TVA Pitch Day Draws Near, Mentors Speak Out

08 Jul TVA Pitch Day Draws Near, Mentors Speak Out

Craig Howe

Tick tock. Tick tock. Hear it? The clock is fast approaching the 11th hour.

As of the week ending July 12, there will be little time left to cross “t’s” and dot “i’s”. For the four winning companies of the Telluride Venture Accelerator, July 15 is the culmination of six months of blood, sweat and tears (and a few good laughs). It is Investor Pitch Demo Day, when the founders strut their stuff before a select group of local, regional, and national investors.

The Big Event kicks off the night before , Sunday, July 14, with a private reception featuring Colorado Governor John W. Hickenlooper; Scott Key, President and CEO of IHS, a global information company; and Lesa Mitchell, Vice President of Innovation and Networks at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a national foundation that fosters economic independence by advancing education and entrepreneurship.

Participating freshman companies have grown enormously, both personally and professionally, with the help of TVA’s gold medal team of mentors, including entrepreneurs-in-residence Pete Wheelan, CEO of Inside Track (who visited Telluride early in the program) and Craig Howe, digital media strategist and founder of Rocket XL. Those mentors (about 60), including Kelly Zafar, helped the new ventures create new products, refine business plans, generate financial models, finalize investment term sheets, line up customers, and evolve their marketing and branding strategies. (Two of the four companies already raised bridge funding from within the regional community.)

In addition to putting in daily office hours at TVA to allow each of the company’s to schedule time to delve into aspects of the company’s development, Howe also listened for opportunities to connect the companies with persons of interest (in the good sense) from his broad network.

Zafar applied her strategic planning and executive coaching skills towards helping each venture craft a state-of -the-art power point presentation and deliver polished “decks” that capture their story and major talking points to entice their target investor market

The 2013 class of TVA winners includes:

• Globa.li (www.globa.li), a Denver-based company, co-founded by Sarah Fazendin, which aggregates boutique hotel inventory in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

• Hoggle Goggle, founded by Telluride local Lara Young,  a new venture that creates ski and outdoor accessories with function and aesthetics that fill a void in the outdoor industry.

• High Desert Farms (6350′ Natural Foods,  www.6350naturalfoods.com), founded by Bill Manning, the Dolores-based natural and organic foods company offers consumers organic and regionally-sourced dried fruit snacks, and

• Hyperlite Mountain Gear (HMG) (www.hyperlitemountaingear.com), based in Maine and founded by Mike St. Pierre; the company designs, manufactures, and sells innovative, ultralight outdoor gear; and sets itself apart from industry traditions with its minimalist and simple design approach. HMG products are sold locally by the Jagged Edge.

About Craig Howe:

Craig has over 20 years of core entertainment, digital, and brand marketing experience. He founded Rocket XL, a leading social media agency (LA) with clients such as Unilever, InBev, Lexus, NFL, LinkedIn, Kraft/Cadbury and the United Nations. He is an advisor and mentor with two Los Angeles accelerators: Amplify & MuckerLab. He also is the chief advisor on incubators and accelerators to the newly-elected Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti. He currently serves as a social media advisor to Major League Baseball, InBev (FIFA World Cup global strategy), National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. Craig has a BA in Economics from University of Colorado and participated in the adjunct MBA program at Stanford University.

Kelly Zafar

About Kelly Zafar:

Kelly is a private management consultant and executive coach who works with corporate, nonprofit, and government leaders on the development and execution of new business ventures. Current and past clients include the NFL, Madison Square Garden, PBS, XM Radio, The World Bank, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to founding Touchpoint Strategy she managed a $250 million brand portfolio at General Mills, wrote business plans for social venture startups, and served as an advisor to Fortune 500 companies on international transaction pricing as a Manager at Price Waterhouse Coopers. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  When not on location with a client, or exploring new countries, Kelly lives in Washington, D.C.

About Telluride Venture Accelerator:

Telluride Venture Accelerator, an initiative of the Telluride Foundation launched in Fall 2012, was founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jesse Johnson and the Foundation’s innovative executive director Paul Major. The duo established the program to further innovation and entrepreneurship for young, high-growth business ventures nationwide, a flash of inspiration with numerous positive ripple effects on Telluride’s lifestyle and marketing.

TVA has also had a positive impact on the Telluride region. It is facilitating new personal and business relationships among mentors, expanding the resources available to local entrepreneurs, promoting  area businesses, and developing an entrepreneurship education effort with the Telluride High and Telluride Mountain schools. The winning companies have also hired local companies for legal, branding, marketing, website development and other professional services. Furthermore, participating TVA mentors have also discussed starting new local and regional businesses.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to my interview with Craig Howe and Kelly Zafar.