Last Friday was InSITE’s final pitch event, where the five startups that we worked with all semester presented 
their business to New York City based venture capitalists. In addition to the other investors in the crowd, a panel of VCs provided feedback on the individual pitches. The panel included Morgan Rodd of Milestone Venture Partners, Will Porteous of RRE Ventures and Jason Finger, current EIR at Bessemer Venture Partners, and their participation was genuinely appreciated. All five pitches (and all five companies) were great and we look forward to seeing what the future brings for each of them. A bit about each of the companies:
ProtEquity: I lead the team of Fellows working with CEO Sam Payrovi of ProtEquity. Sam’s product, “Home Equity Protection” or “HEP,” is a contract sold to homeowners allowing them to protect the value of their home against local market declines. From the outset, we knew one of Sam’s biggest challenges would be to explain his very technical, complicated product in a simple yet meaningful way. I have to give a shout out to Sam and my team of fellows, Colleen Honigsberg, Alessandro Presti, Zach Safir and Seth Goldman, who managed to do exactly that. The whole team felt a great sense of accomplishment after Sam knocked his pitch out of the park and a panelist indicated that he wanted to speak with Sam in more detail about possibly funding his company.
Bandvest provides an online community that enables crowdfunding for bands to afford initial music recordings. I think Bandvest is an awesome idea and I hope my friends and I have the opportunity to use it frequently to support our favorite up-and-coming artists.
Modos CEO Andrew Personette did a fantastic job presenting his customizable, easy to assemble and sustainable furniture product and accompanying social media website for customers to share their customized designs. I think Modos will be a hit because, just think about it—how many hours did you spend searching for the perfect pieces to furnish your last apartment?
Klickable is an online video platform that allows customers to create interactive videos by imbedding links and ads within the video. The online video industry is a crowded space, however, the recent historical growth in this market is astounding (18%+ annually). Will Klickable surpass its older, but struggling competitors to dominate this space? Only time will tell.
Trist founder Sunil Matthew put on the final presentation of the day. Trist is a mobile application that enables venue owners to deliver branded and interactive location-based experiences and information to customers. I love live events so I will be pulling for Trist to become a mainstream mobile app.
The panel feedback was invaluable to the entrepreneurs and informative for the InSITE Fellows. I have added my thoughts to some of the feedback, which I considered to fall into three equally important categories: pitch design; must-see quantitative data; and thoughts for actually improving the business.
Pitch Design: Though not directed to the business concept itself, feedback related to pitch design is nonetheless critical. A solid pitch signals that you are organized, thorough and invested in your business—all qualities that motivate investors. Placing the management team slide towards the front, as opposed to the end, particularly in the case of a complicated product where the CEO has extensive domain expertise will immediately ease some of the VCs concerns. Using examples of how similar, successful products or comparable ideas worked well under the same circumstances, also gives investors a point of reference. Additionally, outlining your short-term milestones is crucial to a pitch. While visions of ubiquitous use of your product is great, VCs want to know how you are going to achieve short-term milestones—while spending their cash—to actually reach your long-term goals. Finally, if your product is entering a struggling (or crowded) market, you must address this issue head-on and demonstrate how you are “special” and superior to your competitors.
Essential Quant Data: A successful pitch will include a detailed yet coherent explanation of the revenue model. Even in my limited experience, I have seen pitches fail because the presenter did not explain the revenue model well enough. This usually leads to the entrepreneur spending valuable time helping the VC understand how you will make money, instead of why your business is truly awesome. In addition, you must convince the VCs that the economics make sense for the customer, and, if you are a B2B2C business they must also make sense for the consumer. Moreover, entrepreneurs should present an honest and thoughtful market sizing. Convincing an investor that you have thoroughly considered why the perceived customer base would actually use your product can go a long way towards raising money. Finally, a few classic marketing 101 concepts are necessary, such as what the customer acquisition costs are and how many orders it takes to break even.
Actual Concept Improvement: Business improvement recommendations range from truly understanding your best distribution channels and tapping them, to realizing that your idea is reliant on successful business development, which, in my mind, requires building a management team with heavy hitters from your industry. It is also essential to understand whether your product is a fad or if it can be copied easily. In such cases, owners should endeavor to build the business more quickly than initially imagined, which means, don’t hesitate to ask for more money!
After a successful Spring 2010 Pitch Event, we’re looking forward to Fall 2011!
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capitalize on sharing informationand resources. Most large cities across the country have a similar group. Thanks to Paul Tumpowsky (InSITE Chairman of the Board) and Bronson Lingamfelter (former InSITE Fellow) who recently connected InSITE with the New York Angels, two other InSITE fellows (Marisa Tricarico and Roy Simkhay) and I are now part of the “Future Angels Program.”
Q&A with Batia Ferry, one of CEO 