And so it begins....

Another year is upon us, another year of imagination, discovery, friendships, and happenings that will forever be solidified in our lives.  Whether you started a new business, made some new friends, had an internship, or simply reflected this summer-its time to begin a new school year and with it new opportuniies.

CEO has began an evolution.  An evolution to meet the needs of its members while still having an atmosphere of fun and inquisitive minds.  Many great things are planned for this year, such as the Idea Pitch Competition with doubled cash prizes to the top business ideas as well as speakers and business visits.  Last year CEO was quite heavily speaker influenced with speakers offering great insight into the world of being an entrepreneur.  This year CEO is going to slow the flow of speakers and concentrate more on engaging members to act and take their ideas to the next level.  After all, no idea can becoming tangible until the person who formulated it takes action.

Grand Valley is teaming with people with the desire to be a vehicle of change and positively impact their fields.  CEO will offer those with the desire to change an outlet to get started.  Whether you are an arts major or a science major-CEO is the place to have your ideas heard.  We look foward to meeting each and every one of you this year. A year which will usher in a new decade of entrepeneurs at Grand Valley State University.

Notes:

Meetings this year will be held at 7 PM TUESDAYS IN ALLENDALE with the exception of some speaker events which may be held on the downtown PEW CAMPUS.

Congratulations to the CEO E-Board for 2010-2011!

VP of Promotions: John Davis

Tomorrow nights meeting will be at the Saavvy Entrepreneur Series V: Cash Flow and How to Use it!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
5 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Registration and Networking      5 - 6 p.m.
Program                                        6 - 7:30 p.m.
Networking                                    7:30 - 9 p.m. 

BACK TO GVSU LOCATION
Room 123
Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences
Grand Valley State University
301 Michigan Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI  49503

Co-produced locally by the West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative, Grand Angels, MIT Enterprise Forum
and Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest.

The Savvy Entrepreneur seminar series will provide a highly interactive forum for entrepreneurs and start-up, early- and mid-stage
high growth companies to interact with a panel of experts, as well as network with their peers. The series is designed to focus not
only on the basic how-to’s of building a successful business, but also cover best practices in intellectual property, team building,
initial sales and securing capital.

Cost to attend:
$30 per session if registered in advance, $40 per session at the door.
Students: $5 per session at the door.

Click here to register online.

Parking is provided onsite. Please pick up parking permit from the parking attendant located behind the Cook - DeVos Center for
Health Sciences building and accessed off of Lafayette Street.

Topics include:

September 30, 2009 – Anatomy of the First Sale - COMPLETE
Learn the anatomy of the first sale, how to think through positioning your service/product, and how to structure your message to
maximize value.
Sponsor: Reagan Marketing & Design

October 15, 2009 – Building Barriers to Market Entry by Competition: Intellectual Property and All That Jazz! - COMPLETE
Multiple opportunities and options can be created to build barriers to market entry by competitors to your new enterprise. This
session will focus on strategic and tactical use of intellectual property, trade secret, first-to-market positioning, channel blocking,
strategic partnership, and other ways to build and keep market dominance!
Sponsor: Price, Heneveld, Cooper, DeWitt & Litton, LLP

November, 18, 2009 - Building a Great Team - COMPLETE
The top five criteria to most investor reviews is management, management, management, management, and management. Designing
and building a winning management team (and Board!) is essential to business success and gaining investment. Our panel of experts
will address how to recruit and retain key leaders, advisors, and board members for your start-up company.
Sponsor: Axios Incorporated


February 18, 2010 – The Continuum of Funding - COMPLETE
Access to capital at any stage of business development is critical. This session will focus on which type of investment
is most appropriate, and what investment vehicles are available (especially some you might not know about!)
Sponsor: Warner, Norcross & Judd


April 20, 2010 – Cash Flow, and How to Use It.
Hooray! There is cash flow into your business! Come debate the best way to use it -short and long term- to build
meaningful value!  This is the last seminar in the series. Come network one last time, wrap-up and recap and we will discuss the series as a whole as you provide your feedback.
Sponsor: Lambert, Edwards & Associates

Its that time of year again and CEO will be holding elections this Tuesday, April 6 in room 302E Devos @ 7pm for the following E-Board positions,

-Plan and organize the CEO National Conference visit for the group

-Organize fundraising activities

Come prepared with a short (2-3min) speech on why you would be a good candidtate for the E-Board position you are interested in.  At this meeting we will also be discussing CEO for next year.  See you there!