Goizueta Business School hosts Venture Capital Investment Competition

Atlanta, GA (November 20, 2009) – Triton Value Partners and TopRight LLC will co-sponsor Goizueta Business School’s eighth annual Venture Capital Investment Competition. The event is scheduled for Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the business school and will be attended by participating teams and local venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. A networking event following the competition is scheduled from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the Goizueta Coke Commons, and is open to anyone interested in venture capital and entrepreneurship.

VCIC is a one-of-a-kind competition that gives MBA students from top business schools a realistic venture capital experience in a competitive environment. Compared to a traditional business plan competition, where teams participate as entrepreneurs seeking venture capital funding, student teams in the VCIC assume the role of venture capitalists and evaluate and "fund" investment opportunities.

Select student teams will evaluate real business opportunities presented by entrepreneurs currently seeking funding and make investing decisions as venture capitalists, while being judged by experienced venture capitalists. The winning team will qualify for the Southeastern regional VCIC round, to be held at Georgetown University in February 2010. The regional winners will go on to compete in the International Finals held at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill’s Kenan–Flagler Business School in April 2010.

This year’s presenting companies includes Fusion Sleep, My Shopping Safe, Site Minis and Urban Planet.

Prof. Klaas Baks, who is the Executive Director of the Emory Center for Alternative Investments, and who also heads the Goizueta Business School’s venture capital programs and event facility sponsor, said “VCIC is a great opportunity for our students to step in the shoes of a VC for a day. With the support of Triton Value Partners, Top Right Partners, as well as our own Center for Alternative Investments, this competition is getting to a higher level each year. It is a truly a unique opportunity for our students as well as the participating VCs and portfolio companies.”

TopRight marketing strategy consultant and past entrepreneur Joe Walker is returning for his third appearance as a judge. He said, “Actively listening to and evaluating the teams’ investment decisions is a responsibility I am pleased to take on—and it keeps me fresh on new ideas.”

Paul H. Freischlag, Jr., Managing Director of Triton Value Partners, stated, “Triton is proud to continue its long and active relationship with Emory by helping organize and participate in the annual Venture Capital Investment Competition. This marks our 5th year of involvement in the VCIC and once again we look forward to an exciting program. This also marks the 5th Anniversary of the founding of Triton Value Partners, which my partner Don Gasgarth and I formed after serving as Emory VCIC judges together in 2005.” Triton has been an event participant for the past four years and was actually founded at the 2005 VCIC.

Other judges from the Atlanta business community include Chris Munro, Chris Whitis, Ashish Mistry, Don Gasgarth, Smoer Roschow, and Stuart Johnson.

About Triton Value Partners

Triton Value Partners is a full-service management advisory group that provides small and medium-sized enterprises with the mission critical experience, services and resources required to help them create and execute business plans that make the companies more valuable.

Triton’s team of Atlanta-based Partners boasts an average of twenty-five years of experience as corporate executives, business owners and professional investors. The firm draws upon this wealth of experience to provide a full range of advisory services including: strategic planning, business/market development, operations, and capital structure. Triton’s client service approach leverages its Partners’ functional expertise and industry skills to maximize the strength of each client’s organization and infrastructure.

Triton Value Partners is based in Atlanta, Georgia, but serves a client base that operates across the U.S. and internationally. More information on Triton Value Partners is available on the company’s web-site: http://www.tritonvp.com

About TopRight LLC

TopRight, LLC is an Atlanta-based strategic marketing consulting firm that moves their clients' business up and forward in their competitive frame - to corner the markets where they choose to compete. Bringing big firm marketing management consultants together with Fortune 100 senior marketing executives, TopRight delivers strategy, creativity, execution, and analytics that drive business performance. Because when revenue and operating profit rise together, businesses take their rightful place in the competitive set: the TopRight quadrant.

For more information, please visit http://toprightpartners.com.

About Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and Center for Alternative Investments

Emory’s Goizueta Business School offers an Undergraduate Program, a Two-Year MBA Program, a One-Year MBA Program, an Evening MBA Program, two formats of the W. Cliff Oxford Executive MBA (Weekend and Modular) and a Doctoral degree, together with a set of innovative non-degree Emory Executive Development programs. For more information, please visit http://www.goizueta.emory.edu

The Center for Alternative Investments’ mission is to be a leading international source of research, education and thought leadership on alternative investments that aims to be at the forefront of this evolving industry As an organization staffed by scholars and experts, the Center will develop the data and set a research agenda comprising topical issues relevant to the institutional investment community. A parallel objective of the Center is to teach and disseminate this knowledge. For more information, please visit http://www.cai.emory.edu.

Media Contact:
David Briscoe
(770) 650-7830 x133
david.briscoe@TritonVP.com