Andrew Prell readies second season of Startup Icon

When I first met Andrew Prell in the 1990s, he was living in Louisville and pursuing his dream of building a virtual reality arcade game. By 1993 he had arcade games in several high-profile locations, including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

But while his games never matched the popularity of Ms. Pac-Man or Space Invaders, his quest brought him into the orbits of several high-powered entrepreneurs. His company, Agora Interactive, counted among its backers Computer Associates founder Charles Wang and Nolan Bushnell, the legendary founder of Atari.

Today, Prell divides his time between Louisville and Silicon Valley where he is the brains behind Startup Icon, a project that merges business and entertainment in a web-based competition that has been called an "American Idol for startups."

I ran into Prell at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and caught up with him again last week at a Highlands coffee shop. He filled me in on his plans for the second season of StartUp Icon, which is currently lining up contestants for this year’s competition. The playoffs will start later this spring. 

You don't have to be an entrepreneur to participate. Anyone can sign up to try out the competitors' apps and products and provide feedback in the website forums. Once the playoff is under way, the audience can also get in line for gifts and prizes.
 
To get more details about the show, check out my interview with Press at High Gain Blog.



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