Boot camp offered for entrepreneurs looking to take funding step

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue faculty, staff, students and collaborators can learn about what’s needed to launch a company at the university’s third annual Company Fund Raising Boot Camp on Oct. 13-14 in Discovery Park.

Michael Birck, chairman and founder of telecommunication giant Tellabs Inc. and a Purdue trustee, is the keynote speaker for the event at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Room 121. Birck’s talk, “Founding and Growing a Company,” is at noon Oct. 13.

The workshop, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, however, and preference will be given to Purdue faculty and staff, said event organizer Julie Goonewardene, director of business development for the Purdue Research Foundation and Discovery Park.

Key topics include company formation, tips for selecting a chief executive officer, selling your idea, advice on starting a company, sources of capital, company valuation and investment presentation skills, Goonewardene said.

Presenters include: Jeff Warren, a lawyer, investor and Julie Goonewardene, Purdue alumnus; Mike Pellegrino, president of Indianapolis-based technology appraisal firm Pellegrino and Associates LLC; Mark Reiff, Midwest managing partner for the Indiana office of Lonergan Partners in Zionsville; and Steve Brown of consulting firm Innovate4Growth in Boston.

During the event, participants can work with coaches to refine a 15-minute presentation that will be reviewed by an outside panel on Jan. 30. Winners will earn a trip, sponsored by Lonergan Partners, where they will present to Silicon Valley investors the week of May 18.

Sponsors for the Company Fund Raising Boot Camp are Lonergan Partners, the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and Purdue Research Foundation. To register, go online to: http://www.purdue.edu/dp/bdm/bootcamp/.

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