Startup meet Angels (Seattle) – Process and Rubric
How do we evaluate teams for Seattle’s Startups meet Angels meetup (aka Angels, Pitches and Beer)?
Pitches
Bring your pitch deck and plan on a 5 minute pitch with 5-10 minutes of Q&A from the Angels. Your pitch will not be public, but in a conference room with qualified investors only.
Selection Process:
- 6+ Teams are selected based on “first come first served” application. Show up at 6:00PM to The Riveter, not recognition of lines before 5:30 from us. If you want to set up a queue, that’s up to you and the folks that arrive at 5:30. Please keep in mind, the team at Create33 are our host for the event – not your personal host (though you should consider joining!) and they don’t serve you. If we hear back negative or demanding requirements from founders, we’ll bounce you off the list. Please start with #GiveFirst not #takefirst
- 6 Teams will be selected by the Pitch Prep committee. Starting at 6:30PM, founders not selected in the short list can still get some pitch prep and feedback. They will score your pitch compared to other teams and will pull the top 6 for the finals of the night. I’m a big fan of the “no assholes” rule – happy to invoke it if necessary
- Pitches start at 7PM
Selection Rubric
Here’s a copy of the rubric that Pitch Prep team will be using to score your pitch. Each member of the Pitch Prep team will award the scores and top-ranked teams will be presented for numbers 7-12 based on the top score at the next available slot.
Want to improve your odds of making the short list? Have one of the Angel attendees forward your deck three plus (3+) days prior to the event. It doesn’t guarantee you will pitch!
All scores are ranked on a 1-4 basis.
- The evaluator hates (strongly dislikes) your idea – hate is such a strong word… so think of it as a “1”
- We don’t like it – not as negative as a 1, but still… you may have missed something in your pitch or a major milestone. Think about attending a pitch clinic or “6 Month Startup – Ideation to Revenue” and get some coaching.
- We like it! That’s not a 4, we don’t love it, but it’s a good place to start!
- We Love it!
| Company Name: Presenter(s): Event Name: ABP 2/28/2018 |
Evaluator 1 |
| Notes/Comments | |
| Team Domain Experts Diversity Serially successful Founders From great companies, Functionally competent (hacker, hustler, designer/marketer) |
4 |
| Big Idea Solve a real need? Idea Early/Late continuum Technically Achievable |
4 |
| Product – Pre product or launched Customer first focus Clear Value Prop Design/Ease of use Clear launch and scale offering |
4 |
| Market/Customer How big is the market – TAM/SOM Unmet customer need How many incumbents Nascent Go-to-market system. |
4 |
| Competition Barriers to Entry Differentiation Well funded competitors in Crunchbase |
4 |
| Business Model/Finance High transactional value Clear Profit Model Capital Efficient. Scalable. Can this be articulated well to an investor? |
4 |
| Traction Customer adoption Customer Engagement Early Revenue Know the Unit Economics. Product Market Fit. Large customers? Early investment. Strategic Partners. Awards. Press. Recognition. |
4 |
| Timing Emerging innovation “Meta” factors are favorable Established demand. Late to market is bad…. too early is bad |
4 |
| Intellectual Property IP Required IP in process. Is there a moat based on technology? Compliance? |
4 |
4 Comments
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Dave Parker Post author
Thanks Michael, great question.
First six will get to present w/o screening.
The next six will be based, 7-whatever (I don’t have an infinity option on my keyboard) will be vetted through a screening process. We’ll select 6 through that process for the second hour of the program.
Let me know if you have additional questions!
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Cathi Locati
Hello Dave,
I am brand new to the Seattle scene having moved back here from NY in 2016. I am fairly new to this process and hope to learn more about it so I joined your Meetup Group and I am planning on attending your event tomorrow night. I presented my business in NYC at a similar Angel Donor event as well as competed in Venture Capitalist HealthTech2014 upstate NY and have presented power point presentations to NY Universities focusing on VC assistance, but I’m still such a small company I haven’t gone forward yet. Is this Meetup group a good place for new people like me who are curious to observe the process and results? Is there a better Meetup that would fit my needs at this time? PLease advise when you can, thank you for your time!
Cathi Locati
CEO Final Mile Ink Medical
Shoreline, Wa
914-659-7777 -
Dave Parker Post author
Hey Cathi, welcome to Seattle!
This is a good one for unstructured angel access. You can also look at our quarterly Pitch Prep, I will post via this meetup as well as a meetup I run called 6 Month Startup, https://www.meetup.com/Seattle-6-Month-Startup-Ideation-to-Revenue/, more early stage, though some of the sessions might be helpful.
Seattle’s Alliance of Angels is a great Angel group as well, https://www.allianceofangels.com/
Michael Croix
Hi Dave,
A bit confused about the process. I get we have to show up at 4:30pm at the Riveter to be considered. It says that 6 teams will be selected to pitch based on “first come first served” application. Does this mean that only the first 6 who show up at 4:30pm will be considered? What I disliked about the process in the past is that people were coming increasingly earlier and earlier and essentially standing in line (a huge waste of time). Or is the first-come-first-served process you describe at 4:30pm simply that we have to get our names on a list by 4:30pm if we want to be considered for one of the 6 finalists slots? Also, it says “Sign up for Pitch Prep after 5:30 when you arrive”. Did you mean 4:30pm?