Six sessions, forty-two pitches, over two hundred investors and founders in the room. Here's what we actually learned — not the motivational version, the honest one.
The highest-scoring pitches weren't the most polished
The founders who scored highest were almost never the ones with the cleanest slides. They were the ones who could answer the follow-up question. Polish gets you through the five-minute presentation. Substance gets you through the seven-minute interrogation.
The single most common weakness is a vague ask
'We're looking for investment' scores poorly every time. 'We're raising $300k to hire two engineers and reach 500 paying users by Q2' scores well. The specificity isn't a nice-to-have — it's what tells the panel you've actually thought about what happens after the cheque clears.
Problem scores beat solution scores
Across all forty-two pitches, the correlation between a high problem score and an overall high score was stronger than any other criterion. Founders who proved the problem was real, painful and frequent could get away with a rough solution. Founders with an elegant solution to a problem nobody validated scored poorly.
Team score is the hardest to earn
The panel gives 10/10 for problem and market fairly often. They rarely give above 7 for team. Why? Because 'we're passionate about this space' doesn't answer the question, which is: why are you the ones to win this particular race? Domain expertise, proprietary access, a prior attempt that taught you something — those earn the points.
The surprise: traction doesn't require revenue
We expected traction to be the hardest criterion for pre-revenue companies. It wasn't. A waiting list of 200 people, three signed letters of intent, or a published piece of research that attracted attention all scored well. Traction means evidence that the market cares — and that evidence exists before the first transaction.
For founders considering a pitch
Prove the problem. Be specific about the ask. Have a reason you'll win that isn't just enthusiasm. And don't worry about the slides — worry about the seven minutes after them.