The Fairfield County Business Journal Issue 6/04/2012

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FAIRFIELD COUNT Y

BUSINESS JOURNAL

YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS • westfaironline.com

Vol 48, No. 23 • June 4, 2012

Growth, Indeed Stamford firm may go public

FCBJ TODAY As new executive suites open in Danbury, a Denver company is operating a franchise virtual office model … 2

BY ALEXANDER SOULE

casoule@westfairinc.com

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State’s sales-tax smorgasbord could be in for a simplification … 3

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes says all signs are pointing up for area startups.

Looking for Lawn Doctor’s largest franchisee? It’s in Fairfield County, of course … 7

In the field: is GE hot for Hubbell? 8

The List: the fattest checkbooks in Fairfield County … 12

Special report: the state of Connecticut lenders … 17

That birthday cruise may end up costing a lot more than he thought … 19

Startup 2.0 New funds could be catalyst to energize entrepreneurs BY ALEXANDER SOULE

casoule@westfairinc.com

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s entrepreneurs and financiers thumb through new opportunities under the federal JOBS Act – and as Congress introduced a new bill dubbed Startup Act 2.0 – Connecticut has unleashed a flood of new funding promised by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy under his own jobs bill last fall.

Startup 2.0, page 6

Anchors away for Guardbot Robot showcased for Navy

BY ALEXANDER SOULE

casoule@westfairinc.com

MEDIA PARTNER

Near the end of May, Startup Connecticut co-founder Danny Briere said the state was on the cusp of releasing new funding via Connecticut Innovations, intended to jumpstart technology startups, and that “things will start to happen.” Startup Connecticut convened a panel discussion late last month at the new Stamford

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he ducted-fan, tilt-rotor helicopters of “Avatar” fame have yet to find their way into the U.S. military, perhaps to the chagrin of sci-fi fans everywhere. But the rolling Droideka robots depicted in George Lucas’ second installment of the “Star Wars” series? They may be closer than

you think – as close as Stamford, in fact. Late last month, American Unmanned Systems put its Guardbot surveillance device through the paces for the U.S. Navy, in a New York City demonstration the Stamford-based company’s founder said he hopes will lead to a development contract. Originally launched to develop an Anchors away for Guardbot, page 6

ince its 2004 launch, Indeed Inc. has helped people near and far find jobs. In the process, it has become a significant employer in its own backyard – and could be on the brink of bigger things. Indeed CEO Paul Forster mulled the possibility of his dot-com pursuing an initial public offering of stock, while participating in a Startup Connecticut panel in Stamford, where it is based. The new federal JOBS Act may have helped the company push back the necessity of an IPO, Forster said, with the law allowing companies to remain private if they have more than 500 investors. At deadline, no Connecticut company had gone public this year, according to Greenwichbased Renaissance Capital, with Ridgefieldbased Chef ’s Warehouse the last to do so. That was in July. It raised $135 million. Norwalkbased Kayak Software Corp. filed for an IPO in November 2010, but 18 months later had yet to execute it. Indeed has not disclosed funding since 2005, when it raised $5 million from The New York Times Co. and Union Square Ventures. “The IPO onramp … is the most interesting part for us,” Forster said. “That really enables us to track our path to IPO without being (forced) into it.” Founded in 2004 by Forster and Rony Kahan, who created a finance industry job site called Jobsinthemoney, Indeed has broadened from being a metasearch engine for other job boards to posting resumes itself beginning last Growth, Indeed, page 6

Q&A with Ron Coccaro • 10


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