The day began with a Keynote from Steve Barnes, CFO of Energy Plus. Steve spoke about the growth of his company and the process of launching a business in today’s corporate environment without venture capital.
Our first panel spoke about exiting your venture backed enterprise. Sponsored by Blank Rome and Fesnak and Associates, the panel included Dan McKinney, Co-Founder, Next Stage Capital, Jeff White, Managing Partner, Trestle Ventures, Ken Hayward, CEO vCopious, Saul Richter, Partner, Emerald Stage II, and Alan Zeiger, partner Blank Rome.
Our second panel talked about raising capital for your emerging company. Also sponsored by Blank Rome and Fesnak and Associates, this panel included Bill Kirk, CEO of WeatherTrends.com, Tim Reese, CEO of Forged Intellectual Capital, Karen Griffith Gryga, CEO of FashInvest, and David Plumber, CEO of Probitymt.com.
Our Lunch Keynote, sponsored by Saul Ewing, featured Michael Yavondite, CEO of Hashable discussing his experience as a serial entrepreneur and the obstacles facing his new social media venture hashable.com.
After a quick networking break, the real fun began as 34 companies presented their opportunities to over 30 investors in a speed pitch format. Each company had to give their best elevator pitch in a face to face 5 minute session with each investor. By the end of the afternoon both companies and investors alike were exhausted but all agreed that the format was refreshing and offered a great platform for developing future opportunities and relationships.
