Do You Want to See Hope? Go to Pitch Night

Stoic Quote of the Week

Pride is a master of deception: when you think you're occupied in the weightiest business, that's when he has you in his spell.

-Marcus Aurelius

What I learned this week:

What a fun event to attend! You are missing out if you haven't partaken in local pitch days or startup accelerator pitch nights. Yesterday was the Rockies Venture Club Angel Capital Summit, which is geared towards angel investors, but I go for the pitches. I love talking to the founders, who are in various stages of business, from "go-to-market" MVP to looking to scale with a series A or B round raise. The great thing about being there is I get to talk to each of them and hear their passion for what they are doing and feel and see it. The pitches are great, but I truly love the personal interactions I get to have with each of the founders when they are off the stage. Each founder I talked to sees their product and business as their way to impact the world, to make a change, whether it is how farmers farm or what we eat when we go camping. The energy and passion are contagious. On the other side of the equation were the investors. They fed on the excitement too. I could hear it in their voices when they asked thoughtful and engaging questions. The investors were there for the same reason: to impact the world. Imagine a room of 150 people working together to impact the world. The butterfly effect happened yesterday at the University of Denver. You may not feel it right now, but you will. If you've never gone to a pitch night in your community, you are missing out on how people in your town, community, and tribe plan to impact the world. Find your local pitch night and be part of the butterfly effect to make the world a better place.

Planning thought of the week:

The infamous business plan. Everyone sweats over it, from the banker you want to get a loan to the investor with potential in your idea. Too many founders who didn't have the opportunity to write their business plan as part of their MBA lose too many hours of sleep over it. It is important, but it isn't the be all to end all. If you are lost in the misery of figuring out your business plan, revert to the good 'ol Five Paragraph Field Order. 1) Situation (background), 2) Mission (what are you doing), 3) Execution (how are you doing it), 4) Logistics (what are the products and resources needed), 5) Command & Signal (who's in charge & how do you plan to tell the world).

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

My mind is swimming with many ideas from a full day of pitches. The products I saw ranged from spectral analysis of crops to anti-microbial healthcare worker shoes to a better way to filter through resumes and find the right fit for your open positions. Two other business founders who were there to learn what they needed to do to move their product forward were Bag Washer and Hear Labs, both unique ideas that will impact the future. I'll be watching each of these businesses to see where they go. If you want to learn more about the RVC agenda, link here. There are links to all nine companies who pitched in the agenda.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

Do you want to learn how to play golf? Or maybe take a few strokes off of your handicap? You are in luck. The PGA's nonprofit, PGA Reach, has a program focused on veterans and active-duty service members called PGA Hope. You can learn more here.

Someone I met this week:

The great thing about attending the RVC summit this week was that I could reconnect with people I hadn't seen in many years, like running into my clan cousins, Charles, and Andrew McGregor. We met several years ago at another RVC event, and they were just getting the wheels rolling on their new business, Geo-Visual Analytics. We naturally had a family connection through our McGregor Clan. We also connected on the business side because I am fascinated about the problem set of how to make farming more efficient and sustainable. The tools they are using to help farmers know what to water and how much, and what other items the crops may need to grow are fascinating and the same technology that I used years ago to seek out the bad guys. It is great to see those tools being redirected to our food chain.

Link to current The Cam & Otis Show podcast episode, Pamela Aubrey - Energy Consultant, Reiki Master | Cam & Otis Ep. #245. Please note that we updated our show's webpage to https://www.youtube.com/@thecamandotisshow.

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