Under-30 entrepreneurs fail to woo investors with startup pitches
Founder2Founder gave young CEOs a chance to pitch to five potential investors. But as stats show VCs straying away from IT startups, some of these sales pitches fell on deaf ears.
8/30/2011 6:00:00 AM By: Christine Wong
It’s a nightmare for most of us: a big white screen, a PowerPoint
presentation, and nowhere to hide.But that age-old format recently gave some of Canada’s most ambitious young entrepreneurs an opportunity they had only dreamed about: five minutes to pitch their business ideas to a group of potential angel investors.
The pitch night was the final event of Founder2Founder (F2F), a 10-week program providing 10 teams of startups with information seminars, guest speakers and mentoring from 10 corporate veterans. Originally called Young Entrepreneurs’ Club, the program took place in Toronto but drew participating teams from as far as Kingston and Waterloo, Ont. All team members had to be under 30 years old.
Eight teams ended up pitching on the final night to about five potential investors at Toronto’s Yorkville Media Centre. There was no prize to be awarded, so teams vied solely for the feedback of their peers, and the interest (and money) of the investors in attendance. While the chances of any team walking out of the room with a cheque were slim, organizers said the program was more about mentoring than money.
“Everyone sort of developed a lot. (It’s been) very impressive when you look at (the startups) from day one to near the end of the 10 weeks. And I think a lot of people gained a lot of insight throughout the process as well,” says F2F co-founder Jeremy Einhorn.
“It’s about fostering the relationships, gaining insight and then moving forward as best they can with their businesses,” he adds.
Mentors included Buytopia co-founder Michelle Romanow and branding guru Jamie Salter, who’s credited with crafting Lady Gaga’s Polaroid Corp. endorsement deal, and pairing up actress Sarah Jessica Parker with fashion label Halston. The advice from those mentors proved priceless, says Einhorn, whether any of the startups ultimately get funding or not.
“It’s so unbelievable. We have (mentors) that come out and say ‘You have a great idea, drop out of school. Go do your idea, school’s for fools, look at me’ kind of thing. And you have other guys that say ‘No, no, no, stay in school,’” Einhorn says.
Page Navigation 1) Pitches given, only feedback received. - Page 1
2) Business ideas include analytics for loyalty programs. - Page 2
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