Looking for next Web ‘Idol’

Schilling to be judge in venture firm’s contest
By Frank Quaratiello  bostonherald.com
Sunday, November 18, 2007

Aspiring entrepreneurs will get a chance to pitch their ideas to a Red Sox [team stats] star who knows a thing or two about pitching.

Sox ace Curt Schilling [stats] is one of the judges looking for the next Google or YouTube or Facebook among the ideas submitted at YouBeTheVC.com, in what is the latest twist on the business plan contest concept.

F. Mark Modzelewski of Cambridge’s Bang Ventures, who conceived the idea, says the YouBeTheVC competition combines the ideas behind “venture capital and ‘American Idol’ with a little bit of wisdom of the crowd thrown in.”

Contestants submit their ideas by filling out an online application at YouBeTheVC.com by Feb. 1.

Online voters will then pick the top three winners, who will get a summer’s worth of start-up funding.

“By connecting with the audience and letting them pick the winners, we can also use the audience’s knowledge to help push the companies out of the gate,” said Modzelewski, who understands that one of the keys to Web 2.0 success is generating buzz online. Web 2.0 is the second generation of online companies which focus more on social networking and hosted services.

So far, Modzelewski, who lives in Somerville’s Davis Square, said the site has received 400 applications, and he expects about 1,500 before the contest deadline.

Modzelewski insists YouBeTheVC is more than just a business plan contest.

“We’re not just offering venture capital,” he said. The winners get a “turnkey start-up company to be the the CEO of,” with office space in Cambridge and administrative, legal and accounting support.

The winning entrepreneurs get Web and programming support along with seed venture funding, consulting services and a stipend to live and work in Boston next summer.

Bang Ventures sought out Schilling to be one of the judges because Modzelewski was impressed with the development of 38 Studios, the Sox pitcher’s Maynard-based gaming company - and, of course, because he brings star power to the competition.

“We went to Curt. He was very interested and quick to say yes,” said Modzelewski. “Celebrity aside, he has a lot to offer. His company has an interesting dynamic and he’s gutsy. He’s setting up the next stage of his life and you rarely see someone get that entrepreneurial late in life.”

Schilling joins a judging panel that includes a cross-section of tech pundits and executives from some of the hottest Web 2.0 companies.

YouBeTheVC winners will get money and services with a value “topping six figures easy,” Modzelewski said. In return, Bang gets 25 percent of the company upfront and the right to invest more if the start-up takes off.

The Bay State may also finally get what many in the industry have been hoping for - a Web 2.0 superstar.

“This is a conscious effort to build a Web 2.0 company here,” Modzelewski said. “We talked to the governor’s economic development people and they were pretty excited.

“You used to have a lot of clusters - Atlanta, New York City, Dallas. Now it’s pretty much Silicon Valley and, in a much softer voice, Boston,” Modzelewski said. “We’d like to seed the whole scene here. Boston needs young, exciting companies. Silicon Valley is pretty much getting all of them now.”

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