Energy Ventures announced today the opening of two new offices for the firm, Aberdeen and Houston. This Norwegian venture capital firm invests in “game changing” technologies in the upstream oil and gas markets, focused primarily on exploration and production activity.
There is some familial aspect to this announcement as well. Former president of the Houston Technology Center’s energy practice, Bob Schwartz, will be joining Energy Ventures sourcing deals for and through the HTC. Bob has been a fantastic agent of change at the HTC over the years and his presence will be missed.
Randy Woelfel has assumed the lead role in the energy group at the HTC and will be spearheading several new initiatives over the coming months.
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done”
Kenny Rogers from The Gambler
Words like these are ingrained onto the psyche of anyone who grew up south of the Mason -Dixon line and/or in the late 70’s. Who knew that they would also be words of wisdom for company founders. If you have any experience with startups, you know what I am talking about and are probably laughing out loud right now (and I apologize if you end up humming this tune for the next 3-5 days in the shower).
The distinction I am trying to make here is that poker is a blind negotiation; running a company should not be. It should not be a game of bluffing, raising and calling but rather a collaborative endeavor between all of your stakeholders: founders, investors, employees, vendors and customers. With that in mind, if you end up negotiating with a potential partner that seems to be playing poker with you rather than acting as a partner, you probably have picked the wrong partner and need to move to another table.
All of this random banter stems from my time at BarCamp last weekend. While we engaged in our session about managing capital for your startup (something I will start writing posts about in the near future), several interesting comments were made that struck a chord in me (several of these are paraphrased):
I want to grow my business without ever taking external capital.
Watch out when your VC’s place a “shiny CEO” in charge of your business.
If you are offered more capital than you need, go ahead and take all you can get.
We could launch today but I want to work through some kinks and add some more functionality before we go to market.
This round we are seeking will be the last investment we allow.
We don’t have any competition right now because we are early adopters.
Watch a World Series of Poker event one night on cable and ask yourself if the players are playing with pre-concieved notions on how to gamble on a hand. Knowing when to hold, fold, walk away or run takes experience, practice and an open mind.
My point is, play the game but don’t expect anything other than a wild and heart-wrenching ride.
Wanna keep the buzz going after BarCamp? Join us for the next Houston OpenCoffee Club on Thursday, August 30th (tomorrow)!
About : OpenCoffee Club encourages informal discussion and networking among entrepreneurs and investors to help grow startup companies in the Houston area. Houston’s success continues to grow and thus, we are happy to announce that we are holding our fourth OpenCoffee Club at the following time and location.
Those geeks in the lab coats from BarCamp last weekend are in the Chronicle today. Startup Houston still has plenty of invites so let us know if you want them.
I had a good time and several great conversations at HTC’s Emerging Technology Council (ETC) kickoff meeting this evening. In a nutshell, the HTC ETC’s purpose is to help foster emerging technology companies in Houston and to do so they are looking to several different committees to provide support in key areas of importance for emerging companies. Below is a list of the committees and a brief summary of what they will be doing.
Strategy Committee
Participate in Opportunity Houston efforts
Interview 50 companies.
What kind of expansion projects are they planning and how can they help
I believe that what the HTC is doing has great potential to improve the business prospects for emerging technology companies in Houston. The key here will be in how well these committees can execute against that vision. Josh and I are planning on being involved to bring our experience (and yours as well) to the table to help benefit the startup community as a whole.
Were you at the HTC ETC kickoff? Let us know if we missed anything and also what you thought about the event in our comments section.
Would you like to let Fortune know more about how you feel? Click here to leave a comment with the article or click here to let Fortune know that Houston has some of the strongest college programs for entrepreneurs in the country.
OK, this will probably be the last BarCamp post (unless Josh comes up with some additional post-BarCamp wisdom). Below are two videos that have been posted to YouTube covering different aspects of BarCamp Houston 2.
Also, if anyone else out there knows where I can find the primary video that was taken of all the presentations, please let me know so we can get it posted somewhere for everyone’s benefit.
You know that you just went to a great conference when you come home with a fistful of business cards and you still didn’t get to talk to everyone that you wanted to. My situation was a little different than most, but I had an outstanding time getting to meet so many people that play an integral part of the growing startup scene here in Houston.
As promised, we have uploaded our presentation “The State of Houston Startups” to SlideShare.net (our presentation is also being featured on their front page). You can find it here and you can find all of the presentations that others have uploaded from BarCampHouston2 here. There are still several presentations that have not been uploaded yet, so if you know someone that presented, but you don’t see their presentation on SlideShare, please make sure to give them a hard time so that everyone can benefit.
Also, I have uploaded our photos of BarCampHouston2 here and you can find all of the photos taken by everyone by going here. You can even see an automated slideshow here.
Here are few photos just to get you started…
Congratulations and a big Thank You to Erica O’Grady, Marc Nathan, Kelsey Ruger, Robert Brackenridge, Scott Stolz, and everyone else who helped to make this event memorable and a huge success.
Like we said in our presentation, if you want to keep the buzz going, below is a list of upcoming events that you definitely want to make sure you are involved in…
“And that was only one of the many occasions on which I met my death, an experience which I don’t hesitate strongly to recommend.”
Baron Munchausen from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
One thing I found fascinating from this weekend’s BarCamp Houston was the attention I was given when speaking about cash management and raising capital. I forget that most startups are constantly dealing with the daily minutia, the most painful of which is where the next meal will come from.
With this fresh on my mind I thought it’d be useful to post Guy Kawasaki’s great piece about the art of bootstrapping. Guy’s book, The Art of the Start is a must read for any would-be entrepreneur. This is one of my favorite pieces and after reading it, I believe you’ll bookmark it for a periodic re-read.
Most of my posts are pretty specific. I hope everyone grants me a little liberty for today.
BarCamp was a tipping point for the technology startup community in the Greater Houston area.
There, I said it. Now it is up to all of us to prove it.
We all know that the reason that Houston does not have the street cred for tech startups is not because it is not potent; it is because it gets drowned out in all the noise:
Saturday I saw zCubes for the first time and was blown away but what they have developed. I met with the next generation of web developers to come from College Station in BuildingProcess.com. I met the Long Tail in person with a huge niche in Texas with Lone Star Gridiron.
With all of that hoopla, BarCamp will not create a tech startup community presence. You will.
Make sure you talk up the buzz. Don’t take no for the first or even second answer. Be collaborative when you talk shop with another fellow entrepreneur. Listen to legal counsel but make sure that it doesn’t define your business. Show up to an OpenCoffee event even if you hate waking up early or don’t touch caffeine. Learn about the Rice Alliance and Houston Technology Center. Tell an angel or VC that they are evil after you take their check.
Kurt and I will be there for you every step of the way. We want you to succeed more that you will ever know or understand. This is our passion and you are the play.
Now, let’s get started!
P.S. This rant is brought to you by the makers of Startup Houston.
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