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| David Willbrand’s legal credentials are impressive enough: Harvard College, valedictorian at University of Cincinnati College of Law, editor of the law review. But it’s his experience in the real world of high-tech start-ups that may be most valuable to his clients.
After a stint in private practice, first in Cincinnati doing legal work for venture capital firms, then in Colorado, David transitioned into the business world, as chief financial officer and general counsel for ePals, an online learning community for kindergarteners through 12th graders. He then filled those same two roles for Bluespring Software, a Cincinnati-based business process software firm. Both were in-the-trenches looks at small, tech-based businesses trying to grow.
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“It was a great experience, but a difficult time,” Willbrand says. The years were 2000 to 2004, the dot-com era had peaked and lots of start-ups were falling back to earth. When Willbrand returned to practicing law, he brought that start-up experience with him, and built a practice devoted to entrepreneurs and venture capital firms.
“I felt my highest and best use was as an outside attorney,” he says. Now, as a partner in the Cincinnati office of Thompson Hine, Willbrand not only provides what he calls “the nuts and bolts” – expertise in intellectual property issues as well as securities, employment and corporate law -- but something equally as valuable for a business trying to find its way. “I try to put people next to each other,” he says. Facilitating business relationships, connecting people, and getting deals to happen are the extra value David brings from his experience representing venture capital firms and working at the senior level of the business world.
That real-world experience has also brought him some real insights into the issues of an emerging business. “I try to have some sensitivity to how dynamic and cash-sensitive these companies are,” he says. That’s valuable – and useful – knowledge, and not necessarily learned in law school.
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| Early on at Taft, a phone call from a friend at a major accounting firm who wanted him to help start an Internet company renewed his entrepreneurial zeal in the mid '90s. “I started to see how much value the new technology was going to have on business,” he says.
In 1999, Molinsky jumpstarted the New Technology scene in Cincinnati as one the founders of Main Street Ventures, an incubator for high-tech companies in the city's up-and-coming Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. The incubator accounted for more than $100 million in companies financed and sold.
| More recently, he has supported efforts by other business assistance groups that have emerged in the region, such as CincyTech, C-Cap, Queen City Angels and the Madison E-Zone. Now, Molinsky says, “If you're an entrepreneur and have a legitimate business idea, you have many more experienced people and organizations in the area that will help you compared with just five or six years ago.”
For his part, Molinsky does the legal lifting to help get companies off the ground, including assisting with corporate formation, tax planning, intellectual property protection, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. In a bit of lawyerly humor, he calls it a “cradle to tombstone practice,” referring to the document that commemorates a merger, acquisition or other financial deal. “We see it as a space that continues to grow,” he says. As it does, Molinsky plans to be there, sweeping the legal floors and making sure the tee-offs fly straight.
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| John Habbert learned the principals of running a business in an unconventional way that has proven to be successful. He spent his formative years after graduate school at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, where he worked in product development and manufacturing. After 12 years at P&G, Habbert began his entrepreneurial journey by helping an electrical connector company that had filed bankruptcy and was in the process of restarting. The company had the products necessary to successfully develop the connectors but the staff was unsure of how to run the project.
| Habbert used the values and ideals he had learned at P & G and applied the knowledge of creating mouth wash to creating the connectors. After going through a strategic relocation, the company grew to 60 staff members and Habbert eventually became the President of the company.
Habbert continued his entrepreneurial journey when he began consulting with an Internet based company, in which he later became president. Habbert also became involved with the Queen City Angels(QCA). He began by making investments in local business and developed the organization into 27 investors who invest in early stage ventures that are not quite ready for venture capital.
Over the past seven years, QCA has grown into one of the premier angel groups in the country and has invested in over thirty companies with some successes and some failures. “It’s a risky but the game is your hope for one or two that become successful and you get a valuable return,” Habbert stated about the angel investing world.
The QCA group also helps entrepreneurs by conducting two day business boot camps to help train perspective business owners on the skills they need to run a successful company. They also offer an Angel Investor Workshop for people who would like to start investing in early stage companies. The workshop provides great training to help new investors get started.
The companies that the Queen City Angels are creating have generated occupations with salaries of over $100,000. The hope is the people working at these companies will have additional funds and will want to create more companies.
Habbert works as the manager of these funds, which are distributed to early stage entrepreneurs. QCA has been awarded two grants from the Ohio Government to invest in the companies with high growth potential. They are hoping to receive a third grant in the Fall of 2008.
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