The Pitch

When founder Jen Saxton landed a partnership with a big name retailer in the baby industry, she thought her startup, Tot Squad, was on the way to startup stardom. But five years into the deal, things just weren’t working out. In fact, they were a disaster. But that’s a good thing if you ask her. Jen says a stronger company has risen out of the ashes of that fiasco and she’s here to convince the investors that her new plan is worth the price of admission.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel, Michael Hyatt and Sarah Downey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if you could listen to the exact same music as your favorite celebrities, at exactly the same time? That’s the question that drove NFL lineman Jason Fox to build an app for that. An app called Earbuds. Now if Jason can just cash in enough star power to secure the bag.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A little over a year ago, Xiao Wang came on the show to pitch his startup, Boundless. He told investors that his company was going to help immigrants cut through all the bureaucracy and paperwork required to get legal status. Today, the stakes around immigration are even higher than they were a year ago, so we wanted to see how Boundless is faring in this new world.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, Daniel Gulati and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Founder Rahul Jindal might be the king of bootstrapping. And when investors see similarities between his startup, Hyde Closet, and a billion dollar business known as Rent the Runway, they start dreaming of unicorns. Until a wrinkle in the plan, snaps them back to reality.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back in May we asked entrepreneurs to call in and give us their best pitches. The winner was Leigh Isaacson and her startup Dig — a dating app for people who love dogs. In this episode, Leigh enters the pitch room and asks for $1.5 million to help get 1,000,000 new users on her app. Now Leigh just has to convince the investors that dogs and dating are a match made in Heaven.  Today's investors are Soraya Darabi, Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When he came on the show two years ago, Amado Guloy said his startup would change the business of animal agriculture. And the investors bought it! But since then, Amado has found himself at a crossroads between his own health and the health of Rex.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, Daniel Gulati and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back in 2018, Margot Schmorak pitched our investors on Hostfully. It’s a startup that ushers old-style vacation-rental companies into the digital age. Margot ginned up a lot of excitement in the room that day. But then, she had to put her fundraising on hold. A year later we’ll find out whether she was able to get the ball rolling again.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, Daniel Gulati and Nicole Verkindt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back in May, we invited listeners to call in and pitch us their startups. And you really delivered, giving us over 200 pitches! In this episode, we’ll play some of our favorite submissions — and then choose one lucky winner to come pitch our investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dennis Meng’s first company was a major flop. So he started another one that could’ve saved the first. It’s called User Interviews, and he needs $4 million to get it into the hands of big companies. Will investors buy into what he’s selling now?  Today's investors are Charles Hudson, Michael Hyatt, Jillian Manus and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spencer Shulem wants people to learn from their mistakes. Also, he wants to help them organize their time. Oh, and he wants to gather data on everything they do. All this is packed into a single pitch for his startup, WeDo. Can the investors dig through all the parts of his business in time to decide if they want to put their cold, hard cash behind it?  Today's investors are Alexandra Stanton, Sheel Mohnot, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ramya Possett and Rachel Lee founded BlueFoot to make tracking the competition easy for massive companies. And they think that what they’ve created is so powerful, it demands a premium price tag. One that takes the investors completely by surprise.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel, Michael Hyatt and Sarah Downey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Khalil Zahar and Tommy Duquette first pitched their boxing workout startup, Hykso, the investors saw a big opportunity. They wanted to know: Could Hykso be more like Peloton, an at-home cycling system that was starting to take off? Three years later, the company is trying to do just that — and it’s been a wild ride.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, Howie Diamond and Jake Chapman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Kumar pitches his startup, Samaritan, which aims to help people who’ve lost their homes. But can he convince the investors it’s OK to earn a profit off of homelessness?  Today's investors are Charles Hudson, Michael Hyatt, Jillian Manus and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Walters came on the show to sell the investors on Feedback, an app that lets restaurants change their prices on the fly. But when Ben shows up in the pitch room, he’s already decided that it’s time to make some changes to the business. Can he get the investors salivating over a startup that’s mid-pivot?  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel, Michael Hyatt and Sarah Downey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a stellar pitch on our show back in 2017 — one that got $100K in the first five minutes — founder Mike Slagh hit the ground running with his startup, Shift. In this episode, we catch up with him to find out if Shift, a job-placement service for military vets, has continued to dazzle investors. Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Phil Nadel, James Altucher and Daniel Gulati. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Brandel of Hearken is pitching a new kind of business. She calls it a zebra: a company that’s driven by a mission — but still wants to make money. And Jennifer’s mission with Hearken is to help journalists do their jobs better. But can she and the investors get on the same page?  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel, Michael Hyatt and Sarah Downey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rama Poola is here pitching his airline ticket business, SkyHi, where customers pay a monthly fee to access tickets on the cheap. But the investors are worried that it sounds a lot like MoviePass, a company that offered a subscription for unlimited movie tickets — and ran into a world of problems. Can Rama convince them that his model won’t break the bank?  Today's investors are Alexandra Stanton, Sheel Mohnot, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ryan Husk wants to take your workplace culture up a notch. His startup, Culture Force, matches companies to “experiences” designed to improve community at work. He says it can be a huge business, but the investors want to know why it’s more than just a cool way to plan work parties.  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chelsea Brownridge wants to help dog owners keep their pooches safe when they’re out running errands together. Her startup, DogSpot, makes internet-connected dog houses, with features like webcams and A/C, and puts them in front of retail stores that don’t allow pets. Can Chelsea convince our investors that her dog houses are a must-have?  Today's investors are Jillian Manus, Charles Hudson, Phil Nadel and Michael Hyatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After losing his shirt on sports betting sites DraftKings and FanDuel, Adam Weinstein decided to flip the script on daily fantasy sports and give everyone a better shot at winning. He’s changing things up using prop bets instead of traditional fantasy teams. But the question remains: Is this a gamble investors are willing to take?  Today's investors are Sarah Downey, Michael Hyatt, Charles Hudson and Phil Nadel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices