Think Big Field Trip: Exposed [VIDEO]

Our first Think Big Field Trip was such a success, we want to share it with you!  Check out our most recent Think Big video and get the inside scoop on our trip out to Silicon Valley:

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LiveOn (Among Other Startups) Head to St. Louis for InvestMidwest

What do you get when you put 300 attendees, 60 venture capital companies and 44 startup organizations under one roof in St. Louis, Missouri?  You get an entrepreneur's dream; you get InvestMidwest.

InvestMidwest showcases 44 companies representing 10 states across the flyover region in three different industry tracks including life sciences, technology and clean energy/sustainability.  This venture capital conference has helped to generate over $850 million of investments in the past 12 years.

One company in particular is looking forward to the InvestMidwest opportunity.  The startup has been making a splash in the entrepreneurial world with appearances and nominations at SXSW and at during the Think Big Field Trip to Silicon Valley.  The startup, known as LiveOn, is hoping to make an even bigger impact at InvestMidwest today.

"We are looking forward to attending the InvestMidwest Forum as an opportunity to meet potential investors as well as to mingle with other entrepreneurs," said Jonathan Whistman, founder of LiveOn.  "The Midwest continues to be an interesting place to build a business and these types of forums always help with creating a platform to connect like-minded people."

LiveOn hopes to take what they learned during the Think Big Field Trip and implement pitching strategies at the InvestMidwest Forum.

"We just recently returned from a trip to Silicon Valley to participate in a two startup showcases.  One was put on by Silicon Valley Bank and the other by Kansas City's Think Big Partners.  It will be interesting to see the differences in the investment environment from the coast to here in the Midwest," said Whistman.

All startups presenting at InvestMidwest must be located within the center corridor of the United States.  These companies must be seeking $1 million to $20 million in funding and must have revenue projections of $20 million within the first five years.

InvestMidwest will take place on April 4-5, 2012 at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark in St. Louis, Missouri.  To learn more, please visit https://www.investmidwestforum.com/.

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009 Think Big Partners: The Think Big Field Trip

Last week, four members of the Think Big team traveled to Silicon Valley with 10 other Midwest startup businesses for the Think Big Field Trip.  While there, entrepreneurs from the Midwest presented their business pitches to numerous Bay area investors at the Silicon Valley Bank Seed Showcase and the Think Big Showcase.

Herb Sih, Tyler Prochnow and Blake Miller give us the inside scoop on what happened on the Think Big Field Trip in this episode of Think Big Radio:

009 Think Big Radio: The Think Big Field Trip
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Think Big Field Trip: At This Moment!

A few weeks ago, we announced the Think Big Field Trip: a three-day excursion with 10 of the Midwest's most promising startups to Silicon Valley.  While in the Valley, startups will have the opportunity to pitch at the Silicon Valley Bank Seed Showcase, present at the Think Big Showcase and meet one-on-one with investors from the Bay-area to talk numbers.

And this is all happening at this very moment.

The Think Big Field Trip is starting right now with the Silicon Valley Bank Seed Showcase at the Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park, California.  That means that at this very moment, one of the 10 Midwest startups is standing up in front of a large number of big-time, Silicon Valley investors.  That means that right now, Midwest entrepreneurship is making at name for itself out in the Valley.

Until 1:00PM (PST) today, the 10 selected Midwest entrepreneurs will continue to prepare, pitch and network with some of the most influential people in the startup world today.  Following the Silicon Valley Bank Seed Showcase, startups will be escorted to the Mozilla Foundation where they will learn about the WebFWD and Mozilla Ignite programs.  Then, these Midwestern startups have the chance to attend a meetup in Silicon Valley called the SF New Tech Spring Fling at Mighty.

Tomorrow won't slow down for these Field Trip companies either.  Think Big Partners has lined up a handful of investors from the Bay area to participate in the Think Big Showcase, where the startups have another chance to practice and pitch their business ideas.

On Friday, it all comes together.  The Field Trip companies are invited to schedule follow-up meetings with interested investors from the Bay area.

All the way from Kansas City: best of luck to our Field Trip startups!

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