

Anatomy of a Failed Pitch at Startup Weekend - erik_p
http://erik.randomdrivel.com/articles/12/anatomy-of-a-failed-pitch-at-startup-weekend-san-jose/

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nl
I'm a mentor at a program kind of similar to this (except it's 1 evening a
month for 6 months or so).

I see this all the time. Everyone comes along with their own idea 90% of which
are mediocre (and the 10% that aren't usually have their own team sorted out)

The real solution _isn't_ to try and sell your idea, it's to change your
expectations.

It's _very_ unlikely anything you build on one of these programs will be any
good unless you were already working on it with an existing team prior to the
start of the program

But it _is_ likely that you will meet some people who - at some point in the
future - might be interested in doing some - as yet undefined - project with
you.

Treat it as a learning experience, where your expected outcome is to learn
something and to hopefully meet some good people.

~~~
erik_p
The learning part of the experience was definitely the most important part...
A handful of teams built really impressive shippable products.

The hope or fantasy that your idea or your team will be one of those teams is
part of what fuels and attracts people to these events. I didn't expect a
Wayne's World type ending or anything.

I just acknowledge that I could have done more hustling, and pitched better...

Had I done a better job pitching/mingling my weekend would have been much
different, BUT I'm not sure I would trade the experience I DID have with the
team I landed on for anything (well almost anything...)

------
Skywing
One thing I learned from these startup weekends, too, is that it's just one
weekend. You weren't necessarily forced or desperate to find a team or co-
founder there, especially with it being your first startup weekend-style
event. It's just a mindset.

~~~
TristanKromer
Yeah...it's a great place to meet people, but it's a bit like going to a bar
and looking to get married instead of just trying to get a phone number.
You're likely to be disappointed if you're expecting a diamond ring.

~~~
erik_p
True... but sometimes I go to the bar just to hook up ;) But your analogy
still holds true.

Managing expectations and emotions seems like an important piece to building a
startup. Things like pride and ego can help fuel you, but can also get in the
way of clear thinking.

------
entangld
You looked like a lot of fun. I wish we'd been on the same team.

~~~
erik_p
thank you. On one hand I would have loved to have worked / launched
<http://droprocks.com> this weekend, but I think I got much more (personal
growth/learning) out of joining the team I did.

------
neworbit
Eek, I imagine the dropbox guys would hate you for turning them into the
RIAA's latest target

~~~
ctide
I'm pretty sure all the recent posts showing the RIAA how to determine what
files exist on dropbox are going to do a much better job of that than his
pitch will.

