If you love entrepreneurship and supporting our community, don’t miss the final event of year 2 for Boulder’s own Unreasonable Institute – The Unreasonable Climax.

All our 26 entrepreneurs will be presenting for 5 minutes each at the Historic Boulder Theater! Our goal is to pack the Boulder Theater! Attendees are flying in from Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Austin, and even Mumbai! The audience will include venture capitalists both from Boulder and from across the US, a Time Magazine Hero of the Planet, an education pioneer recognized by Barack Obama, and the CEO of Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room. You’ll hear from entrepreneurs recognized by the World Health Organization, contracting with the US Navy, funded by the Indian Government, and partnering with WalMart. We’re biased, but we think this will be the most inspiring 5 hours of your life.

It is actually three great events that you can pick and choose from or be a VIP and go to all three:

• 26 Entrepreneurs giving you the 5 minute story of their social enterprise in the Historic Boulder Theater
• An intimate dinner with all the fellows, mentors and staff at the St. Julian
• A pajama party for VIP supporters, fellows, mentors and staff

What could be more fun and important on your Friday afternoon and evening than this?  (See the details, registrations and discount code for members of the entrepreneurship community below)

I am so fired up about this because, I have been spending my first sabbatical from Rally, as the Entrepreneur in Residence at this summer’s Unreasonable Institute.  From personal experience, I can tell you this is an unreasonable class of fellows who all can impact at least a million people in the world. These social entrepreneurs all have hugely impacting stories that fill your head and heart with the glorius feelings of joy and hope.  In addition, they all have real businesses that are working and they need your help to grow and prosper.  Please forward this to all the employees in your company.

 

Enter “CommunityDiscount” as discount code to get 40% off! - Click here to get signed up!

(please treat this discount code top secret… thanks) 

Hope to see you there – Ryan Martens

 

 

 

 

What a great evening to celebrate a great year for EFCO. We could not do events like this without great sponsors: (BIG THANK YOU)

• Cooley Godward
• Tri-Net
• Square 1 Bank
• KPMG
• Rally Software

Special thanks to Greg Berry from W1sd0M for being our master of ceremonies and to Dan Cuttler – Tri-Net, Mike Platt – Cooley and Ken Fugate-Square 1 Bank for being on the judges panel. With our five new member companies who played the game:

• Stevan Simich – Application Experts
• Ed Messman – Giveo
• Bev Berry – ProtoTest
• Dave Angulo – Spot Influence
• Darren Platt – Symplified

You can catch the photos from the event on our Facebook page and please join us on Facebook.

Our goal for 2010 at EFCO was to expand our reach beyond our roots. To do this we are actively working on two fronts; beyond venture and beyond Boulder. These two recruiting strategies are intended to help us plant the seeds for growth and long-term sustainability. The model changes described in an earlier post will allow us to reach to partnerships and profit centered organizations, as well as equity-backed start-ups. To move beyond Boulder, we are leveraging the Denver and Rose Community Foundations to start actively recruiting in Denver.
I am happy to report these efforts, sustained momentum from 2009 and an improving economy have resulted in adding five new members in the first half of 2010. These members include:
Closely (www.closely.com)

Closely is a new Denver-based start-up lead by Perry Evans of MapQuest and Local Matters. In addition, our own EFCO Board Member, Karyn German is helping lead the company. Closely represents a great potential for EFCO impact in Denver, given Perry and Karyn’s history. Knock-em dead you two!
“Closely joined EFCO because it is a perfect vehicle for instilling social responsibility in a very young company. EFCO provides the infrastructure and resources to make the process of contributing early stage equity as easy and painless as it could possibly be. Also, I had a great experience as the company liaison for EFCO at NewsGator and I can vouch personally for how well Ryan and the board run the organization. I encourage all early stage companies to seriously consider becoming a member company.” Karyn German co-founder Closely
About Closely
Closely formed in 2009 as a small experienced team with deep roots in local media, real-time technology and live content distribution. Closely launched Closely for Business at Demo Spring 2010 and are working with numerous distribution, content and media partners to deliver a comprehensive platform for live local marketing. Visit http://www.closely.com.

Doc Popcorn (www.docpopcorn.com)

Doc Popcorn was founded in 2003 by Rob and Renee Israel to offer healthier snack alternative in shopping malls, stadiums and other high traffic venues. We are thrilled to add such energy to EFCO into Boulder’s Natural Foods space.
“We are thrilled to support EFCo through the donation of an equity grant and employee volunteer efforts,” said Renée Israel, Co-Founder and Chief Marketer of Doc Popcorn. “It’s important to us that we continue to weave corporate responsibility into the fabric of Doc Popcorn. So with our base of operations in Boulder, the epicenter of the natural food industry, it’s great to have the opportunity through EFCo to give back to our local community as our business grows.”
In addition to DocPopcorn’s EFCo grant, Rob and Renee are actively involved in the Boulder Community Foundation and are one of the founding families of School Food project.
About Doc Popcorn
Doc Popcorn is the only fresh-popped all-natural flavored popcorn franchise system. The unique business model empowers franchisees to use the best corn, 100% corn oil and proprietary all-natural flavor blends to provide a healthier and delicious quality product in high traffic selling venues, simply and affordability. With locations throughout Colorado and seven other states, Doc Popcorn began franchising in mid-2009 and now has franchise locations operating across the nation. For more information about Doc Popcorn and available franchise opportunities across the nation, visit www.docpopcorn.com or call 866.599.9744, ext. 4.

ProtoTest (www.prototest.com)

ProtoTest is a 12-year old, Denver-based software testing firm run by Pete Dignan. ProtoTest expands EFCO beyond Boulder County and is joining under the 1% Profit model like Shareholders Representative Services, TechStars, and Foundry Group. We are really proud to add such a well known Colorado, High Technology service firm to EFCO.
Pete Dignan the CEO of ProtoTest said; “We joined the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of Colorado because we believe in the triple-bottom-line approach to business. ProtoTest benefits enormously from being part of a thriving Denver-Boulder area, and it is our responsibility to contribute generously to the well-being of the community.”
About ProtoTest
The ProtoTest mission is to bridge the gap between people and perfection. Since 1998, ProtoTest has helped hundreds of organizations improve their software quality and streamline their processes. The company provides load & performance testing, functional test automation, QA process consulting, and Agile testing project services. ProtoTest also offers training in software testing fundamentals and testing in Agile environments. Visit www.prototest.com for more information.

Giveo (www.giveo.com)

Giveo is a new Boulder-based start-up committed to providing a new solution to social giving. Giveo founder, Ed Messman, is a 13 year veteran of Boulder startups and says, “Giveo is excited to join EFCO. Just as we work to aid corporations in their social responsibility, EFCO has provided us a great opportunity to contribute and give back to the community.”
About Giveo
Giveo offers a white label social software platform for nonprofits, corporations and foundations. Corporations and foundations use the platform to leverage social cause marketing with their consumers and nonprofits use the platform to engage their audience around their mission and for social fundraising.

App-X (www.app-X.com)

App-X joined EFCO because of its belief in giving back to the community. We are currently working with the 1/1/1 model of 1% profit, 1% time and 1% of products/services. In our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment, App-X is diverting at least 50% of its waste from the landfill and has dramatically reduced it’s energy consumption among various other programs. App-X has benefited from the support of the local community in its creation and evolution and is excited to be able to give back to future entrepreneurs. EFCO is about integrity and sustainability for the future of Colorado and we are proud to be a member.
About App-X
App-X delivers on demand solutions for Alternative Asset Managers, Impact Investors and Non-Profit organizations. All products are built on the Salesforce.com Platform. The company acts as a trusted partner to its clients delivering proven products, implementation services and ongoing support to its global clients. App-X is a 2008 TechStars company and was founded in 2006.

Thank you for the great work of our volunteer board these member companies represent an exciting inflection in the growth and sustainability of EFCO and our corporate social responsibility efforts.

Brad Feld handed me the reins of EFCO at the beginning of 2009. When Brad and I co-founded EFCO, Brad said he’d be CEO for two years and then it would be my turn to guide the 100% volunteer board to the next level. In reflection, it has been a great year that focused mainly on expanding our team for expansion in 2010 and 2011. We did three things of note in 2009:

• grew our board,
• grew our membership, and
• celebrated our success,

Before I reflect on the accomplishments of 2009, I want to really thank Brad for his great work as CEO over the past two years. If you do not know Brad, he has many gifts, one of which is ability to reshape and re-conceive version 2 of the things he is passionate about. Shaping a culture of giving in the next generation of business and community leaders is certainly one of those areas of passion for Brad.
In 2006, Brad came to me wanting to help reshape a program that Mike Platt, Rally’s lawyer from Cooley and a good friend, and I created in 2003 at the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. This 1% club as we called it, was centered on donating 1% of equity of start-ups to your local community. This early giving model was based on an overall concept being promoted by Salesforce.com. What Brad did was help reshape the 1% Club into version 2 by simplifying the model and getting affiliated with an International effort know as the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation.

Grew our Board
We started in 2007, with five companies and volunteer board of 7. In 2009, we thanked Kyle Leffkoff, Tim Connor and JB Holston for their board service and welcomed Kirk Holland, Seth Levine, Frank Amaroso, Tom Keller and Ken Fugate onto the board. Chris Barge from the Community Foundation also stepped up to help our efforts. If it was not for these volunteers we would not be recruiting or coordinating great volunteering events. Thank you folks!

Grew the Membership
In 2009, we added 6 new companies to our membership including:

• Ping Gadget – see blog post on Ping Gadget joining EFCO
• miRagen Therapeutics – see blog post on miRagen joining EFCO
• DataVail – lead by Mike Jones
• Ignighter – TechStars graduate lead by Adam Sachs
• Gnip lead by Eric Marcoullier and Jud Valeski
• Next Big Sound – a TechStars graduate lead by Alex White, David Hoffman and Samir Rayani

There are couple of things to note about this group of recruits. Ignighter and Next Big Sound continue to add to the constant flow of companies from the TechStars program and miRagen represents our first bio-tech industry member. These members provide early equity to EFCO, but they also provide volunteers for local community efforts like iVolunteer day.
Contact me or other board members to find out more about EFCO and how to join.

BOULDER, CO. – November 6, 2009 – PingGadget today announced that it has joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to support philanthropic efforts throughout the community. EFCO allows startup companies to donate a fraction of their equity to Boulder’s Community Foundation during initial stages of liquidity.
While they may want to directly support charities, most startups are not in a financial position to do so. Through EFCO, entrepreneurs can focus on building their business while meeting their philanthropic goals.
“Boulder is a thriving space for social media technology and we are thrilled to be a part of this supportive community. Through EFCO we are able to establish a culture of giving back and allowing the community to share in our success,” said Dennis Moulton, co-founder of PingGadget. “EFCO is dedicated to the long term health and sustainability of Colorado and we want to lend support to that goal.”
Donations from EFCO to the Community Foundation are channeled to various non-profit organizations throughout Colorado, allowing EFCO to focus on working with entrepreneurs to help them meet their philanthropic objectives. Contributing companies simply select a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest. EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.
“Working with various local initiatives through the Community Foundation, EFCO allows entrepreneurs to support a range of causes from education to the environment,” said Tom Keller, one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “PingGadget’s support helps us to achieve the critical mass of equity donations we need to truly make a difference in our community.”
For additional information about PingGadget, contact Dennis Moulton at dennis@pinggadget.com or visit www.pinggadget.com.
About PingGadget
PingGadget is a next generation microblogging service. The web-based service allows users to connect and converse in real-time with people and the things they care about. The PingGadget service will be available in January 2010. Go to www.pinggadget.com to pre-register.

If you missed the 2009 EFCO Recruiting Event, you can read about the event and view some videos from the event at:
Rocky Radar
Colorado Startups Video from David Cohen
We could not have had such a great event without our sponsors including:

Boulder Ventures, Cooley Godward-Kronish,LLP, Ground Floor Media, Hogan and Hartson, Kendall, Koenig & Oelsner, Rally Software, Quist Valuations, Salesforce.com Foundation, Square1 Bank and TechStars Investors.

Thank you all for your involvement, support and attendance.

Congratulations to my friends at Rally Software for being awarded the Affiliate Company of the Year by Entrepreneurs Foundation.  This is a national honor and recognizes the excellent work that Ryan Martens and the team at Rally Software have done to support philanthropy and the Entrepreneurs Foundation concept.

BOULDER, Colo.–Filtrbox today announced that it has joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to support philanthropic efforts throughout the community. EFCO allows startup companies to donate a fraction of their equity to Boulder’s Community Foundation during initial stages of liquidity.

While they may want to directly support charities, most startups are not in a financial position to do so. Through EFCO, entrepreneurs can focus on building their business while meeting their philanthropic goals.

"Boulder is a very supportive community in which to start a company and EFCO gives us a great opportunity to give back through sharing our success," said Ari Newman, co-founder and President of Filtrbox.  "EFCO also enables us to demonstrate our commitment to corporate responsibility and community support."

Donations from EFCO to the Community Foundation are channeled to various non-profit organizations throughout Colorado, allowing EFCO to focus on working with entrepreneurs to help them meet their philanthropic objectives. Contributing companies simply select a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest. EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.

“Working with various local initiatives through the Community Foundation, EFCO allows entrepreneurs to support a range of causes from education to the environment,” said Brad Feld, Foundry Group managing director and one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “Filtrbox’s support helps us to achieve the critical mass of equity donations we need to truly make a difference in our community.”

About Filtrbox

Filtrbox provides timely market intelligence for discerning professionals.  Powerful persistent search technology allows you to monitor your brand, your online reputation and obtain proactive market intelligence without the noise.  The web-based service seamlessly integrates into your daily information digest increasing productivity and delivering the information you need to run your business.  Thousands of global users rely on Filtrbox daily to gain a competitive edge.  Go to www.filtrbox.com for your free trial and find what you’re looking for within minutes.

Following the Friendship Fun Run for Intercambio and KGNU, a team of folks from six of the EFCO companies gathered at Rally for a two hour Strategic Planning session.
Using Rally’s Agile coaches, Ronica, Rachel, Hubert and Tamara, the teams broke up into four groups to help the Intercambio team and board test their thinking with regards to the national expansion plans. The groups topics included:

• The Worst Case Scenario – What if we can only raise $200,000?
• The Wild Upside Case – What we do if we were able to raise double?
• Targeting our Partners – How do we prioritize the new geographies and affiliates?
• What is the best way to share and protect our assets – The intercambio way and database?

Given these topics groups worked through collaborative exercises to expand and challenge their thinking. Finally, they worked to converge on recommendations to move forward with in each area. In my opinion, it was amazing fast and effective session to meld these diverse groups and share insights from our local business teams with this amazing non-profit. And, as a result of the effort, there is now an on-going, skills based volunteering team, that is helping Intercambio re-host its community management database into a more effective model using the non-profit, free-edition, of Salesforce.com. It was all I could have hoped for in our first event.
Thank you to all the teams that participated during the day including members from:

• Rally Software – Winner of the over 10% Participation Award
• Symplified – Winner of the over 10% Participation Award
• Tech Stars
• Foundry Group
• NewsGator
• Salesforce.com
• FilterBox

Thank you Mike Platt from Cooley, Godward & Kronish LLP and Bill Roberts from Hogan & Hartson LLP. We would not have have felt comfortable taking the leap without your help!

By Jonathan Weber , 8-13-08 on the New West Blog.

Start-up companies aren’t usually in a position to spend money on philanthropy, and New West is no exception. Happily, though, one of our investors, Boulder-based venture capitalist Brad Feld, has helped develop an innovative new way for companies like ours to get involved in community philanthropy even at an early stage. I’m delighted to announce today our membership in the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, which is affiliated with the national Entrepreneurs Foundation.

The concept is simple: entrepreneurial companies donate shares equal to about one percent of their equity to the Foundation. If the company is successful, those shares will have significant value and the Foundation will thus share in the success. Companies can designate preferred beneficiaries of the shares, and we’ve chosen the Missoula Community Foundation and the Idaho Community Foundation. We can’t of course make any guarantees, but we hope our involvement with the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado will eventually translate into meaningful support for these organizations.
Our thanks to Brad and everyone involved with the Entrepreneurs Foundation for their creativity and commitment in developing this concept. And please be in touch if you’re interested in getting involved.