venture08 Conference

Venture Highlights

Testimonials

“I found the CED Venture Forum to be a useful experience. Both the presenting companies and the surrounding financial and legal participants were regional geographically but global in their breadth of view. All in all, a stimulating exchange in a warm supportive setting.”

Christopher Morton, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
SkyCross
Venture 2007 Showcase Presenting Company


“CED was the literally the first place I visited when I got off the plane to come to the Triangle area for the first time in 2002. The Council for Entrepreneurial Development is truly the center of entrepreneurial activity in North Carolina. I received tremendous value from my CED membership. It's been the place I go to meet other entrepreneurs, investors, advisors, and entrepreneurial service providers. The organization has been absolutely key to the success and growth of my company iContact. We were able to raise $5.3 million from investors after presenting at CED's Venture Conference in April 2007. I am proud to be involved with one of the largest, and best, entrepreneurial networks in the world.”

Ryan Allis
Chief Executive Officer
iContact Corp. (previously Broadwick Corporation)
Venture 2007 Main Stage Presenting Company


“One of the reasons I want to present this year is because of the event you put on last year. The presentations were outstanding. Unlike many similar sounding events, your attendee list was well qualified and covered the spectrum in terms of investment levels and investment focus…I did participate in the Speed Dating. I have to say that as a serial entrepreneur, your speed dating event was easily the best offering I've ever participated in. What I mean by that is that during that one hour period, I, as an entrepreneur, received more insightful, direct and effective feed back than I had received over a wide range of conversations with VCs and meetings with various forum organizers over the previous months.

“To illustrate, we spent days trying to hone our pitch for the event. We walked in knowing that we were completely buttoned up and were getting across the points we wanted to communicate. Then we actually had to give our pitch. From the first group on, there was always something that wasn't quite coming across. Some of it we assumed we were communicating. Other things we thought were common knowledge. Regardless, at each table we would learn what we weren't communicating and would then weave it into our pitch at the next table. We were able to do that a dozen times in the course of a little over an hour, each time facing a new set of critics. By the time we were done, rather than just thinking we were buttoned up, we actually were. We knew where the holes were with our pitch and what we had to emphasize. Fundamentally we knew how to cover all of our bases and address the most common questions or concerns before they cold even be raised.

“Our pitch was 1000% more effective when we left than when we walked to that first table. To get that kind of specific, incisive and effective feedback anywhere else would likely have cost a great deal of both time and money, neither of which entrepreneurs typically have…I would suggest that for entrepreneurs at that early stage there is probably no better venue, no better event for them to attend this year.”

Vince Coyner
Local Flavor
Venture 2007 Speed Dating Participant


Past Speakers

Find out more about past Venture conferences and their line-up of speakers:

Past Presenting Companies

Find out more about past Venture conferences and their line-up of presenting companies:

Past Presenting Companies in the News