Startup Pitches

#71 Raising Kids Is Hard. So Is Raising a Startup.
Sept. 11, 2019

#71 Raising Kids Is Hard. So Is Raising a Startup.

When founder Jen Saxton landed a partnership with a big name retailer in the baby industry, she thought her startup, Tot Squad, was on the way to startup stardom. But five years into the deal, things just weren’t working out....
#70 What Is Michael Phelps Jamming to Right Now?
Sept. 4, 2019

#70 What Is Michael Phelps Jamming to Right Now?

What if you could listen to the exact same music as your favorite celebrities, at exactly the same time? That’s the question that drove NFL lineman Jason Fox to build an app for that. An app called Earbuds. Now if Jason can j...
When You Grow Too Fast
Aug. 21, 2019

When You Grow Too Fast

A little over a year ago, Xiao Wang came on the show to pitch his startup, Boundless. He told investors that his company was going to help immigrants cut through all the bureaucracy and paperwork required to get legal status....
#69 When Less Is Not More
Aug. 14, 2019

#69 When Less Is Not More

Founder Rahul Jindal might be the king of bootstrapping. And when investors see similarities between his startup, Hyde Closet, and a billion dollar business known as Rent the Runway, they start dreaming of unicorns. Until a w...
#68 Dogs & Dating: A Match Made in Heaven?
Aug. 7, 2019

#68 Dogs & Dating: A Match Made in Heaven?

Back in May we asked entrepreneurs to call in and give us their best pitches. The winner was Leigh Isaacson and her startup Dig — a dating app for people who love dogs. In this episode, Leigh enters the pitch room and asks fo...
I’ve Looked Death in the Eye
July 17, 2019

I’ve Looked Death in the Eye

When he came on the show two years ago, Amado Guloy said his startup would change the business of animal agriculture. And the investors bought it! But since then, Amado has found himself at a crossroads between his own health...
Fighting the 24/7 Startup Grind
June 26, 2019

Fighting the 24/7 Startup Grind

Back in 2018, Margot Schmorak pitched our investors on Hostfully. It’s a startup that ushers old-style vacation-rental companies into the digital age. Margot ginned up a lot of excitement in the room that day. But then, she h...
#67 Call-in Pitch Competition
June 19, 2019

#67 Call-in Pitch Competition

Back in May, we invited listeners to call in and pitch us their startups. And you really delivered, giving us over 200 pitches! In this episode, we’ll play some of our favorite submissions — and then choose one lucky winner t...
#66 Does Anyone Really Want Your Product?
June 5, 2019

#66 Does Anyone Really Want Your Product?

Dennis Meng’s first company was a major flop. So he started another one that could’ve saved the first. It’s called User Interviews, and he needs $4 million to get it into the hands of big companies. Will investors buy into wh...
#65 Wait, Your App Does What Exactly?
May 15, 2019

#65 Wait, Your App Does What Exactly?

Spencer Shulem wants people to learn from their mistakes. Also, he wants to help them organize their time. Oh, and he wants to gather data on everything they do. All this is packed into a single pitch for his startup, WeDo. C...
#64 Startup Sale! 80% Off
May 8, 2019

#64 Startup Sale! 80% Off

Ramya Possett and Rachel Lee founded BlueFoot to make tracking the competition easy for massive companies. And they think that what they’ve created is so powerful, it demands a premium price tag. One that takes the investors ...
FightCamp: A Name Change, A Game Change
April 17, 2019

FightCamp: A Name Change, A Game Change

When Khalil Zahar and Tommy Duquette first pitched their boxing workout startup, Hykso, the investors saw a big opportunity. They wanted to know: Could Hykso be more like Peloton, an at-home cycling system that was starting t...
#63 Can A Startup Solve Homelessness?
April 10, 2019

#63 Can A Startup Solve Homelessness?

Jonathan Kumar pitches his startup, Samaritan, which aims to help people who’ve lost their homes. But can he convince the investors it’s OK to earn a profit off of homelessness? Today’s investors are Charles Hudson, Michael H...
#62 Pivot or Die
April 3, 2019

#62 Pivot or Die

Ben Walters came on the show to sell the investors on Feedback, an app that lets restaurants change their prices on the fly. But when Ben shows up in the pitch room, he’s already decided that it’s time to make some changes to...
From Startup Novice to Veteran
March 20, 2019

From Startup Novice to Veteran

After a stellar pitch on our show back in 2017 — one that got $100K in the first five minutes — founder Mike Slagh hit the ground running with his startup, Shift. In this episode, we catch up with him to find out if Shift, a ...
#61 Can a Zebra Survive in a Unicorn World?
March 13, 2019

#61 Can a Zebra Survive in a Unicorn World?

Jennifer Brandel of Hearken is pitching a new kind of business. She calls it a zebra: a company that’s driven by a mission — but still wants to make money. And Jennifer’s mission with Hearken is to help journalists do their j...
#60 Is This the Amazon Prime of Airline Tickets?
March 6, 2019

#60 Is This the Amazon Prime of Airline Tickets?

Rama Poola is here pitching his airline ticket business, SkyHi, where customers pay a monthly fee to access tickets on the cheap. But the investors are worried that it sounds a lot like MoviePass, a company that offered a sub...
#59 Disrupting Work Happy Hour
Feb. 27, 2019

#59 Disrupting Work Happy Hour

Ryan Husk wants to take your workplace culture up a notch. His startup, Culture Force, matches companies to “experiences” designed to improve community at work. He says it can be a huge business, but the investors want to kno...
#58 Park Your Pooch Here
Feb. 20, 2019

#58 Park Your Pooch Here

Chelsea Brownridge wants to help dog owners keep their pooches safe when they’re out running errands together. Her startup, DogSpot, makes internet-connected dog houses, with features like webcams and A/C, and puts them in fr...
#57 Where Losers Go To Win
Feb. 13, 2019

#57 Where Losers Go To Win

After losing his shirt on sports betting sites DraftKings and FanDuel, Adam Weinstein decided to flip the script on daily fantasy sports and give everyone a better shot at winning. He’s changing things up using prop bets inst...
‘It Was a Disaster’
Feb. 6, 2019

‘It Was a Disaster’

After a failed pitch on our show back in 2017, Industrial Organic founder Amanda Weeks was ready for redemption. And she found it, to the tune of $4.2 million. Now she’s back — with a lot to say about how much she and her bus...
#56 Shark Tank vs. The Pitch
Jan. 30, 2019

#56 Shark Tank vs. The Pitch

Zahra Kassam has been on the road in a major way, pitching her startup, Monti Kids. A few months before our show, she pitched on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Today we find out: Did she win over any investors in her two very public pit...
#55 A New Spin on VR
Jan. 23, 2019

#55 A New Spin on VR

Tom Impallomeni is here to pitch Tribe XR, a VR app that teaches people to DJ. He’s got a vision for using virtual reality to teach creative skills — but the investors are skeptical. Can Tom convince them he’s putting the rig...
#54 Is Selling in Walmart a Good Thing?
Jan. 16, 2019

#54 Is Selling in Walmart a Good Thing?

Debbie Wei Mullin is pitching her pour-over Vietnamese coffee startup, Copper Cow Coffee. The company is already doing well on Walmart’s shelves. But does she have what it takes to take the brand online?