Why do so many pitch competitions happen on a stage? Honestly the majority of deals don’t happen on a stage but at a dimly lit restaurant, coffee shop, hotel lobby in the middle of SXSW or someone’s conference room. After being in a few of these “Dinner Pitches” I personally think the conversation over dinner/drinks/coffee with investors is much harder then standing on stage and pitching to a bunch of strangers. It takes finesse a hell of a lot of finesse! You have to be serious, but witty enough to carry on a conversation without all those awkward moments of silence. Between talking about yourself (too little and you seem like you are anti-social and hiding something, too much and you will look like Kanye ), talk about your business (You know…sell the Dream of how you two together will hold hands and frolic off into the IPO sunset), Order the right item (To portray that you are a great decision maker ummm…humus or chili cheese fries), and don’t forget you must still slightly beg for money all while eating a meal that you are praying doesn’t get stuck in your teeth. Good luck out there my friends

Like this article? Also check out my other ramblings on Medium Check out 3 Things I didn’t know about investors before I took the money