Sixth and Final 2013 Session Focuses on
“Financing Strategies and Exit Roadmapping” for Entrepreneurs
Everywhere, Md. (December 17, 2013) – Startup Maryland (startupmd.org) today announced that Mark Anstey, President / CEO of CVD Power and recently exited founder, President / CEO of DataStream will join Jerry Hartung as the guest-mentor instructors for the final 2013 Raise Your Game™ bootcamp session.
This sixth-of-six session also marks graduation for the bootcamp candidates who earned graduation distinction by participating in the requisite 4 out of 6 sessions. Entrepreneurs interested in learning more about Startup Maryland and Raise Your Game are invited to attend with credit for this single session being carried-over into 2014.
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.
Mr. Hartung is a recognized thought-leader on venture development and has spoken extensively on the topic of exit roadmapping via his role as executive leader/mentor for Vistage International.
Mr. Anstey is one of the more recognized serial entrepreneurs in Maryland and the broader Mid-Atlantic with several successful exits from startup ventures. An engineer by education and experience, Mark has leveraged his expertise in systems, data and business-building into a series of successful high-growth startup companies and ventures.
An active angel investor, Mark’s most recent successful exit came when DataStream Content Solutions LLC, a leading provider of federal legislative and regulatory data and advanced content management systems to information businesses, publishers and governments, was acquired by the Dolan Company (NYSE:DM), a leading provider of services and business information to professionals in law, finance and real estate.
DataStream’s proprietary processes and technology transformed highly complex and unstructured data into valuable products and services for its business and government clients. The company specialized in applying XML markup language to convert complex and unstructured data into “smarter” forms, allowing flexible queries and dynamic database updates. Target markets included government, legislative and regulatory sectors.
“Perhaps the most-asked-question we receive of Startup Maryland entrepreneurs is, ‘How should I navigate to the right exit for me and my startup venture?’,” stated Michael Binko, president / CEO of kloudtrack and founder / Co-Chair of Startup Maryland. “Mark and Jerry are glowing examples of how to navigate challenging waters to a meaningful exit. Their experiences, successes and lessons-learned serve as great case studies for our Bootcamp CEOs.”
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 forming startups / avoiding pitfalls (Lily Bengfort)
- Planning for Financial Success (9/19) – Financial Models, Cap. Tables (Scott Case)
- Virtualizing Your Company (10/17) – Lean Startup approach / outsourcing (Sean Sabre)
- Go-to-Market Strategies (11/21) – Sales, marketing, PR, channel / distribution (Scott Shaw)
- Raising Capital and Exit Roadmapping (12/19) – Lifecycle stages, financing options, exits (Mark Anstey and Jerry Hartung)
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 Julie Kirk, founder / 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 video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqiJG5hXI3g&feature=c4-overview&list=UUJ1CerRXLIC4zfEF5hZ97cA
Empowering Entrepreneur Champions
Over the past year, Startup Maryland cultivated a campaign to engage its participants as Entrepreneur Champion leaders for the Startup Maryland initiative. Currently, more than 750 companies and more than 50 individual entrepreneur Champions have come forward to help drive the Startup Maryland program around Connections / Coaching / Celebration / Capital.
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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