NetSuds April 2003 Monthly Report

NetSuds loves on-site tours! Email me if you want to show off your company. I can be reached at matt@netsuds.com. No tours this month.

The Business Journal reported that their daily email news reaches 5000 Twin Cities executives. The MHTA claims a little over 2000 people on their email list. Not bad but still a great deal less than the NetSuds and MedicalSuds email lists which reach 7200+ (yes, the lists are growing). The NetSuds email lists are double-opt-in and concentrated on professionals in the communications, IT and Internet markets. The MedicalSuds email lists are double-opt-in and concentrated on professionals in the medtech, biotech and life sciences markets. So, rather than spend your advertising dollars on any other email lists in the Twin Cities, consider the NetSuds and MedicalSuds lists. Contact matt@netsuds.com or 612.279.2154.

4.3 Report: Data Communications, Internetworking Market to Surge

Arlington, Va. -- After two years of relatively flat growth in the data communications and internetworking equipment market, spending in the sector is expected to jump 5.3% to $72.5 billion in 2003, according to a new study by the Arlington-based Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The biggest spending increases on equipment will involve network security and web enabling software and equipment. Despite the fact that companies are scrutinizing their expenses more closely in the current economic environment, TIE said that the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the time elapsed since Y2K will lead to equipment upgrades in a number of categories, including servers, hubs, routers and remote access devices. http://www.tiaonline.org/media/press_releases/index.cfm?parelease=03-21

4.4 Email Software Problem

Anyone familiar with technology knows that "bugs" are part of the industry. In a 2002 release of the email list software used by NetSuds, an intermittent bug was introduced in to the software which did not allow people to unsubscribe properly from the email list(s). The bug was corrected in a recent release. NetSuds apologizes for the inconvenience this has caused people.

4.5 The Alley Seed Fund

Medical Alley just announced the "Alley Seed Fund"; a new equity fund to invest in medtech and biotech companies in the sub-$1,000,000 range. No funds have been raised to date. No fund manager has been identified. The fund sounds alot like the BICI project which died a quick death after about 12-18 months of brownian motion. In the Business Journal, Medical Alley CEO Don Gerhardt stated Alley Seed Fund can succeed where others are struggling because it has a "fund with heart". NetSuds' experience is that funds succeed if they make a ROI. Best wishes to the new fund.

4.6 Looking for a Venture Capitalist?

Infon provides access to every venture capital firm and partner worldwide for FREE! Click on the logo for more information. Search by industry, stage, round or geographic preference of 3484 firms, 3440 websites, over 30,000 people with over 17,000 email addresses. Download the entire database - rather than just search the website - for just $99. With over 400 different search criteria, you can pinpoint firms fast, export the contact information - including email addresses - and make contact with the right people. You can send thousands of contacts at once to a single Excel file to export to your contact manager.

4.7 NetSuds CEO Roundtable - Next Roundtables starting in June

NetSuds is opening up another group of CEO Roundtables in June 2003. The first meetings of the 3 CEO Roundtables occurred January 21, 22 and 23. Those three introductory sessions culminated in to one ongoing monthly session of participating CEOs. If you are tech or medtech CEO and want to join us, (the first session is free), contact matt.noah@netsuds.com. A synopsis of the CEO Roundtable can be found at www.netsuds.com/ceo/ It is repeated here as well.

NetSuds CEO Roundtable

Membership Only CEOs of tech and medtech companies are allowed to join the NetSuds CEO Roundtable. If you are a VP, CxO or President, you are not welcome unless you also hold the CEO title. Perhaps we will start a CFO, CTO or COO Roundtable but until then, we are only interested in the top dog, the CEO. If you are interested in becoming a member, contact matt.noah@netsuds.com. Membership is not automatic. There must be an available spot open in the roundtable. You must have employees. Your company must be incorporated. Your company must be a tech (communications, IT, software, Internet) or medtech (medtech, biotech, life sciences) company. You must pay a yearly fee of $1000 in advance. You may not send substitutes to the Roundtable.

Roles Unlike the days of knights, kings and Camelot, there is no king of the NetSuds CEO Roundtable; only a facilitator; Matt Noah, CEO of NetSuds.com, Inc. Knights are replaced by CEOs and the table won't be quite round.

Schedule The Roundtable will meet 10 times per calendar year. Our initial roundtable is meeting the last Tuesday of every month. Each meeting lasts between 1.25 and 1.50 hours starting at 7 am. A facility convenient to the majority of Roundtable members is used. A continental breakfast is served.

Our next introductory session (free) has been scheduled for June 2003. Attendance will be limited to just CEOs. Contact matt@netsuds.com if you want an invitation.

Purpose CEOs need resources to assist them in executing their duties and leading their companies. Boards of Directors and upper management are not always the best or most independent resources upon which to draw. The CEO Roundtable exists to provide CEOs with an independent resource of wisdom and shared experience. Your key 'take-aways' from the Roundtable will be accelerated learning - so as to avoid common and uncommon pitfalls -, an expanded network of advisors and colleagues and tools to enhance the productivity and value of your enterprise.

Content First, networking among the CEO members of a Roundtable is the best and richest content. Second, the Roundtable facilitator will schedule subject matter experts of interest to the CEOs. Examples include intellectual property, branding, sales, engineering, marketing, finance, compensation, human resources, M&A, etc.

Format Meetings will consist primarily of 2 elements. First, "content" will be presented and discussed. Second, "discussion" of common problems and solutions will take place. The facilitator will lead both elements or assign elements to certain CEOs.

Confidentiality Roundtable meetings are completely confidential. Nothing said in a roundtable discussion, short of illegal activity, leaves the meeting. This allows each CEO to feel comfortable discussing issues and subjects he may not feel comfortable speaking about with others.

4.8 IT Jobs, Morale Still Falling, Says Study

Enterprises in the U.S. are continuing to shed IT jobs and, as they do, burnout among those left is beginning to mount, according to a pair of recently released studies. http://eletters1.ziffdavis.com/cgi-bin10/flo/y/eUOG0D312F0DUm0vTN0AC

You can also try our new online calendar by clicking here for NetSuds and here for MedicalSuds.

6.0 Minnesota Venture Capital Conference - May 19-20, 2003

The 2nd Annual Minnesota Venture Capital Conference - www.mnvcc.com - will take place May 19-20, 2003 at the Radisson UofM. Last year's conference had 250 attendees which included 22 formal venture presentations, 50+ investors representing over $20 billion dollars in managed capital and many opportunities for businesses of all sorts to reach customers and partners.

This year's Conference is co-hosted by US Senator Norm Coleman and will feature presentations from emerging technology companies, panels and speeches by investors and industry visionaries, exhibits and lots of networking opportunities. The Conference will also include many educational aspects so that you can learn the business of tech/medtech start-ups, financing, etc. Over 50 investors are already registered to attend.

See the list of register investors to date by clicking here.

Entrepreneurs should apply to make a presentation immediately. We will be making selections during early April. Don't miss your chance to meet 50+ investors from all over the country! See below.

Potential sponsors should send an email to sponsor.inquiry@mnvcc.com to learn about sponsorship opportunities.
See the list of committed investors registered for the event at www.mnvcc.com/agenda/speakers.htm.
Entrepreneurs can apply to present at the Conference by visiting www.mnvcc.com/entrepreneurs/.
Members of the media can apply for a complimentary media pass at www.mnvcc.com/media/.
Investors can apply for a complimentary registration by visiting www.mnvcc.com/investors/.
Register today at the early-bird registration price - www.mnvcc.com/register/.

GOLD SPONSORS TO DATE (limit of 4)

SILVER SPONSORS TO DATE (limit of 8)

Koepke & Daniels, PA

BRONZE SPONSORS TO DATE (limit of 12)

Minnesota
Innovation
Center

EXHIBITORS TO DATE (unlimited)

Where does the time go? We all wonder about this but non-more so than the IT managers. Not only are there not enough hours in the day but there also does not seem to be enough bandwidth in their systems to improve the delivery of data at an effective rate. So what can be done?

There are many articles about “Time theft” but these usually focus on how employees find ways to “minimize” their daily contributions by elongated bathroom breaks, private phone calls, etc.

“Bandwidth theft” is another area that has attracted many words but here the focus is mostly on how individuals or companies extract data from current web sites and use that to their own, cheap advantage.

Our Time Bandits are a relatively new breed. Wander among the cubicles of almost any enterprise and you will either see people with headsets gently stomping to their favorite web radio station or even hear music direct from the cool speakers of their PC’s. Hopefully this provides for a happier and so more productive employee but what about the effect on the network they are connected to?

Of course many of them are also surfing the web – often as part of their job function but not always – and what cumulative effect does have on the overall network performance? Napster is dead but replaced by many other look-alikes such as Kazaa.

How many employees may snatch a few minutes to down load their latest favorite tracks and how does that impact the network response time?

Recent industry measurements show that all of these “non-productive” activities can soak up as much as 28% of the available bandwidth in any enterprise system. This is an average so, at some points in a day, the total non-company useable bandwidth could peak to much higher levels and so compromise company critical tasks and data flow.

Of course every company and IT manager has put in policies and some safeguards but often there is no actual management or measurement of the effects on the system.

There have been many statements in the past that bandwidth is essentially free but most financial officers will disagree when the