WPI Venture Forum Looks at

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/May 23, 2001
Contact: WPI Venture Forum, 508-831-5075

A great business plan is a critical component of virtually every venture from start-up companies positioning themselves to raise capital through the many stages of growth, to and beyond the IPO.

The June 12th meeting of the WPI Venture Forum focuses exclusively on the business plan. The meeting will begin with a presentation by Bardwell C. (Bard) Salmon the chairman, founder and CFO of Reality Wave, Inc., Cambridge. Salmon founded two successful technology companies and has decades of high-level corporate management experience. He is also the chairman of the Technology Capital Network (TCN), a non-profit organization in Cambridge whose mission is to make money flow between investors and entrepreneurs. During the past fifteen years, TCN and its predecessor have assisted the flow of $100 million in venture funds.

Salmon has personally raised millions of dollars in equity for his companies. Coupled with his involvement with the Technology Capital Network, he is practiced in the art and science of successful business plans. Salmon will relate that experience to the audience in his discussion of the elements of a successful business plan. If you are interested in developing a plan that is attractive to investors, or one that can solidify and communicate your strategic plan, do not miss this talk by a successful entrepreneur speaking from his personal experience.

Business Plan Contest Winner
The meeting will also feature a presentation by the winner of the WPI Venture Forum's 8th Annual Business Plan Contest. After the presentation, the winner will receive his or her prize of $10,000.00.

The winning plan will be selected based on a number of criteria, which include the quality of the plan itself and hte business opportunity presented by the plan. Three ore more highly qualified judges will have reviewed each plan, and the winner will be selected based on multiple judging rounds. A panel of three judges will review and discuss the plan and the presentation at the meeting.

The business plan contest winner represents the culmination of the WPI Venture Forum program season, and directly follows the successful business plan workshop held earlier this spring by a panel of venture capitalists. Please join us for an enlightening evening in which you will learn how to create a successful business plan, and hear the presentation of a winning plan.

About the WPI Venture Forum

The WPI Venture Forum was created in 1990 to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and to serve those who engage in technology- based entrepreneurial enterprises by providing advice, support and education tailored to meet their needs. The forum fosters entrepreneurship through such activities as monthly programs, a business plan contest, a weekly radio show on News Radio WTAG (Saturdays, 5-7 pm, 580am), and a monthly newsletter.

The Venture Forum, as part of the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in the Department of Management at WPI, serves individuals who are seeking to begin their own technology-based businesses; founders, presidents, and senior managers of start-up or early-stage companies; senior managers of companies that are restarting or making a transition for one mode of operation to another; and employees leaving large companies due to a reduction in force or to start businesses.

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Last modified: Aug 19, 2005, 16:16 EDT