James Powers CEO iLinc keynote at Enterprise Network
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Transcript of James Powers CEO iLinc keynote at Enterprise Network
Welcome to
Enterprise Network | 2.19.2009
James PowersChairman, President & CEO
SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN ANY ECONOMY
When Agility, Adaptation and Focus Really Count
We stand in a time of challenge…
A Diverse Career:
• Real Estate
• Bottled Water
• Restaurant Industry
• Dental Practice Management
• Web Conferencing Software
I wanna bea cowboy!
I wanna bePresident!
I wannabe a football
player!
Nice game, son. Now grow up and get a real
job!
Do dentists really lack business
skills?
Not me!
Go get an MBA and find out!
• Got MBA, Series 7 and 63 Securities Licenses. • Made a lot of money… Fast!!• Lost a lot of money… Fast!!!
Shopping Centers
Subdivisions
Apartments
Homes
$
Founded Clearidge
Nashville Tennessee-based BottledWater Company in 1990
We even got Crystal Gayleas our spokesperson!
Too bad that didn’t reallyhelp us sell more water…
Me
Lawyer
Lawyer
Lawyer
Economist
MBA / PhD
MBA
The Dream Team
Crystal!Law
yer
Clearidge Bottled Water• Commercial and residential five-
gallon delivery business• Grew rapidly:
– Bought 13 other companies– Largest Independent Bottler
in Southeast• Successfully sold in 2000,
despite critical financing error by former Perrier exec
• Founded Lovett’s Buffet• “All You Can Eat”• Focus group told all• Bought Barnhill’s Country Buffet
• Grew to more than 50 stores• Over $100 million company with 2,700 employees• Sold to former Shoney’s execs in 2005
Liberty Dental
• Founded in 1997 – Nashville, Tenn.
• Merged Liberty Dental with Pentegra in late 1998 and became Chairman, President & CEO
• High-end fee-for-service Dental Practice Mgmt
• $75+ Million Revenues
• 100+ Dental Practices in 31 states • 1,000+ Employees
Market Conditions – Early 2000:
• Stock = currency used to buy dental practices
• Business sector collapsed or imploded
• We had:– Disgruntled dentists who could
turn off cash flow
– 1,000 employees, $1Million payroll every two weeks
– Owed $15Million to bank for credit line
The Balancing Act
• Give the Dentists Hope: Hold their stock while we drive to new business model (e-dentist.com)
• Give Bank Little Hope (to get 50% discount): Dentists could turn off cash flow at anytime.
• Give Shareholders Vision to Future: Raised $5.75 million to pay off bank.
The iLinc Story
• EDT Learning acquired five companies
• Changed name from EDT Learning to iLinc
• Focused strictly on Web and Audio Conferencing
• From 2003 to 2007 went from $2 - $15 million revenue
Loyal Customers – High RetentionLoyal Customers – High RetentionFINANCE/HEALTHCARE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY GOVERNMENT
The Opportunity
“By 2011, worldwide sales for web conferencing will reach $11.5 billion.”
October 2007
iLinc Product Use Growing Fast
iLinc customers have saved over $75 million in travel and energy
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Focus
• Tough Competitors– Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Live Meeting, Citrix – Low-cost providers (freeware) popping up
• Early 2008 > Moved focus to SaaS, briefly pushing down revenues and creating losses
• Summer 2008 > Sold audio conferencing for cash• Currently > Growing Direct/Channel SaaS sales
Market Conditions Have Changed!
• iLinc has gone private or “Dark”– Now a non-reporting company– No quarterly audits, conference calls or filing Q’s– No IR efforts/expense
• Reduces cost by $500,000/year• Allows more intense focus on growing SaaS
revenues• Better positions iLinc for strategic options
Technology Access Has Changed Marketing
• Geography used to be important• Now, the Internet eliminates geography• So use these tools to communicate:
– WordPress, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, Meetup, Twitter, Squidoo and Basecamp
– iLinc, Skype and Google• You can make a difference in your organization…
or a difference in the world by leveraging technology
My YouTube Debut
My YouTube Debut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM2Ll-_hFgo
7 Guiding Principles:
1. Cash flow – You gotta love it like your mama!2. If it’s not measured, it’s not managed. 3. Capital structure is make or break. 4. Trust your instincts. 5. Make a decision! 6. Give back – individually and corporately.7. Integrity starts at the top.
NEED VISUAL
Questions / Comments?For info:www.iLinc.com