This episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch may be about child-centric products, but no one is kidding around when it comes to cash. Contestants came ready with serious pitches — and serious funding requests. Will anyone score the hundreds of thousands they’re seeking to grow their business?
There are many factors at play that can sway an investor’s decision, including this critical pitch component highlighted by Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph: “A product can’t just be useful — it has to be something that a lot of people want.”
Quick show rules refresher: Every episode challenges contestants to step inside our elevator and pitch their company in just 60 seconds. A board of investors is watching on a monitor, and if they like what they hear, the elevator doors open and the entrepreneur has the chance to win a life-changing investment. But if the investors don’t like what they hear, the elevator heads to the ground floor, and their shot at glory is finished.
Watch to find out who wins big and who is sent back to the sandbox on this family-focused episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch!
Season 11, Episode 2 Board of Investors
Season 11, Episode 2 Entrepreneurs
Nicky Rishi of Miss Poppins, a marketplace that connects parents with expert coaches and a supportive community.
Chris Danis of Wet Wipe Wizard, a system that allows for the simple and reliable delivery of Wet Wipes at the push of a button.
Tausha LaFlore of Pincer Pal, where fun and learning come together during mealtime.
How to watch
Season 11 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business. New episodes stream on Wednesdays on Entrepreneur.com and EntrepreneurTV. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is the show where contestants get into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to our board of investors. In this ongoing article series, we’re celebrating the entrepreneurs who walked out with a win and sharing their tips for pitching success. (Answers have been edited for length.)
Bitewell bills itself as the world’s first digital food pharmacy. The platform educates people on the use of food as medicine with its proprietary food navigation tool called the FoodHealth Score and then helps them shop for meals and ingredients that fit their needs, preferences, and budget.
After a super-sweet appearance on Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, Bitewell co-founder Sam Citro walked out with a $200K investment from investor Kim Perell. Watch Sam’s pitch, then read on to learn how she prepared to make sure that the investors were hungry to be a part of her company.
How did you prepare for the show?
I have a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, so I have a bit of a leg-up when preparing for public appearances. It was a combination of doing investor pitch prep and scripted TV prep. I memorized my 60-second pitch and drilled it into my brain so that I was saying it in my sleep. For me, knowing the business fundamentals of my company is easy — it’s what I spend all day, every day building, so I know those numbers like the back of my hand.
What did you think was going to happen? What was different from your expectations?
I’ve been on TV before, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. What I wasn’t expecting was the 12-hour day! I didn’t realize how much content we’d develop over the course of the shoot. It was incredible.
Why do you think they opened the doors?
You’d have to ask the investors to know for sure, but if I were a betting woman, I’d say it’s the combination of the market opportunity size and our demonstrated traction. Eliminating diet-related disease is a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, and we’ve shown that we can make that vision a reality.
How did the negotiations go? Would you do anything differently?
I wish I would have pushed back on Kim a bit more about the valuation. Our business has grown so much since the last financing, and I let her in on the same terms. So, it was a great deal for Kim!
What do you plan to do with your investment?
It’s all going toward growth-related activity: marketing and hiring additional members of our sales team.
What did it mean to you personally to get in the boardroom and walk out with a win?
I believe in what we’re building, so when I went into the boardroom believing we’d come out with a deal. I think you have to be that confident, that sure in your business, to be a founder. That said, I’m incredibly proud and grateful that we left the boardroom with an investment from Kim. As a female CEO, it’s important to me to have equal representation of female investors around the table. I’m looking forward to all of the great work Kim and I will do together!
What is your advice for anyone thinking of applying to be on a future episode?
Do it! But remember that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Come prepared to walk out with a deal.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When entrepreneurs try to shore up funding and management for their ventures, they often summarize their business strategies in an abbreviated presentation document called a pitch deck. A pitch deck is typically utilized in meetings with clients, partners and co-founders and when presenting to investors.
There are two things to remember when creating a pitch deck to attract and interest potential funders. Your pitch deck’s visual appeal (including the text length of each slide) is the first element. The second element is the actual content of your pitch deck, which is critical and challenging to create.
Whether they’re on the same slide or are presented separately, each of these needs to be one short sentence or statement. These statements will show prospective investors what your firm does and the value it can bring to consumers. It’s a general rule that these statements must be both clever and concise.
If your company isn’t addressing a compelling, pressing problem, something’s wrong. Explain the issue your company is managing and who this issue affects (i.e., your target market). When describing the case, it’s essential to tell a story that prospective investors can identify with. This will aid in conveying the nature and purpose of your company.
3. Target audience and market opportunity
You can use this section to elaborate on your target market and the size of your estimated customer base. Explain to potential investors how big the market is and where you want to position your company.
Collect as much data as possible on existing market purchases to give investors an accurate market size. If necessary, split your market into segments.
While you might be tempted to define your target market as extremely broad, you should show investors you have a particular and addressable market. Doing so will add credibility to your presentation.
4. Product — Show the solution
At last, you can describe the product or service you’re bringing to the market. Explain to potential customers who use your product or service how it solves the issues you highlighted in the second section above.
Describing your business here builds up the problem and allows you to define how acute or painful it is for your target market. Then, you can tell how your product or service can come to the rescue to solve (or help solve) the problem.
Whenever possible, use pictures and stories to describe your solution. Showing is almost always better than telling.
After introducing your product or service, you should discuss its potential advantages and benefits. Some ventures rely on advertising revenue rather than consumer purchases to cover their business overhead and profit. Therefore, make sure you provide some explanation of the financial mechanics here.
6. Sales and marketing approach
How will you advertise your company and attract new customers? Use this section to show investors how you intend to promote and sell your product or service. Ensure you include all the advertising and sales methods used to introduce and demonstrate your wares to consumers. You should also emphasize your unique selling points (USPs) here if you have any.
Investors need to see sales, profits, and cash flow projections for at least three years. Use charts to display sales, estimated customer numbers, expenditure summaries, and profit projections rather than detailed, difficult-to-read spreadsheets.
Get ready to talk about the primary expense drivers and the assumptions you used to arrive at your sales projections. Keep in mind that your financial forecasts should be logical and reasonable.
8. Team
Present the team you intend to use for your venture, along with their background, qualifications and anything special they bring to the table that would make them especially suitable for their roles. A solid team will enhance your chances of success and give your company much-needed credibility.
Additional considerations
Even though the elements above are crucial, a “competition” section is also recommended for a successful pitch deck in most cases. In this section, justify your place in the market and explain how your business can stand out from the rest of the options that will be there. Focus on the USPs that set your company apart from competitors.
A “Investment and the Use of Funds” section can also be included. In this section, you should tell prospective backers how much money you need and why. Describe precisely how their investment will be used. Investors want to know where their money is going and how it will further your company’s mission.
Entrepreneur’s TV show Elevator Pitch challenges contestants to step into an elevator and pitch directly to a camera, attempting to wow a panel of investors watching them on a monitor in 60 seconds or less. If investors like what they hear, the elevator doors open into the board room, and negotiations begin. If they don’t like what they hear? The elevator gets sent back down, game over.
Ten seasons in, and there have never been second chances on Elevator Pitch — until now. We chose four entrepreneurs who didn’t make it out of the elevator to attend a pitching boot camp with legendary pitchman Anthony Sullivan and business coach Tina Frey to see if they could earn a shot at redemption.
Over the course of four episodes of Fix My Pitch, the entrepreneurs have been challenged to redo, reboot and rebuild their pitches. The coaches have pulled apart every aspect of their pitches, from the words they say to the way they stand. And in this episode, the season finale, we find out if their hard work has paid off. Watch to see who will land a return ride on Elevator Pitch!
You need to authentically know who you are and what your product is.
When you are in a crowded space, you must work on the differentiator so that your audience knows how you are different from your competitors.
You don’t want to sound like you are reading a script. Break it down into bite-sized pieces. Your pitch should be like a story you’re telling your best friend.
If you get stuck, take a moment and take a deep breath.
Find support from fellow founders — being an entrepreneur is not an easy path, and talking with people who experience the same ups and downs is helpful.
Fix My Pitch contestants
Ashley Rosulek, founder of Osweetfitness, affordable, high-quality luxury athletic wear
Brandon Storms, founder and CEO of Retavo, a platform to launch and maintain a state-of-the-art enterprise-grade marketplace at an affordable price
William Colton, CEO of Paldara, a company harnessing the power of natural bacteriophage to fight and prevent disease.
Arvin Bhangu, founder of Superintelligence, a research lab that aims to create a system that allows for the co-existence of humans and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
Fix My Pitch experts
Fix My Pitch is sponsored by State Farm. Season 10 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch premieres on October 18, 2023.
“If an entrepreneur can’t pitch their business, they can’t succeed.”
So says legendary pitchman Anthony Sullivan, who you probably know from his iconic OxiClean commercials. “It’s something we see happen all the time on Entrepreneur’s show, Elevator Pitch, where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to pitch. If they don’t get an investor’s attention, they’re done for.”
To help entrepreneurs who didn’t succeed on the show (and to offer all entrepreneurs the tricks of the pitching trade) Sullivan teamed up with business coach Tina Frey to host our new show Fix My Pitch. Over the course of this season, four failed Elevator Pitch contestants will receive training from world-class pitching and startup experts. Their ultimate goal? Scoring a second chance in the elevator to win a life-changing investment from our board.
On this episode, Anthony and Tina meet two contestants with science-based companies and break down some of the basics of a winning pitch. Anthony says it comes down to the three P’s all lining up perfectly: “The pitch, the person and the product.”
Here are some of the big areas Tina and Anthony drill down on with the entrepreneurs:
Exuding confidence with your words and body language
Finding that inner salesperson even if you are an introvert
Keeping your message simple and digestible
Selling by telling a great story
See how the contestants respond to their first round of blunt criticism, and see if any of Anthony and Tina’s tips can be applied to you and your business. (Spoiler alert: 100% of these tips can be applied to you and your business!)
Fix My Pitch contestants
Ashley Rosulek, founder of Osweetfitness, affordable, high-quality luxury athletic wear
Brandon Storms, founder and CEO of Retavo, a platform to launch and maintain a state-of-the-art enterprise-grade marketplace at an affordable price
William Colton, MS, CEO of Paldara, a company harnessing the power of natural bacteriophage to fight and prevent disease.
Arvin Bhangu, founder of Superintelligence, a research lab that aims to create a system that allows for the co-existence of humans and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
Fix My Pitch is sponsored by State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays now through October 4, 2023 on Entrepreneur.com. Season 10 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch premieres on October 18, 2023.
On our hit show Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, contestants are challenged to step into an elevator and pitch their business to a camera in 60 seconds or less. On the other side of that camera is our board of investors. If they like what they hear, the elevator doors open and contestants step inside the boardroom where they have the chance to win life-changing funding and mentorship from the smartest minds in business. If the investors don’t like what they hear? The elevator gets sent back down, along with the entrepreneur’s dreams.
For nine seasons, there have been no do-overs in the elevator — much to the dismay of entrepreneurs who ran out of time, got tongue-tied, or simply froze in the headlights. But that’s all about to change.
Introducing our new series, Fix My Pitch, where failed contestants have a chance at redemption. Led by pitch masters Anthony Sullivan and Tina Frey, former contestants will workshop their weaknesses and hone their strengths with a team of business experts. By the end of this four-week pitching boot camp, these entrepreneurs will be challenged to once again face their pitching fears. The prize? A never-before second chance on Elevator Pitch. See who is able to rise to the challenge and who gets stuck each week on Fix My Pitch!
Fix My Pitch contestants
Ashley Rosulek, founder of Osweetfitness, affordable, high-quality luxury athletic wear
Brandon Storms, founder and CEO of Retavo, a platform to launch and maintain a state-of-the-art enterprise-grade marketplace at an affordable price
William Colton, MS, CEO of Paldara, a company harnessing the power of natural bacteriophage to fight and prevent disease.
Arvin Bhangu, founder of Superintelligence, a research lab that aims to create a system that allows for the co-existence of humans and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
Fix My Pitch is sponsored by State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays now through October 4, 2023 on Entrepreneur.com. Season 10 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch premieres on October 18, 2023.
In this ongoing series, we are sharing advice, tips and insights from real entrepreneurs who are out there doing business battle on a daily basis. (Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Who are you and what’s your business?
Brynn McLeod: We are Brynn and Antoine McLeod, the husband and wife team behind STREX Fasteners, a system that makes the process of covering a boat much easier and faster. We’re originally from Anchorage Alaska. We met and started dating in high school over 20 years ago and have been married and business partners for nearly 10 years.
Antoine McLeod: Now we live on a lake near Seattle and when we’re not working, we’re typically on our boat with family and friends. We came up with STREX Fasteners because we were tired of the old way of putting on our boat cover when we were done having fun on the water.
What inspired you to create this business?
Brynn: We thought that there just had to be a better way to cover a boat. Pressing on and snapping in dozens of metal buttons not only took forever but was also very painful on my hands and fingers.
Antoine: Once we realized that there was really nothing on the market that addressed this common problem we knew that this was a great opportunity. We started working with Brynn’s father, who is an engineer, on different designs and after testing out several prototypes finally landed on the STREX Fastener design that we offer now. The best thing about our patented design is that they are very durable yet flexible and they make covering a boat super easy.
Brynn: And we are currently working on several new products that utilize our one-of-a-kind STREX systems: a universal pontoon boat cover with integrated poles that circumvents the need for costly custom canvas covers and eliminates the hassle of crawling underneath the boat to attach it. The other is an OEM design that would provide new covers with the same benefits as our retrofit product.
What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking for funding?
Brynn: I’d say to first start with friends and family. If you have an idea that you believe in and a business plan that clearly shows how you intend on returning their investment chances are you can find someone close to you willing to help.
Antoine: These days there are several Venture Capital and Angel Investor online platforms that can help just about any type of business find funding. I recommend doing your research and trying to find an investor that not only meets your financial needs but aligns with your vision as a brand or company. Once you have identified a good investor that matches what you’re looking for, provide them with your pitch deck and arrange a meeting. From there it’s up to you to deliver a compelling pitch.
What advice would you give for preparing for a pitch meeting?
Brynn: The key to a great elevator pitch is to keep it short and to keep their attention.
Antoine: Practice your elevator pitch over and over again until it becomes second nature to deliver. Then, after you have perfected it, practice your pitch some more.
How did it feel the first day you opened for business?
Brynn: I was super excited once we finally launched our product. Just to think about all the progress we made from the early days of creating prototypes to seeing our final product in its packaging ready to be delivered seemed surreal. Once we started getting orders and sending products out, it finally set in that we did it.
Antoine: I was nervous about everything. Was our website working correctly? Were our ads performing well? So many different things could go wrong. There’s definitely some self-doubt that sets in because you wonder if your idea is really good or not. But it’s in times like those that you just have to believe in your process and trust that all of your hard work will pay off.
What was your toughest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Brynn: Being the new guys in the industry. Most people in the boating business know of each other from different trade shows and marine organizations. We literally had to start from scratch and try to develop relationships with as many professionals in our line of work as we could. What we have found is that most people in our industry were more than willing to help out newcomers like us. It really just took us getting out of our comfort zone to set up meetings and cold call anybody that we thought or hoped would listen to what we had to say.
Antoine: There are so many moving parts that come with this kind of endeavor from handling logistics to payroll to customer service and countless other responsibilities. When you start thinking about all the things you have to do just to get up and running its remarkable that anyone starts a business at all. What I have found helpful is to prioritize keeping everything about your business hyper-organized so that you can feel that you are in control of things while being more productive and hopefully a little less stressed out.
What does the word “entrepreneur” mean to you?
Brynn: Self-starter. Someone who is adventurous and willing to take big risks.
Antoine: Free thinker. Someone with big ideas and the guts to pursue them.
Is there a particular quote or saying that you use as personal motivation?
Brynn: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” That’s Theodore Roosevelt. I love this because there have been so many times in my life that it’s been really easy to make excuses like “We don’t have enough money or experience to pull this off.” This quote reinforces to me that it’s not about your resources but your resourcefulness.
Antoine: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky. This quote always inspired me to not fear or shy away from failure. I believe that athletes and entrepreneurs have a lot in common including failing often. In business and in sports failing is a part of the game, and those who win are usually the ones who keep trying until they achieve success.
As an entrepreneur, if you ever encounter the wonderful problem of having multiple investors showing interest in your startup, but you can only choose one, what would you do? That’s the dilemma a pair of co-founders face on this fast-paced episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch. While the financial investment is at the core of what they’re after, the founders wind up evaluating the investors based on the mentoring opportunities that they bring to the table.
Is your vision to get your product into big box stores? Or do you want to be an e-commerce powerhouse? Are you expanding internationally? Capitalizing on an increasingly popular podcast? Just as our founders on this episode eventually decide, sometimes it’s best to pick an investor who has the contacts and experience that compliment your vision.
Also on this episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, our investors get critical about one contestant’s pitch and gauge the business acumen of the founder of a new agri-tech startup.
Episode 7 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch board of investors:
Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, master of scaling
Kim Perell, CEO of 100.co, serial entrepreneur and investor
Jonathan Hung, angel investor and Managing Partner of Entrepreneur Venture Fund
Episode 7 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch contestants:
Season 9 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
On every episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, we learn new lessons about what gets investors’ attention and what leaves them yawning. During this week’s show, Marc Randolph, the co-founder of Netflix, explains that touting your ability to get new customers is fine, but what gets him excited is if you can figure out how to keep them. “The one-and-done model is the surest sign to me that you’re going to piss away all of my money,” he says. “But build a machine that can get the same customer to come back to buy over and over and over again? Well that my friend is lifetime value, and now you’re speaking my language.”
As always, this episode features three entrepreneurs who step into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business. If our board of investors likes it, the elevator doors open and the entrepreneurs are invited in to try to make a deal. If the investors don’t dig what they hear? The elevator gets sent back to the ground floor, and the entrepreneurs are sent packing.
Episode 2 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch board of investors:
Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, master of scaling
Kim Perell, CEO of 100.co, serial entrepreneur and investor
Jonathan Hung, angel investor and venture capital partner
Episode 2 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch contestants:
Who wins, and who gets sent down?
One tech entrepreneur has an intriguing pitch, but will they be able to convince the investors that it’s different from existing platforms? And on other segments, we see a deal-making brawl break out and a surprise $10,000 investment from Amazon Business that will change the trajectory of a startup that’s trying to do good in the world. Watch and see who gets what!
Season 9 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
Welcome back, Elevator Pitchers! This is the premiere episode of season nine, and it kicks off with big ideas and big money. But before we get into the details of what went down, let’s have a quick reminder of the rules:
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is a thrilling and dynamic television show that brings together aspiring entrepreneurs and a panel of seasoned investors looking for the next big thing. The premise is simple: Entrepreneurs step into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a camera. On the other side of that camera is our board of investors. If they like what they hear, the elevator doors open and a round of high-intensity negotiating begins. If they don’t? The elevator gets sent back to the ground floor with no deal. It’s simple, it’s intense, it’s Elevator Pitch.
Time moves differently in the elevator — sometimes it runs out before entrepreneurs can get to their ask and sometimes entrepreneurs find themselves with time to kill. Managing the clock is just one of the million things contestants need be thinking about, and sometimes they get overwhelmed in the elevator, as one pitcher discovered. But in another segment, two entrepreneurs manage it all — and manage to walk out with a company-changing investment.
Season 9 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.
Season nine of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch kicks off on June 14, and it’s our biggest season yet. World-changing ideas meet life-changing money on every episode — you won’t want to miss a second of the high-stakes drama!
And speaking of seconds, here’s a quick refresher on the rules of our show:
Contestants step inside the elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their company to a camera. Our board of investors is watching the pitch on a monitor, and if they like what they hear, the elevator opens and the entrepreneur steps inside the boardroom to get grilled, negotiate and (hopefully) shake hands on a big investment deal. If the investors don’t like what they hear? The elevator is sent back down to the ground floor. Game over.
For season nine, we’ve selected an incredible array of big-thinking entrepreneurs who want to change the world — and make a lot of money in the process. The only thing standing between them and their dreams is the dreaded elevator countdown clock. Who will seize the moment, and who will choke? You never know until those doors close and the timer begins.
Season Nine Board of Investors
Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, master of scaling
CeeLo Green, Grammy Award-winning musician/producer and investor
Jonathan Hung, angel investor and managing partner of Entrepreneur Venture Fund
How to Watch
Season 9 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays on Entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.
When Jared McCluskey and Alec Tremaine, founders of the gaming-creator platform The Mirror, got their shot in the elevator, they did not take it lightly. “We practiced our 60-second pitch over 100 times with video calls and by recording ourselves,” McCluskey told Entrepreneur. “We knew we had one shot to get the doors open.”
The doors to the boardroom not only opened, but the duo secured funding from tech investor Swan Sit, who was impressed with The Mirror’s capabilities for game makers. “The Mirror is designed for all skill levels and similar to how Figma brought multiplayer to design, The Mirror brings real-time collaboration to game development,” explains McCluskey.
Watch The Mirror’s Winning Pitch
We caught up with McCluskey to pick his brain for pitching strategies and tactics anyone can use on the show or in any meeting.
Congrats on your success on the show. Why do you think the investors voted to open the doors for you?
I believe they opened the doors because we hit the key points of the problem, solution, market, differentiation, team, traction, and financials in a concise, clear manner in the allotted 60 seconds.
How did the negotiations go? Would you do anything differently?
The show’s team does a great job with having these pitches truly be on a timer with no redos. So you must plan and practice under pressure. Pop culture loves the myth of inherent talent, “overnight successes”, and victory without trying. When Howard Hughes set the world record by circumnavigating the globe in 91 hours, he said, “There is one thing about this flight that I would like everyone to know: it was in no way a stunt. It was the carrying out of a careful plan and it functioned because it was carefully planned.” Ben Horowitz alludes to these as “lead bullets.” You won’t regret putting in the reps.
What do you plan to do with your investment?
We’ll continue to hire the best engineers to build a real-time game development platform that delights indie game developers and 3D creators. I’m thankful for how supportive the Godot community has been and we aim to continue to give back by sponsoring code contributions.
I’m grateful to Swan Sit for backing us. We went into the show not only seeking investment but a long-term partner and I believe this will be a great collaboration. Her presence in the web3 community and our focus on using web3 technology to create opportunities for people to learn new skills with free-market incentives is a perfect fit.
What did it mean to you personally to get in the doors and walk out with a win?
Some of it still doesn’t feel real. It was less than a year ago that I sent a good friend (and now an investor, Maria Derchi) a 30-page draft about this blindspot that no company is tackling. I called Alec and Micah Petersen and asked, “Do you think I’m crazy?” Pieces were lining up almost too well with what I’ve been thinking about building for 15+ years since my Second Life business.
The best way to define the future is to build it. Each day when you get up and look in the mirror, you get to make choices; these choices shape the day, and these days cumulatively become the future. The future is in the mirror.
What is your advice for anyone thinking of applying to be on a future episode?
Hit the key points that investors are looking for. As a technical founder, it’s easy for me to go so in-depth on tech and product in pitches that I spend too little time on the other key items of the business. You must paint a simple and complete picture of the business, not just the product. Make sure to have an ask when you are pitching in the elevator and don’t be afraid to negotiate with the investors. My high school background was in debate. I was in the YMCA’s awesome Youth & Government program and it had a huge, positive impact on my life. I highly recommend joining a program like it to hone your public speaking ability.
For the seasonal finale of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, we saved the most intense negotiation for last. Without giving away too many details, one entrepreneur gets the biggest offer in show history — but it comes with a catch. You’ll have to watch to see what happens.
A quick review of the rules before we get into the details on this episode rundown: Each week on our show, entrepreneurs are challenged to step into an elevator and pitch their business on camera to a board of investors in 60 seconds or less. If the investors like what they hear, the elevator doors open to reveal the boardroom, and contestants have the chance to walk away with life-changing funding, mentorship from the smartest minds in business and a personal and brand-defining moment.
Without exaggeration, this episode features the highest-energy entrepreneurs in show history. But does a great pitch translate to a great product? And be sure to stick around until the end. One entrepreneur gets an offer that blows away the rest in terms of dollars, but is it the right deal that aligns with their vision?
Thanks for watching this season and be on the lookout for season nine where they’ll be more entrepreneurs, more deals, and more stress in the elevator!
Season 8 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is brought to you by Amazon Business with support from State Farm and Canon. New episodes stream Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is the show where contestants get into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a video camera. Our board of investors is watching, and if they like what they hear they open the doors and the entrepreneur steps into the boardroom to try to seal the deal. If they don’t like what they hear, the entrepreneur gets sent back down.
staff
In this ongoing article series, we’re celebrating the entrepreneurs who walked into the boardroom and came out with a win and sharing their tips for pitching success.
Who are you and what is your business?
I’m Alicia Tulsee, founder of Moxie Scrubs, the first direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand for nurses. I went on the show seeking $500,000 and walked out with a $250,000 investment from Kim Perrell.
How did you prepare for the show?
I sought the help of our existing investors to come up with a one-minute pitch that would hit all the key points, such as total addressable market (known as TAM), customer acquisition costs (known as CAC), average order value (known as AOV), and key performance metrics such as repeat purchases and product return rates. Also, they wanted to know why and how our product is different from what’s out there in the market today and how it addresses our customer’s pain points.
We also set up times to go through mock questions and answers to prepare me for any questions we believed investors would like to know after hearing my one-minute pitch for the first time. Once we came up with a pitch that hit all the highlights we agreed on, I practiced it nonstop — while brushing my teeth, reciting it impromptu to my husband when waking up in the middle of the night, cooking dinner. I practiced so much that I could repeat it in my sleep at the drop of a hat! This is exactly what you have to do when your one-minute timer starts counting down.
What did you think was going to happen? What was different from your expectations?
I honestly had no idea what would happen or what to expect. Nothing could prepare you for how intense the moment is when it’s your turn to give your one-minute pitch: The entire set is pin-drop silent. All eyes, ears and lights are on you. And you get no retakes. All you have is this one 60-second moment to pitch. While it was one of the most intense experiences of my life, I’m happy to share that the whole experience was better than I could have imagined. The entire crew was friendly, helpful and just really great people/ I appreciated their kindness and helpfulness so much because I had a tough time getting to Fort Lauderdale (where the set is) from Boston. I was rerouted to Miami, which is an hour away from Fort Lauderdale by car, my flight was extremely delayed, and I ultimately didn’t get to my hotel until 1 a.m. the day of filming. I was so exhausted from what was already a very intense week. I woke up a few short hours later at 5 a.m., did my hair and make-up and was the first person at the studio, camera ready at 6:30 am. When they said to be prepared for a 10-hour shoot day, they meant it. Even though I did not know what was going to happen throughout the day, all of my preparation, the support from the staff leading up to my turn to pitch, one large cup of coffee, two shots of espresso and a can of Red Bull paid off — I had victory!
It’s hard to encompass all your hopes and dreams as an entrepreneur and all of the unique wonderful nuances of your business into a one-minute pitch. I know that investors want to know the key metrics that demonstrate why they should care about your business and why you’re motivated to do what you’re doing. I included the big takeaways from these areas in my pitch and believe that this is what made them want to learn more. For example, I demonstrated our path to profitability, metrics that proved customers love our product and backed it up with what makes Moxie Scrubs the best in the market.
How did the negotiations go? Would you do anything differently?
When I received an offer from Kim Perell, I was thrilled. Kim is the investor I went into the show wanting on my team. She knows exactly what it takes as a female entrepreneur to grow and scale your business. Kim built her business from scratch and understands what it’s like for the everyday American with a dream. There was nothing to negotiate because I know the value that someone like her will bring to any company. If you couldn’t already tell, I greatly admire her.
What do you plan to do with your investment?
This investment will be used to fund inventory costs and marketing, both essential to scale Moxie Scrubs and take our business’s impact to the next level. We are excited to grow our business with Kim Perell’s mentorship and support and make a huge difference in the lives of every single nurse across the country.
What did it mean to you personally to get in the doors and walk out with a win?
As an entrepreneur, every statistic is working against you. As a female minority entrepreneur, the statistics become even worse. Getting through the doors and walking out with a win was proof to me and the world that I have moxie and will continue to defy every statistic that says people like me should not succeed. It was so gratifying because when one woman succeeds, all of us succeed. I found myself saying that Dr. Seuss quote, “Oh the places you’ll go!” in my head all day. This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful thing about entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship allows you to take your life in directions you would never think could be possible. And it’s even more beautiful when your business helps to improve the lives of millions of people across the country. I feel so grateful that I get to build this amazing brand that supports nurses where they need the support the most. Walking out with a win made me more determined to continue doing what I am most passionate about — supporting nurses.
What is your advice for anyone thinking of applying to be on a future episode?
Go ahead and do it. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take! And my next piece of advice would be: Don’t wing your pitch. Practice. Practice. Practice. You never know what might happen and when things don’t go as planned, your preparation will be all that you have to fall back on. And lastly, please arrive a couple of days early!
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is the show where contestants get into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a video camera. Our board of investors is watching, and if they like what they hear they open the doors, and the entrepreneur steps into the boardroom to try to seal the deal.If they don’t like what they hear, the entrepreneur gets sent back down.
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In this ongoing article series, we’re celebrating the entrepreneurs who walked into the boardroom and came out with a win and sharing their tips for pitching success.
Who are you and what is your business?
My name is Archie Clay III. I’m the co-founder and CEO of the luxury hat and accessories company WEAR BRIMS. We are disrupting this mature industry and reimagining how luxury feels inside and out. I walked out of Elevator Pitch with a deal with Nicole Walters, CEO of Inherit Learning Company, who is going to be my advisor and mentor.
The preparation for this show really focused on just being confident and doing my best. I practiced every single day with family, friends and my team, but most importantly I put everything in the hands of God! He truly prepared me for this amazing opportunity.
What did you think was going to happen? What was different from your expectations?
I honestly thought I was going to kill my pitch because of my preparation, but that didn’t go as planned. But as I stated, God had my back and allowed me to make it to the next level and get a deal.
Your pitch won over investors, and they voted to open the elevator doors. Why do you think they let you in?
I honestly think they opened the doors because they saw my passion, perseverance and hustle to be the best. And they saw that even when I messed up my pitch, I didn’t stop and continued to push forward.
How did the negotiations go? Would you do anything differently?
I think the negotiations went well. I think that I could have been a little more aggressive, but I do believe that the deal I got was what God provided for me.
What do you plan to do with your investment?
I plan to utilize the investment to help us create a better strategy around our marketing and influencer strategy for 2023 and beyond.
What did it mean to you to get in the doors and walk out with a win?
Man, the feeling was amazing. The fact that I completely messed up my pitch and still was able to recover then walk through those doors and still get a deal? Simply amazing.
