Entrepreneurs make pitches at SunDown RunDown

MANSFIELD - Inventors, bankers, attorneys and economic development officials gathered in a back room at the Old Bag of Nails Pub Wednesday night — as entrepreneurs from four start-up businesses made their pitch at Mansfield's latest "SunDown RunDown."The series allows fledgling business owners to describe their plans for getting operational and turning a profit, according to Bob Cohen of Braintree Business Development Center, emcee for the event."The pitches end with an 'ask' that might be for investors, mentors, talent, connections, trial users or other resources," Cohen said.Ohio began holding "SunDown RunDown events in several cities three years ago. This was the 11th to take place in Mansfield during that time span, Cohen said."You find out there's all this good stuff going on under the radar, and it's energizing," Dave Eichinger, chairman of Richland Community Development Group, told the crowd.Entrepreneurs from StudioStick,Chart Builder, Root auto insurance and Eco Energy were given five minutes each, to pitch their business plan. Then each presenter answered questions, for another five minutes.Chart Builder rep Michael Reed described how a software developer, chiropractor and physical therapist all teamed up to begin marketing software to keep track of patient services for chiropractors and physical therapists.Most current software in the health care industry was developed decades ago, and was created for physicians — not meeting the kinds of medical charting needs chiropractors and physical therapists have, Reed said"Our system will save the clinician time per patient, allowing them to see more patients (per day) and become more profitable," Reed said.ADVERTISINGChart Builder could be marketed to the hundreds of thousands of clinicians in practice around the U.S, he said, noting 10 percent of the company's target customers "are still using paper."The company is now completing the task of getting the software up and running as an encrypted cloud-based app that could be used on portable devices such as smartphones or iPads, he said.Chart Builder could begin to make a profit after it finds "just 80 paying users," he added.StudioStick's Brandyn Armstrong of Cleveland discussed the portable recording system he plans to market that would allow musicians to use a smart phone to produce high quality audio recordings. Armstrong told listeners that when he showed 50 Cent his invention, during a liquor bottle signing the rap artist appeared at, the musician said "I definitely gotta check this out."He described plans to have the units manufactured in China, then sold for a few hundred dollars to a target customer base of hip-hop artists.Questioned on why he projected higher sales in the first year than the second, Armstrong said "a huge endorsement" he had, which he couldn't yet elaborate on, is likely to cause a sales spike.Mansfield native Dan Manges described Root, a fledgling Columbus-based auto insurance carrier that asks potential customers to use a mobile app to track their driving behavior, promising discounted rates to better drivers.While traditional insurers tend to base their pricing on demographic information such as age, Root prices its policies on information gathered by an iPhone app that monistors safety aspects as the person drives over a couple of weeks."We can cut insurance premiums in half, depending on how you drive," Manges said.Currently, the app is available only for iPhones to customers in Ohio since the company must navigate different insurance rules in every state. Root has begun selling insurance policies, but it will be a couple of years until the company becomes profitable, Manges said."Our ask is to download the app and give us feedback. This room is filled with people with great insights. I would really love to know what you think," he said.Tim Lowe of Mansfield based Eco Energy is using bio reformation technology to extract clean, useable hydrogen from organic materials in municipal solid waste instead of sending waste material to a landfill. Its process produces both H2 and electricity, with the remaining materials - including metals - recycled, and the water reclaimed for reuse."We have about 54 patents on it (the process)," Lowe said."The difference with ours (system) is that we can use multiple feed stocks," including fossil fuels, sugars and starches, alcohols, food industry waste, agricultural solid waste and municipal solid waste, he said.Lowe said the company's goal now is to build up its first system to put the process to use.Those attending the RunDown were invited to try beverages being marketed by Figg's Liquid Innovations, which became one of the tenant companies fostered by Braintree Business Development Center in Mansfield.Door prizes, ranging from books on entrepreneurship to selfie sticks and mugs, were given away during the event.

Entrepreneurs make pitches at SunDown RunDown
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