Serra Media selected for First Look Forum

Last week, I had the unique opportunity to organize and judge a business idea “competition” at the Online News Association conference in San Francisco. Next week I’ll be the one on the hot seat (or should I say Shark Tank?).

Serra Media has been selected as one of 12 finalists to present at the First Look Forum on Oct. 12, sponsored by the Northwest Entrepreneurial Network. Each of the 12 companies will have three minutes to present their business idea before an invitation-only audience of investors. Yes, three minutes.

The audience will then vote to select a group of five companies who will deliver a 10-minute presentation. Then, the audience will pick one winner. Grand prize: office space for a year and some nice office furniture.

The program has already paid dividends for our company, no matter how we fare next week. We were assigned screener/coaches and our meetings with TA McCann, CEO of Gist.com, and Kevin Doren, a local investor, have helped us fine-tune our overall business strategy and crystallize our message. Plus, it’s given us an excuse to ask a handful of other smart people for their feedback and we appreciate all the help we’ve received.

The slides for the 3-minute preso have already been submitted. So now it’s time to hone the pitch. It’s only three minutes, right? What’s there to be afraid of?