I've found that using the paper towel method for 24 hours prior to placing the seed in the grow pod provides a nice jumpstart to the germination process without allowing the tap root to get too long and risking breakage during transplant.
Follow the advice of poking a very narrow hole from the top of the grow cone at least halfway down to allow the taproot room to extend deep enough to anchor the seedling in the cone. I use a little screwdriver from an eyeglass repair kit for this purpose.
I find it's not necessary to poke the hole all the way through the bottom of the cone, as the taproot will quickly grow tiny shooter roots that will burrow through the pores in the spongy grow cone and find their way to the water below within a few days, creating a very stable anchoring structure within the cone material.
Keep in mind that the bottom of the cone is actually submerged (at least it is in the Veggie Pro model I own) and actually wicks the water up to the top of the sponge, so from the time the taproot breaks out of the seed, it will have a constant source of moisture.
Just make sure that when you place the seed in the cone, you wedge it into the hole you've poked in the sponge with the pointy end of the seed pointing down (if the taproot has begun to poke out of your pre-germed seed just use tweezers to gently insert the seed with the taproot pointing down).
You don't need to push the seed way down in there--in fact this will complicate things for your little seedling, forcing it to stretch that much farther to extend itself into sufficient light to begin the vegetation process.
Wedge the seed into the hole in the sponge so that the top of the seed is just flush with the top of the hole. As long as the seed is wedged snugly into the hole, the tap root will immediately shoot to the bottom of the hole, anchor itself, and allow the sprout to begin pushing up into the light. So in this regard, a narrow hole poked only halfway down the sponge will allow the sprout to emerge more quickly and begin vegetation
