Keynote: The Entrepreneurial LandscapeMatt Jacobson from LaunchBox Digital kicked off the day offering a bigger picture of the current landscape and challenges facing entrepreneurs today. Although he began by talking about our entrepreneurial first president and namesake of the university, his assessment of the current situation was a clear view of what entrepreneurs have to consider as they take the plunge in 2010. From knowing your own strengths and weaknesses to understanding your teammates and how they compliment each other, Matt emphasized the importance of the team and having clear roles and responsibilities. Jacobson went on to discuss the current gap in funding options for early stage startups as another consideration. He stressed that while we are seeing more seed or incubator type organizations forming, if companies can figure out how to make money in the short term and not get funding, they should strongly consider it. Despite that concern, Jacobson is clearly passionate about startups having invested in 17 of them so far and reiterated that we need more entrepreneurs in this country –entrepreneurship is not only important to the growth of the American economy, but it’s also a part of our historical foundation. Precision, Authenticity, Follow-throughI joined the session on entrepreneurship lead by Kathy Korman Frey, founder of Vision Forward and The Hot Mommas Project. The panel consisted of Ed Barrientos, CEO of Brazen Careerist, Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategy Labs and Renee Lewis, founder Pensare Group. This lively panel discussed creativity, processes and issues with business plans, the planning process, sales and approach. Rather than give a summary of the entire panel, here are a few key quotes & takeaways.On business plans… On trying to sell yourself, land a big meeting or get in the door… On what are the most important qualities in young people for the future… The Business Plan CompetitionEight teams were chosen to present on day one, and four finalists were chosen to compete for the top four spots on day two. The finalists were Karmen, HealthEworks, ScentShots and AEC, Inc. The grand prize winner of $20,000.00 was the HealthEworks team. A group of savvy doctors, this team’s plan is to develop libraries of short, easy to understand instructional videos for educating people on their conditions or treatment. Hospitals will subscribe annually to various libraries and email the corresponding videos to patients as they are discharged from the hospital. This team was a favorite from day one as a member of the audience offered to write a check for $20K on the spot in exchange for 20% of company. The team members include Christina Johns, David Mathison and Moh Saidinjead. Having Dr Christina Johns on the team was a huge advantage given that she makes regular television appearances and her husband, an award winning video producer from The West Wing, is also on their board and working closely to oversee production. The second place prize of $6,000.00 went to ScentShots. The product is based on aromatherapy, and the founders, James Albus and Raymond Marcovici, have developed special patent-pending packaging that will make the product easily branded by partners, easy to use, travel with and distribute. They are using science and research to show how their first two products, ThinScent (for weight loss) and EnergyScent (for a quick energy boost) are effective and more practical than other competitors in the market. Karmen won the third place prize of $3,000.00. Ari Menase presented his Angus Cow import operation, demonstrating how Instanbul has a high demand for Angus beef, yet a severe shortage. He, with the support of his family who are already successful leather manufacturers, will import Angus cows into Istanbul and grow a strong business by supplying high end restaurants and hotels across the city. The AEC, Inc team of personal security experts took fourth place and $1,000.00. Kate Comiskey and Richard Bradford have serious background experience in personal security for the high-risk intelligence community who travels to dangerous regions. Their consulting business expertise is in high demand so they will build up sales and then likely exit by selling the company in 3-5 years. Last year, the first place winner of the 2009 GW Business Plan Competition was Keen Guides which is also a LaunchBox Digital company and was a featured startup at TECH cocktail DC 6 last summer. Their app, which provides audio tours for the DC area, was recently featured in the iPhone App store. The competition was sponsored by Annette and Richard Scott.
