Pitch Competitions are Poor Indicators of Startup Success

Main Takeaway:

We have an odd tendency to believe that the winners of pitch competitions are the most prime for venture capital and startup success. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

Years ago, I got “The Email.”

In April 2018, I had applied to pitch in a pitch competition through the FinTech Exchange conference in Chicago. The two-day event was sponsored by BarChart and CME Group. All of the top financial companies and FinTech companies in Chicago would be there.

I had previously received an email that I was not selected to pitch for the competition.

Then, out of the blue, six days before the competition, I received the email below:

WOW!!

I felt pretty jazzed, not only for the opportunity, but for the pitch itself.

Several months prior in late 2017, I had developed an investor pitch that was garnering incredible feedback from investors and audiences around the country. Nearly every audience I pitched for, I would predictably receive numbers of people coming up to me and complimenting me on my pitch. I felt that I was at the height of my pitching career, and this opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time.

My confidence going into that Chicago pitch competition was sky high.

The Pitch Competition Arrives

There were five judges - all from esteemed careers in finance and technology.

There were around 500 people in the audience - investors, corporates, and service providers - from across the spectrum of financial technology.

I was one of 16 startups from across the country. Founders were flying in from all across the country to pitch at this competition - Chattanooga, TN, Denver, CO, Atlanta, GA - and me from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I scanned the list of the startups and founder who were pitching - I recognized Craig Fuller of FreightWaves, touted as the “Bloomberg of the Supply Chain industry,” a startup that would raise a $13M Series A that Summer 2018 with 8VC leading the round. They have raised over $90 million in VC funding to date, per Crunchbase. Most of the other startups pitching had raised millions of venture funding.

Yet, there I was, a pre-seed FinTech Startup who had just been accepted to the FIS Startup Accelerator that Summer 2018.

I felt like I was a child among giants. Yet, I was incredibly confident that I going to slay Goliath and win this competition because I had a killer pitch.

Because an incredible pitch is all that matters to win a pitch competition. Or, so I thought….