Surf simulator maker American Wave Machines recently caught a swell of enthusiasm -- and seasoned advice -- from some of Southern California's most experienced business leaders and entrepreneurs.

These leaders and entrepreneurs are members of the San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum, a nonprofit devoted to nurturing growing companies. Nearly every month, a company goes before the forum's panel, which becomes an ad hoc board of directors for the company.There's no cost to the company.

It's not just the company that benefits. The presentation, which takes place nearly every month, brings together hundreds of professionals looking for investment possibilities.

Topics include marketing plans, growth strategies, personnel issues and how to deal with competition. Raw startups aren't accepted; presenting companies must have revenue greater than $500,000 or investments greater than $2 million.

Bruce McFarland, American Wave Machine's CEO, made his presentation the evening of April 15. He came away with practical advice the company can use immediately, McFarland said.

American Wave Machines' adjustable wave generator is built on computer studies of the fluid dynamics of ocean waves. The result is a realistic-looking wave, thick and tall enough to ride a surfboard on. Some other wave simulators give the appearance of a wave by spraying a thin sheet of water onto a mold.

But while the concept worked technically, and the company had made a few sales, McFarland said he was unsure of where to take the company from there.

Advice from experience

The panelists drew on their own knowledge to suggest possible courses for the company, as well as how to tap markets and gain investors, said Carl Winston, the panel's moderator.

"(The company) learned a lot, the audience got a lot out of it," said Winston, program manager for the hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State. "It was a heck of a way for the founder of this company to go to school on the experience of others."

McFarland praised a suggestion from panelist Kelly Rhyner to pitch his machine at a trade show for shopping malls and other retail projects.

"These retail developments need to bring people in," McFarland said. "We have a product that would fit really well, but we don't market to those people. She said, you need to get in front of them. So we're going to go to that trade show."

McFarland said another panelist, Michael Brower, told him the company needed to have a clear understanding of its target audience, and how to market the wave generator to them.

"In our marketing, he said, we have to be sure to state what we are, what we've done first, and how we're unique," McFarland said.

"Assuming you need capital, you have to present and develop a plan that investors are going to attracted to and hopefully write a check for," said Brower, general manager and chief financial officer of PowerMetal Technologies in Carlsbad.

To get investor interest, McFarland said, companies need to meet what he called the "Four Ps." Those are: product differentiation from competitors, people in the company, potential for market size and predictability of revenue.

From MIT to San Diego

San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum's panel for American Wave Machines is typical of the approach by the more than 20 chapters of the forum, said Keith McKenzie, chairman of the San Diego chapter. All are inspired by the original forum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

"Its purpose is helping entrepreneurs and enterpreneurial companies get a leg up and get started," McKenzie said.

In San Diego, the enterprise forum is affiliated with Connect, a nonprofit spinoff of UC San Diego that encourages technology-based entrepreneurship.

Their target companies are different, McKenzie said, because Connect works a lot with very early-stage companies. The enterprise forum deals more with companies have already demonstrated commercial potential.

"We're focused not on the one or two people in a garage, that don't have a business plan," McKenzie said. "We want companies that are up and running and have real business issues."

The enterprise forum's next event, which occurs May 27, will differ from the normal program. It features Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation.

The X Prizes are monetary awards of $10 million or greater, given to the first team to reach a goal set by the foundation. For example, one X-Prize went to a team that was the first private group to put a human into space.

For more information, visit www.sdmitforum.org.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.

San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum

On the Web: http://www.sdmitforum.org

Contact: Karen Winston, Program Director, (858) 964-1346

Qualifications to present:

- Privately held, cutting-edge, high technology or life sciences companies based in San Diego County

- Revenue greater than $500,000 or investments of more than $2 million

- Dynamic CEO with solid presentation skills, openly willing to listen and seek advice from panelists

Benefits of presenting:

- Receive insight and advice from a panel of industry experts

- Get one-on-one presentation coaching from experts in the field

- Marketing exposure

- Display table during the networking reception at your event

SOURCE: MIT Enterprise Forum