TiE Atlanta and TiE Carolinas Charter Members whose companies are successfully navigating the current economic downturn will share with us stories and lessons learned for small and new ventures.

Through the 90's technology innovation picked up such a momentum that software solutions and services were delivering breakthrough efficiencies that drove the creation of new business models. The industry became so saturated that a Hype Cycle emerged and subsequently collapsed in 2002-2003. Following that collapse we saw a resurgence of technology in which hardware played a bigger role and new services began to emerge. This re-emergence was then thwarted by the economic downturn of 2007-2008.

Whether it is due to a Hype Cycle or to an economic downturn, Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses suffer greatly. For example, today's environment banks are not there to help smaller organizations and clients are not buying. Our guests will be participating in a panel discussion that will examine their experiences and look at questions such as:

• If banks, angels and VCs are not available, where does one go for funding?
• Does it make sense to develop a lot of Intellectual Property to differentiate ones company?
• Does one build a product or service quickly and sell the company quickly or does the business need to be grown for a longer time to develop its value?
• How are small entrepreneurial support organizations the places to go to find opportunities for breakthroughs?

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