Helping an accelerator cohort pitch to win
STEMpower Studio partners with an accelerator program to help 20 finalists pitch for up to $1M with compelling clarity
Before
“There was a need to help the finalists in storytelling and how to explain their complex work in a very direct, clear, concise way in a short amount of time. It’s critical to make sure that the judges acquire all the essential information and understand what is being pitched to them.”
After
“The magnitude of the value that she gave to them was more than what a typical person would be able to give. It set the standard for very engaged, dedicated, committed, critical thinking, helpful listener that is able to give them what could be advice that helps them ultimately win one of the prizes.”
Read the full story below:
It’s critical to ensure the judges understand
“It seemed there was a need to support the finalists in storytelling and how to explain their complex work in a very direct, clear, concise way in a short amount of time.
That understanding came from the finalists. These teams have very technical, unique, scientific processes that are somewhat challenging to explain. It’s critical to ensure that the judges acquire the essential information and understand what is being pitched to them.”
Founders need perspective to interpret what they do for a person who is considering an investment
“There are so many innovators that are coming up with very complex products and services, or they have a certain way of thinking, and they need perspective brought to interpret what they do, or their innovation does, for a person that is considering an investment, or to support their team.”
Able to provide advice that may help them ultimately win one of the top prizes
“The webinar served our entire diverse finalist cohort.
Providing that recorded webinar to our finalists, going through some of the guidance and considerations for making a pitch when it comes to telling their story and interpreting the science and technology for judges – there was just a lot of interesting, broad, and applicable advice for all the finalists.
Meeting one-on-one with the teams honed in on their individual experience and story.
The value in her suggested modifications to their pitch, enhancements, and design, and in the language to use, was more than a typical listen-to-my-pitch person could give a team as feedback. She set the spectrum all the way up to the very engaged, dedicated, committed, critical thinking, helpful listener that is able to give a team what could be advice that helps them ultimately win one of the top prizes.”
I’m thinking we start setting intentions even sooner next year
“I'm going to advocate for this to repeat for the next cohort.
After receiving feedback from the finalists, I’m thinking we should start setting intentions sooner next year to better time the cadence of our offerings of instruction on storytelling and interpretation science and technology. Our schedule would have been ideal if that component had been added a little earlier in our accelerator.
Julia contributed to our program by attending our networking events and engaging more informally with our team, the finalists, and the mentors. It was helpful to the cohorts to meet her in person, to have conversations, and to have her follow and focus on them 1:1, and then to connect at the final pitch competition.