SEMINAR TRACKS

TRACK 1: Start-Up and Early Stage Growth

1:30 pm - 2:20 pm
Getting Your Start-Up Started
Learn how to be successful in the very early stages of your company. Hear how successful start ups find the funding, set investor expectations and communicate the critical decisions. Key discussion items also include:

• What are the key strategy and communication decisions to consider when you're seeking early investment funds?
• What are the primary sources of funding for start-ups and early stage companies?
• How do you effectively communicate with your investors?
• How do you answer the key investor question: "When do we see our money back?"

2:30 pm - 3:20 pm
What Happens after the Investor Says 'I'm Interested'
Learn the details of closing a start-up or early stage company deal and how to live and succeed with your new partners. Participants will get a close up view of the "post finance" landscape and what you have to do to get it right the first time. Discussion will also include:

• What are the similarities and differences in Angel and VC investor relationships?
• What proof of concept methods can boost our investors' confidence and understanding of what to expect?
• How involved will the investors be after they've provided the financing?

3:30 pm - 4:20 pm
Generating Sales on a Budget
Explore cost effective ways for your start-up or early-stage company to attract new customers and to expand business with current customers. For many start ups, your first point of stress in your newly minted investor relationship is hitting your revenue numbers. Most entrepreneurs will say that it is, "easier to predict costs than to predict sales." Learn the most valuable tools for survival in this session, including:

• How do you recognize the potential for a "real" sale?
• What are your core competencies and rainmakers in an economic downturn?
• Do you need to adjust your forecasts or value proposition to meet the realities of the current market?

TRACK 2: Mid-Size Growth

1:30 pm - 2:20 pm
Positioning for Growth by Moving to Web-based Delivery
This seminar will demonstrate how mid-size education companies are shifting their model to Web-based delivery and/or Software as a Service (SaaS), as a strategy for growth. Discussion will cover the market impacts and financial models, including

• What are the strategies for shifting from a license business to a SaaS subscription business?
• What are the growth opportunities as well as some of the challenges along the way?
• What are the communication decisions to consider when you're transitioning customers?

2:30 pm - 3:20 pm
Roadmap for Growth: Product Line expansion, Acquisition and End of Life
Products in the education market can quickly turn a medium growth company into a high growth company. Presenters will discuss the appropriate strategies for building a product roadmap for growth, including

• How do you lead new product development and create a new market in which to sell these new products?
• How do you balance product extensions, and decide the ending of a product life to allow another to live?
• How do you keep your company alive during the various growth initiatives?

3:30 pm - 4:20 pm
How to Grow Through the Dreaded $10 M Plateau
This session will explain how organizations pushed past the often-described growth plateau that is around $10M in revenue through methods such as internal processes, customer interaction, and information management. More specifically, the presenters and attendees will discuss

• How do you get over the barriers keeping your company under this plateau and develop the momentum to get you over it?
• How do you make the right judgment calls, especially in operations, personnel, marketing focus, and the new markets?

TRACK 3: Later Stage Growth

1:30 pm - 2:20 pm
Sustaining Large-Company Growth
Leaders of this session will translate the industry trends from the morning panels into the implications for large companies. They will lead lively discussion topics such as

• How did the financial and industry analysts' views mesh with your own experience?
• What are some ways of getting the funding to capitalize your company?
• What is your company forecasting for growth, in the short and long term as the economy impacts your education markets?

2:30 pm - 3:20 pm
Valuation Drivers for Strategic vs Financial Buyers
The presenters will differentiate between strategic and financial buyers and help executives of large companies select the most appropriate valuation driver. They will lead discussion topics around valuation drivers in the current education market and economic downturn:

• What are the characteristics and indicators that still make your company a good investment?
• What are the most appropriate indicators when it comes to EBITDA and revenue multiples to discounted cash flow and comparable market transactions?
• What's the best advice for the buy-side and the sell-side of a transaction?

3:30 pm - 4:20 pm
Expanding into New Markets and Hotspots
A forward-looking view for K-20 education and how large companies are positioning themselves to grow market segments while building strategy around K-20 positioning. The seminar discussion will center around topics such as how do companies successfully expand into:

• an education market from one outside that space?
• a K-12 market from postsecondary or from postsecondary to K-12?
• a U.S. market to another country?
• an education market into the consumer market?