January 2020

 Hope everyone had a great holiday and best wishes for a Happy and Entrepreneurial 2020! 

We are looking forward to a great year of entrepreneurial activity across the Hudson Valley. The HV Venture Hub will continue its mission to act as a catalyst for increasing connections and collaboration across the entrepreneur ecosystem. In 2020, we will host several themed Forums for ecosystem participants:

  • HV Entrepreneur Educators Forum (Jan 10) for professors and administrators supporting higher education entrepreneurship programs across the HV
  • March: HV Entrepreneurs Forum (HV entrepreneurs learning from each other)
  • June: HV Makers Forum
  • September: HV Services Providers Forum
  • November: HV Co-Working Forum

And of course, Venture Fest ‘20! Save the date -- Wednesday, October 7 Noon - 6:30PM.

Entrepreneurs

Busie, located in Kingston, is building the software layer for group travel, first by bringing the severely underserved Charter Bus industry online. Our current platform streamlines the charter quoting and booking process for bus operators while gaining an understanding of where travelers are going, what they are doing on trips, and how operators are fulfilling them. This data layer provides us the ability to offer additional horizontal services for 236 million American travelers taking a charter bus each year and bring the group travel ecosystem online efficiently at scale. HV Startup Fund recently invested in Busie.

But what is a “charter bus”? A “charter bus” is when a group rents the entire bus for a trip, think athletic teams and school field trips. The idea for Busie initially came when the founders were booking numerous charter buses for their student organization at Syracuse University. Each time they went to book a charter they dreaded the process and were confused as to why in this day and age, when everything is accessible online through our phones or computers, the charter process was the polar opposite, taking days to get a quote and sometimes weeks to finish a booking. 

The team went out to speak with hundreds of bus operators and quickly learned that the industry had been completely ignored by technology. An incredible opportunity existed to modernize the charter bus industry and help bus operators provide greater accessibility to their incredible services. At Busie, we believe when communities travel together and have these shared experiences, they become stronger and more enriched. We aim to support that in every way possible.

For more information, see the Busie website or contact Busie.

Investors 

In December, members of the HV Startup Fund gathered at the Beacon Hotel to celebrate the fourth calendar year of Fund operation. Highlights from 2019 include: a second $1M fund launched, 11 startup pitches hosted, and 7 investments made in 6 HV startups totalling $440,000 invested from Funds I and II, and another $425,000 in side car investments from individual members. HVSF also sponsored the HV Venture Hub and partnered with Accel7 and HVEDC to increase visibility of the Fund and promote entrepreneurial activity in the Hudson Valley.

 

Additional 2019 highlights below:

Highlights for the four years (2016-2019) across Fund I and II:

  • 62 HV angel investors
  • $2,175,000 (Fund I and II)
  • 140 HV startups screened 
  • 42 member meetings
  • 57 startup pitches 
  • 39 moved into Due Diligence
  • 9 investments, total = $1,165,000
  • Side-car investments = $605,000

Leaders

Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation (HVEDC) is the leading economic development agency for the seven-county region comprised of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. As an advocate for economic growth, HVEDC markets the Hudson Valley’s prime business locations to corporate executives, site selection consultants and real estate brokers. The organization also works in close collaboration with other regional and state economic development professionals to facilitate related projects from concept to action, and provides comprehensive market data – including economic indicators, workforce information, industrial and commercial real estate information and other information – relevant to business location decisions.

HVEDC also provides invaluable business education and training to businesses of all sizes, including start-ups, via its Hudson Valley Economic Development Network, by providing connections between the general public and academia, government, not-for-profit organizations and business, thereby keeping all informed about the needs of the community at large, to enhance economic opportunity in the region. 

HVEDC is mindful of having the area of entrepreneurship well-represented on its advisory board, making the organization able to provide valuable guidance to anyone interested in creating and growing a business from the ground up in the Hudson Valley. The advisory board includes representation from Accel7, Hudson Valley Startup Fund and Hudson Valley Venture Hub at SUNY New Paltz. In partnership with HVEDC, these organizations will work toward a more united and concerted effort from municipalities, private venture, service providers and colleges to attract and retain startup founders and operational teams that can grow these companies in the Hudson Valley.

HVEDC has helped start the organizational, branding and promotional effort for NY BioHud Valley, Hudson Valley 3D Printing and the Hudson Valley Food & Beverage Alliance. 

For more information, please contact President and CEO Mike Oates, moates@hvedc.com

Service Providers

The Kagan Law Group, P.C. is a boutique business-focused practice handling M&A, corporate, commercial, tax, employment and litigation for its clients, with its principal office in Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley and a satellite office in Manhattan. We provide a range of legal, business and tax advice to start-ups, investors in business, new business owners, market leaders and well-funded emerging businesses, who are proactively expanding our clients’ businesses through asset acquisitions or merging with complementary businesses in similar or competing markets. 

We handle all types of business contracts, pre-deal due diligence and transactional negotiations, joint venture agreements, a wide variety of business asset acquisitions and sales from tech, service companies to manufacturing, commercial real estate, business and intellectual property assets in addition to licensing and commercial real estate investment opportunities.

We also form corporations for domestic and foreign investors with the necessary corporate form evaluation, draft shareholder, operating or partnership agreements, buy/sell agreements, handle employment law contracts, prepare handbooks and all areas of commercial litigation.

  • Business Sale Transactions, Pre-Deal
  • Due Diligence, Purchase Asset Agreements, Stock Purchase Agreements
  • Tax Advice for Domestic & Foreign Businesses on tax issues related to business formation, operation, raising capital via equity & debt, acquisition or sale of a business, state and local taxation issues, such as sales, use, income and franchise taxes
  • Licensing Agreements, Trademarks
  • brand expansion, professional services, software and consumer products
  • Business Contracts & Negotiations
  • Commercial Real Estate Contracts for Professional and Retail Spaces
  • Private Placement Memos & Subscription Agreements for Business Investments
  • Internal Corporate/Ownership Agreements, Partnership, Shareholder, Buy/Sell, Employment Law, Executive Compensation & Severance Agreements, Profit Sharing
  • Acquisition Consulting for domestic and international companies and investors & post deal /merger legal counsel

For more information, contact Linda Kagan at: 108 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572, 845-265-3300

Before Silicon Valley, The HV

By Donald J. Delaney

Albert and Alfred Smiley, The Mohonk Mountain House

Hudson Valley pioneer social entrepreneurs - the Third AHA

A continuation of the prior two AHAs covered in the November 2019 newsletter...

Visionary entrepreneurs are rare. They see, conceive and construct a future state that has never existed before. Before Silicon Valley, visionary entrepreneurs used the Hudson Valley for creative inspiration and enterprise. Morse transformed communication, Vassar connected entrepreneurship, philanthropy and education, Fulton and Livingston transformed transportation, and Watson launched computing and electronic information. Add to this list of visionaries entrepreneurs, Albert and Alfred Smiley. The Smiley Brothers' entrepreneurial vision and creations were luxury eco-tourism and social venture entrepreneurship.

Steve Job made the iconic phrase ‘One more thing’ the surprise setup to announcing a new Apple product and entrepreneurial growth (e.g., iPhone, iPad and iPod). In 1869, Albert and Alfred and their families were well settled into a retirement life as Quaker dairy farmers in Poughkeepsie. Their ‘one more thing’ was possibly a modest family summer home in the Catskill mountains, a "slow and quiet’ place to enjoy living their Quaker values. Alfred had grown fond of nature outings in the Catskill and Shawangunk mountains twenty miles west of the Poughkeepsie farm. On a September day Alfred’s thought focused on organizing a picnic harvest celebration outing. During a hike, Alfred climbed a steep rock path to the place called Paltz Point. Standing on that point, Alfred visualized his ‘one more thing’.

Alfred’s eyes filled with the vision of a pristine and calm mountain top glacial lake and a forest-rich environment reminiscent of his childhood. He saw a small inn tucked into the waters edge. As he absorbed the dreamlike vision. Alfred's practical educator brain started checking boxes: location, nature, calm and quiet, a building large enough for both families....

Alfred sent word down the mountain for Albert to come at once. Albert quickly joined Alfred at Mohonk Lake, and their joint enthusiasm created a challenging vision requiring an entrepreneurial response. 

When he first saw Mohonk, Albert Smiley “fell in love with the scenery and felt sure of its development”. In modern day business jargon, he discovered his “why”. His personal “why” was “to provide a home.”  Smiley’s “how” -- “in order to pay for it I started in business.” The newly branded business, Mohonk Mountain House (1869), found a market and product fit with the newly emerging demand for American style leisure eco-travel. The Third AHA.

Entrepreneurial End-Note

Albert and Alfred Smiley’s ‘growth mindset’ both as educators and entrepreneurs enabled them to see a future in Mohonk Lake and created an actionable vision. Albert and Alfred Smiley came out of a successful retirement to take on a new entrepreneurial journey and financial risk. Albert said, “I had a distaste and no experience”. 

Albert skillfully negotiated the purchase of Mohonk Lake and three hundred acres from John F. Stokes, reducing the asking price of $738,400 (2019 dollars) down to $516,880 (2019 dollars), and a delayed closing, so Alfred could be contacted in Providence.

The Smiley Brothers transformed Stokes’ ten room ‘failing’ inn into a remodeled and rebranded ‘Mountain House’ greeting 40 guests on opening day in June 1870.

Under Albert and Alfred’s entrepreneurship, Mohonk Mountain House transformed from a modest ‘family and friends’ inn, into a 300-room luxury eco-resort. Three hundred acres became 10,000 acres, and the Mountain House became the host venue for significant domestic and international civic and philanthropic events. And, their neighbor and fellow entrepreneur in Poughkeepsie, S. M. B. Morse kept the Mountain House connected to the outside world via a telegraph line.

The success of Mohonk Mountain House provided a platform for Albert Smiley to create the Lake Minnewaska Mountain House / Cliff House in the 1870’s, a 250-guest resort.

In 2018, the Mohonk Board welcomed Tom Smiley, Chief Executive Officer and Eric Gullickson, President, as fifth-generation Co-Executives.

This Before the Silicon Valley, the Hudson Valley blog offers a 400-year narrative journey honoring the Icons of entrepreneurship and their impact on invention, innovation, and commercialization in the Hudson Valley.

Contact welcome: Donald J. Delaney, HV Entrepreneurship Historian & Blog Writer for the HV Venture Hub. You can reach Don at don@dondelaney.com

© Donald J. Delaney 2019

Events

January 10 (New Paltz): HV Entrepreneur Educators Forum hosted by the Hudson Valley Venture Hub (invitation only - contact Tony DiMarco, dimarcoa@newpaltz.edu)

January 13 (New Paltz): HV Women in Business monthly meeting, 6:00pm – 8:00 pm 

January 29 (Kingston): FuzeHub Build4Scale manufacturing workshop for entrepreneurs with a physical product, co-hosted by GCSEN Foundation and Fala Technologies

February (New Rochelle, Rhinebeck) - Applications are now open for Accel7’s Winter Entrepreneur Bootcamp, starting the first week in February. Sessions held in the evening. 

February 10 (Poughkeepsie): HV Women in Business monthly meeting, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

March (New Rochelle, Rhinebeck) - Applications are now open for Accel7’s Spring Accelerator Cohort, a part-time, 3-month program for startup founders and teams wishing to advance your business.

March 26 (New Paltz): HV Entrepreneurs Forum hosted by the Hudson Valley Venture Hub, an opportunity for HV entrepreneurs to learn from each ot

Comments? Email Tony DiMarco at dimarcoa@newpaltz.edu