GRA TAG Competition Workshop Final

GRA/TAG Business Launch Competition Workshop

Agenda
Introductions
Logistics
The written application
Delivering your presentation
Q&A
Judges
Resources
Q&A @ Anytime

About Me
ATDC venture catalyst
New media/Internet/InfoSec/open source
Applicants
13 years Internet operational experience
EVP, MindSpring
EVP & GM, EarthLink
CMO, CipherTrust
Other projects
Atlanta Startup Weekend
Skribit
Twitpay
BarCamp
Skribit
Emerging technology company consulting

About ATDC
A nationally-recognized technology incubator that helps Georgia entrepreneurs launch and build successful companies.
Assisting judging of written materials
Coaching semi-finalists on presentations
Charles Ross, Cindy Cheatham, Mary Leary, David Sung

About GRA
The Georgia Research Alliance was created to drive Georgia's strategy for capitalizing on university research to build a vibrant, technology-rich economy
Internationally acclaimed model for bringing business, research universities and state government
Sid Elliot GRA AT&T executive in residence

About TAG
TAG is dedicated to the promotion and economic advancement of the state's technology industry
Provides leadership in driving initiatives in the areas of policy, capital, education and giving
Brings the technology community together through events, programs and networking opportunities
Tino Mantella, president
Melanie Brandt, director of community

About The Competition
Goals
Motivate and support entrepreneurs
Support and expand strategic clusters
Create awareness that GA is a great place to launch and grow technology companies
One of the largest prizes in the country
$100,000 cash
$200,000 in kind services

Qualifications
Georgia based
Internet technology
Online services
Web applications
Infrastructure
< $500k funding

Why Apply?
There is the money
And the services
But there is much more…
Forcing event to get together investment materials
Business vetting
Document feedback
Presentation coaching
Exposure to experienced entrepreneurs
Exposure to investors

Key Dates
February 10: Preliminary entries
April 7: Final entries
May 6 - 8: Semi final presentations
June 3: Final four presentations

How To Apply
Preliminary round
2 Page executive summary
Completed questionnaire
Terms and conditions agreement
Semi finals & finals
20 page business plan
10 - 12 slide presentation deck
Mentor coaching
Practice presentation sessions

Some Writing Tips
Clearly explain
The market
Your unique/innovative technology
Management team
Financials, stage of company and use of funds
Be concise
2 pages is 2 pages
More is less, a lot less
Spell check!
Make sure the documents are consistent

Help Us Find You
Put contact info on every document
Include company name in all files
Include company name in email subject lines

You Are A Semi-Finalist!
Woot!
Do your homework on the judges
Build your pitch
Use Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule
10 slides
20 minutes
30 point font (this is 24, go no lower)
Practice by yourself
Practice with a watch and mirror
Practice with your team
Oh yeah, practice Q & A

The Pitch
Don’t go alone
They want to see the team
2 - 4 people seems right
Only the CEO should present
Dress the part
Do something relevant & memorable
Do not read your slides
Take backups

The Q & A Minefield
Answer the question, bridge and shut up!
Be honest, not defensive
You don’t say…
“Well honestly”
“That’s a good question”
Or any variants thereof
Have a teammate take notes
The CEO directs others

The Judges
Want you to succeed
Will behave better then investors
Do not know the Internet as well as you
Will not know your business as well as you
Will not have read your plan
Will bring distractions of normal work
Read them
Thank them

Resources
http://www.tagonline.org/businesslaunch.php
www.peachseedz.com
http://erc.atdc.org/
[email_address]
[email_address]

Summary
Great competition
Lots of value beyond the cash
We are here to help you succeed

Lance Weatherby Venture Catalyst [email_address] http://atdc.org http://blog.weatherby.net http://peachseedz.com

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GRA TAG Competition Workshop Final

by Lance Weatherby on Jan 08, 2009

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