Last night we met up with one our west coast Tremor Media buddies in Manhattan Beach at SideDoor, one of our routine after hours spots.  It had been a couple months since we had last seen her, so there was much to talk about.  From the ad production pitch, to our latest investors, we had to get her up to speed so Tremor stays abreast of our next steps.

We actually discussed a subject that is near and dear to the majority of the Motown team; the auto industry.   From ad strategy to product strategy, we really got into the mechanics of how automotive interactive could be so much more effective with the guidance of a true product specialist.   Tremor has been so eager to help us that we just have to offer our auto expertise to them.  So it seems we’ll be doing a little consulting in regards to product strategy and consumer targeting in the upcoming year. As we become more involved with the production of these assets, this will become less of a distraction and more of a differentiator for our service offering.

Our friend also offered to introduce us to some new potential investors.  That’s always good.  Our business plan seems to be pretty air tight at this point, so I’m just looking for an investor to shoot it too. I want to knock some socks off.  I want barefoot investors writing checks (hmm, that’s an odd visual, but you get the picture).

While the team has been working hard, doing what they do, I have been idle the past couple days, just pondering next steps.  It’s amazing how anxious you get sitting around not being physically productive after you’ve become accustomed to working day in and day out.    The break is short lived though. Today, its time to take some matter into my own hands.  I’ve been waiting for investors to introduce us to their colleagues (aka additional investors) and we haven’t received additional feedback from our pitch at Burrell (which we did a couple weeks ago).  Too much delay I tell you.  Time to keep moving.  We’re going to pitch more agencies and find more investors while we await word from our previous meetings.

In regards to investors, I’m determined to get back in touch with Blumberg Capital, as I think we are a perfect match for their fund, and in addition I think its time to find more regionally focused funds that are 100% aligned with our mission to revitalize the economy of Detroit.  I found a great website, Michigan Venture Capital Association.  It somewhat consolidates the investment community in MI all in one place. They single out angel, VC, corporate cap and entrepreneurial services. So we’ll see what we come up with using this great resource.

As far as marketing agencies go?  They’re a dime a dozen, and the majority of them need help in properly executing online video strategy.  It’s really a matter of which agencies have the ideal clients.  It’s kind of hard to top the opportunity Burrell presents, in that they work with McDonalds, Toyota and Tide, amongst other major brands.  We are really going to have to aim at major agencies to stay within those ranks.  Looks like I’ll be taking a shot at companies like BBDO, or perhaps we go straight to brands.  Regardless, the opportunities are endless.

Well writing this entry was good ground work for this weeks work.  I’ll report back on our results in a few days.

After our meeting at Burrell last Thursday we setup a conference call with an old colleague from college.  He had been asking us about the business and has been interested in investing, but we weren’t quite ready to bring private equity into the picture until recently.  I believe that you always want to have all your ducks in a row before starting to consume money from private parties.  Motown’s ducks are lined up and walking single file, so we finally made the call.

One tip for those who plan to do investor business over the phone, make sure you have a good phone in hand.  I love my phone, but had it not been for the fact that my partner and I were conference calling right across from each other, we may have lost the call.  After the call began, things were going great but my phone battery died in the middle of a sentence.  This happened to take place while I was explaining the basis of the Motown Initiative.  I quickly reached across for my partner’s phone and politically informed the party on the other end that my partner had to step out for a moment.  After about 3 minutes of talking, the potential investor simply said “you know, my decision was made before we spoke today, but I wanted to hear more about the project from you guys, you have confirmed my intuition, how can I transfer money”.   My mouth kinda dropped, I can’t lie.  I always heard that investors making their decisions off the bat, but I had never experienced it first hand.  All the work on the pitch deck and executive summary had paid off.  Someone gets it!

Yes folks, we have our first private investor and from the sounds of it, there may be a couple more on the way.  This was just the confidence booster I needed to get back on my feet to find more private funding while we await final decision from large VCs.

The Presentation Room

In an effort to generate some working cash flow for Motown Initiative, the team set off to Chicago to meet with a couple marketing agencies for production work.  Using 4^th Deck, our production arm, along with the knowledge of online video we have developed over the past year, we compiled a compelling presentation for potential clients.  We saw this as the only logical route to generate additional revenue in meantime.  Our main meeting was with Burrell, a well known agency that has an expertise in minority market strategy.

Early Thursday morning, the team met up in the basement of Burrell’s building on Michigan Ave.  It was an ideal location, with its plethora of restaurants.  At this point, just a couple hours before the meeting, we had not had time to actually do a group run-through.  This was the first time we’d coordinate who is speaking on what slide and how to manage transition between speakers.  To add to the challenge of preparing for our 10:30am meeting, our laptop batteries starting running out and the coffee shop we were at had no plug. Can you imagine?!? Its no wonder we were the only people in this place…should have got a clue I guess J.  Either way, we were able to complete our slides and vaguely plan out our presentation strategy.   Our next stop was Dunkin Donuts, because we didn’t want a hungry audience.  Not to mention, I miss Dunkin Donuts after being on the west coast for four years.  After spending an unbelievable amount of money on pastries and coffee we were off to the 29^th floor (we spent $75 btw…dang coffee is expensive).

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