Entrepreneurs, money people mingle
The Vegas Tech community’s rapid growth in the last year has captured the interest of hundreds of entrepreneurs looking to start their own companies – many tech-related, some not.
But turning an idea into a profitable business often requires third-party cash infusions, which is where FundingPost.com comes in.
FundingPost’s Joe Rubin hosts conferences and networking events nationwide to introduce angel investors and venture capitalists with the startups companies that need their money and guidance.
Rubin on Thursday hosted the fifth Las Vegas FundingPost event at Mike Tyson’s former mansion in the southwest end of the valley.
“This is the hottest entrepreneur market I’ve ever seen here,” Rubin said, a flame fanned by Vegas Tech with support from Zappos and the Switch SuperNAP data facility.
The workshop and conference drew about 80 people, some from out of state, to the home now owned by Dominic Marrocco, an entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
A handful of small-business owners who worked on their elevator pitches at a FundingPost workshop earlier in the day made presentations to a panel of five angel investors and venture capitalists. Some entrepreneurs raced through their pitches, stumbling over figures. Some gave off-the-cuff speeches. Others referred to notes.
There was a Christian music publishing company from San Francisco, a Los Angeles-based educational comic book producer, a horse-racing technology startup and social media applications, all seeking varying amounts of financing.
Diane Russomanno in 2001 launched her Southern California company, Scooter Media. She found success marketing comics with educational themes to schools and parents, but needs about $2 million to turn her comic books into tablet-ready, graphic-heavy learning tools.
“Schools are dumping textbooks,” Russomanno said, so Calgary-based Smart Technologies approached her to see whtether Scooter could digitize her comics. She was at FundingPost to practice her pitch, network and possibly find an angel.
There were no critiques. Instead, the panelists spoke about their own investment criteria and what they look for in a business plan.
Speakers included Denver-based DLF Capital CEO Brad Greenwald, Desert Angels investor Rick Gibson from Arizona and local Felix Danciu, president and CEO of Elmcore Investment Advisors. The investors agreed that when looking at a company’s business plan, their primary concern is not money or assets, but about the originality of the idea and how they might contribute to the startup’s success.
“We try to get the sense that we can play a role in the company’s vision,” said panelist Eugene Wong, an investor who splits his time between San Francisco and Henderson.
Big-name investors like Greenwald, Gibson and venture capitalist Ed Fu of Rustic Canyon Venture Partners, are too busy to review the countless business plans emailed to them on a daily basis. They recommended local startups seek regional investment groups, like the Vegas Valley Angels, to get off the ground.
The Vegas Valley Angels has 30 accredited members who have invested $15 million in 20 companies in the last nine years. It looks at 40 to 80 companies a year and picks two or three to fund.
At the end of the conference, attendees peppered speakers with questions. Though the investors fund only a few startups each year, the entrepreneurs had hope: Maybe a Vegas business could be one of the chosen few.
And if not, Rubin said, remember that venture capitalists rejected Google.
Contact reporter Caitlin McGarry at cmcgarry@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.