Should startups pay to pitch for DallasBlue?
May 29, 2008
The short answer: NEVER!
Marc Freedman, who I don’t know personally, runs a group called DallasBlue. Evidently he has been soliciting companies we have profiled asking them to pay him $400 to pitch to his group in an event titled Venture Pitch. I have never heard of the event and have no idea if it is valuable (please comment if you know of any investors who attend be sure to tell me their names). While $400 isn’t a big deal, the idea of charging a fledgling startup to pitch is unsavory. To be frank, I don’t like it one bit. The picture below comes from the DallasBlue website of the audience at another Venture Pitch event. I don’t see any investors that I know (and I know quite a few) and can count less than 20 or so people:
If you are looking for Dallas groups to pitch to you might start with STARTech in Richardson. They don’t charge to pitch. Raising money is hard, it is a numbers game. If you are looking for money start calling investors. I have a list here: Texas VC Directory. Of course, it isn’t complete or accurate, but it is a start. Get on LinkedIn and start looking for investors interested in your space and your location. Remember, there is no easy solution to raising money. NEVER PAY TO PITCH!
The most famous and prestigious startup pitching event is DEMO. They charge $18,500 to presenters for a six minute slot. I personally know the founders of a company that won DEMO and the title of DEMOGOD, but they were never able to raise capital. They put the $18,500 on their credit cards (i.e. they couldn’t afford it) and they are still paying 32% interest on that money. Talk about a ripoff. Mike Arrington and Jason Calacani launched TechCrunch50 as an answer for startups who didn’t want to pay DEMO. Last year’s event (TechCrunch40) resulted in more than $143MM in venture capital being raised by presenting companies. The winner of the event, MINT, won $50,000 from the event organizers. Very cool. Let potential investors and competitors pay to see you pitch, never pay them to watch.
Here in Dallas Laurence Briggs runs an angel group called InvestIN Forum of Angel Investors where he charges angel investors around $2,500 a year to hear pitches from entrepreneurs each month. Update: I learned today that the InvestIN Forum charges startups $2,000 to pitch. Ug! I emailed Laurence and suggested he reconsider charging startups. If he responds favorably I will let you know. Investors who actual PAY to see your pitch are much more likely to actually show up and when they do I bet they will listen. Scott Ticer runs an angel group as well, I do not recall the name, but he is a reader and can comment with the details if he so wishes.
