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The finalists with Coach Kristin York of Sierra Business Council. L-R Alison Reitz, Caren McNamara, Jaime Bianchini, Ellen Raynor, Ramona Cruz, Sam Gbafa, guest, Kristin York. Photo credit: Nina Photography
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Truckee, CA - The Tahoe-Truckee region is known for a lot
of great things and now you can add innovative entrepreneurs to the
list! Six local founders presented their companies at the Tahoe Pitch
Showcase on Monday, September 11th to a packed house at Tahoe Donner's
Pizza on the Hill. The event, produced by Tahoe Silicon Mountain (TSM)
and Sierra Business Council - with the support of generous local
sponsors - was held during the TSM's Mountain Minds Monday meeting and
attracted over 100 people in person, dozens streaming from home and even
more at 2 simulcast locations in Reno.
"Our goal was to help build local entrepreneurial spirit by
showcasing some of the amazing work being done here in Tahoe and to
encourage people to pursue their business ideas," said Rachel Arst
McCullough, lead organizer of the Pitch events and co-founder of Tahoe
Silicon Mountain. "An important part of these events and TSM in general
is fostering a strong and supportive entrepreneurial culture with the
ultimate goal of creating a more diverse and less weather-dependent
economy, so that we can all continue to live, work and thrive here."
The event featured six finalists from the 18 who participated
in Tahoe Pitch Camp, an intensive, month-long workshop led by Sierra
Business Council, designed to help participants refine their business
model and create a "pitch deck" to deliver to potential investors.
Participants benefitted from the expertise of eight experienced coaches,
helping them refine their messaging, question assumptions, review
financial projections, and critique the overall quality of their
delivery. Pitch Camp participant Trina Gold of Bigwater Studios said
afterwards, "I have been working on this expansion for six years and the
only thing holding me back was having to pitch my proposal.Your help
and guidance has given me the confidence to begin this journey."
On
the final night of the Camp, the entrepreneurs competed for one of six
spots to deliver their pitch at the Showcase. "The competition was
tough," said Jan Holan, Pitch Camp coach, entrepreneur and investor. "I
was so impressed with the commitment and quality of the business models
but ultimately that made selecting the finalists quite difficult."
The
six finalists included a wide variety of businesses that reflect the
true entrepreneurial community in the Tahoe-Truckee area. They included:
Community Yogi, an app designed to disrupt the home yogi market by matching community spaces with freelance yoga instructors.
Conscious Container, a reusable bottle business, reducing carbon footprints one craft beer at a time.
Eddy Bowl, a convenient, reusable, compostable water bowl for dogs.
Fate, a "choose your own adventure" story app.
KeepOnMovin', a mobile health solution designed to help physical therapy patients do their exercises at home. Correctly. Every day.
LuDela, a social venture candle company, using better light to create better lives.
At
the Showcase, the finalists had five minutes to present their best
pitch to a panel of three judges. The presentations were followed by
five minutes of questions from the judges and audience. "It was so
awesome to see how polished all the entrepreneurs were. It is a
testament to hard work and preparation for something you believe in,"
said Kristin York, Vice President of Sierra Business Council and
facilitator of the Pitch Camp. "We have been working with some of these
founders since their companies were just an idea. Now, they are on stage
inspiring a room full of people with their tested business models, cool
products and compelling missions. I absolutely loved Showcase night!"
Ultimately,
the judges selected KeepOnMovin' as the winner, based on the company's
strong traction in the market and their ability to scale. KeepOnMovin'
was pitched by Ellen Raynor, and co-founded by Mark Feinholz and Truckee
local, Scott Williams. "What was different about the Pitch Camp was
that local company founders viewed each other less as competitors than
as peers that were interested in helping one another succeed," said
Raynor. "In fact, KeepOnMovin' has refined our products with local
patient input and is excited to be expanding both within Truckee and
with large employers elsewhere in the country. We appreciate the
professional acknowledgment of our progress and the vote of confidence
that we are poised for growth."
Honorable mention went to Jamie Bianchini's business, LuDela.
The People's Choice award went to the Eddy Bowl team of Carol
Piechocinski, Ramona Cruz, Linda Slack-Cruz, and Darilyn Kotzenberg.
Eddy Bowl was voted the product that the audience was most drawn to.
Both winners were awarded prizes from a variety
of local businesses including W&T Graphix, Sierra Pacific Coffee,
The Roundhouse, Nina Photography, Big Water Studios, Banibands, the Reno
Collective, Girlmade, and the Truckee Chamber of Commerce.
Now
that Pitch Showcase organizers have had time to reflect, both Tahoe
Silicon Mountain and Sierra Business Council are looking to what's next
for the entrepreneurial community in Tahoe.
Perhaps the most
important outcome from the Camp and Showcase is that the stage is set
for organizing both an angel investor group and mentoring network in our
community, and for recruiting sponsors to offer prize money for
marketable ideas at future Pitch Showcases. These efforts will serve to
help eager entrepreneurs succeed here without having to move to the Bay
Area to reach the next level. "We are always looking for ways to improve
and increase support for local businesses and we encourage anyone
interested in doing the same to contact Tahoe Silicon Mountain or Sierra
Business Council and we'll get you on board," said York. "Exactly,"
added McCullough. "We've built so much momentum in seven years
with TSM, and the Pitch Showcase raised the bar. Truckee is full of
talent and we are dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in any way we
can."
Details will be available soon for expanded
programming and support for entrepreneurs through Sierra Business
Council's Small Business Development Center, including adding a series
of workshops in 2018 specific to business planning and pitch deck
creation.
Tahoe Silicon Mountain offers a variety of programs each month to
help people connect, support each other and learn something new. TSM's
biggest event is Mountain Minds Monday, held on the 2nd Monday of each
month at Pizza on the Hill. The event features an engaging guest
speaker, lively discussion and time for networking with other community
members over a casual $5 pizza dinner, thanks to local sponsors. The
monthly discussions cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from 3D
printing, the physics of snow, the sharing economy, podcasting, using
technology to improve government, entrepreneurship and more. Each event
is livestreamed on YouTube:
Two additional monthly free TSM events are held
at the The Lift in Truckee: First Friday at Five is an entrepreneurs'
roundtable, where entrepreneurs connect and support each other to grow
their businesses on the 1st Friday of each month at 5pm
and TahoeJS is a friendly gathering of software developers of all
levels who meet to drink beer and talk code on the 3rd Tuesday of each
month.
Learn more about TSM events by signing up free here: http://bit.ly/TSMEmail.
To watch a recording of the entire Pitch Showcase, check out the video on Tahoe Silicon Mountain's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Caren McNamara of Conscious Container pitching her idea
Photo credit: Nina Photography
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Judges Choice Winner Ellen Raynor of Keep on Movin
L-R Judge, Dick Shultze, Ellen Raynor, Judges Josh Miller and Hannah Sullivan
Photo credit: Nina Photography
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Peoples Choice Ramona Cruz of Eddy Bowl delivering her pitch
Photo credit: Nina Photography
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