An Entrepreneur's Guide
MindPillar supports this blog as a means to help its entrepreneurial clients. We try to provide the best advice and experiences to people who are going to or have started their own companies. We know how tough yet exhilirating the experience can be. This blog aims to support and encourage entrepreneurs
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Review: NJTC Venture Fair on 8th March
New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) held it's 2005 Venture Fair on the 8th of March 2005 at the Garden State Exhibit & Convention Center in Somerset, NJ.
Though MindPillar (the company running this blog) didn't find it necessary to present/host a booth at the event, it was an interesting day to talk to a lot of the who's who of the Venture Community of New Jersey. So we showed up!
Formal Presentations started around 10am and continued throughout the day till about 4pm.
There were quiet a few people in attendance, even with the snow and inclement weather warnings. I believe the crowd would have been larger if the weather wasn't so bad.
Walking around, I could see a lot of more senior people than one would expect at a show titled "Venture Fair". Maybe it's just how I saw it. I think this is a good sign.
A lot of the people I spoke with were onto their 2nd or 3rd startups and the experience definitely shone through in the ideas they spoke about and ways they presented their companies on the floor.
I believe entrepreneur's and small business owners should go to such events if only to learn about these events work and get a better grasp of what the expectations are and what they need to prepare. A few companies I spoke to looked like they had never seen corporate booths, let alone presenting at one. They need to clean up their "selling image". No matter how cool your product and how revolutionary your service, if you cannot market yourself and your company right, you will be left behind. Or worse, deemed irrevelant.
Look at how the companies dress up their booths. Look at what kind of marketing handouts they have (even the branded stationary helps). Listen to the way they describe their products. They are not making a single sale of a single unit. They are trying to sell their entire companies to VC's. It's a subtle but critical difference.
These events do not always have to be a sales event. I was there primarily as a marketing/networking exercise. Just to get to know so many different people in a short span of a few hours is incredibly useful.
Again. Don't sell your product. Sell yourself. Talk about your company and talk about your product. Thats ok. Let the other person think "Hmm, MindPillar seems interesting. I think they can help me with X or Y or . Let me contact them"
Given the idea of a "Venture" fair, it was surprising that there weren't as many software startups presenting and almost no web-based non-B2B companies. The few software companies, like Tabletsoft (www.tabletsoft.com), Habitat Technologies (www.habitattech.com) , Exactor (www.exactor.com) and VR Meetings (www.vrmeetings.com) looked like they had pretty stable version 1 (or higher) products that had some market acceptance in form of sales or licensing or integration testing.
There were a number of engineering firms, such as S-Bond Technologies (www.s-bond.com) and Thor Power Corp (www.bonnerbusiness.com). The biomedical firms had a sizeable representation but that sector is still a little shady in what they sell vs. what they pitch. Too dot-commish, if you ask me.
Interestingly, there were many legal and financial advisory firms and Emerging Business Consultancy firms present. Geller and Company (www.gellerco.com), Saiber Schlesinger Satz and Goldstein (www.saiber.com) and Sonnenschein (www.sonnenschein.com) were amongst the most interesting ones. The lady at the PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) booth didn't seem very interested in presenting. Same problem with the people at Commerce Bank. The Wachovia (www.wachovia.com) booth only had a placard with their name. No show?!
Though MindPillar (the company running this blog) didn't find it necessary to present/host a booth at the event, it was an interesting day to talk to a lot of the who's who of the Venture Community of New Jersey. So we showed up!
Formal Presentations started around 10am and continued throughout the day till about 4pm.
There were quiet a few people in attendance, even with the snow and inclement weather warnings. I believe the crowd would have been larger if the weather wasn't so bad.
Walking around, I could see a lot of more senior people than one would expect at a show titled "Venture Fair". Maybe it's just how I saw it. I think this is a good sign.
A lot of the people I spoke with were onto their 2nd or 3rd startups and the experience definitely shone through in the ideas they spoke about and ways they presented their companies on the floor.
I believe entrepreneur's and small business owners should go to such events if only to learn about these events work and get a better grasp of what the expectations are and what they need to prepare. A few companies I spoke to looked like they had never seen corporate booths, let alone presenting at one. They need to clean up their "selling image". No matter how cool your product and how revolutionary your service, if you cannot market yourself and your company right, you will be left behind. Or worse, deemed irrevelant.
Look at how the companies dress up their booths. Look at what kind of marketing handouts they have (even the branded stationary helps). Listen to the way they describe their products. They are not making a single sale of a single unit. They are trying to sell their entire companies to VC's. It's a subtle but critical difference.
These events do not always have to be a sales event. I was there primarily as a marketing/networking exercise. Just to get to know so many different people in a short span of a few hours is incredibly useful.
Again. Don't sell your product. Sell yourself. Talk about your company and talk about your product. Thats ok. Let the other person think "Hmm, MindPillar seems interesting. I think they can help me with X or Y or . Let me contact them"
Given the idea of a "Venture" fair, it was surprising that there weren't as many software startups presenting and almost no web-based non-B2B companies. The few software companies, like Tabletsoft (www.tabletsoft.com), Habitat Technologies (www.habitattech.com) , Exactor (www.exactor.com) and VR Meetings (www.vrmeetings.com) looked like they had pretty stable version 1 (or higher) products that had some market acceptance in form of sales or licensing or integration testing.
There were a number of engineering firms, such as S-Bond Technologies (www.s-bond.com) and Thor Power Corp (www.bonnerbusiness.com). The biomedical firms had a sizeable representation but that sector is still a little shady in what they sell vs. what they pitch. Too dot-commish, if you ask me.
Interestingly, there were many legal and financial advisory firms and Emerging Business Consultancy firms present. Geller and Company (www.gellerco.com), Saiber Schlesinger Satz and Goldstein (www.saiber.com) and Sonnenschein (www.sonnenschein.com) were amongst the most interesting ones. The lady at the PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) booth didn't seem very interested in presenting. Same problem with the people at Commerce Bank. The Wachovia (www.wachovia.com) booth only had a placard with their name. No show?!
Vinit Bhansali, 10:56 AM