Minnov8

Minnov8 Gang 85: Are Angels Crying?

After yesterday’s post, “Is Perception the Reality with MN Venture Funding?” we received a lot of email and some comments about the state of angel and venture investing in Minnesota. There is a lot of buzz amongst startups (and wannabees) who feel like this State is risk averse and a place where angels and VCs [...]

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Dan Mallin Presents MN Science & Tech Committee Findings

Pretty sobering assessment of our state and the future of innovation here….we might not have one if we don’t get moving in a positive direction! Minnesota faces a crisis of competitiveness in attracting high-tech industries, and needs a comprehensive science and technology initiative to remedy the problem. A 16 member committee of experts from the [...]

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MN Tech Rocks – Last Night Was Proof

If you weren’t at Minnedemo last night, well, you ain’t….  Seriously, for those few of you players in our Internet/IT community who weren’t there, you missed a damn good one.  I tweeted as I left about 10:30 pm (okay, I admit I tweet from my car) that I thought it was the best ever.  There [...]

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Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 37

Our guest this week is Marti Nyman, a senior business development executive with more than 20 years of success in areas within the Energy, Telecommunications, and Consumer Retail sectors, and, most recently, was responsible for the formation and launch of Best Buy’s Venture Capital practice. Nyman, along with serial entrepreneur John Montague, are off on [...]

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2008 Investor Fraud Traps

Whether you’re an angel investor listening to startup pitches or an innovator considering funding sources, now is a time to be extra careful with anything related to money, credit, lending or capital of any kind — especially if you’re a participant in a social or affinity network or if you’re transparent with your blog and [...]

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Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 7

Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins, Phil Wilson We were absolutely delighted this week to have three very special guests who joined the Gang for a discussion about ‘net and web innovation in Minnesota: - Katharine Grayson: Staff Writer for the Twin Cities Business Journal. Katharine covers the internet and web technology beat for the paper, [...]

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‘Minnebar’ Becoming Top Event for State’s Internet/Software Developers and Entrepreneurs

An annual Minnesota event, playfully named Minnebar — which grew out of a grass-roots tech industry initiative called Barcamp — is happening for the third year in a row here in the Twin Cities this coming Saturday, May 10, at the U of M’s Coffman Union. By 8:00 am, somewhere between 300 and 400 software [...]

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Innovation in Early-Stage Investing? You Bet! And MN Firm Is Major Player

It’s no secret the gap between friends-and-family financing and venture capital funding is big enough to drive a…well, a busload of entrepreneurs through. But I’m here to tell you, friends, there’s hope on the horizon.   The capital needs of early-stage companies used to be served well by VC funds, but the aforementioned gap has [...]

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