As Fusion-io’s Chief Marketing Officer and one of the company’s founders, Rick White is responsible for planning and implementing the company’s marketing strategies and is part of the energy driving the company. Rick is presenting at the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum on Thursday, May 14 at Noon in the Novell Cafeteria.

Rick will present on his marketing experience at Fusion io, and how our fears may be getting in the way of accomplishing success.

Register to attend.

Fusion-io announced in April 2009 that it closed $47.5 million in Series B funding from a group of investors led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Fusion-io is a leading provider of enterprise solid-state technology and high-performance I/O solutions that unlock a world of possibilities for performance-starved applications, closing the gap between processing power and storage performance.

The UVEF luncheon will be held on Thursday, May 14, 2009 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Novell Cafeteria.

Wednesday, May 13 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Technology Center at Novell, Building ‘A’
Main Floor Training Room

FamilyLink.com will provide pizza.

At Novell, find Building A on the West side, closest to the freeway.
Enter the Technology Center via the West Doors
Enter straight in through the large wooden door from the lobby
Take the first right after the lunchroom door, then the first left and to the end of the hall.

Novell is in South Provo, just off the University Exit.

See the map below of Novell showing building A.
North is at the top, with I-15 on the left.
Follow the orange line to Building A, Enter where the arrow shows.

Our anticipated Crunch Lunch event will be over before you know it. Get there by noon to get a seat. Grab lunch at the Novell Cafeteria.

Day: TODAY, December 4th
Time: Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Where: Novell Cafeteria, Mountain View Room

Need to know more about the event? Check out Crunch Lunch.

Driving Instructions?
Take I-15 to exit 269, which is at the South end of Provo; also known as the University Avenue exit.
Novell features a large Tower building on their campus, with ‘Novell’ prominantly displayed at the top; you can’t miss it, no matter which direction you are coming from on the freeway.

Take the exit and head East. Turn into Novell at their main entrance, heading straight toward the front of the Tower. Turn left and find a parking spot somewhere to the South West of the Tower.

Walk along the West side of the Tower, northward on a long sidewalk. Enter the first glass doors you find on your left; this is the Novell Cafeteria (nestled between the Tower, and Building A, which is the closest building to the freeway).

Enter the double glass doors and turn right into the main dining hall of the cafeteria. Continue northward to the far side of the cafeteria and find us through the doors in the Mountain View Room.

Don’t forget to grab some lunch on your way through the cafeteria; they have a plethora of succulent selections.

See you there!

The event was held at the Open Source Technology Center on the Novell campus. Over 60 people attended with six investors comprising a panel of judges. Investors were treated to a review of five up-and-coming business opportunities, and entrepreneurs were given a preview of what it is like to present a business to potential investors.

As a participant, I found it to be an extremely valuable experience.

The five companies who pitched were:

• ListPipe, a new SEO company focused on providing custom content through an online subscription service.
• Izatt International, a local development group focusing on iPhone applications.
• Gruvie, a social utility that enables you to wrangle all your social networking accounts into a single login.
• Lignin Bio Fuels, an alternative fuel company that produces transportation fuel out of non-edible biomass.
• Estamar Strategy, a consulting group managing business investment opportunities.

After the presentations, the audience voted for their favorite companies with ‘Monopoly-style’ dollars. Two companies with the most amount of ‘investment cash’ were selected as ‘winners’ and were awarded $500 in-kind consulting services from Funding Universe.

The two winners chosen by the audience were: ListPipe and Gruvie. See photos below.

In addition to our appreciate for event hosts Funding Universe, a special thanks to the event sponsors, which included Dashboard Accountants, The Open Source Technology Center, Fibernet, and Grow Utah Ventures.

The next LivePitch event has not been announced; stay tuned for information as it becomes available.

Presenters receive votes in the form of faux 'investment dollars'

Contact Funding Universe for more information.

Click Here to RSVP, Register, or get more information.

LivePitch is a business luncheon hosted by Funding Universe wherein you have the opportunity to rub shoulders with local entrepreneurs and investors. Funding Universe selects up to five applicants to pitch their business opportunity to a panel of experts, and the attendees of the luncheon. Presenters have four minutes to make their pitch, and are offered feedback. Pitching companies must pay a $25 application fee and an additional $50 if they are selected to present.

Anyone can RSVP as an attendee, and there is an audience participation element; Audience members receive $100 of play “Monopoly” money to “invest” in their favorite company pitch. After all of the presentations, the audience will place their monopoly cash into the bowl of their favorite LivePitch presentation.

After all of the presentations, 2 winning presenters will be announced based on the amount of “monopoly cash” that is “invested” (one by the panel of expert investors and the other by the audience).

Note that this is a ‘LivePitch’ event, and not a SpeedPitching Luncheon. LivePitch is not a fund raising event. Please do not apply to pitch or attend with the expectation that investment offers will be a natural or immediate outflow of this event.

SpeedPitch, on the other hand, is targeted toward connecting entrepreneurs and investors.

Details:

• What: LivePitch & Networking Event
• Who: Entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists & service providers
• When: Tuesday September 30, 2008
• Where: Novell OSTC
  building A, rooms 6 & 7
  1800 Novell Place
  Provo, Utah 84606
  (Westside of campus)
• Time: 12 noon – 1:30 pm | Lunch is included free
• Cost: Attendance is Free. Pitching requires a $25 application fee & $50 presentation fee if selected