I Pitched to Silicon Valley Execs. Forgot lines & Built Bridges (pt. 2)
I pitch my business Hypetroop! Here is part 1 before you scroll down any further.
Spoilers: I choked BUT I did great in Q&A (Which is after the video)
Remember the pitch in part 1? I memorized it word for word in while I was sitting in a coffee shop beside the Transamerica pyramid. As soon I take the stage and look at the crowd, forgot my lines. Extremely nervous, I gave a piecemeal in the pitch with some gaps.
Luckily though, I killed the Q&A — exuding more confidence because I had nothing to memorize. This raised my score and impression by showing some “realness”.
My Scores
3/5 from Yi Henry Han, Google Product Manager, Harvard Angel Group
Maintain your conversational style. You don’t have to memorize it! Use your strength as a conversationalist to ease your workload and to increase trust.
3/5 from Serial Entrepreneur/Investor, DUO Group, Adam Pluemer
I like your solution only that I wish you didn’t scrape the cash from starving artists because their starving I guess. Other monetization methods would be great to implement as well.
3/5 from Serial Angel Firm Entrepreneur/Investor, David Emerson
Entrepreneur/Investor
This is great because the thing is: the starving artists need your service. It’s the food.
2/5 from Riaz Karamali Coorperate Law, Venture Finance and Mergers Expert
You did good. Be careful in your pitch not to get tripped up with your lines.
3/5, From Max Shapiro Entrepreneur/Investor & CEO of People Connect Staffing
I like the way you’re staying lean and scrappy. Fighting to solve some problems. Also, when I gave you the notes last week they are good guidelines, but don’t memorize. Feel comfortable in your skin. I even experienced someone who rapped an elevator pitch — I noticed that you held the mic like a rapper. Just feel comfortable on stage and let loose your pitch. Good job.
Rob Novelli,
Didn’t judge with numbers if I recall correctly. Talked to me after the pitch of the VC firms in Waterloo on hearing that I was in Canada.
Overall, not bad. Next time, I’m never memorizing a pitch (I don’t like to anyways).
I pitched at larger events because but the nerve finally got to me. I loved using the pitch as a platform to connect with some of the insane connections. Practicing was also key for my in other business I’ll build.
The CEO of Flipsnap was there along with others. This was a good connection for my other business Innovator.Supply. One pitcher had an MBA from Columbia U along with an Ivy League PhD who invested millions of dollars in his own company. It’s safe to say I was learning from the best.
Still remaining in touch with some of the pitchers, the ultimate goal of SF ElevatorPitch is to receive an invitation from one of our panelists to pitch at their firm, angel group, etc. The one that did had sold 100,000’s in product already (a machine to clean pool water — apparently a huge problem!)
If you’re in the area, sign up for it here: http://www.sfelevatorpitch.com/
Give it a google, a link should be on EventBrite.
As Rob Novelli told me, The Keirestu Forum Academy’s Capital Access Series is the best place to learn where and how to pitch your growth stage business. They have offices worldwide from San Fran to Waterloo.
To download the notes I got from the silicon valley exec, get them freely from here
Over 50 Docs of Notes! (How to Market, Pitch and More in 50+documents)
