Des Moines community addresses need for better capital pitches
Joshua and Kendall Stewardson pitch their idea, wearingLOVE, at January's Creative Capital Pitch Session.
Access to capital is an important element of any entrepreneurial ecosystem. Often, the path to that capital begins with a pitch where you have a limited amount of time to educate, persuade and convince an investor that your idea is worth their time and money. The ability to put together a cogent pitch is not something that comes naturally to most people, however, with preparation and practice most successful entrepreneurs are able to add this skill to their toolbox.
When I moved back to the area in August of 2009, I asked a lot of people locally what they thought Des Moines needed to advance the startup community and "better pitches" was a popular answer. It seems that early in 2010 the community has pulled together to rectify this through a series of unrelated events:
- Creative Capital Pitch Session – This event, which took place in January, kicked off with a presentation on putting together an effective pitch by Steven Smith of GCommerce, Inc.
- Startup Weekend – Tom Swartwood of Swartwood Hesse, Inc. will be offering a workshop on effective pitches to attendees of the event (March 7).
- Prometheus Awards – The Technology Association of Iowa is organizing Pitch Refinement Session: a peer review of ideas as part on their Prometheus Awards festivities (April 6)
Check the events calendar here at Silicon Prairie News for more opportunities to develop your pitching skills throughout the year.