innovative new technology, and shows tremendous potential to define and grow a bold new market.  Check out the Portfolio Companies tab under the Members section of the MESA web site for more information on Workface and their solution.

In Part 1 of “The People Factor” last summer, we discussed the unique requirements of software companies when it comes to building highly effective leadership teams capable of guiding an organization through the tumultuous and toilsome times faced by a founder entering the emerging category.  Part 1 addressed “what” is needed, Part 2 will address what is equally, and arguably more important: “how”. Surrounding yourself with a high-performing, cohesive group of executives and other critical team members all pulling together toward a common goal doesn’t have to be a roll of the dice!  Too often entrepreneurs seek to avoid this [...]

Strategic planning, while critical for larger companies, is “life critical” for start-up and emerging companies. You might get lucky just following your instinct and hitting on a successful strategy, but this is as smart as driving on the left hand side of the road as the best way to get from the Twin Cities to Duluth. Picking up on Todd Krautkremer’s recent blog, the best approach to strategy is to think about your company’s offering (software, service, hardware, etc.) as transformative for the customers you seek. Another image is to think how your company is seeing a “crossroad” better than [...]

MESA rings in 2012 by welcoming riteSOFT, based in St. Cloud, Minnesota as our newest member.  Bruce Hagberg, Chief Executive Officer of riteSOFT will be partnering with Rick Engels and Jerry Grabowski to identify specific initiatives where the collective "Intellectual Capital" of MESA can help achieve successful outcomes.  Check out the Portfolio Companies tab under the Members section of the MESA web site for more information on riteSOFT.

By Christina DesMarais |  @salubriousdish   | Dec 5, 2011 Launching a tech start-up outside the VC-obsessed Silicon Valley and New York City comes with a catch-22. On the one hand, in quieter places it’s easier to focus on building an actual business and frankly, not everyone wants to move to the coasts. Yet lesser-known locales can be risk averse and less tolerant of failure, even though with missteps come learning and improvement. Michael Noble knows this dilemma well. While originally from Minnesota, Noble spent six years in New York where he was part of the group that launched LimeWire, one of the first peer-to-peer [...]

Agile Frameworks has agreed to enter into a mentoring partnership with the Minnesota Emerging Software Advisory.  Mike Anders, President of Agile Frameworks will be working with Jim Moar (primary mentor) and Kevin Spanbauer (secondary mentor) to identify "wildly important goals", leading and lagging indicators, and graduation metrics.  Check out the Portfolio Companies tab under the Members section of the MESA web site for more information on Agile Frameworks.

Start-ups and fundraising are synonymous and I find myself once again in the middle of a fundraising process. No matter how many times you do it, raising venture capital always feels like a daunting, if not mysterious, process. As I reflect on my own efforts, I'm reminded that -- in good or bad funding environments -- success really comes down to the three T's: Team, Timing and being Transformative. The first "T', and by far the most critical, is Team. You can have the greatest opportunity in the world and perfect timing, but it doesn't matter if you don't have an [...]

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal by Katharine Grayson, Staff reporter BioAmber Inc. on Monday became the third Minnesota company to file an initial public offering this year. What became of the other two? Bluestem Brands Inc. appears to be well on its way to becoming public. The company will begin selling shares on Wednesday. The Eden Prairie-based retailer expects its stock to sell at a price of between $14 and $16 per share. Once the IPO is complete, the company will likely rank No. 43 on the Business Journal’s list of Minnesota’s largest publicly traded companies. The other firm, [...]