New CFO Leading Emptoris Towards IPO Goals

It is unrealistic for any company to think that every day its doors are open business will proceed as planned. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the occasional negative event is simply unavoidable, but what differentiates a strong company from a weak company is its ability to recover from unfavorable situations and to get its business objectives back on track. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/9t2NJ3)

After losing a significant patent lawsuit and being sold off by its investors to private equity firm West Coast in December of 2008, Burlington, Massachusetts’ Emptoris Inc., is now making efforts to expand in anticipation of an IPO in 2011.

To spearhead the company’s financial activities, Emptoris selected Bradley Miller as its new Chief Financial Officer. Miller has more than 24 years of business experience, 18 years of which he served as CFO of public companies. Most recently, Miller worked at Aspen Technology, “a leading supplier of integrated software and services to process industries,” which has more than 1,500 customers in 21 countries.

“We’re extremely pleased to have Brad Miller join Emptoris as Chief Financial Officer,” said Patrick D. Quirk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emptoris. “His experience as a CFO with fast-growing, multi-national public technology companies will serve Emptoris and its customers well as the company reaches its next stage of growth.”

In a time when Emptoris is seeking to expand its operations and workforce in part via acquisitions, Miller’s history makes him a particular fitting CFO. While serving as CFO of Viissage Technology, Miller oversaw the purchase of Integrated Biometrics and SecuriMetrics as well as a $770 million merger with Indentix. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/aFDJGi)

“Emptoris has steadily expanded its global organization and market share, and is well positioned to extend its growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Brad brings the specific skills and experience necessary to help Emptoris capitalize on such opportunities and to extend the company’s position as a market leader,” CEO Quirk assured.

Miller launched his career working for Coopers & Lybrand (now a part of PricewaterhouseCoopers). During this period, he earned his CPA credentials and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

“I am excited to be joining the world-class leadership team at Emptoris – and to have the opportunity to be part of an organization that is growing the bottom line for its Global 2000 customers,” Miller said. “I look forward to helping Emptoris strengthen and grow its world-class organization.” (Miller image courtesy: http://bit.ly/9t2NJ3)

With a main goal of enabling “better decision-making through business optimization,” Emptoris markets a six-component software suite including programs that focus on spending analysis, sourcing, services procurement, supplier risk analysis, and contract management. Presently, Emptoris has sold its suite to Global 2000 companies in more than 90 countries. Key customers of Emptoris include American Express, Kraft, Motorola, Samsung, and Vodafone.

Now, well past the point of recovering from its unfavorable lawsuit in 2008, Emptoris is on its way to realizing its expansion goals with Miller as its new CFO. Emptoris is a clear example that, while strong companies may not be immune to setbacks, they can overcome them and go on to reach high levels of success.

[Sources: http://bit.ly/9t2NJ3, http://bit.ly/cG1KBV, http://bit.ly/cISrxZ]

C-Crete Cements its Rank as $100K Winner

Getting a business off the ground takes far more than simply having a good idea. Although determination and drive are key requirements, a more material prerequisite is funding. Without money, it can be nearly impossible to grow your company into a thriving enterprise. (Image courtesy: http://www.mit100k.org/home/)

C-Crete Technologies, a student-run startup that created a “nanoengineered” concrete that is stronger than standard concrete and reduces CO2 emissions, was awarded the $100 thousand grand prize in MIT’s Entrepreneurship Competition this week.

“For many years, the world has been looking for simple, scalable solutions to reduce the global carbon footprint and limit its impact on the environment,” explained Natanel Barookhian, C-Crete co-founder and MIT Sloan School of Management MBA. “We at C-Crete Technologies have developed a method for tackling this issue by targeting the production of cement, one of the most widely used materials on earth, while improving all of its core properties.”

From a pool of other strong contenders, such as a team that developed an insulin chewing gum, a panel of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and successful professionals, selected C-Crete as the competition’s winner, primarily because of the company’s strong business plan and product presentation.

“For the past 20 years, the MIT $100K has been inspiring entrepreneurs to pursue their passions and create businesses that will impact the world around them,” said Daniel Vannoni, Managing Director of MIT’s Entrepreneurship Competition. “The competition is an educational exercise that allows students to pursue the entrepreneurial path in a fairly risk free environment... In the end, we all win from the efforts of our competing teams.”

During its twenty-year lifetime, MIT’s Entrepreneurship Competition has funded the creation of 130 companies that have gained $770 million in venture funding, and generated over 2,500 new jobs. Some recent successful companies created from the competition include Akamai, C-Bridge Internet Solutions, Harmonix, and Brontes Technologies. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/abvcCx)

C-Crete was not the only team to walk away from the competition with cash in hand. Finalists, first runner-ups, and second runner-ups were awarded $20,000, $5,000, and $3,000, respectively. The competition’s audience favorite also received a $10,000 award.

A competition such as MIT’s is ideal for startups looking for their big break. In the end, even those companies that do not leave with funding benefit from the free publicity generated by the event. After all, pitching your idea to a crowd of people attending an entrepreneurship competition is an excellent way to catch an investor’s eye.

[Sources: http://bit.ly/bz1gXe, http://www.mit100k.org]