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October 29, 2008

Raising Money

The New New Orleans for $100,000?

Posted by Nitasha Tiku at 5:42 PM

What would you say to $100,000 in cash, plus another hundred grand in resources for your start-up—so long as your workforce was 23-35 year-olds? Oh, and you were willing to launch in New Orleans? That's the proposition that the Idea Village, a New Orleans-based non-profit, is putting on the table in a business competition aimed to lure entrepreneurs to the Big Easy.

The contest’s cash prize is funded by Leslie Jacobs, a local venture philanthropist and the woman behind 504ward, an organization dedicated to connecting and leveraging the influx of young talent that’s moved into New Orleans post-Katrina. (504 is the city’s area code.)

Much has been made of the potential to turn the tragedy of Katrina into an opportunity to rebuild a 21st century city from the ground up. Brad Pitt’s foundation has been active in the city’s green housing boom. And in August, the New York Times magazine profiled the Miller-McCoy Academy of Mathematics and Business, a boys-only charter school for lower-performing students run by two Memphis transplants who moved to New Orleans in 2007. Business Week recently called New Orleans one of the best cities to ride out the recession for its low unemployment rate and relatively healthy banks, which were less exposed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

The sentiment, at least among local entrepreneurs, is just as hopeful. A few months ago, I spoke to Robbie Vitrano, one of the founding members of the Idea Village, which helps businesses find funding from foundations and government resources, about the resurgence of entrepreneurship in New Orleans. “There’s a barn-raising quality to it,” said Vitrano, “It’s a very creative, convivial environment that’s always attracted smart people out of the mainstream. But now there’s more of a focus on execution—let’s get it done, let’s scale it, let’s move it forward.” Indeed, New Orleans even boasted a company on this year’s Inc. 500 list, iSeatz. After riding out Hurricane Katrina from the top of a high rise, iSeatz’s CEO Kenneth Purcell temporarily moved his company, which creates travel and entertainment booking sites for corporations like Mastercard and Delta, to New York until his hometown was fully operational again. Last year, he brought iSeatz back its roots. “There’s tremendous opportunity now for people to come into a place that’s basically a clean slate.”

In talking to New Orleans entrepreneurs, like Seema Sudan, CEO of LiaMolly, one of four promising start-ups we profiled in our July issue, you hear a lot about the interconnectedness of the business community. Sudan focused on promoting LiaMolly, her eclectic sweater company, by outsourcing advertising and PR to capable local agencies that also happened to charge less than their coastal counterparts. And after watching a performance of the New Orleans-based Tsunami Dance Company, Sudan hired them to model her latest designs for a video on her site. “In New York, could you just call up a dance company? It’s like one degree of separation down here,” said Sudan.

Any of you enticed? Are any of you starting up a new venture in New Orleans? Have you ever contemplated moving your business to another city to take advantage of the business climate?

Here's a video promoting the competition that the Idea Village put together with 30 odd Google staffers who came down to New Orleans to help:

5 Comments

Posted by: Jessica at October 30, 2008 2:10 PM

It's so refreshing to hear about the unique opportunities in New Orleans. As a city historically known as nothing more than a tourist destination, it seems as though New Orleans has dedicated itself to cultivating a spirit of entrepreneurship. I'm excited to see what great ideas are sparked by the 504ward Business Competition!

Posted by: Jeff at October 30, 2008 2:42 PM

In terms of culture, quirkiness, and overall magnetism, New Orleans is all alone out in front. Though it's sad that the nation still has misconceived notions about the city, efforts like this 504ward business competition should help bring this incredible place back into the national foreground.

Hats off to the folks behind 504ward. I look forward to watching New Orleans move to the cutting edge of innovation. The young people who can make it happen will have bragging rights for life...

Posted by: Gwyn at October 30, 2008 3:23 PM

This is an exciting time to be in New Orleans. The energy of so many young people converged on one city is pretty electric. I think that the competition will put whoever wins in a very good position to harness some of that energy!

Posted by: Robbie Vitrano, Trumpet at October 30, 2008 7:14 PM

In many ways New Orleans is THE Social Innovation Laboratory - a Social Innovation Silicon Valley, where issues social, economic, political, cultural and environmental are all in play, all in hard focus. Three main reasons: the need to not only rebuild, but reinvent; the influx of smart, purposeful, idealistic people from around the world; and the macro circumstances of institutional failure (financial meltdown, government incompetence, unending war, etc.). The better problem is begging a better solution. A new generation of entrepreneur seeking social purpose and financial promise is eager to step in. Healthy narcissism. At stake is the idealism and optimism that has always been at the core of our finest accomplishments - the American Dream. It's game on.

Posted by: Kenneth at October 31, 2008 5:02 PM

As a local business owner, I applaud INC and the 504ward for
issuing this national call to action and highlighting the
exceptional opportunities that New Orleans offers. Since
founding iSeatz in 1999, I’ve weathered the city’s ups,
and its downs and I can attest to the fact that the city
is now experiencing a tremendous upswing, offering fertile
ground for business development and technology innovation.
iSeatz is a case in point: by leveraging local talent and
resources, we’ve been able to gradually evolve from a
local start-up to a global company that counts industry
leaders like Delta, Amtrak, MasterCard and Citibank, as
our valued clients.

What’s especially unique about New Orleans is its
community of like-minded organizations and individuals who
are committed to rebuilding the city’s economy through a
combination of open collaboration, constant innovation and
plain hard work. Its inspiring, exciting, and at times
humbling, to be directly involved in this effort and to
see how my company can make a direct impact on the local
level, from offering new job opportunities to injecting
revenue into the economy.

For these reasons, I urge other entrepreneurs to consider
New Orleans as their place of business, and I look forward
to welcoming talented individuals to our thriving
community.

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