Every social enterprise startup knows the drill: pitch + plan +
powerpoint = profit.
But what if that's just a mirage?
That's the question raised by this must-read TechCrunch post by Vivek Wadhwa. As Wadhwa observes, in the real world of mainstream commercial funding relatively few startups get funding from venture capital firms or even angel investors--most successful startups attract substantial outside support only after building a workable product and "selling for survival." Instead of encouraging people to focus on elevator pitches and five-year plans, Wadhwa offers essential advice for bootstrapping a venture to the point that it might attract funders' attention.
However, there's another important lesson here for budding social entrepreneurs: pitch contests and business plan competitions do not accurately model the most likely path to profit. Rather, they are a relic of the dot-com boom, which fostered the myth of venture capital as a veritable ATM for people with an idea and a slide deck. It's an alluring myth to be sure, but despite recent efforts to develop a vibrant social venture capital markets, the brutal reality is that outside investment for budding social entrepreneurs--especially the seven-to-nine figure deals that make headlines in the business world--is even less available for social ventures than it is for wholly commercial tech startups.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Ditch the Pitch? Contests and the Search for Social Venture Capital | Social Entrepreneurship | Change.org
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