

Ask HN: Pitching startup concept at an exhibition/showcase - nopassrecover

Hi,<p>We have to pitch our startup concept at an exhibition/showcase among other startups and based on this (in combination with our concept proposal) we may be looking at a business idea prize (competition similar to the MIT $100k but on a smaller scale).<p>So far in preparation for the exhibition we are looking into perfecting our basic elevator pitch.  Time constraints prevent us having a prototype to demo.<p>Howver, I'd love to hear people's advice on this kind of situation - i.e. what would you take/show, what would you make sure you know, what questions would you make sure you are ready to answer? etc.
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mahmud
And now for some unsolicited "advice":

Pitch it to your clients; i.e. start selling to buyers, cut the funding phase
out.

My family and friend have contributed money to my project, but nothing gave me
the boost in confidence and the rush of excitement as that $95 I got from my
first user (I charged my second client $950, btw.) I had to look at it several
times, iterating between my spartan 'admin panel' showing one registered user,
and my paypal account. I was so alpha I didn't even have a thank you message
template, I wrote it with all my family sitting behind me.

If you start your business while consciously looking for funding, you will
optimize for fund raising instead of turning profit.

At the risk of sounding snobby/trollish, I am a bit dismissive of funded
startups. I treat them like trust-fund kids. If it is worth doing, it's worth
keeping it all to yourself.

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apsurd
1\. pitch it to us.

2\. iterate based on feedback.

You asking us to give advice on something we know nothing about. Is this an
entrepreneurial-based contest? A technology one? Do they want financially
sound concepts, or _change the world_ ideas? Who are the judges? Peers,
technology figures, academics, business owners ...

Relativity and scope please!

~~~
nopassrecover
I'll try my best. It's an entrepreneurial contest judging the creativity and
business potential of ideas. The judges are largely local VCs/angel investors
with a couple of academics and local business owners.

Our idea is a tech idea with I guess tiny overlap of someone like Digg.

~~~
rrikhy
where/what's the contest?

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pclark
venturehacks.com

