Wow, intense! As some of you know Vidura was one of 7 finalists in the San Antonio Small Business Venture Challenge hosted by Café Commerce. Up for grabs is $20k and the eye of the investment community. Myself, my wife, and my daughter all went through judging session today on May 25th with a panel of 6 judges. It was like being on shark tank. My heart was pounding out of my chest the whole time and I felt like I was floating above my body, like and out of body experience. I was told I did ok, I think I just blacked out and went on auto pilot or something.
All in all it was a tough competition with a great deal of awesome start up business ideas. We traded business information with The Vinegar Joint and Ratio. The Vinegar Joint makes great tasting healthy vinegar drinks, who knew! We could give those drinks to clients in our spa, I’ve got to try them out first but from what I’m hearing they are great. We could also use art from Ratio to put in our spa as they have art from so many different countries including Thailand. The great thing about Ratio is that they help artists from all over the world and give a portion of that money back to those in need.
We won't know who won until June 9th but I will say whatever the outcome, it has been a very rewarding and worthwhile experience. I’ve never had to refine and define an idea as much as I’ve done with this competition. Another positive is that all venture finalist will get great media and local community exposure on June 9th when we all present our ideas to the general public and interested banks and venture capitalists.
Well wish us luck and if you would like to share any similar experiences from business ventures to giving speeches in college, let us know in the comments below…