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“Huh, well, that’s good news, then. Glad that whole thing is just a rumor.” Robert gets out a pen and starts making notes in the margins of the documents in his lap. While he’s busy writing, I fire off a quick text to Simon then settle back to watch the presentations.
Engage is the second to last group to go, and while that’s my primary focus tonight, I do find several other companies of interest. One has a new twist on a travel app, another has a virtual reality application for medical students that will help them “dissect” a body without dissecting a body, and a third has a process to connect retired athletes with their adoring fans, providing an income stream for people who had never planned for life after sport. All have the makings of success, provided they’re driven by the right team. It’s often hard to tell from a pitch competition whether a team is worthy, because public speaking can rattle even the most prepared presenters. I’ll have to dig deeper to see if they meet my criteria, but at first glance, I like what I see. However, none of them can compete with Charlie.
Typically, when a presentation is happening, I’m multi-tasking, taking notes and listening to the speaker at the same time. But when Charlie hits the stage, I put everything down and concentrate on the story he tells. Charlie is just as prepared as the other speakers and moves confidently through his presentation, emphasizing the key points on the screen with additional information and a few shocking statistics that are sure to resonate with the crowd. But Charlie has a level of passion the other presenters lack, exactly the quality I look for when making investment decisions. Hopefully I’m not the only one in the crowd who can see that.
After the presentations, I meet up with Charlie in the lobby and give him a hug. “You did great!”
“You think so?” Charlie asks.
“I do.”
“There were a lot of great companies up there.” Charlie glances around the room. “It could be hard to stand out against them.”
“You had more passion than the other presenters. That won’t go unnoticed,” I tell him, hoping it’s true.
“Yeah, but education isn’t considered as sexy an investment as healthcare or mobile apps.”
“Maybe not yet, but that’s only because people haven’t figured out how to monetize it. You have.”
“They don’t know that yet.” He grimaces.
“They will.” I grip his shoulder and lean forward. “Focus on the traction you already have. That’s the hook. When someone bites and wants more information, share the projections from the monetization strategy, and once they see that, chances are they’ll want to go forward and see the whole deal.”
“Okay.” Charlie nods. “So, what now?”
“Now you go mingle.” I straighten. “See if anyone had any follow-up questions, pass out your card. Want me to make introductions?”
“No, I need to do this on my own.” Charlie takes a deep breath.
“You do realize that this was sort of a coming out, right? Because between looking like me and sharing my name, no one is going to believe you’re on your own.” I laugh.
“Yeah, I know. But getting advice from you is one thing. Having you hold my hand to walk around the room and meet people is another. I need to do that part on my own.” The determined look in his eye tells me he’s ready.
“I hear you.” I slap Charlie on the back. “Go talk to people, get as many cards as you can, but let me take a look before you get too far with anyone. There are a few people here you don’t want to get in bed with.”
“Why not?” He frowns.
“This is all a money game,” I remind him. “The wrong people will take over your vision to make a buck. The right people will help you hone your vision to make a buck. And since right now it’s my bucks on the line, I want to make sure we find the right people.”
“Got it,” Charlie says. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need it,” I holler after his retreating form. I’m just about to go find that guy with the business for retired athletes when my phone pings.
“Simon,” I answer.
“How did you do that?” he demands.
“Do what?”
“How did you find the leak?”
“Back up,” I say. “What happened?”
“I looked for a link between the firm you told me about and Erik’s employees.”
“And you found something?” I drift away from the crowd to concentrate on my call.
“Yeah. One Taylor Ofer, network designer for Erik, has an account at RB Securities. Once I had the name of that firm, I found a client list, and when I cross referenced that with Erik’s employees…”
