If you’re a venture-backed founder or company leader, EntreFEST is for you.
Here are four reasons you should attend EntreFEST in Iowa City June 8 and 9:
Options: EntreFEST has a huge variety of sessions to choose from. I propose some below that might fit best for our portfolio companies to consider, but there are many others that may be of interest, too. Pick whatever strikes your fancy!
Perspective: It’s an opportunity to step back from the grind and think about building your business and how to grow as a leader. You’re priming your brain with ideas from super smart people who are going to challenge your thinking.
Connection: Post-COVID, the ability to meet other founders and smart people, in-person, over a drink or lunch can build connections that last a lifetime.
Springtime: It’s Iowa City. In June. It’s always gorgeous.
Tickets are available here. If you’re an ISAV portfolio company or an Iowa Startup Accelerator company and you need help with tickets, hotels, or transportation, reach out.
Sample Itinerary
I’ve put together a sample of an itinerary for a typical ISAV portfolio company leader, but check out the whole agenda, as there are many fascinating topics in addition to these to choose from!
Check the Whova app (recommended!) or the EntreFEST website for precise details, locations, and times.
Wednesday
5PM
Check in, grab your badge and swag bag at MERGE.
6PM
EntreFEST Kickoff Party!
If you get in the day before, get things rolling with a free drink, thanks to BrownWinick, and listen to Big Grove Brewery co-founder Matt Swift talk about his entrepreneurial journey. Big Grove has grown tremendously in the past decade, with taprooms in Iowa City, Des Moines, Solon, and soon in Cedar Rapids (yay!).
Thursday
8AM
Seize the day. Get up a bit early. Grab a coffee and breakfast at Java House on Washington Street. Eat it outside in the sunshine because you can. Then take a walk through the pedestrian mall or campus before the hustle and bustle of the event begins. If you haven’t already, head over to MERGE to grab your badge.
– OR –
SIGNUP REQUIRED: Breakfast w/ Jason Tanner. (See below)
If you’re an Iowa Startup Accelerator or ISAV portfolio company leader, and you’d like to grab breakfast with Jason, email Carly Williams (carly@isaventures.com) to reserve your spot. Limited to the first 8 who sign up.
9:15
Iowa’s Debi Durham will be interviewed for NewBoCo’s Iowa Innovation podcast.
As many of you know, Debi is Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and has the best perspective on where Iowa’s business community is headed and how she’s working to make Iowa the best place to start and grow a business.
11:00
Equity Compensation – Basics of Granting Options, Stock, and other Equity Compensation - Bill Daly and Jonathan Landon of Shuttleworth & Ingersoll
Stock options: Don’t $%^& it up. Many startup founders see the opportunity to align employees with the company’s goals by providing stock options or grants. But this is not something to take lightly: every decision you make needs to be done properly or you (or your employees) can face tax issues or cleanup that are painful and embarrassing later on. Daly and Landon will give you some practical guidance to get it right the first time.
Lunch hour
Take that gift card we’ll give you at registration, and pick your favorite restaurant. There are dozens to choose from, consider Basta (about two blocks away) or Oasis Falafel (a couple of blocks further away). Grab a (new?) friend, and meet there to talk about building your businesses.
1:15
Avoiding Pricing Mistakes – Jason Tanner, CEO of Applied Frameworks and Author of Software Profit Streams.
We talk a lot about validating business models. We don’t talk so much about validating pricing and profitability. Many founders stumble their way through pricing - usually too low! - and settle on a number that “seems about right”. But pricing is perhaps the most critical decision you’ll make that will drive profitability. Jason will walk through the unique opportunities a software company has to optimize pricing, including when to discount (and when not to), using his Profit Stream Canvas.
I’ve known Jason for years. He has worked with dozens of software companies over more than a decade. He has a brilliant perspective I think you’ll enjoy and learn a lot from. In fact, I’d wager that this session alone will be worth your ticket price and time away from your business.
→ ISAV portfolio companies will get a free copy of his book.
2:30
Raising your first round of venture capital - Allison Lechnir, Hyde Park Ventures
For those of you early in your investor relationships, Allison will provide practical perspectives and tips on getting a deal done. Her talk will focus on those of you looking to raise your first round or those in early subsequent rounds (pre-Series A). She can also speak to broader trends in the industry, in particular what it takes to raise capital in Chicago and on the coasts.
– OR –
SaaS Accounting: Tips & Tricks - Amy Heinen, Quick Action Accounting
Many of you work with Amy already, or know of her. She’s going to talk through some of the foibles of SaaS accounting. Maybe that sounds like the least exciting thing to talk about, but it’s not! SaaS companies have unique metrics that a traditional financial statement won’t capture. Getting your books and metrics right are key to:
raising capital successfully (messy books are a deal killer).
being profitable (hard to do if you don’t have things set up correctly from the get-go)
decision-making (that’s you, making mistakes with the wrong info)
5PM-5:30
Venture School Happy (half) Hour
Grab a drink and socialize.
5:30-7PM
Then, stick around for the Venture School pitches if you want to see what’s up and coming from new entrepreneurs.
– OR –
Take a few minutes to relax and recharge, then grab a bite at a nearby restaurant.
7PM
Investor & Founder Happy Hour
Kick back with a nightcap at the investor-founder happy hour, a low pressure, low-key way to meet some great people.
Introverts: This is an easy way for you to meet other founders and investors in an informal way. Just say hello to whoever is standing next to you, or find me and I will introduce you to someone you Need to Know.
Extroverts: Have at it! This is your time to shine! (Help an introvert out, if you can).
Friday
Depending on how late you were out last night:
Wake up early again for breakfast. Head over to Bread Garden next door for a coffee and avocado toast.
Or sleep in a little. BUT DO NOT MISS THE 8:30. TRUST ME.
8:30AM
Stories that Sabotage, Tricia Broderick, Founder of Ignite Insight and Author of Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams
When hiring, we talk a lot about the soft skills that are harder to describe but still crucial for success. That same idea is true for you, as a leader, but no one is teaching them to you. Those subtle soft skills are key to your ability to grow as a leader, as your company grows. But how do you learn them?
Tricia is one of the best leadership coaches in the world; I’ve known her for years. She’s going to talk about the human side of leadership and the ways leaders sabotage their own growth inadvertently - and how you can prevent it. Your ability to grow as a leader will, in turn, be the key to ensuring your teams can grow, too.
→ ISAV portfolio companies will get a free copy of her book. The book focuses heavily on retrospectives, feedback, and how teams communicate honestly with each other to perform better in the future than they do today. And a lot of that is around how you interact with your team and communicate feedback.
10AM
Lots of session options to choose from. One topic I have never heard before at an event like this is Shelly Maharry’s session about tax-savvy charitable giving when you’re selling your company. I know one of the reasons I love entrepreneurship is that a good end-game lets you give back to your community in a way you never would be able to at a typical 9-5 job. Many of you feel the same way. Shelly will talk about how to do so tax-efficiently and for maximum impact. While this might not be something that’s imminent for you to worry about, it’s wonderful that this topic is front and center in our entrepreneurial community for those that are.
11:15
Owen Gerard of investment bank NCP
Owen will talk about planning for your company’s liquidity event - selling your company, in today’s market.
Lunch hour
SIGNUP REQUIRED: Lunch w/ Tricia Broderick.
If you’re an Iowa Startup Accelerator or ISAV portfolio company leader, and you’d like to grab lunch with Tricia, email Carly Williams (carly@isaventures.com) to reserve your spot. Limited to the first 8 who sign up.
– OR –
SIGNUP REQUIRED: Lunch w/ Owen Gerard of NCP
If you’re an Iowa Startup Accelerator or ISAV portfolio company leader, and you’d like to grab lunch with Owen, email Carly Williams (carly@isaventures.com) to reserve your spot. Limited to the first 8 who sign up.
– OR –
Pick your favorite restaurant in downtown Iowa City for a bite.
Fast version: Which Wich. I can’t explain why I like this place so much.
Sit down: Pullman Bar & Diner. Amazing burgers and salads.
1:30PM
Raising Capital Perspective from Founder turned Investor, Michal Eynon-Lynch
Michal is co-founder of two edtech companies, including Pear Deck, which sold in 2020.
There are only so many Iowa founders who’ve raised capital and then successfully sold their companies. Michal is one of them. Pear Deck is just an exceptional success story, but it wasn’t always easy. Michal will talk about how they raised capital, built the company, and led it through to acquisition.
2:45PM
Ending Keynote: Mo Collins, That Was Then, This Is Next
Mo has been around Iowa’s startup ecosystem for a long time. She’ll end the event with an inspiring view of where our region can go next.
Then you can hang out for a bit on a Summer afternoon - there’s almost always live music in the ped mall on Friday nights in the Summer - before heading home for the weekend, brain swirling with everything you’ve learned.
ISAV Retreat
For ISA Ventures Portfolio Companies Only!
Friday night, we’re having a private session talking about Leading through Scale. We’ll have an incredible dinner, and we’re featuring two speakers:
Brad Baldwin
Brad Baldwin, CEO of Aperture and previously COO and then President of MediRevv, a Coralville healthtech and services company that was sold in 2021. Brad was the #2 guy at MediRevv, and his relationship with founder and CEO Chris Klitgaard was a crucial pairing that helped the company grow and ultimately exit. We’ll talk about questions like these:
How does a CEO and President/COO pairing work?
When does a company need a COO?
How did they work together to grow the company?
Who handled what?
How did it help them scale up and ultimately sell the company?
What lessons did Brad learn from that scaleup?
Today, Brad coaches CEOs from that unique vantage point. He’ll also share lessons from working with those CEOs.
Tim Guenther
Tim Guenther, founder and Chairman of Urbana-based Clickstop, easily one of Eastern Iowa’s business success stories and a growth machine. Founded in 2005, Clickstop has grown to hundreds of employees, and has been recognized as one of Inc magazine’s Best Workplaces, and on the Corridor Business Journal’s Fastest Growing, and many others.
We’ll talk about:
How the company’s values informed his leadership style
How his leadership skills and approach grew and changed as the company grew
How he led the company through that extreme growth and some of the key inflection points
How he built a management team that made data-driven decisions
How he decided to step aside as CEO, and what that means for the company’s future
Why he decided to have Clickstop become an ESOP as an exit strategy