On this edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Matt Holmes previews the first-ever RAISE (Retention and Advanced Investment for the Southeast at Emory) Forum at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Forum founder Barry Etra discusses his vision for the investors’ showcase and how it could change the face of commerce across the southeast United States. Presentation coach Steve Brett delves into the mistakes some of these entrepreneurs will need to avoid as they make their multi-million dollar pitches. The RAISE Forum is an invitation-only event taking place on Friday November 6 at Emory University.
Barry Etra/Founder of the RAISE Forum
Barry Etra brings bushels of business experience, having worked in Sales and Marketing, Operations, and General Management. He came to Atlanta as the COO of a plastics manufacturing plant and now he runs the Etra Advisory Group, helping companies and institutions find funding if they can’t get funded traditionally or have been turned down by traditional sources. He serves as an active intermediary in transactions to move deals through and gets them done, often when others have failed. He works on business acquisition, expansion, and refinance; specialty loans; early-stage companies, and nonprofit debt funding. He has a BA and an MBA from Columbia University; his MBA is in marketing and finance. RAISE is his baby and it grows when you grow.
Steve Brett/Founder & Teacher at Presentation Tune-Ups
Steve Brett is a pioneer in digital marketing and website development and has 30-years of experience in marketing, advertising and sales. With Presentation TuneUps, LLC, he is putting all that experience to work for people who have to communicate directly with others, whether it’s an investor pitch, a sales pitch, a training or a TED talk. He built a 4As ad agency in New York City that worked with Fortune 500s as well as local retailers; companies like the New York Stock Exchange, pharmaceutical giant Merck, and an early cellphone company that merged into Verizon. He also helped create the first enterprise web sites for Citizen Watch and Sport Authority. No one’s made more pitches than this guy.
