live from TechLaunch!
Good morning - rookie live blogger here!
Idaho TechLaunch is about to, um, launch. Seven companies each have 20 minutes to pitch their venture (+10 min Q&A). If any of you have any questions, chime in.
1. OKOS
First up is Okos which uses nondestructive testing (NDT) tech out of INL - cool stuff but, alas, no positronic annihilation! (BTW, “Okos” is Hungarian for “smart/wise”.) It’s a real-time signal processing & analysis technology system. They’ve already got good stuff like digitizers (3 billion samples per second??) already in the market, ~$4 mill/yr? The potential for scanning & mapping terrain in great detail immediately - for troops, for search & rescue, etc.?É‚Äö?Ǭ†?É‚Äö?Ǭ† GM’s moving toward 40%.
A terrific use of INL resources - exclusive worldwide?É‚Äö?Ǭ† licenses (Steve Keller’s shop) –with more licenses to come. They’ve done a great job of working to build a relationship with INL (including an active CRADA to build ownable IP) so they can stay a generation ahead of others at essentially the same cost.
Reachable NDT markets ~$300 mill (compete with Positron or grow the market? Very high entry barriers)
Remote sensing, etc. ~$450 mill (nothing else is both portable and real-time)
Experienced entrepreneurial team, going to be a great asset to I-Falls. Not looking to be a 10X VC-type firm, but should be a juicy strategic partner for someone. Because of that, they had a little trouble explaining what $ they want, what the investor can expect and to justify that return. I could follow it, but the judges have obligation to show “tough love”.
Tough to go first of 7, but nice job.
Next up, the Pronetos guys…
2. PRONETOS.
You know the story if you’ve been on this board at all. Now it’s “showtime”, Chris Blanchard presenting.
Opened with a prop - showing visually how much academic “IP” gets left on the table.
Audience seems to be following (I get it, because I live part-time in that academic research world, but will laypeople? So far, so good)
Nice map of the competitive domain; differentiation themselves.
Will the judges buy the rampup rate - 640K participants before yearend? My guess is that the judges won’t, LOL. Profitable by then? I understand the “Facebook”+a tangible thing to sell.
Question from Mark Solon about long tail - which ties into unasked question about QA. Following, Mike Hennessy asked about how credible the peer review system.
Overall, a very professional pitch, but not too glib/slick. And, yup, they wanted more “realistic” projections - but said optimisticly.
next up…
3. Ivus Industries
These are the guys with the way cool flashlight that fully recharges in 2 minutes (with 10 year lifespan). Uses ultracapacitors instead of batteries. Already has a letter of intent with a major customer in law enforcement space.
What I didn’t know was it’s very green - long life span & the ultracapacitors are pretty much recyclable.
The IP re ultracapacitors is damned scarce knowhow - and they have markets (e.g., law enforcement, marine, military) who need a longer charge & faster recharge.
A Mag-lite can be working for 3 hours out of 24 (charging the rest of the time) while theirs could be up 23+ hours.
So far, I want all three products pitched today! (Not really sure what I need terrain scanning for, but…
READERS** — YOU GUYS ARE MISSING OUT!!!
** all 3 of you… LOL
4. U2ML
Jason Christensen has been profiled here too, so I won’t belabor the model, but the “pain” addressed is that lovely phrase that seems to annoy everyone: “Sarbanes-Oxley” (Mike Oxley was once my congressman, but don’t blame me! LOL)
Compliance is a bitch and costly as hell. (Noncompliance is worse, of course) Getting a relatively turnkey solution is a blessing. Apparently, of the 3 ‘pieces’ you need, nobody offers all 3. (Hardware, software, consulting) Why not, I wonder… maybe a nice barrier to entry? But judges asked if there is a value to specializing…
The questions from the judges centered on that - maybe partner with an existing player?
time for a break - be back with company #5, 6, 7. NO idea who is “ahead” in the competition - so NO gambling on Tac’s website!!!!
#5. GoSleepGo - a fascinating trip service already rolling aggregating user-provided travel destination info with a hip spin. Fins a sushi restaurant in PDX? In Bali?? The user content even includes photos…
Already bookmarked their website. (Of course, I’m probably not hip enough, LOL)
Have some income, growing but not necessarily intended to be rapid growth, but looks to exit via acquisition.
Mark Solon had an interesting suggestion about verticalizing (why not build community via parallel sites like “GoKayakGo”??)
Jeff Huhn asked about incentivizing users to contribute, coolness won’t be enough.
(N.B. A comment re all the presentations - the old maxim is true: “If it can be misunderstood, it will be.” So be as crystal clear as you can, testdrive on laypersons, etc.)
#6 (almost done!) Check A Biz up!
J. Glerum - another business you probably already know. If not, you really should start sending J. some ratings… It’s pretty painless & even can be fun!
Nice presentation style. I’d never heard the origin of the idea - a crappy experience with J’s car window repair, LOL)
Nice slides- normally I want Steve Jobs-style uncluttered slides, but these might be a bit ‘busy’ but Ed Tufte would not disapprove -the message comes across.
Judges’ questions seemed to focus on amping the revenue model(s), e.g. Craig Fenner. Silvia Rojas asked about how the businesses would use the service. Kevin Learned asked about valuation, etc.
Yet again - nice presentation & nice handling of questions by the presenters.
#7 - last and VERY much not least, Julie Mazzuca with Meth Lab Cleanup, LLC.
I’ve seen brainscans of meth users - as scary as those are, I had no idea how awful the environmental impact of meth labs are. And how poor we are at decontaminating these quickly and cost-effectively.
These folks are the only experts - the feds use their protocols & will be the 1st to get EPA accreditation for their training. They have already started training subcontractors nationally.
Two revenue streams - training and licensing/making their product, software, etc.
Cluttered slides (I’ll blame Hank Artis, LOL) and wished they would keep hammering that..
Whodathunk that the world’s expert on meth lab decon is in… Post Falls? (and they’ve done a decent job of locking up their secret sauce.
Numbers seem a bit low, given the magnitude of the problem & their defensible market leadership. Be more ambitious! [LOL - Kevin just told them to raise prices!]
Great finish to the companies!
Again — those of you who missed Idaho TechLaunch… missed a show… Best st of companies yet.
Cheers!
The judges are back! Before they give us the winner, they each giving each company some feedback.
Some recurring themes:
* A couple presenters “buried the lead” in that they had very good news that investors want to hear (e.g., existing sales)
* Don’t read the slides! LOL
* Talk non-techie… we’re smart but not in your biz.
* Some of you look too ambitious (”ridiculous” projections). Never say “1%” LOL
* Some of ARE too ambitious - focus, focus, focus. What is it you’re really good at?
* Some price too low (the Meth Lab Cleanup should double prices). http://techboise.com/live-from-techlaunch/#comments
live from TechLaunch! - TechBoise
* Several of you need to play up the green/cleantech aspects.
* there is no such thing as a “conservative” projection, LOL - tell us exactly how you created the numbers!
* no smaller than 30 point font on PPT slides; the slides are support. Use a handout if you must.
* Mention “speedo”
* Passion is contagious.
* Back to “burying the lead”, tell us early what you do, what’s the pain, what’s your answer; also, who are you like? (and you differ?)
Under “Press Releases” I posted the websites for the presenters; go visit all of them.
and the winner….
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Winning the $10K first prize for Idaho TechLaunch 4.0, presented by INL’s Tom Harrison, is: Ivus! Ultracapacitors really do rock, eh?
The $500 Perkins-Coie Peoples Choice (audience-voted) Award presented by Melanie “Rock” Rubocki — went to: Meth Lab Cleanup LLC.
Both were ridiculously deserving! Wow… again, check them out (& check out all of them)