BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITORThe entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well at the Oregon Angel showcase, an annual event for angel investors and early stage entrepreneurs.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Photo courtesy of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well at the Angel Oregon showcase. The annual event for early stage investors and startups took place Wednesday in the Sentinel Hotel.
Click through for 5 highlights from the event.
1. Keynote selfie
Ekaterina Walter, author of Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO, displayed her social media chops by starting her speech with a selfie.
Amazing crowd today at @oenorg #oenangel. Privileged to speak to them today! pic.twitter.com/PY2lePRXKu
— Ekaterina Walter (@Ekaterina) April 22, 2015
Walter debunked several leadership myths. Failure isn’t a bad thing, she said. And originality isn’t unimportant — it doesn’t exist.
After she left the stage, master of ceremonies Neil Nathanson — in one of many tongue-in-cheek statements — wished her nothing but failure.
2. The Nuzzle pitch
Christine Enderby pitched products aimed exclusively at women to a male-dominated crowd.
“Over 3 million women breastfed their babies in 2014.” — Christine Enderby, @nuzzlemom. #oenangel pic.twitter.com/laJYyntnOb
— Oregon Business (@OregonBusiness) April 22, 2015
The company is targeting the estimated 40 million women who suffer severe pelvic cramps and lower back tension, as well the 500K who suffer from endometriosis.
Nuzzlemom is a wonderful invention by a #womeninbiz for #women #oenangel
— Lin Carson (@lincarson) April 22, 2015
3. Crowdfunding panel
Three CEOs — Ryan Grepper, Matt Capozzi, and Terry St. Marie — took the stage to describe successful Kickstarter crowdfunding strategies.
Panel (@coolest_cooler, @northdrinkware & @BuiltOregon) discussing keys to effective crowdfunding. #oenangel pic.twitter.com/ngTDecMpoy
— Jacob Palmer (@JPalm___) April 22, 2015
Sage advice:
#oenangel crowdfunding is about telling a great story. The same is true for all entrepreneurs – a good story trumps spreadsheets every day
— malieberman (@malieberman) April 22, 2015
4. The craft beer enthusiast — in moderation
Chris Maier of the Portland-based GrowlerWerks kicked off his presentation by announcing: “we aren’t high tech; we’re beer tech.”
Chris Maier of @GrowlerWerks kicks off the sessions with a topic #pdx knows and loves #beer #oenangel pic.twitter.com/MPZcIjKJid
— Speak! (@SPEAKagency) April 22, 2015
GrowlerWerks produces a “uKeg” that ensures craft beer doesn’t spoil. It preserves a growler’s-worth for up to a month, instead of being cold for just 24 hours.
Asked panelist Scott Sandler: “Who takes that long to drink that much beer?”
“I do,” responded Maier.
Maier’s team is serious about the science of preserving beer.
uKeg developed by mechanical engineers from MIT & Berkeley. #oenangel
— Pinky Gonzales (@pinkygonzales) April 22, 2015
5. The winner
SpaceView took home the grand prize: $250,000. The startup builds software that allows people to visualize an object in their home before they buy it.
And the #oenangel winner is… @SpaceViewApp! pic.twitter.com/8FW4hre6l7
— Oregon Entrepreneurs (@oenorg) April 22, 2015
The crowd favorite? BrandLX by SightWorks.
Way to hit it out of the park. @pinkygonzales at #oenangel an educated consumer is a consumer for life not a repeat returner @SightWorks
— David Uslan (@DavidWUslan) April 22, 2015
