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You can use our online membership form to apply for TEN programs and classes.

Testimonials

"TEN is far and away the best entrepreneurial coaching organization I've seen."

Christopher Hawkins, CEO
Bulletproof Linux

Calendar of Events

May 2012
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20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

The Entrepreneurs Network - TEN – To Launch 12th Class of Entrep

No upcoming events available

Membership

Program
Eligibility
Application
Cost
Current Members

Program

"TEN Class XII" is a members-only 4-month program for the best entrepreneurs selected to participate. Interactive sessions include the following comprehensive boot camps:

DATES:

March 8 & 9

AGENDA:

7:30-8:00 am
Networking & Check-in

8:00am-5:00 pm

Two-Day Program

LOCATION:

HTR

150 Lucius Gordon Drive

W Henrietta, NY

14586

TEN BOOT CAMP #1: Entrepreneurship

Writing a Winning Business Plan & Why You Need One
Led by Derby Management

Five stages of growth
• What is a business plan & why do I need one
• How to move from vision - to strategy - to tactics - to action
Financial planning for your venture
• Understanding business & sales models
• Understanding gross margin
• Creating & using metrics & scorecards
• Creating bank & investor-ready financials
• Understanding valuation
The role of sales in your business plan & financials
• Understanding sales optimization
• Hiring the best sales athletes
• Performance metrics & follow up
Venture capital & angel group fundraising
• Rules of the road
• Who are they
• How do they invest
Communicating effective value propositions
• Tying competitive advantage to your customers’ ROI
Creating the perfect presentation pitch

DATES:

April 19 & 20

AGENDA:

7:30-8:00 am
Networking & Check-in

8:00am-5:00 pm

Two-Day Program

LOCATION:

HTR

150 Lucius Gordon Drive

W Henrietta, NY

14586

TEN Boot Camp #2: Building Blocks

Marketing, Finance, Sources of Funding & Leadership

Led by Upstate's Best Business & Technical Experts

Branding – your competitive advantage (Marketing)

· Strategic positioning to raise capital & secure partners, distribution channels, customers, & committed employees

· What is a brand & why brand – fundamental elements

· Best practices in naming, positioning & message development

· The art & science of identifying & marketing a brand

· How brand is critical to business & funding success

Finance

· Library research tools

· Financial statements 101

· Quick & dirty forecasts

· Key concepts & issues

· How sales affects all expenses & determines profitability

· Methods of projecting sales estimates

· Generate best-case/worst-case scenarios

Sources of funding

· Where do I fit in the funding continuum

· “Investable” vs. “Lifestyle” businesses

· Using federal grants to fund R&D (SBIR/STTR)

· Monroe County Business Assistance

· Bank Financing

· City of Rochester Business Assistance

· High Tech Rochester & Rochester Angel Network

· Insyte-Consulting & Western NY Venture Association

· Negotiating Term Sheets (Legal, investor & entrepreneur perspectives)

Leadership

· Your values, your vision, Leadership Rising^SM drivers/principles, High Gain^SM participating sheets, people & performance

· Leadership coaching – tackle specific questions & issues with a professionally trained executive coach

DATES:

May 3 & 4

AGENDA:

7:30-8:00 am
Networking & Check-in

8:00am-5:00 pm

Two-Day Program

LOCATION:

TBD

TEN Boot Camp #3: Sales Optimization

Integration of Sales & Marketing, Engineering the Sales Process & Hiring for Success
Led by Derby Management

The classic Derby process funnel
• Funnel math, metrics, lead generation
• Sales strategy, people, process, technology
• What does your sales pipeline need to look like
• How to hire for sales (attributes, skills)
• Three-step hiring model; hiring checklist
• Compensation rules & levels
• 2011 sales issues
• Sales & marketing channel fragmentation
• Sales planning architecture
• Sales territory, strategic business unit (SBU), key account plans
• Pricing strategy (4 basic components)
• Price optimization (competitive analysis, strategy differentiation)
• Ten common pricing mistakes
• Five categories of sales training
• Web sales integration tools & metrics
• Forecasting (why, what do you need, how to)
Finance 201
• Why you must know ALL the numbers (bookings & revenue, #/account, growth rates, sales cycle times, pipeline size, close ratios)
• What you can afford in sales & marketing
• Can you prove that your sales model can “scale”
• How to use the CFO as your ally (how to talk their language)

DATES:

May 24, June 28

AGENDA:

7:30-8:00 am
Networking & Check-in

8:00am-5:00 pm

Two-Day Program

LOCATION:

UR Medical Center

601 Elmwood Avenue

Rochester, NY

TEN Boot Camp #4:

Effective Investor Presentations & Sales Presentations

Led by Upstate's Best Business & Technical Experts

Provides real-time feedback from angels, VCs, bankers,
strategic partners.

WARNING! Many entrepreneurs lack the discipline to complete a business plan. You can either fail to plan OR plan to fail.

If your investor presentation is already great & moves to due diligence, you need a business plan. (If not, same conclusion).

If you are seeking to maximize profits & achieve sustainable growth, you need a business plan.

Your business plan: critical elements

· How does the “meat” of my business plan measure up

· What investors need to know

· Understand “business model” and “economic model”

· Valuation – why you need to know for yourself

· How to respond to investors

· Communicating a customer-focused strategy

· Key elements of the plan

· Sustaining your brand/competitive advantage

· Presenting the economic model for your business

· Define how you will make money

· Provide a credible plan for selling your product/service/solution

· Do’s & Don’ts of investor and sales presentations

· Review templates for building an effective presentation

· Pitch to the right audience

· Understand your economic buyer & influencers; closing the deal

· Effective presentation techniques

· Speaker self-awareness

· Speaker audience awareness

· Staging techniques

· PowerPoint strategies

Day One - training & small group sessions

Day Two - expert judges give real-time feedback

on investor presentations & sales presentations

click here to download a PDF with details of the Bootcamp schedule

Eligibility

Candidates should be Founders, Senior Executives, CEO's or hold a controlling position in a new venture (early stage technology, life science) or established firm (scalable high-revenue, family-owned, ownership transitioning) with business operations primarily in Upstate New York.

Who Should Apply

Early Stage Technology Firms
Life Science Firms
Serial Entrepreneurs
Scalable Businesses (Up to $50 million)
Businesses Undergoing a Leadership Transition
Family-owned Businesses

Application

TEN applications are reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis.
No payment is required until the new cohort of entrepreneurs is launched.

Apply now to reserve a seat with TEN class XII.

It's easy to submit an on-line application AND a brief (1-3 pages) non-confidential executive summary describing your business and your professional background. Seating is limited to allow for maximum interaction with TEN's national and upstate experts.

Applications Must Be Received and Processed BEFORE Boot Camp #1 To Reserve a Seat .
Apply now! online application.

Cost

Approved TEN applicants will be charged $350.00. This covers all instructors, program materials and meals for the 4 boot camps...TEN members save $$$ (thousands) in accessing national and Upstate experts. Only accepted applicants can participate and are required to pay this fee in order to complete the registration process.