Corporate Governance: What It Means for the Average Exec

FountainBlue's November 17 Connections Event was on the Topic of Corporate Governance: What It Means for the Average Exec Corporate Governance is at the center of all investors' minds as decision-makers for companies of all sizes are charged with mitigating the risk of high-profile business failures, such as Enron and WorldCom. In order to reinforce investment confidence and protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosure, executives today are adopting Sarbanes-Oxley compliance standards, proactively managing board communications, and, in general, building corporate infrastructure and processes to automate reporting and accounting practices.

This Month's Facilitator was Richard Brenner, CEO of The Brenner Group, http://www.thebrennergroup.com/services/corpgov.html, and chairman of the audit committee for the fastest growing bank in the United States. Rich helps small and mid-market public and emerging private companies proactively plan for corporate governance practices, but also assists in harnessing the positive impact of financial reporting and disclosure activities throughout the organization. Rich facilitated a prestigious panel who will share their knowledge and insights on proactively developing and managing corporate governance plans. Mark Leahy, Partner, Fenwick & West Leinani Nakamura, Partner, Mohler Nixon Tom Sa, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Bridge Bank

Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice for your reference, drawn on the wisdom of our facilitators and each of you as participants. With the recent corporate scandals, there is a public outcry against the behavior of coporate executives There was a similar outcry against the behavior of the banking industry in the 80s, and federal mandates helped to reform that industry. The Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance requirements might do the same for corporate America, and may be worth the administrative and financial burden for complying with these requirements.

Boards are more involved as the duty of loyalty and the duty of care (to meet frequently, to understand the issues) is enforced through SOX.

With more involvement and participation and ownership from leadership, the 'tone at the top' may be better, with higher integrity, better accountability, better communications, better transparency, etc.,

The requirement for independent auditors and an audit committee helped ensure better run companies with better internal controls, cleaner partnerships with independent auditors, more proactive ownership of issues, earlier notifications of problems, earlier preparation

The code of conduct for CEOs, CFOs, Directors and Staff has helped ensure clear guidelines for behavior and encouraged consequences for breaches in conduct

The disclosure requirements encourage transparency of communication, proactive management, etc.,

The certification requirements encourages planning, process, validation, etc.,

Companies are encouraged to take some early steps to prepare for 404 Compliance, prior to the start of the documentation and testing process, even before they become public.

However, there are tremendous time, money and loss-of-opportunity costs for complying to these standards above

As a result there are fewer finance professionals, particulary at the senior level, just at a time when we need them more

As a result, fewer companies are deciding to go public, and more are going through M&A exits

As a result, CEOs in smaller public companies are opting to merge with another company rather than accepting the legal, fudiciary and other requirements demanded for senior executives.

As a result, companies may choose _not_ to go public due to the additional SOX requirements.For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

Funding Options for High Tech Entrepreneurs

FountainBlue was pleased to host a High Tech Entrepreneurs' Forum on Alternative Funding Options for High Tech Entrepreneurs on Monday, November 13, 2006. Featured panelists included Dirk Michels, Partner, KLN&G; Jake Schwarz, Partner, KLN&G; and Ed Lambert, Senior VP, Bridge Bank.

Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice for early stage, pre-Series A, seed funding, drawn on the wisdom of our facilitators and each of you as participants.

• There is a lot of venture money right now, but in general entrepreneurs need to have a beta test, prototype or product launch in order to be fundable.
• To achieve the beta test, prototype, product launch phase, entrepreneurs need a first level of funding. Alternative funding options include: Credit Cards, Friends & Family, Home Equity Loans, SBA Loans, Purchase Order Financing
• If your company survives that level, the next lefl of financing includes: Grants, Forums, Contests
• At all times, encourage organic growth and bootstrapping to continue to grow the business. Not only will your successes in organic growth and bootstrapping successes look good for your fundraising efforts, your very successful efforts might even overcome the need to raise money
• One option for raising money is through customer orders. If choosing this option: 1) Make sure that you don't become a contract engineering firm rather than a product development and distribution firm (e.g. don't let the customers get in the way of delivering your business objectives), 2) Protect your IP
• Leverage your connections and previous successes. Your track record and connections will increase your likelihood of getting funding.
• When you're ready to seek outside funding from angels and other sources, have a concise executive summary: See Bill Joos' (previously from Garage.com) Nine Points on creating a compelling summary

http://www.brendonwilson.com/projects/the-art-of-the-start/the-art-of-positioning-and-presenting/ or Visit http://www.svase.org/index.php?option=com_elist&Itemid=249 and select the 10-slide PowerPoint slide template, courtesy of SVASE

For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

Fostering Women Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

FountainBlue is pleased to produce a When She Speaks session on Fostering Women Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries featuring facilitator Linda Alepin, head of the Global Women's Leadership Network, panelist Remi Matsumoto, Founder and President of the Hina Coral Restoration Network and panelist Praveena Varadarajan, Director of Engineering at Sun Microsystems.

Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice for your reference, drawn on the wisdom of our facilitators and each of you as participants.

We in Silicon Valley are sheltered from the realities of the difficulties of others in developing countries

• Men and women from around the world life for under $2 a day
• There is a gender gap in entrepreneurship, over 1 in three entrepreneurs are women. Visit http://www.genconsortium.org for more information
• Women entrepreneurs are more likely to share their wealth and experience with their families and larger community.
• Where women are empowered, the country's general economy benefits

Companies and leaders benefit from fostering entrepreneurship

• It builds a larger target market
• It encourages partnerships
• It stimulates and rewards results-oriented entrepreneurial thinking
• It encourages and supports innovative thinking

As leaders, we need to foster entrepreneurship

• Encourage hard-working, committed, resolved and focused entrepreneurs - the drive is imperative to success
• Expose potential entrepreneurs to hear great leaders speak. This can spark a vision, drive, and the entrepreneurial spirit and also help budding leaders to build connections.
• Encourage respectful debate - it stimulates critical and innovative thinking and building of bonds and connections between like-minded people
• Provide support structures and educational opportunities
• Work with technology organizations to encourage providing technology solutions to entrepreneurs around the world
• Encourage compassionate dialogue between countries, organizations, leaders, to develop empowering, collaborative, win-win solutions in support of successful entrepreneurial ventures, providing tangible results
• Encourage the creation of social treaties, alongside the political treaties
• Look for opportunities to encourage more women participation in entrepreneurial ventures
• Encourage the sharing of women's stories; leverage technologies for easy distribution of these compelling stories

Take Action

• Social entrepreneurship - innovative solutions for one of society's pressing problems coupled with action. Includes a model, an approach, a strategy for proliferation.
• Identify the many groups in the region and in the world support the cause of women entrepreneurship:
• Global Women Leadership Network: Whole Woman, Whole Leader, Whole World, http://www.gwln.org
• One World Children's Fund, http://www.owcf.org/
• Global Fund for Women http://www.globalfundforwomen.org
• Anita Borg Institute http://www.anitaborg.org/index.php
• E-mail us at info@FountainBlue.biz if you would like to join us in an ongoing effort to collaborate between technology companies in Silicon Valley in support of fostering women entrepreneurship in developing countries

For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

Outsourcing Challenges and Solutions

Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice on Outsourcing Challenges and Solutions, provided by the facilitators and the audience in general at our event on October 20, 2006.

Comments from facilitator Dave Gardner, Founder and Principal of Gardner & Associates Consulting, DGardner@Gardnerandassoc.com:

At the edges, outsourcing relates to the ever present dilemma of "make or buy"—should a company do something itself or find another company to do it for them. For years and years, American companies have outsourced. Why? It simply didn’t make sense to "do everything yourself" or "vertically integrate" as it was once described. What’s changed during the past generation? Today, we not only outsource tangible goods but also intangible items such as information technology management, software development, product development, etc.

At one point in our economy, we talked about a company having "core competencies"—those things perceived as their value-add in the market place—those elements that you could never remove without ruining a company’s value proposition.

Today, we are finding that we can establish outsourcing "core competencies" heretofore considered unthinkable.

• Entrepreneurs no longer have to hire a staff of engineers to commercialize their innovations.
• Companies that design products do not have to manufacture them
• We have fabless semiconductor companies
• We no longer simply have to outsource the manufacturing of key components and sub-assemblies—we can go to turn-key outsource manufacturers who can drop ship complex capital goods directly to customers
• Need a software application but don’t want to spend a fortune? Outsource it!

The U.S. competes in the global economy for both market share and capital. Investors want to know what a company is going to do with their capital to create a return-on-investment.

If a start-up company commits to outsourcing from the outset:

• This strategy reduces the risk to investors and improves ROI
• Makes a company more agile
• Allows company to focus on those things it does best and avoid the things it doesn’t want to do
• The company doesn’t expend nearly as much capital on plant, equipment, inventory, people, employee benefits—the outsource company does that

Conversely, many companies are looking to migrate to an outsourcing as a way to reduce costs and improve their capital utilization. Outsourcing can be employed by start-ups as well as established companies. We’ve assembled a panel of experts who’ve "been there/done that" to give us insights about how to successfully outsource manufacturing, information technology, software development, product development and what you need to do to have legal agreements in place that protect you, your company and your intellectual property.

Manufacturing/Supply Chain, Comments from Dave Gardner with reflections from Lila Dormishian, Director of Global Supply Chain Management, Lam Research

This past month, a study produced by the National Institute of Manufacturers stated that U.S. manufacturers now suffer a 31.7% cost disadvantage—the equivalent of $6 per hour worked—over other countries including Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Germany, U.K, South Korea, Taiwan and France.

The overall calculation takes into account corporate tax rates, employee benefits, tort costs, natural gas prices, and spending on pollution abatement.

Advice and Comments from Lila:

Be strategic about your outsourcing decisions:

• Consider your core competencies and bring those competencies in-house. Don't outsource them. Does outsourcing help you focus on your core competency?
• Consider materials sourcing for your short term and long-term needs. Where is the best place and who is and will be the best providers
• Leveraged model for volume purchase, sourcing, and manufacturing capability
• Efficiency of operations if DF is used
• Does it improve your ability to sell in the region (PRC local content mandate)?
• Does it bring you closer to customer base

Consider the Risks

• §Communication
• §IP infringement Risk
• Adequate top level management skills
• Engineering change management
• Systems/Tools
• Quality control
• Capacity management control
• Social and Political factors

Consider long-term and short-term costs for your outsourcing decisions.

• Cost reduction for high volume manufacturing
• Cost reduction if localized material is used
• Lead time and inventory increase (based on FOB terms)
• Transportation costs and delays
• Weigh in the infrastructure setup and maintenance for any outsourcing relationship and ensure that the value outweighs the costs in time and money and resources.

Information Technology Comments from Dave Gardner with reflections from Usha Sekar, CEO of CriaTech, usha@sekars.com

Is outsourcing IT overseas past its prime? According to a new survey, some think it is. Consider this:

• Two years ago, 84 percent of the respondents to a Global IT Outsourcing Study sponsored by a Chicago-based consulting firm said they planned to increase their level of offshore outsourcing.
• In October 2006, that figure fell to 64 percent.
• Meanwhile, 47 percent of respondents said they "abnormally" ended at least one outsourcing deal in the past 12 months—up from 21 percent in 2004.

There are several reasons why the bloom is coming off the outsourcing rose-- the largest factor is cost. The claim is, "New tools are making it easier to manage and measure projects in-house, so many firms are realizing that it's actually less expensive to bring certain IT functions back."
Meanwhile, companies have learned that getting outsourcers to deliver to specifications requires far more oversight and management than they bargained for. And then, of course, there's the security issue. All these factors, the study claims, make outsourcing IT overseas "grossly inefficient."

Usha's Thoughts and Advice:

• Companies in general are more comfortable with outsourcing in general and outsourcing to countries like India for example.
• There has been a history of success working with outsourcing companies.
• In addition, there is a trend for Indian entrepreneurs and executives to return to their native India and providing development and support services there. These outsourced services are attractive to corporate executives in Silicon Valley for example because the former-Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and executives in those companies better understand the corporate and cultural expectations for Silicon Valley technology companies.
• Be strategic about your outsourcing investment
• Similar remarks to Lila's comments about long-term and short-term needs for the company.
• Identify the best of breed for your outsourcing needs.
• Accept that there might be a drop-off in service in the second and third year of an outsourcing relationship and plan around that/anticipate it.
• Understand what needs to be outsourced, why it needs to be outsourced. What needs to be done in-house - e.g. a company's core competencies and why it needs to remain in house. Then plan accordingly.

Legal Advice around Outsourcing: Stephen Gillespie, Partner, Intellectual Property Group at Fenwick & West, Sgillespie@fenwick.com

Stephen's Thoughts and Advice:

• Provide detailed and specific descriptions, deliverables, milestones and consequences prior to an engagement.
• Manage the relationship based on those agreements
• Consider consequences for cost overruns. Be specific about budgets and caps.
• Be clear on IP ownership agreements prior to project engagement
• Everyone involved should have an NDA signed and a release form
• Be clear about who should have access to your data, and involvement on your project.

Product Development/Software Development Comments from Dave Gardner with reflections from Yogen Upadhye, Omnivant, yogen@omnivant.com

Yogen's Comments and Advice:

• For IT services or Business Processes in general, the industry has learned about many hidden costs in terms of continuous oversight of the process and the controls needed to enforce agreed SLAs. Therefore, after factoring the company's own compliance and oversight costs and costs of onsite vendor resources needed for success, savings are significantly less than what was/is touted by vendors. Again, the savings depend on the type of engagement model actually being used and the skills and location mixes involved.
• Consider the business and technical risks when making outsourcing decisions, such as Loss of IP. Unless proper controls are put in place and thoroughly tested first, losing customers due to perceived lack of quality of service or product is a very real possibility. Litigation and consequences of a less than ideal break in relationship with an outsourcing partner if such a break is desired. Other risks include information security, unclear communications due to cultural and other differences, etc., Even if business continuity plans are in place, managers should check whether the plans are sustainable, scalable and easy to implement.
• When managing technology risks, consider the architecture, design, quality and maintainability of final product. Understand the software development process and its limitations and opportunities and gauge the expertise level and process maturity of the vendor's team.
  Formal communication and formal documentation are critical factors to success. Over-communicate to begin with and then pull back as both parties learn what's the optimal level. Be prepared for initial setbacks. It will get better over time.
• Have well defined and agreed SLAs and Acceptance Criteria at different points throughout the delivery process - not just the final point. Have controls to monitor them and remediation process defined.
• Don't put all eggs in one basket and have a good plan to pull back gracefully with minimal impact on your operations.

For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

Preparing Your Company for Outside Investors

As entrepreneurs advance past the idea stage, and into the friends-and-family funding stage, questions arise about how and whether to prepare for outside investors. On October 16, 2006, FountainBlue convened a life science entrepreneurs' roundtable to cover that question.

Our facilitators were Ken Macrae, senior executive for a series of small and large lifescience corporations, Geetha Rao, former CEO of Norgren Systems and partnerwith venture catalyst, AuxoGlobal http://www.AuxoGlobal.com, and SergioGarcia, Life Science Co-Chair for Fenwick & West http://www.fenwick.com/attorneys/4.2.1.asp?aid=617. Ken, Geetha and Sergio shared their extensive experience working with life sciencee ntrepreneurs and companies in preparing them for outside funding. The discussion at the meeting focused on what entrepreneurs need to do to optimize your chances of being successfulin closing the next round.

Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice on Preparing Your Company for Outside Investors provided by the facilitators and the audience in general.

Know and Articulate Your Message and Strategy: Think through your business plan

• What do you do for whom, value proposition over competition? Etc.,
• What is your exit strategy and how will it affect the different threads of development?
• Create documents which concisely and compellingly communicate what you do
• Envision, describe the value of your organization; Present a picture of real success for your business in concrete terms

The importance of team

• It's inadvisable to hire senior people who are friends too early in the company development. It can lead to unnecessary growth pains as you grow, cause barriers to growth, and damage a relationship
• Hire experienced executives for your team, board, scientific advisory board, etc., Proven people will not only draw on their experience as they plan and execute, but will also have the connections to the right people to get the stakeholder support you need, be it in funding, in customer sales, in partnerships, in getting new board/team members, etc.,

Validate your business, your plan and your market

• Validate your business with your plan - market size, product/IP, team, etc.,
• Customer validations are important. Even if they are only non-paying beta users, from customers, you can get testimonials, feedback, data, suggestions for improvement, QA support, etc.,

Create an operational plan: Bridge the overall business plan and the operational plan -

• What is the process and timeframe for getting from where you are to where you would like to be for: Team building, market penetration, patent/IP protection, board/leadership development, etc.,?
• How will the individual strands be intertwined?
• What are the implications for your funding, product delivery, team-building needs?
• This will show investors how, when, why, where their money will be leveraged with what anticipated results

Why are investors charging a premium for investment in life science companies?

• It generally takes a longer development time to reap benefits of an investment, due to longer development cycles, heavily and more rigidly enforced regulation, etc., (Average time to get a patent is about 14 years.)
• There are fewer life science entrepreneurs as many of them have post-graduate degrees and deep experience in research (for example).

Other Topics Covered

• Employment in Life Science Companies
• This is a good time for experienced, credentialed entrepreneurs to seek positions in early-stage companies where they can make a big impact. Be passionate, stay the course.

For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

It Takes a Village: The Case for Collaborative Leadership

The 'It Takes a Village' concept of successful, cross-cultural, cross-role, cross-functional support of critical societal and business issues are a fundamental requirement for making sustainable progress and changes. This month's 'When She Speaks' event will profile women who have successfully taken a stand on a key issue of critical importance, coalesced a following around the initiative, and forged ahead in making real changes for people in need.

Our facilitators and panelists for this event included:

• Rosemary Straley National Coordinator of the HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON SUPPORT NETWORK
• Facilitator Katharine Fong, Deputy Managing Editor for the San Jose Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com
• Panelist Patricia Burbank, psychologist, community activist and co-founder of One World Children's Fund http://www.owcf.org/
• Panelist Dyan Chan, partner at communication and community relations consulting firm Lighthouse Blue http://www.lighthouseblue.com
• Panelist Mona Hudak is the Women’s Action Network and Diversity Program Manager for Cisco Systems http://www.cisco.com/

Below are comments from the facilitators as well as input from the attendees for the October 13, 2006 event.

Qualities of Collaborative Leadership

• Engagement and Empowerment, Belief in a common mission.
• Open you mind to perspectives different than your own
• Be part of the village - help others, seek help yourself; Grow your village
• Engage people of diverse talents and perspectives; Draw out the best in others, be around people who bring out the best in you
• Develop Shared Values and Shared interest in getting common results
• Consensus/Collective voices heard
• Rally people to a common cause
• Relationships with Trust, Honor and Integrity, Loyalty. These are not negotiable.
• Direct, clear, honest, open communications
• Humility
• Let the best ideas win, not just your idea - Park your ego for the greater good!
• Avoid having your ego too closely tied to your position
• Continuous Improvement
• Be better tomorrow than today
• Recognize that there will be a time when you don't have to compete with yourself
• A measure of success is whether the problems you're solving today are the same problems as yesterday

Be a Collaborative Leader!

• Seek Leadership Opportunities
• Share your stories. Listen to the stories of others.
• Involve others in decision-making.
• Get along first. Nobody will go along if they don't get along!
• Provide consistent, gentle, persistent nudges in the right direction
• Build a community of support, encouragement and engagement to a common purpose

Obstacles to Collaboration

• What they say (be collaborative) is not what we get rewarded for (individual performance)
• It takes time to create successful relationships
• The foundation of every collaborative effort are deep relationships based on trust and openness, focused on common values and common goals

For more information, visit http://www.FountainBlue.biz.

Networking for Entrepreneurs

FountainBlue conducted a Special Workshop on Networking for Entrepreneurs, which addressed one of the greatest challenges of any successful new venture: meeting the right people and developing relationships and partnerships with those people.

Sometimes the difference between a successful venture and one not so successful is who you know! Entrepreneurs, particularly those who would prefer the comfort of coding and managing in front of a computer screen, and those who don't have connections here, and/or are not yet integrated into the Silicon Valley culture, need to proactively manage their networking activities to ensure the ongoing success of their organizations. Below is a Summary of Notes and Advice provided by Linda Holroyd, the event facilitator and everyone in attendance.

Working Definition: Networking is: An Active process of building and managing productive relationships with all of your contacts (Professor Wayne E. Baker from his Networking Smart Book)

Networking for Entrepreneurs can lead to

• Better Traction for Your Business
• Greater Likelihood of Attracting Leaders, Sponsors, Advocates, Customers

The Art of Networking:

• Everyone has his own style
• Reasons for a successful connection vary depending on who you’re working with
• Random chance is a factor
• Sometimes you find your connections in the strangest places!

The Science of Networking:

• Understanding your objectives and developing a plan will increase your probability of success
• The more you build your network, the more likely your network will continue to grow
• The larger your network, the more likely you can leverage it to serve your needs, and that of others in your network
• The better you plan and prepare, the more likely you are to succeed

Why is Networking with Executives More Important Now?

• Resources are Scarce
  Access is Limited
  Credibility is in Question
  Difficult to Build Relationships at the Senior Executive Level
  Rapid Technology Advancement
  Fast-Paced Work Environment

Networking Tip: Know Your Objectives

• What is your networking objective?
• Why is this the most important challenge right now?
• What are some past successes and challenges?
• Who would be some strategic partners for you?
• What are some metrics for success and their timeframe?

Networking Tips:

• Your Reputation Matters: Be professional, Be courteous and gracious, Be thankful, Be helpful
• Develop a Strategy and a Plan: What would you like to happen? How will you leverage your partners? How will you present your challenges and opportunities in the most attractive way? What individuals or organizations do you need to connect to and what is your plan for getting the introduction?
• Follow Through: Plan your work, Work your plan, Be prepared to take advantage of serendipity
• Build on Successes: Networking is for life, not just for the objective you set for today
• It’s Not All About You: Just as important as what’s in it for you is what’s in it for the other party

Tactics generated by the group:

Conversation Starters - Suggestions for breaking the ice and join a discussion comfortably and professionally

• Focus on the event theme/partner/sponsoring organization: What brings you here? How long have you been a member?
• Compliment
• Direct introduction
• Ask a third party to introduce you
• Ask questions about the other person or get them talking in other ways
• Offer a business card early
• Start conversation on news of the day
• When entering into an existing conversation: Ask questions about the topic, Listen and then respond with a relevant comment, Ask if you can join, Offer and ask for business cards

Linda's Bottom Line:

• Focus first on the other person. The more you get them talking, the more interesting they think you are.
• Focus second on what kind of connection or information could help the other person.
• Then focus third on how developing a relationship with this person can help you.

Elevator Pitch Topics - Suggestions for communicating your value-add passionately and flexibly to a wide range of audiences

• Practice, but sound natural
• Be concise and short
• Be memorable
• Tell people what you do, what you want, what you're looking for
• Make it relevant

Linda's Bottom Line:

Follow this suggested format to make a 2 minute, 30 second and 10 second introduction
For _____ (target customer)
Who ____ (the need or opportunity)
The _____ (your product or service)
Is a _______ (product/service category)
That ____________ (statement of key benefits or compelling reason to buy)
Unlike __________ (primary competitive advantage)
Our service _________ (your key differentiator)

• Frame your introduction to the needs of your audience and their needs
• It's best to hear what the other person does first so that you can frame the discussion and focus on them.

Rapport Building Ideas - Suggestions on how to build deep relationships

• Listen
• Identify common interests
• Sincerity
• Empathy
• Be knowledgable
• Be helpful
• Say what you'll do; do what you say
• Make connections to others in your network
• Maintain your professional reputation
• Communicate your value-add well (see elevator pitch)

Linda's Bottom Line:

• It's all about relationships. The business strategy, technology, operations, everything else is secondary. Act accordingly.
• When you network, decide early how deep a relationship you would like to have with each person, but don't cast it in stone. I have five layers of relationships I develop. Your strategy on relationship-building from follow that objective.
• Nobody's perfect, if you've botched a relationship, work to repair it. If you relegated someone earlier as a superficial relationship and they turn out to be someone different in a positive way, you always have the opportunity to deepen the relationship.
• Never burn bridges.

Disengaging Professionally - Suggestions for disengaging a discussion during an event

• Diversion
• Focus on doing one thing for the other person
• Summarize the conversation
• Say that you'll follow up (and do so if you say you will!)
• Address their immediate needs

Linda's Bottom Line:

• During networking events, people generally expect to 'circulate'. Don't feel bad when you need to do that.
• Always be professional and respectful. The other person may not be someone you want in your network now, but people change.

Following Up - Suggestions on how to efficiently and effectively follow up

• This is rapport, part 2
• Follow up quickly and effectively; using templates help
• Most people don't follow up. You stand out when you do, and you're more likely to get a positive response even months later if you follow up immediately following an event
• Creating marketing materials like web site, blog, etc., will help you efficiently follow up

Linda's Bottom Line:

• Always follow up, unless you consciously choose not to
• Prepare your materials ahead of time to ensure efficient follow-up

For comments and follow-up, visit
http://rainmakerslive.nusea.org/2006/10/23/fountainblue-networking-workshop/.