Entrepreneurs Selling to Global Goliaths

Entrepreneurial companies need to effectively negotiate with large global companies whether they're selling products and services or dealing with a large single source supplier. In this panel discussion, you'll learn to maximize joint mutual gain and neutralize hard bargaining and ineffective tactics.

Get the insider's perspective and join our panelists with expertise in purchasing, private equity, investment banking and consulting and who hail from companies including IBM, Q Advisors, Rudi's Bakery, and others. Materials and continental breakfast is provided. Space is limited; please register to attend.

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Topic Detail | Panelist Bios | Location and Parking

Topics include

• Common issues small companies face in dealing with large, global players (including the ins and outs of global master service agreements, procurement, term sheets and more.)
  
• Common negotiation tactics, psychology/subjective nature of negotiations in large company cultures
• Taking a global company perspective
• Preparing for meetings with large firms
• Avoiding negotiation traps
• How entrepreneurial companies can position themselves for M&A
• And more
  

Panelists

Ed Flaherty has over 25 years of experience building and transforming companies into high growth and profitable entities through strategic focus and performance improvement. His leadership efforts have included serving as Chairman, CEO, President and CFO of public and private businesses. He spent the last 15 years working with private equity and venture capital firms. Most recently he was Chairman and CEO of TradeBeam negotiating its sale to CDC Software and TrenStar negotiating its sale to Fluensee. He has held executive positions with The Feld Group, EDS, Citigroup and audit with Coopers & Lybrand. Ed is a CPA with a BS, Accounting from The Pennsylvania State University and has served on many International and US based for-profit and not-for-profit Boards.

Lisa Prassack has passion for rapidly understanding and solving the strategy and operational challenges faced by growing companies. She has led operations, product, marketing and sales strategies that resulted in successful sales of five businesses delivering $380 million in shareholder value. Career contributions at established companies (Avaya, GE, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark) as well as top operations, marketing and sales executive at several start-ups. BS Computer Science Penn State University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Rob Kaufman, now at Q Advisors, has over 20 years of international capital markets experience raising and investing capital as both agent and principal, and representing clients in mergers and acquisitions. Rob has helped execute the mergers and acquisitions, financing and recapitalization strategies of clients including Circle Graphics, Highwinds Network Group, IP Commerce, MatchLogic, SpectraLink and Symbios Logic. Formerly, Rob was the CEO at NetLibrary and a VP at Goldman Sachs in London. Rob has a BA Economics from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

Carmen Rarden is the Manager for IBM Global Procurement. Responsible for managing the IBM and AT&T Supplier relationship and AT&T's provision of network services globally, Carmen's team and mission support clients based across IBM business lines and geographies. Her previous positions include: Federal Procurement Delivery Manager; Procurement Global Strategy Lead; Transformation and Strategy Project Lead; Procurement Services Consultant; Procurement Contracts Strategy Manager; Manager Alliance, Acquisitions and Negotiation Support. Carmen has a BS and JD from the University of Alberta and an MBA from Arizona State University in Supply Chain Management.

Jane Miller is the President and CEO of Charter Baking Company, the bakers of Rudi's Organic. After a start at PepsiCo in marketing and general management during the '80s, she's held leadership and C-level charges at Bestfoods Baking Company, the HJHeinz Company, and joined an executive team that successfully developed the bankruptcy emergence plan for Interstate Bakeries where 26,000 jobs were at stake. She earned a BA in Russian Studies from Knox College and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Seminar Organizer

Joyce Colson, Colson-Quinn Law. For over 30 years, Joyce has represented Fortune 500 and small- and medium-sized companies. From representing a landowner against 40 oil companies to the lone entrepreneur negotiating terms with large corporations, she believes entrepreneurs need negotiations skills now more than ever. Colson-Quinn has been involved with more than 40 litigated lawsuits and 30 mediations, as well as managing the creation and sale of several hundred companies. In Colorado since 1996, Colson-Quinn cofounded Start Up Base Camp and presented the Fast Trac Entrepreneurial Program for the Kauffman Foundation and the Boulder Chamber. It has published business and negotiation articles in the Boulder County Business Report, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Denver Business Journal. Joyce is a long time member of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship advisory board and served as an executive committee member for several years.

Location and Parking

We'll see you at the Aspen Room of the University Memorial Center (UMC), adjacent on the CU-Boulder campus. (See campus map.)

Parking in Euclid AutoPark directly adjacent to the UMC is recommended. Metered parking is located along Euclid and surrounding streets. (See a map of parking lots and regulations.) Check signage carefully when parking to avoid penalties.