Why Invite Media turned down $20 million and other Founder Factory notes

Maia Josebachvili approached the microphone on stage at the World Cafe Live in University City. Except she wasn’t part of any rock band. She had a story to tell.
“So, this all started with a game of beer pong in college,” she said.
Josebachvili is the founder of Urban Escapes, a company that helps cubicle jockeys get out of the city to go on adventures like skydiving. She’s also one of the dozen founders to take the stage to tell their story of her business and all of the ups and downs along the way. From newly minted companies like XIPWIRE to long-time entrepreneurs like Hal Real, founder of World Cafe Life, the third edition of the Philly Startup Leaders’ Founders Factory trotted out lots of local names to talk shop.
The event alternated between fishbowls (business critiques) and speeches throughout the day with many companies expressed optimism at the future and many of the startups were hiring.
Each entrepreneur could merit a post, so follow us after the jump for some of the highlights including the startup that turned down a million dollars in exchange for $55,000 and the notes from Invite Media co-founder Nat Turner’s keynote speech.

• Before it was purchased by Living Social, Urban Escapes made $1 million of revenue in a year. After the exit, the business received $1 million every week by leveraging Living Social’s large email list.
• Adam Schran, founder & CEO Ascentive, offered the most candid advice when he was a Fishbowl panelist, and his “pivot” speech was one of the day’s most popular.
• World Cafe Life founder Hal Real said he turned down funders as large as $1 million when financing the venue in exchange for a more grassroots efforts where the average angel investment was $55,000.
• The world cafe live will expand to Wilmington in April 1st, 2011. The venue is also considering expanding to  Newark, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati.
• During a fishbowl focused on alternative funding, there were many mentions of the importance of Ben Franklin Technology Ventures.

Nat Turner’s speech:

• Invite Media worked shirtless for two warm months in Northern Liberties when it first began.
• The comapny raised its first $300,000 from a “hedge fund guy who probably didn’t know what we did.”
• The company eventually raised $250,000 from First Round Capital. $1 million from Genacast Ventures.
• Invite’s first platform was so bad that the company had to refund its customers for the first three months.
• The company was offered $20 million six months before its $100 million exit to Google.
• Turner’s big takeaway: co-founders are important. “Show me a solo co-founder and I’ll show you a few early people that were practically co-founders.”
• Get your business idea to something you can say in 10 seconds.
• Invite’s first concept was online local video ads. “It was a zero dollar idea,” said Turner.
• The company had $2 million left in the bank when acquired.
• Focus on the demo no business plans.
• Only go to investors through introductions, no cold calls.