'Leave At Your Own Risk' Rapid-Fire Environment Features Local Innovators & Leaders Sharing Their Experiences & Insights During High-Impact Eight-Minute/Five-Slide Presentations

The "Rapid-Fire Theatre" at Innovation Summit features eight-minute, five-slide presentations by different presenters or presentation teams. These high-energy, short presentations are being developed by thought leaders and innovators who have breakthroughs, business models, funding strategies, workforce development and other "big ideas" to share with attendees.

How Marketing Intelligence Impacts Company Financing 

JENNY VANCE | President, LeadJen 

Start-ups face a classic Catch-22 when trying to raise capital: Venture Capital firms want to see a revenue stream before committing funds, but start-ups need funding to launch the product and attract customers.

Jenny Vance, founder and president of LeadJen, has worked with several Indianapolis start-ups to solve this challenge. Through lead generation efforts that specifically develop market intelligence while filling the sales pipeline, Jenny gives a strong start to companies and a base for stronger funding.

For example, LeadJen helped a local data storage company fill its sales pipeline with $2 million in sales in the first year, which positioned the company to attract more than $30 million in funding.

Vance will demonstrate with real life examples how both start-ups and investment companies are finding out:

  1. Who is buying and who is influencing the purchasing decision.
  2. What is the buying cycle.
  3. What are the perceived strengths and weaknesses of competitors’ products.
  4. What are your customers’ points of pain and how are they addressing them. 

More About Jenny Vance
Jenny Vance is one of the leading women entrepreneurs in Indianapolis. She is the founder of LeadJen, a lead generation company, which she has grown to nearly 100 employees serving hundreds of companies across the United States ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500. She also is the co-founder of Jesubi, a CRM software solution.

Jenny has been honored by the Sales Lead Management Association as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management during 2011 and 2012, and was named to the list of 40 Under 40 by both Direct Marketing News and the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Jenny received her bachelor's degree from DePauw University and is an active member of the Entrepreneur's Organization. 

From Art Major to Entrepreneur: Follow Your Passion but Don't Ignore the Surprises

Tara Elder | Chief Stress Reliever, Simply Helpful

Tara Elder recently launched her own startup Simply Helpful to aid other entrepreneurs and business leaders overwhelmed by their to-do lists. The new concept grew out of Elder's experiences in management, working for others and some market research.

An unlikely entrepreneur, Elder was an art major in college before switching to psychology. Jobs in event planning and college admissions were followed by some soul searching and the adventure of a lifetime.  

More About Tara Elder
Tara graduated from Indiana university with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She now utilizes her degree to guide her clients through the often murky and overwhelming waters of the entrepreneurial world where execution of tasks often takes a back seat to pitching big ideas and getting in front of prospective clients.

In her previous position as Senior Director of Admissions for a nationally renowned art and design college in Indianapolis, she has been recognized for excellence in management and leadership and has a true talent for helping others reduce stress in their professional lives by offering a helping hand. 

Building SaaS for the Small-Medium Business Market: Why Enterprise Isn’t Always Better 

CHRIS BYERS | CEO, Formstack
CHRIS LUCAS | Vice President of Business Development, Formstack

A lot of focus when starting a new software company is on the money to be made by selling to the enterprise market. Often overlooked, though, is the value of building software that meets the needs of the millions of small and micro businesses. Chris Lucas and Chris Byers of Formstack will talk about how you can build a profitable business without hiring sales people and instead by shipping product quickly and iterating your way to a growth business. 

More About Chris Byers
Chris Byers is the CEO of Formstack and runs the day to day operations of the company. He has been a fan/user of Formstack since 2006, assisted in the first round of funding, and joined the team in 2010. Chris is a graduate of Anderson University. 

More About Chris Lucas
Chris is the vice president of business development at Formstack. He is passionate about setting the vision for Formstack’s in-bound marketing program and discovering new ways to drive web traffic and leads. Chris is a graduate of Purdue University. 

Business Consulting, Research, and Connections to Resources at No Cost

JACOB SCHPOK | State Director, Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC)

The ISBDC is Indiana's premier business consulting organization offering advice and resources to starting and growing businesses. Funding for the ISBDC comes from public and private partnerships which means consulting is at no-cost to entrepreneurs.

In this rapid-fire presentation, you will learn about some of the complementary resources available through the ISBDC office. Examples are below.

FirstResearch, a division of Hoovers, develops industry reports which are updated quarterly and includes industry trends and business challenges defined by industry leaders (CEOs, COO, etc.). ISBDC clients can receive these reports at no-cost. These are the same reports banks use when evaluating business loans.

ESRI has been called “The Walmart of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)”. They purchase and develop census statistics from local, state, and federal governments, as well as private sector surveyors. Want to know how many people – within a five minute drive-time from where you sit – ate at a family restaurant or steak house during the last 6 months? We can do you one better. We can tell you how many ate there less than two times, 2-4 times, or more than 5 times during the last six months. We can even tell you how many ate at Applebee’s if you want to know. ISBDC clients can receive these reports at no-cost. These are the same reports corporate retailers, such as Levi Strauss & Co., uses when opening a new store.

Foresight Science and Technology, out of Providence Rhode Island, is a leader in evaluating the commercialization potential of emerging technology. ISBDC clients can receive market overview reports to help evaluate developing markets and opportunities. Foresight clients include NASA, the Army Research Laboratory, Honeywell, and, of course, the ISBDC.

We also have access to the Reference USA database for prospect list building, The Business Reference Guide database to help evaluate business buying and selling decisions, and benchmark data through Sageworks, the leader in the financial analysis of privately-held companies. All at no-cost to ISBDC clients.

Our Business Advisors have the know how to help clients develop solid strategic plans and the tools to give even the most skeptical investor confidence in a well researched market.

More About Jacob Schpok
Jacob Schpok is the Director of the Indiana SBDC. Prior to becoming Director, Jacob worked for the ISBDC in a number of roles, co-founded two businesses, earned an entrepreneurship and small business management degree from Ball State University's entrepreneurship program, and spent his youth in South Bend Indiana cutting his teeth working for a family business. 

TechPoint's 2012 Innovation Summit & EXPO featuring a keynote luncheon with best-selling author, entrepreneur and marketing pioneer Seth Godin, will be held October 30th at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

This annual event brings together hundreds of Indiana entrepreneurs, high-tech executives and policymakers for learning, dialogue and discussion on the central challenge of today’s economy – turning today’s ideas into tomorrow’s business breakthroughs.

Tuesday, October 30th at the Indiana Convention Center 

Attire: Business / Business Casual 
Tickets: $200
Student Tickets with valid ID:  $75