Venture Capital for 2008?

The topic at the monthly IEEE CVT luncheon today in Richardson was High Tech Venture Capital funding for North Texas in 2008. The two panelists were Ron Jennings, Partner and CTO of STARTech Early Ventures, a business incubator for developing technology in the Telecom Corridor, and Alexander Muse, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Texas Startup Blog. The panelists discussed what was good and what went wrong with VC funding in 2007 as well as looking forward into what to expect in 2008.

Not being an entrepreneur, I do however work for one; Tad McIntosh, CEO and Founder of HumCap, so I do have a somewhat vested interest in the subject. The conclusion was that there is VC funding available now… in fact more than ever before. (Looks like I will have job security for at least a few more years.;) The only difference is now that the VC’s are being much more conservative with their money and how it is distributed. The good news is that more and more entrepreneurs are bootstrap funding and exploring alternate investing which is resulting in more successful acquisitions than before the bubble burst.

On a small world note… Alexander Muse introduced me to blogging back in 2006 when he mentioned a search I was conducting for a client in the IPTV space on his blog. I was able to meet him this afternoon and thank him personally for helping me with that search and also inspiring me to start my own blog.

How Social is Your Network?

After receiving yet another "invitation to join my network" from Plaxo, Zing, Zoom, Boom, et al... I wonder just how many social networks are too many? If I spent all my time joining networks, posting and updating bloggs, and attending networking events, there would be no time left for recruiting. This conundrum makes me wonder if all the really great, prolific bloggers out there are strictly in management, independently working or do they stay up late into the wee hours of the morning updating and posting?

ERP Software Pre-Sales Solutions Engineer

Calling all East Coast Solutions Engineers living in the North East area… we are looking for a stellar pre-sales engineer to represent our client in the north eastern US and Canada.  Bring your ERP and Testing software solutions engineering experience to the table and represent this best in class new technology.  Outstanding compensation package with excellent benefits and fast track career path.  See complete job description here and apply on line or contact me directly.

 

 

Testing the Waters...

How often do you hear this from a candidate when you ask why are you considering leaving your current job? What about the other old standby... I just love working with people?

The Ideal Candidate

Seems like everyone is looking for the same candidate... that mid-level superstar willing to take the step up to the next level. Here is what my Ft. Worth client is looking for in a Controller and Administration Manager:

We are seeking an upwardly mobile CPA with a minimum of 3 years experience in a Controllership function who is willing to tackle the challenges of a rapid growth environment and see his/her role mirror this growth in terms of complexity and importance. The successful candidate will have demonstrated an ability to work effectively in a cooperative team environment and displayed the interpersonal skills necessary to motivate and direct staff to collectively work to attain shared goals and objectives. A willingness to drill down into detail to resolve problems and to take a hands-on approach where necessary is essential at this stage of the Company’s development; as is a general knowledge of banking, lending markets, taxation and other laws governing business operations in Texas. Experience in managing inventory and exposure to oilfield service operations would be a definite asset.

If you are this person... or know this person... please contact me directly.

Very cool technology...

We just started a new project with a local company that has developed a way to verify and authenticate products coming in to the US from overseas. Very timely in the wake of all the product problems coming from China (Mattel, Colgate, etc.) and with the piracy issues afoot. If you would like to work with this technology and are a Manufacturing Product Manager or DSP Engineer, send me your resume and let me see if you are a match.

VoIP - New and Improved

For some of you out there Voice over IP is, as my daughter would say, "So 5 minutes ago" and no longer cutting edge technology. With all the carriers offering some type of edge or access VoIP product you might think that there is nothing new in this area any longer. Let me assure you that this is not the case... in fact one of my clients is taking VoIP to the next generation with a new 3GPP, Fixed Mobile Convergence product based on IMS architecture. This product provides security and encryption functionality for the VoIP network and we need several software engineers, a team lead and a sales engineer to support this product. The complete job descriptions are posted on our website, or you could send your resume directly to me.

What Kind of Pirate Are You?

You scored as a Sinbad
You are gifted with gab and can talk your way out of just about any situation. Very charming, but sometimes the charm gets you into trouble. The gods look on you fondly and sometimes throw obstacles at you just to see how creative your solution is.

Here is what I'm working on for September...

European based supply chain software company has established a US office near DFW airport. They are hiring technical implementation consultants, customer support professionals, and a project manager in the next 3 months. Great company, financially strong, very laid back work environment, excellent benefits include 4 weeks vacation every year. Send me your resume!

Do you know any engineers currently working for the Texas Railroad Commission? I need an Environmental Manager for my Ft. Worth Drilling company client. They want someone with connections at the state commission who will be able to spend 2-3 days a week in Austin at the TXRRC and also advise their customers as to best practices and new laws/regulations.

OK all you Object Oriented software developers out there... yes, you are in high demand now and yes, it's a candidate's market. All I'm asking for is a chance to tell you about the many opportunities to work on bleeding edge products for a few of our clients in the business intelligence arena. Just give me a shot and email your resume... it can't hurt to hear what's out there!

Do you know any Family Medical Practitioners?

Our company is kicking off a nationwide search for Family Medical Practitioners, specifically PA's, RN's and Medical Assistants for a client who is opening up retail family care centers in DFW and Kansas City. I would appreciate any and all assistance with this project! Please let me know if you have information on associations, industry links, personal referrals, etc… even the name of your family practitioner if you live in Dallas or Kansas City.

The complete job descriptions are listed on our website.

What Makes a Company a "Best Place to Work"?

Having worked for one of the Best Places to Work in DFW for the past two years, I'm wondering... just what is it exactly that makes a company a Best Place to Work? Could it be the Executive Leadership, Company Culture, Customer Base, or Salary/Benefits?

Here's a picture of our Fearless Leader on our rewards trip to Mexico in January... it was a great trip and Boris and Natasha never did find moose and squirrel!

Wi-Fi Executives

Are you a VP of Sales or Marketing in the Wi-Fi Space who is interested in a ground floor start up opportunity? Do you know someone who fits the profile?

Our client is a 4 year old company with a software product to take your desktop to mobile devices in and out of Wi-Fi spaces. We are looking for candidates with business development experience in mobile communications and/or Wi-Fi in the small to medium business market. They will be developing channel sales partnerships with companies like system integrators, infrastructure companies, IP/PBX, etc. The time frame is now the end of August at the earliest for hiring either position. They are looking at candidates both here and in CA as most of their partners are on the west coast.

Email

Rejection Proof Recruiters

Coming from the old school of recruiting, we were always told that you had to go through at least 5 no's from a candidate before getting to a yes or even a maybe. Perhaps that's why rejection doesn't seem to be a problem for me.

Now that the candidate market is tighter than ever, how is that affecting recruiters who are now faced with "old school/cold call" target recruiting for passive candidates? Here's an article from the ERE that might be helpful... http://www.ere.net/articles/db/97093DA57D924DD48157F282C0D800AA.asp

Blogging for Candidates?

Has "Dialing for Dollars" been replaced by "Blogging for Candidates"?

A big thanks to Dennis Smith from T-Mobile for his presentation at the DFWTRN luncheon this afternoon on blogging for recruiters. Dennis, you are single handedly responsible for making me the serial blogger that I am today! Your presentation last year inspired me to start blogging and now it has snowballed... literally out of control. I was never that good at juggling dates and/or boyfriends and seem to be having the same problems with blogging. My question to you is... how many bloggs are too many?

Leslie

Bigger and Better Wireless?

All this buzz about the new iPhone got me wondering how far we are on the road to having "broadband in our hand". I was at a very informative IEEE luncheon this week. The speaker was Dan Green from TriQuint Semiconductor. The topic was WiMax and 4G technologies allowing personal broadband connectivity to become a reality. Sprint has committed to the network and the product manufacturers are gearing up... what do you think?

Taking a cue from Dan... who can tell me what WiMax stands for?

Interview with KP Wilska

I was doing a little research and came across this post by Roman Kitka on DallasBlog of his interveiw with the former president of Nokia North Americas. For those of you interested in the cellular market...

http://www.dallasblog.com/interviews/k.p.-wilska.html

The Elusive Mid Level Candidate

It seems to me that finding mid level candidates is becoming increasingly more difficult, especially for technology searches. I can still find senior level people... but that elusive 2 - 3 year person with SQL Server 2005 development skills or that extremely customer service oriented help desk analyst are no longer out there and just not reproducing to meet the current demand. (Don't even get me started on the Java Developer with .NET, AJAX, SOAP and PostgresSQL;) I've tried all the local watering holes to no avail... so now I'm going blogging. Any suggestions?

2007 - The Year of Wireless

It looks like 2007 is going to be the Year of Wireless and now it’s time to look for RF Engineers… we started a new project in the North Dallas, Plano, Richardson area for a company that makes RF Microprocessors. They have multiple openings for senior RF Engineers including; systems architects, designers, post sales engineers, systems and integration test, firmware, windows driver developers, and analog/mixed signal layout designers. They are also looking for extremely experienced, hands on managers for several departments. The company focuses on wireless applications for consumer products and is actively interviewing, currently hiring for all of these positions. They anticipate major growth in 2007, especially in the areas of software development for wireless products. So get that resume dusted off and send it over to leslie@humcapinc.com... let’s get a jump on prosperity for the New Year!