Tag Archives: High Tech Startup

Inside The 2016 Tech Coast Angels 10th Anniversary Quick Pitch Event

Inside The 2016 Tech Coast Angels 10th Anniversary Quick Pitch Event

It’s no secret, the Tech Coast Angels is one of the largest, if not THE largest angel investor group in the nation. “Consisting of experienced CEOs, senior executives, current and former entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other professionals, members have invested over $180 million in more than 300 companies and have helped entrepreneurs attract more than $1.6 billion in additional capital rounds,” according to the TCA Website. Regional chapters include: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Central Coast, and the Inland Empire. Within those chapters, the San Diego John G. Watson TCA Quick Pitch Competition celebrates its ten year anniversary this year.

“The Quick Pitch Competition is one of the most recognized angel investor events in the nation, showcasing talented entrepreneurs who each have two minutes to pitch their business to an expert panel of judges and large audience of investors, business executives and community leaders,” states Qualcomm Ventures. Finalists this year showcased San Diego’s entrepreneurial diversity, showcasing companies in various industries, including life sciences, consumer products, and tech industries.

This year the event was conducted a little differently, instead of the winner being selected by the judges, the audience of 500 were privileged enough to name the 2016 Quick Pitch winner. Another incentive for entrepreneurs was the doubling of last year’s cash prize to $30,000, although the top three winners would have to divide up the cash prize. The ten judges were therefore considered coaches and provided insight and feedback to the top ten savvy startup competitors. The winners were announced following an evening of meet and greet with TCA members, quick pitch finalists, and thought leaders within the San Diego startup community. As one can imagine, these entrepreneurs were eager to hear the results, but they were able to enjoy themselves throughout the entire event.

In The Hot Seat [The Feedback]

With a panel of the top players in the San Diego Startup Community serving as coaches during the TCA Quick Pitch event, there was extensive feedback provided to each presenter. Following each two-minute pitch, judges were given three-minutes to provide constructive thoughts or ask questions to each presenter.

Top 5 Points of Feedback From the Coaches

Credibility – Highlight key experiences and certifications that make you and your team a credible player in your target space.

Traction, Traction, Traction – Clearly present metrics and data points that show how your company is gaining traction.

Customer Acquisition Cost – this is a key metric all investors are interested in. Lifetime value (LTV) is also a key metric in rationalizing your CAC by quantifying your ability to monetize customers.

Optimization – If you are allotted a specific time period, use every second as effectively as possible. Two minutes is short – asking the audience questions, spending too much time on basic company information is not a meaningful use of your time
Growth Potential – Make sure you clearly communicate current revenue as well as the big picture in Year 5; investors want profitable, scalable companies to invest in.

Mark Your Calendars

The Startup Garage is a proud sponsor of the annual TCA Quick Pitch event. For San Diego entrepreneurs, these events not only bring entrepreneurs and major Angel investing groups in the country together, but they provide an open environment to collaborate, learn, and strengthen our startup community. With the increasing number of innovative startups being created every year, these events keeps everyone up to date on ongoing trends and resources. If you are a company looking for funding, please visit the TCA website and check out their application criteria.

At TSG, we believe that entrepreneurs change the world and push the boundaries of innovation, especially when they collaborate. San Diego is an expanding ecosystem of business owners and thought leaders from all walks of life. Be sure to mark your calendars for future events similar to the TCA Quick Pitch event as they bring a multifaceted perspective on industry trends and provide insight into what it means to be an entrepreneur in a time where innovation is ever evolving.

Tech Focused ‘Super Schools’ to Rethink High School Education in the U.S.

Tech Focused ‘Super Schools’ to Rethink High School Education in the U.S.

XQ: The Super School Project infused with $50Million Dollars of Steve Job’s fortune intends to redefine traditional U.S. high school education.

The team based competition encourages applicants to reimagine and modernize public education.
“To create the future, we must first imagine it.” 

The project intends to build and support 5-10 Super Schools to better fit an innovative-focused society, levering critical thinking and collaboration within the largely unchanged U.S. institution.

The Startup Garage Team spoke with 4 innovative educational leaders to share their keen insights and perspective regarding the XQ Project, and the future of entrepreneurship.

David Fu: An education community builder and the head of 4.0 Schools in NYC, an education incubator for early stage entrepreneurs launching innovative companies, nonprofits and schools.

Where does your passion education innovation draw from?

My passion for education innovation draws from two areas: first, this is a common refrain, but I am a first generation immigrant and it is clear to me how much I have benefited from opportunities I was afforded growing up in the U.S. as compared to in China. I believe firmly that we cannot know everyone’s potential without affording them similar opportunities, and I believe education is one of the best ways to do so. Second, I believe education is far from that ideal state, and that we must find innovative ideas that can help bridge from the current state of the world.

What you’re overall perspective of the XQ: The Super School Project?

I am excited because I think this project draws attention and brings funding to an area in need of innovation, in education the current school model (and high school model, in particular). I like the parallel between the overall process (team, discover, design, develop) and lean startup or design thinking; I also love the focus on users (students in the 21st century) in the discover phase and the focus on student agency & engagement in the design phase. I think this is a key mindset shift that still needs to take place in education across the country: how might we enable students to own their own learning? (and how do we then measure that learning; I do not believe standardized testing helps achieve this goal)

Two potential concerns:
First, are they partnering with local organizations to build the pipeline of talent and then screen it? The large marketing campaign and names (and roadshow / local events) should surface a lot of amazing people and ideas, but how do they plan to sift through them all and identify both great ideas and the right people to bring them to life (and right location with the right environment to do so)? There is some concern in the press around these ideas / process being too local, but I’m worried it’s not local enough.

Second, I’ve seen the value in making small bets and testing core components of a school model before opening the doors to the school (tiny schools) — I’m worried that this is potentially a large bet made too early. I hope that they plan to incorporate testing and many cycles of discovery, design, development to iterate on and launch truly innovative high school models.

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for Entrepreneurship?

I feel that one big challenge in school is that there is no culture of risk-taking and failure (either for students or teachers). There is such an emphasis on results (academic, grades, getting to college; test scores and value add) and concepts like leadership and service, but not enough emphasis on valuing the process itself.

For example, let’s say a project was to build a rube goldberg machine to put bread in a toaster and set it to to toast the bread with the constraints being a certain time frame and certain materials.

If a failure to accomplish this goal by your rube goldberg machine results in a low grade automatically, then the incentives are to take as few risks as possible and make sure that what you do works. Instead, grading based on the process and reflection on what students learned in project-based learning would enable this shift.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

First, most technology startup founders that are successful either have deep technical expertise – coding, web/app/software development, engineering OR deep industry experience / passion — understand the problems faced by consumers or businesses in a particular industry like education, healthcare, etc. Second, find something you are really passionate about, and become a problem hunter to understand the challenges people face in that area/field/industry — it takes passion for you to stick to it through the tough times you will face as an entrepreneur, and it takes a deep understanding of a problem first to come up with a great solution.

Regina Bernal: Entrepreneurship and Experiential Learning Coordinator a the University of San Diego, empowering entrepreneurs to turn their venture ideas into a reality.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project? What is your overall perspective of the concept?

I am extremely impressed with this concept, I would have loved be part of a more more innovative high school experience

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for college?

High School students need to “Get out of the Building” learn more in the world, not just in the classroom. There is so much learning that comes from interactions, experiences, and situations. The more that high school teachers are able to tie in real world situations to their curriculum the better prepared students will be when they come to college. There is not a perfect handbook to help guide your way through college, but knowing how to tackle difficult situations in creatives and innovative ways would be a game changer for a future college student.

What are 3 elements of the USD entrepreneurship program do you feel could be beneficial to high school education?

Know your pitch! Learn how to effectively communicate your ideas, and get the buy-ins from those around you. At USD we are heavily focused on the “pitch”. A great idea can be lost in the inability to effectively communicate it, Get out there and actually test your ideas! You may think you have the best ideas in the world, but unless other people agree and get excited about it then you eventually hit a wall Grow your network! Even at a High School level, you need to think about those around you and how they can help build on your ideas.

Entrepreneurship and life is about collaboration, knowing great people that you can reach out will be an advantage in anything that you decide to do.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

It is never too late to start! There are no rules to being an entrepreneur and everyone has a different path. If you have the slightest inspiration or inclination to be a Founder get out there and start testing your idea. Do not be too in love with your original idea and be flexible to change

Shana Tessenholtz: Assistant Principal of English/ELL for a large comprehensive high school in Queens NY grades 9-12.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project? What is your overall perspective of the concept?

Not familiar. I think I saw a sign for it at a bus stop but don’t really know what it is.

How do you feel high school students needs today differ from when you were a high school student?

The world is a very different place from when we were high school students. Teachers need to infuse more technology into their classrooms as students use technology every day of their lives. Also, the attention span of students today is much shorter. Teachers constantly need to mix things up to keep students interested. There is also much less accountability for students then there was when we went to school. If students are not doing their work, parents say “you are not challenging my kids, you don’t like my kid….” Also, deadlines are often guidelines instead of hard and fast due dates.

What are 3 elements you would implement to better prepare students for college, jobs, and life after high school?

To prepare students for life after high school: more internships, students MUST learn another language (Chinese is a good pick – not just Spanish or French anymore), financial awareness (students have no concepts of how much money is costs to go to College and to live in the real world)

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Tech Startup Founder?

There are a lot of great internships and programs available for students who are interested in this field. I think the #1 piece of advice would be to get an internship and immerse themselves in the field. Talk to people who are already in the field and doing what they want to do and find out what it takes. How much money will they need? Business plan? Who will they talk to when their product is complete? Having an idea is simply not enough anymore in this competitive market.

Deborah Chang: Education Entrepreneur and Community Organizer, building scaleable solutions that take down systemic barriers to education innovation.

Are you familiar with the XQ: The Super School Project?What is your overall perspective of the concept?

In this era of high-stakes end of the year tests being used to label schools and evaluate teachers, educators, particularly those teaching the most disadvantaged students, are feeling the pressure to teach in ways that may not encourage student creativity, empowerment, and collaboration. In addition, teaching that is projects-based, hands-on, real-world is hard. We need to provide real support as a nation in the form of training, community building, and finances in order to truly transform education.

What XQ: The Super School Project does is provide the political cover and resources necessary for educators to create schools that truly meet the needs of their particular community of students. Perhaps even more importantly, it is catalyzing conversations around the country on what education really needs to look like, sound like, and feel like In a connected world. It is these ongoing conversations leading to real action by committed teams of people that will ultimately lead to positive collective impact for our nation’s children.

How do you feel high school students today could be better prepared for Entrepreneurship?

65% of our students will be working in jobs that have not been created yet (Source: US Labor Report). So, let’s not pretend to know what kind of world our students will inherit. Instead, let’s teach our students to create the world that they want to live in.

What advise would you give to give to a high school student interested in becoming a Startup founder?

Learn how to learn. Learn obsessively. Learn quickly. As you’re figuring out your life’s purpose, don’t sit in a room and stress. Just throw yourself into projects over and over again to learn more about yourself while building skills that will make you invaluable. Quit projects if you need to in order to have the freedom to discover what you truly love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what’s financially sustainable. And, have the courage to quit because you trust in your ability to learn, no matter what life throws at you.

Finally, commit. As long as you commit to uncovering that purpose you’ll forever
live your life by, you’ll find it, and when you do, even if it looks different from anything else that has ever been done before, your life will have completely changed for the better.

Ready to #RethinkHighschool?  Applications are being accepted until November 15th Enter Today here> Project XQ

Furry Innovation: Pets Are Startup Businesses New Best Friends

Furry Innovation: Pets Are Startup Businesses New Best Friends

It’s no denying it, we love our pets and we’re willing to spend countless amounts of money in order to enhance their health, happiness, and even appearance.

According to the American Pet Products Association an estimated $58.5 billion was spent on pets in 2014. With nearly $330 million on pet costumes for Halloween alone.

From OnDemand Pet Adoptions to “Furspray” the newest way to decorate your pet for special occasions, Pet Startups combine the love of animals with a high-growth business opportunity. However, along with business opportunities comes fierce competition.

Currently listed on Angel List, there are 490 Pet Startups with an average valuation of $3.7 million across a pool 1,012 Investors. Leading the pack and setting the investment stage are DogVacay and Bark&Co.

DogVacay offers an on demand approach to petsitting near home, having securing 4 healthy funding infusions since 2012. Including: $1 million dollar seed round in May 2012, $6 million Series A round in Nov. 2012, $15 million dollar Series B round in Oct. 2013, and $25 million in Oct 2014.

Bark & Co. leveraged an untapped business model of a monthly subscription box of dog goodies with BarkBox and continued to expand across several other major properties:

BarkPost: Your daily dose of doggy news
BarkShop: Spoil your pup with the very best
BarkBuddy: Find fluffy adoptable singles in your area
BarkLive: Amazing experiences for you and your dog

Also securing a steady funding infusion including: $25,000 in Jan 2012, $1.7million in July 2012, $5million Series A round in April 2013, and $15million Series B Round in July 2014.

Funding is so red hot for Pets Startups, if the U.S. pet products industry collectively was a Fortune 500 company, it would be bigger than Google, Dell, UPS, or Coca-Cola.

Meanwhile, like any high-growth industry, it’s attracting a new breed of startup entrepreneurs with furry ambitions.

Here are a few “underdogs” that captured our attention here at The Startup Up Garage.

XcDogs: Based out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it connects people who travel with their pets to locals willing to pet-sit short-term who is actively seeking funding at this time.

CleverPet: a local San Diego Startup which with a “Smart” pet gadget that educates and interacts with your animal companion in your absence. CleverPet had a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign of $180,623 and appears to have a variety of undisclosed funding in Sept 2015.

Urban Leash: offers on demand dog walking and cat-sitting services from anywhere at anytime, who a secured a $99,500 seed round in Nov 2014.

AllPaws is OkCupid for Finding Pets to Adopt, Swiping left and right and sifting through profiles is a regular practice for people looking for love nowadays.

Through the website and app AllPaws, the same approach is being used for those looking for a four-legged soulmate. AllPaws raised $1 million in capital in April 2013.

Will the Pet Startups above disrupt the pet industry as we know it?
Only time will tell, if they’re barking up the right tree.

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

The White House Challenges Inequity In Startup Tech

The White House Challenges Inequity In Startup Tech

On Tuesday August 4, 2015 President Obama hosted the first-ever White House Demo Day.

The Demo Day was a chance for 90 entrepreneurs from over 30 diverse companies across the country to share their entrepreneurial journey.

Conversations centered around empowering underrepresented entrepreneurs and encouraging venture capital firms and Tech Giants to invest women and minority groups. As it currently stands The White House says about 3 percent of U.S. startups backed by venture capital are led by women, and about 1 percent are headed by African-Americans.

“We’ve got to make sure that everybody is getting a fair shot— the next Steve Jobs might be named Stephanie or Esteban,” Obama said. “We’ve got to unleash the full potential of every American— not leave more than half the team on the bench.”

The event opened the doors for communication, while inspiring diversity in America’s startup culture and economy. It also included strong calls to action to both the public and private sectors.

On the public side of things, the administration has been working with over 40 venture capital firms (including but not limited to A16Z, Intel Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and Scale Venture Partners) that collectively have more than $100 billion under management, and are committing to new hiring practices that advance opportunities for minorities.

“You actually can make better-informed and more profitable investment decisions with a diverse team,” he said. “This isn’t about social justice alone. This is about social justice and making more money.” said said Ray Leach, chief executive of JumpStart

Tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook also pledged to foster inclusion in the tech space, announcing new plans to boost hiring of women and minorities, as well as additional innovative approaches.

For example; Google announced it will be hosting it’s first ever Women’s Demo Day later this year. The event will feature women-led startups from around the country pitching to a group of judges at the Googleplex. Meanwhile, IBM is committing to expanding its partnership with Girls Who Code to empower the next generation of female software developers.

The United States has always been a melting pot of opportunity, attracting and highlighting diverse talent and entrepreneurial skill-sets. In the 21st century a successful “marriage” between the U.S. government, Startup tech industries , VC firms, and entrepreneurs has the power to bring the American Dream to life in ways previously unprecedented.

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

San Diego High-Tech Startup Scene Booms

San Diego High-Tech Startup Scene Booms

In March of last year Forbes Magazine named San Diego the best city to start a business in 2014.

Apparently the magazine was onto something, as demonstrated in the recently released San Diego Innovation Report by Connect.

According to the report, which tracks and compares economic data in the region from the past year and a half, the strength and impact of the Innovation Economy in San Diego is growing and strong.

1h 2014 report saw the most new innovative Start-Ups ever created in San Diego in a 6-month period. SD entrepreneurs started a record high 228 high-tech companies, which secured $470 million in funding in the first half of last year.

The startup growth spurt includes:

• 128 Software Startups

• 43 Communications Computer & Electronics Startups

• 39 Life Science Startups

• 7 Environmental Technology Startups

The $470 million dollars in Venture capital funding was raised among 53 San Diego companies, and includes the following breakdown:

• $234 million to 20 Early Stage Companies

• $14 Million 3 Start-up Stage Companies

• $17 million 11 Connect Springboard and graduate companies

In addition to venture capital funding, companies raised $200 million in initial public offerings, $620 million in private placements and $1.6 billion in follow-on public equity offerings.

“We are delighted to celebrate the new start-ups born in San Diego, as well as the growth and expansion of the start-ups that attracted $470 million in venture capital to our region. These first half results demonstrate a thriving economy fueled by the growth of knowledge-based industries. More start-ups were founded in San Diego in the first half of 2014 than any other period in our city’s history. Additionally, more jobs were created and innovation economy jobs are higher-paying than the average job, which is great news for job-seekers.” stated Greg McKee, CONNECT’s chief executive officer.

Great news indeed, 885 new jobs at an average annual salary of $114,730 were created by San Diego start-ups created in the 1st half of 2014. This was a 40% increase over the number of new jobs created by innovation start-ups in the 1st half of 2013, and more than 50% increase over the 2nd half of 2013.

2014 marks a tipping point for San Diego, a notable time of reshaping the technology startup scene both locally and globally.
San Diego is no longer simply a vacation destination. It is a destination for dynamic startup businesses, which are invested in assembling and transforming a community of entrepreneurs and the innovation economy.

The Startup Garage team is committed to serving our Startup Community of San Diego. We are dedicated to helping make the world a better place to live, work, and play.

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

Artificial Intelligence: The Trend For Tech Startups

Artificial Intelligence From The Startup Garage

Artificial Intelligence: The Trend For Tech Startups

Looking to get funded in 2015?

Why not add some elements of the “The Terminator” & “The Matrix” to your Startup Business model.

Funding increased 302% for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Startups in 2014. Pouring in over $309.2 million in over 40 deals. That’s more than 20-fold in just 4 years from $14.9 million in 2010.

Artificial Intelligence Startups are those that work in NLP, machine learning, deep learning and predictive APIs among other core applications.

The rebirth and mini-boom of an Artificial Intelligence industry can give thanks to iconic tech entrepreneurs and investors like Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Google set the funding stage in January 2014 with $400M acquisition of Deep Mind Technologies.

Deep Minds Technology’s recent achievement includes a computer that learns how to play video games similar to humans, while possibly mimicking short-term memory of the brain.

It’s examples like these, which mesh together science fiction and startup innovation, that has investor interest in A1 so hot. “Many AI companies have raised significant money without any product plans.” Said Scaled Inference Inc. Founder Olcan Sercinoglu.

Falling technology costs have also helped catapult AI startups. Processing large amounts of data, the core of AI work, is now cheaper as computer chips have gotten faster and the costs associated with storing and accessing data have dropped.

The backbone of any great startup is “What Problem Inspired Your Business? And What is your Solution.” AI Startups ultimately provide clever tools to solve both corporate and consumer problems. “Solving Intelligence,” by building learning algorithms to better understand and predict human behavior, among other uses.

Consumers and investors alike are witnessing and investing in, computer brains or AI tools, resulting in an increasingly powerful edge to the information age.

The evolution of human super intelligence is at a noticeable tipping point, set to have a massive impact at both an individual and global scale. As a Startup Entrepreneur the questions remains will you be part of the problem? or part of the solution?

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

How To Define a Small Business Vs. a High-Growth Startup

How To Define a Small Business Vs. a High-Growth Startup from The Startup Garage

How To Define a Small Business Vs. a High-Growth Startup

    Difference between a Small Business and a High-Growth Startup

A startup business differs from a small business in one primary aspect: Growth.

A startup company, also referred to as a high-growth startup, is a company with a business model that is designed to be repeatable and scalable. This is directly opposed to a small business which is typically more of a lifestyle business that is not primarily concerned with scalability, but aims to sustain a particular level of income to enjoy a particular lifestyle.


    What is Scalability    ?

To better illustrate the difference between a small business and a high growth startup let’s define the term scalability.

According to Investopedia.com, scalability is defined as, “A characteristic of a system, model, or function that describes its capability to cope and perform under an increased or expanding workload. A system that scales well will be able to maintain or even increase its level of performance or efficiency when tested by larger operational demands.”

    Examples of Scalability

An example of a small business – i.e. a business that does not easily reach scale – is an auto repair shop.

Any particular auto repair shop can only reach a certain capacity of workflow given the size of the location and the number of employees. In order to continue growing, the company will need to expand to a second location, purchase duplicate equipment, hire new staff and new managers, and market the business. While this growth is achievable, it is not an operation that is easily scaled.

An example of a high-growth company – i.e. a business with high scalability – is a consumer electronics company. It may be a costly endeavor to create a prototype for a consumer electronic device, obtain intellectual property, and secure manufacturing and distribution.

However, once these obstacles are in
place, the company can quickly and easily grow without very many obstacles other than operating capital. In fact, as the company continues to scale, the operation is streamlined with economies of scale, such as the cost per unit reducing as the unit production size increases.


Another key difference between small businesses and high-growth startups is how the two think about funding, as they typically have different sources of capital available to them.

High-growth startups typically rely on several sources of capital at different stages of the startup process. Early on, the
startup relies on friends and family funding followed by angel investors and venture capital firms.

However, small businesses typically don’t have access to the angels and VCs and therefore rely on friends and family money, bank loans, and grants.

The primary reason that angels and VCs don’t get involved with small businesses has to do with the issues of scalability, outlined above, as well as a lack of
a potential return on their investment.

    Return on Investment


For the most part, small businesses do not make good investment opportunities for angels and VCs for two reasons:

1) their lack of scalability limit the potential for a significant return, and

2) most owners of small businesses are seeking a lifestyle business and not necessarily one that they plan to sell in the
short to medium future. In order for angels or VCs to partner with a company, the business must have an exit strategy that creates a liquefiable event in which the investor gets their capital returned to them along with a return on that investment.

    Should I Launch a Small Business or a High-Growth Startup

Some questions to ask yourself when determining if a small business or a high-growth startup is right for you include:

1) Why are you starting this business? Are you looking to work hard, grow a business, and sell it? Or do you want to start a business that supports a certain lifestyle?

2) Does your product or service have a huge market?

3) Will the success of your business require outside expertise or guidance, or do you have the knowledge and experience to make this business a success?

4) Is your product thoroughly differentiated from other products on the market?

5) How much money do I need to get started?

6) Is this business scalable?

Overall, there’s no right or wrong answer. Sure, high-growth technology companies are certainly the trend now, but starting a small business will always hold it’s appeal.

The Startup Garage applauds the Entrepreneurial spirit in all of you!

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

How To Raise Startup Capital In 120 Seconds

How To Raise Startup Capital In 120 Seconds

7 key takeaways from the Tech Coast Angels Quick Pitch Finals 2014.

Think of a quick pitch as you would a movie trailer.

1) A quick pitch should serve as a teaser of what’s exciting and noteworthy to come next. The intention of a 2 minute pitch is to deliver a heavy dose of substance, content, and sizzle regarding your Startup’s investment potential.

A simple outline when delivering a quick pitch is:

• Your name and title
• Your business name
• What problem inspired your business?
• What is your solution?
• What does your business need to achieve the next level of success?

In this specific instance, a panel of 7 judges, scored the 10 startup finalist in 2 separate categories: Content and Style. Each judge held up a scorecard with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst, for each category.

2)Decide who on your Startup Team best delivers your company’s message.

Not all founders or co-founders were meant to step on stage (in this case in front of an audience of 500 people) and “perform.” Explore who on your team accelerates in public speaking and leverage that ability.

For AstroPrint this person is CEO Drew Taylor, his ability to remain relaxed and assured during their pitch, made a “high-tech” complex process simple to comprehend.

3) Practice. Practice. Practice.
There is only way to become a Quick Pitch Master, the answer is practice, practice, and more practice. Practice not only your pitch with different people, but also in different environments.

Perhaps this was the winning ingredient for nPruv CEO Summer Rogers. The panel of judges applauded her for repeatedly practicing nPruv’s pitch in the auditorium where the event was taking place that night.

There’s an unquestionable value and confidence that comes with practicing on the specific stage you’re presenting on.

4) Engage with your audience.
Quick Pitches are designed to create a level of curiosity and interest in the Startup. As the presenter, talk to NOT at your audience, help make them to feel they’re a vital part of a conversation.

*It’s fair to note your audience includes not only the panel of judges, but onlookers as well.

Doctible CEO, Ajit Viswanathan brilliantly highlighted this point. With in his presentation he included a slide with the judge’s pictures, which the crowd and judges went wild over. Making his pitch point both relevant and relatable to all.

5)Enthusiasm.
Remember enthusiasm is contagious. A Startup pitch with out enthusiasm can leave the listener feeling you’re not invested or inspired by your company, why should they be…

GetTAGit.com CEO & Founder Ana Bermudez, oozed enthusiasm, from her walk, to smile, to tone of voice, it was clear she’s created a Startup she’s excited to share with the world.

6)Timing.
2 minutes or 60 seconds can seem like an eternity for some or race to beat the clock for others.

In this instance a clock illuminated the back wall below the presenter’s slideshow. Regardless, of their feeling toward the ticking seconds, there was no avoiding it.

Interesting enough, those Startups that concluded their pitch prior to time running out (5 of them to be exact) were not in the event’s winners circle.

CleverPet Co-Founder, Dan Kundsen along with Companion Medical’s CEO, Sean Saint were the 2 out of 10 Startups with perfectly timed out pitches.

7) The Pitch Close and Following up.
At the end of a perfect pitch lies 2 key ingredients:

• Summarizing your entire pitch in 1 sentence. Think about it like this, if your audience were to walk away with one message regarding your Startup what would you want that to be? Often times the close is also the tagline for your Startup.

• Invite the opportunity for people to follow up with you, and find out in greater detail what about your Startup and the investment opportunity. All those finer details that a 2 minute quick pitch couldn’t cover.

Congratulations to all 130 Startup Companies courageous enough to enter the Quick Pitch Competition, especially the top 10 finalist we had the pleasure of watching at the event.

Special congrats to nPruv for winning the grand prize, Companion Medical for winning the content category, and GetTAGit.com for winning the style category.

It’s Startup companies like yours that continue to shift the landscape of business innovation. Thank you!

 

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

San Diego Startup Events July Wrap-Up

San Diego Startup Events July From The Startup Garage

San Diego Startup Events July Wrap-Up

CyberTech & CyberHive — IoT Pitch Night

Monthly

Free monthly event hosted by CyberHive, an incubator and shared working space dedicated to cyber security and high tech companies — this “pitchfest” gave 7 different companies the floor to present for 3 minutes (and not a second longer) in front of a panel of judges and other like-minded individuals.

It was an interesting range of companies pitching from a variety of disciplines including: Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Big Data, Analytics, sustainable technology, software and apps. Afterwards the judges and the audience gave valuable, and constructive feedback and awarded the top 3 companies with prizes as well as a free trial using their shared office.

My personal favorite was Cause Based Solutions (3rd place), which has created a debit card system that nonprofit organizations can offer to the supporters. Basically it rounds up every purchase consumers make to the nearest dollar and donates the difference back to the non-profit.

1Million Cups at Co-Merge

Weekly

This hour long, weekly event hosted at Co-Merge, the co-working space in downtown San Diego, offers 2 entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their company for 6 minutes, followed by a 20 minute feedback and a Q& A session.

Before starting it is emphasized that the forum is not intended as a chance to seek investment, but instead as a way to practice their delivery/ pitch and gather feedback from the startup community, so they are better prepared when an investment opportunity occurs in the future.

During this event in particular Price Patrol, one of The Startup Garage’s clients, presented their sample pitch that they intended to use for angel investment. The slogan was “what you want at the price you want.”

They are developing an app that will allow consumers the ability to find out where specific products are available at the most affordable price in their local region. With the app, consumers will also be able to reserve items so that they are available once they arrive at the brick and mortar storefront, as well as receive notifications when the products reach a certain price point that they set up beforehand.

3D Printing Meetup @ FabLabSd

Monthly

This is a must-attend, monthly event for forward thinkers. Perfect for those with experience in the new 3D printing field and anyone who just wants to learn more.

Much to my surprise, San Diego is actually one of the leading areas for 3D printing startups. Allen McAffee, the event organizer, created the event in an open forum style, allowing everyone to mingle and network.

It was an eye-opener to learn about how 3D printing can be used as a means of social entrepreneurship. McAffee is currently involved in a project to create prosthetic limbs for kids — with production costs of less than $20 and the ability to print each one in 5-10 hours.

Marketing Mondays @ EvoNexus

Bi-Weekly

Hosted by 2 marketing experts with several decades of experience, Randy Gerson and Chris d’Eon, these bi-weekly meetups at the EvoNexus Incubator office in downtown are the perfect event for anyone looking to advance their knowledge in the ever-changing digital marketing world, discuss strategies with other industry professionals and make connections before and after the event. (The free pizza/ refreshments are a nice perk too)

The discussion turned to finding leads, giving me an overview of tools out there that can be used to gather potential client information. As unsettling as it seems that most of our personal information is readily available to those with enough energy or cash to gather it through the internet, the fact of the matter is that it’s there, it’s not going away anytime soon, and you can either ignore it or use it to your advantage.

Obrary Launch Event @ PreFabSD

Hosted at PreFabSD, a co-working space for creatives and designers in non-tech industries, Obrary (A play on words of “Object” and “Library”) introduced some of their newest products that they have a kickstarter campaign for. Many of the products they introduced were modified using high-powered laser cutters that allows a single piece of plywood to be bent into a box.

Their long-term strategy is to become an open marketplace for product collaboration. What this means is that members will be able to use design files from their database, tweak them for their own preference, then submit the modified design back into the database for others to use.

This “outside the box” approach seems to have unlimited potential in regards for what it can be applied to and it puts the power of design into the consumers hands.

Overall, the month of July offered a variety of Startup events well worth attending.

The Startup Summer scene in San Diego is just heating up. If you have an event you’d like for us to attend or spread the word on please Tweet us @Startup_garage

7 Notable Investor Insights of the Month

7 Investor Insights of the Month from The Startup Garage

7 Notable Investor Insights of the Month

Straight from the investors mouth.

7 top insights from investors around the globe.

1. Marc Andreessen @pmarca
Twitter Investor

“The biggest misconception 1st time founders have is that they will always stay aligned with their the co-founders.”

 
2. Reid Hoffman @reidhoffman
Facebook Investor

“We’ve moved from the information age to the networked age. Are you network literate?”

 
3. Josh Kopelman @firstround
LinkedIn Investor

“Being a VC is like watching a car accident.”

 
4. Todd Chaffe @toddchaffee
Dropbox Investor

“Investing in high growth stocks both in private and public markets is a challenging game, just like hockey.”

 
5. Theresia Gouw @Tgr
Trulia Investor

“Diversity is more than gender and ethnicity. It’s about diversity of thoughts.”

 
6. Marc Cuban @Mcuban
Sharktank Investor

“Anything you text can & will be used against you.”

 
7. Jim Goetz @Jimgoetz
Whatsapp Investor

“We’re confident WhatsApp will flourish Facebook just like Instagram. On their way to a billion active users and just getting started.”

 
 

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