I am an aerospace engineer. On a whim I went to an entrepreneurial conference at the university that is in my town. And then, on a whim, at the evening pitch session, I pitched some hair-brained idea that I had been working on for a couple of weeks. Somehow it sounded pretty darn cool! I was actually even amazed with the way it sounded.
Still enjoying this unexpected high, I went to the social gathering after the pitch session. There I was approached by an older gentleman that said that he and his retired CEO buddies would be interested in funding my idea. Since my idea is a fairly cheap idea to implement, I told him that I wouldn't turn away funding, but at this point I most wanted solid business strategy advice. In a couple of emails since then, he has reiterated that he is interested in my idea, and that funding is no problem, and that I should arrange to meet with him after next Monday.
So, what do I do?
I have all the typical concerns of an early stage entrepreneur. Namely, could it be some scam or some way to take my idea? I'm also concerned that I'll do something to foul a good situation up. Also, although the concept is simple enough to implement, marketing and branding and entity formation are going to require money and expertise that I don't have - so I will have to enter into some arrangement like this at some point. How do I treat this, my first one? What if I show up and all individuals there are 70+ (like the man who approached me)? Should I be so audacious as to request that they bring in someone would understand the 20-something market?
The important questions:
What are the hazards? And how do I avoid them?
What should be my goals? And how do I reach them?
