Deal Maker of the Year Awards 2012 WINNER - USA
DEAL: FullCircle Raises Three Million Dollars
NAME: Michael Hodge COMPANY: FullCircle Geosocial Network, Inc. POSITION: CEO TEL: 301-980-3688 EMAIL:
mhodge@fullcircle.net
BIO:
Mike has over 10 years of e-commerce and mobile/wireless experience and is intimately familiar with an entrepreneurial environment, having owned and operated his own successful company for over 10 years. Prior to forming FullCircle, Mike was VP of Strategic Marketing at Terrestar Networks, an emerging 4g mobile network provider. He also previously served as VP and head of Strategic/Partner Marketing at SunRocket, a residential VOIP telecom provider, and as head of Ecommerce at Talk America, a publicly held communications company. Mike has a Bachelor of Science from The College of Business at The University of Maryland, and his e-commerce and wireless success and experience uniquely qualifies him to oversee the rapid growth required to make FullCircle successful.
(1) Please summarise the transaction?
DEAL OVERVIEW: Q
It was a three million dollar equity investment for a minority position in the company by Greehey and Company of San Antonio, Texas.
Q
What was your role within the transaction?
With the assistance of an existing investor in the company, I was introduced to and able to work directly with Sid Greehey of Greehey and Company. From there, we were able to provide a level of comfort that permitted us to move forward to iron out the deal terms.
Q
What were the challenges or difficulties presented?
Providing a cogent and compelling business case in a technology area that the investor was unfamiliar with (Geo Discovery or location based services) The market for location-based services is still so new (less than seven percent penetration on Internet-enabled devices so far in North America), that simply getting people to understand our service takes time.
Q 44
www.finance-monthly.com
How were the challenges or difficulties overcome?
Educating the investor and the investor’s Q
technology consultants as well as providing a compelling business case and differentiating aspects to our offerings.
How does the transaction fit in with your overall business strategy?
Quite well. Our investor is hands off but intimate with our progress and successes. If I could find several more like him, it would be perfect.
Q
What are your plans following the transaction?
Rapid growth of membership and the debut of our NearbySuperDeals product (competes with Groupon/LivingSocial) and the launch of our location-based broadcasting network called BCast.
Q
What are your thoughts and predictions within your sector for 2013 and beyond?
Awareness will improve dramatically and provide a greater degree of security comfort/awareness to the users and a better understanding of the day to day value of location-based services.
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