Finalists Announced for The Gigabit Challenge Business Plan Competition on the Google Fiber Network

Last week, the 39 Gigabit Challenge Semi-Finalists submitted condensed business plans in order to compete in the second round of judging for the worldwide business plan competition. Now that the panel of judges has analyzed each business plan, The Gigabit Challenge has announced the Finalists who will continue in the pursuit of the $100,000 Grand Prize, the $250,000 “Born Global” Prize and the opportunity to create disruptive innovations on the Google Fiber Network.

The Judging Panel consists of 30 diverse experts from a variety of fields. The panel includes entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, professional association executives, public and private sector officials and community leaders. A full list of judges can be found at http://www.gigabitchallenge.com/about/judges.

All 39 submitted business plans were of extremely high quality. Through a rigorous analysis of business plans, the judges made the difficult decision of narrowing down the top 19. The Gigabit Challenge Finalists are:

Andrew Ying, Hong
Bob Wray, CourthouseUSA LLC
Brett Simpson, record life
David Windhausen, TiBi.tv
Don Peterson, BigIris.com
Eddie Tapper, GET-GIV-GOT System Technologies
Fortunato Cardenas, Green Earth Aerogel Technologies
Jason Arnold, Paruzia Technologies
Jeff Stull, Risk Analytics LLC
Jim West, Somametric
Kristin Kenney, RE:Cite
Marc Canter, Digital City Mechanics
Michael McKinzy Sr., Voter Integrity Party (V.I.P.)
Michael Shear, Strategic Office Networks LLC
S. Vaideeswaran, Damascus Fortune
Samuel Belu-John, SEIN Analytics & Asset Management
Scott Hardiek, Virtual/Real World Wallet System
Seak Meng Lay, Photaic
Sonia Lin, Kauzu

These Finalists are invited to present pitches for their businesses at The Gigabit Challenge Finale on January 18, 2012 at the Kansas City Public Library located on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Finalists will submit a presentation of no more than 15 slides and deliver a ten-minute pitch before a panel of international judges. This will be followed by five minutes of questions from the judges. The Finalists must be present at The Gigabit Challenge Finale to be eligible for a prize.

The Gigabit Challenge Finale is a free event open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. At the event, attendees will have the chance to watch the final pitch presentations, network and learn more about Google Fiber, ultra-high-speed Internet and entrepreneurship in Kansas City.

“We are very enthusiastic about the response we have received to The Gigabit Challenge from contestants, partners, investors, government officials and many others,” said Scott Mize, who originally proposed The Gigabit Challenge and is a member of the organizing team. “We have also been impressed by the quality of the entries. The judges have chosen these 19 Finalists from a field of 113, which hailed from 22 states and five continents. The Finalists come from around the world including Kansas, Missouri, California, New York, Illinois, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. We are looking forward to a great live pitchfest and awards ceremony at the Finale which can be viewed online from anywhere on the globe.”

For more information about The Gigabit Challenge or to express interest in becoming a partner, please visit http://www.gigabitchallenge.com or contact Ann DeAngelo at 816-842.5244.  

For more information or to register to attend The Gigabit Challenge Finale, please visit http://gigabitchallenge.eventbrite.com/.

Q&A: From Silicon Valley to the Heart of Kansas City with Scott Mize

Scott Mize, a veteran Silicon Valley venture development executive, talks about his excitement for Think Big Kansas City and how Kansas City is becoming its own version of the California hotspot.   

TBKC Speaker Scott Mize is looking forward to Think Big Kansas City.  But can KC live up to Mize's California-esque expectations?  Find out in our question-and-answer session with Scott Mize.

Scott Mize, Silicon Valley
Venture Development
Executive.

TBP (Think Big Partners): What made you interested in attending Think Big Kansas City?

Scott: I met Herb (Sih, co-founder of TBP) and found out what was going on at Think Big Partners.  I liked the idea of an incubator for early-stage companies and being a catalyst for a new entrepreneurial ecology in the Kansas City area.  Since Think Big Kansas City is a part of that, it’s something that I wanted to be involved in.

TBP: What are you looking forward to most at Think Big Kansas City 2011?

Scott: I’m looking forward to meeting the local entrepreneurs and angels and finding out who’s in the audience.  I am also looking forward to the business plan pitches that will be presented at Pitch Big.

TBP: What makes you so interested in the Pitch Big competition? 

Scott: That’s where the rubber meets the road.  That’s where an entrepreneur gets access to the resources he needs to build his business.  I like that process.  I find the exchange of ideas and feedback to be a fascinating, interesting and fun process.  I’m interested in seeing what types of companies come forward because that will give me a sense of what’s happening in the KC entrepreneurial community.

TBP: You are a moderator for “Lessons Learned from KC Entrepreneurs”.  What makes you a good moderator for this panel?

Scott:  I have advised and consulted to over 100 companies in the information technology, the nanotech and cleantech spaces.  I’ve also been a founder and principal in a number of companies. I’ve seen the inside story of how these companies grow and the challenges they have.  This gives me lot of experience and insight into how to solve the challenges that any early-stage company will come up against. 

TBP:  How long have you been doing this kind of work?

Scott:  A long time!  It goes back to my college days.  I was going to undergraduate school at Harvard when I came home for a summer and attended an entrepreneurship class as Wichita State University.  There, I met three people who I helped to found the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs.  It was the first student entrepreneurial organization, with members like Michael Dell and Mark Cuban.  At the same time I founded my first venture, which was a microcomputer software company.  I also subsequently helped to start the Young Entrepreneurs Organization which is now known as Entrepreneurs Organization.

TBP: What are you hoping to take away from Think Big Kansas City? 

Scott:  The main thing that I want to take away from is an insight into the state of the entrepreneurial community in Kansas City.  I want to take the pulse of its startup environment.  That will give me insight into the challenges that Think Big Partners has in terms of taking the entrepreneurial ecology to the next level. 

TBP: Do you think we can bring the “Silicon Valley” approach to the Midwest?

Scott: I think what I see happening with Think Big Partners and Kansas City is part of a whole transformation across the country and the world. Innovation historically has been overwhelmingly centered in a few areas like the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, and Austin.  But today the economics and dynamics of Internet-based ventures make it possible to do this anywhere.  Take a look at Groupon, founded in Chicago.  The internet has enabled an explosion of innovation in a number of different places including ones that you don’t traditionally think as centers of technology innovation.  I see Kansas City as a case study.  I’ll be interested to see what needs to be done to make it an intense center of innovation.

TBP: Why is entrepreneurship so important to bring to Kansas City or to the Midwest?  

Scott:  Job creation comes from early-stage and growing companies.  Particularly in this country—due to globalization—there is a constant pressure on American businesses from the international competition.  The only real chip that we’ve got in the game is to create high-value products and services that are unique.  There are entrepreneurs everywhere—there has been an entrepreneurial community in Kansas City since the beginning—but I think that we are entering a new phase that is sparked by the internet and driven by globalization.  That makes it more imperative for there to be a thriving entrepreneurial community not only in Kansas City, but in every city around the country. That is the only way that we will be able to win at the whole jobs equation.

TBP: How do you Think Big?

Scott: Whenever I look at a new company, my thought is always, “How do you make this the Biggest success possible?”  That’s my main mode of Thinking Big.  One of the things that I do when I advise early-stage companies on strategy is to try to understand how to take their unique competitive advantage and translate that into the biggest possible opportunity and return.

To learn more from Scott Mize and many other experienced entrepreneurs, register for Think Big Kansas City and prepare to Think Big! 

Interview conducted by Allison Way.

@AllisonThinkBig