2011-2012 ANNUAL REPORT
We started 2012 with the following manifesto calling for an Entrepreneur Season.....
LETTER FROM THE CEO: Friends of The Idea Village,
PHOTO • The view from the stage at The Big Idea on March 16, 2012 in the Manning’s courtyard.
contents
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bill Hines, Chairman Managing Partner, Jones Walker David Darragh, Vice-Chairman CEO, Reily Foods Company Margaret Beer Marketing, IBERIABANK Michael Brown Vice-Chairman and COO, IBERIABANK Kevin Clifford CEO, American Funds Daryn Dodson Calvert Funds Michael Gollner* Managing Partner, Operating Capital Partners, LLP Yvette Jones Executive Vice President University Relations and Development, Tulane University Chris Laibe Founder, Schedulist Merritt Lane President and CEO, Canal Barge Company, Inc. Ti Adelaide Martin* Co-proprietor, Commander’s Palace Amith Nagarajan* Co-founder, Abstraction Ventures John Payne President, Enterprise Shared Services, Caesars Entertainment Corporation Wendell Pierce* Actor Mark Romig CEO, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation Tim Ryan Consultant Hugh Weber
Letter from the CEO
ADVISORY COMMITTEE E. Tiffany Adler COO, Adler’s
2012 Entrepreneur Season IDEAxcelerator
K. Taylor Beery Principal, Beery Advisors
IDEAinstitute
Allen Bell Partner, TopSide & Co-founder, The Idea Village
IDEAsessions IDEAcorps
Darryl d’Aquin President, CommTech Industries
Strategic Challenges Capital Village
Quentin Dastugue CEO, Property One Allen Eskew CEO, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
Media Highlights
Sally Forman Founder, Sally Forman Communications & Co-founder, The Idea Village
NOLAbound
Samuel Giberga Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Hornbeck Offshore Services & Co-founder, The Idea Village
Entrepreneur Updates
David Guidry President and CEO, Guico Machine Works
Development Donors
James Hardy Life Science Commercialization Consultant
Source of Funds Expenses
Scott Jacobs Principal, Strategic Comp Suzanne Mestayer CEO, ThirtyNorth Investments
What’s Next?
Kenneth Purcell CEO, iSeatz David Sylvester Partner, Fitzgerald & Rhodes, LLP Jimmy Treuting CEO, Farm Dog Robbie Vitrano Co-founder, Trumpet, Naked Pizza, & The Idea Village
Tim Williamson Co-founder and CEO, The Idea Village Matthew Wisdom CEO, TurboSquid, Inc. *Newly Elected
STAFF
Tim Williamson, Co-founder and CEO
Cameron Adams
Rhea Ghosh
Kate Schneiderman
Victoria Adams
Emily Madero
Sara Thomas
Megan Barry
Ravi Prakash
Kevin Wilkins
On March 16, 2012, the final day of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, I stood on the stage at Manning’s Restaurant on Fulton Street and saw the vision scribbled on the bar napkin 12 years ago: a vibrant village for entrepreneurial talent. 1,500 people including Mayor Mitch Landrieu, TPG Capital Founding Partner Jim Coulter, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Irvin Mayfield, ecosystem partners, MBA students, investors, high school students, and entrepreneurs came together to support and celebrate 19 New Orleans-based start-ups in a unique New Orleans-style celebration to end the 2012 Entrepreneur Season. A tipping point for the movement. Carol Wise, a longtime civic and business leader who witnessed The Big Idea event, told me, “I never thought I would see this in my lifetime.” She discussed how she was thrilled that her daughter and son-in-law were able to move back home with their three young kids, after being away for more than two decades, to participate in this movement. She reminded me of a core benefit of what we are doing: our children can now come home to build meaningful careers. I am proud to report that today, there is an interconnected entrepreneurial ecosystem made up of individuals, government, universities, corporations, non-profits, professionals, and investors who collaborate to make New Orleans a place for people with big ideas, grand dreams, and the passion to build, grow, and execute. New Orleans-based start-ups creating new jobs for our community include: The Receivables Exchange, TurboSquid, iSeatz, Naked Pizza, Cordina, Audiosocket, Kickboard, NOLA Brewing Company, Schedulist, The Occasional Wife, Sucré, Lifestyle Revolution Group, and Federated Sample. And during the 2012 Entrepreneur Season, we identified and supported the next economic drivers including: ChapterSpot, NOLAcajun.com, adverCar, VoiceHIT, Whetstone, Be:Well Nutrition, SOLarchitect, Dash, Classroom Blueprint, Bioceptive, Tierra Resources, Aquaponic Modular Production Systems (AMPS), NanoFex, Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies (APMT), and Theodent. In 2012, there was unprecedented collaboration with the New Orleans ecosystem during the Entrepreneur Season. In addition to the work of thousands of individuals, local partner organizations included: 4.0 Schools, Abstraction Ventures, Baton Rouge Regional Innovation Organization, Collaborative for Enterprise Development, Downtown Development District of New Orleans, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, Greater New Orleans, Inc., Launch Pad, Louisiana Technology Council, New Orleans BioInnovation Center, New Orleans Business Alliance, New Orleans Startup Fund, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Propeller, South Coast Angel Fund, Teach for America, Tulane University, and Urban League of Greater New Orleans. The results of the 2012 Entrepreneur Season highlight the momentum of the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem. While The Idea Village exceeded all goals for the 2012 Season, most relevant is the fact that we engaged over 2,000 people to provide $2.2 million in resources to 697 entrepreneurs, representing 40 percent of total entrepreneurs serviced by the organization since its inception in 2000.
The Idea Village is becoming a recognized leader in building an entrepreneurial movement. In 2012, The Idea Village received the “Innovator of the Year” award from the Downtown Development District of New Orleans and the Gold Award in recognition of executing an Entrepreneur Season from the International Economic Development Corporation. Both Google and The White House are using New Orleans as a model for entrepreneurship in their efforts across the country. In February, I testified at the U.S. Senate’s Small Business Committee’s roundtable on creating jobs and growing businesses though entrepreneurship. In June, at the request of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, I traveled to Tokyo, Okura, and Shendai to share best practices in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the wake of disaster as part of a countrywide speaker program honoring the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Not only is it working, New Orleans is becoming a globally recognized ecosystem. Yes, there has been significant growth of entrepreneurship in New Orleans with 2012 being a milestone year. However, our system is still in its early stages and momentum needs to continue and solidify. The Idea Village will continue delivering its mission by focusing on building the “entrepreneurial ecosystem” – a complex interrelated system of diverse constituencies required to ensure that entrepreneurs succeed. The Entrepreneur Season is the platform that allows the collaborative network of individuals, government, universities, corporations, nonprofits, professionals, and investors to strategically and efficiently support New Orleans start-ups. Now the question is What’s Next? What if everyone had a role in the annual Entrepreneur Season? What if New Orleans became one of the top 10 entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world by 2018, our city’s tricentennial? What if 100,000 people from around the world attended New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2018 because New Orleans is recognized as a model city for entrepreneurship and resilience? We like What Ifs. Thank you for your support and belief in entrepreneurship as an agent of change. It truly takes a village. I invite you to join us for the 2013 Entrepreneur Season to experience the movement.
Sincerely,
Tim Williamson Co-founder and CEO, The Idea Village
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2012 ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
WHAT IF? We championed start-ups the same way we champion our music, our food, our sports teams, our culture?
PHOTOS • TOP: Walter Isaacson, one of the keynote speakers for New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2012, addresses IDEAcorps MBA students. LEFT: Tara Canobbio of Google awards Jess Bialecki, Founder of Classroom Blueprint and winner of the 2012 Education Challenge, with a trip to Google. RIGHT: Margaret Beer of IBERIABANK and Heather Evans of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company provide pitch feedback to Colleen Morgan, Founder of Bayou Natives.
2012 ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
1,622
ENTREPRENEURS REGISTERED
“We were so energized by the impressive ecosystem of
entrepreneurs and the community around them in New Orleans. Engagement and support from leadership at all levels is making a difference and working very well here. We’re excited about expanding our partnership with The Idea Village.” – Mary Himinkool, Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach, Google, Keynote Speaker, New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2012
697
ENTREPRENEURS RECEIVED DIRECT SUPPORT
60
ENTREPRENEURS SELECTED INTO PROGRAMS
$370,250
SEED CAPITAL ALLOCATED
14,405
HOURS OF STRATEGIC CONSULTING DELIVERED
282
PROFESSIONALS, MBAs, & MENTORS ENGAGED
$2.2 million
RESOURCES ALLOCATED
75
EVENTS EXECUTED
2,000
PEOPLE ATTENDED THE 4TH ANNUAL NEW ORLEANS ENTREPRENEUR WEEK
2012 Entrepreneur Season Each year, from July to March, The Idea Village executes an Entrepreneur Season that connects a collaborative network of local and national partners to identify, support, and celebrate local start-ups. The 2012 Entrepreneur Season, in collaboration with Premier Partner Google, was enhanced with the successful launch of new products, services, and innovative events. Concluding with the 4th annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, the festival of entrepreneurship hosted in Downtown New Orleans, the 2012 Season engaged global leaders such as Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of The Aspen Institute and Steve Jobs’ biographer; Mary Himinkool, Google’s Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach; and Jim Coulter, TPG Capital Founding Partner. In addition, The Idea Village hosted a meeting of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), a special advisory committee that is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The council was developed to advise President Obama on ways to help foster entrepreneurship in order to drive economic growth and create jobs.
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ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
ENTREPRENEUR SEASON: PROGRAMS
WHAT IF? We nurtured big ideas?
PROGRAMS: IDEAxcelerator • IDEAinstitute • IDEAsessions • IDEAcorps
IDEAxcelerator
IDEAxcelerator is an intensive, six-month business accelerator program managed by a team of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence [EIRs], successful, seasoned entrepreneurs who serve as strategic advisors for the companies in the program. The goal of IDEAxcelerator is to address key business challenges and identify strategic opportunities to accelerate the growth of participating ventures. The 2012 IDEAxcelerator, accelerated by IBERIABANK, supported 19 high-impact entrepreneurs. The 2012 Entrepreneur Season EIRs were Doug Walner and Kevin Wilkins.
IDEAinstitute
IDEAinstitute is The Idea Village’s entrepreneur education program providing free workshops, roundtables, and a keynote speaker series conducted by well-known local and national business thought leaders with a focus on a variety of topics critical to start-ups. In an effort to geographically diversify our offerings, programming is offered at both The IP building in Downtown New Orleans and the Entergy Innovation Center (EIC) in the Upper 9th Ward. This year, 56 sessions, including a keynote speaker series, were hosted at The IP in partnership with the Downtown Development District of New Orleans. Additionally, “Arts Exposure,” a targeted series of workshops at the EIC in collaboration with the Arts Council, educated 24 entrepreneurs in the arts as both a leisure activity and viable business opportunity.
IDEAsessions
In addition to managing the IDEAxcelerator program, EIRs host a select number of one-on-one IDEAsessions for the larger entrepreneurial community. These two-hour meetings provide strategic guidance and direction around a specific, pre-identified business challenge. PHOTO • Billy Bosch and Matt Mouras, Co-founders of Be:Well Nutrition, pitch their business to a panel of bankers and investors during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.
“We
went from concept to product in six months. Enough said. The competitive atmosphere leading up to NOEW helped facilitate the rapid progression of our business and product launch. IDEAxcelerator…What an ICONIC program! ”
– Billy Bosch, Co-founder of Be:Well Nutrition, Producer of the All Natural Protein Drink, ICONIC, 2012 IDEAxcelerator Participant
During the 2012 Season, The Idea Village hosted 118 IDEAsessions.
IDEAcorps
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IDEAxcelerator ENTREPRENEURS Aquaponic Modular Production Systems Advanced Polymer Monitoring Technologies Bayou Natives Be:Well Nutrition Bluebag, LLC Circa ChapterSpot DesignerSocial Dukky HUKA Entertainment NanoFex, LLC NOLAcajun.com NOvate Medical Technologies SOLarchitect Tierra Resources, LLC TRUE-See Systems VoiceHIT Whetstone Education Zingboard
2012 IDEAinstitute KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Jim Coulter Founding Partner, TPG Capital Matt Flannery Co-founder and CEO, Kiva Mary Himinkool Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach, Google Walter Isaacson President and CEO, The Aspen Institute Michael Karnjanaprakorn CEO and Co-founder, Skillshare David Kappos Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Central to IDEAxcelerator is the IDEAcorps program. Since 2006, top business schools from around the country have sent teams of MBA students to New Orleans to work with IDEAxcelerator entrepreneurs to explore innovative solutions to critical growth challenges. To date, 586 MBAs from 14 different universities have participated in IDEAcorps. In 2012, a joint Berkeley-Cornell student team traveled to New Orleans over their winter break in January to work with Dukky, a marketing performance enhancer that leverages personalization, landing pages, and social media to increase sales for their clients. Additionally, 60 students participated in this award-winning experiential learning program during NOEW 2012. The Dartmouth Tuck School of Business IDEAcorps MBA team won the annual IDEAcorps MBA Pitch at NOEW for their work consulting ChapterSpot, a tech company that builds exclusive social networks for large memberbased organizations. Other universities participating in the 2012 IDEAcorps program included Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University, Duke University, and Loyola University.
PHOTO • The Dartmouth IDEAcorps team presents their final deliverables for ChapterSpot during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.
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ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
ENTREPRENEUR SEASON: STRATEGIC CHALLENGES
STRATEGIC CHALLENGES: Water Challenge • Education Challenge • Tulane Challenge • Flex Fund Challenge • Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge
Strategic Challenges
WHAT IF? New Orleans was known for diversified industries?
The Idea Village Strategic Challenges are collaborative programs produced by The Idea Village in conjunction with partner organizations in an effort to elevate entrepreneurs from a particular industry or sector, while strengthening partnerships in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Water Challenge
Winner: Tierra Resources
Partner: Greater New Orleans Foundation. Purpose: To identify and support entrepreneurial solutions that apply innovative approaches to how we live with water in New Orleans. Winner: Tierra Resources won $50,000 in seed capital at the 2nd annual Water Challenge pitch during NOEW, hosted at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. Other entrepreneurs presenting included Aquaponic Modular Production Systems and Bayou Natives.
Education Challenge
Winner: Classroom Blueprint
Partners: 4.0 Schools, Coleman Foundation, Teach for America, and Google. Purpose: To educate Teach for America corps members in entrepreneurship and support the development of ventures that close the education achievement gap. Winner: Classroom Blueprint won $15,000 from the Education Challenge pitch during NOEW. Other entrepreneurs presenting included Dash, Youth Run Nola, and 504 HealthNet.
Tulane Challenge
Winner: NanoFex
Partners: Levy Rosenblum Institute, Tulane University Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Development, Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, and Tulane Association of Business Alumni. Purpose: To showcase Tulane-originated ventures and entrepreneurial support programs at Tulane University. Winner: NanoFex won the $50,000 Tulane Challenge pitch during NOEW.
Flex Fund Challenge
PHOTOS • LEFT: Clark McCain of the Coleman Foundation and Matt Candler of 4.0 Schools deliberate over the winner of the Education Challenge pitch. RIGHT: Dr. Sarah Mack, founder of Tierra Resources, wins $50,000 at the 2nd annual Water Challenge pitch.
Winners: Bissap Breeze, Sénica,
“We’re living in a region that can be a world leader
in innovative, water-related businesses. By teaming up with The Idea Village, we’re tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit to develop the technology, tools, and know-how to develop solutions to our water problems that can then be exported to a global market.”
– Marco Cocito-Monoc, Ph.D., Director of Regional Initiatives, Greater New Orleans Foundation
Life City, The Wooden Spoon
Partners: Collaboration for Enterprise Development (CED), a partnership between The Idea Village, Capital Access, Good Work Network, and NewCorp, generously funded by the Foundation for Louisiana. Purpose: To execute an organized initiative for CED partners to collectively allocate resources for entrepreneurs. Winners: Bissap Breeze won $70,000, Sénica won $20,000, and both Life City and The Wooden Spoon secured $5,000 through a speed pitch judged by 20 local leaders during NOEW.
Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge
Winner: Edna Karr High School
Partners: Brees Dream Foundation and Google. Purpose: To develop entrepreneurial talent at the high school level. Winner: Edna Karr High School won $10,000 for the innovative business idea, #NOLALOVE. Other participating high schools included Warren Easton High School, Lusher Charter School, and Walter L. Cohen High School.
PHOTO • LEFT: Students from Edna Karr High School celebrate winning the Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge for the 2nd year in a row with Drew and Brittany Brees. PHOTO • RIGHT: David Culpepper, CEO of NanoFex, wins $50,000 in the 2012 Tulane Challenge pitch.
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ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
ENTREPRENEUR SEASON: CAPITAL VILLAGE
CAPITAL VILLAGE: Coulter IDEApitch • Power Pitch • Angel Investor Dinners • The Big Idea • Speed-to-Seed • Capital Roundtable
“New Orleans is a special
WHAT IF? New Orleans attracted global investors?
Capital Village
The Idea Village works with New Orleans entrepreneurs during the Entrepreneur Season to develop, refine, and strengthen their investor pitches and hosts numerous capital access opportunities for equity capital, grants, and debt. The capital access programs managed by The Idea Village include: Venture Capital (Coulter IDEApitch); Angel Capital (Power Pitch, Angel Investor Dinners); Grants (The Big Idea, Speed-to-Seed); and Debt (Capital Roundtables).
Venture Capital
Coulter IDEApitch
Created in 2009 by Jim Coulter, TPG Capital Founding Partner, and The Idea Village, the Coulter IDEApitch is an invitation-only dinner and investment pitch during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week featuring high-growth entrepreneurs in the New Orleans region presenting their ventures to world-class investors. Idea Village alum Kickboard won the 3rd annual Coulter IDEApitch through a combination of panel deliberation and audience vote. Kickboard received a customized, all-expense-paid trip to California to meet with investors. New Orleansbased ventures Theodent, VoiceHIT, and VoteIt. also pitched to the esteemed panel. Members of the panel included: Jim Coulter, Jim Counihan (Prism VentureWorks), Will Porteous (RRE Ventures), and Mary Himinkool (Google Ventures).
PHOTOS • LEFT: Neil Turner, Co-founder of adverCar, makes his “Power Pitch” during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. RIGHT: Jim Coulter of TPG Capital, Jim Counihan of Prism VentureWorks, Will Porteous of RRE Ventures, and Mary Himinkool of Google Ventures ask questions as the panel for the Coulter IDEApitch.
“We closed a seven-figure round that began with
participating in Power Pitch during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. To put this in perspective, I watch Shark Tank and Tech Stars, and I have never seen a one million-plus round, let alone from a five-minute pitch. The results of the Power Pitch have been incredible, and we are forever grateful for being included.”
Neil Turner, Co-founder, adverCar, 2012 Power Pitch Winner
city and now entrepreneurs have a collaborative network to start and grow their ventures. National investors are starting to take notice of this strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.” – Jim Coulter, Founding Partner, TPG Capital
Kickboard: 3rd annual Coulter IDEApitch winner of a trip to California to meet with investors.
Angel Capital
Power Pitch
Power Pitch, created in collaboration with Will Porteous of RRE Ventures and Jeffery Silverman of Laconia Ventures, is a fast-paced investment pitch event that connects entrepreneurs seeking $100,000 to $1 million with a network of national and local investors. adverCar won the inaugural Power Pitch and received a trip to New York to meet with investors. Twelve other New Orleans-based entrepreneurs also participated.
adverCar: Inaugural Power Pitch winner of a trip to New York to meet with investors.
Nominating partners included: Abstraction Ventures, Launch Pad, South Coast Angel Fund, New Orleans Startup Fund, New Orleans Bioinnovation Center, and Baton Rouge Regional Innovation Organization (RIO). National investors sitting on the panel included principals from: RRE Ventures, Laconia Ventures, General Atlantic, Canaan Partners, Calvert Funds, Lot 18, and NBC News Digital.
Angel Investor Dinners
The Idea Village hosts a limited number of Angel Investor Dinners each Season to connect entrepreneurs seeking investment from local angels. Last year, IDEAxcelerator entrepreneurs Bluebag, ChapterSpot, and DesignerSocial participated in this intimate initiative.
Bluebag, ChapterSpot, & DesignerSocial: Selected to connect with local angels through Angel Investor Dinners.
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ENTREPRENEUR SEASON
CAPITAL VILLAGE: Coulter IDEApitch • Power Pitch • Angel Investor Dinners • The Big Idea • Speed-to-Seed • Capital Roundtable
Grants
The Big Idea
Winner of The Big Idea
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The Big Idea is an innovative approach to community engagement and crowd-sourced funding. A collaboration of the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem, the 2012 Big Idea featured 19 of New Orleans’ most promising start-ups and a celebrity judging panel, which included Jim Coulter of TPG Capital, Irvin Mayfield, Mary Matalin, James Carville, and Jon Swartz of USA Today. The 1,500+ audience allocated $44,750 amongst all 19 featured entrepreneurs. SOLarchitect, the overall event winner, received an additional $50,000 through a combination of audience and judging panel vote.
ENTREPRENEURS PARTICIPATING IN THE BIG IDEA:
Aquaponic Modular Production Systems, Be:Well Nutrition, Bissap Breeze, Bluebag, ChapterSpot, Classroom Blueprint, Connect for a Cause, Dash, DesignerSocial, Dig*It, Giftmeo, Kinobi, LiaMolly, Matter L3C, NOLAcajun.com, SOLarchitect, Tierra Resources, unawkard, and volnado.
Speed-to-Seed Winner of Speed-to-Seed
Speed-to-Seed is a fast-paced pitch competition that engages the local business community as panelists to assess pitches and provide constructive feedback. Be:Well Nutrition won the $5,000 pitch this year as voted on by representatives from Baker Donelson, Chase, Gambit, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, Harrah’s, IBERIABANK, Jones Walker, JP Morgan, New Orleans Hornets, and Reily Foods.
Debt
PHOTO • A crowd of 1,500+ gathered in the Manning’s Restaurant courtyard on Fulton Street to celebrate entrepreneurship in New Orleans during The Big Idea, the culmination of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2012.
Capital Roundtable
Each season, The Idea Village hosts monthly Capital Roundtables for an identified entrepreneur with a diverse group of lending professionals and investors. The goal is to educate that entrepreneur about navigating funding sources. 2012 participants included: Accion Louisiana, ASI Federal Credit Union, Chase, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, IBERIABANK, JP Morgan, Liberty Bank, Newcorp, Regions Bank, Seedco Financial, South Coast Angel Fund, New Orleans Startup Fund, U.S. Small Business Administration, Whitney National Bank.
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“The Big Idea is truly a testament to the tremendous amount of work that has
been done to make New Orleans an entrepreneurial hub, and the potential that has yet to be reached.” – Martin Roth, Co-founder, Giftmeo, 2012 Big Idea Participant
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS • NOLAbound
96 Media Highlights
WHAT IF? The world began to notice?
Over the past 12 months, The Idea Village received approximately 100 press mentions with a media valuation of over $1.8 million. Highlights include:
ABC World News Now Forbes TIME Wall Street Journal Independent Banker The Huffington Post Bloomberg Businessweek
MEDIA VALUATION
“Billionaire Investor Jim Coulter on Why New Orleans is One of the Best Cities for Entrepreneurs” “How Louisiana is Luring Start-ups” “The Big Easy’s Business Leap Forward” “Think Big” “A New Orleans for the Future” “Building Start-up Culture in New Orleans” “Exploring New Orleans, Start-up by Start-up”
Forbes
“After Katrina, New Orleans’ Entrepreneurial Boom”
NOLA.com
$1.8 million
“New Orleans Makes a Comeback”
GOOD
The Times Picayune
PRESS MENTIONS
“New Orleans’ Entrepreneurial Spirit has Shined Throughout its History” (Walter Isaacson Op Ed) “New Orleans Entrepreneur Week Succeeds with Local Engagement and More”
PHOTOS • LEFT: Tara Canobbio of Google, John Sillars of French Market Coffee, and Tim Williamson speak with Garland Robinette during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. RIGHT: Tim Williamson addressing Japanese economic development groups on how to build a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem while visting Japan.
“New
Orleans has reinvented itself as a bit of an entrepreneurial hub, replete with incubators and accelerators and an Entrepreneur Week now in its fourth year that draws visitors from Google, Stanford, and venture capital firms. It has homegrown success stories like The Receivables Exchange and Naked Pizza that now have national profiles.”
– Bloomberg Business Week
“New
Orleans in particular has become a hub for incubating new businesses.”
– TIME
“New Orleans has been reborn as a tech town. Really.” – Wall Street Journal
1million NOLAbound
TWITTER ACCOUNTS REACHED IN FIVE DAYS
NOLAbound, a joint program of the Downtown Development District of New Orleans, Greater New Orleans, Inc., and The Idea Village, made possible with generous funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, was timed to coincide with NOEW 2012. Twenty-seven individuals, from a pool of nearly 200 applicants, were invited to represent and assess four emerging industries in New Orleans: arts-based businesses, sustainable businesses, biosciences, and digital media. NOLAbounders visited with business owners, community leaders, and entrepreneurs – asking questions, uncovering opportunities, and telling the rest of the world what they found through social media. The program reached nearly one million Twitter accounts in five days. The entire program was also filmed. The resulting documentary will premiere in October 2012 during the annual New Orleans Film Festival. PHOTO • The NOLAbounders gather in Audubon Park for a crawfish boil with local entrepreneurs.
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ENTREPRENEUR UPDATES
DEVELOPMENT SOURCE OF FUNDS
WHAT IF?
2% 3% 9% PROGRAM FEES
UNIVERSITIES
19%
18% RESTRICTED GRANTS
CORPORATIONS
34% INDIVIDUALS
FOUNDATIONS
GOVERNMENT
EXPENSES 3% 8%
The next generation of leaders emerged?
16%
FUNDRAISING
75%75%
14%
SPECIAL PROJECTS
GENERAL OPERATING
CORE PROGRAMS
* PLEASE NOTE: THE ABOVE CHARTS REFLECT UNAUDITED FINANCIALS
adverCar 7 employees
ChapterSpot 13 employees
Cordina
142 employees
iSeatz
68 employees
Kickboard 9 employees
NOLA Brewing Company 13 employees
The Occasional Wife 23 employees
Sucré
65 employees
“The efforts of The Idea Village helped my business in the simplest, yet most effective way; we raised a sevenfigure investment deal from a top-flight venture capital firm. The Idea Village’s help came not as a broker, not as a middleman, not as paid consultants, but as a group whose sole interests lie in the early development of New Orleans entrepreneurs, and ensuring that once their plans are well formulated, they have an abundant audience of local and national investors to make their dreams become reality.” -- Neil Turner, Co-founder of adverCar “The Idea Village provided us with resources that really helped us move the needle. We received invaluable, highlevel strategic consulting from our EIRs and were connected with top legal and accounting professionals. When we had questions and uncertainty, The Idea Village was able to leverage their network to find us the best resource possible to consult with us to find solutions. The Idea Village likes to say that they are your ‘start-up team,’ but in reality they are much more.” -- Brendan Finke & Joe McMenemon, Co-founders of ChapterSpot
“We would not have grown into a multi-million dollar company in four years without the help of The Idea Village.” -- Craig Cordes, Antonio LaMartina, Sal LaMartina, Co-founders of Cordina
“The Idea Village not only enables entrepreneurs to boost their pre-launch velocity, but also provides ‘been-there-done-that’ experiences to help founders stay on track post-launch. The Idea Village helped me refine iSeatz’s business model and key performance indicators.” -- Kenneth Purcell, CEO of iSeatz
“IDEAxcelerator helped me develop a sound financial model and strategic growth plan, enabling Kickboard to expand from six schools to 15.” -- Jen Medbery, Founder of Kickboard by Drop the Chalk
“IDEAxcelerator equipped us to grow NOLA Brewing from a local company into a regional brewery. With a new canning line, we are able to further penetrate the retail market and expect to double our production capacity in the next six months.” -- Kirk Coco, President of NOLA Brewing Company
“The Idea Village made me and my business feel very connected to the New Orleans entrepreneurial community. They also made me realize that I needed to be working on my business, not in my business.” -- Kay Morrison, Co-founder of The Occasional Wife “The Idea Village has been an inspiration and an endless source of connections. Before Sucré opened its doors, I received amazing support, instruction, and encouragement. In recent years, The Idea Village has been a source of business opportunities, providing connections with national executives who have opened the business potential of Sucré.” -- Joel Dondis, Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Sucré LLC
DONORS & SUPPORTERS $100,000+
Kevin Clifford Family Economic Development Administration Google Greater New Orleans Foundation Office of Community Development – Disaster Recovery Unit
$50,000 - $99,999
Catalyst Foundation Chase The Coleman Foundation Crescent City Relief Funds Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Harrah’s New Orleans The Hearst Foundations IBERIABANK Jones, Walker, Poitevent, Carrère and Denègre, LLP JP Morgan
$25,000 - $49,999
Board of Trustees of Libby-Dufour Fund Brees Dream Foundation Downtown Development District of New Orleans Foundation for Louisiana French Market Coffee New Orleans Hornets The RosaMary Foundation Tulane University
$10,000 - $24,999
4.0 Schools 504ward Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, PC Baptist Community Ministries Cisco Systems, Inc. Community Benefit Rebuild Fund Delta Regional Authority Ernst & Young The Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation Leslie and Scott Jacobs The Mary Freeman Wisdom Foundation The NOLA Foundation Rouses Salesforce.com Foundation Hugh Uhalt
$5,000 - $9,999
Archon Information Systems Abstraction Ventures The Ella West Freeman Foundation The Goldring Family Foundation Jordan Marye Machelle and John Payne Jennifer and Doug Walner
$1,000 - $4,999
Margaret and Ken Beer Taylor Beery The Benjamin M. Rosen Family Foundation Bellwether Technology Corporation Gail and John Bertuzzi Bari and Edel Blanks Boh Bros. Construction Co., LLC Bollinger Shipyards Kia and Christian Brown BusinessFirst Bank Cathy and Rivie Cary Jon Kerry Clayton Coats, Rose, Yale, Ryman, and Lee, PC Patrick Comer Daniel Conwill, IV Cordina Corporate Realty Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia Dickie Brennan & Co. Entergy Corporation Justin Esgar Federated Sample Sally and Ron Forman Samuel Giberga Michael Gollner Elizabeth and Charles Goodyear David Guidry Steven Hemperley Hibernia Bank A. Whitfield Huguley, IV IdeaPaint iSeatz Joel’s Catering and Events Yvette and Rick Jones John E. Koerner, III Kushner LaGraize, LLC Elly and Merritt Lane Laitram, LLC Jay Lapeyre
Leidenheimer Baking Co. Mr. and Mrs. J. Thomas Lewis John McNamara Suzanne Mestayer Ochsner Health System Roger Ogden Ork Posters Robert J. Patrick Peter A. Mayer Advertising Nic Perkin Place St. Charles Mr. and Mrs. Rick Rees PK Scheerle Timothy P. Ryan Robert Saer Schedulist Chris Schultz Susu and Andrew Stall Silicon Valley Community Foundation Jimmy Treuting Robbie Vitrano Jackie and Richard Yancey
$500 - $999
Apple Matching Gifts Linda and Neil Baum Allen Bell Michael Brown McKenzie Coco Gerard Cox (Creole) Allison and George Freeman Taylor Galyean Darren Hoffman Mary Jo and Calvin Johnson Mary Lucy and David Lane LifeCity Luther and Zita Templeman Foundation Marrero Land and Improvement Association, Ltd. Jennifer and Brian Melius Michael Mimeles Ms. Carolyn S. Mitchell Mr. and Mrs. Peter Moss Laurie and Peter Ricchiuti Mark Romig Doug Ryan Kenneth Saer Kara and Mark Samuels (Basin Street Records) David Schneiderman
Bill Strobel Susco Solutions Sustainable Environmental Enterprises Michael Tilly Ginny Wise and Kevin Wilkins Carol B. Wise Aaron Wolfson
$0 - $499
Adler’s Arnof Family Charitable Fund Caitlin Cain Daryn Dodson Melissa Duchinsky J. Thomas Dunne Lulu and Billy Freiberg Michael Kearney Ronald Marlow Dwight McGhee Carol H. Merlin David Mimeles Betty Moran Leslie and Hunter Pierson playNOLA PollBob Bob Reily Kara and John Renne Briana Rogers Solomon Group Alison and Pierre Stouse Camille Terk Usdin – Weil Foundation
In-Kind
Acme Oyster House ARB Meetings and Events Bond PR & Brand Strategy Gambit Glazer’s Limousine Livery NOLA Brewing Company Race + Religious Event Property Where Y’at Magazine
15
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