5×5 Night helping new businesses gain traction.

I live in Grand Rapids, MI, the second largest city in the state, but one that is doing a whole lot of really big things. Last month I had a chance to attend an event which was put together by Rick DeVos (founder of the world famous ArtPrize event), called 5X5 night. 5 people are given 5 minutes to present their business ideas, for a chance at a $5,000 grant.

In my opinion, the money is not the main reward for presenting your idea. The chance to share your idea at the event helps you to quickly network with a large group of business minded individuals who at the very least can give you great advice on what the next step is. And there is always the possibilities of finding investment funds, starting joint ventures, etc…

This month’s event, a notable change has been made as to how the 5 presenters are chosen. In past events, the judges chose the presenters prior to the event. This month each person hopeful to be a presenter must post their idea on the 5X5 website, and allow the public to vote. The 5 with the top number of votes will make it through.

I was so interested I decided to attempt to pitch my new start up company at this months event. At the moment, it appears to be doing very will, being one of the most viewed ideas on the site. Vote for my idea here before November 20th, 2011.

More on my new business venture in my next post…