My demo day debut
I have an admission to make.
I always just assumed that demo days involved giving a demo. No optimistic projections, predictions or promises, just product. In my head I still see Pied Piper (Silicon Valley) clicking one button, stepping back and letting the speed of their data compression algorithm do the rest of the talking.
My only IRL experience has been the Tuesday Demo Nights at TechHub London and thinking back, there were only a handful of companies that actually tried to show their products in action. It didn’t always go well.
A shame. It could have been awesome. Two lycra-clad cyclists on turbo trainers, mirrored shades, Race.Radio buttons affixed to their handlebars, conspicuous headsets, connected to Zwift with their digital doppelgangers circling the volcano. A slipped chain. One avatar streaks ahead, wheels glowing with a Tron-style power-up, while the other languishes behind… how do they reconnect and ride Watopia again together? Can anyone — or anything — save the day?
But when you’re presenting virtually over Zoom, few people want to risk getting a video working, never mind chancing a live product demo. And so the Hype Global Virtual Accelerator SportsTech Demo Day turned out to be a well-orchestrated procession of polished PowerPoint and PDFs, with just the occasional tricksy transition or animation.
There were some great pitches for some incredible products. I’d like to think mine was one of them, but an English accent and some slick slides (thanks, Bern!) will always struggle to compete with genuine traction. It’s not a best business plan competition, after all. A lot of the companies involved in the accelerator are much further along their journey — with shipping product, paying customers, athlete endorsement etc. Others are dabbling in much deeper tech: several in the computer vision and AI-based sports analytics space, thankfully not too many in the cycling communication category.
With four minutes, rather than the three we had to pitch at the bootcamp, I was able to cover a little more content including competitive differentiation, the investment ‘ask’ and the proposed use of funds. I was thankful to get a couple of good questions, somewhat relieved when it was over, and very glad to get some follow-up inquiries from assorted movers and shaker — more on that in a post to follow.
I can’t watch myself on video without my toes curling, but if you have four minutes spare, you can see the full recording here (ffwd to the 2:40 mark). Just so you know, the cap was not a techpreneur affectation, it was necessary to stop the top of my head blending into the black background (plus I’m sporting some pretty shocking lockdown locks at the moment).
It was all a bit surreal. Imagine the Eurovision song contest, without the songs, being held by web conference. Sadly I didn’t capture the jury’s votes for best pitch, or most promising startup — “nil points” for me on this occasion.
Nevertheless, it was great to get to put on a performance and be a part of the show. We still have the investor days to come in a couple of weeks’ time. And having the chance to practice a pitch in a competitive situation can only be a good thing.
Over and out.
