Statewide Colorado initiative will encourage entrepreneurship

Simon Greenman, co-founder of online map firm MapQuest, says the current state of the entrepreneurial economy — where funding for new high-tech startups continues to decline — is misleading.

By Erika Stutzman, Camera Business Writer

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/tech_plus/article/0,1713,BDC_2463_2899394,00.html

"A lot of people are in a bit of a funk," said Greenman, now vice president of Internet products at Dex Media in Denver. "They feel like they’ve just been through a nuclear winter. But the time is right for entrepreneurism and innovation."

Greenman is the keynote speaker at today’s 16th Annual Colorado Capital Conference in Denver. The event is presented by the Rockies Venture Club.

A new statewide effort will be launched at today’s event. The Colorado Entrepreneurial Hothouse Initiative will encourage entrepreneurism and economic growth, organizers say.

The initiative is a joint effort between the Rockies Venture Club, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s Office of Economic Development, Gov. Bill Owens’ Office of Economic Development and International Trade and chief executives from around the state.

"We all need to be on the same page," said Jeffrey Nathanson, a Rockies Venture Club member who helped organize the event. "Here in Colorado, we have a Western mentality where we feel that we can just do things on our own."

One of the ways to inspire more startup activity is to get entrepreneurs and investors across the state to work with one another, he said. Technology transfer, funding, bartering and networking are just a few examples of how companies here should be working with one another, he said.

"There’s too much randomness. We see a need for cooperation," Nathanson said.

Jim Arkebauer, co-chair of the Rockies Venture Club and head of Venture Associates, said the quantity of deals between investors and entrepreneurs is still low, but the quality of those companies has improved. In turn, he said, some of those investment dollars should follow.

"That’s the nature of the animal. Things are starting to loosen up," he said.

Despite the rising hopes of Colorado entrepreneurs, venture funding continues to slide. The state’s firms raised $83.5 million during the first quarter of this year, down from $106.4 million in the previous quarter and a steep decline from the $146.8 million raised in the first quarter 2003, according to the MoneyTree Survey, which is sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

Greenman said the lack of funding from venture capitalists and other sources is holding back the entrepreneurial community.

"The VCs and some others were so scared by the downturn that the pendulum swung back too far the other way," he said.

His advice to investors: "Just do it. Get over it guys," he said.

He said history shows that the pattern of emerging industries — intense investment, a bubble, the fallout, then a revival — is similar to the pattern of today’s high-tech sectors.

"What that means — from life sciences to the Internet to telecom — is that we’re at the start of the race, not the end," Greenman said.

The Colorado Capital Conference is scheduled to take place from 7:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. today at the Marriott City Center, 1701 California St. in Denver. Cost is $139 for members of the Rockies Venture Club, and $179 for nonmembers.

Contact Camera Business Writer Erika Stutzman at (303) 473-1354 or [email protected].