ABL TECHNOLOGY ONLINE  
JULY 2, 2009

Decision Toolbox Awarded for Making Work "Work"
Microsemi Intro's New Power Modules, New Transistors
Mitratech Delivers Enterprise Grade e-Billing to Small Legal Departments

MIMI GRANT'S BLOG

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS - HEADLINES

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

Michael Witz, Mob Science
Michael Witz is Founder and CEO of Mob Science, a casual gaming company that creates games for Facebook, MySpace and other social networks. The games are free to play and generate revenues through a combination of advertising and virtual currency sales. To date, over 10 million people have signed up for Mob Science games. The company currently has six games that have been published around two core engines and is actively developing several next-generation gaming engines. Its games target a variety of genres and markets, from a text-based role-playing game called My Gladiator, to a virtual gardening game called Gardenhood. Via some of its games, Mob Science supports a philanthropic cause, and has raised over $40,000 in its first year for non-profit organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Michael is a successful entrepreneur who has been starting computer-related businesses for over a decade. He is also an active investor and participant in the start-up of several Internet companies in a variety of industries. Previously, he was a Co-Founder of RightSide.com, an online publisher of investment newsletters and software tools, which was started in 2001 and then successfully sold in 2006 to a private equity firm in New York. Prior to RightSide, Michael founded StockJungle.com in 1998, a “spectacular failure” that folded in 2001. Besides providing a great learning experience for Michael, StockJungle had some notable successes, including the creation of the first social networks for individual investors that received more than a million visitors, and notable mention by CNBC, Time, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others. Michael has joined the Orange County Technology Executives Round Table.

Decision Toolbox Awarded for Making Work "Work"
Decision Toolbox, where Kim Shepherd is CEO, has won a 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, distinguishing the company as a leading practitioner of workplace flexibility and effectiveness. The award is part of the When Work Works project, an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and the Twiga Foundation. "The entire company is virtual and all of its team members work from home offices," according to the release. "Sophisticated, proprietary technology coupled with technologies such as VoIP phones, IM and social networking tools keep the team linked together, while a progressive results-focused management style keeps performance and productivity at a high level."

Microsemi Intro's New Power Modules, New Transistors
Microsemi Corporation, where Jim Peterson is CEO, has introduced a new line of standard rectifier diode power modules with 21 standard dual diode modules and six 3-phase bridge rectifier diode power modules for industrial, UPS, SMPS, and motor drive applications.  Also, Microsemi introduced two new RF MOSFET power transistor products capable of operating at up to 175MHz and 100MHz for their targeted applications. The new VRF152 is a gold-metalized silicon n-channel RF power transistor designed for broadband commercial and hi-rel applications requiring high power and gain without compromising reliability, ruggedness or inter-modulations distortion.  Meanwhile, Microsemi has made silicon carbide diode upgrades standard on a large selection of its current portfolio of power modules for industrial, UPS, SMPS and motor drive applications.

Mitratech Delivers Enterprise Grade e-Billing to Small Legal Departments
Mitratech, where Afshin Behnia is CEO, has released TeamConnect Express e-Billing, a new product offering standalone legal e-billing functionality, and the first in a new line of products that are intended to serve the needs of mid-market companies and small legal departments. Mitratech also announced the availability of version 3.1 of its flagship TeamConnect Legal Suite, the matter management and legal operations management solution preferred by over 100 of the Fortune 500. It delivers new features for international legal operations, vendor collaboration, searches and reporting, as well as improved usability, administration, and system performance.

Frequently, in the pages of ABL Technology Online, we congratulate our Members on new achievements and awards. Among those mentioned this week is that our Member, Kim Shepherd, CEO of Decision Toolbox, received the Alfred P. Sloan Award for “Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.” While on the surface, the move to “going virtual” sounds like just sending all your employees home and, viola!, instant overhead savings, it’s truly much more complicated than that. In fact, if just saving money on rent were the primary reason for going virtual, that would be the recipe for disaster.

As it turns out, I’m very familiar with Kim’s model, since I’ve worked first-hand with Kim’s virtual organization, and I’m an incredibly satisfied customer. But, going virtual doesn’t come without a price tag. First there’s the technology: every one of Kim’s associates, regardless of where in the world they are based, has access to DT’s highly sophisticated computer-based and telephonic network. As a client, it’s been absolutely inconsequential as to where the associate I’m speaking to is based, because I’ve just dialed their “562” area code number in Long Beach. And for the associates internally, they’re all just an extension apart. They also are linked via video cam, so whenever they’re online, they’re up and ready for work with, as Kim would call it, their “mascara on.”  No pajama parties here.

Also, part of the “flexibility factor” is the flexibility in their client relationships. In the past, when dealing with external recruiters, it’s been strictly a 9-5 operation. Now, when I connect with “our recruiter,” Heidi Webster, I know I can call her at “off-peak” hours, when I have more time, to discuss job specifications, review candidates, and compare notes – usually around 7 pm. And Heidi’s in the Washington, DC area!  Among the many other “tools” in the Decision Toolbox is Kim’s passion for staying inter-connected with her team, through frequent “all hands” phone calls, newsletters, and quarterly team-building get-togethers and brainstorming fetes.

Truly, Kim could – and should! – write the book on Going Virtual, because far more than “prize worthy,” she’s made Decision Toolbox a model for what will undoubtedly be an ever-more virtually connected world.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE ISSUES   |   Mimi Grant's Blog Post: 7/2/2009

Inc. Pinpoints Lucrative Tech Industries
Inc.com recently posted a slide show - "The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now" - which includes these techie fields: Software as a Service; iPhone Apps; Healthcare Technology; Education Technology; Technical and Trade Schools; and Energy.

Green Tech Deals Up in Q2
Green technology investments hit $1.2 billion in Q2, up from $836M in the first quarter of the year, according to Greentech Media. There were 85 deals in Q2 versus 59 deals in Q1. Among other numbers tallied by Greentech: solar power deals led in terms of investment category, with $33.4M in 17 deals; automotive and transportation was next with $202.5M and 8 deals; and biofuels/gasification/cleaner coal was third in terms of investments with $195M in 12 deals. (socaltech.com TechNews, 7/1/09)

Execs Go Online for Business Intelligence
The Internet has become the most valuable information resource for U.S. executives, according to the “Rise of the Digital C-Suite” study from Forbes Insights and Google. Online ranked ahead of at-home and at-work contacts, personal networks, trade publications and outside consultants as an information resource. Newspapers and magazines trailed behind. When it comes to locating business information online, search engines were rated higher than other digital tools, such as blogs, social networking sites and subscription search services. The most important information executives searched for online was competitor analysis (53%), followed by customer trends (41%), corporate developments (39%), technology trends (38%) and compliance and legal issues (26%). Surprisingly, 53% of executives preferred to gather information themselves rather than delegate research tasks to employees. Online information sources will likely grow in importance, as executives under age 50 use new media tools more often than their older counterparts. (eMarketer Daily, 7/1/09)

Most Entrepreneurs are 55 to 64; TechCo Founders are ~39
The highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to people ages 55 to 64, according to a new study from the Kauffman Foundation. The study -- which attempts to characterize who might drive the next wave of entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. -- also found that the average age of U.S.-born, technology founders when they started their companies was 39. The nation might be on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom, the study said, because of an aging population, decline of lifetime employment, and the effects of the 2008-2009 recession on established sectors of the economy. (socaltech.com TechNews, 6/19/09)

California Losing High-Tech, Manufacturing Jobs: Milken
California is "losing a battle" with other states in retaining and attracting manufacturing jobs, including high tech, and is "hemorrhaging high-tech manufacturing jobs," according to the nonprofit, economic thinktank the Milken Institute. Its report, "Manufacturing 2.0: A More Prosperous California," cited declines in manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2007 of 21%, and a decline of 23% in high-tech manufacturing jobs in the same period. The institute blamed an "unfriendly business climate" -- specifically, comparatively high tax rates, restrictive regulations, and unsustainable government spending -- for the decline.  Meanwhile, the Maverick Angels, an investment group in Los Angeles, announced that it has launched two new chapters -- in Santa Barbara and the South Bay -- due to the increase in entrepreneurs coming to angel groups, given the retracting availability of funding from banks and venture capital firms. (socaltech.com TechNews, 6/24/09 & 6/19/09)