Linda A. Kellogg

Its members include Linda Kellog, of the Kellog family, and chief executive officer of Startup Resources, as well as several other professionals in the field.

While the economy slows down and other startup companies are going out of business, AllDorm is still looking to expand.The company currently has 43 distribution ceters and is debt-free.With minimal marketing, they have managed to reach customers in more than 41 states, and serve schools such as University of California, San Diego, Arizona State University and New York University.Within the next 24 months they have their eyes set on expanding to Europe.

Currently, the company is negotiating a contract with The Sharper Image and an advertising deal with Verizon Wireless.

KELLOGG posted by Linda Kellogg on Tuesday, April 21, 1998

Linda Kellogg Principal

Linda Kellogg Principal Start-Up Resources
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Linda A. Kellogg, Principal

Linda Kellogg has successfully assisted 100+ venture backed start-ups since early 1996. Prior to founding Start-Up Resources, Linda was Director of Human Resources and Administrative Services for a leading Silicon Valley Law firm specializing in corporate law for emerging growth companies.

Linda has over twenty five years of management experience working with emerging growth companies in a variety of industries and is proficient in organizing the business operations during the start-up phase. She has set up the initial human resources infrastructure including new hire orientation, employee benefits, business insurance and payroll. She has planned and managed numerous facility moves, employee and client events, directed fundraising projects, authored company newsletters, calendars and marketing brochures.

From Linda Kellogg, if you're lucky. Kellogg is no VC, but in some ways she's just as indispensable. Working as the director of human resources at Venture Law Group, she was constantly being tapped for advice by 28-year-old wonder boy CEOs. " Here's this very bright Harvard M.B.A., who just got $12 million, asking me where to get phones," she recalls. Hello, business plan. In 1996 she founded Start-Up Resources, and has helped 45 companies get up and running- 15 in the past two months alone. Although she charges $110 an hour, she still turns down six or seven jobs a week.
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Kellogg waived her fee and, VC-like, took equity in lieu of cash. To outfit her clients, Kellogg scours the papers for news of company relocations and closings, so she can pick up used desks and chairs. She furnished the 25-person Affinia office for a bit more than $1,000. The whiteboards were so fresh from a failed start-up they still had the old company's competitive analysis on it. The competitors apparently won. Virtual assistants are offered full-time jobs from all their clients. No one is interested. "I just tell them, 'You can't afford me,' " explains Kellogg.

Kellogg turned the problem around on a dime by getting the bank a payroll report within McMinn's deadline of 48 hours.

On the heels of that success, McMinn charged Kellogg with a series of similarly daunting tasks that a start-up's CEO typically handles, from assembling a benefits package (in just 30 days) to hiring Covad's first office manager.
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"All the things that you suddenly bump into and haven't even thought of, Linda knows how to do," says McMinn, who last October retained Kellogg to help start another new venture, Certive Corp.
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"All the things that you suddenly bump into and haven't even thought of, Linda knows how to do," says McMinn, who last October retained Kellogg to help start another new venture, Certive Corp.
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Kellogg, says McMinn, offers "a seamless turnkey solution."
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Kellogg prefers to sign on with start-ups just out of the gate, "before they've made any mistakes."

A 48-year-old dynamo, Kellogg is a pioneer in the burgeoning market of start-ups for start-ups. Her San Jose-based Start-up Resources Inc. has so far worked with 45 Silicon Valley technology companies, enabling their founders to concentrate on building their businesses while she tackles the back office -- everything from handling early-stage accounting and tax matters to finding office space and ordering water for the employee lunchroom.
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Linda Kellogg prefers to sign on with start-ups just out of the gate, "before they've made any mistakes," she explains. "It's more fun for me to go in and do the whole setup. Also, that way Kellogg can take charge of the entire start-up process and work unimpeded by someone else's accountant or real estate broker. Kellogg deploys her own stable of dedicated consultants in accounting, taxes, information services, and human resources, as well as 25 vendor partners. Add to that her high-level VC and other Valley ties -- including her husband, Harry W. Kellogg, vice-chairman at Silicon Valley Bank -- and Kellogg has "an incredible network of contacts," comments client Ford Goodman, president of Certive.

Her engagement typically spans four to eight weeks, and her fees begin at around $12,000 for a basic starter package that includes 10 hours of her own time. At the higher end Kellogg serves what she calls "monster start-ups" -- companies that have more than $15 million in first-round venture money and "want everything done now. Such intensive assignments consume as much as 400 hours of her team's time and can cost clients up to $30,000. For that sum Kellogg delivers a complete setup, which includes finding office space and furniture, installing information systems, and compiling an employee handbook and a benefits plan.

With 16 of her 45 start-up clients, Kellogg has received equity instead of fees, or a mix of fees and equity -- an increasingly popular arrangement with many service companies these days. It's an option that not only saves Kellogg's client companies up-front dollars but also buys them her long-term loyalty. For example, client Biztro, with 75 employees crammed into the 6,500-square-foot space that they moved into last April, has clearly outgrown the initial start-up phase that is Kellogg's chosen bailiwick.
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But because Kellogg has an equity stake in the business, Madan says, "I know I can call on her for anything," including leads for financing sources and access to Kellogg's other contacts.
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Kellogg, says Madan, not only saved Biztro some three weeks in assembling a competitive HR package but crafted the plan with a mind toward the company's projected fast growth.
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Kellogg has also proved herself to be a shrewd negotiator in the Valley's tight-as-tight-can-be real estate market. She has good working relationships with major local real estate brokers, and because of her husband's high rank at Silicon Valley Bank, she boasts, "I can get a letter of credit in an hour. Client Ford Goodman credits Kellogg with helping him beat out six other start-ups competing for Certive's 41,600-square-foot office space in Redwood City.

Although Kellogg's clients typically count their savings in hours rather than dollars, she's ever mindful that start-ups must spend their early cash wisely. For example, there's her client Affinia Inc., a Web consultancy.
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Kellogg's solution? She rummaged around for used whiteboards and beat-up desk chairs, and even scrimped on paper clips. "I bought one box instead of three," she says.

With demand for Kellogg's services mounting, many of her Silicon Valley colleagues are pressuring her to expand her business into a nationwide franchise. But she fears that expansion might dilute her hallmark personal service. "I don't want to become a commodity," she says.
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Whereas Kellogg deploys a hands-on consulting model, Jensen has crafted a point-and-click approach.
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Once a start-up grows to 35 employees, though, it's time to bring the accounting in-house, according to Start-up Resources founder Linda Kellogg.

Linda Kellogg is the start-up's starter-upper. While head of human resources at fast-growing Venture Law Group, based in Menlo Park, Calif., she organized so many office moves and openings that she figured others could benefit from her expertise. So in 1996 she launched San Jose-based Start-up Resources, which helps companies get their offices up and running quickly.

Start-up Resources manages everything from finding and furnishing office space to setting up benefits and payroll systems. Kellogg and her three employees have so far handled start-up operations for 30 companies. Most have paid--at least in part--in almighty equity.

Kellogg's services are in demand because even the sharpest entrepreneurs "don't know how to go about actually starting a business," she says. And what are their most common mistakes? For one thing, they spend too much time checking out used-furniture prices and not enough on recruiting and product development. Or they might hire two or three employees before even thinking about setting up a workers' compensation system, something that Kellogg says can be done in an hour.

Newer offices in Silicon Valley may come wired with CAT5 Ethernet cables, but installing cables in older buildings in places such as San Francisco can be a huge expense: Wiring a small, 15- to 20-person 3,000-square-foot office can cost $25,000, according to Linda Kellogg of Start-Up Resources, an office search and setup specialist in San Jose, Calif.
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Now it's nothing," says Kellogg. "If a company only has $2 million, it will be tough for them to get credit. Vendors don't even look at that."

Still, Kellogg doesn't let her moneyed clients blow their budgets on office setup. For example, she usually looks for inexpensive used furniture by scanning business-moving announcements or buys mismatched chairs from discount stores. She also finds good deals from places such as Office Depot, which offers Web ordering and next-day delivery. Her goal is to get startups up and running quickly and cheaply so they stay focused on building a business.

"If a company wants cubes, which cost $1,200 per person, I ask them, 'What if you're one month away from second-round financing and can't meet payroll?'" says Kellogg.

Linda Kellogg, founder and CEO, Start-Up Resources Inc