Gone in 60 Takes LR, Now On to LA

Verve Solutions won the Gone in 60 pitch contest held Monday night before a packed house at Vino’s. The event, hatched by Innovate Arkansas advisor Jeff Amerine, became popular in northwest Arkansas and proved on Monday its appeal undoubtedly translates to central Arkansas.

Next stop? LA. (That’s Lower Arkansas, of course. Is there another?) Gone in 60 plays El Dorado Thursday night. More info here.

In the meantime, G60 made its first Little Rock appearance after successful stops in Fayetteville (twice at Buck Nekkid BBQ), Fort Smith (Second Street Live) and Rogers (Mellow Mushroom). Vino’s stepped in at pretty close to the last minute when another Little Rock venue (cough, Rev Room, cough) backed out when it realized it had overbooked.

And Vino’s rocked it, by all accounts going above and beyond to accomodate.

Needles to say, Innovate Arkansas folks were pleased. Good vibes, networking, exposure for central Arkansas entrepreneurs (not to mention good food and drink). Cohesion. It’s existed in Little Rock, folks in the know say, just not at the breakneck pace seen the last couple of years in NWA. Tech Drinks got its Arkansas start here, after all, and Little Rock is not devoid of its own coworking. More on that later….

This G60 thing is growing into quite a franchise. Amerine expects El Dorado to draw a big crowd as well. The venue will be a little different in the historic Rialto downtown. But the cool factor will only increase. Pitches will be made from the stage from a fabulous, old, revamped theater.

City leaders appear to be pulling out all stops to make the event a success.

For now, Verve basks in the glow of being the latest G60 winner. Co-founder Brian Broussard pitched, and did so on short notice. Verve was given a slot on Sunday after another entry had to drop out. Two startups tied for second — Currency Exchange and Judith & James — and once again, Amerine was genuinely pleased with the caliber of pitches presented Monday night.

Verve offers residential energy audits and consulting. Broussard hopes to capitalize on PACE legislation he hopes will be re-introduced in next year’s Arkansas legislative session and ultimately signed into law.  He said if PACE becomes law, it will benefit both home buyers and sellers.

Broussard called Monday night “super inspiring.”

Next stop, LA.

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