Grep-a-palooza 3 is now behind us, and if we do say so ourselves, it was a resounding success! But before we turn the page, we’d be remiss if we didn’t post a brief recap of the occasion. [Note: If you want to see the day in picture form, check out this photo gallery.]
This third iteration of the event was our best-attended one yet, and was absolutely packed with opportunities to network, sit in on panel discussions, and hear from (and interact with) a variety of leaders from around the Triangle startup community.
And of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our sponsors. Our corporate sponsors included Robinson Bradshaw, Financial Symmetry, Hutchison and EisnerAmper, plus a grant from NC IDEA. We also enjoyed support from our community sponsors: UNC, NC State, Duke and NCSSM; plus Elemmir handled video services and Better Made Easy provided speaker gifts.
Panel discussions throughout the day concerned topics like “Building Your Dream Team” (moderated by Jen Summe of Primordial Ventures); “Metrics Bring All The Exits To The Yard” (with Kevin Mosley of Jurassic Capital); “Services => Product Evolution” (Dave Neal of Duke Capital Partners);“Alternatives To Traditional Equity Funding” (Glen Caplan of Robinson Bradshaw); and “Early-Stage VC Funding Outlook” ( CED’s Hunter Young). [Take a peek at the full agenda here.]
In addition to these opportunities to observe panel discussions, this year’s Grep-a-palooza added a “Birds of a Feather” lunch. While we kept this fairly loose, we couldn’t help but notice that many of the designated topic tables (with themes such as “ecommerce,” “fintech,” “telling your startup’s story,” and more) were crowded and lively.
In the afternoon, attendees also got the chance to sit in on sessions of our ultra-local Shark Tank imitation, GrepTank. In one such session, the audience (and our esteemed judges) heard pitches from Anuma Aerospace, CliniSpan Health, and CivicReach.AI. In the other, pitches came from eBoxchain, Intake Health, and UNREALAI. Judges considered the startups and doled out $2M in mock funds in each room, while CliniSpan Health and Intake Health took home the coveted “audience favorite” votes in their respective sessions. Congratulations to all six startups on some great pitches!
Keynote speakers
Grep-a-palooza was bookended by opening and closing keynote speakers, which were conducted as fireside-chat-style Q&A’s with GrepBeat Managing Editor Pete McEntegart. Levitate (and ShareFile) Founder and CEO, Jes Lipson, kicked things off in the morning, while Pryon Founder and CEO, Igor Jablokov, closed things out.
Jes took us through his journey from bootstrapping ShareFile to running Levitate today. He added some wise words on magic and a compelling assertion that through all his success building companies, he’s never drifted away from the core significance of “having an amazing product.”
In the closing keynote, Igor shared a unique and fascinating perspective on AI, covering the spectrum from grim takes on military utilization to optimism about jobs and disease cures.
On the topic of whether humanity will ultimately create AI to make discoveries beyond our own comprehension, Igor left us with the nugget, “Say I’m a chicken. I want to understand the theory of relativity, so I invent humanity. Next thing you know, you’re being dipped in Polynesian sauce.”
Make of that what you will, but once that was in the air, there was little to do but head to Happy Hour. GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy wrapped things up with some final remarks (and prize GrepBeat socks for a lucky audience member), and we migrated over to Bull McCabe’s to close out the day.
Thanks once again—from the whole GrepBeat team—to all 250+ who came out for Grep-a-palooza 3. Thanks as well to the many people who served as panelists, pitchers, moderators, and volunteers. This is not an event of “hosts” and “guests” so much as it is a guided community gathering. In that sense, we can sincerely say that everyone who attends plays a role and enriches the occasion for everyone else.
Keep your eyes open for our next event(s), and we’ll see you all at Grep-a-palooza 4 next summer!
