First Look Forum

September 22, 2009

NWEN has re-imagined the event formerly known as ESIF, and on March 24 we are held our inaugural First Look Forum. Click here to see the presenters and information on the last First Look Forum.

Over the course of an afternoon, we featured 12 scaleable businesses, from clean tech to Web 2.0, consumer products to robotics, who only qualified for consideration if they had not yet pitched to the membership of an organized angel group (nor to a VC partnership). Presenting companies received two rounds of coaching from our accredited investor volunteers, and were culled from a group of over 50 applicants.

The audience listened to 3-minute pitches from 12 companies, and voted to narrow the field to 5 finalists who delivered 10-minute presentations to the group. In an American Idol-inspired format, the audience selected one grand prize recipient.   Attendees were active participants in this experience, and were asked to rate the companies based upon the following five criteria:

1.    Market/Opportunity
2.    Novelty/Concept
3.    Scalability of Business Model
4.    Traction In Target Market
5.    Experience/Team
 
All presenters received in-depth coaching, gained industry insights, and made key connections.  The finalist received a prize package of startup essentials, from coaching to "HR in a Box" to office space.

• 94.4% of First Look Forum attendees said they would recommend the event to others
• 94.5% of attendees rated 10-minute pitches good/excellent
• 83.4% of attendees surveyed likely to follow-up with companies they met
• 85.7% of entrepreneurs surveyed found potential investors or advisors for their companies

   
We are currently starting our preparation for our First Look Forum in September. To sign-up for the waitlist, please email FLFregistration@nwen.org for further instructions.

For an outline from our recent Think Tank on how to prepare for the First Look Forum, please click here and download the powerpoint presentations.

Thank you to our First Look Forum Sponsors!