Guest List -- Sunday, October 18
Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009 2:27 PM by Andrew Littell
Rachel Taylor is an enthusiastic entrepreneur and inventor, but she wasn't getting the kind of sales or exposure with her product, the Clever Clip, that she wanted. Enter AJ Khubani, CEO of Telebrands, the company behind those infamous "As Seen on TV" products like the Ped Egg and the Jupiter Jack. Khubani saw potential in Rachel's Clever Clip and signed her, which means turning over the rights of her Clever Clip to Telebrands to take over sales and marketing, the main component being an "As Seen on TV" commercial and a test marketing campaign. If the commercial test goes well in a few local markets, Telebrands then launches the commercial nationwide and gets the products into stores like Walmart and Target. If the product does well, the inventor gets a small percentage of the sales but sales are frequently in the millions. It may seem like a lopsided agreement, but Khubani takes all of the risk and spends the money upfront and the inventor sits back and cashes the check. We'll follow Rachel through the process of partnering with Telebrands and find out if the commercial test goes well
Panelists
--Divya Gugnani, CEO of Behind the Burner and a former venture capitalist
--Allan Grafman, CEO of All Media Ventures, a consulting and advisory firm for media companies and private equity investors
The Credit Crunch
As the credit crisis wears on, many small business owners are having a hard time finding traditional funding. George Cloutier, CEO of American Management Services, and Todd McCracken, President of The National Small Business Association discuss how the credit crisis is impacting different sources of funding.
Elevator Pitch
Russell Smith pitches the Glare Zapper to the panel. The Glare Zapper is a strip that protects uncomfortable and unsafe glare from distracting drivers while they are driving. Russell is looking to raise capital to expand marketing.
