De-motivator to lighten up Venture Forum event

Self-described de-motivator Lawrence Kersten will speak Thursday at the Venture Forum's "2010 Greater Richmond Companies to Watch" event.

Get ready to giggle, guffaw, grimace, snicker and laugh out loud as Kersten talks about the challenges of being an entrepreneur, and about how his company, Despair Inc. (http://www.despair.com) in Texas, got started.

For starters, he will punch the air out of traditional solutions to the money problems that many entrepreneurs face.

"There are certain kinds of predictable responses" to money problems, he said. "Historically, some of the responses have not worked out so well, as evidenced by our current economic climate. So I would argue that sometimes the prevailing wisdom is actually prevailing nonsense."

Something perfectly serious will happen at the Venture Forum event, too: the recognition of nine forward-thinking companies in the Richmond area.

Event host Carl Johnson of NBI Advisors in Glen Allen came up with the awards ceremony five years ago "to promote Richmond as an entrepreneurial center," he said. Many of the 43 companies chosen have gone on to attract capital and achieve success, he said.

The Venture Forum event will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Capital Ale House, 623 E. Main St. in Richmond. To register, call (804) 267-3370 or go to http://www.grctw.com.

The cost is $75 for members and $100 for nonmembers. Hors d'oeuvres will be served. Parking is free. -- Iris Taylor