Tag Archives: Elevator Pitch

The Premiere Showcase of San Diego Startups

Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competition

The Premiere Showcase of San Diego Startups

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Thursday September 26th, Tech Coast Angels hosted their 7th Annual Quick Pitch Competition at Qualcomm headquarters. The lobby bustled with impressive ideas, hungry entrepreneurs and a sprinkling of angels looking for opportunities.

Linda Wells, Executive Director said, “The primary objective for the Quick Pitch is to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and promote investment opportunities.”

And it did.

Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competition Qualcomm Lobby
Over 200 eager startups applied for the journey months out from the competition. Mentors were assigned, and the new businesses underwent the transformation to viable investment. Ten finalists presented to the crowd of over 500 leaders in the entrepreneurial community and to the diverse panel of judges.

Each had two minutes to sell their idea. The ten presentations ranged from medical devices to interactive social sharing platforms. Scores were given for content as well as presentation style.

Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competition Ovapal

The Startup Garage at the 2013 Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competiton

The big winner of the evening, Ovopal — the first wearable technology to track fertility and transmit readings to your mobile app. Co-founder Giovanna Scheidler embodied the excitement with a big smile and not only took the judges, but the crowd as well, winning the audience award by a mile.

In matching orange shirts and a rocking’ presentation, Rock My World, Inc. won for style — a sensor-based fitness wearable to align your music with your pace and keep you moving!

The content award was given to Abreos Biosciences, an easy-to-use testing tool to ensure the integrity of pharmaceuticals.

And last — drumroll please… The Startup Garage gave a surprise award for the company with the greatest potential, “Beyond the Garage” was awarded to Sqeak16. The mobile sharing platform allows you to speak to, doodle on and zoom in and out of pictures to create video in a conversational format. We look forward to working with them!

The Startup Garage Awards Winner at Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Competion in San Diego

Tyler with Dustin Bradley of FlipManager at Quick Pitch
Overall the evening was a huge success. We even met up with Dustin Bradley, a client and founder of FlipManager.com.

Tech Coast Angels is the largest network of angel investors in the US and is the number one source of startup funding in Southern California. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event. Visit the Tech Coast Angels website for more information.

The Executive Summary

The Executive Summary from The Startup Garage

The Executive Summary

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While the strong>Executive Summary will be the first thing that people who are reading your business plan will see, it should be the last thing that you write. You are selling your concept to an outsider, possible future investor or a partner, who does not know anything about your business yet. The Executive Summary is an “elevator pitch” to get investors to take a deeper look in your business plan.

Executive Summary should be no more than 1-3 pages long, short enough to keep the attention and long enough to cover the subject. Executive Summary Pascal’s famous words should come to mind: “I apologize that this is so long – I lacked the time to make it short.”

The Executive Summary should include the basic elements from each section of your business plan; essentially, it is a clear summary of your business, marketing, operations and financial plans.

  1. First, summarize your business’ product or service: define the general idea of your product as well as the industry in which you will operate, underline the value of the product that you deliver to the customer (Value Proposition), identify the opportunities for you to deliver this value and explain why you think that you can do it better than your competitors.
  2. Second, summarize marketing: list distinctive features of your product/service, target your potential market, and present your competitive analyses (or competitive landscape). Define your key sales and marketing strategies.
  3. Third, summarize operations: Present your management team with a brief overview of their functions in your business. Note the key relationships that are expected to affect your business.
  4. Lastly, summarize you financials. Present a short outline of your financial projections and requirements. Explain why you will need financial input and how your business will use it.

Remember that your Executive Summary would be the first convincing “pitch” to your future investors. Usually a quick glance may determine whether a potential investor will finance you or whether he/she will not even consider reading the rest of your business plan. Write your Executive Summary in a language and terminology that is easy to understand, persuasive and convincing. You can find more information on how to write a business plan here.

In conclusion, those first pages of your  business plan are critical, so make them count.
Take a look at our Sample Business Plans and Products.

Whether you have a question about ___ or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!