The snacks are on the conference room table at The Company Lab. But the miniature peanut butter cups aren’t the only things being chewed over. Two young men are there to practice their investment pitch for an idea they believe could make them millionaires.
Once Adam Boeselager overcomes his nervous jitters, he and business partner Nick Macco work their way through a PowerPoint presentation showing where they would like to take their company, Southtree, next.
Launched in 2001, Southtree converts photos, video and film to a digital format, allowing their customers to preserve vulnerable physical media in a format that will never tear or fade. Their idea is the next logical step in the evolution of data storage and access, but getting it off the ground is going to take something Southtree needs more of: money.
The Company Lab is there to help them get it.
Sheldon Grizzle, co-founder of The Company Lab, says fine-tuning their investment pitch is an important step. “We’re getting their story, slides and communication style right so they’ll be able to clearly articulate their value proposition to investors.” In other words, before the two men jump into a pool of sharks, The Company Lab is go-ing to put meat on their bones.
Grizzle and one of his partners at The Company Lab, Enoch Elwell, go through the presentation slide-by-slide, offering tips on what to add, remove and change. They explain why each tweak is important, bring up the points they believe will be on the minds of investors, and critique their delivery. Boeselager and Macco nod, ask questions, and throw more ideas back at Grizzle and Elwell.
Although Boeselager and Macco have a lot of work to do when they return to their office, Grizzle and Elwell give their presentation high marks. Grizzle says things don’t always go that well.
“Nobody wants to hear their baby is ugly, but sometimes, that’s the case.”
When an idea clicks, The Company Lab helps the entrepreneur turn his or her idea into an actual business. There are a lot of good ideas percolating in Chattanooga, Grizzle says, but not everyone knows how to go from vision to reality. “When people come to us, they’re not always sure what comes next. Our job is to help them safely take that step. Sometimes, that involves studying the feasibility of an idea. Before we start talking with investors, let’s look at the size of your market. Is it growing or shrinking? Who are your customers? Are they looking for your product or are you going to have to educate them? How much is your product going to cost?
“Just having a good idea isn’t enough. There needs to be a feasible business model. If you’re going to spend 10 years of your life doing something, you want to make sure it’s worth doing. You don’t want to realize five years in that you shouldn’t have even started,” Grizzle says.
Once a client has a viable business model, The Company Lab helps them establish the connections that can make it happen. Boeselager and Macco, who started their business in a college dorm room, are preparing for a venture forum in Nashville that will put them in front of a room full of investors looking for high growth opportunities.
Yet these are just a few of the ties The Company Lab has helped Southtree to create. From CPAs, to attorneys, to marketing experts, if an entrepreneur needs a service, the people at Southtree know someone who can coach or provide help in that area.
“We don’t claim to be experts about everything. But we have access to a good network of mentors who are excited about the entrepreneurial ecosystem that’s taking shape in Chattanooga,” Grizzle says. Macco says the help and guidance of The Company Lab has exceeded his expectations. “We no longer have to make decisions in isolation, but have advocates within the city. We’ve also learned lessons on presenting our ideas clearly, and have made connections that can make our ideas happen. Working with them has been a great experience.”
Launched in September 2010, The Company Lab grew out of Springboard, an eight-week business planning class Grizzle helped to start in 2008 through CreateHere. Their clients have included a Web site through which disaster relief victims can post the supplies they need to rebuild their homes and businesses, a company that plans to use technology to eliminate waiting times in doctor’s offices and restaurants, a Mexican restaurant, and others.
The one thing these diverse ventures all share is a common wellspring of help. “We’re entrepreneurs. We’ve been through the process. We know what it’s like to make payroll but not pay yourself for however many months it takes to keep the business going. Speaking from a position of experience really resonates with entrepreneurs.”
For contact details for The Company Lab, visit www.colab.is.