Loading
A group of local entrepreneurs descended upon the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota July 16 to sell their ideas to a panel of business development experts in an idea pitch contest.
In addition to bragging rights, the winner will receive free consultation from Glide Interactive, a Sarasota-based branding, digital strategy and graphic design firm that sponsored the contest. The contest, Glidea Pitch 2013, is the culmination of a yearlong effort to both brand the firm and generate excitement over local startups. “It's something I wanted to do for a while,” Glide Interactive CEO John Carlson tells Coffee Talk. “I love Shark Tank.”
While there won't be any guest appearances from Mark Cuban, the Glidea Pitch panel of judges has some local muscle. The panel includes Carlson, who worked in publishing in Orlando for seven years before being named CEO of Glide last December; Ringling College of Art and Design President Larry Thompson; and David Houle, a nationally known futurist who is on the faculty at Ringling.
The Tamiami Angel Fund, which supports early stage companies with capital investments, is one of several local partners with Glide on the contest. Other sponsors include the Herald-Tribune Media Group and Ringling College.
The contest, promoted heavily on Twitter and Facebook, received about 50 entries. “Most of the submissions have been high quality,” Carlson says. “It was tough to narrow it down.”
So tough, Glide upped the finalist count to eight from six. Finalists scheduled to pitch ideas include Lindsey Nickel, who blogged for the Business Observer in March about her experiences on the Startup Bus. Nickel, co-founder of Nickel & Nickel Communications, a Sarasota-based advertising and public relations firm, entered a fashion-focused mobile app in the Glidea Pitch contest. Other entries include a physical product, a lifestyle brand and mobile apps in money management, productivity and social networking.
Carlson hopes to expand the Glidea Pitch contest to other cities and possibly even to schools. Glide Interactive, meanwhile, is also growing. The firm recently expanded from eight to 12 employees, and plans to move into a new downtown Sarasota office later this year and hire up to five more people. Glide Interactive, says Carlson, works with multinational corporations and local small businesses.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
