Over at the IFS office, they sub lease a few spaces to other people. I’m one of them. In return for a desk, I write the blogs and do some SEO work for IFS and the other people in here. There’s always a flurry of ideas going on and we all feed off each others energy. It’s great for brainstorming and picking each others ideas apart.

So, when the Flicks and Food website became available, we all discussed whether someone should grab it and what could be done with it. Really, we were most interested in acquiring it so we could eat out and write off our lunches as a business expense… We did think it may be interesting to get it and see what we could do with it. It had been owned by Robert, a guy I shared space with at my last gig and who had also worked with Dean at Ideagin. After much deliberation, it was bought and we all started eating out and taking pictures to upload to the site. I was put in charge of moving stuff around and making it more user friendly. Marie and I discussed how to streamline the site, getting rid of all the superfluous stuff that we weren’t interested in keeping up on. Whenever anyone actually eats out, it’s my job to remind them to take photos.

During our weekly meeting yesterday, when we were wondering what other potential the site has, such as should it be just a San Antonio site, how do we make money from it, does anyone else log on, etc, we had the idea that maybe it should be run through the Idea Finishing School. I mean, why not? It’s a start-up. It’s technology. It has the potential to make money. It would be a great case study for us. We could then use it as the showpiece that we follow every week without worrying about infringing on another startups privacy. When talking about IFS students on the blog, I worry about revealing too much about a patent, or saying something before they’re ready to release that information. This way, we can really show people what’s going on inside the Idea Finishing School without messing some potential future Steve Jobs up. I know it’s nepotism, since we’re all here, but it’s a win-win for me! Plus, I don’t have to drive anywhere…

So, everybody say welcome to the newest IFS student, Flicks and Food. While you’re saying hi, run on over the the Flicks and Food site and check it out. There’s some interesting reviews, and we’ve made it super easy for you to submit you own review.

We’re turning it over to you.

Who do you want to meet at the next Idea Xchange?

So far we’ve had lawyers, entrepreneurs, SEO and SMM and financial people giving a small presentation at the Idea Xchanges.

Who would you come and see. Tell us by name or industry. We’ll do our best to get them here. We may not be able to get Steve Jobs, but we can probably get Pat Condon.

The Idea Xchange is all about YOU. We want to make you successful. We want to know what are you need him in. Where are you struggling? Who do you need advise from? Who’s brains would you pick if you had them caught in a room for half an hour? Who would you love to be trapped in an elevator with?

Send us an email, leave a reply below in the comments or even tweet us @IdeaFS We just want to hear from you.

The Idea Finishing School is currently looking to hire a Marketing Director.

The Marketing Director position would be responsible for Marketing the Idea Finishing School as well as helping the start-ups going though the Idea Finishing School with their marketing needs. We are looking for someone who is willing to teach small business entrepreneurs how to effectively market their company.

The Idea Finishing School is a small business incubator helping start-ups. We are seeking someone with proven Marketing experience who can effectively target small business start-ups with potential and bring them into the Idea Finishing School. The Idea Finishing School has active investors looking to fund start-ups. We are looking for someone who knows how to reach out to these potential start-ups.

If you would be interested in the position of Marketing Director for the Idea Finishing School, or can recommend someone who would be a good candidate, please contact IFS CFO Rudy De La Garza.

Pree Corp has been at the Idea Finishing School for quite a few weeks now. They’re still coming in every Monday and Wednesday.

Last week, I went through SEO, Social Media Marketing, Publicity, Personal Contact and any other way they can get their name out there.  It was good practice for me for the Idea Xchange on Wednesday. Today, they’re going over more paperwork with the lawyers.

Most days, Rudy De La Garza sits with them and discusses how to move forward with their corporation. My favourite week was when he created some conflict in the group by asking them why they had chosen each person to be in their current position, and if they really thought that everyone was right for that job. He was testing their strengths and loyalties to the group. I think they’re on the right track. As soon as Rudy left, they all arranged to go out to dinner together and discuss it. They did and came back the next week, as a team and stronger than ever.

Sometimes you need to be tested as a group. It’s much better to go through a rough patch before you go public. A couple meetings later, the group did re-arrange their alphabet soup of positions, but they’re still happy.

The group is moving along nicely. They’ve even had their first press release. Keep watching this space for more news on Pree Corp, or come meet the group in person. They’ll be at the Idea Xchange on Wednesday.

For the June Idea Xchange, we’ll have guest speaker Sarah Monahan, owner of ShrimpTank Productions talking about how to get your 15 minutes of fame.

Sarah grew up in Australia and moved to the US in 2000. She literally grew up on television, where the show’s publicist also doubled as her chaperone, before moving into other fields of work. She’s spent time in restaurants, both front and back of house, worked at a racing stable, owned an IT services company, spent several years in marketing and promotions as well as Search Engine Optimization. Several other varied fields fell between, including teaching acting classes to kids and producing a web series.

After moving around and meeting people from so many industries, Sarah got a feel for what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to getting your name out there. More importantly, how people are taking that message when they receive it.

Sarah understands the importance of making a brand name. She understands that you want to be seen in a positive light. She also understands that not all publicity is good publicity, no matter what other people say.

Sarah Monahan will explain the truths and myths behind social media marketing, how to create a brand name, how to get people talking about you and how to make sure you keep a positive image.She will also discuss SEO and how it all works together.

Come meet Sarah Monahan and learn how to create a buzz for your small business at the June Idea Xchange.

Idea Xchange

Wednesday, June 30th 4-6pm

Idea Finishing School

3463 Magic Drive, San Antonio TX 78229

RSVP HERE.

What’s your biggest start up hurdle?

Each month at the Idea Xchange, we’re trying to have guest speakers that can talk about growing your start up. But now we’d like to turn it over to you. Who would you like to meet at the Idea Xchange? Everyone has different needs and wants. Especially when it comes to business advice. Maybe you’re good with the books, but need marketing help. Maybe you need law advice. Could you use some help with accounting?

The whole point of the Idea Xchange is to help entrepreneurs out. We’d like to know how we can better do that. So let us know who you’d like help from.

What fields would you like us to get speakers from? Accounting, Marketing, Law, other  successful Entrepreneurs? Do you need real estate advise or a travel agent? There’s so many things out there that sometimes we may not think of. So, email us or reply on here and let us know and we’ll do out best to get them at a future Idea Xchange.

The next Idea Xchange will be on Wednesday, June 30th
at the Idea Finishing School office.

Rudy De La Garza gave a great speech today at the Idea Xchange.

We learnt about writing a business plan and making sure that YOU write your own business plan. Rudy said that he quizzes people who have brought him a plan. If they don’t understand their own plan, they have no business being in business.

Rudy also like to write a Performa first. He said everything else follows. You need to know your numbers before you can even start on the business plan. Know your competitors. Research them thoroughly. Never say that you have no competitors. There’s always competitors. If you think there isn’t, you haven’t done your homework.

Rudy discussed the different types of ways to get capital. Friends and Family, Banks, Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. Also discussed was going public and how not to lose your interests to the shareholders. Exit strategies were highly emphasized.

There was a lengthy Q&A at the end of the discussion. That’s what I like most about these Xchanges. That’s what makes it an Xchange. The long Q&A and the in depth discussions that follow. Unlike a lot of palces where you’re just given a speech and then the speaker answers 3 questions and disappears. At the Idea Xchange, people really get to interact and ask whatever they like.

Stay tuned for news on who the speaker will be for the June Idea Xchange. I’m sure it will be another fascinating event.

After their first week of the Idea Finishing School, PREE’s management team met with Dr. Cory Hallam, director of UTSA’s CITE program to discuss the patent process.  At that time Dr. Hallam informed the management team that he would be able to assist PREE in obtaining an incubator lab on campus in which Mateo would be given access to the necessary equipment in order to develop the technology.

PREE was here at the Idea Finishing School on the 19th of May, when discussion included a breakdown of a pro forma statement by Mr. De La Garza, updated design ideas from Mateo, and market research done so far by Matt and Amanda.  Mr. De La Garza assigned the business students with additional market research including phone batteries, cost of chargers, and additional market information.  Mateo will be working on the wireless charger design, and learning new software to advance the design as well as researching product component costs for the new design.  Over the next couple of months, the management team will be reworking the business plan with Mateo improving upon the design of the technology.

Today, the 24th of May,  Amanda DeKay, CEO, Matthew Jackson, CFO, and Joshua Sellers, CMO, along with Matthew “Mateo” Ellison are back to go over their “homework” they were given in the last meeting. They’ve done more research on market shares, on how many other people are making iPhone cases, chargers, etc. It’s important to know how many people are potential buyers of the product. Rudy De La Garza explains that just because people have an iPhone, doesn’t mean that they’re going to buy your product.

They discuss how to create the product at the best cost and how to find who can make the product. It’s also discussed at how much people would be willing to spend on such a product. There’s a lot more discussion on the actual product; how it can be improved, competitor products, functionality, etc.

Rudy De La Garza handed the meeting over to Dean McCall after an hour. Dean discusses PREE’s web presence, domain names, twitter, foursquare and any other social networking opportunities that PREE could be taking advantage of. They discuss whether they will be making videos and the use of YouTube, Vimeo, etc.

The group will be back on Wednesday morning and then will hang out for the Idea Xchange on Wednesday afternoon. If you’d like to meet the young entrepreneurs from PREE Corp, make sure you stop by the Idea Xchange on Wednesday Afternoon.

The Idea Finishing School currently has a major investor actively looking for Health Care, Technology and Green Energy companies to invest in.

They are looking for Health Care, Technology and Green Energy companies that are established and have a history of at least six months. No revenue is required.  They are offering a cash incentive to just look at your company to see if it could be a good fit for them. They would sign a non disclosure agreement of course so you don’t have to worry about them running off with all your information. They are looking to invest from $300,000 to $1 million dollars in local companies. That’s some serious cash.

If your company is interested in raising equity capital from an accredited investor and meet the requirements above, come along to the next Idea Xchange on May 26th to learn more about the Idea Finishing School and how we can help you.
Rudy De La Garza will be the speaker this month. He’s also the CFO of the Idea Finishing School, so he’s your best source of information about all things IFS and VC.

RSVP HERE! before someone says, Can I buy a vowel?

For this month’s Idea Xchange, we’re going to have Rudy De La Garza give the presentation.

Personally, I find Rudy fascinating. Like me, he says what’s on his mind, he doesn’t beat around the bush, he’s smart and knows what works and what doesn’t. He’s been toughing it out in the business world for longer than I’ve been alive and I can only hope that some of his business savvy rubs off on me while I’m hanging out here.

Rudy De La Garza was once a US Marine and exudes that same no nonsence attitude of my favourite TV character, Gibbs from NCIS. Maybe it’s a Marine thing, maybe it’s a grey hair thing. But I like it.

Rudy De La Garza is the CFO of the Idea Finishing School. He is the President of First Dominion Financial and sits on the board of 2 public and 3 private companies. His specialty and his passion is in taking companies public.

Rudy De La Garza knows all the ins and outs of writing a business plan, making it pretty for investors so that they will want to part with their money and how to make sure you retain control of your company once other people have a piece of it. That’s most people’s biggest fear with getting bigger and needing other people’s money. It could also mean losing control of all your hard work. If you’ve spent years growing and nurturing something and have a clear vision of where you want it to go in the future, you don’t want to see all your hard work wiped out by the people who are giving you that money to grow.

Rudy De La Garza will talk about how to make sure that as you get to that point that you don’t give up all your hard work. He’ll talk about getting that much needed Venture Capital and still retaining control of your company.

The May Idea Xchange will be on:

Wednesday May 26th from 4-6pm

at

Idea Finishing School
3463 Magic Drive, Suite 245
San Antonio, TX 78229

RSVP HERE to secure your seat!