Welcome to Before The Pitch!

You can see great pitches at Startup Demo Days, on TV, or podcasts like The Pitch. What you get to see is a clear, concise and polished pitch. It’s the final version.

We want to see the drafts. The mistakes and iterations. How they turned a confusing slide deck into a compelling story. What does the process look like before that big pitch?

Take a peek behind the scenes with Before the Pitch. You get to see real pitch coaching sessions with local entrepreneurs, with feedback from storytelling experts.

Season 1: The pilot episodes

Nothing says “startup” like an experiment, and this is one of ours. We wanted to learn what it would take to create a resource like this, whether it would be useful, and whether anyone would use it. We’d love your comments and feedback on these videos — either in YouTube or via email.

Episode 1: Before you talk to Angel Investors at a pitch night

Eric from tabletop game data startup Aftergame gets feedback on his 5-minute pitch to angel investors.

We join Eric a few days before he attends a pitch night at Mainland Angel Investors, to workshop how to communicate the opportunity in a way that makes sense to investors. We catch up again after the pitch to find out how it went.

With guest coach:

  • Grace Esterman — Commercialisation Advisor and Investment Committee Member

Episode 2: Before you pitch to VC investors via email

Tom from AI startup Ingenum gets feedback on his cold email pitch to investors, as well as the emailed pitch deck.

We join Tom from his sheep shed / office to workshop his startup pitch to VCs, and find out how to go from an email to investment. But first: fix that subject line!

With guest pitch coaches:

  • Megan Flamer – Australian angel investor and entrepreneur with Silicon Valley experience

  • Danielle Hicks – Canadian investment advisor and investment relations specialist

Episode 3: Before you launch your crowdfunding campaign

Coming soon!

Keen to get involved? We’d love to chat.
Click the button below to send us an email.

Credits

Hosted by pitch coach Pete Lead.
Before the Pitch is produced by Pete Lead and Startup Dunedin.
Graphic design by Tim Still.

These resources were supported with funding from Otago Community Trust.