Second Session Focuses on Starting Up – How to Avoid Pitfalls as an Entrepreneur Starting a New Venture
Everywhere, Md. (August 9, 2013) – Startup Maryland (startupmd.org), an initiative of the UpGlobal consortium (www.up.co), today announced that Lily Bengfort will participate as the second instructor-mentor for Raise Your Game™.
Raise Your Game is Startup Maryland’s bootcamp initiative developed to provide the entrepreneurial community with a structured educational program and to help startup CEOs and founders understand and employ the building blocks of strong startups and startup communities. The new twist for this bootcamp is that the sessions will be proctored/taught by experienced (often serial) entrepreneurs who are very well-recognized and respected.
Ms. Bengfort is an award winning entrepreneur who has co-founded and built two successful firms, both of which were acquired by larger companies: Preferred Pest Control acquired by American Pest and CenGen Inc. a leader in the field of highly mobile tactical wireless networks acquired (2011) by DRS Technologies, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica Group (FNC.MI), a multi-billion dollar defense contractor which ranks among the top 10 global players in aerospace, defense and security.
Other ventures for Ms. Bengfort have included leading edge hardware and software solutions for networking and communications, including secure highly mobile ad hoc networks using voice, video and data sharing applications in disruptive bandwidth constrained environments as well as service areas.
“Lily is one of the most recognizable leading-women in Maryland entrepreneurship and with her track-record of results she is an ideal mentor for young startup entrepreneurs,” stated Julie Lenzer Kirk, Co-Chair of Startup Maryland. “With a cross-section of industries in her background Lily knows first-hand some of the common pitfalls to avoid when considering such daunting challenges as selling to the Federal government or deciding when and how to sell your company.”
With government clients in the military and national security areas, Ms. Bengfort built CenGen into a multi-million-dollar concern, winning several national awards for exceptional service and achievement including the U.S. Small Business Administration Maryland Business person of the year in 2010 and DARPA Director’s Award for helping the agency fulfill its mission to conceive, explore and demonstrate advanced and breakthrough technologies in 2005. She was named Influential Marylander for Technology in 2011 by The Daily Record and Maryland Technology Company of the year in 2006.
Guyana, South American-born, Ms. Bengfort is no stranger to accolades and recognition. In 2009, she received the FIRN American Success Award and was selected to be a Fellow of the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law and the Maryland Judiciary’s Mediation and Conflict Resolution Programs in 2012.
Currently, Ms. Bengfort is president of MINC-IT where she actively advises and invests in early-stage education and digital technology ventures.
A Roadmap to Raising Your Game as an Entrepreneur
Beginning with the first session on July 25, 2013 which featured Under Armour founder/CEO, Kevin Plank, Raise Your Game consists of 6 monthly educational “bootcamp” programs emphasizing the critical components of building successful companies.
The 6 primary topics of the Raise Your Game bootcamp include:
- CEO 101 (7/25) – How to be a strong startup CEO and team leader (Kevin Plank)
- Starting Up (8/15) – Best practices when forming your company / avoiding pitfalls
- Planning for Financial Success (9/19) – Financial Models, capitalization table, accounting
- Virtualizing Your Company (10/17) – Lean Startup approach / outsourcing
- Go-to-Market Strategies (11/21) – Sales, marketing, PR, channel / distribution
- Raising Capital and Exit Roadmapping (12/19) – Lifecycle stages, financing options, exits
Registration can be found at: https://startupmdraiseyourgame.eventbrite.com
Raise Your Game is the first component of Startup Maryland’s Coaching initiative. Coaching joins Connection, Celebration and Capital as four primary Areas of Concentration for Startup Maryland throughout 2013 and beyond. These four guiding initiatives were officially announced at a White House reception, during which Startup Maryland highlighted past successes and future plans for Presidential advisors and officials from several government agencies.
“No matter whether entrepreneurs are just starting out with an idea or ready to inflect their startup into hyper-growth, Raise Your Game provides perspective and knowledge for leader-peers at all stages,” stated Michael Binko, founder and co-chair, Startup Maryland.
Upon successful completion of the full Raise Your Game program, graduate-CEOs will join an exclusive alumni network. To learn more, watch the video replay of an informative Raise Your Game webinar here http://youtu.be/8C4JVlH1fxs.
Empowering Entrepreneur Champions
Near the end of 2012, Startup Maryland began a campaign to engage its participants as Entrepreneur Champion leaders for the Startup Maryland initiative. With the support of the national Startup America team, Startup Maryland held a series of Champion sessions during which a Theme and Areas of Focus were identified and prioritized. The connective and coaching/mentorship aspects of building strong startup communities compliment the celebration and capital access goals forming the four pillars of the Startup Maryland mission.
Looking for other startup/entrepreneur guidance and resources? Join the Startup Maryland entrepreneurial community. Learn more at http://startupmd.org
About Startup Maryland:
Startup Maryland (startupmd.org) is a regions initiative launched out of UpGlobal – an entity fostered jointly by the Case Foundation and The Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship. Startup Maryland is an initiative FOR entrepreneurs BY entrepreneurs to bring entrepreneurial resources together, improve awareness/celebration and increase access to capital / deal flow and mentorship, while also bringing together entrepreneurs in a community of support to drive greater economic outcomes.
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