BioMimetic Chief Science Officer resigns

In an SEC filing Friday, BioMimetic Therapeutics announced the resignation of Chief Science Officer Charles Hart, citing his desire to "continue to be involved in discovery research." Hart was named in 2004 and held the role during critical phases of the company's efforts to win FDA approval for its products. BioMimetic has struggled recently to recruit patients to participate in key clinical trials, but recently received FDA approval to stay on course. Our earlier reports chronicled BioMimetic's progress and challenges, amid a fledgling Tennessee Biotech industry.

Riveting story on VCs, Al Gore, Kleiner Perkins & the Green Future

A great read: If you care about university research, venture capital, innovation and, yes, the future of Civilization -- or, if you simply love or hate Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers or Al Gore or too much government or too little -- read The New York Times Magazine's Pulitzer-worthy piece, "Capitalism to the Rescue," which is the cover story today, Oct. 5. Writer Jon Gertner produced a story with depth, and along the way he put the spotlight on University of Tennessee researchers who have created a clean-energy phenomenon called The Bloom Box. Read Gertner's contribution, here. Here's a related KPMG survey of VCs regarding Green Tech.

Angels may have shot at CoreTech

CoreTech Industries President Greg Quinn told VNC earlier this week there might be room for more angel or VC investment in his firm, as the company rolls-out new products in the lightweight concrete, recycled paving, wind-to-energy and other enviro-friendly sectors. CoreTech is awaiting zoning approval and guarantees of incentives from state and local governments, before proceeding with their proposed green-technologies R&D park in Lebanon, Tenn., about 20 minutes drive from downtown Nashville. Long term, the park could grow to 250 acres, becoming home for as many as 100 companies and perhaps 1,000 workers. Right now, though, CoreTech is about a dozen fulltimers. We'll follow the story.

New president for Nashville Technology Council

Tod Fetherling (left), a prominent veteran of ConnectivHealth, HCA and other healthcare and technology ventures, was today named president of Nashville Technology Council, succeeding Jeff Costantine. He formed BlueDot, a health and wellness consultancy in July, after parting ways with ConnectivHealth. Fetherling served several years as VP-sales for First Consulting Group, and founded Relegent, which was acquired by ConnectivHealth in 2007. He has also served as director of interactive marketing for HCA, and in a variety of interactive-development roles with The Health Network. Fox Broadcasting and others. He attended the University of Tennessee and the College of Wooster (Ohio).

New venture strategy for Nashville

It is not too strong a word to say that entrepreneur Mike Shmerling hates getting as much media coverage as he does, personally. He would rather more attention be given his operating companies and new ventures like "Mayberry's Finest" foods, which is marketed using the leverage of the CBS-controlled franchise of "The Andy Griffith Show." Well, if Mike wants to avoid the spotlight, he's going to have to quit producing such good ideas as the one we report on this morning over at VentureNashville.com. It's a potentially game-changing strategy for spawning startups that are likely, over time, to produce the kind of family tree we're all familiar with in the healthcare sector. Read the full story here.

VU Profs argue Private Equity more vigilant in new financial world

Over the weekend, two Vanderbilt University professors updated their report, "Does Private Equity Create Wealth?" The study from Owen GSM Prof. Ron Masulis and VU Law School Prof. Randall Thomas reveals that boards of directors and management teams in companies owned by private-equity funds have advantages over public companies when it comes to monitoring financial risk and performance. Say the authors, PE execs "can do a better job of monitoring of derivative transactions and derivative contract positions than their public company counterparts..." They explained at another point in the 56-page report, "Unlike public companies, boardroom activity in [leveraged buyout] firms is less concerned about regulatory compliance, committee work, and process... There is better information available to top management and board level because of initial extensive due diligence and because of the more intense operational focus... Moreover, there is a different social dynamic on the board, so that anything can be discussed and all assumptions are subject to reconsideration...." The paper offers an interesting discussion of management incentives to create shareowner value. Masulis' research is focused on M&A activity and corporate governance. The 56-page Masulis-Thomas report is here (pdf).

TTDC names chairman to succeed Marcum

Venture Nashville reports this morning on the appointment of Bill Evans (at left), who is CEO at St. Jude's in Memphis, to the chairmanship of the board of Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. Evans takes the reins from Dan Marcum, founder of Marcum Capital in Tullahoma. A specialist in the field of pharmacogenomics, Evans will work with TTDC CEO Eric Cromwell in leading the state's push to expand the knowledge-intensive, high-growth sector of the state's economy. The full story is here.

New man at Owen Entrepreneurship Center

Byron Smith (left), the longtime chief marketing officer of Nashville-based Asurion, will succeed Bruce Lynskey as clinical professor within the Owen Entrepreneurship Center, under Director Germain Boer. Our story this morning provided details of Lynskey's move to a Massachusetts tech startup and Smith's background. We'll be watching this space. If you've missed Bruce's sage observations over the past six months on The VN Blog or over at VentureNashville.com, you might want to peruse them.

Concerned Telcos, Songwriters rally in Nashville

Any uneasiness we had about having been a too skeptical of Arts+Labs' claims here this morning that it won't be lobbying were largely dispelled by subsequent reports from trade media today. Not that lobbying is a bad thing, but upfrontness when talking about public access to Internet-Broadband seems more important. The AT&T-weighted coalition's Nashville briefing for news media was at The Hermitage Hotel this morning, and included former Clinton, Bush and McCain spokespersons. That's former Clinton White House comms director Mike McCurry at left. Here's our story this morning. And, here are stories subsequently posted by Washington Post, Wired, DSL Reports and InternetNews.

NCN Angels invest in The Restaurant List

Green Hills-based Solidus Co. and Nashville Capital Network recently announced completion of a $1.6 million startup round of funding for The Restaurant List Co., which was co-founded by Nashville entrepreneurs Jeff Gould and Marc Fortune (left) to provide hotel guests information about area dining and entertainment. NCN's release said TRLC is preparing to launch in Nashville and plans to be operating in "at least five Southeast markets" by the end of 2009.

BusWeek writer: Memphis more entrepreneurial than NV

According to Sunday's Commercial Appeal, Sarah Lacy (at left) -- the San Francisco-based BusinessWeek "Valley Girl" tech columnist and author of Once you're lucky, Twice You're Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the rise of Web 2.0 -- told a tech audience in her native Memphis last Thursday that she thinks Memphis is "more deeply entrepreneurial" than Nashville because Memphis is a "town of people just getting by." The former Memphis Business Journal reporter said Memphis exemplifies the "scrappiness and creativity" needed to succeed in Web 2.0 and beyond. Host for the gathering was LaunchMemphis, a business incubator.

Tennessee ranks in Tech Trade globally

According to a report released today by the American Electronics Association (AeA), Tennessee ranked 10th in overall high-tech exports, with $4.8 billion in value, up $300 million over 2006. The state trailed, in rank-order: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, Minnesota. Tennessee was the nation's second-largest exporter of electromedical equipment, ranking behind only California with $1.6 billion in exports in the sector, about half of California's sector total. Read more, right here.

Bought out of bankruptcy, IdleAire seeks CEO

Knoxville-based IdleAire Inc. has a laudable concept that takes on added lustre during the current fuel shortage: Hook truckers' cabs (left) up to AC, TV, Internet and other comforts, and shut off those idling motors that waste fuel and leave sleeping truckers grumpy. Nonetheless, rapid growth, debt service and some management gaps led IdleAire into bankruptcy earlier this year, owing more than $300 million and having cranked operating losses totaling more than $150 million in the past two years, alone. As it attempted, ultimately unsuccessfully to stave-off bankruptcy, IdleAire was forced by lenders to retain turnaround specialist CRG Partners, an international firm HQ'd in New York City. Post-bankruptcy, CRG answers to a cluster of six investment-advisory and -management firms, who, in turn, represent the actual investors. CRG was previously credited with the turnaround of Knoxville-based Regal Cinemas. IdleAire has more than 130 sites and serves rigs operated by more than 1,600 fleet operators. The company's 2007 revenue was about $31 million, but that record sprang from a massive increase in overhead in network overhead. Trying to grow its way out of failure helped seal the company's fate. CRG is actively recruiting a new CEO with industry experience. Other key management slots may also turnover.

Should NV adopt Wall St. tossed execs for Startups here?

Absolutely one of the most interesting reads is underway at several venues regarding how smart it might be to hire some of the 'best and brightest' left homeless by the Big Apple-centered financial meltdown. Some Nashville tech execs and VCs complain we need a deeper gene pool here. Some well-intentioned bloggers are encouraging the migration of talent from the financial sector to relocate tri-coastally. At these sites you can read the often biting -- No, make that "acid" comments, and some sympathy from tech and other execs on this brainstorm. Is this really a wrongheaded strategy for ruining not only Silicon Valley, but the emerging NVTN tech community? Lots of comments at The New York Times. More details at Startuply.com, LeaveWallStreetJoinAStartup.com and AVC.com. Penny for your thoughts.

Middle Tennessee RHIO gets legs at last

Though it's still pretty much on the drawingboard, key Middle Tennessee healthcare providers today officially announced their commitment to what is now branded the Middle Tennessee eHealthConnect regional health information organization. Key executives, who signed a memo of understanding months ago, include Dr. Reginald Coopwood (left), CEO, Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority; James Houser, CEO, St. Thomas Health Services; Larry Kloess, CEO, TriStar Health System; and, Dr. Martin Sandler, associate vice chancellor for Hospital Affairs, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The group's release this afternoon indicated MTeHC will collaborate with the Governor's eHealth Advisory Council, as well as with MidSouth eHealth Alliance in Memphis, CareSpark in upper eastern Tennessee, Innovation Valley Health Information Network in Knoxville and the statewide Shared Health network. Vicki Estrin from the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health (VCBH) will help the group become operational. Also, Tennessee Hospital Association President Craig Becker involved helping the new group create a nonprofit organization to pursue the RHIOs mission.

Tech2020 names Cuddy President-CEO

Oak Ridge-based Technology 2020 announced today the appointment of Mike Cuddy (left) as president and CEO, succeeding Tom Rogers, who joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Cuddy served the past decade as VP-IT Services at SAIC, one of East Tennessee's largest employers. Earlier, he supported the Department of Energy’s missions in Oak Ridge, working for 30 years with Union Carbide, Martin Marietta, and Lockheed Martin Energy Systems. Cuddy earned his bachelor's in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance and operations research at UT. Cuddy and his wife Carolyn live in Knoxville, where she serves as the Executive Director of the UT Center for Executive Education Leadership and Executive MBA Programs. He starts at Tech 2020 on Oct. 6. The search was conducted by The Buffkin Group.

'M&A Lies'

In addition to the observations we reported this morning from the M&A conference underway here in Nashville, there were dozens of other cogent remarks by panelists -- for example, regarding the human impact of acquisitions: A spoofy brochure from Deloitte, titled "M&A Lies," was used by a moderator to poll panelists on how much credence an employee should give a new Private Equity owner's promise that "We keep most of the people we want to keep when we do a deal." That drew dark chuckles. Bryan Cressey rued the fact that while he says his firm does "try to take care of employees" in a transaction, many times he's seen top management "take transactions that hose the employees... where the owner-slash-CEO didn't really care." And what about the caliber of management getting top priority? Yes and no. Said Cressey, if you have to choose between a great management team in a bad sector and a "sorta average" management team in a great sector, "take the sector." Fellow panelist Jeff Rhodes of TPG Capital chimed in knowingly, "When a 'good' management team meats a 'bad' sector, it's the sector that keeps its reputation." By the way, there was general assent to the idea that in the current financial environment a CEO who got his job on the basis of the "growth" he or she could create probably now finds themselves spending their time managing the company's capital structure. Also, although liquidity's a challenge in some sectors, deals that involve companies with decent credit and "a clear story" are still getting done. With regard to struggling companies, look for spinoffs and carve-out startups. Read our report on prospects for health, IT and related investments here.

TN BIO's Rolwing

Our story yesterday on 'Bionic Woman' Leslie Wisner-Lynch's role in advancing biotechnology in Middle Tennessee -- with observers' comments on the industry's halting progress -- drew a crowd. Not mentioned in that article is the fact that Tennessee Biotechnology Association is getting by with basically 75 percent of an executive director: TBA Chairman and President Bob Acuff told VNC he hopes the organization will soon be able to afford 100 percent of Executive Director Joe Rolwing's time. That's Joe at left in the adjoining photo, talking with a student during a recent TNBIO Student Chapter event (there's another scheduled Sept. 22). TBA contracts for the indefatigable Rolwing's services from Cumberland Emerging Technologies, the incubator that's controlled by Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt University and Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. Rolwing was only half-time a year or so ago. The balance of his time is apparently still spent as director of the CET Life Sciences Center.

ISIS: Software as Science

At 9:25 a.m. next Friday, Sept. 19, Janos Sztipanovits will attempt to summarize in a few minutes the past, present and future of the extraordinary Institute for Software Integrated Systems at the School of Engineering, Vanderbilt University. If that feat, alone, isn't enough to attract your attention, browse through some of the most important projects underway in the software world today. The occasion: ISIS' 10th Anniversary. As reported earlier on the VN website, ISIS and its chief will soon also be host here in Nashville for a major meeting of computer-language researchers and developers.

Metro, Affiliated Computer ask $1M settlement approval

Metro Government and Affiliated Computer Services have reached a settlement agreement in their 3-year dispute over a $1.9 million software project that was to modernize handling of Metro traffic-violtion cases. Software provided by ACS didn't work. Metro will accept a $1.1 million payment from ACS, if Metro Council approves the resolution sought by the parties, Sept. 16. News coverage 18 months ago included an ACS representative declaring Metro's lawsuit to be "without merit."

Emdeon files for $460MM IPO

Nashville-based Emdeon Inc. has filed with the SEC for an IPO to raise $460 million, according to Reuters this morning. The SEC Filing is here. Previous reports on Emdeon's efforts to broaden its policy influence and related coverage of revenue-cycle management. The SEC filing provides details of Emdeon's serpentine path through a variety of ownership and brand changes, the most recent earlier this month.

Arts Unchained

At Vanderbilt University, Bill Ivey (at left) is the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, a former director of the Country Music Foundation and twice chairman of NARAS. Now, he leads the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy. In his new book, Arts, Inc., Ivey decries, among other things, that government, "as our agent, long ago ceded far too much authority over our creativity and heritage to a web of commercial interests." This is just the latest evidence of rising global awareness of the value of both creativity and the ownership of creative output. This came to mind when I spotted Microsoft's news this morning out of Amsterdam, where the company is unveiling a host of content-creation and -management tools with enormous implications for origination and preservation of intellectual property. Resources: Creative Commons. Electronic Frontier.

VCs putting money in HSA-Med Banking

San Francisco-based Canopy Financial and its HSA Insider division have gotten at least $23 million from VCs this year, so far, because folks are focusing on the intersection of healthcare and financial services. Here in Nashville, as reported today at VentureNashville.com, John Casillas has picked-up some early adopters in other states, but is finding it slow-going among Tennessee institutions. Mind you, revenue-cycle plays and e-health, generally, are getting plenty of attention in Nashville. If Casillas (and Canopy) are right, HSA's could soon create another surge in Health-related IT and governance, thereof.

Nashville ranking in 'Best Performing Cities' index

[Updated Sept. 13, 2008] Nashville ranks 22 of the top 200 major U.S. cities in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth, according to a report out today from The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index. In a separate index of 124 smaller cities, Kingsport, Johnson City and Jackson made the cut. Update: NBJ reported Sept. 12 that Nashville's employment total dropped from 25th to 36th place in America's 100 largest labor markets, although jobs in our market rose 10.9 percent in the past five years, versus the 6.3 percent national average.

Bredesen appoints Haslam to TTDC Board

[Updated 2:38 PM] Gov. Phil Bredesen today announced his appointment of City of Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam to the board of directors of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. Haslam succeeded Tennessee Municipal League Executive Director Margaret Mahery, whose term expired June 30. Haslam is a member of TML, which is assured a TTDC by law. Prior to becoming Mayor, Haslam served as president and director of Pilot Corp., the Knoxville-based company operating convenience stores and travel centers nationwide. He was also CEO of SAKS Direct, the e-commerce and catalogue division of Saks Fifth Avenue. A TTDC source said the board still has three positions open. TTDC gets to appoint one of those three and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey will name the other two. This post will be updated as information becomes available.

Gloom and Tune

UPDATED 5:10 P.M. to provide more context on Jon Shayne's comments. In this morning's VentureNashville report, investment guru Bill Spitz of Nashville provides a sobering analysis of the ethos in which the mortgage-banking crisis has unfolded, and questions whether investors will ever learn to put some distance between themselves and lemming-like mob sentiment. Spitz raised the principle of the "Moral Hazard," often invoked by economists who worry that bailouts may encourage future reckless investing. In addition, markets analyst Jon Shayne here in Music City told VNC this morning he's working away on another song -- this one about the plight of Freddie and Fannie -- to follow Jon's earlier cult hit by his on-stage persona, performer "Merle Hazard." In another conversation late this afternoon with Jon, he noted that while the future of the economy is "inherently uncertain, it seems more likely than not that we're about to have the deepest recession of the lifetime of anybody now working."

Cornwall: 'Keep credit cards in your wallet'

Jeff Cornwall, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University, isn't talking-down the importance of borrowing money, when that makes sense. If fact, he told VNC during an interview Friday, he works closely with some of the companies in the portfolio of Southeast Community Capital, on which VNC reports here. But, Cornwall (above right) told VNC that even though lenders' criteria have gotten tougher, entrepreneurs should "keep the credit card in the wallet." He said the tightening of credit and the "real shortage of true seed money" -- with many Angels and VCs moving downstream toward bigger deals -- provides further reinforcement for Cornwall's argument in favor of "bootstrapping." He said that "now that there's not money falling out of trees, most entrepreneurs have to rely on their wit and their craftiness" -- and that "plays right into" bootstrapping. Cornwall said he's passionate about bootstrapping because, "first of all...it's a critical skillset for all entrepreneurs" and those who create businesses need to "understand that this is going to be a major part of their ability to manage the resources they have," going forward, no matter the state of the economy. Bootstrapping, he said, can help avert crushing debt, minimize the need for partners, help companies survive between financing rounds, reduce the drain of personal energy and other resources, and generally help entrepreneurs "find a way to be the most efficient you can with the money that's at your hands." Cornwall's next book -- a textbook bluntly titled, Bootstrapping -- is due out soon from Prentice-Hall. No catchy subhead for Cornwall's book? "One word says it all," said the professor.

Get a handle on this Sci-Tech park thing

Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park recently held its groundbreaking, the first such development within the campus of a national science laboratory, a project managed by a community nonprofit organization. Earlier, of course, Chattanooga's Enterprise South Industrial Park got the nod from Volkswagen. Enterprise South is also home to such scitech ventures as E-Spin, a nano play. Over in Memphis, Memphis BioWorks and local institutions are pressing forward on the UT-Baptist Research Park, sure to be a magnet for innovation. Closer to home, Williamson County has the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center, anchored and driven by BioMimetic Therapeutics, with strong support from Vanderbilt and others. So far, nothing of the sort emerging in Metro/Davidson County. Proposals for redevelopment of the Metro Fairgrounds site drew arguments for mixed-use office-retail, entertainment (including keeping the State Fair there) and sports (Sounds baseball and the existing racetrack). Although there's another TVA Megasite up the road in Clarksville (Montgomery County), as previously reported in The VN Blog there are still no plans for a science-technology R&D park inside 530-square-mile Davidson County, yet.

Quanta Nashville and Dell's manufacturing exit

The Irish follow Dell Inc. more closely than we do in Nashville, because Dell does much of its outsourcing in the Emerald Isle. But, the news that Dell's plan to exit manufacturing -- reported today in-depth by The Wall Street Journal -- could have reverberations in Nashville, where Dell does some assembly and a great deal of logistics. Here's a much earlier Irish piece and this morning's ZDNet pointer. Not long ago, Nashville lost Gateway's short-lived presence here. However, Nashville is still the home for Taiwan-based Quanta Computer's very first U.S. manufacturing, service-repair and distribution facility. Could Dell's transition boost Quanta Nashville?

Caution: Synergies Ahead

Right about here, "the usual suspects" begin to get a little nervous. After all, another wave of "dialogue" is starting among economic-development officials, scientists, private-equity investors and others. Many of us are not entirely sure how to behave at this party. 'Will they respect my academic integrity and accept my lack of enthusiasm for commerce? Will they look on profit and commercialization as dirty words? Can they be trusted?' Tennessee Technology Development Corporation is going to great lengths to create in its Nov. 20-21 Tennessee Innnovation Conference an environment that is comfortable and productive for diverse actors. Back on campus at VU, Chancellor Zeppos has issued repeated assurances that continued funding of crucial academic inquiry will not be tainted by non-academic pressures -- other than to perhaps to demonstrate to scholar-peers the academic value of research. After all, there are only so many dollars to go around. What will result from all this? Time will tell.

People: Lawyer who kicked-off Nashville tech

Warren Ratliff (left) was 27 and an attorney leading the technology practice at Farris Warfield Kanaday (soon to become part of Stites & Harbison) when he put together Nashville's first supra-technology event in December 1999. Soon thereafter, Warren, now 36, became the first chairman and executive director of Nashville Technology Council, which was chartered in August 1999. The Yale Law, Duke poli-sci/history undergrad told me in an interview yesterday that the 1999 event attracted about 450 executives from virtually every part of the technology spectrum. From personal experience, I can tell you the energy in that hotel ballroom that evening was incredible, and the program was truly ecumenical, with healthcare, biotech, IT and other fields well represented. The gloom of the Dot.com bust was still faraway over the horizon, of course. Moreover, not long after the NTC's launch, Warren relocated to Atlanta, to launch a tech business with family. Yesterday, he repeatedly stressed how other local execs had played determining roles in NTC's launch, and declined taking much credit. (Today, Warren is chief counsel for McKesson Health Solutions, has a wife and three children, isn't currently involved in the Atlanta tech scene and doesn't get up to Nashville often.) Warren had, in fact, grown up working in his father's software-development business. David Condra, today once again CEO of Dalcon Communications, succeeded Ratliff at the NTC helm. After about five years at NTC, Condra was succeeded by ConduIT Founder Ray Capp and then incumbent Jeff Costantine. Costantine had not been retired long after two decades with HCA when he joined NTC, and he recently announced he's going to try at least semi-retirement again. The search for Costantine's successor is aggressively underway, with a selection likely to happen within 30 days. It's hard not to think wistfully of the heady atmosphere of those earlier days in Nashville technology. Maybe the NTC search committee can find that ingredient, too. -- Milt Capps

BioMimetic and Praxis talking?

Okay, there are probably circumstances that make this a non-starter, but here: BioMimetic Therapeutics, Middle Tennessee's primary life-sciences hopeful, told investor analysts during a Q2-results conference Aug. 11 that efforts to recruit needed numbers of patients for key clinical trials have lagged pretty severely since March. Summer vacations, the price of gas for followup visits and overall economic conditions that might reduce elective surgeries were cited. Analysts questioned politely, but repeatedly the recruitment effort, which management acknowledged is "the most important issue for our company." Then, yesterday, Brentwood-based Praxis Communications, which helps pharma and biotech companies recruit patients for trials, announced a new-and-improved version of PraxisDirect 2.0, a software-as-service tool for recruiting and managing patient data for trials. (As of this morning, Praxis hadn't posted their release on their site.) At a distance, 'inquiring minds' wonder how often such companies talk with one another.

ORNL energy innovation

Let's hope this is just the bow wave of a bigger funding for clean and renewable energy sources. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced in a release that Oak Ridge National Laboratory has gotten another $1.5 million to help "accelerate the movement of clean energy technologies" to the marketplace. Middle Tennessee's 'Mind2Marketplace' consortium will surely take note, given their aim of collaborating with ORNL and other Tennessee Valley actors. The latest stipend cannot be used for R&D, and must be used for prototype development, demonstration or actual deployment to market.

Lonely at the top

At age 41 and with seven-year-old Claritas Capital having proven its VC mettle, founder John Chadwick is a student of Tennessee's investment landscape. One lesson he'd like more people to grasp is the importance of building-out the state's venture ecosystem. It's not that he's tiring of being the only Tennessee fund in Entrepreneur magazine's annual ranking of early-stage investors, it's that a more vibrant venture community will improve Claritas' long-term prospects, along with everyone else's, and make it easier to justify staying in Nashville. After a series of wide-ranging interviews, our story is here.

TSU: A New Age Now Begins?

[UPDATED Sept. 4, 2008] See our report on TSU Provost Robert Hampton's linchpin role in TSU reform. As originally posted: Since Tennessee State University President Melvin Johnson joined the 96-year-old institution three years ago, there's been reason for optimism about Metro Nashville becoming home to a public university that excels academically, scientifically, administratively and in the civic realm. The extraordinary self-examination the University has undertaken in the past 18 months becomes vivid when you read both the University's new Academic Master Plan (AMP) and the "tough love" report of Pappas Consulting Group. These documents seem to reflect the strong resolve of TSU leadership to create a great leap forward for the institution. The workplan for this year is herculean. These reports illuminate TSU's flaws. More important, they shine a very bright light on TSU's commitment to its mission and its determination to fulfill TSU's obligations to state and commmunity -- by creating a place where students and faculty hone their minds, ignite inquiry, serve society and engage with the communities in which they stand. TSU will need our support. If you'd like to learn more about the adventure that lies directly ahead for TSU and Nashville, here are links to PDFs of the AMP and the Pappas report. BTW, it seems the University seal has been largely supplanted by a modern logo, but I love the seal's inclusion of 'NASHVILLE'.

TCRS Private-equity move ripples across state

OUR exclusive story Monday on the State's $32 billion retirement fund being authorized to invest in private equity caught a lot of folks flat-footed, including those who had long advocated the changes that were quietly made last spring by the General Assembly. Nashville Capital Network Executive Director Sid Chambless (at left) told VNC this morning: “This is extremely important news for private equity and entrepreneurship in the state of Tennessee. For quite sometime, Tennessee firms were at a disadvantage because our state was one of six or seven that did not invest in private equity or venture capital. Although the change in law does not guarantee any of those funds will flow into Tennessee firms, it at least opens the door for the state to invest in local private equity and venture capital. Worthy firms are no longer prevented by law from receiving state pension funds. Additionally, from a simple asset allocation standpoint, this is a step in the right direction for the State of Tennessee and increases the likelihood for better returns to TCRS.” In hindsight, TCRS' mandate may seem overdue and obvious. But, the fact the step has been taken seems likely to change the tone and direction of the entire discussion of investment in Tennessee.

In wartime, Nashville sci-tech's fate lies inside Beltway

If you didn't catch Ken Galloway's update on patchwork Federal funding for science and technology when it was originally published in The Tennessean, it's now available here on the dean's website at the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University. In saying that the congressional delegation 'gets it', Dean Galloway (at left) may be right. As reported by VNC earlier, U.S. Representatives Bart Gordon and Zach Wamp, as well as Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker have been taking important steps to keep the spotlight on War-delayed funding for America COMPETES, basic research, Science Technology Engineering & Math (STEM) education and other vital interests, much as Rep. Jim Cooper has long championed dealing aggressively with our calamitous federal budget situation. What still seems missing, however, is a cohesive pro-science and technology alliance at the heart of Metro Nashville/Davidson County. But, maybe there's more going on behind the scenes than we know. Hope so.

Tennessee pension joins the private-equity players

It was a little awkward. I'd been hearing from many folks that Tennessee was 'missing the boat' by not allowing the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System to invest more of its $32 billion in assets in potentially higher-growth categories, including private equity. But, when I spoke with state officials they informed me the law'd been changed months ago and plans are underway to start reallocating up to $900 million toward private equity. BTW, they say they'll need a new director-level expert to handle that new chore. Interested? Here's the story.

Private-equity honey attracts more

We reported last week on former Memphian VC Don Mundie's joining The Buffkin Group here in Nashville, to recruit executives for private-equity funds and portfolio companies. Today, there's further evidence of the lure of private-equity: LBMC recently announced appointing Joey Harwell to run its new private-equity services division. A first for the company, on the cusp of its 25th anniversary. That's LBMC Managing Partner David Morgan, at left. Interesting that Buffkin, LBMC and others seem to be relying on VCs coming to believe they need more outside he'p. We'll see. Here's the LBMC story.

Health warning: 'Computer Users, Please Stand Up'

It's hard to improve on that headline, borrowed from this 2003 WIRED story on the risk of sitting too long at your computer: Deep Vein Thrombosis, translated as potentially lethal pulmonary embollism... like the one that dropped me Sunday, Aug. 17, and sent me by ambulance to St. Thomas Hospital for four days. Until then, I figured multiple visits to the Y each week immunized me from the risks of sitting each day more hours than I will admit here in front of a computer, particularly when I was doing the IT newsletter that's been in hiatus since February, a project I shelved partly because even I could tell it was taking a physical toll of some kind. DVT was previously associated with very long-distance transoceanic air travel or, in another era, with Britons who sat for days in bomb shelters during WWII. Read the WIRED article, Google the syndrome... but, don't be in denial. Cheers, Milt Capps

Nashville supports Dell's 'Digital Nomads'

Dell Inc.'s Tuesday announcement that it's targeting the 'Digital Nomads' demographic with its new Latitude and Precision laptops -- with up to 19-hour battery life -- means more activity for Dell's Nashville distribution center, which makes all U.S. shipments of laptop products. But, a Dell spokesman told VNC this week the new products won't trigger hiring here. Dell has about 3,600 employees at logistics, manufacturing, upsell and customer-care sites in Middle Tennessee. Dell, the same company that recently tried to trademark "Cloud Computing," is now working to secure its brand-linked ownership of the "Digital Nomads" and has created a website oasis for the tribe. Metrics: In a release this week, Dell declared that since 1995 it has "shipped more business laptops worldwide than anybody." That, of course, is a jab at Hewlett-Packard. Dell is second to HP worldwide in PC shipments, with 15.7 versus HP's 18 percent marketshare. But, in the U.S. alone, Dell leads 32/25 on PCs. On notebook-class machines, Dell says it has 32.9 and 19.9 percent of U.S. and global markets, respectively, and aims to expand its lead by introducing more notebook products in the coming year. Dell will report its 2nd Quarter results Aug. 28. It's first quarter results sported $16.1 billion in revenue (up 9.2% over year-earlier) and unit shipments 22 percent higher than year-earlier. At March 31, Dell had $9.8 billion in cash and investments ontap. Trend and notes: Dell's shipment of mobility products was up 43 percent Y/Y, compared with desktops up 9 percent. With its $3 billion layoffs and streamlining underway, Dell took about $106 million in severance and related charges in Q1. Dell claims its product lineup is the most robust in its history and says it's regaining faded competitiveness.

Bredesen eHealth agenda approaches milestone

Governor Phil Bredesen has carved-out a leadership role the past few years in eHealth, and has focused on e-prescribing as a point of leverage -- a key to improving care, increasing safety and reducing pharmaceutical expenditures. On Aug. 6, Co-Chair Bredesen convened his eHealth Alliance task force under the aegis of the National Governors Association. Out of that meeting came word of plans to unveil the Alliance's first national report in a Washington, D.C., meeting Sept. 25-26. Prior to that, on Sept. 18, the Governor's own eHealth Advisory Council, chaired by Antoine Agassi of Cogent Healthcare, will convene and may have access to the national report. During last week's meeting, e-prescribing met a little competition for priority with privacy-security and quality-of-care issues. The Bredesen-led group will sort all that out before launching proposed "academies" for training state eHealth leadership teams. A bit of last week's agenda was devoted to discussion of how best to communicate to the next President's Administration the need for an aggressive White House-level push on eHealth, as well as for congressional funding of the virtual mandate. Video of the Aug. 6 meeting is archived here (use the Play buttons in the Agenda frame, not the buttons on the media player.)

Strategy notes: Family advisers shape investments

Think of it as Very Private Equity: Having given up on their banks, entrepreneurs who need funding beyond friends, family and their own credit cards immediately think of finding an Angel or VC. Less obvious are the gatekeepers known as family-office managers -- people like Nashville's Mike Vaden of Decosimo/Vaden. Decosimo/Vaden is the Roundabout-based partnership between The Vaden Group, which serves high net-worth entertainers, athletes and others, and Chattanooga-based Joseph Decosimo and Co. To varying degrees, Vaden told VNC, he is involved in the private financial affairs of more than 80 clients. Reviewing and screening equity-investment proposals is often part of the job. "My clients are bombarded with new investment ideas, because people think they have 'money to burn'," Vaden said. Well, in that context, Vaden sometimes plays fireman, dousing water on the impulse. At other times, Vaden's clients have him "shoot holes" in proposals, term sheets and other artifact, as warranted. Vaden's practice spans every conceivable personal and financial matter, from paying bills, auditing royalties, handling concert-tour accounting, representing one or both parties in financial aspects of divorces, intervening in family disputes, vetting college scholarships and managing tax returns -- or, helping sell businesses with only one or two owners. It's all done up-close and personal. Because they are trusted advisors to wealthy and very busy individuals and families, identifying gatekeepers like Vaden can sometime determine the fate of a venture. Vaden's profile is here.

Fresh impetus: 'M2M' gets juice from Gordon, Wamp

Mind2Marketplace, an advocate for technology transfer, commercialization and tech-driven economic development, got some fresh momentum yesterday, during an event at MTSU. The loose coalition not only got a vote of confidence from Congressmen Bart Gordon (at left) and Zach Wamp and the Tennessee Valley Corridor group, but also announced it'll finally get some dedicated staff, or half of one. M2M also handed-out their working draft of a 3-year workplan that, even in its current incomplete form, would challenge three fulltimers, much less the single half-timer who'll soon be given license to build M2M into the kind of formal membership organization that could attract more funding, more effective initiatives and, yes, a better definition of what it means to take a Mind to Marketplace. It's a good sign, but M2M's not out of the woods, yet. Read about it here.

May Town Center rings bell for innovators

When a 'real-estate deal' gets to $4.2 billion and 1,500 acres, and promises to turn land into offices for more than 40,000 workers over 15 years, while adding more than 900 acres to Nashville's greenlands...at that point, it's more than a "deal" -- it becomes a microeconomy called May Town Center, the proposed development at Bells Bend. And, when the debate over the development shines a rude light on urban Nashville's propensity for losing headquarters to the city's suburbs, it becomes a focal-point for entrepreneurs, researchers and others looking to congregate. Fortunately, while the land debate rages on, there's another effort afoot to help support new ventures and bring entrepreneurs together. For our take on it, please click here.

Law ventures simmer in Nashville

Lexis/Nexis' purchase of Law software vendor Juris Inc. heated-up the boards here on the VN Blog for a while, but life goes on. Deloitte just announced a law-related center here, and some top Juris execs have remained here with other firms. Ventures large and small continue to ferment quietly in our backyard. Read more about it in today's story.

Hoopla! Science, technology are focus of Nashville events

This fall, Nashville will host scientific and technology events of signal importance. Many of these events trace-back to the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS) at the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering. The fall calendar provides fresh illumination for ISIS and other Nashville resources, so often overlooked beyond campus boundaries. ISIS will observe its 10th Anniversary in September, under the direction of Janos Sztipanovits. Learn more about why Boeing, Cisco, Daimler Benz, Saturn, General Motors, the U.S. Navy and Air Force, DARPA, Oak Ridge NL and many others support ISIS work -- and read about just a few of the major events scheduled here this fall, right here.

Nashville Tech Council wants new CEO by October

On Thursday, executive recruiter Steve Hayes of Human Capital Group provided VNC a copy of the job description that must be fulfilled by the as-yet-unidentified fourth CEO of the Nashville Technology Council. NTC Board Chair Beth Chase (at left) has said the board would like to make an offer to the next CEO by the end of October, in hope of affording the next president a month overlap with outgoing President Jeff Costantine. The executive committee of the NTC board of directors is the search committee; its members include Chase (who owns C3 Consulting and who recently began her second consecutive term as chair); Andy Flatt, CIO of Healthspring; Costantine; Chris Sloan, an attorney with Boult Cummings Conners & Berry; Jay Clarke, CEO of Magazines.com; Bob Greenberg, who is consulting via RSG Technology Services, and who is immediate past-VP-CIO of Nissan USA here; and, Glenn Acree, assistant provost at Belmont University. For the job description and HCG contact information, please click here

Staying power: Passport Health investors-as-cicadas

In a powerful demonstration of the value of patient capital, a few days ago Passport Health Communications' latest capital re-infusion -- valued at a minimum $232 million -- allowed dozens of investors to exist the 12-year-old company, presumably feeling pretty good, thanks to investments by two Boston venture capitalists and the continued participation of Primus Capital. Passport officers took pains to emphasize that although the lead investors came from Boston, Passport's marketability and investability were founded on years of support by local angels, local VCs, friends, family and others. Here's today's review of the Passport deal and its background.