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Technology Needs a Successful Business Model to Succeed

Fifty percent of new companies fail within their first four years of business, according to Greg Butterfield, managing partner of mentor capital firm SageCreek Partners.

Butterfield addressed a sell-out crowd of more than 300 Utah executives at the Seventh Annual Utah Innovations Awards event in Salt Lake City yesterday.

Stoel Rives LLP and the Utah Technology Council (UTC) are co-presenting sponsors of the Innovations event that honored 9 winners among a record-setting 113 nominations this year. The event was sponsored by Issimo Productions and Webb Audio Visual Communication. “Utah stands out not only in the skill of our workforce, but in the fact that culturally, our executives are great people to work with,” Butterfield said.

Butterfield acknowledged that since his retirement from the position of Symantec Group President in 2008 and the launch of his new consulting firm SageCreek Partners, his team is recognizing more than ever that good technology in and of itself does not ensure business or market success. “More than 156,000 new technology products entered the market in 2005,” he noted. “A year later, only 30,000 of those products remained.

To succeed, a company requires a strong and impactful business model to make the technology truly relevant for meeting customer needs.” Butterfield provided a list of business plan guidelines that is also available from the SageCreek website.

Key points include emphasis on the collective strength of the company’s executive team; not on its individual players. Butterfield also noted that strong leaders should be preparing for even stronger successors, and cited the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.”

“As the former Chairman of UTC, Greg Butterfield provided the early leadership that was critical in getting our industry in synch,” said Richard R. Nelson, president of UTC. “He has been truly instrumental in getting our current technology companies aligned.”

For a complete list of 2009 Utah Innovations Finalists and winners, readers can visit http://www.stoel.com/innovation/utah_media.asp.

For information on other UTC events, initiatives, or for UTC membership information, please contact Mark Lehnhof (801) 568-3500.

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