On this episode of the Business Beat, Jeff Sloan talks about the TCNewTech reverse pitch contest that had investors pitching to entrepreneurs.
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WJR Business Beat: TCNewTech Hosts Pitch Event in Traverse City (Episode 438)
Good morning! When you think of Northern Michigan, one tends to naturally think of various recreational activities we associate with being Up North as Michiganders say. And as it relates specifically to Traverse City, we think of cherries, right? But wait. Folks in Traverse City at TCNewTech, that’s an organization dedicated to connecting investors and entrepreneurs so that those entrepreneurs are able to fund their startups, well, they have us thinking more broadly these days, including even thinking of Up North as a tech and innovation hub, particularly Traverse City.
And they’ve just completed a really cool, reverse pitch contest that is instead of having the entrepreneurs pitch a panel of potential investors like they do on TV’s “Shark Tank,” for example, this pitch format had the investors pitching the entrepreneurs. The idea of this pitch contest format was to educate local entrepreneurs and startups about who the players are and what they’re looking for when they consider an investment in a young company and the winning investor won $500 to donate to their favorite charity.
The investors who pitched included Jody Trietch from North Michigan Angels, Josh Hart of Sweater Investment, Thomas Coke, the entrepreneur in residence at Grand Valley State University and CEO of Varsity Gems, Broc Edwards of Pronoia and Lowell Gruman, representing Boomerang Catapult, LLC. Now the investors in the pitches they made covered everything from types of companies that angels are looking to invest in to incubators and crowdfunding and lots more in addition.
Now I love events like this because it stimulates the local entrepreneurial community. It builds awareness and confidence as well on behalf of perspective startup founders, and many times it leads to deals getting done, that is startups getting funded, which is of course where the rubber meets the road.
If you want to learn more about what’s happening in the Traverse City tech and startup scene, or want to learn more specifically about TCNewTech, go to tcnewtech.org. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startup nation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
