Work(s) in Progress

Learning some HTML part 2

I registered my own domain about 6 weeks ago.

I'm making progress learning some HTML & CSS. I still can't always get the code to do what I expect, but it does seem (at least to me) that I'm getting there.

My big project recently has been assembling and organizing resources for businesses that want to locate or grow in Downtown Denver. I'd love feedback on this test resource in terms of usefulness, format, missing items, etc.

Thank you in advance!

Coming up for air

I never thought the day would come that I felt like I was too busy to blog. I am not exactly certain what happened.

Fitness: I am holding steady at 13x and 23 to 24% (Omron) body fat. My most recent 3 mile run, at sea level, was done in 27 minutes, pretty much my fastest run ever. I can still run a 10K in about an hour. None of this is bad for a geeky 41 year old but I can do better.

Dating: I'd previously tried two free online dating sites (date hookup and plenty of fish) and went silent after my less than optimal experiences. In late spring, I decided to rework my profile, being very clear about what I was looking for, and put it back out there. I met the person who caused me to delete all of my online profiles on fitness singles (a paid site). I was completely and utterly swept off of my feet on May 16; hmm, last post occurring on May 12, could be related. We've been traveling a bit, check my flickr account for the sites we have seen in Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park.

Random: I keep getting invited to participate in things for which I cannot seem to say no: One last scientific review panel (autoimmune) for DOD; co-chairing a sub-committee on small business development and higher education for the economic development council of the Downtown Denver Partnership; co-chairing a sub-committee on Enterprise programs at the Business School for our annual strategic planning event; co-authoring what may be one of my last pure scientific research papers on work I started back in 2000; continuing on as a scientific collaborator for just a “few” more months; a strategic planning session for my friend's latest non-profit venture (Dani's foundation); and ironically, a few months back I sat on a panel for women in higher education administration about “Making Institutional Service part of YOUR Plan, or How to Say NO and When to Say YES.” I'm not so great at the NO.

Work: On top of those things for which I can't say no, work has been busy. We received 76 entries from across Colorado for our 8th Annual Business Plan Competition. We awarded our winners with a variety of cash and in-kind services from local businesses:

Olomomo Nut Company    1st Place $12,000

The Organic Dish    2nd Place $5,000

VibraLung, Inc.    3rd Place $2,500; Bioscience Award (Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority& We Work for Health) $5,000; Bioscience Award (CoreLogic) $1,000

Also Energy  Finalist $1,000

Global CaféNation  Finalist $1,000; International Award (CIBER & the Institute for International Business) $1,000; Non-Profit Award (The Ward Family) $1,000

Western States Biopharmaceuticals  Finalist $1,000

Larry Nelson of w3w3.com took many terrific pictures at the awards luncheon for our competition. You can view them here (registration required).

Our finalists received a lot of press:

• Healthy Ideas Under One Roof

• Two Boulder Companies win

• Best of the Bard Center

• Nut Company Wins

• DU students take on the world

The Bard Center and our 2009 business plan winner(s) were also featured on KMGH-TV (ABC) channel 7 news. You can watch the segment here: Small businesses finding room to grow

We're already thinking about our 9th Annual Competition on June 10, 2010.

The founders of the Bard Center, Pamela & Richard Bard, recently co-produced a movie, Homecoming, starring Misha Barton & Jessica Stroup. There was a limited release in Denver at the Starz Film Center on the Auraria campus. I was honored to be able to attend opening night with the producers.

On August 1, Jung Park of Metroboom, the 2004 Business Plan Competition Winner, is hosted his annual Enthuse event, a unique social networking event incorporating fashion, music, dance, fine cuisine, & fundraising. I keep trying to get all of my advisory council members (well at least the men) to become customers. I love his custom shirts & suits.

We renovated our Center to better segregate our academic program from our incubator offices. Our renovated incubator spaceat the Bard Center has only 1 vacant office (320H). Our incubator is open to all early stage Colorado companies. Contact me if you are interested.

Our Bard Entrepreneurship Network (BEN) Meetups have grown up: cocktails & content. Join us August 26 at Elevated Third from 6 to 8PM. This month, Justin Perkins the CEO of Olomomo Nut Company & our 2009 Business Plan competition winner will be there to answer questions & let folks taste his products. Jim Kirchheimer, the Director for Economic Development for the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) will be there to talk about the benefits of membership and the resources available at the DDP. RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/Bard-Entrepreneurship-Network-Meetup/

I'm always on the lookout for other opportunities for entrepreneurs in our community.

• Need $100,000 to start your company? The nationally run MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurship Series is open to 21 to 35 year olds. http://millercoorsmues.com/

• My friend Stephen Miller launched a new clean tech incubator and is helping to bring the Clean Tech Open to Colorado. He gotten some great press: Local Clean Tech Incubator opensmore information at www.cleanlaunch.com

• Finally, biotech companies should consider attending or Consider presenting your company at the 1st Annual Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor Conference

Our business school orientation is going virtual. We’ve recorded a segment promoting the Bard Center which can be previewed below.

It's been a busy summer...

Traveling Companion Needed

I went to the movie Yes Man at Christmas with friends. I do not normally go to movies of this kind, but I enjoyed it and think of it still. I find myself saying "yes" more often to things I intended to do eventually. I'm just doing them sooner. It's all part of my quest for Bliss and my realization that there is only now.

My friend Martha is always the executive director of some health related non-profit. This year it's Dani's Foundation which focuses on Ewing's Sarcoma.

Dani's Foundation recently held a fund raising dinner (video here) with several hundred silent auction items. I started the bidding on four items and 'won' two of them, both on my "to do eventually" list: 1 week at a bed and breakfast in Hawaiiand 3 nights in Napa Valley at the Meritage Resort- complete with airfare, limo tour, and wine train tour.  Side note: it's really a sign of our economy when the opening bid on items such as these are the winners.While there are some blackout dates, I essentially have until March 2010 to go on these journeys. People ask me when I'm going. I am not yet sure. I need to line up a traveling companion. While I can easily chill in Hawaii by myself for a week, I definitely want a wine loving traveling companion for Napa Valley. Let me know if you are interested...

For my birthday I finally got the Kindle 2. I'm currently reading Outlierson it, another book by Malcolm Gladwell. Like one of his prior books, Blink, I am utterly enjoying this book. I cannot overstate how much I am enjoying my Kindle: it's smaller than a trade paperback and with its Leather Cover is much, much sexier.

I did not achieve the 6-pack abs I wanted for my birthday. I have been working out regularly - 5 or 6 times a week. However, for every 350 calories I've been burning off per workout, I've probably been eating an extra 600 or so. So, yes, I'm stronger and faster but also heavier. Oops. For the most part, my clothes are still fitting but I'm up a few pounds that need to be shed to see the muscle underneath. I currently belong to two athletic clubs. I really need to decide which one to stick with going forward.

While I have not been writing much on-line (my offline writing is going strong), this has been an amazingly good month. My friend who had the stroke last fall, is now almost fully recovered and back at work.  To quote a physician friend of mine "Cathy I don't believe in miracles, but A's recovery is a true miracle." Indeed. I went to her welcome back party earlier this month. I've never seen so many delighted people at a work event such as this.

Work has been insanely busy, but in a great way. We opened our annual business plan competition to the entire state of Colorado, not just our University family. So far, we're getting terrific interest from the community. We've been filming our orientation sessions (feel free to watch the first one). If you are a local reader and know someone who is starting a company, please have him or her contact me. Executive summaries are due April 16th so it's not too late to participate. We award more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind awards to the winners. The CEO of one of our incubator companies has been working with me on my presentation skills. He used to do corporate training for public speaking among other things. Since I open each session, I will soon have ample video footage for him to review and critique. This is not exactly fun, but will eventually make me better.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I serve as the Executive Director of the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship at the Business School of the University of Colorado Denver. Each year we host an annual Business Plan Competition. This year we are making a number of important changes to the competition, most importantly, new prize categories and opening it up to everyone in Colorado.

The Bard Center Business Plan Competition—the premier academic business plan competition in Colorado—seeks to promote the development of high-caliber business plans, recognize the most outstanding plans with cash and in-kind awards from area businesses, and encourage the creation of new businesses. Over the years the Business Plan Competition has grown from a smaller University of Colorado Denver focused event to a statewide competition that includes plans from throughout Colorado. Historically cash and in-kind awards totaling nearly $100,000 have been awarded annually. This year the competition is moving to new a level, increasing prize awards and categories of prizes. Promotion of the competition will also greatly increase. Our vision is to significantly grow the competition year by year until it is the leading business plan competition in the Rocky Mountain Region.

The six best aspiring entrepreneurs and their teams are chosen among all of the applicants to compete in a public competition. The Bard Center Business Plan Competition seeks to promote the creation and development of high caliber businesses by recognizing the most outstanding plans for early stage Colorado Companies with cash and in-kind awards from area businesses.

When: Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Where:Grand Hyatt-Downtown Denver (1750 Welton Street)

• 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Six Finalists Present (free & open to public!)

• 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Luncheon Keynote

• 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony

Historical Prizes*: • 1st Place $10,000 • 2nd Place $5,000 • 3rd Place $2,500  • 4-6th Place $1,000  •Best Bioscience $5,000 • Best Nonprofit $5,000 • Best International $1,000 • In-kind over $80,000 in services and support

* New Industry Specific Awards are actively being solicited.

Eligibility: The Bard Center was founded in part to promote economic development in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. This competition is for early stage Colorado based companies. You must not have been a Bard Center business plan winner in prior years. You must not have received Angel or Venture Capital funding to date. The Bard Center solicits the best business plans from community members as well as faculty, staff, students, alumni, at all Colleges & Universities in Colorado. You do not need to be a college graduate to compete.

Application Process: Executive summaries are due on April 16, 2009. The top 20 businesses will be asked to submit full business plans by May 7, 2009. The top 6 businesses will publicly promote their businesses at our June 10, 2009 Business Plan Competition.

Important Dates:

March 12: Meet a judge, Business Plan Competition process discussed – Chris Onan, Appian Ventures

March 19: How to write an Exec Summary – TBD

April 9: Preparing Financials for your Exec Summary – TBD

April 16: Executive Summary Due, Competition Application Due

April 23: Business Plan Structure & Scoring – TBD

May 1: Top 20 Competitors invited to submit full Business Plans

May 7: Business Plans due – (only Top 20 business plans invited to submit)

May 14: Elevator Pitch Practice - TBD

May 28: Notify Top 6 finalists

June 3: Finalist Pitch Practice, Bard Center, all day, hosted by Business Catapult

June 10: Business Plan Competition

Testimonial: "As an aspiring entrepreneur going through the MBA program at UC Denver, the Bard Center gave birth to my second career and life. Not only did the Bard Center provide the tools and knowledge to become a successful entrepreneur, it also provided a great launch pad for my business concept, MetroBoom. Participating in the 2004 Bard Center Annual Business Plan Competition changed everything for me. Winning the first place honor served as "the wind behind the sail" my business concept needed for an ideal launch. The cash prize of $10,000 combined with over $15,000 worth of donated services from in-kind sponsors were extremely valuable resources. All the press and exposure I received from winning the competition gave MetroBoom the right type of attention and credibility it needed as a start-up. The Bard Center was also a great source for networking. I have met intelligent, motivated, and caring entrepreneurs and supporters of entrepreneurship. Without the help from the people I met through the Bard Center, it would not have been possible for me to launch MetroBoom. And, the support hasn't slowed down since my business opened. The networking opportunities still provide me with great sources for business leads and knowledge. The administrators, faculty members, students, board members, and alumnae provide immense amount of support for MetroBoom. They all serve as our ambassadors. The financial, emotional, and functional support from Bard Center motivates young entrepreneurs like myself to take the leap of faith into entrepreneurship with confidence and pride."

- Jung Park, MetroBoom, 2004 Business Plan Competition Winner – still going strong in 2009: www.metroboom.com  

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Please contact me if you are interested in attending, participating in or sponsoring our competition.

400

This is my 400th post since I started this blog. I did not anticipate having so much to say these last few years. Who knew? If only public speaking were as comfortable for me as blogging. 

Tomorrow we host our 7th Annual Business Plan competition. While the focus will not be on me, I am the one with the responsibility of moving the agenda along - introducing our judges and each company that will be presenting; showering our finalists with over $30,000 in cash prizes; and, remembering to point out and honor all of our eminent guests. For the past six years, the event was hosted by the prior executive director, a tall, graceful and elegant man. He could likely do this sort of thing in his sleep. He will be there tomorrow and I do not want to disappoint. I asked him whether he wanted to be the host one last time, but the baton has been passed on to me.

I am not tall, or elegant. I do not have a natural grace with words. And so, innate charm will be replaced by my earnestness and passion for our program. To me, this is the one day each year where the public can see our entrepreneurs' dreams made real. I love this.

67 Myths of Entrepreneurship

I just finished The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By by Scott A. Shane a Professor of Economics and the A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University (my undergraduate alma mater). The book received great publicity in Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere.

It's a terrific scholarly work that shattered some of my illusions of entrepreneurship. Scott crushes 67 myths or shares 67 truths depending on your perspective.

 Let's start with #1: America is NOT becoming more entrepreneurial. The rate of start-up creation has been declining over the last 20 years. This ties to #2 - there are many countries that are much more entrepreneurial than the USA.

A few things surprised (and depressed) me:

• immigrants are not more likely to start their own businesses (#18)
• networking skill does not matter (#19)
• venture capitalists fund less than one-tenth of one percent of all start-ups and account for less than two percent of all small business financing (#35)
• the typical entrepreneur earns less money than he would have earned had he worked for someone else (#39)
• compared to start-ups led by men, new businesses led by women have lower sales, fewer employees, less productivity, lower profits, and worse survival rates (#54)
• blacks create new businesses at only one-third the rate of whites and this pattern has persisted for decades (#56)
• encouraging start-ups is lousy public policy because ... we have a lot of evidence that these policies lead people to start marginal businesses that are likely to fail, have little economic impact, and generate little employment (#62)

All this painted a pretty bleak picture of entrepreneurship in America for me. Unless you are a job hopping, now unemployed, 40 year old white male who is sick of working for others (yep that stereotype is true) you might as well give up your dream. Sigh.

But the book smartly ended with some recommendations. What businesses are likely to succeed and drive economic growth? More importantly, what should we do? Scott's advice is somewhat like Castor oil - good for you but hard to swallow. Here is a snippet:

A strategy that revolves around increasing the number of new businesses created every year is flawed. Increasing the number of people founding construction firms and hair salons and taxi services that don't do anything innovative isn't going to do us much good. In fact, it might hinder our economic growth because new businesses are, on average, less productive than existing ones.

Instead of believing naively that all entrepreneurship is good, we need to recognize that only a select entrepreneurs will create the businesses that will take people out of poverty, encourage innovation, create jobs, reduce unemployment, make markets more competitive, and enhance economic growth. Therefore, as unfair as it may sound, we need to "stop spreading the peanut butter so thin." We need to recognize that all entrepreneurs are not created equal. We need to think like venture capitalists and concentrate our time and money on extraordinary entrepreneurs and worry less about the typical ones.

There is more, much more. Importantly, all of these recommendations tie to decades of data. Get your own copy: The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By

7th Annual Business Plan Competition

Three years ago, I was a competitor in the Bard Center Business Plan Competition. The first place winner for my year now teaches two courses in Social Entrepreneurship at the Bard Center. I am now the host of this amazing event. I am amazed at just how quickly things can change, how rapidly dreams can come true.

We are quickly approaching the May 1 deadline to submit a Business Plan. It’s also time to reserve your seats for this fun and exciting event.

Event Facts

The Award: This event will present awards to six aspiring entrepreneurs and their teams. The Bard Center Business Plan Competition seeks to promote the development of high caliber business plans, recognize the most outstanding plans with cash and in-kind awards from area businesses, and encourage the creation of new businesses. The specific objectives of the Business Plan Competition include:

• Encourage the commercialization of promising ideas and the creation of new ventures
• Be a catalyst for economic development and new business growth in Colorado

Cash Awards

• 1st Place $10,000
• 2nd Place $5,000
• 3rd Place $2,500
• 4-6th Place $1,000

Special Cash & In-kind Awards

• Best Bioscience $5,000
• Best Nonprofit $5,000
• In-kind over $80,000

When: Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Where: Grand Hyatt-Downtown Denver (1750 Welton Street)

• 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  Six Finalists Present - 15 minutes followed by 10 minutes of Q & A
• 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.  Luncheon Keynote:  Bradley Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group
• 1:00 - 1:30 p.m.  Awards Ceremony Winner acceptance

Cost:

• Presentations: Free and open to the public
• Luncheon: $50 (PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - please register by June 5.)

Sponsorship Opportunities:

• Platinum Sponsor $10,000
• Gold Sponsor $ 5,000
• Silver Sponsor $ 3,000
• Table (10 seats) $ 500 (no sponsorship benefits)
• Individual Ticket $ 50 (no sponsorship benefits)
• In-kind $ 5,000 (services available to finalists)

For more information or to reserve your seat contact the Bard Center at (303) 620-4050 or Bard.Center@cudenver.edu

The Bard Center for Entrepreneurship is a privately funded Center of Excellence that supports new business growth in Colorado. Celebrating our 10th year, more than 1900 students have participated in Bard Center programs, and annually over 20 companies are formed and supported by the Bard Center. The Center resides on the third floor of the historic Masonic Building in downtown Denver.

The Richard H. and Pamela S. Bard Center for Entrepreneurship was established in 1996 as a vehicle to foster economic opportunities in the Denver metropolitan area. Richard and Pamela Bard's generous endowment turned their dream into the reality of creating a program that would prepare future entrepreneurs for successful ventures, as well as to promote entrepreneurial spirit in the corporate environment.   

As part of the Business School at the University of Colorado Denver, the Bard Center fosters and promotes new business opportunities by advancing the teaching, study and practice of entrepreneurship and new venture creation.   The Center provides students with education, experience, incubation, funding, networking, and results!

Notes from the back of the classroom

One of the best perks of my job is the ability to sit in on a variety of classes, especially when guest lecturers or students present. As a student I was one of those people who was always early and always in the front row. Now, I generally sneak in and grab a seat in the back just as class is starting. My office is conveniently located about 20 feet from the classroom. Sitting the back helps me to remember that I am a guest and not a participant.

Last week, David Laube, who serves on the advisory board for the Business School and who literally wrote the Text Book for one of my classes (IT Management), gave a lecture in our Business Plans and Seed Financing course. This was one of the few classes I did not take as a student, so it was fun to sit in. Dave spoke on two major topics with the first leading into the second.

Apparently there are four key attributes that are desirable to companies recruiting business school graduates. None of these were surprising but the rank order was somewhat remarkable.

1. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
2. Ability to work well within a Team
3. Personal Ethics and Integrity
4. Analytical and Problem Solving Skills (note: while these may be critical, they are also considered implicit)

The real key here is that communication and presentation skills can make or break your career. Dave told several stories of colleagues whose careers plateaued or crashed and burned due to their inadequate presentation and communication skills. Don't let this be you.

While I'm not going to reiterate his specific presentation advice here (come take his class!), I will share a model he uses to think about communication and presentation. He shared a theory on social styles that I had not seen before. It's similar to Myers Briggs and Insights, both of which I've written about before. Apparently all of us develop a preferred style in adolescence. This is innate and cannot be changed. These four types (Analytical, Driver, Amiable, and Expressive) are equally prevalent in the population, with about 25% of us in each quadrant. If you're interested, Dave is a Driver. He leads, and when frustrated becomes autocratic. Most of the scientists I've interacted with are analytical, with a tendency to avoid interaction if pressured.

Interestingly, none of these social styles are correlated to business success.

The important skill is one's ability to be versatile and utilize other styles when needed. If your boss is a Driver, you must start with the summary; get to the point first. Let her ask for facts and data if she wants it. Most importantly, let that person lead your presentation. If your boss is an analytic, you must have FACTS and DATA to back up your presentation.  The ability to be versatile and adapt your style depending on your audience is strongly correlated with career success.

Final bit of advice from Dave, tailor your presentation to the most important person in the room. You might need to do your homework to learn his or her preferred communication style but your success will be worth the effort.

Forty

For months I have been dreading that shift from 39 to 40 which occurred yesterday. I'm not sure why this birthday worried me but it did. I woke up yesterday and did not feel any different. Of course my brother wrote to tell my I was "half way done." I suspect this was the reason I was dreading. Is my life truly half over? Many of the women in my family live to their late 80's or early 90's but not always in great health.

Yesterday was great in an honoring Bacchus kind of way. I was wined and dined for both lunch and dinner. For lunch I met up with three magnificent women I used to work with.  We ate at the Washington Park Grille. I always get one of their ahi tuna dishes, in this case the wasabi green pea crusted ahi tuna. It was terrific. For dinner it was O's Steak and Seafood at the Westin with my husband and his brother who is in town this weekend. I love O's. We go for almost all birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and essentially anything important. The food is outstanding with a beautiful presentation of the meal. When they bring the plates out, you often just want to admire it for a minute before eating.

As a present to myself, I finally, at long last, joined a gym. Or perhaps I should say, I joined a posh athletic facility. Every day, I walked past the building for the Colorado Athletic Club between my parking lot and work. Yes, I have a well stocked home gym, but with my long days (often 8AM to 10PM at the office), I have not been using it. However, I generally have an hour or two in my day that could be used to work out. I really needed to make it easier to find a way. This place is incredible. Yes there are 3 floors of athletic equipment and workout rooms, but it was the women's locker room that had me signing within minutes. Every beauty product imaginable is provided. There is a sauna, steam room & jacuzzi tub. Heck there is even a tanning bed and massage area if you really want to live it up. The women of all shapes and sizes walk about comfortable in their own nakedness. Apparently the place is packed in the early mornings (before 8AM) and during lunch. I have not been there during those times and feel like I have this magnificent place almost exclusively to myself. As part of being a new member, you get two free sessions with personal trainer. I have not scheduled my appointments yet, but they've been leaving me voice and email messages. Happy Birthday to me.

I've been doing most of my writing about my new job over on our alumni association website. Reaching out to alumni has been fun. I emailed all of the people in our database last week. About 600 emails bounced back but I ideally 1100 or so are still active addresses. I've already heard from more than 60 alumni and have meetings planned with some of them.

And finally, I found this fun test over on Kyra's Art Blog (need Java to see it). I am Handy Smurf.

You can take the test here.

Quantity vs. Quality

Last night we hosted Mike O'Neil from Integrated Alliances to teach a seminar for Bard Center students and alumni. Mike does training for people who want to better maximize their networking potential on LinkedIn. He had lots of specific and actionable advice for building a better LinkedIn network. My profile is improving but I'm still missing some of the personalization features recommended by Mike (you can see some on his profile).

As you can tell, Mike is a big fan of quantity and increasing the number of people to whom he is linked. He does not personally know and has not met many of his connections.

I'm one of those quality driven LinkedIn users. Do I know, like and respect the person to whom I'm about to link? The answer has to be yes to these questions before I will send out a request.

What about you? Is quantity or quality an either-or scenario or does having a large quantity of links promote networking quality? Mike suggests that if you are associated with a large network that it is more likely that you will be 2 or 3 degrees of freedom away from the person you really want to meet. He has a point.

I learned some fun things that I did not know about LinkedIn last night. First, groups, where did those come from? Look for the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship group to be formed soon. [Edit: LinkedIn approved my new group! If you are Bard Center affiliate (student, alumni, faculty, staff) you can join here.] I've been posting frequently on the blog run by my Alumni Association to keep people informed about upcoming news and events but I'd like to do more. I think a LinkedIn group would be a terrific way to get and kept everyone (students, alumni, faculty and advisory council members) connected.

Also, there is a hard cap on how many people you can directly invite to join your network. I did not know this. This is not an annual cap. This is a life long cap. After you hit this limit you must ask that those people who have not run out of invites request to link to you if you'd like to connect to more people. Even for paying members, it sounds like LinkedIn is reticent to grant more invites. I'm a very long way from the cap.