Tech Wildcatters #pitchday11 & the DFW Investment Community
Last night Jaye and I attended Tech Wildcatters' Pitch Day 2011 event. It was the culmination of their 12 week start-up accelerator program for several Dallas based companies seeking funding and mentorship. All of the companies did a great job pitching their product and story, as well as fielding the Q&A from the panel following each pitch. (FYI, the companies were: Mineful, Newton Insight, Device Magic and Pay Tap)
Of the companies I was most interested in Mineful as their concept hits closest to what we do here at Fancorps in regards to their approach with engagement with customers for their clients. Mineful CEO Jaime Brugueras had great energy and was visibly passionate about the product, which was refreshing to see. Hearing that he and his partner moved from Chicago to take part in the Tech Wildcatters program says a lot about their commitment to their concept. It takes a lot of guts to take that leap of faith and fully commit to a start up company, something we're proud to say we've done at Fancorps. I'll never forget the look on my wife's face the day I told her I was dropping my "XX" number of freelance clients all at once and shifting all of my time and focus to Fancorps. At the time it was a little scary as we were young as a company and had yet to really prove anything. But it had to be done. I've never looked back.
Aside from the companies pitching, Tech Wildcatters also brought in Brad Hunstable, CEO of Ustream, to give a key note presentation about his start-up story and his ties to the DFW area. Like many, after coming up with their initial concept he and his partners headed west to seek funding and start their company. Brad's experience with Silicon Valley investors and his comparison with the local Dallas investment community was especially interesting to me. For the last several months my days have been consumed with calls, demos and meetings with investors on both coasts and here locally. It was great to hear Brad prodding and pleading with the audience (which mostly consisted of local investors) to take a risk...to invest in early stage ideas.
His analogy that investing in early stage start ups is similar to a game of poker was spot on. (I believe he attributed that to Fed Wilson but I haven't been able to locate the exact blog). I'm not a card player or gambler but you don't have to be to recognize the significance of the correlation. Investors who take the risk and ante to keep themselves in the game have a better chance of winning big since they're increasing their odds of hitting on the next cards they are dealt. This is a concept that Brad feels a lot of local investors aren't adopting enough, and from my own experience I agree.
It's been increasingly frustrating to speak with local investors who aren't fueling the technology companies who are right in their back yard. That being said, it's easy to understand because if you yourself (as an investor) aren't keeping up with and actually using technology than how would you be informed enough to want to invest in it? Case in point the number of attendees utilizing the #pitchday11 hash tag during the event last night...all entrepenuers, very few (if any) investors.
Specifically for Fancorps...any investor who doesn't see the enormous value and potential of tech giants like Facebook and Twitter will never understand the value of Fancorps. One has to first fully grasp the importance and longevity of social media before seeing the value of a niche based community driven platform like what we've created. There will inevitably be a trickle down effect and we're already starting to see it from consumers and brands. It all starts on the big channels, but eventually more focused and action oriented communities will thrive.
This is all, in my opinion, well over most local investors heads. They aren't in this space...and it's very evident. I'm generalizing of course (as Brad was I believe) because there are some who do indeed "get it", (especially those involved with Tech Wildcatters) but as a whole the Dallas investment community seems to be years behind both coasts.
After the presentation at the Magnolia Theater the majority of the audience congregated next door at the Lemon Bar for drinks and food. It's such a small world as there were countless new contacts there that I've just recently made through intros and other local events. It was good to re-connect with several of those in person prior to the end of the year. Kudos to Tech Wildcatters for getting everyone in the same room, at the same time.
(Side Note) Brad Hunstable mentioned in his key note that the original idea for Ustream first started as a concept for deployed military to connect via online video with their loved ones back home. But, it really came to fruition in Dallas at the Curtain Club of all places, where his brother's band used to frequent for gigs. Talk about a small world indeed...I couldn't count on my fingers and toes the number of times I've taken to the stage at the Curtain Club, as that's where my band got our musical legs as well, many many years ago.
