Startup Handbook Wins National Book Award
Posted on May 26, 2011
NEW YORK, May 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Venture investor Elizabeth Edwards' new book Startup: The Complete Handbook for Launching a Company for Less took top honors in business at the National Indie Excellence Book Awards. Edwards' book, which recently made Amazon's Top 20 Books for New Business Enterprises, shows entrepreneurs how to start a business on a shoestring budget.
Ellen Reid of the NIEA congratulated the winners, saying, "We had the best pool of submissions ever... the NIEA salutes authors and publishers who make excellence a priority." "It's an honor to be recognized," says Edwards.
Startup has received enthusiastic reviews from universities, angel investors, and incubators, and is being used as a textbook for students and entrepreneurs around the country.
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Cincinnati Innovates names 10 winners
Posted on January 19, 2011
A tool to help brides plan their weddings took the top prize in the Cincinnati Innovates competition, which promotes entrepreneurship and product commercialization.
Jocelyn Cates claimed a $25,000 ward for her venue-booking web application called Venue Agent.
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Cincinnati Innovates wins Cincinnati Magazine's "Best New Idea"
Posted on January 19, 2011
An in-flight board game. A portable toilet that composts waste. An app that figures out what your favorite bands are, then finds where they’re playing. Thanks to this year’s Cincinnati Innovates contest, those products—and 300 or so other ideas—have their moment in the sun. The annual competition, now planning its third year, is run by Metro Innovation. The idea is to bring design geeks, techies, entrepreneurs, inventors, and other innovators out of the closet to compete for dough and in-kind professional services. Our favorite part is going online to “view and vote†on inventions such as the Ear Suit, the Dangle Hanger, and the Stick-a-Bib. Ladies and gentlemen, the future is now. www.cincinnatiinnovates.com
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Venture capitalist shares secrets she's used successfully in her new book, 'Startup'
Posted on January 11, 2011
Cincinnati Enquirer, Laura Baverman, January 9, 2011
Entrepreneur and former venture capitalist Elizabeth Edwards adds author to her resume with the launch of her first book, appropriately called "Startup."
Edwards calls it a handbook for anyone who has ever wanted to start a company, but worried about having the finances, strategy and resources to do so. She provides readers the tools to save up to $100,000 in startup costs.
Edwards co-founded the region's annual Cincinnati Innovates competition, held in partnership with CincyTech. She also brought In One Weekend startup events to the region in 2008 and 2009.
In 2009, she started Metro Innovation, a consulting firm focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. She also serves as a board member of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association and a teacher of entrepreneurial finance at Xavier University. She spoke with staff writer Laura Baverman.
HOW DID YOU decide on your book topic?
I've read hundreds of business plans and advised hundreds of entrepreneurs, so I've heard it all: the great ideas, the helpful tools and the bad experiences. I wanted to write about my experiences as a VC and in starting my own company and share some of the strategy, tools and savings that I've found over the years.
I love a good deal. When I would tell people about how I cut $20,000 from my personal budget before I launched my company, or how instead of spending the national average of $65,000 launching my company, I spent under $10,000, they couldn't believe it. So I started keeping track of the tools I found and the methods I used. All in all, there's about $100,000 in savings outlined in the book and do-it-yourself guides to branding, design, marketing, PR, legal, accounting, and IT - and anyone can do it.
WHAT MAKES YOUR book different from similar how-to guides?
Every tool and template I recommend I have used myself in launching my own company and launching the startups I've invested in as a VC. ... I've dedicated a good portion of the book just to financing a startup. Finance can be complicated, so everything is in plain English, with plenty of examples.
HOW DO YOU KNOW if you've got what it takes to start a company?
If you have something that people will buy, you've got what it takes. It's as simple as that. The rest is just fine-tuning.
SHARE ONE THING that someone may be surprised to learn about starting a business.
Health insurance is a lot cheaper and easier to get than you think. I pay $85 a month for health insurance that is better than what I had with my previous employer - and a lot cheaper. I have a whole section on personal finances and getting health insurance in Chapter 2.
WHAT WAS THE biggest challenge in starting your company?
Focus! I'm really involved in community projects, but as an entrepreneur starting out, you have to be willing to say no - or at least, "I'm sorry, I just can't be involved this year." The bottom line is: you're no help to anyone if you're out on the street.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR you and Metro Innovation?
I have more books to write - the next one is in the works. It's the best: I get to work on the projects I love. I'm teaching a few workshops at Xavier University this year, and I'm helping a couple growth companies raise equity right now, which is a lot of fun.
And of course, Metro Innovation will be putting on another Cincinnati Innovates (www.cincinnatiinnovates .com) competition this spring.
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Metro Innovation founder publishes Startup book for entrepreneurs on a budget
Posted on January 11, 2011
A year ago, Cincinnati Innovates founder and VC investor Elizabeth Edwards vowed to start her own company, and bootstrapped it. Today she wants to help other entrepreneurs do the same.
Edwards, of Oakley, in a style befitting her business advice, just self-published her first book Startup: the complete handbook for launching a company for less. Part how-to, part resource, the book is partially based on her experience starting Metro Innovation, a consulting company aimed at upping entrepreneurial investment across the Midwest and South. She started the company after leaving her job as a Neyer Holdings Venture Capital Investor.
The 400-page book covers cost-effective ways to start a business, including the areas of finance, branding and PR, accounting and law. She offers readers a comprehensive place to find tools that don't break the bank, but are up to industry standards across business types.
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Cincinnati Innovates names winners
Posted on September 24, 2010
VenueAgent soon may be a web tool for wedding and event planners nationwide, thanks to a $25,000 first place commercialization award from this year’s Cincinnati Innovates competition.
VenueAgent founder Jocelyn Cates learned of her award Wednesday night at an event to recognize 10 local award winners of the annual innovation competition. About 300 people attended.
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Importance of startups: Time to invest locally
Posted on September 24, 2010
Cincinnati Enquirer, Guest Column by Elizabeth Edwards, September 17, 2010
Much has been written about how important startups are to the economy, but I want to quantify just how important they are to Cincinnati.
Over the past 20 years, startups accounted for 100 percent of net job growth in the U.S. They create jobs today and are the Fortune 500s of tomorrow. And Fortune 500s are essential to our local economy, but the ones we have are getting old.
The average lifespan of a Fortune 500 is 40 to 50 years. The average age of a Fortune 500 in Cincinnati is 113 years.
So let's go back 113 years, when most universities were just opening their doors and half of the Fortune 500s downtown today were fledgling companies.
The Small Business Administration didn't exist. Venture capital was an informal practice of wealthy industrialists. Industry was booming and entrepreneurs were everywhere.
Back then, parents and grandparents were the "bank." There were fewer banks, which meant less debt was available, so generational investing was pretty common. Probably the best example is P&G, which was started on a loan from a father-in-law.
Well, maybe not much has changed. Parents today are spending $100,000 on a four-year college - hoping that their child will graduate and get a corporate job.
But where are these corporate jobs?
In 2001, startups created 4.3 million jobs, while Fortune 500s cut 900,000. In 2009, they cut 800,000. Parents, tell your grads to stop looking for a job and start a company.
If you think college is a good investment, you'll like entrepreneurship even more. The average net worth of an entrepreneur is nearly six times greater than their employed peer. While the risks cannot be understated (most companies fail in the first five years), and while the life of an entrepreneur is pretty rough at first (half the take-home pay, double the hours), it's worth considering.
It's great to be an entrepreneur in Cincinnati.
Four of the top 25 schools for entrepreneurship are here. We have grants up to $40,000 for entrepreneurs. We have one of the top SCORE mentor networks in the nation, the SBA's Lender of the Year, and unlike most parts of the country, venture capital investment in Cincinnati is on the rise.
If you're not investing in Cincinnati, who is?
Fifty percent of U.S. venture capital is invested in California. When investors make their high-risk, high-return portfolio allocations, that money goes to venture funds in California, where it is invested in California startups. This has perpetuated not only a net export of investment capital from the Midwest, but also a brain drain, with the top college grads moving to the coasts.
Wall Street financial alchemy vs. Main Street value investing
It seems that Wall Street execs want to make millions for losing billions. Bottom line? Goodbye, Wall Street. I'm taking a page from the Book of Buffet and investing in value companies where I have some direct influence or control. I'm investing locally.
And there's a lot to invest in here. Hundreds of startups will gather on Wednesday for the 2010 Cincinnati Innovates Dinner at the Freedom Center, where $80,000 in grants will be awarded to the top ideas, innovations and entrepreneurs.
It's great to be an investor in Cincinnati.
There are good returns to be had here. In addition to solid deals, several venture funds and angel investor groups in the region give investors a 50 percent match from the state.
Local investors can also get a 25 percent credit through the Ohio Investment Tax Credit program, so if you invest $10,000 in a local startup, you'll immediately get $2,500 back on your state taxes. Have you seen a 25 percent dividend from any of your Wall Street stocks lately? Didn't think so.
I prefer to keep my money where I can see it: in the startups I help launch, in the investments I have control over, and in the founders I know personally. I keep it in Cincinnati.
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Cincinnati Innovates contest deadline nears
Posted on September 24, 2010
Just one day remains for inventors and entrepreneurs to submit their best ideas to Cincinnati Innovates, a region-wide innovation competition.
"We've seen a good number of biotech and really high tech entries, which is really going to up the game this year," she said. One recent entry is for Cardioception, a patch that can be applied to prevent tissue damage after a heart attack. VenueAgent is a web tool that aggregates possible venues for event planners. Other ideas include a Better Baby Monitor and Mobilizing Metro, an iPhone application that tracks the routes of Metro buses.
"I get the feeling that people spent a lot more time on their concepts this year," Edwards said. "They were able to see who won and what it takes to win."
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Cincinnati Innovates contest lives up to its name with more than 120 ideas submitted to date
Posted on September 24, 2010
If you're looking for Greater Cincinnati's creative class, hop on over to the ongoing Cincinnati Innovates contest where more than 120 people have submitted a wide variety of innovative concepts for businesses, products and nonprofits.
Cincinnati Innovates 2010 is offering Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky entrepreneurs and inventors more chances at start-up prize money this year, with more than $80,000 in awards.
The second annual competition is open to anyone now or originally from the 15-county area of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. It has a broad reach and can include innovative products, devices, business processes and more. The top prize of $25,000 is sponsored by CincyTech.
This year's competition ups the stakes and opportunities for innovators. There are several new prize categories including a $5,000 web development award sponsored by CoStrategix, a $10,000 award in branding and design services from LPK, and a $10,000 commercialization award to a Kentucky-based company sponsored by The Northern Kentucky eZone, Tri-Ed, Vision 2015, and Biologic.
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Chic Spotlight: Innovator Elizabeth Edwards
Posted on September 24, 2010
Cincy Chic: You founded Metro Innovation in 2009, so tell Cincy Chic readers a little more about how you help fix the present and create the future.
Edwards: Everyone has great ideas. The problem in the Midwest and South, where we have lower levels of entrepreneurship and early stage investment, is that we need more to act on those ideas and turn them into the companies that are going to propel us into the next century. Cincinnati Innovates is an online regional innovation competition that awards $80,000 in grants to the best ideas, entrepreneurs and innovators in the region. It's open online at CincinnatiInnovates.com until Sept. 1.
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Why Funding Innovation Is Key For The Queen City
Posted on September 24, 2010
With the end of this year's round of Cincinnati Innovates fast approaching, a word on startups is in order.
Most have a foggy notion that newly launched companies create jobs. But jaws may drop at hearing just how crucial startups are to a healthy economy. Here's the bottom line: 100% of new net jobs created in the past 20 years have been created by companies that are less than five years old.
Sure, massive public corporations and longer established companies account for the lion's share of existing jobs. But startups are unabashedly on the forefront of job growth. There's just one problem.
"Growth takes a lot of cash," says Elizabeth Edwards, chief instigator of Cincinnati Innovates. And according to Edwards, Cincinnati's startups are struggling to secure their fair share of this precious resource.
To be fair, Cincinnati startups are by no means alone in their capital challenges. The Midwest and South, representing only 30% of total venture capital invested in the US, have been plagued by a lingering brain drain for longer than a decade.
During this time, enclaves of venture-backed startups, largely in California, where 50% of venture capital investment in the US is directed each year, have created strong clusters of innovation that have lured talent from other regions of the country en masse.
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Motorized shoes
Posted on September 24, 2010
David Pescovitz, BoingBoing.com at 10:24 AM May 4, 2010
I had a terrific time last week speaking at Bold Fusion 2010, a conference organized by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce. I talked about DIY and innovation and met a slew of interesting people from hackerspaces, huge organizations, and small start-ups, all trying to do creative things around technology, media, and culture in the city. (My old pal/mentor John Fox summed up the event nicely in this post for CityBeat, Cincinnati's alt.weekly.)
One of the makers in attendance was Peter Treadway, inventor of the TREADWAY wearable transportation system. The shoes remind me a bit of electric Heelys. You can see video of them in action at Cincinnati Innovates and learn more about the system at Treadway Mobility. Sadly, I didn't get to try the motorized shoes myself, but they're certainly less bulky than a Segway, although perhaps equally geeky. (Thanks, Elizabeth Edwards!)
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Sparking Innovation Cincinnati Style
Posted on September 24, 2010
Spring is here and Cincinnati's innovators have a fresh chance to share their latest brainchildren.
Come May 1 the second annual Cincinnati Innovates contest will fling the doors open to anyone with inspiration and an original idea (or ideas) to test.
In the past, creatives with entrepreneurial spirits quietly plied their trades in labs, studios and offices. If they struck gold, they relished their often sizable gains with little public recognition or fanfare.
"Entrepreneurs are kind of like the 'Where's Waldo' crew," says Elizabeth Edwards, creator of Cincinnati Innovates. "They don't walk around with a sign announcing they've started a company or are working on a product."
But an innovation doesn't evolve into a thriving business in a vacuum. It needs face-time, social proof, room to grow. And it needs capital. This is where Cincinnati Innovates steps in.
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Cincinnati's Newest Innovators
Posted on September 27, 2009
The winners, listed below, share $50,000 in prizes with the top prize of $20,000 going to Michael Bergman of LPK, who entered a test-prep Facebook application called Numbskull 2.0.
Numbskull 2.0 allows students to quiz themselves using provided questions or creating their own from class notes. It also allows classmates to create a league where they create and share quizzes customized to their classes and compete against each other.
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Cincinnati Innovates winners chosen
Posted on September 27, 2009
CincyTech has picked eight winners for its first Cincinnati Innovates competition, in which entrants submitted ideas that have the potential to be commercialized.
The winners were honored in a Friday evening ceremony, at the Contemporary Arts Center downtown.
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