If you are a small business owner, a budding entrepreneur or just have an interest in business, and you haven’t heard of the Silicon Slopes Spring Lecture Series, you are likely missing out.

In partnership with the Utah Valley University Entrepreneurship Institute, the Silicon Slopes Lecture Series is a regular, free hour-long presentation featuring local founders and CEOs of some of the most well-known Utah companies. Topics so far have included how to evaluate a business idea and develop a business model, and how to build a good customer experience and a solid sales organization.

“These are business leaders from companies that are pushing the envelope on innovation. For small, or even established businesses, if you want to hear how these leaders approach old and new problems with new ideas, this is the place to be,” said Mark Seastrand, director of the UVU Entrepreneurship Institute.

The Lecture Series kicked off in January and speakers so far have pulled from the lineup of million-dollar companies dotting the Wasatch Front. In January attendees heard from Josh Coates, CEO of Instructure; Ryan Caldwell, CEO of MX; and Cydni Tetro, president of the Women’s Tech Council. February featured Carine Clark, Silicon Slopes executive board member; Aaron Skonnard, CEO of Pluralsight; Dave Elkington, CEO of InsideSales; and Greg Warnock, co-founder and managing director of Mercato.

Clint Betts, executive director of Silicon Slopes, and Seastrand said partnering together was a natural fit, because of both organizations’ focus on engaging the community in meaningful learning experiences, and forming connections within the startup business world.

“Silicon Slopes and Clint are the center of the effort of driving the ball forward in the local business scene. It seemed like a natural connection, because we two organizations solving the same problem,” Seastrand said.

Betts said it wasn’t difficult to line up speakers, even though the life of a president, founder or CEO is very busy. All the local business leaders he reached out to wanted to be involved and give back to the budding entrepreneur community.

“We didn’t have anyone say no, in fact, we had more yeses than we could do,” Betts said.

Because of that, he and Seastrand are looking at making this a regular series for both fall and spring semesters. Entrepreneur students receive credit for attending the current series, but the presentations are open to all students on campus and local community members. Seastrand said he knows of one woman who drove from Sandy just to see a local CEO she’d wanted to connect with.

“Feedback has been exceptionally positive,” Seastrand said. “To have the direct interaction and networking opportunities has been a real positive for these students. And if you’re looking for a job, to come and listen to a CEO talk about their company — if that doesn’t help you in an interview, then you’re missing the boat.”

The Lecture Series is at noon every Tuesday, barring holidays in room 101a of the UVU Classroom Building. March 7 will feature Gavin Christensen, managing partner of Kickstart Seed Fund, and he will talk about how to raise funding.

The UVU Entrepreneurship Institute Silicon Slopes Spring Lecture Series features local CEOs discussing the startup business cycle. The event is open to all students and interested community members. 

When: Tuesdays from noon to 1 p.m.

Where: 101a, Classroom Building, Utah Valley University

Cost: Free, no lunch provided. Registration is available via www.uvu.edu/entrepreneurship

Parking: Visitor parking is available in the UVU Parking Garage for $1 per hour

Upcoming presentations:

March 7: “How to Raise Money”

March 14: “Getting Traction”

March 28: “The Role of a Founder”

April 4: “Ownership and Compensation Structure”

April 11: “Hiring and Firing”

April 18: “Building a Company to Scale”

April 25: “What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur”