Get Started; Resources for Entrepreneurs
Have a great idea? There are a number of places where you can get
information to start packaging your idea and find funding.
Getting started means getting a plan in place, bouncing your idea off
people who have been there, selecting the type of funding you are
looking for, and making a myrid of decisions on everything from law
firms to service providers. Listed below are a set of non profits who
have ongoing information and workshop programs to help get an idea
packaged.
When you think you are packaged and ready to seek funding it is time
for a Venture Capital Conference, with either a local or regional focus.
Venture Capital Conferences are forums at which venture capitalists meet
to exchange information and hear presentations from companies seeking
funding. Generally, the sponsor of the conference screens applicants who
want to present their companies' funding needs. The applicants who pass
the screening then describe their opportunities in short oral
presentations to an audience of investors. Interested investors can
follow up with the entrepreneurs later in the conference.
The best sources of information about upcoming venture capital
conferences are local entrepreneur or angel investor associations, local
accounting or law firms, which may cosponsor them, local venture firms,
which may participate as plan screeners, and local colleges and
universities with entrepreneurship courses, which may provide facilities
or professors as speakers.
Hand in hand with the Venture Conferences are invitation only product
showcase events sponsored by media companies who have readership in the
startup or venture market. Vendors are screened and preselected to
attend these events which are frequented by both Venture Capitalists as
well as large companies looking for acquisitions or partnering
opportunities. It is often said that the "buzz" on a company
starts at these showcases. Product can be shown at these showcases
before a company is completely packaged providing valuable feedback.
Resources for Product Showcases include:
- www.upside.com (several)
- www.redherring.com
- www.demo.com (IDG)
Written by Judy Kong, Analyst at TECHdivas.com |
