This is NSS’ second year of providing topic specific CEO workshops. They have been well attended and we offer them about every other month. We cover a broad range of topics important to CEOs from increasing valuation to succession planning. The topic on “Accessing Capital Markets” is the #1 challenge businesses face, according to our recent CEO Survey.

We wanted to capture the essence and caliber of the discussions on video so that we can share them with more CEOs and other thought leaders.

We take pride in our selection of panelists and moderators who are leaders in their respective fields. Our thanks again to the workshop panelists:

• Skip Kelly of Silicon Valley Bank
• Katherine Brand of Monroe Credit Advisors
• Joan McArdle of Massachusetts Capital Resources Company
• Patricia Conry of Middlesex Savings Bank

If you are in the process of looking for debt or equity financing, NSS can help you prepare the story and the numbers so that lenders will listen.

Call us at 617-449-7728 today to set up a time to meet.

Join us for our next CEO Workshop

“How to Gain Access to Capital Markets”

Thursday, Nov 17, 2011 from 7:30am to 9:30am

Register Today!

According to our recent Annual CEO Survey, the biggest challenge for CEOs is getting access to capital markets and how to maintain liquidity in a volatile economy.

In response to this urgent challenge, the upcoming workshop will explore two areas:

1. How to organically manage your cash flow
2. Hear first hand from Key Lenders how to access capital

The exceptional line up of Key Lenders will share how to optimally pursue debt and/or equity financing in a fragile economy.

• Skip Kelly, Silicon Valley Bank
• Katherine Brand, Monroe Credit Advisors
• Patricia Conry, Middlesex Savings Bank
• Joan McArdle, Mass Capital Resource Company

Learn from these Key Lenders:

• Who is lending?
• What industries and why?
• How can you make your company more attractive to lenders?
• What NOT to do and why?

Join us for this important panel to discuss the current credit market climate for early stage, growth and middle market companies.

The workshop was sponsored by NSS and hosted by WilmerHale Venture Group. The NSS CEO Workshop Series is intended for CEOs of revenue producing companies.

The board room was chuck full at the WilmerHale Venture Group office in Waltham. The invited speakers were Joan McArdle of Mass Resource Capital, Jane Braun of Silicon Valley Bank, Robin Lockwood of Flybridge Venture Partners and Christopher Mirabile of RacePoint Capital LLC.  The panel discussion was led by Lee Schindler of WilmerHale.

The focus was around changes in the funding arena and how that has affected each group.  We then opened it up to a dialogue with the CEOs.

Here are some interesting facets of this discussion (loosely defined by NSS):

• Significant changes in activity around Angel Groups, almost a flip side between VC and Angel funding.
• More syndications between Angels and VCs.  Angels are valuation centric.
• Huge migration in the VC world and closing of funds from 800-900 down to 600-700 VC funds
• Because of high multiples among some VCs,  Angels are filling some of that gap
• With uncertainties in economy it has been hard for companies to commit to expansions
• Lots of Re-Capitalizations are happening.  Good timing.  With lower interest rates it is advisable to reconsider a re-cap with the layers of debt and the different view from lenders a company may have.  Mass Capital Resources provides this type of re-cap with a 2-3yr interest only financing.  Mass Capital is currently doing deals in the $1M to $5M range and at an interest rate typically between 10% and 12%.
• Companies are starting to invest again.  All agreed that they are seeing an uptick in business activities.
• There is a huge Global push
• More VCs give smaller checks
• VC’s today are investing in companies that are capital efficient or not at all.
• It’s more difficult to get investment in a product or services business than it is in a software business.
• How do you get a highly leveraged company to an exit in today’s market?  Not really any differently.
• How can an entrepreneur know how much money to raise?  Determine what the life of an investment is and then try to match it with the right investor.  For example, an investment of $500K to $2.5M over the life of the investment probably won’t be appealing to a typical VC.  Putting in $30M over the life of the investment would be more appealing.
• How often do Angels and VC participate in similar events?  There are some forums when a mixture of investors is present.
• How about grants as a way to get some funding?  That may be a good thing (it’s non-dilutive) as long as it fits your business strategy.  Do not lose focus.
• Whether or not an angel or VC invests in the company depends in large part on how good the entrepreneur is.  “Can he/she do it?”
• Best thing to do if you’re raising money – Don’t go around town asking for money.  Instead, spend your time building relationships with investment community, asking questions like “what would you do if you were me?”
• M&A activity is picking up and deal flow is up

Our next CEO Workshop will be Tuesday, November 9 from 7:30am-9:30am and the topic will be around “Merger & Acquisitions”.  Save the date!

Join us for the Finance and Funding Options Panel

Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 | 7:30am – 9:30am

Place: WilmerHale Venture Group | 1100 Winter St

Bay Colony Corp Center | Center Entrance

4th Floor | Waltham, MA 02451

Exclusively for CEOs of revenue producing companies who are considering raising expansion capital. Come and meet the experts, learn what’s new and explore what type of financing or funding matches your needs. Lots of time for Q&A, so bring your questions.

Panelists:

Jane Braun, Silicon Valley Bank

Christopher Mirabile, Race Point Capital

Joan McArdle, Mass Capital Resource Company

Robin Lockwood, Flybridge Capital Partners

Moderator:

R. Lee Schindler, WilmerHale

Sponsored by Next Stage Solutions, Inc

Attendance is complimentary, but registration is required.  Call today 617-449-7728 or send an email info@nextstagesolutions.com. 

Laurie Taylor joined the NSS team recently.  He has over 20 years of experience and has worked with multiple start-up as Controller. We are delighted to have him on board.

Most Satisfying: In your CONTROLLER work you have done in the past, what is the most satisfying feedback you got from the CEO?

Nineteen out of twenty client companies have offered me a full time position during the engagement.

Most Inventive: Given that as CONTROLLER we understand the importance of providing our clients with more than just accounting and financial reporting, share with us a project that truly made you a value creator.

I began a two person project to determine why a major bank’s ATM conversion had an out of balance total of $19M after the merger of the two banking systems.   The bank booked a 200k reserve to cover this reconciliation exposure.  I requested a Bank Tiger team to assist my current consulting team and at the end of the project we had completely reconciled the account and were only unable to account for $9k in bank funds.  We also discovered a major systems glitch that was the result of the systems merger and trained the banking staff to recognize the problem and how to correct the system if it occurred again.

Most Positive: CONTROLLER’s have different skill set, yet often we are viewed as one of the same.  Tell us a story where your actions made a powerful positive change and why.

I was assigned a project to take over for a Director of Finance at a specialized moving van company.  I first determined that there was a massive amount of misspending going on and no one was managing the AR accounts.  In 6 weeks we were able to make enough corrections that company was stable enough for sale to a much better funded and staffed regional carrier.  The sale of this business unit saved 250 staff member’s jobs as a result of the merger instead of a company closure due to prior management neglect.

Best Business Book: What should every CEO be reading going forward in this tepid economy?

The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win by
David Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich

Funniest Fact: Tell us something funny about you.

I am crazy about WWII aircraft that have massively supercharged engines that “go fast, stay low, and turn left!” also known as the National Championship Air Races held each fall in Reno, NV.  The only rules are that these planes must have a prop and straight wings.

Mark Ott joined Next Stage Solutions this Spring.  Read on to see what Mark has been up to – he has a great story to tell!

Most Satisfying: In your CFO work you have done in the past, what is the most satisfying feedback you got from the CEO?

The most satisfying feedback I received is when the CEO told me that he knew he could spend a considerable amount of time out of the office (with customers, investors, board members, press, etc.) knowing that everything back at headquarters was being looked after with me looking after things.

Most Inventive: Given that as CFO we understand the importance of providing our clients with more than just accounting and financial reporting, share with us a project that truly made you a value creator.

When we moved a company from California to Massachusetts, I had to build a complete infrastructure pretty much from the ground up.  This included the recruitment/interviewing and engagement/hiring of new corporate attorneys, external auditors, Accounting Manager, Office Manager, and Human Resources Manager as well as establishing new banking relationships and corporate insurance programs.  All of this had to be done in a matter of three months.

Most Positive: CFOs have different skill set, yet often we are viewed as one of the same.  Tell us a story where your actions made a powerful positive change and why.

When I was European Controller for a large networking company, I had eight country controllers reporting to me.  Some of the countries (like the UK and Germany) were larger contributors to the results of the overall operation than others (like Spain and Sweden).  In that environment the controllers for the larger countries tended to be more influential in group decisions and the controllers for the smaller countries would sit back and complain that their needs were always overlooked because of their size.  This ultimately led to a team that did not work very well together and this was reinforced by pre-existing cultural differences.  One of the things I did to turn this around was to solicit ideas from the controllers concerning topics to be covered in an upcoming quarterly staff meeting.  When the time for the meeting came, I appointed the controller who suggested the topic as the leader of the discussion leader and subsequent action items.  This forced the smaller countries to play a much more active role in the group in identifying their issues and forced the larger countries to sit up and listen and help find solutions as they were cast in more of a “follower” role.  Following this pattern in subsequent staff meeting resulted in a much more cohesive pan-European staff.

Best Business Book: What should every CEO be reading going forward in this tepid economy?

“Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty:  The New Rules for Getting the Right Things Done in Difficult Times” by Ram Charan, McGraw-Hill.

Funniest Fact: Tell us something funny about you.

My fraternity brothers used to call me “Howard”, which is my middle name.  They thought that it was an “amusing” middle name, so they thought they could get me going if they kept calling me by that name.  It worked for a while but the nickname stuck throughout college and they will even use it today in those rare occasions when we get together.

Stay tuned for our next team member’s story!

Window of Opportunity | One Month!

Program Highlights:

• Life Science companies with fewer than 250 FTEs eligible
• Project expense years: 2009 and 2010
• Maximum cash or credit amount: $5M
• Multiple projects/applications can be submitted
• Forms and Instructions are now available
• Application decisions will be made within 30 days
• Applications are due no later than 21 July 2010

Introduction:

One of the results of the Health Care Reform Bill was the appropriation of a poll of $1 Billion in tax credits or grants to support the costs of research by small and mid-size life sciences companies paid or incurred in 2009 and 2010. This program is advantageous for companies without income tax liability.

Subject to some exceptions, the QTDP (Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project) credit or grant is available to any business with 250 or fewer employees at the time the application is submitted. No applicant will be allocated more than $5 million in QTDP tax credits or cash grants and because of the wide open application process most winning projects will receive less than the requested amount and completion is expected to be very intense.

Applicants will choose between the tax credit and cash grant during the application process.

The final deadline for application submission is 21 July 2010 and submissions after this date will not be considered.

Application Process and Selection Criteria

Life sciences companies must apply to the Treasury Department for an allocation from this incentive pool using IRS Form 8942. The Treasury will approve or deny applications within 30 days of submission.

A QTDP is a project designed to achieve any of the following objectives:

• To treat or prevent diseases or conditions by conducting pre-clinical activities, clinical trials, and clinical studies, or carrying out research protocols, for the purpose of securing approval of a product by the Food & Drug Administration or Public Health Service,
• To diagnose diseases or conditions or to determine molecular factors related to diseases or conditions by developing molecular diagnostics to guide therapeutic decisions, or
• To develop a product, process, or technology to further the delivery or administration of therapeutics.

In addition to the life science component of the selection process the financial impact of the QTDP will be reviewed to determine which submissions will likely:

• create and sustain (directly or indirectly) “high-quality, high-paying” jobs in the U.S., and
• advance U.S. competitiveness in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences.

The following entities are not eligible for this program:

• Foreign businesses unless more than 50% of their income from the relevant project is subject to U.S. federal income tax,
• Federal, state, or local governments,
• Tax-exempt organizations,
• Partnerships or
• Other pass-through entities.

Additionally, the following are not eligible project expenses: CEO and other officer’s compensation, interest expense, facility maintenance expenses, service costs or such costs as determined by the IRS.

The QTDP credits and grants are subject to recapture if the patents or other resulting property are transferred within five years.

An applicant must complete a separate IRS Form 8942 for each QTDP for which it is seeking a QTDP tax credit or cash grant and this form is due for release 18 June 2010.

The following is a summary of the QTDP Credit Project Credit established in by the Health Care Reform and by IRS Notice 2010-45.  Interested applicants should thoroughly review IRS instructions and form 8942.

Please feel free to contact Lauriston Taylor at Next Stage Solutions; if we may assist you in any way.

Lauriston Taylor, Controller Consultant

o:  617. 449.7728, x-712

c:  978. 397.6412

f:   978. 339.5202

The GPS of Finance

NSS Ambassador Laura Kevghas of Mirus Capital Advisors will be one of the panelists.  We hope you can join us.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

8:00 a.m. – Registration and Breakfast
8:30-10:00 a.m. – Program

Whether you are a buyer or seller, there are opportunities in the current economic climate to maximize your return on a merger, acquisition, or sale of a business. Our panel will review the current M&A market including a discussion of the deals getting done, opportunities for both buyers and sellers, and a review of how to successfully sell or buy a business.

Topics will include:
The Current M&A Market and Trends
The Credit Markets and their Relation to Valuation
Current Business Valuations and the Impact on Estate Planning Opportunities
How to Prepare for and Pursue a Transaction

University of Massachusetts Lowell
MIL Conference Room
Wannalancit Mills
600 Suffolk Street
Lowell, Massachusetts
Directions

RSVP
nutterevents@nutter.com or 617.439.2622

We are pleased to announce the first of four

CEO Seminars  |  Tues March 23, 2010

7:30am -9:00am, 75 Federal Street, Boston

(offices of Furman Gregory Deptula)

RSVP: Rudi Scheiber-Kurtz at 781-929-9125 or scheiberkurtz@nextstagesolutions.com

The “new” economy brings its own set of challenges to companies who want to grow or plan an exit.

In the first of 4 seminars for CEO’s in 2010, we will begin by focusing the discussion on various ways of balancing the risks in our businesses.

• How can I build out infrastructure and create a model that is both flexible and adaptable, one that can constrict and expand with minimum costs?
• What value can I bring to my business by outsourcing any non-core competency to keep agile and nimble?
• What are the next-step tools and solutions in how I can achieve desired growth in a recharged economy and preserve cash with a conservative budget?
• How do I finance growth in today’s economy?
• What innovative strategies can I adopt to increase value in my business that may not involve raising capital?

Join us for a 90-minute interactive dialogue and take back valuable insights from other fast growth CEO’s.  Learn tools, tips and trends to help you navigate in this new economy.

Attendance will be limited to allow more in-depth and interactive discussion. Future seminars will focus on specific topics such as financing, sales and marketing, legal, partnering, and exits.

Why you should attend:

• Network with other CEO’s and gain visibility to best practices in the marketplace today
• Develop new partnering strategies for growing your business
• Learn how to avoid pitfalls of outsourcing key aspects of your business
• Gain critical insights into key legal, financial, and human capital issues in 2010 that will impact your business

Location: 75 Federal Street, 9th Floor, Boston, MA at the offices of Furman Gregory Deptula

Time: 7:30am Continental Breakfast

Program: 7:45am – 9:00am

RSVP: Rudi Scheiber-Kurtz at 781-929-9125 or scheiberkurtz@nextstagesolutions.com

Sponsored by:

Next Stage Solutions recommends this seminar around financing in these economic difficult times.  It is led by Itamar Chalif, principal of Atlantic Capital Solutions in Middleboro, MA.

His announcement:

Due to the great success and overwhelming requests since my seminar earlier this month, I have decided to present my seminar again on Wednesday February 24, 2010.

It will be kept free one more time in order to allow anyone who wishes to learn about strategic planning and controlling their business’s financing to be able to attend, regardless of their circumstances.

This is an information session in a 2 hour seminar from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

9:00 – 9:20 doors open with coffee & networking

9:20 – 10:30 seminar

10:30 – 10:45 Questions & Answers

10:45 – 11:00 Networking

My seminar is called “What Every Small-Business Owner Should Know About Small-Business Financing,”  will take place at the Middleboro Holiday Inn Express, conveniently located immediately off of Route 495 at exit 6. The address is 43 Harding St Middleboro, MA 02346.

The seminar is geared toward the small-business owner and the professional who serves as a trusted adviser to businesses. Attendees will benefit from learning more about the different type of financing options that exist, their advantages and disadvantages, and how to evaluate a business’s financing strategy.  Topics will include:

·        Business Financing “Landmines” to avoid

·        Differences between consumer and business financing

·        Three vital elements to consider in a business transaction (from a financing point of view)

·        A comparison of financing options and how each may affect the survival/growth potential of a business

“Anyone who is considering financing or has had any questions about the best ways to finance business expansion or equipment should take advantage of this opportunity,” said Chalif, who has spoken before national organizations on this topic.

Atlantic Capital Solutions (ACS) provides specialized, one-to-one servicing in helping business owners and entrepreneurs attain financing. The company works with business owners, controllers, CFOs and other decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and equipment vendors.

ACS’s offerings include the following programs:

·        New and used equipment leasing/financingSmall Business Administration

·        (SBA) options

·        Non SBA solutions for start-up businesses

·        Commercial mortgages

·        Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause

·        (TRAC) leases

·        Lines of credit

·        Working capital loans

·        Business acquisitions

·        Factoring (accounts receivable funding)

Space is limited and interested parties must register by February 19^th.  To register, please do so by e-mail,  itamar@acsus.biz or for additional information call 1-877-ACSUS-14.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Itamar Chalif

Atlantic Capital Solutions