Stefano Bernardi

Second day: DemoDays Dry-Run!

Today I got the chance to sit in on the Dry-Run of the demo days! Dry Run means that there’s no alcohol involved in the pitching process. It really changes a lot the situation. This session was reserved for 500startups mentors and is considered by everyone the semi-final “test”.

Entrepreneurs have been here till very late yesterday to polish their pitches and a lot of them have actually changed everything in the process.

The main 500startups room was packed with mentors that were actively giving feedback about the pitches, products and business models. They were all very insightful and invaluable for the entrepreneurs since they still have the time to change a few things before the “real” demodays start and they have to fight for checks.

Dave explained his new methodology he has been using today to rate the pitches: “new @500startups demo pitch rating system: 1) u didn’t suck! 2) u didn’t suck much. 3) u *almost* didn’t suck. 4) u sucked.”

Most of the pitches were pretty standard: logo/tagline, problem, solution/product, use case, traction/metrics, market, team/investors, raising. I feel that the most efficient pitches were the ones telling stories.

If you’re able to tell a story about why you created your product, what problems you had, who’s having them and why and how you’re solving them, you’ll really grab the audience’s attention.

Two pitches definitely did not suck and really stood out: StoryTree, the most emotional pitch ever and SingBoard, which I must admit that to date has been the best pitch I’ve ever seen. The guy is amazing and got Dave saying “I’m so excited I’m j***ing in my pants right now. Where’s my checkbook???”

At the end, Dave, Paul and Bedy gave some general advice and guidelines for the “real” demodays. It all feels like a high school play, but a really important one for all the startups involved.

Dave’s gonna be staying here late helping out the startups that don’t feel confident yet about their pitch.