HYPE says “Roger” to Race.Radio
Dang. I’ve gone and ruined the punchline, haven’t I?
About six weeks ago I applied to the HYPE SPIN® Virtual Accelerator, delivered in partnership with Loughborough University.
It’s the third cycle of the sports tech-focused accelerator, but the first to be delivered virtually. With geographical boundaries removed, mine was apparently one of over a thousand applications they received.
A few weeks later, I learned Race.Radio was to be one of 25 companies selected to pitch at a one-day “bootcamp” for a place. No pressure then.
Fast-fwd to June 9th. The big day. An agenda packed with presentations from academics and experts, panel discussions, the pitches and some exacting 15-minute one-to-one sessions with industry mentors.
It’s tough to concentrate on the content, knowing you’re soon to make your precious pitch. However, some lessons definitely landed: notably the importance of identifying and prioritising your “must-win” battles. Which brings me back to the pitch…
The running order was announced early on. I was up fourth. Perfect. Nobody wants to be first, but it’s always good to go before the inevitable audience fatigue sets in — particularly without the benefit of IRL interaction.
Three slick presentations then my turn. And in a gut-wrenching moment, I failed the first test. Due to a late decision to use Keynote rather than faithful PowerPoint I was unable to share my screen. Curses. I had to shamefully skip my turn and restart Zoom. Sincere apologies to the company that followed, who were forced to scramble and present 5 minutes earlier than planned— first top tip: always be ready to go in case you have a numpty like me in front of you.
The three minutes flew by. My delivery was so-so — it’s hard to find a balance between nailing all the essential points and sounding overly scripted. Something I’m sure demo day veterans get used to. But I at least felt I answered the follow-up questions well.
In the days prior, I’d worked with Bern on some new slides. My original investor deck looked professional enough, but it was designed to be read, not presented. We removed excess words, adjusted the narrative to talk about the post-COVID market opportunity and added new visuals to help evoke an emotional response.
Following the lunch break, we rotated through successive Zoom rooms with the industry mentors. I was anticipating an uncomfortable grilling, but instead enjoyed four really interesting, provocative conversations with some very smart, perceptive people. One asked about safety, but most centred on the testing I’d done, the big challenges I’m currently facing, and what I hoped to get out of the accelerator.
After that, if I’m honest, I was really struggling to focus again. It was partly knowing that scorecard points were being tallied and our relative merits debated behind the scenes, but also because I simply haven’t experienced such prolonged social interaction for at least four months. It’s knackering!
Drumroll… and then actually that was it in terms of suspense for me, because Race.Radio was the first name to be announced. Yay! A mini-milestone to be cherished and celebrated (I may even have had a beer). Who knows where it might lead?
The biggest revelation from the day? In prepping and presenting, I came to appreciate that we are genuinely entering a new era of cycling — bike sales are up, infrastructure is appearing, it’s becoming more inclusive. Unsurprisingly, I’ve seen an attendant increase in interest from investors and advisors. This could be my moment.
That, and remember to check your tech. Tsk.
Over and out.
