by 12PointFive
This month on International Women’s Day, I had the privilege of mentoring business owners from the Ukraine, who were in DC as part of the State Department’s GIST program. They would be presenting their businesses to the State Department later that evening and I, along with my fellow Seed Spot mentors, were to give them feedback on their pitches.
Of course, the other mentors and I wanted to congratulate them on their bravery, inquire if their families were safe, and generally acknowledge that regardless of their pitches, just by virtue of being selected for the program – they were extraordinary. The business owners, for the most part, were polite but wanted to get down to business. When asked what the best part of the program was, one of the ventures said, “We got right to business, right to the point.” The other entrepreneurs nodded in agreement.
Time Crunch
We were under a time crunch – we always are during pitch competitions where pitches are timed. Information has to be sacrificed for waning attention spans or simply to fit everyone in. It’s the nature of the competition. Often the ones rewarded are not the ones with most promising companies but with the best stage presence. Like my Dad often says about parenting, the test to become one is not indicative of the skills needed to succeed. Sometimes, that’s also true of pitch competitions.
Pitch Competitions are Popular
And yet, organizations keep doing competitions, businesses keep applying, mentors and judges keep, well, mentoring and judging. The number of pitch competitions in every organization I’m a part of has increased exponentially. Shark tank can take some credit, but we can also blame our internet attention spans.
I myself am automatically entered into a pitch competition by virtue of being a WBE star this year. It’s not something I normally sign up for. (In fact, I usually make my business partner Heather do it). But I encourage my clients to enter these competitions because it really is good exposure and “gets you out of your comfort zone.” So this is yet another example of me taking my own medicine.
