

SF Y Demo Practice - gibsonf1

For those of you flying to Cambridge (we didn't make it) and those who did not but have an application that they need practice demoing and would like feedback, I propose having 2 practice demo runs prior to the YC deadline.  The first one to find the glaring problems, and the second to polish the presentation.  We are going to demo for other investors, so we need the practice too.  We have an office right across from Cnet.com with a large conference room perfect for demoing.  Let me know if you're interested.
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danielha
Regarding the interview, there's not much of a presentation to practice,
really. It may just be generally helpful to receive solid feedback along the
way, but practicing a scripted demonstration for YC is largely unnecessary.

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gibsonf1
I'm thinking more along the lines of brk's comment in getting comfortable with
the demo part of the interview and the pitch - similar to what any startup
(ourselves included) needs to practice constantly to get really good and
essentialize the message based on how it is understood by others. Removing as
much of the stress element for interviewing is key for the founders to be able
to focus on communicating about their team and plans - and getting comfortable
in front of an audience is pretty important to prevent angst from interfering
with the message. It is no accident that Jobs practices for his presentations
:)

We've decided that in addition to launching soon, we want to raise some money
to build out our application faster - so we need the practice ourselves.

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brk
A good suggestion. Multiple real-life runs through your demo can help you get
comfortable with it, and weed out the rough spots.

If anyone is interested, I work in Cambridge (not YC related), and have a fair
bit of startup experience in many areas (biz dev, operations, sales, etc) and
would be happy to preview demos and give pointers and honest feedback.

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pg
There are no presentations at YC. We just talk.

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dbrush
And don't say, "It's friggin' _blank_ online!" when trying to relate the
merits of your idea when you feel like you're bombing.

