The Annual “Elevator Pitch” Forum

Got a new company or a great idea?
Need money?
Want to improve your chances of getting some?

Picture yourself as the founder of a young company that needs capital. You get on an empty elevator. A potential investor you’ve been trying to meet gets on and the door closes. You’ve got one minute until he gets off. What do you say? “What floor, sir?” That’s one approach, but there could be a better way to spend that minute. It could happen that fast, not just on an elevator, but at a party, on an airplane or anywhere else. Are you ready for it?

If not, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Pittsburgh is here to help with its annual “Elevator Pitch” session at the Pittsburgh Golf Club in Shadyside on November 15, 2006, at 5:30 p.m. At this session, entrepreneurs and existing businesses seeking to raise funds will have an opportunity to make a 60 second presentation to a panel of experts plus over 100 prospective investors and other audience members. Instead of focusing on the substance of the business proposal, the panel will critique the delivery of the pitch. The goal of an elevator pitch is to get an appointment, not to close the deal. Therefore, the panel will comment on how well each presenter succeeded in achieving that goal and not on the merits of the business idea.

Our moderator for the evening will be Carolyn E. Green, COO, Logical Therapeutics, Inc. a privately held biotechnology company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carolyn is a co-founder, EVP and COO for the company. Previously, she was the founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Office of Enterprise Development, a life-sciences commercialization and entrepreneurial education center. www.logicaltherapeutics.com

How to Participate:

Due to time constraints, only 12-15 companies will be able to make elevator pitches. Companies or entrepreneurs that want to be selected in advance to make a presentation were asked to submit a brief summary of their business to contact@mitforumpgh.com. no later than November 3. Companies selected to present will be contacted by November 7.

Anyone who is not pre-selected to present is strongly encouraged to show up and raise their hands high when volunteer presenters are sought from the audience as several people also will be chosen from the audience on the night of the Forum.

Repositioning for Growth

August 31, 2006 Cygnus Manufacturing named former Respironics CEO Dennis Meteny, President and CEO. Based in Saxonburg, Pa., Cygnus Manufacturing (CMC) makes minimally and non-invasive medical device products, health and safety components, and high precision transportation, scientific instrumentation and aerospace products.

Cygnus chairman Craig Harding said the appointment of Meteny "will help drive our strategy of growing CMC through the acquisition and development of proprietary medical devices, while continuing to grow our contract manufacturing business." In addition to his 15 years, including five as CEO, at Respironics, the Murrysville-based maker of sleep-aid products, Meteny was most recently President and CEO of TeeMyn LLC, a consulting company focused on advising smaller companies entering the merger and acquisition field for the first time.

Dennis S. Meteny, President & CEO of Cygnus Manufacturing Company LLC will provide his early ideas as to strategic direction for CMC with regard to growing the Company via several complementary strategies. The Company is interested in expanding its precision manufacturing business through the addition of new customers and providing more product and service to its existing customer base built through its forty year history. Additionally, the Company is targeting companies of all sizes in its Manufacturing Partnership Services business segment which expands its historical contract manufacturing business to allow CMC to provide service to its customers earlier in the product design cycle and throughout a product’s life cycle. Lastly, CMC intends to be an opportunistic acquirer of products and businesses as it seeks to accelerate historic growth rates and take advantage of market opportunities that match its core competencies.