INNOVATION

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Randon Gettys of Startup Peoria with Josh Swank of Virtual Halo, winner of the third KeyStart pitch competition, September 2015. Swank’s personal security app provides users an opportunity to share location information and connect to trusted sources while on the go. He was awarded a $5,000 investment from Attollo and a four-month membership at The Nest Coworking. 78 InterBusiness Issues -- January 2016
KEEP AN EYE by Randon Gettys Startup Peoria Photography by Tory Dahlhoff KeyStart provides fast access to capital in order to turn ideas into real companies. ON KEYSTART THREE MINUTES GOES BY REALLY FAST. This is, of course, a loaded statement; anyone who has ever been underwater for a bit longer than desired could make a compelling point in opposition. But when a person is explaining something new—something that he or she has created—three minutes goes by really fast. That is what we are asking people to do with KeyStart, a business idea submission and pitch competition administered by the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council’s (GPEDC) Startup Peoria program. KeyStart awards a $5,000 investment to one new business idea per bimonthly program cycle. The purpose is to provide entrepreneurs with fast access to capital in order to turn ideas into real companies. WHAT IS KEYSTART? A two-part program, KeyStart is both a business idea submission competition and a live pitch competition. Anyone can apply online with their new business or business idea. From the pool of applicants, four finalists are chosen by a selection committee. And then comes the fun part. Every two months, GPEDC puts on an event not unlike ABC’s Shark Tank —though I hesitate to use that analogy. (As one real-life investor put it, Shark Tank is to investing what WWE wrestling is to the Olympic sport. But the setup and interaction is similar.) Three mic’d-up judges sit at a table with paper and pen, preparing questions that arise during each three-minute presentation. Facing them, at the front of the room, is an antique shipping pallet that serves as a tiny stage for presenters, flanked by a 60-inch digital monitor for slide decks. All of that is framed by an 8’ x 8’ backdrop with the logos of the program sponsors. Serving as emcee at KeyStart is one of the many duties of my position that gives me great joy. I use the opportunity to talk about Startup Peoria and its programs; plus, I get to express myself as I move the event along. I then introduce each finalist, who has a mere three minutes to explain his or her entire business model to the judges. After those three minutes, the judges take turns asking difficult questions of the presenter, who must answer them on the spot. The quality of these answers can be the difference between winning and not winning. But the non-winners gain value, too. Not only do they leave with constructive feedback on their business or idea, they are welcome to apply to future KeyStarts to show the judges what they’ve learned. Speaking of learning, KeyStart has a startup story of its own. FILLING THE GAPS Startup Peoria is always looking for gaps in the startup ecosystem of Greater Peoria. When we find a gap and decide we have the capacity to address it in a meaningful way, we look for a model, so as not to recreate the wheel. In the case of KeyStart, it was Startup Peoria cofounders Jake Hamann and Amy Lambert who identified the need for such a program, and they found Start Garden, a program in Grand Rapids that awarded $5,000 each week to a new business or business idea by way of popular online vote. Start Garden differed from KeyStart in that it launched with a multimillion-dollar venture capital fund; the purpose of the weekly awards was to create a pipeline for future deal flow for the larger fund. The goals for KeyStart were more modest, and the fact was, we did not have millions of dollars to spread like grass seed. peoriamagazines.com 79
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egion Paving the Road Ahead Andrew
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Page 32 and 33: egion OUT OF RECOVERY, PREPAREDNESS
Page 34 and 35: finance Innovation at the Bank Nich
Page 36 and 37: finance CONSUMER CREDIT: A LOCAL SU
Page 38 and 39: 10. Have you or anyone in your orga
Page 40 and 41: workplace WORKPLACE EMAILS: A WORD
Page 42 and 43: workplace Directed Care: The Most E
Page 44 and 45: workplace Focus on the Right Things
Page 46 and 47: workplace SMALL BUSINESSES DESERVE
Page 48 and 49: healthcare SAVING LIVES: THE “80%
Page 50 and 51: healthcare The new Intraoperative M
Page 52 and 53: more Ingenuity in Agriculture Patri
Page 54 and 55: more Disrupt or Be Disrupted Jamie
Page 56 and 57: WHEN THERE IS BY STEVIE ZVEREVA Peo
Page 58 and 59: Bloomberg’s data-driven innovatio
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Page 62 and 63: Innovation teams unlock the capacit
Page 64 and 65: focus INNOVATION AND COMMERCIALIZAT
Page 66 and 67: focus FROM INNOVATION TO ENTREPRENE
Page 68 and 69: Launching this spring, a first-of-i
Page 70 and 71: care systems. New nurses are typica
Page 72 and 73: focus One of Caterpillar’s most p
Page 74 and 75: a road in half. We had teams buildi
Page 76 and 77: focus THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BREAKT
Page 78 and 79: focus WHAT THE HECK IS AN INNOVATIO
Page 82 and 83: KeyStart is both a business idea su
Page 84 and 85: focus Joseph Rich, research leader
Page 86 and 87: focus NONPROFIT INNOVATION: CREATIN
Page 88 and 89: attention of other service provider
Page 90 and 91: focus EXPRESSIONS OF TECH INNOVATIO
Page 92 and 93: in any way or use them commercially
Page 94 and 95: focus The Innovation Board has prov
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Page 98 and 99: in brief OSF HealthCare announced t
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