TAMER FUND FOR SOCIAL VENTURES WEBINAR SERIES
Social Venture Pitch Workshop and Competition
facilitated by Keith Katz ’03BUS and Jason Della Rocca, co-founders of Execution Labs
Want to enhance how you communicate the vision of your venture to potential collaborators and industry experts or improve your pitch to lock-in your next round of investors? If so, this interactive experience is for you! Whether you have an idea, prototype, or pilot, this workshop and competition apply to entrepreneurs in the early stages of an environmental or social venture.
Accepted participants will first take part in a four-hour workshop. During this time, each entrepreneur will present their five-minute, VC-style pitch, receive constructive feedback, and then pitch again to immediately apply the lessons learned. Participants will also gain insights by hearing from the other entrepreneurs pitching their own ventures.
After having six days to consider the feedback and perfect pitches, the group will gather together on Thursday, July 30 for the final pitch, in the format of a live competition. Each entrepreneur will pitch live to three prominent early-stage impact investors and experienced social entrepreneurs. This is a rare, valuable opportunity to receive direct feedback on your venture from active investors and entrepreneurs.
Apply here →
Space to participate in the Social Venture Pitch Workshop and Competition is limited. Please submit your application to participate by Thursday, July 16, 2020.
Program Agenda
Workshop - Friday, July 24, 2020
1–5 PM EDT
Competition - Thursday, July 30, 2020
6–8 PM EDT
First place – Two Care Package meal boxes from Eat Offbeat (equivalent if outside of NYC)
Second place – One Care Package meal box from Eat Offbeat (equivalent if outside of NYC)
Please note:
Participation in the workshop requires advanced preparation of your venture’s five-minute pitch deck. A sample pitch deck template will be emailed out to participants one week in advance. However, the focus of the workshop will not be on intricate slide design, but rather on the content and delivery of your pitch. Admission into the workshop and competition requires a commitment to being present for the duration of the workshop and the competition.
*Space to participate in the Social Venture Pitch Workshop and Competition is limited to 10 slots. Please complete your application in full to be considered for participation. If you have any questions, please contact Katie Neff ’20BUS ’20SIPA at krs2168@gsb.columbia.edu.
Facilitator Bios:
Keith Katz ’03BUS
Co-founder of Execution Labs
Member of Tamer Center’s Social Venture Advisory Network
Keith is a serial entrepreneur with a focus on strategy, marketing, and business and corporate development. He is currently most active as co-founder of Execution Labs, a hands-on investor in early-stage game studios, and as founder of The Better Chair Company, which makes industrial beach chairs. Prior to co-founding Execution Labs, Keith held VP positions at tech startups Cellufun and OpenFeint. He was also head of North American Marketing at Gameloft and a brand manager at Atari.
Keith received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in english from Tulane University.
Jason Della Rocca
Co-founder of Execution Labs
Jason Della Rocca is a game industry entrepreneur, funding advisor, and cluster expert. He specializes in partnership development, pitching/funding, and ecosystem development policy. He currently advises startups from across the globe and works with various governments on economic development strategy. Between 2000 and 2009 he served as the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and was honored for his industry building efforts with the inaugural Ambassador Award at the Game Developers Conference.
Jason received a bachelor's degree in commerce from Concordia University.
Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Webinar Series
This discussion series aims to inform and enable social innovation for the entrepreneurial and social impact community across Columbia University by providing information about social entrepreneurship at large and about fund's portfolio ventures specifically. For our portfolio venture members, this series also aims to foster a collaborative community by providing portfolio networking events and access to the Social Venture Advisory Network, experts, and alumni offering relevant insights to early-stage social and environmental enterprises.