If you have RSVP’d to attend our upcoming Capital Connections event – pay attention! Due to overwhelming demand, we’ve had to change the venue – for several reasons.

Originally, we were going to hold the event at the Bahama Breeze in Alpharetta, Georgia. However, the capacity there is 125 people, which we reached very quickly after announcing the event. When we began to turn away entrepreneurs due to space requirements, we knew we had to find another venue – and fast.

Additionally, the deck at the Bahama Breeze would not have been “fully private,” as anyone could have easily gained entrance. Paranoid? I should be. The word quickly got out and I became flooded with emails from various service providers and job seekers trying to figure out ways to get into the event (some of you were very creative indeed!) Plus, the location of the event was leaked and started spreading virally as well. Again, nothing wrong with service providers or job seekers – they are an important part of the ecosystem. However, the focus of the event needs to remain on connecting fast-growth entrepreneurs and investors (which is why you need to be an entrepreneur or investor to get in.)

So, with all of that said, we made the decision to move the event to a new (larger) facility.

If you have applied/RSVP’d already, and did not receive the “change of venue email” we sent out a few days back mentioning the new location, check your spam folder. If you still don’t have it, let us know. We have emailed everyone about it twice now, so between that, and this public announcement here on StartupLounge.com, hopefully everyone will get it in time.

Cheers.

 

 Standard Podcast [55:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to SL #11! Occasionally we like to pull in a guest from outside of the Southeast, and today’s guest has a very compelling story to tell indeed. What is an Internet music entrepreneur to do when, after surviving the dot com flameout, his company is faced with potentially crippling fees from the RIAA?

In this show, we sit down with Pandora founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Tim Westergren, for a great chat about Pandora, the Music Genome Project, the RIAA, their shelved plans for international expansion (thanks to the RIAA), and what the future holds for Pandora!

As an added bonus we throw capital brokers and people who charge money for networking and capital introductions “under the bus” as we continue to bring you truth & justice … the StartupLounge.com way, baby! We also give a nice update on our upcoming Capital Connections event here in Atlanta.
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 StartupLounge.com #0010 - Legal Basics for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs [77:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to SL #10! In this show, we are joined by Joey Silver and Doug Spear of DLA Piper for a discussion around DLA’s new Venture Pipeline program for entrepreneurs, as well as some legal basics for early-stage entrepreneurs.

As an added bonus, we throw linear-thinking serial entrepreneurs “under the bus” , and we learned how to find attorneys to help you smuggle gold bullion out of Nigeria. A can’t miss show!
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 SL #9: The Psychology of Entrepreneurship [75:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to SL #9! Have you ever wondered why some entrepreneurs are more successful than others? What personality traits tend to skew a person toward being entrepreneurial and taking risk? In this show, we are joined by Dr. Doug Griest of Management Psychology Group.

Join us for a great chat about the inner workings of the entrepreneurial mind!

As usual, we throw some more folks “under the bus” in true StartupLounge.com fashion. Bringing you truth, justice, and the American way, baby!
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Early stage entrepreneurs, listen up! If you would like to take advantage of our captive (and growing) audience (which includes investors), and you’d like to get some feedback on your pitch, we invite you to participate in our new “fast pitch” segment.

Here’s the way this works:

1. First, perfect your one minute (60 second) audio pitch.
2. Record your pitch and save it in some audio format (MP3, WAV, etc.)
3. Email the pitch to info AT startuplounge DOT com, with a subject of “Fast Pitch Submission”
4. Be sure to include your information in the email, including where the business is (or will be) based

We’ll select a few pitches to play during each show. Once each fast pitch has been played, we’ll provide some comments and feedback for you on air. Depending upon the guest we have during that show, we may ask them to comment on the pitches as well.

If you’re worried about people “stealing your idea” after hearing your one minute fast pitch, immediately tear up your business plan, burn all copies of your Powerpoint presentation, strip down to your underwear, run out into the middle of the street, stab yourself in the eye with a hot poker, and scream “I don’t have what it takes to be a real entrepreneur – I’m sorry, Mom!”

For those of you who realize that the chances of someone listening to your one minute audio pitch, stealing your idea, and actually implementing it are about the same as Scott landing a starting job in the Atlanta Braves pitching rotation, read on.

Some guidelines/rules:

1. Your pitch must not be any longer than 60 seconds (1 minute). Anything over this length will not be considered or used on the show.
2. The format of the pitch is completely up to you. If you are raising capital, and want to include a mention of that, great. You can also simply pitch the “concept” of your business, and not get into too many details. Think of a one minute elevator ride … how will you explain your business to someone in that small block of time?
3. If you need some ideas for the structure of your fast pitch, here are some great samples (courtesy of Tech Coast Angels in California.)
4. Pitches from entrepreneurs based in Georgia will get priority consideration. Beyond that, we will consider anything from the southeast before all other submissions.
5. While we can work with just about any audio format, we recommend that you record a stereo MP3 file, at the highest resolution possible (at least 128Kbps/44100 Hz, but preferrably 256Kbps).
6. Pitches must (obviously) be recorded in English.

Batter up!

Cheers.