The Pitch

Where startup founders raise millions and listeners can invest.

Host Josh Muccio takes listeners behind closed-doors and into the room where deals are made.

Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Entrepreneurship
Technology
Investing
126
#68 Dogs & Dating: A Match Made in Heaven?
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.
30 min
127
I’ve Looked Death in the Eye
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.
33 min
128
Fighting the 24/7 Startup Grind
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.
27 min
129
#67 Call-in Pitch Competition
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 on and pitch our investors.
34 min
130
#66 Does Anyone Really Want Your Product?
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?
32 min
131
#65 Wait, Your App Does What Exactly?
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?
34 min
132
#64 Startup Sale! 80% Off
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.
33 min
133
FightCamp: A Name Change, A Game Change
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.
45 min
134
#63 Can A Startup Solve Homelessness?
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?
30 min
135
#62 Pivot or Die
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?
35 min
136
From Startup Novice to Veteran
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.
32 min
137
#61 Can a Zebra Survive in a Unicorn World?
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?
35 min
138
#60 Is This the Amazon Prime of Airline Tickets?
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?
29 min
139
#59 Disrupting Work Happy Hour
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.
29 min
140
#58 Park Your Pooch Here
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?
33 min
141
#57 Where Losers Go To Win
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?
28 min
142
‘It Was a Disaster’
After a failed pitch on our show back in 2017, Industrial Organic founder Amanda Weeks was ready for redemption. And she found it, to the tune of $4.2 million. Now she’s back — with a lot to say about how much she and her business have grown.
37 min
143
#56 Shark Tank vs. The Pitch
Zahra Kassam has been on the road in a major way, pitching her startup, Monti Kids. A few months before our show, she pitched on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Today we find out: Did she win over any investors in her two very public pitches? And how do our investors compare to pitching the sharks?
41 min
144
#55 A New Spin on VR
Tom Impallomeni is here to pitch Tribe XR, a VR app that teaches people to DJ. He’s got a vision for using virtual reality to teach creative skills — but the investors are skeptical. Can Tom convince them he’s putting the right spin on VR?
36 min
145
#54 Is Selling in Walmart a Good Thing?
Debbie Wei Mullin is pitching her pour-over Vietnamese coffee startup, Copper Cow Coffee. The company is already doing well on Walmart’s shelves. But does she have what it takes to take the brand online?
34 min
146
Is the ICO Gold Rush Over?
After a frustrating round of fundraising for her company PopCom, Dawn Dickson decided that VC was broken. She opted to take a different route: an initial coin offering, or ICO. But then her best-laid plans got all mucked up ... by Uncle Sam.
33 min
147
#53 Investors Get Feisty at Our Philly Pitch-off
This week, The Pitch is live from The Wharton School at the University of Philadelphia. Three of Philly’s most promising young startups take the stage in front of Phil Nadel, Jillian Manus and a packed house for a live pitch competition.
37 min
148
After the Pitch: Sudden Coffee
Back in 2016, Sudden Coffee founders Joshua Zloof and Kalle Freese tried to sell the investors on their premium instant coffee. Two years later, we checked back in with Joshua and found that Sudden Coffee is still working out some kinks in the business: trying to find the right customers and nailing the flavor.
35 min
149
#52 Fitbit … for Dogs
Susan Sierota wants to help dog owners keep their furry friends healthy with her pet-tech startup, Waggit. Can she convince the four investors that her smart collar will win best in show?
26 min
150
#51 This Bot Can Fight Your ATM Fees
Founder Paul Kesserwani says we’re all losing way too much money to fees — credit card fees, bank fees, ATM fees. Can he convince investors that there’s major money to be made in the fee-fighting business?
31 min