January TAG/ATDC Entrepreneur Society meeting

Live and on the scene for the above mentioned meeting talking about the GRA/TAG Business Launch competition - $100K in cash & $100K+ in services for the winner. At the meeting today we have 2 former winners of the contest speaking about their experiences with the contest.

Damnit! Laptop blue-screened on me again.

Ok, back after a reboot.

First up, Sandeep Agate, CEO of REACH Call, a web-based telemedicine service. Made the decision to bootstrap (after winning the business competition) talked to the New York Dept. of Health and landed them as the first customer. Deferred salaries, 120+ hour weeks over a summer. Made the decision to get cash positive as quickly as possible. Did not put together a business plan (put together an executive presentation and financial model) and focused on building the business. Interesting story but the "questions" and "challenges" he's listing are well known to anybody who's opened a lemonade stand. *Yawn* I wish he'd talk more about his experience with the competition instead of giving us a history of REACH Call. Overall, not a compelling speaker.

Up next is Greg Warren of IVOX (listen to his StartupLounge interview), a provider of asset vehicle tracking technology. A couple of good sound bites

• "drive to the no" - ignore those who say you can't do it
• "in an ham and eggs breakfast, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed" when he decided to go full-time on IVOX.

Another business presentation but he's moving through it much faster to have a Q&A session. Just put up a slide showing sources of funding. No institutional money and cash invested comes from board members & convertible debt.

 

Competition benefits:

• business plan refinement
• message definition
• access
• exposure
• money
• validation
• support/community

From the meeting description: "Learn what made these two companies stand out from the crowd. Hear a progress report as well.Learn what made these two companies stand out from the crowd. Hear a progress report as well."

 

It's mostly a progress report i.e. sales/investing pitch. Greg does a much better job explaining the process and experience of going through the business competition on the StartupLounge podcast linked above.