Hopeful entrepreneurs are gaining advice and insight--and hoping for money--at Cleveland Entrepreneurship Week. Watch video
CLEVELAND, Ohio--Swing hard. Fail fast. And don't spend too much time pursuing that idea -- even if it's a great one.
That's the kind of advice that came fast and furious, leavened by laughter and applause, at an event that displayed much of the spirit of Cleveland Entrepreneurship Week.
In a dimly lit presentation room at Shaker LaunchHouse Thursday, hopeful entrepreneurs faced a panel of learned investors and pitched their ideas for the next great app, game or social platform as an engaged audience looked on.
While few of the presenters walked away unscathed by the feedback, most left with advice they considered sage, if not a promise of money to pursue their dream.
Unlike actors on the television show Shark Tank, which the scene resembled, real-life venture capitalists seldom make and announce quick decisions.
"That's only happened one time, and I'm pretty sure it was set up," said Jon Leonardo, a Raleigh, N.C., entrepreneur and one of the organizers of the Pitch Sessions at LaunchHouse. "Mostly, we want everyone to learn something, to add value. This is a great starting point."
Leonardo co-founded Entrepreneurship Week in Washington, D.C., three years ago to strengthen and spread regional start-up scenes. His crusade is making its Midwest debut this week in Cleveland with four days of discussions, showcases and networking events.
The fledgling effort overcame some stumbles. A planned expo of Ohio-created companies was canceled abruptly and pitch sessions were moved from Wednesday to Thursday.
Still, the event drew representatives of more than two dozen start-ups and a rapt audience of entrepreneurs, their peers and supporters.
"It's wonderful. I love what's happening here," said Bob Sopko, the director of Blackstone LaunchPad at Case Western Reserve University, who sat in the audience taking notes on a laptop.
Sopko said he thinks Cleveland EW will help stoke an entrepreneurial ecosystem that he is training CWRU students to join.
Some of the firepower the conference has attracted was on display around him. The panel included Chris Heivly, managing director of The Startup Factory in Durham, N.C, Alexis Giles, leader of business development at MOXtv, and Paul Singh, a venture partner at 500 Startups in Silicon Valley.
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Paul Singh at Shaker LaunchHouse Thursday. The confident trio exhibited some of the brashness and outlaw nature of their tribe during encounters with young entrepreneurs like Chris Baek, a recent graduate of the LaunchHouse Accelerator who pitched a new way of teaching English.
Baek, a Korean American from Texas, taught English in China and said he is well aware of a common tactic for learning English overseas--watching American television.
He teamed up with John Ko of New York, another former English teacher in Asia, to start 10,000Words, a service the pair describes as an education platform as fun and affordable as Netflix.
They designed a computer application that adds English subtitles to select television shows and movies. It also provides on-screen definitions of maddening idioms and difficult words.
The $5,000 English classes popular in Asia can be replaced by a modestly priced subscription to their service, Baek explained in his PowerPoint.
Panel members expressed intrigue but questioned why he even needed $1 million to get started.
"I think you're onto something big," said Singh, whose firm has indeed funded more than 500 start-ups. "You'll raise the money. No doubt. But how much control are you willing to give away?"
He suggested the pair begin their service and generate customers, and thus leverage, before approaching investors who will demand a stake.
Baek explained the dilemma. They need cash, he said, to buy the broadcast rights to the sitcoms and movies they intend to adapt.
Singh did not see the problem. He said they might have to weather a lawsuit or two.
"When someone bigger than you actually gives a (bleep), you might be onto something," he said. "I think there's a way to just hack it."
After the presentation, Baek and Ko stood outside the presentation room accepting kudos and back slaps from peers. Ko said the panel had shown them other options.
"Asia is more of the wild west," he shrugged.
Singh, Giles and Heivly shared more of their insight later Thursday, as featured panelists at the City Club of Cleveland. Many in the audience continued the discussions at Barley House, a West Sixth Street nightclub that featured the music mixing of BT, a Grammy wining DJ in town for the conference.
Cleveland EW events continue today with a series of "Discover Sessions" at the Ernst & Young Tower in the Flats. Start-up enthusiasts will explore topics ranging from branding to marketing to why Cleveland is a great place to develop medical technology.
A Closing Party begins at 7 p.m. at WXYZ Bar in the Aloft hotel, 1111 W. 10th Street.
For more information on Cleveland EW, and to register online, go to clevelandew.org/register/