How to make a pitch (at In50hrs)?

We've done a post earlier on how to pitch to a team mate. Since we are scaling up to a few more locations, we thought it would make sense for folks to understand the format of what goes into a pitch when you attend In50hrs.

Each Pitch in In50hrs is timed at 3 minutes. For an effective pitch, this is the outline to follow:

1. Introduce yourself.

2. Explain the problem statement.

3. Explain the solution you are proposing

4. Briefly mention what your strengths are, what you bring to the table, and what you are looking for.

If you'd like a breakup of the time, the recommended format is: 30 seconds - Two Minutes - One minute and 30 seconds.

Now, remember what the adage says, "Practice makes perfect". Practice your pitch before you arrive at the event, it makes all the difference.

In50hrs: Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events (Till July 2013):

Pune 3rd Edition

April 5th - April, 7th, 2013 

Chennai 8th Edition
April 19th - April 21st, 2013

Trivandrum 1st Edition
May 3rd - May 5th, 2013

Bangalore 3rd Edition
May 24th - May 26th, 2013

Pune 4th Edition
June 14th - June 16th, 2013

Announcement: Hello to Trivandrum. Goodbye Delhi.

Honestly, this has been a long time coming, but we needed some sure shot data before we made the call. With In50hrs Bangalore underway and having to announce the next set of dates for the events, we thought it was time we made the announcement.

The Story of Delhi:

We love the city of Delhi. Just being in the city brings back feelings and emotions like any other, but its also been a tough city to grow an ecosystem. Personally, we've done several efforts in the past to grow a community there - via OCC etc, but the understanding has been very clear - if people from elsewhere can grow a community, Silicon valley would have remote branches by now. Communities can only be grown locally. All other factors are a matter of support and strengthening. We havent been able to find that anchor. I believe events like Startup Weekend, PeerHack and Product Nation will be the one to build that community. Which also means Delhi has options and we are leaving it to good hands.

We did two editions in Delhi, and the logistical cost of bringing team, materials, and getting the word out (for an event where the principal objective is not to make money) didnt make sense - not with the fact that there is a lack of a community, and Delhi is overly business sided that makes technical hackathons and prototyping events quite a challenge. We were constantly getting requests from a lot of folks asking, if they come and pitch on Friday, if we'll have the prototype ready by Sunday - that's delhi for you. Quick, and to the Point - on the Business front.

We run these efforts on shoestring budgets. And The Startup Centre is a Startup of Startups - we arent venture funded, or backed by a large corporate. Its a small group of individuals wanting to make a difference and hopefully build a viable business model around it - by virtue of making entrepreneurs succeed extremely well. Somewhere there was a disconnect.

Hello Trivandrum

Make no doubts about it though, we are expanding. There are two more cities coming up, but we wanted to see and strengthen where we are far more effective. We have been taking a call, and even asking people from our community where they are based out of and would like an event like In50hrs.

Kerala has been on our minds for a while now, and it was just a matter of picking between Cochin and Trivandrum. (Cochin is still in the race though).

So we want to do one edition of In50hrs in Trivandrum. We are not sure if that IS the place in Kerala or If Cochin is the place, but the participation we see should help make that decision. 

As a Startup, it all fundamentally comes down to one rule: Try a lot, keep what works, cut off what isnt working. So we are trying a lot. And hopefully will continue doing more of what and where its working.

In the meantime, We look forward to saying Hello to Trivandrum.

Trivandrum 1st Edition
May 3rd - May 5th, 2013

Leave your Email Address to be Notified.

 

Announcing the Mentors and Jurors for In50hrs Bangalore 2

We are hosting In50hrs in Bangalore - for the second time - at the same ThoughtWorks Office. The ambience and the hospitality of that bunch is hard to bunch.

So in the same serene environment as last time, we are back and this time, this is the line up of Mentors who will spend two days at the event - working with the teams and prepping them up and the Jurors who will give feedbacks on Demo Evening on Sunday.

Mentors:

1. Deepak Shenoy (Entrepreneur, Financial Whiz)

2. Hitesh Gupta (UI / UX)

3. Pratyush Prasanna (Technologist - Founder of a Health Startup)

4. Arvind Devaraj (Android Expert)

5. Atif Haider (Technologist, LaunchYard)

6. Surendran Mahendran (Co-Founder, MarkupWand, YCombinator Startup)

7. Joylita Saldanha (Product Guru)

Jury:

1. Prateek Dayal of SupportBee

2. Shivkumar of Exotel

3. Rutvik Doshi of Inventus Capital

4. Rahul Chowdri of Helion Ventures

5. Nagarjun Kandukuru, Thoughtworks

... Along with the Team of In50hrs - Vijay Anand and Shayon Mukherjee of The Startup Centre

 

We will be adding a few more in the next few days. But if you are looking for a start for your venture, this seems to be an apt way to go for the launch of that Idea.

Registrations for the last few slots here.

What after In50hrs?

We get this question a lot. What happens to the teams and Prototypes after In50hrs. Thought we'd answer:

There are three key things to achieve in event like In50hrs:

1. Form the Pitch and prove the capability to attract a team

2. Test Drive the team

3. Build a prototype that encapsulates the essence of the idea and allows you to validate it with people without necessarily having to be there in person.

The next step after In50hrs would be to take the time to build that prototype into a product - and that is a longer process. You have to get the userflows right, setup the landing page, the login screens etc etc, and flesh out the MVP that one will pay for, and sign up a paying customer.

The Startup Centre has a programme named The Resident Programme which works closely with teams to do this - including taking them to customers to market validate it. (http://www.thestartupcentre.com/...)

There are a few things you should do, no matter what, just right after In50hrs:

1. Setup your landing page

2. Give it a name and get the url

3. Host the Prototype online under a subdomain (http://prototype.xyz.com)

4. Make a video of that one key feature of the product - as built in In50hrs, and 
use that to get signups for your beta.

5. Apply for the TSC Resident Programme - or start working on building the Product.