Cindy Cheatham posted a quick item about a meeting this Thursday down at ATDC so I thought I’d mention it here too. This event is to discuss the previous winners of the GRA/TAG Business Launch competition and for those interested in applying this year to see what they need to do to win.
Preliminary entries are due by February 18, 2008. Final entries are due by April 15, 2008. Note that if you win the competition and take the cash component ($100k), you’ll be required to keep your company in Georgia for three years or repay the money plus an 8% penalty (!). So make sure you’re going to stay in Georgia if you apply for this competition. I don’t see this as a big issue especially since overhead costs are so low in Georgia but some investors may want you to move and this could be a future deal breaker. It probably isn’t, but just make sure you give it some thought.
Overall this could be a pretty good deal. The prize money is given as a grant. That means no dilution for you. The services (which haven’t been detailed) could be useful but I suspect the cash is the most helpful.
The only other warning I would give is that the judges for this competition haven’t been listed yet. Obviously there are some people who you’d want to avoid and I’d say if they were judging, you shouldn’t even apply. And if you’ve already presented your plan and gotten shot down by people who are on the judging panel, you might be better served by spending your time elsewhere. Not only are your chances for success highly limited but someone who has soured on you may sour other people on the panel and spoil your chances to raise money outside of the competition.
I am pretty sure the past winners are going to be speaking at this event. To follow up on this event ATDC is going to have a lunch on January 24 to talk about the details of applying and how to best position your company to make it through the competition. Not many people know this but ATDC staff is responsible for reviewing the executive summary and business plan that each company submits. Hopefully the folks that are thinking of applying will benefit greatly from both sessions.
Thanks for the info Lance. I must say I have less concern knowing you guys are involved in the screening process. It would be good to make sure that info is highlighted on the TAG site.