Sweet. There we go. Well, anybody else need anything in here? We're good. Okay.
Thank you. You're welcome.
So let's check in on homework. I really want you all to share just a couple minutes of
how that experience was if you were able to do it and what kind of feedback you got. And
then I think we're just going to open it up to Q&A. So there's just a few of us here,
which is great. So we can get a lot of questions answered. If you want to share your screen,
I think I can let you do that. If there's a slide that you want me to look at, I'm happy
to get feedback. So really, however you all want to use this time so that we can do as
much fine tuning of your pitch as possible in under an hour. So who wants to share about
your homework? How did that go for you? And what did you learn?
Yeah, Nikita. Hi, Shelley. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. This is Nikita. Basically,
this is my first time preparing a pitch to be true for which you heard basically a pitch.
So this is fairly new to me. So I'm starting from square one. My question to you is preparing
it I had to get used to Google Power, Google Slides and all of that. What is too much information
on the slide that you would think that is too much information?
Yeah, I tend to be pretty lean in terms of the information on the actual slide.
I would much rather you all put less on the actual slide and be able to communicate verbally
more. Yeah, I hit it real quick.
Oh, oops.
Does that make sense? So we can it might be helpful to
as you're, you know, to think about your slide. And even as we go through this, because
there's kind of a magic number, because I think if people are reading your slide,
if there's too much up there, they're not listening to you. Okay. And that's really
what you want to think about on the pitch in the actual pitch. Your slide is really about
it's, I like to think of slides as a little bit more of a visual graphic
that enhances what you're already saying. Okay, so I want to hear you tell the story and you
talk about, you know, the vision or talk about the market or whatever it is you're,
you're talking about for that slide. And then I want to see a little bit of data to support that.
Okay, so basically, the slide is just helping you kind of go through the information without losing
it basically in your head. Exactly. And it gets it reinforces what they're hearing you say.
Okay. And the more you can do that visually, I think the better it is, like I wouldn't put a
lot of words up there, I wouldn't put a lot because it's just, it's hard to get through all
that content. Okay. And you have to remember, like these investors, many investors aren't going to
know your industry. And so, you know, your industry, you know, your company, but they may
be hearing about it for the very first time. And so they're going to be like, oh, there's a lot,
there's a lot to absorb here. So keeping it simple, keeping it conversational, and then using
the slides just to kind of show what you're saying. Okay. And the last thing, when I'm doing
well, as far as the elevator pitch, what can I kind of imagine to start off with? Or what is
like a good idea that I can start off with as far as giving a great elevator pitch? So what's your
company? It's an organic hair and body product. Nice. Okay. Why did you start your company?
Because basically, I seen a need for in the industry right now, it's a whole lot of chemicals
that's affecting people. And I wanted to, as far as biracial kids and families, they're now having
a problem with finding products to basically take care of their hair and their bodies because of all
the chemicals. Yeah. So do you have any kind of personal story around that that you would be
willing to share? A personal story from
my cell phone from clients?
It could be either one.
Okay, so basically one of my clients came up,
I was doing a pop-up shop,
and she basically said that she had a biracial child,
and she just was like,
she didn't know what to do with his hair.
And so I have a leave-in conditioner that's really great,
and she just said she needed something to detangle.
And soon as she used it, I had her use the sample,
and it combed right through.
And she was like,
oh, I've been looking for a product like this in a store.
And she referred to Cantu,
and I've been in the industry for 28 years,
I did hair for 28 years,
so I know I've used Cantu,
and it basically really didn't do
what it's supposed to do to a patron's hair.
And so basically after that,
she was sold on the leave-in conditioner.
And so I would wanna know kind of the emotional outcome
of that experience for your client.
It's like, what, and I'm a heart type,
so I'm like, yes, I get it,
but some investors are not gonna be.
So to tell a story about why that matters,
why does that matter to her on an emotional level?
Because she wants her kid to feel
a sense of love and belonging,
or a sense of like, I'm beautiful,
or whatever that impulse is
for a mom to wanna do this for her child,
I think that's your story.
Okay.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And a really good question. Thank you.
And I would say telling the story.
Okay.
Yeah, and really, and that's the hook.
You're looking for a hook.
And I think a lot of investors,
they're looking for a story that they can believe in.
Okay.
And if you can't lead with that,
then the rest of your pitch,
you're just kind of making a case
for why you're the product to invest in.
But if you get them early believing
and kind of cheering for this story,
they're much more willing to wanna hear
the rest of the pitch.
Okay.
So that's the end of the story.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, you bet.
Okay.
That was so good.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
If you've got your homework done,
if you had any challenges around it
and what questions do you have?
I have a question.
Yeah.
So I am a business, fairly new business.
I've been in business for about two years.
I'm also a beauty business for hair and skincare company.
And I wanted to know, being a new business,
starting with my own funds to build this business
when you are a business that has started from scratch
and pulling from your bootstraps,
what are investors looking at from bootstrapping companies
or startup companies?
Yeah.
So that's a really good question.
And it depends on where you are
in the life cycle of your business.
So bootstrapping, there is an assumption
that you have revenue.
And so that would be, whereas there's so many,
especially in tech, a lot of tech startups
that do not have revenue.
And so they're pre-revenue.
And so they're going after,
they're pitching the big vision for the investors.
So that's a way to get investment.
So what you're wanting,
you're still gonna do the exact same things.
You're still gonna tell your story,
why you got into this, about your company,
you're gonna hook them,
but you're gonna have a little bit more,
I would lean really hard on the story of bootstrapping
as well, because as an investor,
I really like to see bootstrappers,
that they're already putting in their sweat equity
and they have some traction, they've got some growth.
And that's the thing about bootstrapping is once you,
you're making revenue,
but you're putting it back into the business.
Right.
And so they want to see,
looking at the stats on how you're growing,
but realize for the first about five years
with bootstrapping until you find other income
or other ways to fund your business,
that's constantly coming in
and going right back into the business.
Yeah.
And I think savvy investors will know that,
they'll understand that you're,
basically all your revenue is kind of going right back
into your business.
So I think what they're gonna want to.
stand and see demonstrated is that you have two things. You have a strategy for how you are
reinvesting that money. Like where's it going? Are you hiring people? Is it just,
you know, I don't know. I think really walking them through your thinking with how you're,
as you're making revenue, where are you putting it and why? Okay. We're going to want to know that.
And they're going to want to know. So they give you half a million, a million dollars,
let's just say, how are you going to spend it to grow? Okay, that those would be the two things
that I would really think about demonstrating that you have some traction. How have you been
previously reinvesting in your business? And then what is your intention as you go forward? You
want to, you know, hiring people, any growth goals you have, you want to build on. That's
what I would be thinking about. And I noticed last week when the owner of Range Beauty spoke,
she was saying how in a fairly new business, especially if you are the only one that's
running the company and you're your only employee, look, invest, looking to, if they want to invest
in you, you having more than one person. So if you are just you in the company, but you're
wanting their money to help you scale, as far as hiring more people, what is the best route to
display that information without them saying, well, you don't have the,
the manpower, right? Yeah, I think a couple of things would really sing to me as an investor.
One would be like, I have this total, like amazing person who's ready to come on and sign up today
and with when work with me, I just can't afford to pay her right now, like, because it's just me. So
that would be really interesting to me if you already had someone that was ready, and maybe
even it was just sweat equity or just hustling to help you grow. Like that's like, if you can
convince somebody to, to jump in on a promise, then that's really interesting for an investor.
So what do you know, you're, I want to know your hiring roadmap to like, what, what do you know
about yourself and your strengths as a founder? And then who do you know, you've got to get around
you to help build this thing. I would want you to be thinking about that too.
And what if you have like people that are volunteering hours?
That's awesome. Totally say that and put that in the pitch.
Yes. I said, this is being recorded and I see your hand up too. I'll come to you in just a second.
I said, this is being recorded and I see your hand up too. I'll come to you in just a second.
Does that help Jasmine? Any other questions about the team?
That was perfect. Thank you.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I mean, your, your overhead with your salaries is going to be
one of the largest chunks of your investment. So really think about it, spend some time thinking
about how would you form your dream team? And then you really need to make a case. Like for me,
I'm not an operator. And so, and I'm bootstrapping right now. And one of the first things I'm
planning on hiring is an operator who can really come in and scale some systems. Like I would
totally be talking about that. And it demonstrates, you know, your strengths and your weaknesses,
and you know, where to hire to fill in those gaps. Okay.
Okay. Thank you.
You bet.
Isis, do you want to go next? I see your hand up.
Yeah. I'll turn it over, but it's Friday. So,
so yeah, I think my first question was about, I had on question to Jasmine. So I'm also
bootstrapping. I've been investing a lot of the money into social media ads, and I'm just
kind of concerned of how I would frame that because the ROAS hasn't decreased. I'm still
experimenting with that and learning a lot, like what kind of copy generates, what kind of customers
starting with like very B2C and tweaking them to like appeal more to libraries who surprisingly
enough actually buy from indie bookstores who knew. So, but going back to the original question,
as an investor, if a business was saying we are using social media ads to scale our business,
but still experimenting to make them land, is that a compelling story? Or like, you don't know?
you doing? No, totally testing. It's testing. I think that's
totally legit. Yeah. And I but I also think that, you know, be
prepared to talk about the results. Like, what are you
saying? Like, what is what is the data telling you? And which
is some of the beauty of social media, because you can get so
many analytics from that. One of the things I wish I'd done with
my old company was a lot more market testing with social media
ads, because you can really start to see if there's a
product market fit. And then, and then where do I need to
adjust? So yeah, I think that's really compelling, I think to
like, having a little bit of a good judgment around what is
your budget spend for that, because we can put so much into
ads and get not a lot back. So I think talking through like,
here's what, you know, our ad spend is, it's like, whatever,
300 a month. And here's what we're seeing. And here's what
we're getting back from that. And if you're still testing,
that's totally fine. You may not have a lot of ROI with those
ads right now. But you do have data. And I think, you know,
once you get, I always think about like the sweet spot of a
lot of the social media ads, what do you think you could
generate at scale? Right? There is a little bit of logic and
some assumptions baked into that. And I always had like the
marketing team that I worked with always wanted to see a 300%
ROI. And so like, how do you get there? Right? I think that's
what investors would want to see. But if testing right now
is totally legit.
Yeah. And that was our goal, my goal, like a 300% ROI with the
consultant, I was like, really to break even I need a 5x. But
I would be excited to get a 3x. Yeah. And sometimes we've gotten
close to like 2.5. And some weeks, it hasn't made one. And
those weeks, I'm like, how do I how do I convince investors that
I know what I'm doing? So that's good to know that I can, the
main thing is the data and the learning. So that was my first
question to take it a step back. I'm Isis, Sister Sci-Fi is the
first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and
fantasy in the US. Our goal is to double the number of science
fiction and fantasy titles by Black and Indigenous authors on
the New York Times bestseller list. So that's our elevator
pitch. Right now. I think I'm trying to figure out what's the
most compelling to an investor to tell them that we're looking
for investment to roll out automated vending kiosks, like a
national network of automated vending kiosks, or looking for
investment to launch a third party network for indie writers.
So your feedback on that, and that's my last question.
I think I would want to know more about both of those. Yeah,
I think I do think you have to think about what you want to
pitch. And, and maybe there's a little bit of getting some
feedback around that, like having kind of friendly investor
conversations. And one of the things I mentioned in my
presentation with you all, I think I said this, but I think
I said this, if you ask for advice, you get money, ask for
money, get advice. And so one of the things I would be doing
right now, if I were you is having lots of conversations
with investors and getting advice on that. You've got these
two kind of viable paths that both make sense to you. And you
can see how they could both work in the market. But in terms of
what could grow at scale, you know, what would you think?
And you really start to, it's so funny how that happens, but
they do get kind of pulled into the process with you. And then a
lot of times those people end up coming back and be something be
are sometimes the first investors, because they feel
bought in. So, you know, I think I'd have to know a little bit
more about and by the way, like that gave me goosebumps as you
just shared that kind of high level elevator pitch. But I
think it's a really compelling story. And it's, it's gonna
hook. I think what, what isn't as clear as which is the most
realistic path for you. And so as you think, as you figure that
out and get excited about your vision for your company, then
others will get excited too.
But I do think there's an element of getting feedback,
getting advice from people, especially if they're in the
industry. Like, I think that would be great. But really kind
of putting a stake in the ground with what you really what is the
vision for your company that you really want to see come to
fruition.
Thank you guys.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, it 100% makes sense.
Did you get goosebumps because you liked the idea
or you like books or you like science fiction?
The idea and the books.
I'm not a sci-fi person.
Okay, and I was just like, is it compelling too?
And so I was just like, okay, cool.
Yeah, I mean, the justice element of it,
kind of the, I think there's a market there.
So, I mean, I'm like, as an investor,
I'm like, I think there's a market there.
So, but there is the sense of like underrepresented voices
in this genre, I think is really compelling.
And so, and my husband's a publisher
and like, so I know a little bit about-
So you know, okay.
Yeah, I think it's really interesting.
And so, you know, telling that story
from the lens of an author who has such talent
that is being underrepresented in this genre,
I think is really interesting.
And then now your job is to figure out,
okay, how to put the right pieces in place
to help an investor see the potential,
the earning potential from that.
Thank you, that was very helpful.
Oh, good, you're welcome.
Right, Ash, you're up.
Oh, you're on mute.
Hi, Shelly.
I've kind of lost my voice,
so I apologize for how I'm sounding.
But it's been super helpful to hear,
I think what Jasmine and Isis,
both of you think through your stories.
My questions, I have three.
The first one is,
my company creates regeneratively grown flour mixes.
And pancake mixes, we approve revenue.
And really the story is around climate change
and regeneratively grown grains
are not a super well-known market right now,
but it's an opportunity, it's a white space area.
And it really is working directly with farmers.
So what I'm finding myself doing in my pitch deck
is spending maybe four slides telling the story
of why food is a lever for climate action.
I'm concerned that that may be too much time
spent on a story, but because it's such a new area,
I don't really know how to balance that.
Yeah, my initial, are you asking if it's too much?
Okay, my initial gut reaction is wants to say yes.
And I think trust your instinct around that.
I think if you get too much into the weeds,
you're gonna lose people.
They're gonna gloss over a little bit.
So what I would say is like really,
almost like this sounds condescending
to talk about investors this way,
but talk to, like if you were describing it
to like a seven or eight year old,
what would you include and what would you leave out?
And so I'm not saying that you need to reduce it
and dumb it down that much,
but I think that's a starting point
because you need to start with the essentials.
Like, what can I not leave out?
And then from there, I think you're gonna,
and then getting feedback from people is huge
for this, in this situation.
People that aren't familiar with your industry.
So starting with the essentials
and then building it from there,
where are the holes that people still are confused
and then fill in those holes
with a little bit more content or data.
However, you need to share your story, but not too much.
And I think this is where we get in trouble with our pitch.
We think we have to put, even like in the beginning,
we have to put so much in because it is so complex
and it's, there's a lot to it.
So it's like, you have to be willing to cut your darlings,
willing to get rid of the things
that just at this point are not as essential.
Got it.
You wanna share just enough
and not knowing the industry, I think it's fascinating.
I think, I mean, I can imagine the white space.
I just joined Thrive Market
and I would be totally in for this.
Yeah.
I think there's like,
there's something interesting there to think about.
I love the idea of working with farmers.
I think that's, I don't know that very well.
That's not my world that I move in, but I'm intrigued by it.
And so making a business case for it
could just, could be compelling.
Great.
Which I think is a good segue to my second question,
which is what the product lives and solves both the.
supply side problem of farmers,
who are trying to reach consumers,
and consumers who are seeking approachable,
easy, affordable, plant-based options.
And I can set up the story in my deck,
but on my problem slide,
I've found myself talking about both the farmers
and the consumers.
And once again, I don't,
I think it, I do need to,
your point is well made Shelly,
I do need to run this by someone
who hasn't heard the pitch before.
I think it's okay though,
that you're,
there's a lot of companies
that are solving multiple pain points.
So I think it's okay.
And I think just make, just being,
in fact, I think that the integration of those,
where you would come into the market,
there's a lot of really interesting companies
that are doing that.
So just make it clear, make it explicit,
and then show the business case.
Like how does kind of dual pain points
turn into a revenue model?
Like really walking them through that.
Awesome.
And my, thank you, that's super helpful.
My last question is in the financial ask,
I'm pre-revenue, as I said.
I want to raise in order to enable product development.
I will be in pilot before I go raise,
but knowing that I'm truly pre-revenue,
or I will be when I'm talking to investors,
how would you frame, how much detail should I go into
when I say, hey, this is the amount I'm asking.
This is the use of funds.
What level of detail are investors looking for then?
Yeah, I, a couple of thoughts about that.
I think in a verbal pitch, they, it's not too granular.
I think if you have like a million dollars,
maybe you're raising, I don't know what the number is,
but think about like, what are the three, two to four,
we'll say that, main buckets that you want to use.
Product development, maybe recruitment,
like, you know, whatever those are.
And then talk about like, okay, when I have this money
and they go in these buckets, what is that going to yield?
What will that produce for us?
A lot of companies when they're pitching,
they forget to say that.
They ask for the money and they tell how
they're going to use it, but they don't,
they forget to say to what end,
like really making the case.
Like, if you give me this million dollars,
here's how I use it.
And we can, you know, in X amount of time,
we can spit out, you know, however much, do the math.
But I think really helping investors see
where there's money, where their money's going to go
and what that's going to actually look like.
A lot of people forget to add that
because we want you all thinking about that.
That's excellent.
And does that have to be a monetized amount
or can I see an incremental?
I know I'm thinking of 300,000 is the number
I'm working with for this initial round.
So I'm thinking about 35,000 additional families
reach or additional units made.
Does that have to be monetized as well?
I would try if you can.
I mean, I know it's not a perfect science,
but I think you could probably get close
if you have some metrics from your industry of like,
you know, what would a unit cost be per pound?
Here's what we think we can sell it for retail.
Here's what our margin is at however many,
like you think you can sell it to in your market
and with the market share.
And, you know, I think just getting close.
And again, it's not like no one's going to hold you to this
because we know there's a lot of variables.
We want to know that you're thinking through it
and that you're able to kind of make those judgment calls
and think through all of the business model.
I wanted to say too, though, also,
I think one of the things I know you're pre-revenue
and maybe before you pitch,
but there might be some, like you might have some POs.
You might be talking with some farmers.
You might be talking to some manufacturers.
Like I think all of that is going to help build your case
for why you need money.
If you have all that kind of waiting on the wings,
yes, we may not have the product to sell,
but here's what we do have.
So I would really hustle hard to get as much.
that lined up. You know, again, it's just going to look really attractive to an investor if you've
already got, if you're already having these conversations and have them ready to go.
Great. That makes sense. Thank you. Yeah. I think Isis had a question in the chat, Shelly.
Oh, yes. Thank you. Can you dive deep in not being held to a sales forecast? Yeah.
Um, what do I want to say about that? Um, I think any investor that holds you to it is,
has never started a business themselves. And they know most know how unrealistic they really are.
So I think the main thing that we really, in fact, when I see projections, I usually divide
them by half. That's just a little trick a lot of investors do. Because of course,
you're going to believe that you have, like that your pro forma meets the standard that,
of course, you should think that you should think that you have these amazing sales potential.
But we also know that there's a lot of a lot of variables that impact that that's most of which
are out of your control. And so the main thing you should be projecting, you should try to be
realistic. The most thing I want to see is that you have logic behind it, that you're you're not
just throwing stuff up there. But you're really thinking through if you have a pro forma, which
you should and you have these projections, why? What are the what are you basing this on? And if
I know it will change, and I know it will fluctuate, but I want to know that you thought
through that. Does that help Isis? That's really helpful, because my career used to be in finance.
So I'm like, Oh, if I'm off by like 20%, then that's that's like, we have to go through and
redo everything. And investors like, what's going on? And so I think I would have probably taken my
sales forecast and cut it in half before putting it on a slide. So it's also doing it. It's like,
maybe I should rethink my strategy. So that was actually really helpful.
Yeah. And that when I was pitching, and I did, there was a season I was just pitching,
I don't know, like two or three times a day, like for many months, it was crazy.
And I can't remember what I was gonna say. Oh, I was like, I was freaking out constantly,
because I had investors, you know, I'd have my spreadsheet up there. And usually it's five year
projections is like really looking at what that would look like. And they didn't really care.
They're like, Okay, this is this looks great. You think you'll be $150 million company,
or whatever it was? Why? Like, talk me through column A. How are you getting there
to this in number, like, walk me through all of the things that you're seeing. And I,
man, that was hard work to have to walk someone through all my logic.
And then, you know, and to get kind of tripped up sometimes, like, I would seriously was like,
well, I don't know, like, I can't remember what that assumption was baked into that.
And so you really do have to know how you're getting to those projection numbers,
even if they change, even if there's unrealistic assumptions based into them,
you at least have to know what they are. So you can have that conversation with investors.
All right. Who else? Abina, do you have a question?
Hi. Yes. And I really loved hearing about everyone's businesses. It's really, really
interesting. So we're Karate. We're actually three sisters who co founded the brand,
one who's a board certified dermatologist. And we grew up in Ghana using shea butter.
If you're familiar with raw, unrefined shea butter, it's pretty hard to spread. So we were
always sort of buying over the counter creams and everything. Yes, I see your comment from Isis
and trying to mix it to just make it more easily spreadable. And one day we decided, you know,
why can't we make this on our own with limited ingredients, safe for your skin and safe for
pretty much anyone from babies to adults or anyone with really sensitive skin. So took a few years
to come up with the right formulation. And of course, having my sisters of dermatologists has
been really helpful. Yeah. And we have three.
SKUs that we sell right now.
And part of our mission is also really rooted
in sustainability and working with the Shea Women Farmers
in Ghana who helped pick the nuts.
And I wanted to know like in a pitch deck,
how much should we focus on our sustainability efforts?
Like do, I mean, we care about it a lot,
but we know that some of the money that we would get,
we would want that to help go back to the women
because so far we've done things like giving them hats
and sunscreen, like things that will help them
when they're picking the nuts
because they walk in grass and have snakes
and scorpions and things like that.
And also ideal, we'd love to be able to help provide them
with these certain bikes so they don't have to walk so much
so they can help carry the Shea back to their homes
and things like that.
So I just wonder how much in a slide deck or pitch
we would focus on that portion of the business.
Yeah, I, okay, we have 15 more minutes.
Okay, that's a really good question.
So, and I'll answer it a couple of ways.
I think this is where you really have to think
about your audience.
So, and I might have like a couple of different pitch decks
based on who you're talking to.
If you're talking to a traditional venture capital fund,
I might mention it, but I wouldn't go into detail
because that's just not gonna be a part of their,
for most of them, some of them it might be.
Most of them, it won't be a part of the thesis.
So they might champion it and really like it,
but in terms of who they're picking to invest in,
it may not fit their portfolio now.
But if you can make a case, a business case
for all the traction and all the revenue,
like all the things,
like then that could fit in their portfolio.
And then an extra bonus is like, yeah,
we've got this great kind of double, triple bottom line
in terms of how we're sustainable
and we're helping this community,
but I may not lead with it.
I may just mention it.
But you probably could do really well
with impact investors and there's a whole,
have you thought about that?
Yeah, we're just, now that we're at sort of
this inflection point where we're starting to,
because we also have bootstrapped since we started.
And so we're starting to look at other ways,
grants and things like that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think, I mean, there's really an emerging
kind of pool of investors that,
over the last 10 years,
it's really grown around impact investing.
And so there's specific funds who are look,
that's their thesis.
Like it has to have sustainability is one of them,
eco-friendly is one that like,
there's a lot of impact investors who are really looking
for very specific companies they wanna invest in
who line up with who they wanna,
what kind of change do they wanna make?
So you would probably do really well with impact investors.
And I think if that were the case,
I would lean much stronger into that story.
And so that's why I say you might wanna have
a couple of pitch decks that you just really think
about your audience and what are they wanting to hear
as they're thinking about investment.
Thank you for that.
And another question I have in terms of,
so I think when we listened to you speak a couple of weeks
ago, you talked about competitors and competition
and sort of having one of the pages in your deck list
that do, should we actually be listing out like three
to five competitors and how much,
yeah, what exactly do we say?
And if we have different pitch decks,
I feel like right now we have a pitch deck mainly
for retail and marketing, sort of like a brand deck,
but I don't know if we necessarily need to speak to that
cause we just sort of list our products.
They just wanna know about what we have,
but if we're going for the impact.
investors and whatnot, who, how, how much detail do we need to go into?
Yeah, definitely. For investors, you definitely want at least a slide about your competitors.
Um, like, I just want to know that, you know, they're out there,
and you know, what differentiates you from them.
They're always, there's always going to be competitors. And so it's not I remember,
I used to freak out about like, I can't tell them like these two companies that are doing
the exact same thing that we are. But we know they're companies doing the exact same thing.
But we want to know, like, are they new? Have they been around a long time?
What's their like, competitive edge? Do they were they first to market? Do they do something
different with their product? How are you thinking about this problem in a different way?
Maybe in a fresh way, maybe in a more like profitable way. So I think those are the things.
So to not if you didn't put in a competitor slide, it would it would be a red flag for me.
That you're either you're not aware that they're there, or you don't think they're
important, or you're trying to avoid them with in the conversation. And so that would,
that would probably alarm me a little bit.
But you don't have to say too much either. I think that's the thing like,
just mentioning them, and what are they doing really well? And then maybe how do you feel
like you have an advantage on them? I think those are the things that I would mention.
Okay, that's great. Thank you. You're welcome. We have a few more minutes. If anybody else,
anything about your pitch, if you want to like, share a slide, anything else that you're wondering?
I see that. Oh, nice. Yeah. Oh, you guys are on goop.
That's awesome. All right. Who has any other questions? Yeah.
Oh, thank you for this about Kapoor Capital. I'll look into them.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know, know Kapoor Capital, but they're also based here in the Bay Area,
like in Oakland. So if you want an introduction that's slightly warmer than freezing cold,
I may be able to help. But again, it's not that warm. Okay, thank you.
Yeah, and I'll, my managing partner with me in the Jump Fund, she is also on the board of,
and their name is escaping me right now, I believe they're based in Missouri.
They're an impact investing fund. So if you email me, then I will, I can connect you,
Abina, with that group. Okay, I just can't remember the name of it right now.
Any questions or any other like insights or feedback that you all have for each other?
So I wanted to reach out to a couple people, but I felt kind of, I withheld from doing that because
I was kind of scared that as far as me not giving a pitch before, that it wouldn't,
how they would kind of react to what I was doing. So I'm not sure if I would have done that.
How they would kind of react to what I was asking, would it be too much, you know,
to get in fact, input back from them, without them feeling some type of way.
But I definitely needed some help, but I was scared to kind of reach out.
And are these investors you were talking to, or?
No, just inside the group.
In the group that you all are with together? Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah, I think, I mean, I think Siobhan said something about possibly pairing you all up
or getting some people together to give feedback on each other's pitch, which I think would be
so invaluable for you all in that. And I don't know what part of the country you all are in,
but a lot, there's a lot of accelerators, incubators, startup hubs.
They have office hours. And so you can actually get time with investors.
Like we did office hours a lot. And we would just meet with founders and give them feedback and
give them advice and ask questions and like as an investor might ask.
And so that's really helpful if you have.
some kind of hub in your community that you could just do a five-minute pitch and get some feedback
from people. Okay. Are you still open to, Shelly, if we were to send kind of what we have for you
to critique it, are you still open to doing that? Absolutely, yeah. I'm happy to look at your decks
and give some feedback. I actually just got one this week that I'm going to look at over the
weekend. Okay. And it won't be like, you know, earth-shattering, life-changing feedback, but I
think I can point out a few things that just with me looking at a semester with fresh eyes. Okay.
Might be some things that are hard for you to, because you see it all the time. You built it,
you know. Yeah, I'm happy to do that. In fact, I'm gonna,
I'll put my email down here so you all have it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I think I'm the same
way, Nikita. I have, it's intimidating. Yes. When you are fresh, this is something new to you,
and you, I didn't go to business school. I have a biology degree,
master's in biological sciences. That is not my expertise, but I think the learning aspect
is, can be really intimidating. And coming from different areas, different people are on different
spectrums in their, in their own right. So like, like I said, I'm only, I've only been in business
for two years, while there's others that's probably been in business 10 years, and they have
talked to investors, have different backgrounds, so it can be very intimidating. And this is my
very first elevator pitch as well, so. Yeah, I will say the more you practice,
it truly does get easier. And the more you think about, I'm having a conversation,
not I'm pitching. The people that frame it as a conversation, like they're talking with me about
their business. Like, I love that. Like, that feels, it's informal. There's just like, we're
diving into these topics, this topic together. It's not, it's not some, now some investors make
you work for it, and they're going to make you feel about this thing, and let them. Like, they're
going to have bigger issues in the rest of their life, if that's what they really want to do to
people. But most investors want to have this conversation with you, and really understand
your business. And so, just think about it that way, and practice, practice, practice.
Okay, thank you. This was so helpful.
You're welcome. Any other questions?
Okay. You all have my email in there, and I am happy to, especially this small group,
if you're still like, struggling with some things. I know that I struggled for a while with my
business model slide, and I had to get a lot of eyeballs on it. So, I think things like that,
this is, you all need to support each other in this, and like, really help each other with fresh
eyes, look at this stuff. And, and you're going to be great. You're, you have, you all have these
little babies that are so precious, and they're, they're beautiful. And so, just be proud of them,
and go out there, and share them. And then, you, you will find the right people. Sharing it with,
put your reps in, gotta kiss a lot of frogs, but you'll find the right people,
who really love what you're doing, and want to support it.
Thank you so much. You're welcome. Absolutely. Thank you, Shelly. I know that the session was
probably really good. It was very intimate, so I'm sure you were able to get your questions.
I hope, I hope you all got some good answers. And so, the other group is still, is still meeting,
and so I wanted to just let you all know that you, I'm going to dismiss you, but if you had any
questions for me, feel free to ask me now. If not, then I just want to say thank you so much,
Shelly, for joining us on this Friday. Always appreciate all of your help and feedback.
And if you ladies don't have anything else, I hope that you enjoy your holiday weekend,
and I will see you on Tuesday. Shelly, if you could stay on just for one second,
once everyone drops off. Yes, absolutely. Thank you, guys. Have a good one. Thanks, everyone.
Thanks, Shelly. You're welcome. Take care.
Awesome. Awesome. How was it?
Great. Good group. Lots of great questions.
I think that you know there's a lot of fear, which I really remember and I know that feeling well like it's intimidating.
Very much. So I think that you mean stop recording. Oh yeah, that's what I was gonna tell you too so when you get a chance you can send that over to me.
I don't think it saves. I think it saves to your computer.