Keiretsu Forums

Last week I functioned as a panelist at one of the so-called “Keiretsu Forums” here in Southern California, in which entrepreneurs pitch their business plans to potential investors. I really enjoy this, as it gives me practice on thinking on my feet and having something reasonably intelligent to say when confronted with a business concept, regardless of its nature and its relative worth.

Carinda Bourgeous (pictured), Keiretsu’s ‎Regional Director, Membership & Operations, invited me, I presume because she had seen me in action before, at the Clean Business Investment Summit, where she could see my overall approach in this type of setting. In particular, she knows that although I’m never impolite, I tend to be somewhat cynical about most business ideas I see presented in contexts like these, and thus I’m good at taking presenters to task, forcing them to defend their positions in a well-reasoned fashion.

Miraculously, I was quite impressed with the majority of the business plans. Smiles abounded. That doesn’t happen often.