Here is a wrap up of some of the events Wednesday at the Cucalorus Connect conference. For updates throughout the week, follow the Greater Wilmington Business Journal here and on Twitter @wilmingtonbiz.com.

Planks, cardboard and friends: building a fort (or a company)

Chris Heivly, co-founder of MapQuest and now at The Startup Factory in Durham, spoke to an audience of about 35 at Ironclad Brewery about building a company, using the metaphor of a group of neighborhood kids deciding to build a fort.
 
Heivly outlined the basic steps of taking an idea forward:

• Share your idea. Keep it simple, like the idea to build a fort.
• Who will be involved? Fort building is a team project.
• Gather some stuff needed for the fort. Importantly, these materials should be within arm’s reach or a short bike ride away.
• Keep the idea simple and the scope small.

A geographer by training who learned to write code in college, Heivly went to work for a route map company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Over the course of a few years, the company’s platform went from static printed maps to computer-printed customized route maps, to CDs and then to Internet-generated route maps.
 
Later in his talk, Heivly expanded on the basic steps he had outlined earlier.

• Socialize your idea without fear or inhibition. Don’t worry about someone stealing your idea.
• Identify and marshal the people you trust.
• Gather the resources closest to you. Don’t let obstacles hold you up and don’t try to go too big to start.
• Keep the scope small. Act on the smallest parts of your idea: achievement keeps you motivated.
• Build your fort. This becomes easier and more achievable once you do the first four things on this list.
• Spend less time on thinking about how to build the details of the company and more time finding customers.

When you are ready to pitch to investors, Heivly said, have some knowledge and some achievements under your belt that you can talk to them about. Investors are never going to fund an idea, and one word you should never use in a pitch is “passion.” Be clear to them about what you know, what you are going to find out, and what you are prepared to do. Be prepared to come back numerous times as you learn more and do more.
 
“Raising money is kind of like meeting your spouse,” he said. “You never get married on first date. You have to build trust; do what you say you were going to do.”

Winging it with angel investors

Three angel investors gathered at Bourgie Nights on Wednesday afternoon and shared with an audience of about 50 people how to take a company "From Napkin to Newsworthy" and how to be successful at landing financing for the young enterprise.

Flexibility and the willingness to change direction quickly, the panelists agreed.

Get an idea that solves a problem; remain open to other possibilities, and prepare to pivot when circumstances change, said Joe Finley, co-founder of CastleBranch Corp. and an investor. "There are more resources out there today than ever before; people who want to help you figure things out," he said.

Mike Rhoades, a director in AlixPartners’ Information Management Services practice and an investor in Wilmington Investor Network, spoke about what his group looks for in potential investments. First and foremost, he said, "We're in it for the exit."

He said his network looks for an ROI of about 10 times its investment. While some of their decisions are made partly on emotion, the group wants to see a proof of concept and/or prototype, a business plan, a team capable of taking the concept to market, and an initial pipeline.

Understanding what you may have to put in is important to weigh against what you may get out of a venture, said Adam Burke, a business growth expert. He added it's also essential to figure out where the money is going to come from.

Burke said there's a difference between having an idea that solves a problem and growing a business.

Moderator Ann Revell-Pechar led a question-and-answer session following each panelist's quick presentation.

Among the panelists' comments:

Burke: Here are the three questions I would ask myself:  Why am I doing it? What does success look like? What am I willing to risk?

"Do you want to learn on your dime, or be trained by somebody else?" asked Burke, who worked for two multinational companies and acquired a background in baby products and plastics before venturing out on his own.

"There is nothing wrong with learning on someone else's dime, but protect your IP [intellectual property]," Rhoades agreed.

Becoming a hub: what does Wilmington need to have to become a startup magnet?

"Spreading Innovation," a panel discussion moderated by Yahoo Tech editor Dan Tynan, explored factors that contribute to a rich entrepreneurship-friendly community. Panelists Joan Siefert Rose (CEO of the CED), Derrick Minor (innovation and entrepreneurship manager for the city of Raleigh) and Pierre Naudé (CEO of nCino) participated.

Essential to such communities, the panelists said, are a good educational system, especially with a university; adequate bandwidth and redundancy; good jobs for spouses; good transportation and air connections; and places to gather and learn -- incubators, shared work spaces and entrepreneurship centers.

A few specific comments from the panelists:

Naudé: nCino hires for attitude and life experience; the company can teach new hires the skills they need. With the right team, growth happens. "Focus on something, grow it, and it will spawn itself from there," Naudé said. To recruit good people, he said, you have to market not only your company but also the community as a great place to live.

Minor: Raleigh is becoming a melting pot, with entrepreneurs coming from all over the world. It's important to have an inclusive culture that welcomes them and takes advantage of what these new people have to contribute.

Rose: Not all entrepreneurs are geeks in garages. Many of them have families and want to live in good places to raise their children and enjoy life. They are looking for places where they can be successful and find diversity of opportunity.

Rose also said that, increasingly, alumni investing networks are forming, and people are paying attention to good things happening in the place where they went to college. They may ultimately decide to move back. "That's the next thing we need to tap into," she said.
 

Joan Siefert Rose: three common threads to entrepreneurial success

Joan Siefert Rose is a big advocate of startups, but even more, she wants to see startups become what she calls scaleups: growing startups that are adding jobs and moving into new markets.
 
As president and CEO of Durham-based Council for Entrepreneurial Development, Rose leads efforts to help aspiring entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market, connecting them with resources and investors.
 
Addressing an audience of about 80 people at Thalian Hall, Rose used three young Triangle-based companies to make her primary points:

1. Be open to ideas and perspectives from people in other fields, who may see your enterprise from important new angles;
2. North Carolina startups can raise money here. In the first half of 2015, young companies in the state raised nearly $427 million in 90 deals. Fifteen of those investors were from California;
3. To make your company more appealing, have a compelling story connected to your company that helps you create a community of loyal, enthusiastic users.

Rose emphasized that getting from startup to success is not a quick, linear route. Not only is the path often more winding and detour-laden than the entrepreneur expects, but those setbacks and sidetrips can offer unforeseen opportunities if the company can recognize them.

Rose’s keynote was the first event of Cucalorus Connect. Following her talk, the audience heard short Port City Pitches from the heads of Mimijumi, Special Pedals and TacLace.