Smart-Ups will be held at the new Broadway Commerce Center in downtown Eugene this month. The developer of the BCC, Beam Development, is a progressive development and management real estate company committed to developing flexible, affordable working spaces. Beam’s buildings in Portland have housed the likes of Second Porch, ShopIgniter, and Rumblefish.

We will hear from a panel of entrepreneurs on how to find the right space and what the right space can do for your startup.

Register Here

  Seating limited to the first 25 who register

Fee: $25 (workshop valued at $199) coffee, tea, beverages and light snack provided.

Location: Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, Sony Room

NOTE: The Smart-ups Pub-Talk “Funding Your Business Through Selling Product – Not Equity” follows this workshop from 5-8PM at the Oregon Electric Station.

The very successful Portland Ten model which helps early-stage companies reach $1M in sales within 18 months is coming to Eugene to deliver a 2-hour workshop on generating sales.

Whether it’s closing your first deal, switching from consumer to enterprise sales, improving the efficiency of your overall sales pipeline, or scaling up sales efforts to maximize a market opportunity, sales are an integral part to the survival and success of your business.

For any entrepreneur, there can be significant barriers to making a first sale or scaling up your sales force. This workshop will provide you with hands-on principles for facing those barriers head-on!

Hands-on Training! Bring to the Workshop:

• Your business model
• You sales pipeline
• Your deal tracker, and recent sales figures to break down your sales process and identify areas to optimize and generate additional revenue in the months ahead!

Workshop Facilitators:

Carolynn Duncan is the Director of Portland Ten, and an expert in venture capital, angel fundraising, and start-up management. She has assisted entrepreneurs in raising millions of dollars, and founded Portland Ten to increase the quantity of high-growth start-ups in the state of Oregon.

Prior, Ms. Duncan worked in the tech, start-up, angel/venture capital networks in Seattle, Portland, southeast Idaho, and Salt Lake City. She has also been affiliated with FundingUniverse, EPIC Ventures, Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center, Hundred Dollar Business, and Provo Labs, and has advised more than 300 startups during her career.

Jennie Kalberer is the Program Manager of Portland Ten’s Six Week Sprint track. She is Founder and Director of Kahnaway Art and Ecology Center in the Columbia River Gorge, and consults for start-ups and new venture projects. She also is the owner of Clean Like You Mean It, a natural cleaning products company. She worked as an interior designer before receiving her MBA in Finance from the University of Portland, serves on the Board of Oregon College of Art and Craft, and volunteers at Chapman Elementary.

Thanks to our great sponsors for supporting entrepreneurship in our community!

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Palo Alto Software CEO Sabrina Parsons presents “Buzzworthy Business Plans” which includes tips for a business plan that will stand out for investors. Sabrina will touch upon the top 10 mistakes made in business plans in order to help you build a great plan that will get funded.  Learn what NOT to do in order to build a buzz worthy business plan. 

• The Old Pad (3355 East Amazon Dr.)
• Thursday, October 27th
• 5PM – 8PM

Register Now!

Building start-up teams can be one of the most challenging parts of emerging growth companies. Your team IS your business. Learn from experts about how and when to hire your first employee, how to navigate HR laws/regulations, how to know when to give equity, and how to grow from 4 employees to 20.

More info coming soon…

Fun in the sun with start-ups!

Come expand your network with the local start-up community over a pint of Ninkasi’s award winning beers.  In addition to the drink tickets, Ninkasi will be giving Smart-ups attendees an extra $1 off beers. Networking challenges and a tour of Ninkasi’s operations are scheduled. 

When: July 28th 5 – 8PM

Where: Ninkasi Tasting Room (map)

Register Now!

($20 if you pre-register; $25 at the door; $15 for Eugene Chamber, Corvallis Chamber and SAO members, $10 for students (present ID at the door)

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$200,000 investment prize will be awarded to one Oregon start-up company!

Location: CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Corvallis, OR

Purchase your ticket to attend the conference BEFORE April 29th and save $50.

Afternoon Keynote Speaker

Pamela Slim

Author of Escape from Cubicle Nation.

Pamela Slim is a seasoned coach and writer who helps frustrated employees incorporate jobs break out and start their own business. Her blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, is one of the top career and marketing blogs on the web.  A former corporate manager and entrepreneur herself for more than a decade, she deeply understands the questions and concerns faced by first-time entrepreneurs.  Her expertise in personal and business change was developed through many years consulting inside corporations such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard and Charles Schwab, where she coached thousands of executives, managers and employees.

Click here to read more about Pamela.

Purchase your ticket to attend the conference BEFORE April 29th and save $50.

Ignite-Style Pitch Competition – winner pitches at WAC!

Location: Mookie’s Northwest Grill, 400 International Way, Springfield | location

Time: 5 – 8pm       

Register: $20 if your pre-register (click button below); $25 at the door; $15 for Eugene and Corvallis Chamber members; $10 for students (INCLUDES FOOD AND BEV)

Click here to register

Come and vote for the company you think has the most viable business plan. Audience members will vote for the company they think delivered the best overall pitch. The winner will be guaranteed a spot to deliver a “wildcard” pitch at the Willamette Angel Conference on May 12th in Corvallis. Come out and support the amazing and talented start-ups companies in our region!

*** Entrepreneurs: You must submit your executive summary and your 13 slides BEFORE 5pm, March 18th.

Please click here for submission guidelines.

This Smart-ups is going to be an Ignite-style business plan competition (13 slides, slides automatically advance every 15 seconds = 3.5 minutes to pitch your business plan). It’s an exciting competition – one you won’t want to miss! 

Any emerging growth start-up company (with an “investor-ready” plan) in the Willamette Valley can submit for the opportunity to present at this pub-talk. The audience will vote for the best overall pitch/plan.

The winner of this event will receive:

• A slot to present again in the “wildcard” segment of the Willamette Angel Conference submission process (conference is May 12, 2010 in Corvallis) – meaning they will have their $199 conference submission fee waived, and they will deliver a 3.5 minute speed pitch at the conference. One “wildcard” pitch at the WAC will get the opportunity to deliver a full 10-minutes pitch and become eligible for the investment prize.

*** You must submit your executive summary and your 13 slides BEFORE 5pm, March 18th.

Please click here for submission guidelines.

Click here to register

Thanks to our great sponsors for supporting entrepreneurship in our community!

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 Note: Ignite Eugene is a business-plan pitch competition sponsored by Smart-ups and is not affiliated with the worldwide network of O’Rielly Ignite community events.

A panel of successful entrepreneurs discussing their start-up “Firsts”

First big sale – first employee hired/fired – first big purchase – first funding secured – first big mistake – first media coverage, first…. and the list goes on. Learn from those who have “been there done that!” Come and be a part of the conversation! All three panelists also built their businesses via bootstrapping! Many of you have been asking to hear more from founders who didn’t utilize angel or venture funding. This panel is for you!

$20 if you pre-register; $25 at the door; $15 for Eugene Chamber, Corvallis Chamber and SAO members, $10 for students (present ID at the door)

Location: Mookie’s Northwest Grill, 400 International Way, Springfield | location

Panelists Include:

  Nikos Ridge

  Co-founder of Ninkasi Brewing Company

 Tim Berry

  Founder of Palo Alto Software

  Jeff Kast

  Co-founder of IDX Broker

Thanks to our great sponsors for supporting entrepreneurship in our community!

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Location: Oregon Electric Station, Eugene | directions

Register: Click here to register:

$20 (includes food and beverage)

$15 for Eugene and Corvallis Chamber members + SAO members

$10 for students (present ID at the door)

$25 at the door

Marci Hansen (Palo Alto Software’s VP of Marketing) will talk about the creation of a brand and the creation of an Internet marketing campaign through real life examples. Her presentation will be interesting for start-ups and small businesses because of the focus on low-cost and free marketing tactics that really work!

Hansen has an impressive background in both conventional and non-conventional marketing. She was awarded the “Guerrilla Marketer of the Year Award” from Brandweek Magazine while she served as the Marketing Director for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Hansen broke new ground with search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, web ads, paid search terms and other then-uncommon initiatives.

Prior to joining Palo Alto Software, Hansen served as VP of Marketing at the Crafts Americana Group where she oversaw the marketing and merchandising activities for two online crafting brands. Previously, she oversaw product launches, directed content and design, and developed marketing and sales campaigns as the Marketing Director at Dotster Inc.

Hansen additionally developed and directed the marketing campaign for the Amazon.com Outlet Web site while serving as the company’s Marketing Manager. She also worked as a Manager of marketing and corporate events at Eddie Bauer.

Hansen has more than 15 years of marketing experience, and in her new role at Palo Alto Software, she is overseeing online and traditional marketing and promotion, and business development and strategic partnerships for the company’s full line of small business products. In addition, her team will be actively involved in new product development and introduction.

You won’t want to miss this presentation to hear about low-cost and free marketing tactics that really work!

Thanks to our great sponsors for supporting entrepreneurship in our community!

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5 Minutes of free advice from Start-up Experts!

Location: CH2M HILL Alumni Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis

Register: This is a FREE event, but you should RSVP on the WiN networking site so they can track the number of attendees (food will be provided + cash bar)

*** Visit the Willamette Innovators Night Web site for more information ***

Smart-ups “Speed Start-up Networking“: Visit the Smart-ups Booth at the WiN event between 4:30 – 6:00pm to participate in a speed networking opportunity and get 5 minutes of free advice from from each the following emerging growth company experts:

Dean Hansen: Pacific Continental Bank, active angel investor, and coaches emerging growth companies for growth

Joacim Trybom: Moss Adams – specialty working with emerging growth companies

Marci Hansen: Palo Alto Software, awarded the “Guerrilla Marketer of the Year Award” from Brandweek Magazine

David Brabender/Katherine Moyer: Endeavor Law Group, specializing in legal work emerging growth companies – including securities law

Thanks to our great sponsors for supporting entrepreneurship in our community!

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