Where did January go?

It is hard to fathom that January is already at an end!  Wasn't it just yesterday that we all celebrated New Year's Eve?

This has been a busy month of getting everything ready for 2013 and with two of our ZINO Society team members just moving up into new positions within the organization, we have all been really focused on a smooth transition.  I am happy to announce that Meg Landies has stepped into the position of Dealflow & Operations Manager and that Claire Dillow has stepped into the position of Events & Marketing Manager!

We are all hard at work getting ready for our first ZINO Society investment event of the year, the Angels & Demons Roundtable Investment Meeting, coming up on Tuesday evening, January 29th at the newly remodeled Columbia Tower Club.  I'm looking forward to hearing the five ZINOpreneur Select members pitch their companies and also hearing from our expert Angels and Demons panel, who have each seen at least 500 investment pitches in order to qualify for the halo and/or pitchfork, which includes John Otter, Jan Hendrickson, Brian Vowinkel and Daniel Rossi.

Other highlights this month included attending "An Evening Out" with enterpriseSeattle, now known once again as the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County.  As Board members, we were invited to Bake's Place in Bellevue to hear Patricia Lee and the Soul Mates perform classic Motown and R&B hits.  Patricia's husband, David Allen of McKinstry, is the new Chairman of the Board for the EDC of Seattle & King County.  Patricia Lee is an amazing and talented performer.  Ken and I can't wait to hear her again!

JJ McKay and I enjoyed attending the current Seattle Opera production of Cinderella together this month.  The music by Rossini was exquisite and the costumes and sets were fun and colorful and playful as if we had happened into a Dr. Seuss book.  The whimsical mice who helped move the furniture and sets throughout the performance were my favorites. We laughed throughout the whole opera and of course as you know, Cinderella has a happy ending, so there were no tears at this performance.

Alka Badshah with sons Akash, Aseem and Cathi Hatch

2012 TechStars Class

I also attended the TechStars Demo Day mid-month which featured their class of 2012, an impressive group of ten companies that had been selected from hundreds of applicants.  Congratulations to Matt Dyor, new Managing Director of Microsoft Accelerator, and Dave Malcolm, outgoing Managing Director of Microsoft Accelerator, who were both key leaders in producing this group of presenting companies and a great and well-attended event.

Aseem Badshah on stage pitching Socedo.

Though many of the companies were fascinating, I was especially interested in hearing the pitch from Socedo, co-founded by Aseem Badshah, the son of friends, Alka Badshah & Akhtar Badshah.  Socedo helps sales and business development professionals leverage the social web to discover leads and build relationships more effectively.

Wishing all these nascent companies success as they go about their business of raising funds in order to grow and thrive!