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V O L . X X I I N O. X X V I I N OV E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 20 be post-revenue. e meetings are held at the Cloudport CoWorking MultiSpace in Portland, and begin with one company presenting itself and its key question for about fi ve minutes. Panelists then have about 10 minutes to question the presenter for clarifi ca- tion. en each panelist gives feedback for a minute or so, during which the presenter must remain silent. en there is an open discussion. After a short break, the second com- pany goes through the same process. Toward the end the panelists reveal who they are and what they do. "Anonymity is key to ensure all feed- back is accepted by the presenters on an equal basis," says Swenson of People's United. " e best feedback often comes from people with no connection to the entrepreneur's industry. We try to have diverse panelists, those who aren't too famous and those who don't know each other." Panelists are told not to dress in their usual work clothes so their profes- sion isn't easily discernable. ey learn who the presenters are upon arrival, but do not know the names of the other panelists until the end of the discussion. She says the format is similar to ABC's "Shark Tank," except the businesses are seeking advice versus funding, and there's an upbeat feel to the meeting. e presenters don't have to hear the familiar Shark Tank rants, "you're dead to me," or "I'm out," by Boston's own Kevin O'Leary. "One of the things they said is this isn't like 'Shark Tank,'" says panelist Chin of Up With Community. "We try to build people up, not cut them down and not have the people giving advice one-upping each other." Of the anonymous aspect of panel- ists, Chin says, "Maine is a small place where a lot of people have pre-con- ceptions of others. Having a level of anonymity helps them learn my ideas without preconceptions." People on the panel ended up having diverse backgrounds in sales, marketing and even psychology. "It felt very collaborative," adds Brandt of Pemberton & Associates, a Portland-based recruiting and consult- ing fi rm. "You gain from everyone who presents. New ideas are stimulating. e comments were so well thought out for a short period of time." She says the event always leads to meeting more people, for example, presenter Lorraine Fagela wanted to meet someone at Bixby & Co. (Bixby Bars) and did. " is is a diff erent type of pre- sentation. You wouldn't do this pre- sentation to a venture capitalist," says "New distillery ideas can be very speculative. When our business needed financing, nobody we approached would help us out. But FAME did. Every person we dealt with at FAME was helpful and has been a partner for us. They are willing to listen and work with you. I don't think we would have been able to get this company off the ground if we hadn't obtained the initial loan we did from FAME." — Chris Dowe Managing Partner/Master Distiller, Cold River Vodka Cold River Vodka 1-800-228-3734 — FA MEmaine.com Helping Maine Businesses Succeed Since 1983 Building Maine's Future In project development, you have a lot to keep your eye on. Sometimes it's hard to see the opportunities and the risks clearly. That's where Drummond Woodsum attorneys Ron Ward, John Kaminski, Rick Shinay, Gary Vogel, Ted Kelleher and Lisa Magnacca can help. We use a team approach to bring the most complex development projects to closing in Maine. We provide cost-effective and experienced representation to owners, contractors, investors and and historic tax credit projects. We practice law differently. Since 1965. dwmlaw.com | 800 800 800 800.727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 727.1941 » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E

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