SproutBox is a new type of investment firm. It’s in the same vein as Y Combinator, TechStars, DreamIt Ventures, etc. but it has its own twist. Like the others, SproutBox asks you to relocate to their headquarters (in this instance in Bloomington, IN) and then gives you just enough money to live for 3 - 6 months. The difference is, SproutBox uses its team of 10 coders, designers, and marketers to build or extend your product. For this, they take a bigger percentage of the company than the other new wave investment firms, but if you’re an idea stage company without a technical lead (like Pocket Tales was) it’s worth it. The alternative is putting together your own team of great coders and that’s just hard, risky, and costly in terms of equity (if you don’t have cash, what else are you going to pay them with?)
Pocket Tales was invited to finalist day to present to roughly 15 people on SproutBox’s advisory board which included investors and community leaders. We weren’t selected but we came away with a ton of confidence, a great new network, and some great memories, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on the whole process.
