Don't climb alone!  Reach the Summit with the Venture Forum's 2013 Virginia Venture Summit on Wednesday, May 8, 2013!
The 2013 Virginia Venture Summit will feature insight and guidance from successful entrepreneurs, investors, and experts; 5 minute presentations by 20 Hot Emerging Companies; speed networking; and an opportunity to build connections with valuable resources.

This event will sell out...so do not miss out on your chance to REGISTER

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013
 The Virginia Historical Society 
428 North Boulevard, RVA  23220
Registration opens: 7:30 a.m.
Program: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

Virginia Venture Summit Panel Discussions:

• How to Get on the Dance Card: Tips for Approaching VCs
• Social Impact Investing:  Making a Difference in Virginia and Beyond
• Venture Capital Hot Spots: Where Is the Money Going in 2013?
• Crowdfunding, Non-Dilutive Finance and other Alternative Funding Techniques
• Transitioning from Founder - CEO to What’s Next

Guest Panelists Include:
  Michael Bor -  CarLotz
Shawn Boyer - Snag-A-Job
          Sean Carr - University of Virginia      
       Taylor Davidson -  KBS Ventures
Matt Dellorso -  FundRoom
Hank Heyming - Troutman Sanders
Bart Houlahan - B Lab
Gary LeClair -  LeClairRyan
Teri Lovelace - Virginia Community Capital
Zack Mansfield - Square1
Bob Mooney - New Richmond Ventures
Jonathon Perrelli - Fortify Ventures
Jean Peters -  Golden Seeds
David Siegel -  LLR Partners

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Join Us at the 2013 Virginia Venture Summit! REGISTER NOW

8:00 am to 3:00 pm, Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at the Virginia Historical Society

The 2013 Virginia Venture Summit, presented by the Venture Forum, will bring together high growth-potential startups, venture capitalists, corporate VCs and angels.   Never before has Richmond seen this combination of exciting growth companies and capital providers, gathered together for a day of panels, pitches and networking.  We will also feature an all-star cast of panelists who will speak on the following topics:  

• How to Get on the Dance Card: Tips for Approaching VCs
• Social Impact Investing:  Making a Difference in Virginia and Beyond
• Venture Capital Hot Spots: Where Is the Money Going in 2013?
• Crowdfunding, Non-Dilutive Finance and other Alternative Funding Techniques
• Transitioning from Founder-CEO to What’s Next
• Five Minute Forum Pitches

And don't miss Speed Networking, which is open to all participants in the Summit.

Stay tuned for more details!    REGISTER NOW

Colleagues and friends told me I was crazy to give up my career as a finance executive at big public companies to take a job with a small private firm. Though mindful of the potential scar that such a move could leave on my résumé, I could not resist the appeal of a meaty turnaround situation.  Just as attractive was the idea of spending most of my time running the company and making a difference — formulating and executing a strategic plan, visiting plants and clients, and working on product development and acquisitions.  That was five years ago, and while I am no longer at that Company, the experience I gained was certainly worth making the change. 

At my first CFO position the Company had no strategic plan or even a formal budget.  I credit my ability to direct the transformation to my 20 years of experience at large companies. That's one reason why finance executives shouldn't too-hastily dismiss similar opportunities to move down in size but up in authority. Big-public-company experience works well in smaller companies.

Much of that experience, after I started out as an internal auditor for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, came from Fortune 100 companies, including Nabisco, Pfizer and Medco, where I landed roles as finance vice president for various divisions.  At these public companies though, three-quarters of my time was spent on being Sarbanes-Oxley compliant, and fighting with auditors — things that didn't necessarily bring a lot of value to the company. What I really wanted to do was see the fruits of my labor.

Indeed, in my due diligence before accepting the job, I got the clear idea that drawing from my experiences would make the Company more valuable. Large public companies like the ones I worked for have more and often better talent from which to learn. They also have money to spend on implementing efficiency-enhancement programs such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. And they tend to have more robust business analytics and stronger internal controls.  All of those things contributed to the changes at the Company. The ideas I brought to the table were just the ones I'd been running with for many years.

Getting under Control
To be sure, some of those ideas were fairly straightforward, though in some cases they produced seismic changes in the Company culture. For example, I instituted controls over capital expenditures where there had been none. The first meeting I had with the management team, one of our senior vice-presidents came up to the CEO and said, “I want to buy new equipment for $1 million, what do you think?” And the CEO says, “Sounds good, go ahead.” I was floored.

Now, an expenditure request must come along with an analysis of how there will be an adequate payback on the investment within 18 months. But I adjusted the control for the small-company environment. We don't have 16 approvals to buy a piece equipment. We want to make a decision in hours rather than weeks.

Purchasing activities were put through the wringer as well. For instance, the company, which had been buying three months worth of supplies at a time, saved $10,000 per month by working with vendors to deliver the items closer to the time they're needed. That means less drain on working capital.

Working capital improvement was also one of the main benefits of a drastic change in the accounting process. At the time, the books were being closed an average of 23 days after the end of a month. By mapping out the entire process through a Six Sigma approach and cutting out wasted effort, we reduced that time-frame to seven days. Having the results earlier means we can make decisions faster and understand the run rate so we can adjust inventory levels and minimize working capital.

But the biggest impact on working capital came from implementing a material-requirement-planning system like ones commonly used at bigger manufacturing companies. By using the system, executives can more easily project what the company will sell in the next 12 months and what materials it will need, and when, to enable that. Before my arrival, eight general managers around the country determined what inventory levels to carry. They could order as much as they wanted and just load up the supply room with inventory, which is the age-old way to make sure you don't short-ship a customer.  The first year the MRP system was in place, money tied up in inventory fell from a peak of $2 million to about $1.3 million. That made a big difference in banks' leverage tests for the company.

The Big Picture
All of the savings helped drive forward the strategic plan that I pushed into being, which largely involved making acquisitions and expanding product lines. Overall, I appreciate the heavy exposure I’ve gotten at the smaller company to areas — like treasury and tax, in addition to M&A work — that Nabsico, Pfizer and Medco had huge, separate departments to handle. You talk about on-the-ground, on-the-job experience. Now I have that. It's definitely good for the career.

Connect with Gary Levine:

Gary Levine, Director, Fractional CFO

1700 Bayberry Court, Suite 201 Glen Allen, VA 23059

direct:   804.977-3951 l mobile:  804.432-6598 l fax:  804.955.4444 l GLevine@fahrenheitfinance.com

 Wednesday, May 8, 2013  Virginia Historical Society  RVA

8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

 Don't Miss the 2013 Virginia Venture Summit

       
The 2013 Virginia Venture Summit, presented by the Venture Forum, will bring together high growth-potential startups, venture capitalists, corporate VCs and angels.  Never before has Richmond seen this combination of exciting growth companies and capital providers, gathered together for a day of panels, pitches and networking.
 

Are you an investor looking for the best new deals in Virginia?  Are you an entrepreneur ready for the limelight and interested in making connections with investors and other successful innovators?  If you answered yes--or if you want to sidle-up to these investors and entrepreneurs--then you cannot miss the Virginia Venture Summit.   

The Virginia Venture Summit will feature:

• Speed-Networking:  Connect with dozens of Summit attendees in a rowdy, hour-long elevator pitch-fest

•  4 Panel Discussions featuring Top VCs and Entrepreneurs

•  5 Minute Presentations by 20 of the Hottest Emerging Companies in Virginia

•  Lunch Provided by Richmond’s Top Food Trucks (lunch voucher included in registration fee)

• Not-To-Be-Missed Networking

The Venture Forum, Richmond's intersect for all things entrepreneurial, has been connecting entrepreneurs and capital providers since 1988.  The Virginia Venture Summit is an outgrowth of our ultra-popular Virginia Entrepreneur Summit, revamped as a true venture conference in response to comments from last year's event.     

  
Attendees will Include:
Top venture capitalists, corporate VCs, angels, i-bankers, tech transfer professionals, accelerators and leaders of Virginia's top emerging companies  
 

Event Details & Registration
 
ENTREPRENEURS:  To have your company considered as a presenter (5-minutes, with slide deck), send your executive summary, slide deck or 60-second video pitch to Robin@RichmondVentureForum.com, the deadline for submitting companies has been extended to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, April 27th.              

Partial List of Confirmed Attendees:

     CLM Industries, LLC          Southern Capital Partners

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The four estimated tax deadlines for 2013 fall on:

• April 15, 2013;
• June 17, 2013;
• September 16, 2013; and
• January 15, 2014.        

The four estimated tax deadlines for 2013 fall on:

• Apr