By mbaldock on
10/8/2008 9:25 PM
We attended the Banff Venture Forum; where big time Venture Capitalists meet and listen to about 40 presentations from entrepreneurs in the IT and energy industries. First and foremost, if you are going to present at this conference you only get one chance ...so you better get it right. In essence, you only have 11 minutes to make a couple hundred thousand dollars or more. Most presenters had great ideas but...they were not prepared; they will not get funding. The bottom-line is if you are going to start a business you better have a plan, some extraordinary advisers and staff and ...be able to network - work the relationship thing; without these, your great idea means nothing. I encourage all business start-ups to conduct the "Dragons Den" test, amazing what you will learn and how thick your skin is.