Accelerators & Coaches
Do you want an EASIER way to prepare entrepreneurs
Our Foundation Course can help you if:
1 Preparing and coaching entrepreneurs is taking a lot of time
2 You are working with companies at different stages
3 Some are small/traditional businesses and others are true startups
4 You have entrepreneurs with different levels of experience
Download Our Free Getting Started Guide
For Accelerators and Coaches
Learning Partners
(Participate in presentations, use our courses, etc.)
Case Studies
62% Average Entrepreneur Improvement
151% Average Student Entrepreneur Improvement
Accelerator Winner of $100k
64% Average Student Entrepreneur Improvement
Planning to Use our Foundation Course
When planning to use our Foundation Course as part of your business pitch competition, consider what is the primary goal for your event? It will probably fall into one of these two categories:
1) Primary goal is to educate – for education-oriented organizations, the primary goal of your business pitch competition might be to help CEOs get better at communicating with investors and raising capital. A business pitch competition is experiential learning and a great way for CEOs to develop these skills and prepare to raise an equity round or apply for a business loan.
2) Primary goal is to attract the best companies for investment – for investment organizations and for non-profits which are incorporating a business pitch competition into their annual fundraiser, the primary goal might be to attract the CEOs who are most likely to receive an investment. In this case, you will be screening applicants based on a combination of the CEO’s prior experience pitching investors and raising capital, the company’s revenue size, growth rate, and profitability, and other factors specific to your event.
In either case, our Foundation Course can help your CEO finalists develop the three types of business pitches they will need to be successful for your competition (and in real life). However, for the applicants to your program who you have to turn down, our Foundation Course can also be an independent-study resource they use to improve for next time.
Example Application Process
Your business pitch competition application process will depend on the primary goal of your event (as discussed above) and other factors as well. Below is an example process you can use to get started.
Please note, in the “Event Announcement” and/or “Application” sections below, the event organizer will usually recommend our Foundation Course as an optional resource to help CEOs develop an Investment Summary (our version of the executive summary), a Slide Deck, and an Elevator Pitch.
Example Application Process:
1. Event Announcement: will usually include the application deadline and when the finalists will be announced, which we recommend is at least 8-10 weeks before the event date (see why below).
2. Application: is usually a combination of the applicants fill out an online form and/or submit their Investment Summary (Executive Summary) via email. The organizer uses this information to screen applicants down to the semifinalists.
3. Semifinalists: are invited to submit an Investment Summary (executive summary) and Slide Deck. The organizer uses this information to screen down to the finalists.
4. Finalists: there are typically 4-6 CEO finalists in a business pitch competition, and we recommend they are announced at least 8-10 weeks before the event date. This gives them 8-10 weeks to work through our Foundation Course either independently or while getting feedback on drafts they create from a mentor/coach. The mentor/coach could be someone in the CEO’s personal network or provided by your organization (volunteer or paid instructor).
5. Before Your Event: at least 1-2 days in advance of your event date, we recommend that the judges are emailed an Investment Summary (our version of the executive summary) for each company. Then, they will be “pre-pitched” and this will make it easier for the CEO finalists on the day of your business pitch competition.
A Deeper Understanding
Program Directors/Organizers
To get a deeper understanding of how to use our Foundation Course as part of your business pitch competition, please review the course itself and download our Free Getting Started Guide (GSG). The multiple resources included will help you understand how to use the course and decide if your organization will also be able to provide coaching (via volunteers or paid instructors). Also, in the appendix of the GSG there is an example timeline that will help you develop your plan.
References and Case Studies
In addition to the case study section above, please see our References and Case Studies page.
Mentors/Coaches
Please note that the mentors/coaches who will be providing feedback to CEOs should also download the Free Getting Started Guide and purchase the Foundation Course. This allows them to review the course in advance and coach the CEOs to the templates provided for each of the three types of pitches. After the CEO has completed the course, they will have a solid foundation of knowledge. Then, the coach can work with the CEO on how to adapt the pitches they created based on the templates to the specific parameters of the business pitch competition.
The optimal mentor/coach will have experience operating companies, raising capital as a CEO, investing in companies, and/or business pitch competition coaching experience.
How to Purchase our Foundation Course
A subscription to our online Foundation Course is $36 per person for a 6-month online course license. (Please note, Pitch Creator is a social impact organization and we self-fund operations by selling online courses; we don’t receive grants or tax-free donations).
There are two ways to purchase:
1) Individual purchase (preferred method): individual CEOs purchase by going to our CEOs & Founders page and choosing the “Foundation Course.” This is the preferred method and how the course was designed to be purchased.
Please note that the mentors/coaches who will be providing feedback to CEOs should also download the Free Getting Started Guide and purchase the Foundation Course from the link above. Then, they can review both in advance and leverage the course to save time and make it efficient for the CEO as well.
2) Bulk purchase: this is a courtesy service we provide to program directors who are purchasing a block of at least 10 licenses. It takes administrative time (the individual purchase method does not), so that is why we offer it for blocks of 10 licenses or more. Please click the button below.
