On 2nd April, 2008, TiE Sydney hosted the second and final stage of a Contest for wannabe entrepreneurs, a Business Plan Contest.
Four people presented their business plans and were grilled by the Judging Panel:
- Lisa Louden (www.lacemates.com.au)
- Dipankar Choudhary (www.pyrozone.com.au)
- Rahul Bhargava (www.thinknourishment.com)
- Janaki Joshi (www.iris.com.au)
Lisa wowed the audience with her display of sports boots 'before' and 'after' - one with ugly black electrical tape keeping the laces in place, the other with a slick Lacemates-branded band. Lisa is getting snowed under with orders from sports shops and her websites. Now she needs funding to manufacture her patented products in bulk and sell in Australia and overseas.
Dipankar has a plan to market proven fire protection systems into the booming Indian market and showed the potential for profitable sales given some funding for a sales and marketing team led by him.
Rahul is a student at an early stage of a service that could be delivered online or at point of sales via mobile, enabling diet-conscious consumers to assess the nutritional value of the products they buy. He needs seed funding to build a prototype and finalise a business model.
The winner was, wait for it, Janaki Joshi with the unique Product Lifecyle Management system developed by IRIS and taken up by the Australian subsidiaries of global pharma companies like Pfizer. Janaki needs funding to market her product and services to the US and European head offices of her existing and new clients.
The judges said all four entrants were deserving of support and found it hard to pick the eventual winner. Janaki wins a free ticket, courtesy of TiE member Arnold D'Souza (www.acrtravel.com.au) to travel to the TiECON 2008 event in Santa Clara, May 16-17.
To find out more about TiECON 2008, see: http://www.tiecon.org/TiESVHome/HomeView.
Our congratulations to Janaki and best wishes in raising funding in the months ahead.
All who attended also found the feedback from the panel to the contestants of great value in refining their own business plans. As a learning experience under the TiE Mentoring Program, the contest achieved all its objectives.
I would like to thank TiE members for their support and the panel of judges who chose the winner in this round:
- Nitin Singhi
- Mike Giles
- Bill Bartee
Do contact me for any information about TiE or our FREE Mentoring Program!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Pitching Event at TiE Sydney a great success!
On 5th March 2008, TiE Sydney hosted the first in a two-stage Contest for wannabe entrepreneurs, a Pitching Contest. The prize, to be awarded after the next stage - Business Planning - is a free trip to TiECON 2008 in Santa Clara, TiE's icon event in May 2008.
Attendance was strong with regular members as well as visitors joining the event at Swissotel in Market Street, Sydney.
We had 12 'pitchers' last night and a commendable effort by all, some who were pitching for the very first time - takes a lot of courage! The panel consisted of Ivan Kaye of BSI, Nitin Singhi ex-Colonial and Mike Giles who runs Wealth Point. All pitchers got immediate feedback on their presentations and whether a VC would take a second meeting or not.
Finally, four qualifed to go on to the next and final round in theTiECON Contest, our congratulations to:
- Lisa Louden (www.lacemates.com.au)
- Dipankar Choudhary (www.pyrozone.com.au)
- Rahul Bhargava (yet to launch a nutrition assessment web service for diet-conscious housewives)
- Janaki Joshi (www.iris.com.au)
To find out more about TiECON 2008, see: http://www.tiecon.org/TiESVHome/HomeView.
Here is some background on our Judging Panel last night:
Ivan Kaye
Director, Business Strategies International
Ivan established BSI in 1989 and since that time has assisted clients with accessing capital, debt and grants, with a focus on Innovative Companies accessing international markets. He has been involved in several venture capital investments and is on the executive of two Venture Capital Funds. Prior to BSI, Ivan worked with PWC.
Ivan has assisted more than 50 companies access finance and engage in commercial arrangements in the past 3 years. Throughout his career, he has been involved in helping start-ups, corporations and emerging companies achieve their growth potential.
Nitin Singhi
Nitin Singhi worked as a corporate lawyer in Sydney and London for 10 years and then at Colonial First State Private Equity for 7 years running a successful $100 million fund in Sydney with a mandate to invest in Australian and New Zealand businesses. During his time at Colonial, Nitin sat on the board of a number of companies including Mincom, Hotel Dynamics, Technisyst and Goodlife Health Clubs and was responsible for the entry and exit of these businesses by the fund. The team at Colonial received about 400 deals for review every year.
Mike Giles
CEO, WealthPoint
Mike has been through many of the phases typical a TiE entrepreneur can expect.
Now on his second startup – Mike took his first business:
- from Australia to the US,
- Raised funding while overseas
- Sold to a silicon valley firm
- Made it back home after 7 years
His latest business with strong links to TiE network now takes him regularly to India as an outsourcer and an exporter.
Attendance was strong with regular members as well as visitors joining the event at Swissotel in Market Street, Sydney.
We had 12 'pitchers' last night and a commendable effort by all, some who were pitching for the very first time - takes a lot of courage! The panel consisted of Ivan Kaye of BSI, Nitin Singhi ex-Colonial and Mike Giles who runs Wealth Point. All pitchers got immediate feedback on their presentations and whether a VC would take a second meeting or not.
Finally, four qualifed to go on to the next and final round in theTiECON Contest, our congratulations to:
- Lisa Louden (www.lacemates.com.au)
- Dipankar Choudhary (www.pyrozone.com.au)
- Rahul Bhargava (yet to launch a nutrition assessment web service for diet-conscious housewives)
- Janaki Joshi (www.iris.com.au)
To find out more about TiECON 2008, see: http://www.tiecon.org/TiESVHome/HomeView.
Here is some background on our Judging Panel last night:
Ivan Kaye
Director, Business Strategies International
Ivan established BSI in 1989 and since that time has assisted clients with accessing capital, debt and grants, with a focus on Innovative Companies accessing international markets. He has been involved in several venture capital investments and is on the executive of two Venture Capital Funds. Prior to BSI, Ivan worked with PWC.
Ivan has assisted more than 50 companies access finance and engage in commercial arrangements in the past 3 years. Throughout his career, he has been involved in helping start-ups, corporations and emerging companies achieve their growth potential.
Nitin Singhi
Nitin Singhi worked as a corporate lawyer in Sydney and London for 10 years and then at Colonial First State Private Equity for 7 years running a successful $100 million fund in Sydney with a mandate to invest in Australian and New Zealand businesses. During his time at Colonial, Nitin sat on the board of a number of companies including Mincom, Hotel Dynamics, Technisyst and Goodlife Health Clubs and was responsible for the entry and exit of these businesses by the fund. The team at Colonial received about 400 deals for review every year.
Mike Giles
CEO, WealthPoint
Mike has been through many of the phases typical a TiE entrepreneur can expect.
Now on his second startup – Mike took his first business:
- from Australia to the US,
- Raised funding while overseas
- Sold to a silicon valley firm
- Made it back home after 7 years
His latest business with strong links to TiE network now takes him regularly to India as an outsourcer and an exporter.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Win a Trip to TiECON 2008 in Santa Clara, USA!
TiECON 2008 Contest
Welcome to this contest organised by TIE Sydney!
TIE Sydney’s mission is to assist entrepreneurs from the Indus and wider Australian communities, turn great ideas into great businesses, through positive networking and mentoring.
This contest is one element of the TIE Mentoring Program made available to the TIE community.
The Prize
WIN a FREE TRIP to attend the top global TiE Conference in Santa Clara USA and meet VCs, Mentors, Peers and Partners from around the world. Attended by over 4,000 entrepreneurs & leaders, TiECON opens up tremendous opportunities to realize your dream by connecting to right people, secure funding and grow.
You must be a TiE Sydney member to be eligible to enter this competition.
Over the next two months, TiE Executives & local VCs will run Pitching Competition and conduct a Business Plan review to select the most-deserving entrepreneur from Sydney to attend TiECON for free.
There’s a Free return airticket (Economy Class) to USA on offer from Singapore Airlines!
The 2 day Conference, packed with workshops, VC Sessions and Networking, is FREE for you to attend (including food/drinks during the Conference).
Conference Details: TiECON 2008 at Santa Clara on May 16-17, 2008 at Santa Clara Convention Centre.
Watch this space: www.tiecon.org.
For more information or to join TIE Sydney’s Mentoring Program, go to www.sydney.tie.org.
Welcome to this contest organised by TIE Sydney!
TIE Sydney’s mission is to assist entrepreneurs from the Indus and wider Australian communities, turn great ideas into great businesses, through positive networking and mentoring.
This contest is one element of the TIE Mentoring Program made available to the TIE community.
The Prize
WIN a FREE TRIP to attend the top global TiE Conference in Santa Clara USA and meet VCs, Mentors, Peers and Partners from around the world. Attended by over 4,000 entrepreneurs & leaders, TiECON opens up tremendous opportunities to realize your dream by connecting to right people, secure funding and grow.
You must be a TiE Sydney member to be eligible to enter this competition.
Over the next two months, TiE Executives & local VCs will run Pitching Competition and conduct a Business Plan review to select the most-deserving entrepreneur from Sydney to attend TiECON for free.
There’s a Free return airticket (Economy Class) to USA on offer from Singapore Airlines!
The 2 day Conference, packed with workshops, VC Sessions and Networking, is FREE for you to attend (including food/drinks during the Conference).
Conference Details: TiECON 2008 at Santa Clara on May 16-17, 2008 at Santa Clara Convention Centre.
Watch this space: www.tiecon.org.
For more information or to join TIE Sydney’s Mentoring Program, go to www.sydney.tie.org.
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