Barrington, NH: The down-turned economy has left many small business owners wondering what the future holds for them.  The fear of losing their business has encouraged several mom entrepreneurs to look for opportunity while others cut spending and layoff employees.

Thirty inspirational women will be highlighted over a period of 30 days on The Mom Entrepreneur blog <http://www.themomentrepreneur.blogspot.com> , which offers tips, advice and resources for balancing motherhood with running a company. These mom entrepreneurs’ stories demonstrate how these amazing women have decided to make “lemonade from lemons” using a little creative ingenuity.

“I have received dozens of emails from mom entrepreneurs all over the country telling me their “glass is half-full” stories,” said Traci Bisson, owner and founder of The Mom Entrepreneur <http://www.themomentrepreneur.com> .  ”From Misty Gibbs, owner of My
Inspiration Lounge whose vision is to “help women feel empowered, especially during this time, so they can take control of their lives and become better prepared for future downturns,” to Sarah Laufer, owner of Play Outdoors whose business launched in 2008. Laufer has decided to focus on “being who we are and continuing with our goal of creating a place where parents and kids are encouraged to get outdoors”.

These women and 28 more will be featured in a 30-day inspirational story marathon starting November 15 and concluding on December 14.

Mike Michalowicz <http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/author/index.php> , author of “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” (Obsidian Launch, LLC, 2008), in a guest post for The Mom Entrepreneur said “so here we sit, as entrepreneurs, on an economy that sucks. It will either revive over the next year or two or even perhaps die. But one thing for sure, it will get worse before it gets better. And it is now, right in this moment, that it is the best time to
start a business.”

The 30 stories in 30 days marathon will highlight mom entrepreneurs who also feel that now is the best time to start or grow a business because even in a sour economy lies optimism, promise and positive change.

To learn more about The Mom Entrepreneur and to follow the 30-day inspirational story marathon, visit www.themomentrepreneur.com.

About The Mom Entrepreneur:
Traci Bisson has been a mom since February 2000 and an entrepreneur since August 2000. Eight weeks after she returned from maternity leave, the company where she had been employed for five years went out of business. She decided to try doing her own thing and failed miserably. After another year of working for two different companies (the first laid off the department she worked in and the other was showing signs of going under), Bisson
decided to try entrepreneurship again.

Raising her two children and growing her first company, Bisson Barcelona <http://www.bissonbarcelona.com/> , an image management and high visibility PR firm, have been both challenging and rewarding.

Bisson started The Mom Entrepreneur in April 2008 as more of a hobby. She began blogging about her challenges and successes. That same month, she sent a query out through two news channels looking for tips on balancing family and business in order to generate some additional content for her blog. Bisson anticipated she would connect with a few other mom entrepreneurs, interview them and post their stories on her blog. In less then 48 hours she had received 400 emails with more then 1,000 tips from mom entrepreneurs all over the world.

From that point, The Mom Entrepreneur started to grow. The company added The Mom Entrepreneur Support Group
<http://themomentrepreneur.wordpress.com/support-group/>  in June, which now
has over 225 members who discuss everything from potty training to how to use Twitter.

Bisson’s story has been told in dozens of publications, including the Associated Press <http://www.bissonbarcelona.com/PDFs/WP_press.pdf> , National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB.com)
<http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_32411.html> , Women’s Business Boston Journal
<http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/BIZ/80427
0319/-1/rss50> , Plan Ahead Get Ahead (cover story), Union Leader
<http://www.bissonbarcelona.com/PDFs/UL_press.pdf> , The Portsmouth Herald
<http://archive.seacoastonline.com/2005news/12022005/business/75996.htm> ,
Our Times <http://portsmouthnhemployment.com/2002ourtimes/6_1k_ot.htm>  and
Seacoast Ventures
<http://www.seacoastventures.net/entrepreneur/0107ent.html> .

Please tell us about Xenia?
Anat Segal, CEO: Xenia is an investment firm founded in mid-2003 by a group of entrepreneurs with the vision of being an incubation powerhouse, engaged in the initiation and building of successful high-tech companies in the areas of IT and medical devices. I would say that there are two main similarities we share with traditional Venture Capital (VC) firms.  We invest in startups in return for equity, and the terms of our deals are similar.

What are the differences?
AS: One of the differences is that our investments are in really, really early stage companies. What are   typically referred to as seed and pre-seed stage deals. We establish the company alongside the entrepreneur. Our money is typically the first money in the firm. Sometimes there is friend-and-family round.  We are first and foremost an investment firm. We base ourselves on the unique structure of the Israeli incubator model.

Our business model is to transform an idea into a business and provide these companies with all the services, mentoring, systems, etc. that they need. We provide all the layers that our companies need: the physical layer (office space, whatever they need to operate), basic services layer (financial, legal, bookkeeping/accounting), and the people layer (most important in transforming ideas into viable business).  There are definitely advantages of scale in this model.

If you look at our website (www.xenia.co.il ) you will find that within our core team and board, most of them are successful entrepreneurs themselves. Thus, we can provide real experience and know-how to our portfolio companies. We have invested in 18 portfolio companies of which 9 have graduated from the incubator structure — of these, 8 have raised additional funds and the 9th is in deal mode.

Another unique difference is that we are a publicly-traded company on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). We just recently completed a rights offering where most of our shareholders participated. The fact that we are publicly traded provides a model where we can raise additional funds and follow-on offerings.

Given the fact that you’re publicly traded, how do investors profit?
AS: Investors benefit from an increase in the value of our portfolio with upside for exits. For foreign investors, the fact that we are publicly traded means that they can access local Israeli hi-tech early stage companies via a public market investment.

You mentioned the Israeli incubator model. Can you explain how it works?
AS: From a financial model, 15 years ago, the State of Israel created an incubator model, which was ultimately privatized about 4 years ago. The franchise provided the ability for us to get monies in the form of loans from the Chief Scientist. Our obligation is to operate the incubator but the main benefit is that these funds are granted as loans with all the equity of the upside. Non-recourse loans mean that our upside is leveraged.

Which spaces are you looking to invest in?
AS: We are focused on traditional IT (ie. Internet, software, communications) as well as medical devices and related industries. I must stress that we are not focused on biotech, but instead look for the intersection between devices and drugs, like drug delivery platforms.

What about Cleantech which is so hot right now?
AS: We certainly have a lot of deal flow in the Cleantech space, but we don’t have special expertise in this space.  Given that our investments are really opportunistic, we are looking at everything.  There are other specific funds focused on Cleantech.

Can you tell us about some of your portfolio companies?
AS: We have a company called NeatStitch. Their medical device has FDA approval for internal suturing for laparoscopic procedures. They have developed a patented automated suturing technology primarily targeting the Port & Vessel Closure markets. The device is of small dimensions, easy to use and fast to deploy.  NeatStitch has leading surgeons on its advisory board. Our holdings are worth more than 20x what we invested after only 4 years.

Another company we are invested in is BioProtect. They produce biodegradable balloons for tissue separation. It’s really a platform technology used for a couple of things: radiation treatment for prostate treatments and treatment of rotator cuffs (bringing immediate relief). The company has additional applications as well. With their balloons, radiation can be doubled and tripled without damaging adjacent tissue, as the balloon separates the healthy tissue from the unhealthy. Clinical trials have started in Israel, with US trials expected to begin shortly.  They have submitted an application to the FDA, and expect approval by end of 2008.

Another example of a company we are incubating in Link-it. They are developing a visual search engine. Their technology can search using photos, enables identification of objects/faces, and is able to generate exact matches even among large databases. They are starting pilots with various ecommerce sites and raising funds in the U.S.

How is your portfolio valued as you are publicly traded?
AS: Especially since the market is depressed, the market may not accurately value our holdings. Our rights offering gives investors a way to participate when prices are depressed. Net Asset Value (NAV) is typically calculated on the last stage of financing while other investments are calculated at cost, tangible assets.

Since your model is different than traditional VC’s, where do you profit?
AS: The goal is for our stock holdings to appreciate. I am shareholder myself and we gain from exits and dividend distributions. Our goal is to grow a large investment portfolio.

Very interesting. Thanks.