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Two DeveloperTown Companies in the PowderKeg Startup Bowl

Posted October 11th, 2012

After sorting through piles of applications from dozens of fantastic startups, we (the PowderKeg team) finally managed to narrow down the pool to 12 startups that will be competing for the $15,000 prize package (a combination of cash and services).

Many of the startups that made the top 12 are part of fantastic organizations around the United States like DeveloperTown.

Diagnotes- DeveloperTown

In an effort to eliminate the problems associated with effective communication and care during on-call medical encounters, Diagnotes has developed an integrated software solution that provides critical information, secure communication and convenient documentation for healthcare providers via their smartphones, focusing initially on on-call physicians and the 50-100 million such patient encounters conducted annually in the US.

Diagnotes is a DeveloperTown project. See more about Diagnotes and our relationship in a future blog post!

Adproval- DeveloperTown

Adproval is a service that streamlines the process of direct ad sales for small and medium bloggers while allowing them to maintain relationships with their advertisers. Working with an approved advertiser lets bloggers use their voice – by means of product reviews, featured posts, etc. – to back them as a sponsor, making ad space on that blog more valuable.

DeveloperTown built the initial Adproval platform (then DoubleStitch) and connected Matthew with his current developer Bob Mattax and designer Peter Lockhart.

FoundOps- Purdue Research Park

FoundOPS is developing an operations platform to help small field service operate more efficiently by gamifying carbon savings. In one, easy to use cloud based system, they’ve incorporated GPS technician tracking, drag and drop dispatching, and intuitive customer service management.

Modulus- The Brandery

Modulus helps developers spend less time configuring servers and more time building products. Modulus does this by providing a complete platform that companies can use to host and scale their internet-based applications. We add to that an integrated database and file storage solution, and wrap everything under a powerful statistics engine.

Not only is Modulus a part of The Brandery, but the founders are Rose-Hulman graduates and have put together several meetings/presentations about Node.js to share with entrepreneurs around Indianapolis.

Team Mash- Sproutbox

TeamMash is a daily email for sports fanatics. Every day, their editors scour the web for the best sports content. Each morning, they email you a mashup of what happened with your favorite teams in the past 24 hours. It even contains links to hand-picked articles from around the web.

After receiving my first email from them yesterday (about the Packers, of course) it’s easy to understand why they’re a Sproutbox company.

There are also several startups around Indianapolis that we have ties with that will be competing!

Visit Apps

Visit Apps empowers Convention & Visitors Bureaus (CVBs = tourism agencies) to harness the mobile channel to deeply engage their visitors. Visit Apps has built a proprietary platform that allows any CVB – from the quaintest of towns to a bustling metropolis – to have their own mobile app. Visit Apps is a SaaS startup in the explosively growing mobile sector (available in iPad, iPhone and Android devices).

Squarejive
Squarejive is a free mobile application that recommends things to do nearby. The app is built upon a mosaic design that allows users to seamlessly find and share events across Facebook, Twitter, SMS Text, and Email. With Yelp integration, the app also includes business profiles for over 400 venues in Indianapolis.

Lesson.ly
Lesson.ly is a teaching and learning marketplace. It’s like iTunes, but with lessons and courses instead of songs and albums. It is “the simplest way to learn” and is currently in beta-testing.

PetBookings
PetBookings.com is the first and only website to offer instant and confirmed online reservations to the $3.5 billion professional pet care industry. They are launching v2.0 of their website platform Friday October 5, 2012 and are armed with some remarkable test data going to market.

CoatChex
CoatChex is focused on bringing innovation and value through today’s technology to an industry that hasn’t been touched in decades. The patent-pending process optimizes coat check-in and retrieval functions and reduces the risks that are commonly associated with checking coats, making it the hassle-free solution to running a secure, profitable, and efficient coat check station.

Finally, we’re excited to see and learn more about these out-of-town startups!

Lisnr
Lisnr aims to change the way that consumers experience audio by turning what has historically been a passive experience into an interactive engagement platform. Lisnr is an app that allows music or any other audio medium to passively trigger consumer interactions, direct to their mobile device, during a consumer’s listening experience.

Bonfyre
Bonfyres are private groups created around events where you can share chats and photos. All of these shared photos become part of group photostreams, called Memories, and are accessible only to others at that bonfyre. Simple event planning, private real-time sharing and collective group photos in one app, just like it should be.

If you’re interested in learning more about the PowderKeg, please click the keg and get ready to light the fuse on October 17th!

Use the discount “FRIENDSOFDT” to get $100 off of registration!

Posted in Clients, Events, IndyStartupScene | No Comments »

My First Quarter at DT (in Pictures)

Posted October 3rd, 2012

Since this week marks my 3-month anniversary, I wanted to share some of my favorite times at DeveloperTown with you all. Though I’m not much of a picture person myself, others around DT have done a fantastic job documenting the past few months, and I’ll try to give them credit when possible. Here are some of the many reasons that I’m glad that I chose to come to DeveloperTown:

1. The People

Joining DT is like joining a family. It’s a family suffering from a lack of sleep and fueled by caffeine, but it’s a family nonetheless. (Photo Credit: Mike Kelly)

2. The Houses

I love the ability to personalize your workspace and have your own little area to shut yourself away in. As they say at DT: “If the light is on, don’t come a-knocking…. because I’m busy.” The one pictured above is my fantastically blue house that I’ve been lucky enough to occupy for 2.5ish months.

3. The Dogs

Where else are you greeted by an adorable dog like Digby the moment you walk in the door? Pictured above are Digby (Justin Kime’s golden), Maggie (Mike Kelly’s newest canine addition to the family), and Murphy (Kelly’s giant irish wolfhound). (Photo Credit: AR3)

4. The Innovation Showcase

The Innovation Showcase took place 9 days after I started work at DeveloperTown. It was a great way to meet a bunch of clients, friends of DT, and other members of the Indy startup community while building excitement about everything going on in Indy right now. (Photo Credit: Unknown)

5. Hack ‘Em Ups

Every other Tuesday night, many of us get together to work on internal projects. These Hack ‘Em Ups have yielded things like TroopTrack (Dave’s company), PongTracker, and Versus! (Photo Credit: AR3)

6. The Events

Sometime it seems like there is a new event every week at DeveloperTown, ranging from the TedX Indy Auditions (pictured above) to a charity ping pong tournament to the Pre-Seed Workshop (wrapping up today!) (Photo Credit: John Wechsler)

7. The Nerdiness

DeveloperTown is one of the most fantastically nerdy places I’ve ever been. Walking around, you can hear conversations on topics like garbage collection, bacterial evolution, particle physics, and even the most realistic way for the world to end. Just last week, a set of four Battlestar Galactica posters showed up at our door, and almost everyone was excited about them. (Photo Credit: Jeb Banner)

8. The Nerf Guns

Nerf battles are a weekly occurrence, and we recently completed our first round of DT Assassins (which was won by Josh Littlejohn). It’ll be a long time before I forget the way that Celeste Baker walked into scrum on her last day (think Lara Croft but wearing heels and carrying nerf guns.)

8. The Community

There is a strong community of entrepreneurs in Indianapolis. Pictured above are those that graduated/are connected to Rose-Hulman at our quarterly get-together (that took place at DT last month)! (Photo Credit: Jim Bertoli)

There are dozens of other reasons that I’m glad I moved to DT, but these are some of the most prevalent (and easiest to find pictures of).

What are some of your favorite things about DeveloperTown?

Posted in How we work | No Comments »

PowderKeg Pitch Bowl

Posted September 19th, 2012

Picture yourself in the shoes of Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, or any of the other hundreds of NFL players that have stepped out onto the field at the Lucas Oil Stadium. Instead of donning a helmet, pads, and a jersey to play football, you’re preparing to pitch your company to a national audience. On October 18th, you could get the chance to step up to the mic and pitch your startup to 500+ entrepreneurs, developers, and other creatives at the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the most recent Superbowl!

PowderKeg Information

The PowderKeg is a two and a half day conference from October 17th to 19th that is being put on by Verge. Events include the Entrepreneur’s Unleashed Panel (with Connections 2012), a Startup Showcase and Exhibition at The Crane Bay, and a closing party at DeveloperTown and the Speak Easy!

About the Pitch Bowl

On the afternoon of October 18th, 10 companies will have the chance to compete in the Pitch Bowl in front of the 500+ PowderKeg attendees. Pitches will be limited to 5 minutes, with an additional 5-10 minute Q&A session after. One lucky winner will walk away with a startup growth package (specifics to be determined). As an added bonus, all 10 startups will be able to attend the lunch before the Pitch Bowl starts. There will be $15,000 in cash and prizes to go out to the competitors!

Applications are due on September 28th, and the 10 startups that are selected will be notified by October 5th.

Click here to apply!

Any questions can be sent to lsaxton@developertown.com.

Posted in Events, IndyStartupScene | No Comments »

Diverge to Converge

Posted September 6th, 2012

Last month, I was sitting in my first DT design session when I heard something that’s been stuck in my head all day. We were partway through our Ideation session, where we discuss any and all possible future paths that come to mind for a particular project, when Michael Cloran said (to paraphrase): You have to diverge before you can converge. At the time, he meant that we needed to discuss possible long-term directions the app (or suite of apps) could take before returning to the immediate future.

For some reason, this concept resonated with me to my core.

My Personal Re-Design

On a personal level, I’d been planning on getting my PhD in Molecular Biology for as long as I could remember. My summer internship at CIK (home of BizProps and Tri-Auto) changed everything. I spent my next year diverging: taking classes in Entrepreneurship, attending business conferences and Venture Club meetings, and thinking about what I really wanted to do with my life.

I met Michael Cloran at the IU Kelley School Annual Business Conference, and, a month later, I visited DeveloperTown and was sold on the company, the vision, and the people. It reminded me of my first visit to Rose-Hulman four years ago; a school that hadn’t been on my radar instantly became my #1 choice because it just felt right. Being at DT just felt right because DT isn’t just a job. DT is a lifestyle, a family, and a place to grow. It took really taking a step back and examining who I was and what I wanted to converge on as the right choice for at least my next few years.

DeveloperTown 2.0

DeveloperTown also exemplifies this concept in more than just the Design Process. This past January, DeveloperTown 2.0 was launched, primarily as an internal program to signal that DT would be undergoing major self-improvements. Everyone at DT had the chance to contribute to meaningful discussions on what they wanted to change at DT. From culture to clients and everything in between, townies were taking ownership of the company. Some of the amazing results of this endeavor included Hack ‘Em Ups, a blog overhaul, and even the hiring of almost two dozen new employees over the span of six months.

Because we decided to diverge and rebuild, DT has grown in size and strength. More than ever before, we are a technical co-founder that will help dozens of startups launch their product this year. But, more than that, we are all part of a company that we can be proud to be a part of. As Michael Coffey likes to say, “Our number one customer is our employees,” and it shows.

Since starting here, I’ve done everything from helping refine the sales process to writing my first blog post to getting demolished at ping pong on a regular basis (as Pong Tracker clearly shows). For the first time in a long time, I don’t have a plan for the next two, five, and ten years. I don’t know where I’ll be living and working three years from now. All I know is that, at least for now, DeveloperTown is my home, and I love it here. I’ve converged on where I want to be, and it feels amazing.

My House:

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

My Marketing Degree Mislead Me…

Posted August 17th, 2012

When I decided on Marketing as a major I had the thinking that Marketing was this thing that was a post product launch activity and then eventually you just tinkered and refined things as the product matured. I also had the mindset that marketing was either a job in communications, sales, research or analytics and that would be one of my choices upon graduation.

Here are a few things I have learned since graduating from college about marketing:

- It is something that starts from Day 1 of a company
- Marketing is understanding your customer and building a great product/service specifically for them
- The most important part of marketing is the Product, not the 3 other P’s (although you must also do them well to succeed)
- Everything a company does is marketing because everything you do is being perceived and interpreted by the world (especially in today’s social media world)
- If you don’t define who you are and your messaging, someone else will. And usually that ends up in a place that has you scrambeling
- People don’t care much about all the whiz bang gadgetry you have. What they do want is to know how all of that benefits them.
- You have to connect with people on a real level. People love and identify with authenticity.

And probably the most important thing I have learned is this:
- Tell people who you really are and what you provide. The more you build yourself up and don’t meet those expectations in the customers mind, the more effort you will have to put in to repair your relationship with the customer. Don’t mislead people with the marketing machine and hype. Tell it like it is.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

New DT Townies- Developers

Posted August 9th, 2012

By now, you’ve hopefully all read about the new members of the design team and are anxiously awaiting to learn about the other five newbies to join the list of DeveloperTown townies.

Today’s post will be all about the new members of the Development Team, Jason Pitcher, Caleb Anderson, and Joe Burns. All three of them joined DT in July, making them our three newest townies. Until their houses arrive, they are inhabiting the desks in the corner that were formerly the home of Musical DNA.

Jason Pitcher

A recent Full Sail graduate, this is Jason’s first job since getting his B.S. in Game Development. Before that, he was a software tester for Interactions (where he met many of the DT townies including Partner Mike Kelly) and a Satellite systems operator for the U.S. Air Force. His favorite past projects are still protected by NDAs, so he’s not allowed to share them.

Jason will be joining the SaaS team, where he will be doing “native code stuff”. Jason is also helping implement our internal client database. In his free time, he likes to read books and play video games. He like barbecues and antique books.

Caleb Anderson

Caleb comes to us from Musical DNA, where he did Unity, C-sharp, and Rails site develpment. A friend of DT for years, he recently transitioned from being one of Musical DNA’s developers to one of ours! Before that, he was a student and a website developer. He particularly enjoyed Unity and “hopes to get back into that.”

Caleb also joins the SaaS team, where he will be utilizing his knowledge of Rails. In his spare time, he does some freelance work, bikes a lot, and likes to watch Big Bang Theory and Community. He doesn’t own a car and is part of the biking gang the Velo-nauts.

Joe Burns

A former employee of corporate America, Joe joins us from Staples, where he was part of the services oriented architecture team that established the SOA architecture. As the Senior Enterprise Architect, Joe worked on a mix of development, management, and infrastructure engineering. Before that, he helped build some of the original iterations of Monster.com.

At DT, he will be a member of the SaaS team, mostly doing Rails development and Developer Operations. He is married with a son (Jeremy) and lives less than a mile away. He is the most recent addition to the DT Brewmasters, as he enjoys all-grain brewing.

Left to Right: Jason Pitcher, Caleb Anderson, Joe Burns

Stay tuned for a post about the two new members to the Sales/Consulting team in a few days!

Posted in Announcements, How we work | No Comments »

New DT Townies- Design Team

Posted August 7th, 2012

If you’ve been around DT recently, you might have noticed many new faces. In the last few months, 9 new townies have joined the DeveloperTown Team. Over the next few days, I’m going to be introducing them so you can place a name and background to the faces!

This post is going to introduce the new members of the design team. What used to be Celeste and Justin has expanded to included Randy Fisher, Daryn Shapurji, Ben Huddleston, and Jeff Pope.

Randy Fisher (Partner)

Randy was brought on to take over the UI/UX team at DT. You’ll probably see him in any of your initial Design Sessions, and he will be coordinating the other members of the design team.

Before coming to DeveloperTown, Randy was the VP of Quality and Analytics at ChaCha, where his primary responsibility was developing product strategy and design for the ChaCha product/platform. He has over 15 years of experience designing software across a variety of vertical markets. His favorite projects “are challenging from a user experience perspective – the kind that take total concentration to think through the solution from the user perspective and solve a problem through good design.”

Outside of DT, when he’s not playing with his kids, Randy is an aspiring chef, and avid gardner, and a movie buff. He also enjoys complaining about the design of everyday things (just ask his wife!)

Daryn Shapurji

Daryn is one of DT’s designers that also deals with user experience development. He is also at the top of DeveloperTown’s Ping Pong Leaderboard.

Before coming to Developertown, Daryn served as the Marketing Projects Coordinator at Rowland Design, where he worked on a variety of projects including redesigning, developing and handling their entire website from the ground up. His favorite projects at DT so far include Chideo and Sprezzat!

His hobbies include flag football, making beer, fantasy football, game of thrones reading and tv show, weight lifting, huge movie buff, stock and company trends, stock market, Verge Start ups (where he is an Organizer and designer).

Simplexity Co-Founders Ben Huddleston and Jeff Pope

In April, when Partner Michael Coffey joined the DT team, he brought Ben and Jeff with him. Their company, Simplexity, is currently being housed in DeveloperTown while DT and Simplexity work on creating a long-term partnership to form a marketing division of DeveloperTown that complements the existing DT offerings.

Simplexity currently focuses on partnerships with Indianapolis-based marketing firms to expand their firms reach into marketing in the digital mediums. Simplexity has experience creating and managing successful marketing initiatives for companies ranging from startups thru Fortune 500. Along with the Simplexity business, Ben and Jeff have each brought their over 15 years experience, numerous talents, and even some clients to DT.

Ben will be primarily working on marketing sites under the umbrella of the design team. He particularly enjoys helping clients succeed and likes sharing those positives numbers from with clients whom have trusted and listen to his advice. He is a Jack-of-all-Trades that dislikes doing the same thing all day, every day. When he isn’t trying to get his two kids into bed, he likes to sleep. He also used to swim the Ohio River every year on his Birthday (which was a few weeks ago).

Jeff will also be joining the design team in conjunction with continued work for the marketing division. He enjoys bringing his creativity and visual ideas to life and looks forward to helping mentor some of the other designers on the team. Because he is married with two kids, he often feels like he has no spare time, however, if he did, he would use that time to ride motorcycles, travel, snow ski, and drink margaritas on a beach.

Left to Right: Randy Fisher, Daryn Shapurji, Ben Huddleston, Jeff Pope

Over the next week, look out for similar blog posts introducing the new developers and members of the sales/consulting team!

Posted in Announcements, How we work | 2 Comments »

Bobby Flay and Startups

Posted July 17th, 2012

If you’re into startups and love food, I’ve got some homework for you. This weekend I watched the first episode of 3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay. I’m a huge fan of all things Flay, so I thought I was settling into relaxation mode. I was quickly torn out of “relax” mode into “work” mode as I witnessed problem after problem crop up – which we see in MANY startups. Simple stuff, which if not dealt with directly and quickly tank an otherwise awesome opportunity.

In the episode A Sticky Situation, Flay is handed a young team looking to launch a chicken finger restaurant. He is hit with some immediate problems:

1) An out of control member of the founding team with no concept of the realities of the business he is in

2) A member of the founding team who’s been promised equity, but has no paperwork securing the “verbal” deal

3) A team more excited about marketing their product than they are about first ensuring they have a quality product to market

I think he identified a couple of other problems, but I don’t remember them. These were the three that most resonated with my experience.

Listen to brutal feedback

In the episode Flay delivered crucial upfront feedback again and again. And was ignored – again and again. One of the chefs – Tom – at one point says something like “We have Iron Chef Bobby Flay in our kitchen and all we have him do is mop our floor.” It was close to that. His frustration was dead on. If you have an honest to goodness expert giving you advice – not someone who writes blogs, but someone who builds companies like the one you’re trying to build – freaking listen! You don’t have to do everything they say, but understand why they are saying it. Especially if they are willing to explain and discuss the fine points with you.

At one point Flay gets a bunch of reviewers to give him quotes before they publish the restaurant reviews. They are brutal. He prints them on huge posters and puts them on the wall. The charismatic leader says, “Well they’re wrong. What a waste of paper.” Seriously? What a tool. Feedback is a gift. Especially feedback you get in advance that you can respond to. Listen – even if you don’t like the message.

Paper the deal

At one point Flay corners the investor and forces the conversation about the equity stake of one of the partners. It’s uncomfortable to watch. I got the impression he had NO intent of giving her the equity promised. He said things like, “We don’t have someone to write it up.” And Flay said exactly the right thing – “You don’t need anyone. You can write it.” The investor tried similar evading statements a couple more times, and Flay just drilled him on the point of JUST WRITE IT DOWN. You don’t need a lawyer. Write down simple terms and get everyone to sign it. Later you can get a lawyer to make it confusing for you. There is no excuse not to give people clear agreements in writing up front. If you’re in a position where you have a “verbal” deal, get it in writing today. Now.

Build a quality product

This one is near and dear to my heart. It’s what I do and what I’m passionate about. I’m happy with the products we build, but I’m never satisfied. I always want them to be better. I’m the last guy convinced that it’s good enough. (Well, most of the time that’s true.) We see a ton of polished – unvalidated ideas for products. We see a ton of people who think their idea is worth millions, before they’ve written a single line of code. The parallel to that is that Flay was practically begging for them to write down some simple recipes.

Build your product. Build it fast. Get feedback from people who are not you and who aren’t easily influenced by you. Iterate on your product to get it right. The quality of the product is the most important thing. That doesn’t mean you don’t share it with people until it’s perfect. Share it when it’s still mediocre. Then iterate on it – based on genuine feedback – again and again until you’re viewed as the best in the world at that thing. Somewhere between mediocre and the best in the world, you should think about marketing. Don’t think about it before you have a product.

Homework

Check out that episode. I don’t think you can watch it on the Food Network website, but I’m sure you can find it wherever the finest TV shows are downloaded or streamed. Or, if you’re old school like me, you can even watch it the next time it airs. If you can’t find that one, watch the next one. Looking forward to some more great startup lessons disguised as relaxation.

Posted in Publications | 2 Comments »

Pre-Seed Workshop

Posted July 16th, 2012

In September, DeveloperTown will be hosting Indiana’s next Pre-Seed Workshop. If you have an idea for a business and want to evaluate whether or not you should pursue your idea and what the next steps are, this is the workshop for you! More than just another dry lecture, this workshop focuses on discussion groups that help you develop your idea further while getting feedback from your peers.

Cost: Free for all participants! (Sponsored by the ISBDC, Indiana University, and DeveloperTown)

Pre-Seed Workshop Program

This national program started in 2004 with a workshop in Rochester, NY and has been running ever since. Since then, over 100 of these workshops have been conducted around the United States, drawing in close to 5,000 participants. South Bend, IN has hosted several of these workshops over the past few years.

The Pre-Seed Workshop calls itself “Two and a Half Days Separated by a Week of Thickening.” By the end of the nine modules on topics ranging from The Market to The Business Model, participants will have developed contacts within the Indianapolis Startup Community and have a better understanding of what they need to do to start their business. The program begins with two days of idea analysis sessions on September 25th and 26th before culminating in a presentation to members of the community (including area experts and potential investors) on October 3rd. This program is run in conjunction with The Indiana Small Business Development Center.

For more information, contact Brad Fravel at (317)278-1916 or (317)966-4926 and see the flyer below.

PSW Participant Flyer

Sponsors:

Posted in Announcements, Events | No Comments »

The Innovation Showcase: What to Expect if You’re an Entrepreneur

Posted July 9th, 2012

This time last year, I was starting a company called 3 Thumbs Up. We weren’t at the phase where we wanted to raise much money, but we wanted to get exposure and, more importantly, see people’s reaction to our product. So when the Innovation Showcase came to town, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab a spot to pitch our idea. Here’s a summary of what transpired, and what you may be able to expect as an entrepreneur this year.

1. Get Setup

It’s simple. You have a table. You have power. The rest is up to you! Come prepared.

2. Meet More of “You”

Between talking to people at our booth and keeping myself hydrated (it was “a little” hot that day), I somehow found time to talk to other entrepreneurs. And boy, there were a lot of us! That, in itself, may have been the best opportunity of the day. Set aside time before the event gears up (i.e. as you set up) to chat with the others around you.

3. Pitch

Everyone gets a shot at a 1 minute pitch. Thankfully, I was the first to go! No expectations and I didn’t have to wait in line for an hour to pitch. I spent a few hours honing my pitch that morning. Expect to do the same. It’s not easy to deliver a summary of your baby in 60 seconds.

4. Stand Out

We were on the cheap and didn’t have a banner. Many tables had fancy banners and posters. We had a computer to demo our app, and…beer! We homebrewed, bottled, and labeled 50 ”3 Thumbs Up” summer ales to give away at the showcase. I saved the last 5 seconds of my 1 minute pitch to exclaim, “If you want a homebrew, head our way!” This didn’t lead to the big check being written, but it sure made the event fun! Find a way to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

5. Talk, talk, and then talk some more

You will repeat the same thing about six thousand times that night. I effectively lost my voice after an hour. And the event was 5 hours long! Keep yourself hydrated and well-fed, because there won’t be much time to concern yourself with these things as you try to catch people, talk to them, sign them up, and steal their money (kidding).

6. Experiment with your Pitch

On the other hand, the excessive talking opens up the opportunity to experiment with your pitch. Over the course of several hours, I tried reworking my pitch while noting the emotional response of the recipient. If nothing else, this kept me sane! Think about your pitch throughout the night. Don’t turn into a broken record.

7. Set Expectations

Why are you at the Showcase? Startups come for a variety of reasons. Some are legitimately seeking investment dollars. Others want to connect with investors in case they need to raise money. Still others just want to make a public appearance with their startup. Why are you there? It’s unlikely you’ll walk away with a check, but expect to make connections and follow up after the event.

Good luck! Excited to see you there.

Posted in Events, IndyStartupScene | 2 Comments »

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