In the fast-moving world of startups, entrepreneurs need to be able to sell themselves in seconds. A good elevator pitch can mean all of the difference, helping entrepreneurs score cash, recruit top engineers or land that ever-elusive big customer.
A bad pitch? Well, let’s just say that’s a one-way ticket to nowheresville.
That’s why we’re kicking off a fun new Web video series and competition today, dubbed The Elevator Pitch. And what better place to conduct these pitches than … an actual elevator while riding to the top of one of the world’s most iconic landmarks: Seattle’s Space Needle.
In the first pilot episode, PetHub CEO Tom Arnold describes his online pet tracking startup in the 43 seconds that it takes to get to the top of the Space Needle. I am joined on the show by judges Rebecca Lovell of GeekWire and Andy Sack of Founder’s Co-op who critique the pitch, and help decide whether Arnold is sticking around for the later rounds, or taking a trip back down to the ground to work on his pitch.
Take a ride with us, and let us know if you think we made the right choice.
So, what do you think? Did we make the right choice? Cast your ballot here:
We shot three pilot episodes of The Elevator Pitch a few weeks ago. This is the first in what we hope will become a regular feature on GeekWire and a fun competition that showcases one component of the hard-charging world of startup life. We welcome your feedback as we bake out the concept, and if you think you have what it takes to pitch your business in 43 seconds while speeding to the top of the Space Needle, email me at: john@geekwire.com.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for our next Elevator Pitch. In the meantime, a big thanks to Lift Digital and the Space Needle for helping to make this possible.
[Editor’s note: We shot this episode prior to Andy Sack’s chemotherapy treatments. We’re pulling for Andy as he fights his battle with testicular cancer, and we’re looking forward to him stirring things up as a judge on upcoming shows].
