EII – Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute – this group at GT helps business and communities become more competitive through the use of science and technology. This is the parent organization of ATDC and VentureLab.
EIR – Entrepreneur in Residence – Some VC firms will have an EIR on their team. This is usually a successful, fundable, entrepreneur that is looking for their next deal. The VCs use the EIR to evaluate opportunities and hope that the EIR will join the management team of one of their deals. An EIR role is usually less than a year – an entrepreneur can’t sit on the bench too long without getting antsy.
Elevator Pitch – Can you describe your company in a clear, compelling way in 60 seconds? Many people refer to this as an "elevator pitch," because of the hypothetical situation where you may be in an elevator with an investor and you have one uninterrupted minute to tell your story before he gets off the elevator at his 80th floor penthouse. I’ve never seen this happen.
So we recommend that you prepare yourself with 60 seconds of important information about your company that you can use in various situations and timeframes. See our best practices paper for more information and tips.
Employment Agreements – A legal document that outlines your commitment to the company and vice versa. It usually contains information such as how your stock or options will vest, what happens if you leave the company, non-compete clauses, how long you must stay, termination agreements, what happens to you if the company is purchased, etc. We recommend that you draft some employment agreements among your co-founders when you start your company. If you don’t have these things on paper, then one of your co-founders might run off with a large percent of your stock and you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
ERC – Entrepreneurs Resource Center – Both a physical and online resource for entrepreneurs. The physical ERC is located at ATDC at Technology Square. It is open to the public and contains research materials, books, journals, magazines and videos. It has a few computers and small offices as well as some informal meeting space. The online ERC contains a wealth of links, whitepapers, and videos on topics of interest to technology entrepreneurs in Georgia.
Exit – An "exit" is how the investors will get some money back from their investment (by selling the company or going public). This term is slightly deceiving. It doesn’t mean that all the investors and founders are leaving and cashing out completely and that this is the end of the company. It just means that the investors have the opportunity to exit some of their investment. In fact, upon an exit (or liquidity event) the key team members are usually restricted from leaving the company. See employment agreements above.