Startup Pitch Competition: Four founders compete for $25K | E1991

Jason and Kelly kick off the show (0s)

• The speaker introduces the show, highlighting the importance of customer obsession and growth for startups. They mention that startups can attract seed funding with consistent growth, even at a rate of one or two customers per month.
• The show is sponsored by Vanta, Byte, and OpenPhone, offering discounts to listeners.
• The speaker introduces the concept of Founder University, a program that helps early-stage startups develop their products and decide whether to incorporate.
• Founder University provides 12-week virtual mentorship and invests up to $125,000 in promising companies.
• The program focuses on teams with multiple founders, at least one developer, and a strong product focus.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of building a product and gaining traction, even in the early stages.
• The show will feature four startups from the eighth cohort of Founder University, each given two minutes to pitch their ideas.
• The speaker and Kelly Shrier, the executive director of Founder University, will then engage in a Q&A session with the founders.

Pablo Fernandez pitches Big Rentals (4m18s)

• Big Rentals is a software platform that helps small businesses in the equipment rental industry manage their operations.
• The platform offers an all-in-one solution for managing rentals, including building a website, accepting online bookings and payments, and tracking inventory.
• Big Rentals also operates a marketplace that connects rental companies with customers.
• The company charges a 30% commission on marketplace transactions, with 10% going to the customer and 20% to Big Rentals.
• Big Rentals also offers software plans that range from $100 to $300 per month.
• The company has 12 paying customers and has been operating for five months.
• The top-performing customer on the platform generates approximately $155,000 in monthly revenue and owns five to six trailers.
• Big Rentals acquired this customer through Facebook groups.
• The company plans to expand its reach by creating its own equipment rental groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit.
• The company has demonstrated strong product development and has been using its own software to manage its own rental business.

Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 (11m37s)

• A strong sales team is crucial for B2B startups, but compliance hurdles like SOC 2 can hinder their progress.
• SOC 2 compliance is required for companies storing customer data in the cloud, and without it, sales teams cannot close major deals.
• Vanta simplifies and accelerates the process of obtaining and renewing SOC 2 compliance, enabling customers to achieve compliance in 2 to 4 weeks on average.
• Vanta can save companies hundreds of hours of work and up to 85% on compliance costs.
• Vanta also automates up to 90% of compliance for GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations.

Brittany Peregoff pitches Where2Wheel (12m28s)

• Where2Wheel is a two-sided marketplace that connects private landowners with off-road enthusiasts.
• The company has been operating in an MVP stage for 18 months and has five landowners with three more in the pipeline.
• They have served over 700 customers with 2,200 transactions and a GMV of over $58,000.
• Landowners can charge between $40 and $125 per vehicle per day, depending on the type of off-road experience offered.
• Where2Wheel has a team of five, including four founders, and all have experience in business ownership.
• The company has a strong online community and has been operating in the off-road space for several years.
• Where2Wheel provides liability insurance for its vehicles and requires patrons to sign electronic waivers.
• Landowners are encouraged to obtain AGR tourism insurance, which provides liability protection for off-road activities.
• The company is currently operating in Virginia and North Carolina and plans to expand geographically.

Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today (20m10s)

• The "Jam with JCal" contest is currently accepting applications from early-stage startups.
• To qualify, startups must have received less than $2 million in funding and use a ".tech" domain name.
• The contest offers the opportunity to be featured on a podcast, receive feedback on the startup, and gain exposure to potential investors, customers, and employees.

Ardalan Mirshani pitches MyLens (21m31s)

• MyLens is an AI-powered platform that simplifies complex information with clear visualizations.
• The platform allows users to ask questions about complex topics and receive simplified explanations with visuals.
• MyLens offers a subscription-based business model with three plans: a free plan with daily limitations, a Pro plan for individuals at $20 per month, and a Team plan for organizations at $40 per member per month.
• The platform has gained traction with over 55,000 users, 250,000 visuals created, and 140 paid customers in eight months.
• MyLens's ideal customer profile includes educators, students, researchers, and content creators, who make up 60% of its customer base.
• The platform differentiates itself from competitors by combining AI-powered simplification and analysis with engaging content creation.
• MyLens is currently focused on the education market due to high user engagement and retention, but plans to expand to the consulting market in the future.
• The platform is built on top of the Jurassic-1 language model and aims to stay ahead of base language models in creating interactive visualizations.
• MyLens has received positive feedback from users, who appreciate its ease of use and ability to deliver high-quality results.

Mariano Apodaca pitches Prosperous AI (29m7s)

• Prosperous AI is a platform that uses AI to help businesses find and negotiate with suppliers.
• The platform allows users to search a database of 65 million contacts and companies, unify data sources, and ask questions about their budget, costs, and vendors.
• Prosperous AI also automates negotiations with suppliers, allowing users to quickly and easily find the best deals.
• The platform is priced at $49 per month for basic analytics and $249 per month for full access to the procurement platform.
• Prosperous AI has generated $225,000 in gross merchandise value (GMV) since April 2024, with one client generating $20,000 in GMV.
• The company plans to focus on expanding its customer base and increasing its annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $10 million.
• The Prosperous AI team has worked together for 10 years and has experience working at large companies like HP and Microsoft.
• The platform is currently focused on the building materials industry and works with large-scale commodity purchasers.
• Prosperous AI differentiates itself from other procurement platforms by focusing on AI-powered negotiations and generative analytics.
• The company sees itself as an additive to existing procurement platforms, but also has the potential to replace some of them in the future.

OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months (35m7s)

• OpenPhone is a business phone app that simplifies communication with a single, easy-to-use app.
• OpenPhone can be used on existing phones or desktops and allows for shared phone numbers for customer support and sales teams.
• OpenPhone is affordable at $13 per month and offers a 20% discount for the first six months to listeners.
• OpenPhone allows users to port existing phone numbers from other services at no additional cost.

Review of the four startups (36m33s)

• The speaker believes Big Rentals is the most promising startup out of the four presented. They highlight the large market size, the team's experience, and the potential for product expansion.
• The speaker suggests that Big Rentals could explore various revenue streams, including selling advertising space on their platform and potentially offering their software for free while generating revenue through the marketplace.
• The speaker praises all four startups for their strong teams, early traction, innovative ideas, and commitment to product development. They express a willingness to invest in all four companies and encourage seed investors to reach out to the companies for potential investment opportunities.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of hard work and customer engagement for startup success. They advise the founders to prioritize customer interaction and feedback.

Q&A (40m44s)

• The speaker discusses the return on investment (ROI) that venture capitalists look for when investing in startups. They aim for a 10% ownership in companies that could potentially reach a $500 million valuation, which would return the entire fund.
• The speaker explains that early-stage investments have a higher risk of failure, with an expectation that 9 out of 10 companies will return 0. However, the potential for higher returns makes early-stage investing attractive.
• The speaker addresses the question of whether to charge for the software or offer it for free. They suggest that charging a small fee can help cover onboarding costs and ensure that users are serious about using the platform. However, they also acknowledge that a free model could lead to faster growth and potentially higher revenue through commissions.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of testing different business models and using data to determine the most effective approach. They also highlight the current economic climate, which presents opportunities for startups to attract talent and potentially secure funding.
• The speaker encourages the founders to focus on customer growth and aim for a 10-20% monthly growth rate. They suggest that this level of growth will attract the attention of seed investors and help the startups secure the funding they need to scale.