This is a value-add service managed by StartUpHire and is designed to accelerate our portfolio’s recruiting effectiveness by channeling talented individuals to our portfolio companies. Interestingly, the service has the ability to automatically pull existing and new postings from our portfolio company’s websites and display them on our website under the careers portal. Listings also automatically appear at StartUpHire.com, SimplyHired, LinkedIn and Indeed.

The service is easy to integrate and requires very minimal effort to maintain (not to mention, there is no cost to our fund or our portfolio companies). If you’re a venture group and looking for an effective solution to further augment recruiting efforts for your portfolio, check out StartUpHire.
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About StartUpHire
www.startuphire.com

StartUpHire is an initiative to recruit exceptional talent to venture capital backed companies. This free resource was created by investors and entrepreneurs in partnership with the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) who know that finding the right people quickly is both a challenge and top priority at venture stage companies. These are some of the most rewarding careers on the planet, but they historically have been difficult to identify. Our mission is to connect talented individuals to exciting career opportunities at venture backed companies and to accelerate the team building process for companies and their investors.

This is the third installment of monthly portfolio news in blog format. Great progress in the portfolio during the month of June, click on the headlines to read the whole story.

	JUNE 8, 2010 | HUFFINGTON POST Are doctors losing their relevance due to social media health sites such as Alliance Health Networks?
	JUNE 25, 2010 | PR WEB Balihoo wins Red Herring Award 100 North America award.
	JUNE 16, 2010 | FORBES Electronic referral management streamlines referral process and boosts provider revenue, says new CareFx Issue Brief.
	JUNE 2, 2010 | NEW YORK TIMES Thrifty Wi-Fi that travels with you from CradlePoint.
	JUNE 23, 2010 | NEWERA NEWS Travel Technology: Everlater is lighting up the heart of darkness.
	JUNE 17, 2010 | BLOG CATALOG Goomzee awarded grant funding for job creation.
	JUNE 28, 2010 | PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL Max-Viz is the 6th fastest growing company in Oregon
	JUNE 30, 2010 | MARKETWIRE OpenLogic survey shows enterprises unknowingly risk violation of GPL.
	JUNE 14, 2010 | FOX BUSINESS Rebit announces that NetSmart, the only fully automatic backup solution, is now available to select computer retailers.
	JUNE 17, 2010 | YAHOO! SynCardia named among top 50 companies to watch by Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry Magazine. JUNE 21, 2010 | IMAGING TECHNOLOGY NEWS New SynCardia drive unit makes artificial heart more practical. JUNE 22, 2010 | BUSINESS WIRE World’s 1st total artificial heart patients discharged from home using SynCardia’s Freedom Portable Driver.

Call for Presenting Companies for VCIR Fall 2010

This is the second installment of monthly portfolio news in blog format. Great progress in the portfolio during the month of May, click on the headlines to read the whole story.

	MAY 13, 2010 | THE ECONOMIST In praise of Boise, why space really is the final frontier in the internet age, Balihoo a prime example.
	MAY 4, 2010 | TMCNET.COM Avaya improves patient care and satisfaction with communications-enables healthcare applications from Carefx. MAY 18, 2010 | FORBES Carefx to collaborate with the Cleveland Clinic to commercialize CCF business inteligence solution. MAY 25, 2010 | PR WEB Expert insights on health data sharing, collaboration, quality and meaningful use featured in latest Carefx position paper.
	APRIL 29, 2010 | GESTALT IT CradlePoint interview and hotspot giveaway. MAY 3, 2010 | BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK CradlePoint router an mobile broadband adapter pair with Sprint 4G to create instant offices and business continuity solutions. MAY 14, 2010 | THE ECONOMIST The delights of Idaho and a brief word from CradlePoint.
	MAY 13, 2010 | NEW YORK TIMES Boulder, Colorado, a magnet for high-tech startups such as Everlater.
	MAY 6, 2010 | MTBUSINESS.COM Missoula’s Goomzee expands Realty Connect Text System to Association Networks
	MAY 26, 2010 | PR WEB OpenLogic to provide CentOS support for new GroundWork Open Source release.
	MAY 4, 2010 | PC WORLD Seagate introduces flexible FreeAgent GoFlex storage system with disk-imaging software powered by Rebit. MAY 19, 2010 | PR NEWSWIRE Rebit revolutionizes NAS backup with first fully-automated software.
	JUNE 3, 2010 | MIXERGY How young SendGrid already delivered a “bajillion” emails (and profits) – with Isaac Saldana (CEO).
	MAY 21, 2010 | CBS Man goes home with the world’s only FDA approved total artificial heart created by SynCardia. MAY 27, 2010 | BUSINESS WIRE Mayo Clinic discharges 1st SynCardia total artificial heart patient in U.S. history. MAY 27, 2010 | NEW SCIENTIST Arizona man is first to take artificial heart home.
	MAY 13, 2010 | BUSINESS WIRE American Business Awards names TechMediaNetwork as Stevie Award finalist. MAY 26, 2010 | BUSINESS WIRE TechMediaNetwork achieves tremendous growth in 12 months.

I tend to believe that’s because most of our posts are about the human side of business. Because we’re not thematic or vertically focused investors, you’ll rarely see us opining on specific business sectors or emerging technologies. There are experts in every sector and technology who go a foot wide and a mile deep on those topics and we read those blogs just as you should. The value my partners and I strive to provide our portfolio companies is being guides on the journey of building a business, and the stories we’ve shared that reflect that are the ones that seem to resonate most with you, our readers.

Quite simply, we revel in the entrepreneur and are fortunate enough to get to know hundreds of them every year. Collectively, we learn much more from them then they ever could from us and I like to think that our blog is analogous to the elders of a long-ago tribe, passing down oral history from generation to generation.

We also love living in the Rockies and the like-mindedness we share with its entrepreneurs. Unless you live here in the region, it’s hard to explain but there’s no denying that there’s a kinship that’s shared among those that live in the mountain states. Perhaps it’s knowing how we all appreciate the quality of life that we enjoy here and a mutual respect for those that have chosen to accept the challenge of starting a company here when places like the bay area might make more business sense.

Personally, I simply really enjoy writing. Thanks to the prodding of our former EIR Tac Anderson, we started our blog a year ago and it’s been a much richer experience than I had ever hoped for. I guess that’s why it’s been frustrating that I haven’t been moved to write anything new in a couple of weeks. Perhaps it’s been the focus of preparing for our annual meeting (last week) or tying up the myriad loose ends before embarking on my sabbatical in a couple of weeks or a combination of that and more.

Nonetheless, it’s been frustrating to have “blogger’s block” and I’ve prodded my partners to step up their contributions while I’m gone this summer. Blogging for the last year has exercised my pondering muscles and I’m very eager to see what stories emerge as I trade in my laptop for a backpack and a thick unmarked journal to hand-write in this summer.

Hopefully, I’ll return chock full of tales to weave into our business lives. I’m grateful to everyone who has taken an active role in the comment section of our blog and I’m going to miss the interaction with all of you.

It’s that time of year again – IdaVation is happening in Boise.  IdaVation, presented by Kickstand each year, is a wonderful day of learning about technology in Idaho and networking with folks in the industry.  The theme this year is “Fostering a Culture of Innovation.”  The event is Wednesday, May 26th and promises to be a great day.  Thanks to the sponsors, speakers and organizers for putting on IdaVation, a great contribution to the creative minds of the Treasure Valley.

One of the things that I enjoy about my job is that I get to interact with so many passionate entrepreneurs and see lots of creative and innovative ideas for new products.  But the thing that really excites me about this business, is being able to work with (and if I am lucky, contribute in some small way to) entrepreneurs that are obsessed with making their vision a reality.   Great products aren’t the only ingredient for success, but I tend to agree with Brad that without them the chances of success get pretty slim.   It can be a long hard road to get to the point where the product is great.  It requires thick skin and incredible persistence.  Being open to input and solving the customers problems in ways that are most intuitive for them, not what you think is the most “elegant” solution.  I guess in the end this comes full circle back to – it’s people we invest in.  The product is critical but in the end, great products come from great entrepreneurs who are relentless or obsessed with getting it right.   It’s one of the main reasons we invested in Everlater.  The founders, Nate and Natty are a great example of this spirit.  Two finance guys that left the corporate world, taught themselves how to program and are relentless and obsessed with building a great product and business.

Which gets me back to why I started writing this in the first place.  Reading Brad’s post reminded me of one of the “red flags” that always gets the hair on the back of my neck to stand up when I hear it.   I’ve heard it a lot during my 25+ years career in technology.  I usually hear it when things are not going as planned.  It goes something like this: “we just need to educate the customer”.  The first thing that flashes in my head when I hear this is “there are no stupid customers – just stupid products”.  That might be a little harsh, but if you have to educate your customers about why your product is important, or even how to use it to get real value from it, it means one of three things to me:

1. It’s possible that you are too early.  Definitely happens with visionaries.  There aren’t enough customers experiencing the problem that you are trying to solve, yet.  In my experience, no amount of money or energy spent on education is going to convince a customer that they have a problem that needs solving.  They are either feeling the pain or they aren’t.

2. The problem you’re attempting to solve, isn’t really a problem.  Or not one worth the customer investing any time or money in to solving.

3. The product is too complicated to use, or isn’t fully solving the customer problem.  The customer has to spend so much time figuring out how to use the product, that it’s just not worth their time and effort.   Perhaps you’re only solving part of their problem.  The pain point is less painful than the effort to solve it.   If that’s the case, asking the customer to spend even more time to “learn” how to use it, is not likely to carry you in to a mass market success. Fixing the product is the right answer here.

I’m sure there are examples out there of when “education” was important and helped turn things around.  But in general, I would suggest that if you think “customer education” is the answer, that  you look twice  - that chasm you are trying to cross, might just be a cliff.

We were completely taken with Derek. A quiet young man by nature, he exemplifies the notion that still waters run deep. Exceptionally thoughtful and mature for his age, he dove into his role with great enthusiasm and vigor. We had a terrific summer getting to know Derek and kept in close touch with him when he went back for his Junior year. Once again, we brought him on as an intern last summer and noticed how much he had learned about the venture business from his experience at UVF. When summer of 2009 rolled around, we were happy to have Derek back for another go-round as an intern. Our relationship with Derek grew stronger during his senior year. Being a part of UVF was an incredible education for him and we increasingly worked with him on projects during his senior year and started talking to him about joining the firm as an associate upon graduation. For any venture fund looking to bring on an associate, there’s no better place to look than UVF.

Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Derek has started as our full-time associate. He’s significantly raised the IQ of the firm and brought a great deal of youthful enthusiasm to the office. An avid outdoorsman and extreme sport junkie, we look forward each Monday to hearing about Derek’s latest weekend adventure. Born and raised here in Boise, Derek is excited to contribute to the developing entrepreneurial ecosystem here and has already begun integrating himself into the tech community. We’re expecting great things from him and know that you’ll be as impressed with him as we are. Welcome aboard Derek!

This is the first installment of monthly portfolio news in blog format. Click on the links to read the whole story.

	MARCH 30, 2010 | TECHCRUNCH Goomzee secures $1.5 million in Series A funding with innovative mobile marketing platform for real estate professionals.
	APRIL 6, 2010 | STREETINSIDER.COM Global research leader Gartner recognizes Balihoo as “cool vendor” in the marketing landscape.
	APRIL 7, 2010 | MARKETWATCH Alliance Health Networks migrates Diabetic Connect to its new social networking platform bringing new features and enhanced functionality to the largest online social network for people touched by diabetes.
	APRIL 8, 2010 | EARTH TIMES Russia performs the 1st implant of the world’s only approved completely artificial heart made by SynCardia.
	APRIL 15, 2010 | THE IDAHO STATESMAN CradlePoint leading the way among Idaho companies, achieving 25-30% year-over-year growth since inception in 2004.
	APRIL 20, 2010 | TECHCRUNCH Just six months after Highway 12 Ventures’ seed investment, SendGrid raises a $5 million round led by Foundry Group.
	APRIL 26, 2010 | MARKETWATCH Venafi named innovative, impactful and intriguing by leading analyst firm in “cool vendor” report.
	APRIL 27, 2010 | PR NEWSWIRE Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust embarks on proactive pathology results pilot with Carefx.

1) As I’ve shared in a previous post, on Wednesday 4/21 the founders of TechStars will be at the Watercooler to talk about their highly-successful mentorship program. Highway 12 Ventures has funded two TechStars graduates. It’s an incredible program that gives startups a terrific advantage. If you know any people who have just started a tech company or who are even dreaming of it, this is a can’t miss event. Applications for the Seattle program are open until June 1. Let’s get a few Idaho companies to apply!

2) On Thursday, 4/22 IgniteBoise IV happens at the Egyptian Theatre. 5 minutes, 20 slides. It’s a few hours of pure energy. If you haven’t been to an IgniteBoise event, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It’s an international phenomenon.

3) On Friday 4/23 Kevin Donaldson, VP Product Management at Balihoo has organized a viewing of the national simulcast of Eric Ries’ “Startup lessons learned”. This is another must-attend for startups! My pal Brad Feld also blogged about the event.

All-in-all, a very exciting week next week for Idaho entrepreneurs. I hope you’ll share this with your networks. My partners and I will be at all three of these events, hope to see many of you there!