Dream It

AUGUST 10, 2020

Word choice is important and even the smallest detail can make or break your startup pitch. Adam Dakin , Managing Director of Dreamit Healthtech, sees founders make the same common pitch mistakes over and over. Luckily, he’s a pro when it comes to pitching investors and distills the advice so it’s easy to avoid.

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Dream It

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely. We hear startups pitch everyday and far too often founders end up joining the meeting late.

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This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 22, 2020

Pitch deck outlines are ok, but they don’t say much about what you’re trying to convey besides particular categories that may or may not be relevant. Too often people only pitch what they have, not where they’re going—and they forget that fundraising is selling tickets to the future, not asking for rewards for the past.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Selling a compelling vision is so critical that some investors weigh it more heavily than the pitch deck itself. Strategies for crafting a strong and compelling vision for your startup: Towards the end of your pitch, tell investors that “this is just the beginning” for your startup. It’s not about the slide deck.

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Dream It

MAY 29, 2019

Startup pitch meetings are pretty predictable. You walk into a venture fund’s conference room or Zoom room (if they’re progressive), pitch the partners, offer to answer their questions, maybe ask them a bland question or two, and then leave the meeting to await a response. Steve Barsh.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

DECEMBER 15, 2021

He has raised venture capital for his startups, helped hundreds of founders craft their pitch decks and fundraising strategy, and invested as a business angel. We asked him how founders can create the perfect pitch deck for their company. Some of these pitches were very informal, sitting at the bar or walking around.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

She was pitching for a pre-seed round of $400k. Founders hit the street with their pitch deck, some make it, and some don’t, but nearly all of them ascribe a lot more human influence over the process than there probably is. For all we know, white men make 99% of the pitches. I’m a female founder. I don’t have enough traction.

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The Seraf Compass

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

I’ve talked about the role of a compelling executive summary to get an investor's initial attention and secure their agreement to take a pitch meeting. But what should that investor expect out of the ensuing pitch deck? Trying to make that evaluation without a solid explanation is an exercise in needless frustration.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2022

What Alan recognized was that most IRL forums and networking events are absolutely awful places to pitch and here’s why: 1) When a VC shows up in person, they’re looking to replicate the kind of top of the funnel they would get in an hour or two’s worth of e-mail, and that’s not going to happen if you corral them into a corner for 30 minutes.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 5, 2015

In my effort to rewrite the deck for my next fund, I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on what it is that I try to do. A lot of people can say they work hard, or work smart, but that doesn't leave me off where I think I'm setting my goals.

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American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 5, 2024

Three finalists received training via workshops and coaching from business advisors, fine-tuning their business plans and pitches for the showcase and pitch competition. In addition to its classroom curriculum, NFTE hosts the Founders Forum Pitch Competition.

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Revolution

JANUARY 27, 2025

Reflections on Georgetowns 2025 pitch competition from TedLeonsis Last week, Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business once again became a launchpad for the next generation of bold thinkers and doers.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

When you see pitch after pitch – what works and what doesn’t – you start to get a sense of patterns of business model approaches, go-to-market strategies and the like. So we discussed his moving to LA for a while and working in our offices and developing his ideas and we decided to formalize it.

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Dream It

MAY 19, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin presents his view on the right way to answer it after hearing hundreds, if not thousands, of founder pitches. Make the specific amount you are raising and corresponding milestones clear at the beginning of the pitch, and do not give a range. The amount you're raising is your ask.

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This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 30, 2020

The problem is that your pitch is a combination of a bunch of individual components, each of whom an investor is going to have particular reactions to and sometimes a great reaction to one is enough to push you over the top—or sink your pitch. What gives?

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs. When you pitched me I really did love you. And you get to demonstrate your skill sets without even pitching. I call it, “Remind me why I love you again?” New York, Chicago, Boston, etc.

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pitching board funders entrepreneurs 381

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 1, 2016

I can't think of a single time when a white man came to pitch me and I told him his fundraising plans weren't aggressive enough. Yet, for some reason, the goals for her pitch were incremental--despite being in an extremely hot space. And no, that doesn't mean pitch like a man. Something else is at play.

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advice founder pitching VC 419

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 16, 2014

If all my deals came as intros from trusted connections that I know for years versus at founder pitch events that''s interesting data. If you meet someone at a pitch event, they''ve already got a company and they''re looking to close as quickly as possible. In fact, that''s what I tend to do--at least, what I say that I do.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

When pitching a potential investor or customer, time is of the essence. While politicians may be masters at deflecting away from questions they are asked, that is not productive for a founder pitching. Most of that time goes to the meat of the conversion: the question-and-answer portion.

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VC pitching health founder 513

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

OCTOBER 14, 2020

The NVCA and Pitch Book are out with their Q3 report on the VC industry and what they report is that the VC industry continues to be very active throughout the pandemic. The NVCA and Pitch Book are out with their Q3 report on the VC industry and what they report is that the VC industry continues to be very active throughout the pandemic.

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Dream It

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Keep reading for some more of the most common mistakes startups make when pitching and for Steve’s tips on how to fix them. Investors want to hear, “Our unique insight is __”… in your pitch 2. End your pitch with something along the lines of, “So, is this something you feel you would like to get behind?” co-founder).

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startup founder founder startup pitching 397

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 30, 2025

Follow and engage with them on social media, comment thoughtfully on their articles, and offer insights on industry trends without pitching your company. Start building relationships with journalists before you need coverage. Be responsive, reliable, and willing to provide data or expert commentary when they need it.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 11, 2015

I realized that I judge a lot of hackathons, pitch competitions and other various things on the weekends, and felt like I was losing at least 2 out of my 8 weekend days--so I gave myself back those days. Out of those, I take about 150 new pitches a year--about 3 a week. It's more aspirational. And yes, I take every other Monday off.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 14, 2021

As business owners, we constantly have new ideas for films we’d like to make–so we’re out there pitching, much like the GSEA competitors. We took notes during the competition to help improve our pitch!”. We’re grateful to them for sharing their stories and perspectives. Costantini : “I’m in awe of their bravery and independence.

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Dream It

JULY 31, 2019

The press enhances this misconception around YCombinator demo days, where the 3-day pitch event is perceived like an auction, with investors fighting each other for the best deals. Many programs still put a lot of focus on demo day rehearsals, prep, and on getting the pitch deck just right. It did for me, at least.

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Paul G. Silva

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Startups pitched for 10 minutes each. pitches , back-to-back, with no Q&A. It wasn’t scalable. We had to find a better way. Iteration #2: The Standing Monthly Meeting Next, we modeled our program after an angel investor group meeting. A room full of mentors provided feedback. Then we moved on to the next startup.

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This is going to be BIG.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

It was like someone gave him the instruction manual on how to pitch and no one else had it. One time, he was sitting next to a player in the dugout and told him that he should move or he's going to get hit with a foul ball on the next pitch. Sure enough, the very next pitch sent a screamer his way. This next one is easy.

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pitching consulting entrepreneurs communities 411

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2021

Below is a link to the pitch video. There wasn’t any context around it—not exactly something I’d call a “pitch”. I explained that this wasn’t really a pitch because it lacked all sorts of context. Having been called out, I set up a meeting—but I didn’t do it to take a charity pitch. Who was the team?

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TechCrunch

JANUARY 8, 2024

Pitch, the company behind a collaborative presentation software for businesses, is scaling back and bootstrapping, with CEO and co-founder Christian Reber stepping down and two-thirds of its employees losing their jobs. This translates roughly to 80 personnel, based on the 120 headcount figure Pitch has published on its about page.

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Revolution

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

We sourced and received applications from hundreds of Black, high-growth startup founders from all over the country and held workshops and discussions about the challenges they face, all of which culminated in a virtual pitch competition.

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innovation investing investment pitching 264

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 24, 2018

If enterprise sales is the hard part of what you’re doing, figure out how you can de-risk that first—maybe by trying to pitch some vaporware to buyers or perhaps getting them to pay you to build it on a consulting basis. Build a following around what you’re doing. Be deliberate in terms of what you want to get out of investors.

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NOVEMBER 3, 2023

In fact, you could make the argument that, because of their lack of advantages in other areas, the ones who make it to a venture pitch actually have more of these raw ingredients because they’ve had to in order to make it to the same destination as their straight white male counterparts.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

AUGUST 5, 2022

There’s a lengthy application and vetting process for EO members or Accelerators to qualify to pitch. The 20 or so people selected will participate in a pitch workshop breakout session during DX22. Round One of the Angel-Shark Experience gives each competitor three minutes to pitch before a big gong ends their presentation.

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This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 22, 2018

What about pitch competitions that sound like Ancient Roman death matches? They do, and I'll join these events, but when you name your pitch event after something violent, you shouldn't be surprised when you've gotten way more men to apply. How enthusiastic are women going to be to participate in shark cages and battlegrounds?

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 14, 2021

However, I met and pitched my business to people that I follow on social media as business role models. How was your experience in GSEA different from other business pitch competitions you’ve participated in? But the wild ads keep appearing all over my social media until I decided to apply. What an incredible experience!

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entrepreneurs pitching communities media 286

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 24, 2021

There are so many factors that go into a raise—and here are just a few that no one really talks about or seems to notice: The investor just happens to be looking specifically for the kind of thing you’re pitching. I see this all the time—two founders pitching the same thing, one gets funded, one doesn’t. You pitched a jerk.

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founder pitching VC advice 317

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

I see this time and time again—a founder pitches a VC or an angel and they say to come back when there’s more traction. We create a blind panel of 10 investors from venture funds who rate you anonymized pitch across multiple categories, providing you with a detailed report on how fundable and workable your idea is.

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