In VC, before you pitch investors, you’re expected to get some initial cash from friends and family. Getting this money is a critical first step for a new startup. But what if your friends and family aren’t wealthy? Two founders tell us what that experience is like, and how it’s shaped the way VC investors view their companies.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#99 The Friends & Family Gap

Where real startup founders pitch to real investors—for real money.
Forget everything you think you know about the world of venture capital. Host Josh Muccio takes listeners behind closed-doors and into the room where deals are made.
Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Technology

Tech News

Podcasting

Gadgets

Software How-To

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Entrepreneurship

After spending a decade as a franchise broker, Kenny Rose decided to break out on his own and start FranShares. An alternative investment platform where anyone can invest in franchises. Now you can own a piece of your local fast food joint, a medspa, even a car wash! But will the investors be able to see big tech returns for a company that sounds like small fries?
Featuring investors Jillian Manus, Beck Bamberger and Mac Conwell.
...
Watch the FranShares pitch on YouTube @thepitchshow
To invest with the VCs on the show, join our investor community at thepitch.fund
Founders can apply to pitch at our next recording event in San Francisco this June. No intro required, just go to pitch.show/apply
Superfans can join The Pitch UNCUT and get early access to unedited versions of all ten pitches on season 11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#130 FranShares: Invest in Franchises

Monica Williams wants to revolutionize the period experience for tweens. With $5 million in sales in just two years, she’s on her way. Now she wants to raise venture to scale her bootstrapped company. Will Monica get to pitch the big vision for RedDrop or will investors write her off from the start?
Featuring investors Elizabeth Yin, Charles Hudson, Beck Bamberger, Pascal Unger and Mac Conwell.
...
Watch the RedDrop pitch on YouTube @thepitchshow
To invest with the VCs on the show, join our investor community at thepitch.fund
Founders can apply to pitch at our next recording event in San Francisco this June. No intro required, just go to pitch.show/apply
Superfans can join The Pitch UNCUT and get early access to unedited versions of all ten pitches on season 11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#129 RedDrop: Pitching the Big Vision

Growing up as a pastor's kid, Emmanuel Brown saw what a financial burden church real estate can be. Churches sit empty 70% of the week even though they have commercial kitchens and professional sound systems and oh so much space for activities! So Emmanuel built ChurchSpace, a church rental marketplace. He has faith in his business – but can he convert investors if they believe congregations are shrinking?
Featuring investors Jillian Manus, Beck Bamberger and Mac Conwell.
...
Watch the ChurchSpace pitch on YouTube @thepitchshow
To invest with the VCs on the show, join our investor community at thepitch.fund
Founders can apply to pitch at our next recording event in San Francisco this June. No intro required, just go to pitch.show/apply
Superfans can join The Pitch UNCUT and get early access to unedited versions of all ten pitches on season 11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#128 ChurchSpace: Airbnb for Churches

Kavitta Ghai struggled in school due to autism and ADHD until a positive experience with a college professor transformed her academic journey. Convinced this was the future, she launched a startup to make classrooms more accessible. Now, she just needs a VC to lead her $3 million seed round. Will Kavitta pass the test with the investors in The Pitch Room?
Featuring investors Cyan Banister, Charles Hudson, Elizabeth Yin, Mac Conwell and Paige Finn Doherty.
...
Watch the Nectir pitch on YouTube @thepitchshow
To invest with the VCs on the show, join our investor community at thepitch.fund
Founders can apply to pitch at our next recording event in San Francisco this June. No intro required, just go to pitch.show/apply
Superfans can join The Pitch UNCUT and get early access to unedited versions of all ten pitches on season 11.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#127 Nectir: The Classroom of the Future

The Pitch is back for season 11! Recorded for the first time in front of a live studio audience, we invited the top startup founders and VCs from across the country to join us in Miami. Visionary founders will pitch everything from pants you can pee in, to Airbnb for churches. And it wouldn’t be 2024 if we didn’t throw in some AI and alternative investments!
Tune in to season 11 to hear the true story of how venture deals get done. And this season, a LOT of deals get done.

Watch FULL episodes on YouTube this season @thepitchshow.

Invest with us alongside top VCs via The Pitch Fund.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#99 The Friends & Family Gap

Download our free app to listen on your phone