The Pitch

We're now in a business climate transformed by Covid. And founders need help figuring out how to impress investors, find new customers, and connect with potential cofounders in this uncertain time. We wanted to help out. So we got investors Elizabeth Yin from Hustle Fund and Hunter Walk from Homebrew to hop on The Pitch hotline to take your calls. The Callers: Rebecca Colett, Calyxeum Graham Hawley, TRID Shwetha Maddur, Catalyst Bryan McGehee, GATR Coolers Jeff Walsh, Illuminent Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's founder had everything going for him: a huge market, loads of experience, and $70k in monthly revenue. But then, everything went wrong. Christopher Hussain's startup, RealKey, is supposed to make the complicated mortgage lending process simpler, but his pitch left our investors scratching their heads. Today's investors are Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was three years ago, when Claire Coder went in front of our investors to pitch Aunt Flow. At the time, her startup was a very risky bet. But now, in 2020, Claire’s business has stood the test of time. We find out just how far a business can go in three years. Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, James Altucher and Daniel Gulati. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the spring, founders desperate for ideas about how to keep their companies afloat called in to get advice from our investors. Several months later, the economy is still far from recovering, so we called the founders back to see if the investors’ advice was working. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When gyms closed at the start of the pandemic, Kevin Allen’s at-home fitness app, Row Vigor, went gangbusters. But there was a problem -- a few lines of code were preventing Kevin from cashing in. The investors present at Kevin's original pitch were Phil Nadel, Jillian Manus, Daniel Gulati and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Alon Shwartz started his parental control app, UnGlue, he thought Apple would be an ally. But then Apple decided to make their own competing product and Alon was forced to go toe-to-toe with the biggest tech company in the world. The investors present at Alon's original pitch were Phil Nadel, Jillian Manus, Daniel Gulati and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We talk to three startup founders who got money from the Paycheck Protection Program and try to find out, what did the PPP money actually do? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2018, founder Cody Candee raised $150,000 on our show. He went on to raise over a million dollars in funding that led to extraordinary growth for his startup, Bounce. But then Cody found out the hard way that to keep growing fast you have to become the boss. The investors present at Cody's original pitch were Phil Nadel, Jillian Manus, Nicole Verkindt, Michael Hyatt and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

COVID-19 has pushed many founders to attempt risky pivots with their business. Other founders are hoarding cash. And many of them are seeing VC money dry up. On today’s show, investors Sarah Downey and Phil Nadel advise four worried founders on how to keep their businesses afloat. The callers: Shannon Malkin Daniels, Encaptiv Krystin Hargrove, CoTripper Dan Brown, Up-Rite Storage Rack Chris Murphy, Brewella's Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years, Pierre Laguerre worked as a truck driver. During those years he saw one of the biggest inefficiencies in the industry up-close: getting available drivers matched with trucks ready to get on the road. Barely a year after launch, his business, Fleeting, is growing fast. But he’ll have to convince the investors he has the technical savvy to make the company grow even faster. And he’ll need to tackle another problem: how to adapt to an industry transformed by COVID-19. Today's investors are Maia Bittner, Elizabeth Yin, Sheel Mohnot and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Investors are giving founders everywhere an ultimatum: just find a way to survive the next few months. This had us concerned about the entrepreneurs who’ve been on this show. Debbie Wei Mullen pitched Copper Cow Coffee to our investors a few years ago, and in this episode Debbie tells the sequence of events that led to a few early, strategic decisions made in 2020 that set up her business to outlast the pandemic. Today's investors are Alexandra Stanton, Sheel Mohnot, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the last few weeks, COVID-19 has changed just about every business in the country. Investors everywhere are scrambling to help their startups survive the pandemic. On today’s show, investors Elizabeth Yin and Charles Hudson take calls from listeners. They advise founders on how to pivot to a remote-friendly model, how to survive the losses in the hospitality industry, and how to navigate the new fundraising landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last year, investors woke up to the fact that the biggest ridesharing companies still struggle to make money. But today’s founder, Aparna Srinivasan, thinks she can buck that trend by introducing pets into the equation. But our investors wonder if just being pet friendly is enough to bring in the big bones. And if it is, what’s to stop Uber from offering rides for pets too… putting SpotOn in a tight spot. Today's investors are Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founder Ray Li says he can make you a custom suit, out of a quiz. And his company, Sene, is already making a profit. Ray wants to pursue the technology AND build up a cool brand but the investors wonder if Ray would be better off choosing one or the other. Today's investors are Maia Bittner, Elizabeth Yin, David Goldberg, Sheel Mohnot and Charles Hudson. If you'd like to support Sene’s efforts to manufacture surgical masks, head to senestudio.com/pages/masks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a tried and true playbook in tech: get a ton of users, then figure out how to monetize them. Today’s founder, Ofo Ezeugwu, has plenty of users on his site, but the investors press Ofo about his plans to monetize. And then, complications arise when coronavirus enters the scene.  Today's investors are Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tiffany Walling McGarity called in to the show and you, our listeners, voted her on to pitch the investors. But from the moment she stepped in the room, it was clear that this pitch would play out differently from the rest. On this episode, what a pitch sounds like when all you have are a few scratches on the back of the metaphorical napkin. Today's investors are Maia Bittner, Elizabeth Yin, David Goldberg, Sheel Mohnot and Charles Hudson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In VC, investors want to win big — that’s why they love highly scalable tech companies so much. But today’s founder, Jaclyn Fu, is selling actual things. Her startup, Pepper, makes real bras in a very real factory. There’s no tech except that you can buy her company’s stuff on the internet. So how do you convince investors that the opportunity is massive, when there’s nothing scalable about your startup? Today's investors are Maia Bittner, Elizabeth Yin, Sheel Mohnot and Charles Hudson. Here is Elizabeth's Twitter thread about debt vs VC financing for startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is how much of a go-getter Bobbie Racette is: when she got laid off, she started a business to help thousands of other people who were out of work. Now, she has so many customers, she can’t keep up. And Michael Hyatt, our most ruthless investor, was like putty in her hands. Today's investors are Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During our last call-in show, Thor Wood wowed us with his 30-second elevator pitch for SnapShyft, a company that matches workers with open shifts at restaurants. Now Thor will have to convince a much tougher crowd, the investors. Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel, Michael Hyatt and Sarah Downey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Trenda thinks he can stop the trolls on Twitter and other social spaces. He’s building Goodtalk, where famous people can have public one-on-one conversations without interruption. But if you strip away the bad, will you also lose the things that people really like about social? And if you don’t have enough people, your social network is worth nothing. Today's investors are Soraya Darabi, Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices