October 2021

Happy October and Halloween season! All Venture Hub eyes are focused on Venture Fest 2021 on October 13, 2021. This year’s event focuses on some key elements of entrepreneurship-- investing in your local community, the critical role of mentorship in growing and sustaining entrepreneurship, and the importance of investing in minority and women owned businesses. 

We can’t wait to see you in person on October 13. Remember your mask and get ready for some great networking!

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Entrepreneurs

 

Alicia Raeburn is a dynamic copywriter and marketing strategist with a focus on hospitality and tourism businesses. Previously, she was a journalist, and has been published in Lonely Planet, Everyday Health, Matador Network, and more. Alicia has recently decided to launch a copywriting and website design agency that specializes in the tourism industry. Taking the plunge into entrepreneurship was somewhat new for Alicia, so she came to HV Mentors to get professional expertise from someone who knew more than she did and set herself up right from the beginning. 

 

Alicia explained that throughout her career, mentorship has been important because it’s catered advice from someone who has lived the experience you are about to embark on, something you can’t get from a generic class. HV Mentors paired Alicia with Cathy Terrizzi, a small business advisor who has since retired from Ulster County Small Business Development Center. Knowing that Alicia was in the early stages of her business, Cathy helped her with structure and guidance on things like “why forming an LLC was important from a risk perspective.” Alicia remarked that Cathy saved her a lot of money that would have been spent on a lawyer. In addition to the mentorship match, Alicia attended an HV Mentors’ Coffee Hour, and was introduced to a different program mentor, Richard D'Ambrosio, who after spending 15 years in Communications at American Express, does marketing and communication work within the tourism industry in the Hudson Valley. The two kicked it off immediately, communicate regularly, and are trying to find ways to do business together. 

 

Alicia is a somewhat recent full time resident of the Hudson Valley and she’s inspired to be working within tourism, marketing and communications in this region. “I love this area, and I want it to grow and continue to be a bright place that is fun to live in. I think growing attractions, restaurants, cafes, and experiences helps contribute to making this place vibrant, and that’s why I do the work I do”. In terms of her own agency, Alicia is looking forward to launching a new website and taking on a few exciting projects.

 

HV Mentors pairs Hudson Valley based, growth-oriented entrepreneurs of all sizes with professional mentors. They accept small businesses to hockey-stick start-ups. Mentor or be mentored .

 

Investors 

Steven Wasser was new to the area when he met Noa Simons and Johnny Lehane and joined Fund I of the Hudson Valley Startup Fund. As a fund member he has been on the screening committee and participated in several due diligence efforts. He sold his world famous flute company, Powell Flutes, in 2016. In the Hudson Valley he has an eclectic mix of interests ranging from facilitating a CEO group to serving as President of the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County, to becoming the COO for one of the HVSF’s investments, United Aircraft Technologies in Troy, New York.

How did you get involved in angel investing? With HVSF? 

My first angel investment came about via a friend who was heavily involved with an angel group in Boston that focused on medical investments. I had the CEO of the company in which the group invested and was very impressed by his business acumen as well as his technical knowledge. The success of that investment (the company was acquired by Merck) encouraged me to participate in some other investments. When I moved to the Hudson Valley I wanted to connect to the business community. I heard about the HVSF when I was networking universities for teaching positions, and was referred to the HVSF by a teacher at Marist. 

 What's your favorite part of angel investing? 

I love learning about clever new business ideas. The potential to earn above average returns also has an appeal, though, as I have told several friends, angel investments tend to be binary – they either return several times your investment or become worthless. The portfolio approach by the HVSFS mitigates some of the low end risk.

 What do you wish you could tell entrepreneurs/founders as they're getting started that might help them when they're seeking angel investment? 

Be succinct, answer questions directly, and address whatever is proprietary about your business idea. I have seen entrepreneurs seeking investments fail when they do not present in accordance with those guidelines, and when they lose touch with reality in valuation. It is also important that the business is based on an unmet need in the market, not just an unmet need in the opinion of the entrepreneur. 

 What is your professional background?

Harvard MBA, management consulting, corporate development (M&A), entrepreneur of a niche business in the musical instrument industry. Also teach and facilitate a CEO peer group in collaboration with Upstate Capital, a non-profit managed by Noa Simons.

 Tell us a little bit about yourself — family, what you do in your free time, etc.

I collect art generally in the Social Realist style produced by Jewish American artists, predominantly from the 1930’s. As most of these artists were immigrants or the children of immigrants, I am particularly interested in their view of America, their chosen country. A large part of the collection was donated to the Palmer Museum at Penn State, and seven paintings are included in the Palmer’s permanent exhibition. In the local area I like bicycle ride on my ebike (too many hills for my regular road bike!).

 What do you like best about business?

Its creative potential. Every business and every idea can be improved. In my view any business has unlimited opportunities for innovation in technology, markets, materials, and processes. An article of mine on Innovation was published in the July, 2021 edition of the Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education.

For more information about Hudson Valley Startup Fund, please contact Fund Manager for Communications, Andrew Schulkind at info@hvstartupfund.com, and visit our website at www.hvstartupfund.com. Please follow HVSF on LinkedIn.

 

Leaders

Hudson Valley Venture Hub logo

Join us at our annual Venture Fest on Wednesday, October 13 at SUNY New Paltz. If you are part of the HV entrepreneur ecosystem (entrepreneurs, investors, services providers), there are sessions designed specifically for you. And we can all get to know each other better during the concluding Oktoberfest theme food, beverage, music and networking! Please Register Here!

Sessions designed for Entrepreneurs: 

 

  • Entrepreneurs helping Entrepreneurs - HV entrepreneurs will be connected in small speed-dating groups with targeted questions to get to know the "entrepreneur next door", share passions and explore potential collaborations.
  • Meet the Mentors - In this session we'll connect some of the region's most impressive subject matter experts, who volunteer within the HV Mentors Program, to HV entrepreneurs. 

 

Sessions designed for Investors:

  • HV Startup Fund - Why Organized Regional Angel Investment is Critical to the HV - Johnny LeHane and Leon Greene, Managing Partners in the Hudson Valley Startup Fund will share their insights into the startup ecosystem and early stage investing in the Hudson Valley. Learn how regional and global trends in workplace culture, talent, and capital have impacted their thinking about angel investing and organized capital in 2021 and beyond.    
  • Small Business Revenue Share Investment Model - Jeff Werner, Founder & CEO, and Shirin Movahed Rakocevic of The Field Group, will provide an advance look at a new program coming to the Hudson Valley! Accelerate HV is a fresh, new program designed to assist "Main Street Businesses" to rapidly grow revenue and profitability, while opening the door to a new type of revenue based financing. 

Session designed for Services Providers

  • Service Providers in the HV Entrepreneur Ecosystem - Highlighting new and innovative programs for services providers to effectively engage with HV entrepreneurs, including the potential for $2.5M+ new money to flow from entrepreneurs to HV services providers. Moderator: Mike Caslin, GCSEN Foundation with Panelists:

Session designed for Entrepreneur Educators

  • HV Entrepreneur Educators' Forum - Kris Backhaus, Dean, SUNY New Paltz School of Business will facilitate a discussion on Building Sustainability into Entrepreneurship Education. Join us for presentations and a round-table discussion on the critical role of sustainability in entrepreneurship, and how educators can play a role.

Three main tent sessions designed for everyone

Keynote Session

Michael Shuman on how and why to invest locally and will continue into a panel discussion moderated by Michael with the following different local investing perspectives:

MWBE Pitchfest! 

Oktoberfest 

  • Networking: meet others in the HV entrepreneur ecosystem 
  • HV Food & Beverage Showcase: entrepreneurs showcasing their products and samples. 
  • Food & Beverages: enjoy German theme food and drinks 
  • Oktoberfest music: provided by Steve Mazzuca

Hope to see you there! Please Register Now!

 

Service Providers

HV Mentors is a newly launched program within SUNY New Paltz School of Business, for external entrepreneurs anywhere in the Hudson Valley. The program was created to help “growth-oriented” entrepreneurs with pressing business challenges. Through a high-touch matching model, the program fields needs and requests from entrepreneurs seeking crucial business advice from scaling operations to pitching investors. 

In less than 6 months, HV Mentors has built a strong ecosystem of some of the region’s most impressive business people and subject matter experts - from founders who built bread empires to patent lawyers. Mentoring sessions range in length from 1-2 hours for quick answers, to up to 8 hours of more deep and holistic thinking. The program is seeking both mentors and entrepreneurs to join on a rolling basis (applications available on the website). 

For Entrepreneurs: Get connected to a local expert who wants to help the community thrive. As a mentee you’re not only getting one-on-one guidance and an outside perspective, you’re also joining the SUNY New Paltz School of Business community which includes the Hudson Valley Venture Hub. 

For Mentors: Hudson Valley Mentors understands that mentors come in all shapes and sizes, and that sometimes the most valuable way to help a young business is to listen to their experiences and share a new perspective. Whether you’re an experienced manager and investor, a communications expert, a researcher or someone with an altogether unique skill set, your insight could make the difference for a Hudson Valley entrepreneur.

This November, HV Mentors is hosting a meetup for regional businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry. The first session will be focused on the hiring crisis, and creative ways our community is managing to keep their doors open and employees present. If you're interested in attending, speaking, or getting more information let us know. Date is TBD and the location is SUNY New Paltz School of Business.

Before Silicon Valley, The HV

1924 finds Tom Watson as head of the newly rebranded IBM.  Sitting at his desk in Endicott, New York, Tom saw in his minds’ eye building IBM to be an international market leader in the new data-driven technology– computers. Over in Poughkeepsie was Watson’s valued network connection, Frederick H. M. Hart.  Hart was a McGiver-like inventor, entrepreneur, and precision metal working master.  His private lab was devoted to mechanical tabulation (computers).  Tom Watson was an R & D enthusiast and Hart was Tom’s IBM’s custom metal fabricator. 

A decade and a half later, Watson is approached by President Franklin Roosevelt. 

 By now, the United States was involved in World War II, and FDR turned to IBM to ask the company to manufacture precision weapons. Watson deflected—he did not want to corrupt IBM’s international brand by involvement in armaments but FDR did not want to take no for an answer. 

Watson’s entrepreneurial skills kicked into action. Knowing that involvement in armament production was not in his plans for IBM, he delegated the job to his friend and fellow entrepreneur, Frederick Hart. Hart went to work, with no delay. In March, 1941, Munitions Manufacturing Corporation became IBM’s newest subsidiary.  Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Hart purchased a 215-acre property between Route 9 and the Hudson River, in the Town of Poughkeepsie.  He transformed a former pickle plant into a new 140,000-square-foot factory to manufacture precision weapons, with over 250 new employees.  In the blink of an eye, IBM and Poughkeepsie futures were tied.

Watson invents a Silicon Valley in the Hudson Valley

To Tom Watson, THINK was more than a meme, it was his operating system-- build a smart Hudson Valley entrepreneurial eco-system. A strategic systems mindset was the IBM way, Tom Watson’s way. As  Munitions Manufacturing Corporation’s mission was ending along with World War II, the buzz along Main and Market Street was the coming local economic impact on MMC/IBM and their next move.

Tom Watson and his team were ready with a new business model and plan for IBM Poughkeepsie. It was a reverse pivot - proactive repositioning. For IBM it was to sell data processing services supported by IBM closed system servers, and be the category leader in data processing innovation and education. By 2020, IBM’s impact on the Hudson Valley was profound-- 22,000 employees, five corporate campuses, the IBM Country Club, Spackenkill School District and considerable activity at the Dutchess County Airport.

Special Credit to: Flad, H. & Griffen, C. (2009). Main Street to Mainframes, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-1-4384-2613-6. 

Don Delaney

Contact welcome: Donald J. Delaney, HV Entrepreneurship Historian & Blog Writer for the HV Venture Hub at SUNY New Paltz. You can reach Don at don@dondelaney.com, 845-264-1505

© Donald J. Delaney 2021

 

Events

Comments? Email Kristin Backhaus at backhauk@newpaltz.edu