Thursday, June 5, 2014, 6:54am EDT
UMBC, CIC partner to teach cyber entrepreneurs how to pitch
Ryan McDonald
Baltimore Business Journal
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the Chesapeake Innovation Center are teaming up to teach cyber entrepreneurs how to pitch to investors.
The seven-week program — Perfect Pitch — is scheduled to begin in September and conclude at the end of October. The program will end just before the start of the CyberMaryland Conference on Oct. 29.
The goal is to help the entrepreneurs tailor their messages to the right audience at the right time, said Jennifer Reynolds, director of venture creation at bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park.
A main driver behind the program is to help cyber entrepreneurs overcome obstacles they might face when looking for an investor such as knowing the right audience.
“One of the challenges is the audience and [the entrepreneurs] tend to just talk about the product whereas the investor likely wants to know more beyond the product,” said Allison Hartrick, collaboration and business development director of the CIC.
