Tuesday October 4
11 AM – (Ironclad Brewery) How to make Entrepreneur Development part of Economic Development Strategy
(Private Audience – EcoDev staff and elected officials)
Register – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/fc88
Speakers – John Hardin (NC Dept of Commerce , Governor’s Advisor on Science and Technology Policy and Runs Board of Science, Technology & Innovation) Presentation of updated Innovation Index to compare Wilmington and New Hanover with rest of NC
Paul Singh – what he has seen on his road trip
12 Noon – Company building , community building and the media spotlight
2 PM – (Ironclad Brewery) Available statewide resources for startups in North Carolina
Register – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/b9b7
Speakers : John Hardin – NC Dept of Commerce – Matches Phase I SBIR grants
Drew Applefield – NC Biotech Center – Wilmington native, Early Stage Investments
Thom Ruhe – NC IDEA – New President / CEO
3 PM – (Ironclad Brewery) Ideas to Innovation to Commercialization – What are current barriers and roadblocks?
Register – https://nvite.com/IdeasInnovation/f165
Speakers – Eva Garland – SBIR grant expert
Dr. Dan Baden, MARBIONC at UNCW, Innovate SENC team member
Laura Smailes – Saros Desalination
Polly Harman – Pursuit Enterprises (Recently Funded Med Device Co.)
Andrew Williams – Elite Innovations (Product Development Firm)
4 PM – (Ironclad Brewery) Founder Roundtable: How to Get The Attention of Investors Near and Far.
Register – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/d12a
To say the least, very few local Wilmington startups get local investment capital.
In addition to out of town Angel and VC, clients and crowdfunding are additional options for startup fuel.
Speakers – Eric Dobson – Manager of Angel Capital Group (7 locations)
Chris Halligan – COO , Payzer (Business Development) ((Charlotte))
Jon Spinney – CoFounder , Malartu (crowdfunding ) ((Raleigh))
5:30 -8 PM Private party @TekMountian hosted by Hutchlaw – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wilmington-networking-event-registration-27642720120
Wednesday October 5th
8 AM – (PRIVATE) Angel Investing Session w local Wealth Managers
An informational and interactive event for financial planners to angel investing with their clients
Registration – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/c4c2
Speakers – Mike Rhoades – Member of Wilmington Investor Network
Paul Singh
Fred Hutchison – Founder of Hutchison Law and Founder of CED, the world’s largest entrepreneur support organization in Durham / Raleigh, NC
Eric Dobson – Manager of Angel Capital Group (Tennessee)
10 AM Office Hours at TekMountain
NOON – (tekMountain) Needs of large local employers and growing INC 5000 Winners
Bring your own lunch or buy lunch from food trucks.
What pains can startups solve and find early adopter local clients
Registration – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/db4e
Speakers – Gary Winstead – ARC Transit
Hao Dinh – General Electric
Jim Hall – N2 Publishing
Kathryn Cook – nCino
Office Hours
2 PM UNCW CIE (Student only event)
Three Things That Students Need to Know BEFORE Becoming Entrepreneurs
Speaker – Paul Singh Venture Capitalist
Office Hours
5 PM (Ironclad Brewery) Fundraising 101 w Paul Singh
Registration – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/c03e
Anthony Pompliano (Full Tilt Capital / VC, Formerly with Facebook and SnapChat)
The experience level across the Wilmington entrepreneur scene is inconsistent, so we hope this 101 class will improve understanding of the whole process including valuation, Private Placement Memorandum, term sheets, convertible notes, preferred stock and more.
Happy Hour with investors
Thursday October 6th
9 AM – Aspiring entrepreneurs event (Thinking about starting up / pre-revenue)
Gaps in the local startup ecosystem (tech talent, involved mentors, Scaling after startup)
Registration – https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/d9fa
Speakers – Jay Bigelow (VP at CED) VMS – Venture Mentoring Service
Joe Tamburro – Tech Talent South
Ray Antonino – PermitZone (Techstars graduate)
11 AM – Been there , done that, got ALL the startup tshirts
Registration – https://nvite.com/PanelThree/fc03
Local ( Under the radar ) experienced people who have been through the startup grinder
Speakers: Jennifer Turnby – ChannelAdvisor, Spoonflower ( Finance / CFO)
Bruce Mancinelli – WebSurveyor ( CEO / Management )
Jordan Cohen – Semantic Machines (Technical )
Tony Pease – GoodBookey (Serial Entrepreneur / angel investor )
1 PM (PRIVATE EVENT – Ironclad Brewery) Why real estate industry should support startup ecosystem
https://nvite.com/RJTechTour/d4dc
Paul Singh will discuss experience of Crystal City, VA
(Singh helped take Crystal City from 50% vacancy to 7% through startup infrastructure)
What do entrepreneurs want and can they be recruited or need to be homegrown?
As startups grow beyond 5 employees they need more office space.
What strategies and support do we need for more nCino and NextGlass companies?
2-4 PM Office Hours – One on One meetings w startups and investors