Build your BAIL Team Workshop, November 10

The startup game is a team sport.  No successful startup can go it alone.  A venture starts with an idea champion identifying a need and building a team to work on a solution.  Along the way, every venture needs to build a professional support team.  In the startup world, that group of professionals is called a BAIL team, who bring specialized expertise to help launch and scale.

BAIL stands for Banking, Accounting, Insurance, and Legal.  The best BAIL team works with an entrepreneur in a strategic way to help launch and grow a business. A BAIL team helps new ventures understand the financial, legal, regulatory, governance and compliance needs that startups soon need as they formally organize, make sales, and grow.

The Blackstone LaunchPad is offering a special BAIL workshop, November 10, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Room 114, Bird Library.  The event is open to the campus and community, free of charge.

The workshop is being moderated by Gardner & Capparelli, a Syracuse-based CPA firm that offers free office hours in the LaunchPad at Bird Library. Co-founders Matt Gardner and Jim Capparelli will moderate a panel of professional service providers, offering thinking that will help startups better understand the critical role that a BAIL team plays in the early stages of a startup.

Joining them will be area professionals who represent the BAIL perspective:

Bank – Startups and small businesses need a trusted relationship with a financial expert, typically from a bank or alternative lender perspective.  From setting up business accounts, understanding lines of credit and working capital, to learning about the capital continuum and sources of seed and growth capital.

Accountant – Startups and small businesses quickly need an accountant.  From setting up payroll and bookkeeping, to understanding tax filing and other compliance needs, as well as general business best practices, an accountant is one of the earliest indispensable advisors to a startup venture.

Insurance – Most startups and small businesses don’t think about insurance as an early need, but it is essential to manage risk, as well as protect both the founding team and the venture they are building. A licensed insurance agent can help ventures understand that landscape and how to mitigate risks and protect corporate assets from a professional perspective.

Lawyer – From thinking through the right form of legal formation from a strategic perspective, to understanding more complex issues around intellectual property, or structuring an investment deal, an attorney brings critical skills as strategists and professional advocates.  Most importantly, professional counsel helps startups prevent legal issues from becoming legal problems.

Other professionals on the program include:  Rina Corigliano-Hart, OneSelect Account Consultant at Onegroup, and Ben Alexander, Commercial Loan Officer, New York Business Development Corporation.

To reserve a spot, e-mail:  LaunchPad@syr.edu