NiTRO: "Getting more companies funded in greater Los Angeles"

First Nitro testimonials

aaronross383 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:57:26 +0000

Jeff Matlow, Ryan Born and Chad Carty are three of the entrepreneurs who attended our first Nitro event and were matched up with some mentors.
———–
Aaron & John,

I just wanted to drop you a line about my experience with Nitro. I didn’t know what to expect when I was invited to participate in the process and went in with the old philosophy of “hope for the best, plan for the worst.” As it turns out, I believe my hopes came to fruition!

It’s been less than two weeks since the event and already I’m seeing enormous benefit. Because of the Nitro experience, I’ve met and begun working with some extremely wonderful, helpful and knowledgeable people who have been instrumental in pushing my company forward and helping us to achieve our goals.

I can only hope that the other Nitro companies are having the same experience and can easily imagine how this type of resource could have an enormous impact on the success of early stage companies in the Los Angeles area.

Thanks again for letting us be a part of it all!

Jeff Matlow
CEO, I Am Athlete, LLC
www.imATHLETE.com

About imATHLETE
imATHLETE is the world’s only resource that effectively merges shared athletic experiences with revenue generating tools. imATHLETE unites race directors, coaches, clubs, governing bodies and all athletic participants in a single open marketplace of athleticism, allowing all organizations to reach more people in more ways, to be more productive and make more money.

————-

Hi Aaron,

I met with both mentors. Everything is going well. They are very highly qualified and knowledgeable. I could not have asked for better mentor connections. Now it’s on me to take advantage of all they have to offer.

Ryan Born
CEO, AudioMicro
www.AudioMicro.com
(provides royalty free music)

—————

Aaron & John -

Thank you for creating the Nitro program. I am in awe of what is being created and the energy you’ve generated from your relationships!

Chad Carty
CEO
CollegeBrain

CollegeBrain, is an online solution to the floundering deployment of technology in education.

Nitro’s Feb 4 event (our first!); “Nitropoly”

aaronross383 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:21:09 +0000

Having fun with Nitro

Today was Nitro’s first event, one at which we introduced a group of entrepreneurs to a group of mentors. We had about 30-35 people at the event today, roughly:
- 10 Entrepreneurs sharing
- 20 Mentors/EIRs/investors/experts
- 2 USC MBA interns

How it worked: Each entrepreneur stood up for 8 minutes: 4 minutes to share, and 4 minutes for Q&A…so things moved quickly! We had a broad range of entrepreneurs, from the concept stage to angel-funded.

Just a couple of email notes afterwards included: “From my point of view, the event appeared to be a huge success. It was obviously well attended, had a nice mix of entrepreneurs, and the Q&A times were insightful. Congratulations!” and “Great job today! Really super program today. I think NITRO is off to a super start.” Now it’s time to develop some ongoing mentoring relationships that produce successes!

Several potential pairings came out of the meeting today, and I and John Morris have a lot of follow up to set things in motion. For now, here are some pictures from the event.

And as for the question everyone asked…we haven’t yet decided on dates for the next Nitro events.

John Morris getting us started…

Patty Yun, Roger Jackson & Will Jessup

Peter Cowen, Rick Jones & Ryan Born

Feb 4th Nitro Event for Mentors/EIRs and Entrepeneurs

aaronross383 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:17:08 +0000

Entretech is launching Nitro, a new program designed to “Get more companies funded in Greater Los Angeles.” Nitro intends to strengthen the region’s eco-system for successful entrepreneurship by providing startup entrepreneurs with access to powerful mentoring and executive in residence (EIR) resources. The program emulates several extremely successful programs including CONNECT’s Springboard in San Diego, OCTANe’s Launch Pad in Orange County and MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service.

Nitro will align aspiring entrepreneurs with a variety of experienced business people who are willing to serve as either mentors or EIRs. Nitro and its strategic sponsors will also produce a series of entrepreneurship panels and workshops designed to teach critical business skills.

First event, Wednesday February 4th
We have our first Nitro event, a mentors-entrepreneurs working session, coming up on February 4th! We’re limiting the size of the event to under 20 people, focusing this time on technology & physical sciences. If you are a relevant entrepreneur or mentor, please contact Aaron Ross to RSVP or find out more (aaron at pebblestorm dot com).

Goal of the event
The goal of the event is to introduce entrepreneurs/researchers to experienced mentors, in a working session environment, so that both sides can see if there is mutual interest in continuing to work together.

Sample Mentors/EIR bios: www.nitro.la/mentors

Attendees
This is a rough grouping of the balance of types of attendees that we will have at the event:

8 Entrepreneurs/researchers
10 Mentors/EIRs/investors
2 MBAs (as a possible intern for entrepreneurs)

Date & Time
Wednesday, February 4th
10am-12:30p

Location
Nixon Peabody (downtown)
555 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 629-6000

Agenda
10a-10:20a: Introductions, Nitro program overview
10:20-12:20p: Each entrepreneur takes 30 minutes to share vision, group discussion with mentors
12:20p-12:30p: Wrap-up & next steps

RSVP or Questions
Aaron Ross
Program Director, Nitro
aaron at pebblestorm dot com
(310) 751-0656

Call to Action: Entretech is launching Nitro for Greater Los Angeles

aaronross383 — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:53:31 +0000

Entretech is launching Nitro a new program designed to “Get more companies funded in Greater Los Angeles.” Nitro will help strengthen the region’s eco-system for successful entrepreneurship by providing startup entrepreneurs with access to powerful mentoring and executive in residence (EIR) resources. The program emulates several extremely successful programs including CONNECT’s Springboard in San Diego, OCTANe’s Launch Pad in Orange County and MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service.

Nitro will align aspiring entrepreneurs with experienced business people, who will act as mentors and EIRs. Nitro’s strategic sponsors will help fund and support a series of entrepreneurship workshops designed to teach critical business skills.

Nitro is working closely with the region’s premier research universities, Caltech, UCLA and USC, which represent $1.7 billion in combined annual government research grants. The three universities have shifted their emphasis to actively commercializing technologies and incubating new companies.

Entretech’s Strategic Sponsor value proposition:

First look at proprietary, unique deal flow
Brand awareness in an elite community of mentors, EIRs, and entrepreneurs
Meaningful access to investors and to managers of the companies that “graduate” from this process
Membership on Nitro Advisory Board
Leadership in developing business education programs to support the eco-system
Hosting mentorship meetings at sponsor facilities to encourage frequent interaction with the program’s participants
Establish an important peer group and facilitate regular interaction with other individual sponsors

Using a proven service model already established by Connect and MIT, Entretech’s Nitro has the potential to make a significant difference to the region’s entrepreneurial eco-system and to getting more companies funded.

Working meetings designed to get Mentor and EIRs matched with potential entrepreneurs will begin January after the holidays.

How you can help
We need your referrals for:

Entrepreneurs looking for funding,
Potential Mentors/EIRs and
Prospective sponsors.

Contact

Aaron Ross
Program Director, Entretech Nitro
Cell: 310-751-0656
aaron at pebblestorm dot com

John Morris
Entretech Vice Chairman
Managing Director, GKM Ventures
Cell: 310-720-5643
jmorris at gkmventures dot com