It’s pitch season and I’m proud to say 3D Planeta is a featured high-growth start-up at three investor conferences.
First up was TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 in late September. We were one of 50 global start-ups selected to participate in Startup Alley+, which gave me one-on-one access to a select group of Silicon Valley VCs, via my desktop camera.
We’re one of a dozen presenting companies pitching at the Atlantic Venture Forum October 21-22.
I’ll wrap up the month at CIX, joining six of my fellow founders on the Atlantic Canada Tech Showcase stage, talking about 3D Planeta’s trajectory and our growing focus on supporting the geospatial needs of the renewable energy and mining sector, particularly in exploring and monitoring remote locations.
These are all virtual conferences, which means for a couple of days each week, I disappear into my office, turn on my ring light and start pitching investors from across North America.
After 18 months of doing business via Zoom, I’ve come to appreciate some of the benefits of being online.
First, I can meet with more people because I’m not moving rooms. Running a high-growth start-up means you’re always moving at a fast pace. Sixty hour weeks are my normal and when travel is added into the mix, exhaustion, both the physical and mental kind, is always lurking nearby.
While online conferences don’t reduce my hours, they do guarantee that when I get to the end of a very long day I do so with the comforts of home, rather than balancing my laptop on a hotel bed wishing for better wifi.
Second, pitching online allows me to take notes more easily, particularly of observations I make regarding the reaction I get to aspects of my pitch. When you’re pitching live you’re normally on a stage or at the very least you are standing in front of a boardroom table. That means I either need someone else with me to take notes or I hurriedly jot my thoughts down (or take a voice memo) once I’ve left the room.
On Zoom, I take notes throughout the meeting, which helps me process the feedback and body language, and make quick adjustments before the next pitch.
Third, I can travel farther, faster and basically for free. That trifecta is the perfect combination of benefits for the burn rate of a high-growth start-up. Significantly lower travel costs means I can afford to participate in more online conferences, which helps raise 3D Planeta’s profile and connect with a broader mix of potential investors, partners and customers.
I still love meeting in-person and am looking forward to the return of in-person events, but until then me, 3D Planeta and my office ring light are ready for our close-up.