While Posterous was good to us while we were in start-up mode, we are now the proud owners of a beautiful website, complete with its own blog. So, bid adieu to TheCompanyLab.Posterous.com, and come check out our new site!

See you there!

The Company Lab Team

Have questions about Intellectual Property? Curious about the ins and outs of protecting it?

Join us on August 5th at 11:00am for a one-hour presentation on Intellectual Property by Jack Waddey. Waddey is a founder of the Nashville IP firm of Waddey & Patterson. The firm has 15 registered patent attorneys with technology expertise in mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering, bio-technology, life sciences and business methods, as well as several lawyers with extensive experience in branding and trademarks. For five years, Waddey has been selected as one of the top 150 lawyers in Tennessee by BUSINESSTN magazine. He has also been selected by BEST LAWYERS magazine as one of the top US attorneys. Waddey is on the Board of the Nashville Entrepreneurial Center and an advisor to the Auburn Business Incubator.

Earlier this month, a group of private and public organizations, entrepreneurs, investors and businesses gathered at the Entrepreneur Center in Nashville to launch Startup Tennessee, Tenessee’s statewide initiative to support entrepreneurs and help startups drive job creation. The Entrepreneur Center is the city’s leading accelerator program, providing incubation space, mentors, and various resources to help entrepreneurs turn ideas into investable businesses. Startup Tennessee is the second regional initiative working with the Startup America Partnership, the private sector program celebrating and accelerating entrepreneurs across the country.

“As we develop our entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tennessee, Startup Tennessee will help to better coordinate statewide innovation activities, promote entrepreneurship and enhance Tennessee companies’ access to early-stage capital,” Governor Bill Haslam said at the launch. “My priority is for Tennessee to be the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs.”

This initiative is excellent and unique because, by leveraging the Startup America Partnership’s national network, Tennessee’s entrepreneurs will gain access to business resources throughout the state and country, enabling them to grow faster, be more competitive and create more jobs.

“I’ve been incredibly impressed by the remarkable entrepreneurial leadership here in Tennessee,” said Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership. “We look forward to working with you all to take the startup ecosystem to the next level and creating the jobs of the future in Tennessee.”

The program already has commitments from a wide range of Tennessee-based companies and organizations to provide assistance to entrepreneurs in the following areas:

• Expertise: Connect entrepreneurs with training, mentors, advisors and accelerators
• Services: Provide entrepreneurs access to critical services at reduced costs
• Talent: Assist entrepreneurs in recruiting and training the people that can help them grow
• Customers: Help to scale startups through new and existing markets
• Capital: Highlight sources of capital available to entrepreneurs in various regions and sectors

The launch of this program is a great leg up for Tennessee startups - stay tuned to its progress. Also, check out Nooga's writeup of the event.

 

Guess what! Tonight at 6pm, Jacob Wiley will be sharing his tips and tricks gleaned from years of mobile website devlopment.

Wiley owns Eye Scream Design, was formerly the head of mobile development for NationalGuard.com, teaches workshops in Nashville, and currently works with the Hospital Corporation of America (among other credentials).

If you would like to attend this event, you'll need 1) to RSVP to Ryan Murphy at rmurphy@conexess.com and 2) $5 dollars to get in. Food and beverages are provided, which is why you need to RSVP and give a couple bucks. 

Enjoy!

On June 30th, the Social Media Club is hosting an exciting event: ”An Evening with Guy Kawasaki." Guy is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures, and former Apple Fellow. He has a Twitter following of over 364,000 (check it out @guykawasaki) and a crazy Klout score of 85!! as a Curator of his vast network! This is a great opportunity for social media enthusiasts to learn from someone who has built a huge, influential social media network.

Guy is appearing on John Martin's Small Business Roundtable Show about his new book: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. John Martin, host of Small Business Roundtable, will conduct the interview and then Guy will take questions from the audience via Skype.

The event is set to begin at 5 PM at The CAMPhouse. Seating is limited and expected to fill up quickly so register here to make sure you get a seat.

Afterwards, the party kicks in with the Social Media Day Mixer sponsored by LifeKraze. 

Stay in the know about the event or SMC on Twitter @smcCHA or on Facebook @SMCChattanooga.

- posted by Jonathan Mansfield

Did you know Chattanooga has its very own folk music school? Did you know that this awesome folk school has a SpringBoard graduate as one of the founders and teachers? It's all true.

The Folk School of Chattanooga was founded in 2009 and is now located in Northshore, a product of Matt Evans and Christie Burns' passion for folk music.

Recently, the Folk School of Chattanooga has begun hosting a Songwriter's Forum where songwriters can work on everything from chord choice to phrasing. Check out Nooga.com's article to get the whole scoop (this is only a half scoop).