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V O L . X X V N O. V I I A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 9 20 B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E F O C U S Burns agrees. "e No. 1 thing inves- tors look at is the team," says Burns. "Are they flexible, can they take the blows and adapt and be resilient, because it's one challenge after the other, and they come all at once." Another key factor investors study is how a startup's product would fit into the market. "Is there really a need for this product or is it just nice to have?" Burns says. "Is it a cure or a Band-Aid? How much did they research their market, have they spent time talking with customers, have they put out a beta product?" Boot camps are designed to ensure entrepreneurs understand all the angles. "ey've done the research and they might be great at sales, but weak on the financial side, or vice versa," says Walsh of Norway Savings. "ey might be good on knowledge of the product but they don't know how to get the message out. ese programs put them through all these areas of expertise. ey don't guarantee success. But they increase the probability of success." North Spore's anhauser agrees. North Spore started in 2014 with $10,000 of personal cash invested by anhauser and two partners. It gener- ated revenue within six weeks. Small loans and grants followed. A large bank declined to issue a line of credit, but a smaller community bank did. Now, with 10 full-time employees, revenue is on track to grow 50% this year. Further growth is likely, he says. at's why anhauser continued to participate in programs, most recently the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, which provides business education, a support network and access to capital. "It has been a slow process for me to become aware of so many business resources that have greatly helped North Spore grow," anhauser says. "Everything helps." As an aside, though, anhauser mentions he's skeptical of the value of competitions for non-winners. "ese competitions help the win- ners. But the people who don't get the money, I don't know if they help much," he says. "People putting on the competi- tions say it's good to get these companies out there. But a lot of these companies, unless you're, say, a tech company, you are not necessarily going to attract pri- vate equity or venture capital." Others disagree. "e majority of people don't win the contests, but they get this education process," says Bob Montgomery-Rice, president and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank, a sponsor of Greenlight Maine and Scratchpad Accelerator. "And usually you see most of the other businesses continue to grow. Just getting that mentoring and exposure is good." Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 7 Frequent heating system repairs? Consider an upgrade. Find out more about instant discounts on natural gas, oil, and propane heating systems at efficiencymaine.com 866-376-2463 Invest in high-efficiency heating systems and controls with help from Efficiency Maine F I L E P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N John Burns, managing director of the Maine Venture Fund.

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