Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
CALLING ALL 10-YEAR-OLDS. Upsize is 10 years old this year, we’re proud to announce, and to celebrate we’d like to hear from all Minnesota-based companies that can say the same.
How did you make it this far? If you’re like Upsize, you have recovered from a few disasters. We’ve had to scramble to get our domain name back when it was purloined. We had to piece together one of our early issues after a computer crash wiped it out. We’ve seen a major advertiser segment, banks, temporarily pull back support as they battled through the financial collapse of 2008.
And we’re still here.
If you’re like Upsize, you’ve also had many triumphs. We have hosted hundreds of small businesses at our annual events, told our readers about thousands of smart ways that their peers are building their companies, and connected so many with the people and tools they need to grow. Whenever we hear that Upsize has helped one of Minnesota’s job creators-and we hear that often, thanks to our gracious readers and advertisers-we are grateful to be in the mix.
So what’s your 10-year story? Michael Zenk, CEO and founder of Venture Bank, gave a little taste when I interviewed him in January. “Today we’re a $320-million bank in total assets, which is good for 10 years. Knock on wood, we’ve been successful. We stayed in our business niche; we didn’t get into real estate development, where most of the startup banks, that’s where they went. We tell all our customers all the time, if you have a concentration we have a concern. So what did bankers do?
“We made money every year,” Zenk says. “2009 wasn’t a great year, but our philosophy is long term. We stick with our customers; we try to help. If they’re making good decisions, we stick with them. When you get involved with entrepreneurs with integrity and hard work, they figure out a way.”
What’s your way?
IF YOUR COMPANY IS 10 YEARS OLD, Upsize wants to hear from you. Send an e-mail by March 15 to be***@*******ag.com. Put “10 years old” in the subject line. In no more than 100 words, describe one “lesson learned” by your founders and management team in building the company over the past decade, and one “best practice” that you believe has made your company successful (bonus points for non-cliché and “real” answers.)
Also, state your company name, year founded (2001 or 2002 are both eligible), products/services and primary market, number of employees and annual revenue. We’ll cover as many as possible in the April/May edition of Upsize, and offer you an opportunity to tout your success in a special advertising section.
I’ll be waiting to hear from you, and to share your secrets.
