M&A and Successful Exits

Entrepreneurs’ Network

PRE-MEETING DINNER at 5:15 PM (sharp) at Bertucci’s, Waltham.

You are one of them…a dedicated entrepreneur, who has poured her heart and sweat into the venture. Does this single-minded dedication to launch and grow the business have to exclude thoughts of potential future exits? On the contrary, an exit strategy is an important element of the overall business strategy that describes the vision of how you will eventually capitalize on your investment. This is important because the decisions about how you structure and operate the business can have huge implications down the road.

Let us hear from experienced panelists, who have prepared companies and participated in successful exits that have come in various sizes and forms. They will talk about exit strategy planning and, just as important, what exits look and feel like in real life to an entrepreneur, an investor and M& A advisors.

Agenda:
630-730 PM – Registration & networking
730-740 PM – ENET Chairman’s announcements
740-755 PM – E Minute – Up to 3 Startup companies’ presentations
755-845 PM – 3 expert speakers on the night’s topic
845-900 PM – Audience / Speakers Q & A
900-930 PM – Final networking including meeting speakers

Speakers:

Kerri Salls, founder of This Way Out Group LLC

Kerri Salls is entrusted by owners to reduce risk and maximize value, transforming an income generating business into a wealth producing asset owners can monetize, using exit planning as a framework. A thought leader in the field, Kerri is the host of the podcast Exit This Way, author of HARVEST Your Wealth, Don’t Murder Your Business, How to Manage a Gaggle of Advisors to Build Your All-Star Exit Team, and the home-study program: Selling Your Business for Maximum Profits, and co-author of Why Plan For Due Diligence in The Sale Of My Company? Her articles are published by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, M&A Source, the Exit Planning Exchange and numerous directories. Kerri received an MBA from Boston University in operations management and international marketing. After the Peace Corps, Kerri started her career at MITRE Corporation, Data General, and at Honeywell (on the first ATM project) and went on to manage projects from $10- 50M at Atex Publishing Systems, New England Business Systems and others before specializing in Exit Planning in 2005. She has written almost 20 articles in this field that include –

One Hidden Asset That Drives Your Company’s Value;

Growth Vs. Value: Not All Revenue Is Created Equally;

Attract The Attention Of Your Ideal Acquirer 5 Ways

Top 10 Questions To Start Thinking About Value Enhancement

Do You Want To Make The Most Money Possible When You Sell Your Business?

What’s Your Exit Strategy? One industry discussion

Peter Alternative, Partner, Mirus Capital Advisors

Peter brings 20 years of experience advising middle market, technology-based companies. He has been a financial advisor to both public and closely-held companies on divestitures, capital raising, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mergers and cross-border transactions. He has managed and closed dozens of engagements with companies in numerous segments of information technology and professional services, with a focus on enterprise software. Peter has spoken to a number of executive groups, including Gartner Research Emerging Technology conference, the EO Birthing of Giants program at the MIT Enterprise Forum, The CFO Roundtable and The Financial Management Association on topics ranging from capital markets to mergers and acquisitions. He has been interviewed and/or published by a number of publications including The Daily Deal, Mass High Tech, Mergers and Acquisitions Magazine, CBS Marketwatch, MergerMarket and Tech Biz. Peter is also a guest lecturer at Bentley University. Before joining Mirus, Peter was a financial analyst for CFO Strategies, a Boston-based financial consulting firm that provides interim CFO services to venture-funded technology startups. Peter began his business career as a founding member of two entertainment startups. Peter is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization, the Bentley University Executives Club and the Boston chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, where he is its past President. Peter sits on several other boards holds Series 7, 63 and 79 FINRA certifications. Peter received an MBA with high distinction from Bentley University’s McCallum Graduate School of Business, and a BA in Political Science from Hobart College.

See http://merger.com/selling-a-business/overview/

Christopher Crane, President and Chairman of Vartopia LLC, a high-tech SaaS provider, as well as owner of hotels and restaurants in York Maine.

Originally a math high-school teach, Mr. Crane became an entrepreneur in the early 80’s selling and programming Digital Equipment Corporation mini computers. Over the ensuing years’ Mr. Crane, with a partner, purchased many similar companies that were in financial difficulties and created a public company with five vertical market divisions called ASA International. In 1996, Mr. Crane left the company and purchased and ran TradePoint System, a supplier of software to the International Trade industry. In 2004 Mr. Crane sold TradePoint systems and then returned to ASA to help dismantle the public company and sell two of the company’s divisions.

Moderator:

Robert Adelson, business and tax attorney, partner at Boston law firm of Engel & Schultz LLP, and Chairman of The Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network.

Rob has been an attorney for over 30 years specialized in business, tax, stock and options, employment, contracts, financings, trademarks and intellectual property. Rob began as an associate at major New York City law firms before returning home to Boston in 1985 where he has since been a partner in small and medium sized firms before joining his present firm in 2004. Rob represents entrepreneurs, start-ups and small companies, independent contractors and employees and executives. Rob is a frequent speaker on business law topics and author of numerous articles published in Boston Business Journal, Mass High Tech and other publications. He has been named among the “Top 20 Boston Startup Lawyers” by ChubbyBrain.com, a website that provides tools for entrepreneurs. Rob has been on the ENET Board since 2002 and Chairman since 2009 and is also a Co-Founder and Board member of the 128 Innovation Capital Group. He holds degrees from Boston University, B.A., summa cum laude, Northwestern University (Chicago), J.D., Law Review, and New York University, LL.M. in Taxation.

www.ExecutiveEmploymentAttorney.com

E-Minute Presentations will be given at the start of the meeting. These very short presentations enable young startup entrepreneurs to gain experience in presenting their summary business plans to expert panels and audiences.

Directions: Constant Contact is adjacent to RT 128 / 95 at Exit 28B.

See: http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/office-location-waltham.jsp

Reservations: ENET Constant Contact meetings are free to ENET members and $20 for non-members. No reservations are needed for the premeeting dinner. To expedite sign-in for the meeting, we ask that everyone — members as well as non-members — pre-register for the meeting online. Pre-registration is available until midnight the day before the meeting. If you cannot pre-register, you are welcome to register at the door.