Elevator Pitch Ep. 4: ‘Never Say That Again!’

November 4, 2020 2 min read

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch invites ambitious entrepreneurs to step into the Entrepreneur Elevator, and then gives them just 60 seconds to pique the interest of a group of judges. It’s a high-pressure, fast-paced environment in which startup founders need to race against the clock while maintaining their composure to make a clear, deliberate pitch that covers at least three essential components:

1. Defining the company
2. Making the request
3. Specifying what the investment money will be used for

The investors watch the pitch via a video livestream while the elevator ascends to the boardroom floor. Once the 60 seconds are up, the judges vote on whether to open the doors or send the founder back down and pass on investing.

Peter Goldberg, founder of PLG Ventures, opens this episode of Elevator Pitch by introducing our four investors: serial entrepreneur Kim Perell; Abyah Wynn, managing partner of Twenty65 Fund; Elaine Russell, co-lead of Greycroft’s Albertsons Fund; and Ross O’Brien, managing partner of Entrepreneur Select. Each of the four judges are working from their homes or offices, watching the pitches over livestream. Goldberg then explains something of note about this particular episode, which is that it features only minority-owned businesses. 

Related: Elevator Pitch Ep. 3: How Does It Feel to Make a Million-Dollar Deal?

We begin this episode with Julie Poitras-Saulnier and David Cote, the co-founders of Loop Mission, who present an effective pitch that hits on several important aspects of the business. Perhaps the most important, as Perell notes, is the company’s finances. Loop’s revenue has doubled annually, leading to $10 million in revenue in 2020 and a valuation of $30 million. Wynn notes that what jumped out to her was the company’s mission, which is to reduce food waste in North America by building factories within industry plants to use rejected produce to create cold-press juices, soaps and more.

Will the pitch be enough to entice any of the four investors into hearing more? And if so, how can the Loop Mission co-founders convince the judges to offer the $3 million they’re seeking?

Next comes a pitch from a company seeking to become the IMDB of sports. The only problem? Three of the four judges on today’s panel believe this sort of industry is outside their wheelhouse. Will Ryan Rottman and OSDB Sports find a buyer with the one remaining investor?

Click play to find out and see more great pitches.