99 Problems But A Pitch Ain’t One

Picture of Miles Burke
Miles Burke

I was lucky enough to be allocated a pitching slot at the inaugural startup open mic night, which was held on a cool Tuesday evening at Spacecubed.

Nate Sturcke from Skill Social fame did an excellent job of giving he pitch presenters a brief via email, prior to the event, as well as on the evening.

Opening at 6.00pm, the formal proceedings began around 20 minutes later, once every one of the 25 strong audience had a chance to grab a cold beverage, also arranged by Nate.

The format was a great success. First we heard from Marcus Cattani with a pitch for his start-up, The Journey Program. The audience were encouraged to join in the clapping at the five minute mark, and Marcus gave an eloquent overview as to what his business is all about.

Next up, after a few minutes of questions, was Luke John with his crowd sourced lobbying start-up. Luke gave a great insight into crowdfunding and grass roots lobbying and activism in his five minutes.

Last speaker in the first half was Matt Pound with his great (soon to be kickstarted) start-up, Gno-me. Matt gave his five minutes well, and answered a few questions from the very approachable audience afterwards.

Nate then sprung a quick exercise on the audience. Breaking them into three teams, these fellow strangers had to create a pitch in around five minutes. Hilarity ensued – my favourite quote was using hundreds of oompa loompa’s for slave labour. You had to be there to get this.

Last up, after a quick refresh of beers around the audience, were our last two speakers. Mark Lockett spoke about his start-up, Delivery Engine, for five minutes and I was lucky last, speaking about our recently launched start-up, 6Q.

During the evening, which wrapped up around 7.30pm, the audience were asked to complete a typeform powered feedback form for each speaker. Writing from my own experience, these were a delight to read through after the event, and I enjoyed some great feedback.

L to R: Miles, Matt, Nate, Mark, Luke and Marcus
L to R: Miles, Matt, Nate, Mark, Luke and Marcus

If you have a pitch you want to try out on a very friendly and approachable audience, without the worries of a typical competitive environment, I can’t recommend Startup Open Mic Night enough. There’s one being held every month, and the best part is that the venue changes each month, across various co-working spaces, so you get to have a quick look at these venues as an additional bonus.

Thanks again Nate for having me as a pitch presenter, a big thank you to Spacecubed for providing the venue, and the audience for providing a collegial atmosphere.

I look forward to getting along next month and being in the audience, which I imagine will grow quickly with this great format.

Find out more about Startup Open Mic Night at their website, www.startupopenmic.com

 

Share this post :

LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
Picture of Miles Burke

Miles Burke

Miles is the founder of employee survey start-up, 6Q, Founder & MD of an award-winning Perth digital marketing agency, and curates the Australian Software Guide.
Latest News

Become a Startup Insider

Get the latest startup news, tips, and inspiration in your inbox each week.