Pitch Reflection: I Need Land

Last week I participated in the BBVA Momentum Pitch Competition at the University of Texas. There were 16 social impact ventures from all over the United States that participated. I was the only company that hadn’t launched yet. The competition was two parts, we had to turn in a Growth Plan and then pitch in front of judges for $75,000.

Even though I really could have used the $75,000 towards the purchase of land for The Tiny Heights, I learned some valuable lessons from the experience. I honestly believe this will be my last competition pitch until I secure the land. The Tiny Heights is such a big project that often times the progress that we have made isn’t seen as substantial without the land. The next major milestone we will have reach is raising the capital necessary to purchase the land. As a founder, I am committed to this raise and understand that 80% of my time will be spent fundraising and I am okay with that.

Over the next two weeks, my priorities will be to write out my wishlist of investors and redo my proforma so that I can have clear terms to investors. The Growth Plan that I did for BBVA really showed me that I will need to link up with some strategic partners to help de-risk my deal. I am setting up a meeting with Habitat for Humanity to see if there is any synergy there. I will also start looking into ways to receive free land or ways to work with landowners to reduce my upfront cost.