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profiles: 5 Unique Ways Entrepreneurs Are Raising Money

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5 Unique Ways Entrepreneurs Are Raising Money

SmartMoney.com

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June 4, 2009
By Diana Ransom
(Page 6 of 6)

Turning contest winnings into start-up capital

Turning contest winnings into start-up capital

When software developer, Aaron Foss, and oncology nurse, Keri Mahoney, were trying to raise money for their medical software company, Smart Medical Solutions, which operates SmartChemo.com, they broke out the video camera and created a commercial. The production had nothing to do with the company's software, which helps oncologists track and administer patients' treatments, but instead featured the two “playing” Red Stripe beer bottles to the tune of Bob Marley's “One Love.” The two then submitted the commercial to the beer company's “Be a Red Stripe Ambassador” contest.

The beer bottle-playing paid off. Foss and Mahoney won the grand prize: a one-week vacation to Jamaica for nine people. But rather than take the trip, which was valued at $40,000, they asked Red Stripe for cash. The company agreed and gave the burgeoning business owners a check for $20,000. “We like to think that Bob Marley is our angel investor,” says Foss.

-Write to Diana Ransom at dransom@smartmoney.com

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Last 3 Comments
Tim Platt Posted: 7:15 PM On June 30, 2009
Referrals to VCs and Angel groups from a trusted source are a proven way to make a first impression--but it is only on paper, and even then, only if you already have that connection. For the rest of us, there's Speed Venture Summit--where capital & business match in minutes(SM). http://www.speedventuresummit.org. At SVS, company execs speed pitch their growth story to 6 different private capital investor groups in a single afternoon, and find out in minutes whether they have a call-back for a management presentation.
Kathie Posted: 8:03 AM On June 9, 2009
Dear Diana
The fourth story of Blogertizeworld.com was simply amazing. How did you discover this startup as it was not based in US?
Dewon Lawton Posted: 2:29 AM On June 8, 2009
'Our Company Has Over 39 Years Of Experience.'
America's #1 Small-Business Specialists of the U.S.A.
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