(Nicolai Seest, chairman of the Danish Entrepreneur Association gives the opening speech at the workshop)

(Martin von Haller Groenbaek talks on the role and the duties of the board in startup companies)

VentureCup workshop. Venture Cup Oresund is a business plan competition primarily for students, scientists and entrepreneurs in Denmark and the south of Sweden. The competition helps participants develop their business idea into a professional business plan, with support from an extensive network of venture capitalists, corporate managers and academics. Venture Cup Oresund also offers frequent motivative events, educational workshops and seminars, together with a first-class handbook on how to write a high-quality business plan. From kick-off in September 2001 through the finale in May 2002, participants will have free access to all these services. The winning prize is DKK 200,000.

I have been a jury and advisory board member since the first Venture Cup Oresund competition in 2000. It is hard but rewarding work. A lot – luckily the majority – of the business plans that are submitted to the competition are good and quite interesting to read. Yesterday – March 2, 2002 – vonhaller lawfirm hosted a workshop for entrepreneurs on legal aspects of setting up and running a startup company. My colleague Benjamin Lundström and I did the legal presentations. Nicolai Seest of the Danish Entrepreneur Association opened up the workshop with a speech on why legal stuff matters seen from the entrepreneur’s perspective.