July 2021

Hope you all had a Happy 4th of July Weekend! Summer is now well underway and as we are enjoying the warm days and extra time with family we really don’t want to be thinking about Fall. But I can’t resist -- please save the date for Venture Fest - Fall ‘21. We will be holding Venture Fest at SUNY New Paltz (yes, face to face) on Thursday, October 14 from 12:30pm-6:30pm. We are planning an exciting agenda and will provide program details in the August newsletter.

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Entrepreneurs

Esther Downton is the founder and CEO of Eliza and Wyld, which was originally an organic CBD company when she first came through the HV Mentor Program. As someone who thrives in work by connecting with others, finding sounding boards, and having holes poked through her logic, she found that being a solo entrepreneur during a pandemic was a struggle. To break this total isolation, Esther looked for external support and found that both within HV Women in Business as well as within SUNY New Paltz’s HV Mentor Program. 

Time is precious for every entrepreneur, but that is especially the case with Esther who is a full time mom of two on top of the business. Esther needs to learn business components quickly and move fast, which often means she doesn’t have time to sit down and do a lot of desk research. She needs the cliff notes for everything business. Thus, getting external and expert advice from someone who has been there before is key. 

HV Mentors paired Esther with Wayne Miller, who although hadn’t worked in the CBD industry, was described by Esther as being curious to learn about the industry. He had impressive business acumen that fit well with Esther's situation. As Esther said, “It’s a real luxury to have someone with seasoned business experience devote time thinking through business challenges, play devil's advocate, and not be afraid to stop and say “that didn’t make sense”.”

In addition to getting feedback on communications and her pitch, Wayne helped Esther navigate launching two new products, which pivot away from organic CBD and instead focus on natural products designed for other women surviving through the pandemic. For example, the first product, called Everyday, is a mushroom coffee booster, handpicked with beneficial herbs & adaptogens to battle some of life’s most common daily symptoms and challenges. By the time you are reading this, the new product is available on her website, Amazon, and in many local Hudson Valley stores. The product was designed for others, particularly women, who experienced feelings of depletion, burnout and fatigue. As Esther continues to push out the new product amongst local and independent businesses, as a local business, it’s a joy to witness the movement of Hudson Valley entrepreneurs who are keeping the value of local first. 

HV Mentors pairs Hudson Valley based, growth-oriented entrepreneurs of all sizes with professional mentors. They accept small businesses to hockey-stick start-ups. Mentor or be mentored . 

 

 

Investors 

Sidecar investments can be a powerful tool for angel investing funds like Hudson Valley Startup Fund and for individual investors, as well. 

A sidecar is generally defined as an investment made by a secondary investor alongside a primary investor. A common example is an individual investor who may not be able or willing to meet the minimum investment amount set by a startup. They can ride alongside an angel fund.

HVSF has had sidecar investors on many of its deals, with the ride-along investments typically being in the $10k to $25k range alongside HVSF’s larger investment. (Typically over $100k.)

Sidecars are popular with individual investors seeking to “double down” on an investment they already have a stake in via their angel fund membership. And they allow a relatively small angel fund to make larger investments than would otherwise be possible or prudent. 

Over the course of Funds I and II, HVSF has seen significant interest and participation from members (and friends of the fund) making sidecar investments. In fact, HVSF has been able to invest roughly $1.5m in its portfolio companies via sidecars in addition to the $2m direct investments the group has made. 

The financial power of these investor network relationships can help make angel funds more attractive to startups seeking financing. 

As Johnny LeHane, HVSF Managing Member, notes, “Many angels and venture capital firms that invest in pre-seed and seed stage companies talk about their network of investors.  Those that can show a track record of sidecar participation are powerful allies to a startup looking to close out sub $1M rounds.  Even though HVSF has a likely maximum check size of $200K, we have shown that for the right team, opportunity and deal, we can organize multiples of that amount to fill out a round.”

For more information about Hudson Valley Startup Fund, please contact Fund Manager for Communications, Andrew Schulkind at info@hvstartupfund.com, and visit our website at www.hvstartupfund.com.

Leaders

Hudson Valley Venture Hub logo

The HV Venture Hub is moving into a new phase by introducing a Membership Platform based on Growth Zone. There are several benefits that will develop over time as our Membership Site is populated with members and content:

  • Any member can find another member by logging into the site
  • A Resource Hub can be accessed within the site that will be populated with high value curated content helpful to entrepreneurs
  • A Resource Directory will be publicly available on our HV Venture Hub website. We encourage any organization that supports entrepreneurs to create a Directory Listing (by becoming a paid Organization Member, annual fee $75). See and Growth Zone Directory Example and GCSEN Foundation Directory Listing Example.  
  • Posting events (and we plan to propagate those events to other event calendars)

Now, a Collaboration Request: please help us to pilot our Membership Platform by signing up as a member. You can Sign Up Here. There are three membership types:

  • Individual Member: free
  • Organization Member: free (no public Resource Directory listing)
  • Organization Member: $75 annual fee (includes public Resource Directory listing)

If you are the Founder/CEO of an organization that provides services to HV entrepreneurs, we encourage you to become a paid organization member ($75 annual) and to create your Resource Directory listing. If you do not want a Resource Directory listing but still are part of an organization (of any kind), join as a free organization member. If you are an individual not part of any specific organization, join as a free individual member.

 

Thank you for helping us to launch this exciting new HV Venture Hub initiative.

Service Providers

Spark + Sterling LLC is a virtual law practice dedicated to supporting startups and small businesses. Located in Kingston, we represent growing companies throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City.

Spark + Sterling was founded to help entrepreneurs sell products and services to large corporations. Engaging with a corporate customer can mean lengthy discussions and complex compliance questions. We use our decades of experience inside global enterprises to meet these challenges and build solid relationships.

In addition to negotiating sales contracts, we advise startups and small businesses on many other types of transactional matters, including:

  • Responses to Requests for Proposal and Requests for Information (RFPs/RFIs)
  • Presentations to customers on topics ranging from sales to compliance
  • Pitches to angel investors or corporate investment departments
  • Consulting deals, whether providing services to a customer or engaging consultants on behalf of the company
  • SaaS agreements, whether selling to a customer or purchasing for the company’s own use
  • Licensing content or data, whether to a customer or for the company’s own use
  • Statements of work
  • Proofs of concept
  • Relationships with sponsors
  • Marketing contracts
  • Non-disclosure agreements
  • Terms of use and privacy notices
  • Subscription and membership agreements
  • Plain-language legal terms
  • Responses to compliance questions, such as IT security questionnaires
  • Contract templates that reduce time to close

Spark + Sterling’s founder, Jenevra Georgini, also serves as a startup mentor at Hudson Community Incubator and Project W. As an alumna member of Golden Seeds, she is an angel investor in several early-stage companies.

To learn more, please contact info@sparkandsterling.com, or visit us at https://sparkandsterling.com.

 

 

Before Silicon Valley, The HV

Margaret Beekman Livingston - Team Builder


Before team building became a pillar of entrepreneurship, Margaret Beekman Livingston (1724- 1800) created ‘Team Livingston’ at Clermont.

Born into the land-wealthy Beekman family of Rhinebeck, ‘Peggy’s’ future was predictable. 1775 delivered a tornado of change. Within a seven-month period, she became a widow and CEO of an 80,000-acre family enterprise, losing her husband, father, and father-in-law, in addition to raising her ten children. And the American Revolution was a ‘hot’ war in the Hudson Valley. What to do?




Peggy’s character and skills, paired with a strong family system, were her saving grace. She was intentionally prepared in childhood to be an ‘accidental entrepreneur’. Team Livingston, her ten children were raised to be bonded, capable and ready stewards.

In her new role of Estate Executive & Entrepreneur; Peggy was a strategic and tactical leader. She executed on a vision for her family, inherited assets, and helped birth a new nation.

Peggy’s 3 strategic decisions to survive and thrive.

Respond not react. Using a business school term, Peggy was a 360 Servant Leader. She was a strong woman of faith, Rhinebeck Reformed Church, possessing a toolbox full of skills and experiences. Clermont offered an ideal environment to reflect and plan.

Lean into her strengths: emotional intelligence and organization. Her days and nights were filled with farmers on her estates, ten children of varying ages, a significant home and household, and a robust personal life.

Distribute her inherited assets early to her children – Team Livingston. This strategic decision completed the entrepreneurial arc of her professional career from ‘accidental’ entrepreneur to Executive Chairman.

Postscript: First born son of Margaret and Judge Robert R. Livingston was Robert R. Livingston

  • Inherited the Manor at Clermont estate
  • Chancellor of the State of New York (24 years)
  • Participating drafter of the Declaration of Independence
  • Gave the Oath of office to George Washington
  • Minister to France
  • Financial backer of Robert Fulton, steamboat entrepreneur – the Clermont.

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.

  

Don Delaney

Contact welcome: Donald J. Delaney, HV Entrepreneurship Historian & Blog Writer for the HV Venture Hub at SUNY New Paltz. You can reach Don at don@dondelaney.com, 845-264-1505

© Donald J. Delaney 2021

 

Events

Comments? Email Tony DiMarco at dimarcoa@newpaltz.edu