Startups are disrupting industries more than ever before. The impact of entrepreneurs send ripples throughout the business world. That is what TechCrunch’s MeetUp + PitchOff event is all about.
Take a look at Uber and AirBnB – they are both less than ten years old. There is huge potential from entrepreneurs to make their mark in today’s business landscape. However opportunities to share ideas and pitch to industry experts are few and far between.
Can 60 second pitching be the answer for new and established business men and women?
Well the TechCrunch MeetUp + PitchOff event in London next week is a real game-changer for businesses. First place wins a table in Startup Alley at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin in December. Dropbox won the Battlefied at TechCrunch Disrupt, so it’s a pretty big deal.
We spoke to the TechCrunch editor, Mike Butcher, who has organised this year’s event to find out more.
Tell us about the TechCrunch MeetUp + PitchOff London event. What is the concept and how did you get involved?
The idea is to bring our UK and London community together. We wanted to create a great way for our journalists to interact with the community, and to kick the tyres on some new up and coming startups via the Pitch-off. The event is structured to allow for one minute pitches with no slides to encourage entrepreneurs to focus on the most important aspects of their business and also to get through many more startups than would normally be possible.
Which areas of tech do you think have the most scope and room for entrepreneurs to make their mark?
It would be fair to say that you would be unwise to launch a social network today! That said, there are always new takes on tech that appear – whether it be marketplaces or ‘share economy’ startups. If you can share it, then you can probably be assured there is a startup doing it!
What is your advice for the startups pitching at the event?
My advice would be to keep things simple. With only 60 seconds to deliver your pitch you need to cover off all the basics. These are the main things any investors would want to hear about. Ask yourself these questions –
- What’s the problem you have noticed? What is the solution you are providing?
- What technology are you going to use?
- How will you get traction?
- How will you build your team?
- What do you ultimately want to accomplish?
Is the tech industry getting bigger or smaller do you think?
It gets bigger every day because the whole world is becoming enabled by tech. In some sense there is no more ‘tech industry’ as such since the whole world is touched by it.
Also, in terms of our events, the TechCrunch Meetup & Pitch-Off events now happen across the globe including cities such as Seoul, Tel Aviv, London, Barcelona and Berlin.
Have you always been passionate about supporting emerging entrepreneurs?
TechCrunch broke the mould of publications in the tech world by being pro-entrepreneur generally. We’ve done that since 2005.
We will be covering the TechCrunch MeetUp + PitchOff: London 2017 event live, so do tweet us your questions! You can also read more content like this here –