Vote on the Finalists From the Limitless VC Contest

Thanks Marshall Haas, BizBreak and Under30CEO for adding my site @monogiggle on the list. Much appreciated.

We're so happy to make it to Round 2. Please vote for BeMe!

Excellent! Vote IT Arsenal and receive free tech support!

Sorry Rob twtpoll.com is down and thats taking our poll down. Hopefully they will be up and running soon.

I wouldn't even think of plugging my own business to try and get your votes…ok I would, so please vote for Dog Quality…we help old dogs… come on!

Pretty amazing videos guys!

I don't understand why people have ideas that have already been done (like a website that aggregates online business ideas) or people that say that they would use the money to buy a computer. I'm sorry but that should be a given and you shouldn't need to win a business venture contest in order to buy equipement that virtually everyone in america has. One chick said she would pay off debts, set up an emergency fund, and buy a huge monitor so she could work with dual screens. Seriously? for $3k? That isn't enough for the emergency fund alone.

A web development company? Really? What makes you different than the other 20,000 web dev companies? Why should you get the money over them? What is your unique vision? (A few entries actually have something interesting and unique)

One guy said he needs the money to not only buy a Mac but also to pay for web programming. $3k probably isn't enough to do either. You can't use $3k to develop or program your idea, i'm sorry. If the award was $300k then ok.

With all of the online ventures I've started (some very successful and some not) I've never seen any decent idea that can be done for under $5-10k and those are very specific situations. I've been a graphic designer, web developer, db engineer, flash expert, and seo expert for 15 years and now server as a VP of Marketing and Product Development for a Billion dollar online company. I taught myself ALL of these skills over time because it was the only way to get any of my businesses off the ground. I couldn't afford to hire anyone at $20-$60 per hour so I had to do it myself in my spare time after work. I had to find friends that could also contribute.

Some of these entrants appear as either 'needing' the money for something they'd like to have but do not necessarily need (in which case, why should you win) or that they are under the delusion that this $3k will make or break them.

It just tells me that you've done NO market research or competitor analysis and probably don't even have a business plan. In fact I'd argue that you aren't REALLY serious about your idea at all otherwise you'd either be looking at business models with a lower cost of entry or learning the skills you need to do the work yourself, or networking with people that you can bring in as business partners that have those skills, etc. A thorough business plan could at LEAST give you the ability to pitch your idea more professionally and possibly get some REAL seed capital from family, grants, or other business VCs. It would show that you've actually done your homework.

I have to assume that everyone here ALREADY have a working model; that it isn't just an idea you've thought about one morning but haven't done ANYTHING tangible. Tell me about how you would use the money to market your concept and how it would LITERALLY have a direct and MEASURABLE impact on the exposure of your company and bottom line.

There are a couple decent entries here that seem to have their act together. But most have a LONG LONG LONG way to go and aren't any different than the hundreds of people I come across every month with similar dreams and no direction asking me to invest in their AMAZING idea.

Tina +1. This isn't about the money, though helpful, it's about mentorship, education, guerilla marketing, and more. Research can take you so far, but networking and establishing relationships with the right individuals can take a research and a business plan to another level.

As far as ideas, it's not easy to build on a new original idea, most are already done, but there is room to improve on established ones.

Thanks for taking your time and sharing your thoughts.

Tina,

Actually I think you are one of the businesses that were a little more progressed. Spending money on packaging and marketing would probably have a larger impact on the business. Spending 3k to pay off some debt or buy a monitor is a massive misallocation of resources.

As far as mentoring, there are tons of successful entrepreneurs that would gladly give you advice for free if you asked for it and presented your idea in a way that looked professional so you weren't wasting their time. If this was truly about the mentoring then I think it was interesting that NO ONE mentions it in any of their videos. Not one person talks about what they hope to learn or the questions they might ask that would help their business. If it is NOT about the money, then why is one of the questions (and a large part of the video responses) focused around how they would spend the money? Not trying to be confrontational, I'm just asking.

I think BeMe, StickyPig, & Dog Quality are solid ventures that could be on the verge of expanding into very profitable businesses. They serve a niche that at first glance would appear to be under supplied, though I haven't done any extensive market research on each.

Press Mojo is just a copycat site. There are dozens (or more) hosting companies that offer Word Press installations bundled with domain registration, etc. And even more template based web design companies that offer similar products that have been around for 15 years. I'm not saying it can't be successful, but it is not innovative or unique in any way. I've installed literally thousands of wordpress blogs which take only minutes to do and many hosting companies have the entire platform built in.

IT Arsenal could possibly be a decent service but it isn't a business. It is virtually a non-profit as all info is provided for free. This means that as it expands it isn't sustainable. What happens if it gets 10,000 requests per day that have to be answered by a live person by hand? Do you have to hire people? Are they all authorities and experts in the field? If so why would they work there when they could make more money being in the actual tech industry? How do you pay them with no money? Where is the revenue stream? If you plan on making money through the ad model, just know that it is VERY difficult to do with anything under 10 million page views per month, and even more difficult to do in the tech industry where CPM rates are usually much lower than let’s say the legal or automotive industry.

As anyone knows, with any knowledge base there are many answers to the same question and most of the time there isn't just one correct answer. Just look at Yahoo Answers or any tech blog. Why should the community believe that you are the authority on every business and/or tech topic? I like the idea of aggregating commonly asked tech questions but this concept has been tried before and a huge amount of resources will be needed to store and index that much information, not to mention thousands of hours of researching, answering, and organizing the information. I can usually type in the same tech question into Google and find the answer relatively quickly (if it is a common question which is what you are starting with). What happens if there is an update in the industry or software program? You'd have to go back and update tens of thousands of previously asked questions?

Jake's Tutorials has potential in terms of a foundation of quality, useful content. However, it likely will have the same issues that IT Arsenal has. Continually creating and updating content for such a vast amount of topics can be very expensive in terms of financial and human capital. IT support is always needed but there are many many MANY services that provide virus scanning, data recovery, & computer performance support that clean cache, registry files, and uninstall or stop unused computer programs & services that hog memory. Again, it could be successful but it isn’t really scalable. Now, if you get into video tutorials there might be a larger niche opportunity. However, even that market is fairly saturated. Who hasn’t heard of the Video Professor infomercials? And in terms of app or software reviews, Youtube is filled with them in addition to sites like Engadget.

MonoGiggle is a catchy name but it is essentially a shopping cart site for event planning and entertainment. Ok, that could possibly be useful and could make some money. The site is professional and well designed. My only problem with it is that there are TONS of sites like this. Here are just a couple I found in 5 seconds:

http://www.beau-coup.com
http://www.partyandweddingfavors.com

Virtually anyone can set up a Yahoo Store that sells wedding & party gifts. It is a very difficult industry to really make a name for yourself unless you either have products that no one else has (and that people actually want) or you are so huge that you can compete with mega sites that can undercut you.

“We Give To Get” does deep discount pricing. There are actually lots of sites that do this. But their angle is that a portion goes towards one of the many charities that have listed. Again many sites do this too though maybe not on that scale. I love the “Cause Marketing” as it always generates good PR and can get you some free press if you play your cards right and contact the right organizations. Unfortunately this type of discount business can also be difficult to manage and follows the business model of a wholesale distributer, which means profits are usually based on selling quantity and making small amounts of money on each transaction. This has potential but I think it needs to be fine tuned to be viable.

Let me be clear, I'm not bashing any of these entrants directly. Virtually all of them have PASSION and the energy you want to see as a VC who is looking to invest in a company. Many times you are investing in the leader just as much as the idea. It is clear that many of the people here will be successful eventually whether it is this venture or a future one. My views are based solely on the business ideas as presented for this specific contest and in these videos.

Thanks a lot for the detailed comment. I agree with Tina that you put a lot more effort into this then most people and we appreciate that!

Also I agree with your final point. Its not necessarily about the business they present above. These guys have passion and that will carry them far in the future with whatever venture it ends up being. Most likely all these guys will start multiple things and only 1 or maybe 2 will end up being what they thought it would.

If you keep pushing as an entrepreneur you will get there. And its great to see people taking that leap!

WOW… 25 minutes of video watching, well spent!! I got my dose of inspiration just by watching these young entrepreneurs and listening to their ideas and passion… of course some need a little bit of thinking and figure out what is it that they really want to do and how…

I agree with and second the thoughts of the “Concerned Investor”…

My vote is going to The Sticky Pig, for a simple reason that her venture is at a ripe enough stage where she can allocate the cash and mentorship and really make it happen with this timely support…

I was equally impressed by Be Me, Dog Quality, and Puzzle Piece Promotionz…

Rest of them need serious homework to figure out the business model and convert the idea into a sustainable business…

Good luck to all!

Thanks, Devesh! I totally agree. My business, even though it's only 6 months old, is already at the stage where the prizes could really help me along – and I'm sure a few others. It looks like there's some cheating going on with the voting. This shouldn't be a “popularity” contest. It should be awarded by the sponsors on which company they think deserves the mentoring/cash, not who can cheat the best.

Tara: You're right, decision should be based on business and not popularity… However, with my limited knowledge about the contest and BizBreak's purpose, I wouldn't comment on their criteria…

Good luck!

Monocat: You're right, there's always room in almost any industry and I believe that's why we have what we call micro-niche, basically a niche within a niche…

I looked at monogiggle, looks like a good idea and your site looks neat except Kiki (looks like you cut the corner here by taking inspiration from twitter bird) as twitter has us tired of the blue bird)

Good luck with your business and this contest.

For the contest to really promote the best business idea, I agree that the decision should be based on business and not popularity. The contest might have been more effective if an impartial voting panel had been established by BizBreak, or if the BizBreak group voted themselves. But, since it's obviously not based on business–and rather, popularity–empty accusations of cheating are a little low… who is to say that these contestants aren't popular enough to legitimately get these votes? I haven't seen any convincing evidence of cheating.

Agree. However, first impression is mostly the last impression and hence if I were you, I would try to stay away from a mascot or character that so overly used and associated to one brand (so many designers have created so many versions of that blue bird but at the end of the day, they are using that to direct to Twitter)…

Having said that, I understand you have a long term vision about KiKi but a layman visitor who stumbled upon your site may not find it as original and impressive as you may want him to… Just my two cents…

Hi I am the owner of PuzzlePiece Promotionz. I was wondering do you guys have any advice on how I can make it better. If you check out my website you can view my videos ( http://www.puzzlepiece.com ). I just wanted to get plenty of advice and input. I also want to figure out a way to offer my services free to they kids I am promoting but get an outside source of revenue. I would really like feed back.

Whitney Washington

Tara why do you think there is cheating going on? The finalists were chosen by how many views were on the submission plus 3 businesses chosen by the sponsors.

Then its an open vote to the finish for the best business. Sure popularity plays a role but those were the guidelines in the contest and we also hope to simply generate some buzz and views to all the businesses.

If there is an cheating that were missing please let us know

@Yann I just want to clarify- it wasn't me commenting about PressMojo- that was Concerned Investor. I love the animation on your video- very cool. Best of luck

Hello Everyone. My name is Michael Israel and my business is We Give To Get, video #11. As you can see, I am in last place. I was chosen as a Wild Card video, I have not asked anyone to vote for me. My friends nor my colleagues know that I am in the top 11. I have not posted anything to my Facebook or Twitter page for a few reasons. First, I only want people to vote on my video because of my actual business model, not because they are my friends or because I have asked them to. Second, I am fortunate enough to have my own investors, $3000 will not make or break me. I entered the contest with a goal to be chosen as a “wild card”, and I have met that goal. I think all of these videos are great and I wish the best to all of the entries. If anyone would like to contact me, my email is misrael00@gmail.com and my twitter is : @michaeisrael…Thank you

Hey Michael, thanks for your honest response. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. Glad you met your goal to be chosen as a wild card!

Dude you rock! I love the idea and am so glad you have investors. Next time I'm in Chicago I'm definitely going to hit this up!

Really? Time well spent? Hmm..

@p_bateman, No problem, I can definitely notify you when we reach our customer #10.
PressMojo is only the tip of the iceberg, and again, just a start. If you don't start anywhere then you don't start at all. It didn't take only one try to invent the light bulb did it?

I don't think it was his pride at all, I believe his entry was just in there as a chance, he wasn't going to waste time chasing a dream that might not even happen, instead he was focusing on his business which shows passion. Passion is one of the main driving forces for a successful business.

I'm voting for #8 IT Aresenal. I am not exactly sure how to vote though.

We tried our best but definitely did not think of the clever method that Mojo did, props for that Mojo. Having girls get people to vote via chat roulette by fake-offering to show their bras doesn't quite jive with our core message anyway. Either way, the contest was great exposure for our business. We hope that lots of the readers from Under30CEO have had the chance to get familiar with BeMe. If not, we'd love for you to go back and watch our video, talk about us to your friends and follow us on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BeMeBox. Those are simple, easy ways that we can all help each other, regardless of who won the prize. Cheers! ~Angela

I want to thank everyone for being apart of the contest. You all are awesome people and have great ambitions, I'm sure you will be successful in all you do.

Those that took the time to view the contest, the videos and cast a vote… thank you! I'd say this contest has been a success.

Thanks Matt and Jared for hosting the voting!

there is pride, and then there is good business ethics. The point of having your friends do the voting is somewhat symbolic of how most entrepreneurial businesses get their getgo. Irl you need your first customers to pass your business out via word of mouth. these people are usually your friends because, hey, whos going to trust you that much otherwise. via the trust buildup you get from subsequent customers, you become more successful, ie the people your friends invite to become your new customers. given how the contest went, your problem wasnt pride, it was bad business. no offense bud

@ImpartialPeruser What was your last sentence? Oh yeah!
“I haven't seen any convincing evidence of cheating.”

So i guess what this means is that it was really a contest about finding clever ways to manipulate the results and trick people into voting for something that they normally would not vote for or participate in a contest they would not be interested in at all. That is a fine and interesting contest itself but it brings into question the creditiblity of this specific contest as presented (best business venture wins huh?), the credibility of this website and it's operators who clearly condone such blatant disregard for their own rules and intent, and clearly the integrity of the winning business owner.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! you have just shown every other person on the Internet including REAL potential investors what kind of ethics you have! You are clearly the absolute BEST at being able to lie, cheat, and manipulate your way to $3000.

You have a long and successful career ahead of you, though only if you ditch the entire business and launch a political career. Good Luck!