Experiencing Brussels Pitch Bootcamp

This is an archive of blog post I wrote during my first venture (beginning of 8thcolor).

Yesterday, Martin and I have attended the Brussels Pitch Bootcamp organized by the BetaGroup and the Founder Institute. The event was hosted at the Betacowork Coworking Brussels. It was the opportunity to discover this very nice, clean and calm place that we hear a lot about. After seeing it, I still want more to come work there sometimes. But this is not the purpose of this post. Let's back to our subject the Pitch Bootcamp which is dedicated to learn and practice the art of pitching.

This was an amazing experience. I've attended a lot of courses, tutorials, workshops, lectures, professional developments ... all those kind of passive or active presentations that you can attend when you are a student, an academic researcher, or simply an employee. Still, it was the first time in my life - it's not rhetoric - that I go to a talk/workshop that:

  • I'm enjoying me all along,
  • Make me learn so much in a very clear and structured way,
  • Oblige me to directly practice what I've learned, and
  • Allow me to improve what I know/think.

When I've left, I was sure of something: I didn't waste my time. Yes, the talker Adeo Ressi, the founder of the Founder Institute, is a kind of very charming showman with a very good balancing between tough and encouraging words. It's true. Better yet, his talent as a showman does not deserve his purpose at all: learn us something about pitching. It only makes it more enjoyable! Notice that the audience was also very nice, all attendees having well played the game.

The workshop was composed of four parts:

  1. Information about the Founder Institute, its program, how it works, etc.
  2. Some theories and exercises about pitching:
    1. 3 kinds ( elevator, competative, investor), their differences
    2. What is an elevator pitch? Its purpose, its structure?
    3. What is a good elevator pitch? Active session during which several attendees did practice and have feedbacks/comments from Adeo Ressi and the audience.
    4. What is an competative pitch? Its purpose, its structure? The 3 possible approaches (factual, narrative, pain point).
    5. What is a good competative pitch? Again an active session.
  3. Speed pitching to peers: Pick a partner randomly. One pitches during 30s, the other gives feedback during 60s and then you switch roles. After 3 min, repeat with another person. I think we did 5 or 6 turns.
  4. Conclusion and feedback

After that, you're exhausted and happy like after a good sport session. We've learned a lot, and I think it helps to precise our ideas. A beer session followed the bootcamp, but we passed it due to some private reasons.

After leaving the event, Martin and I did share our feelings and thoughts on the evening. A question quickly came to our minds. If we can learn so much in one session, what we can learn by following the full session of the Founder Institute? Or is this just a very good presale advertising event to push us to apply the program and pay the fees? Maybe it is an event to attract "customers". Maybe. But we're sure of something: it cannot possible that the quality is not met after we've experienced. Moreover, the fee is pretty reasonable: 900€ for about 16 workshops and some other stuff. Some "professional workshop" costs this price for 8 hours. Without listing all other reasons such as networking or feedbacks on our project, we are nearly convinced to apply.

If you have any comment, question, or feedback, please share them with me.

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