APPLICATION TO PITCH

The application deadline is February 1^st, 2010 at 6:00pm.

Why should you apply to pitch?

The winner of this competition will get to make a funding presentation at a regularly scheduled Tech Coast Angels screening session.

And if you don't win or even if you don't get chosen, merely by applying you show your message to the Tech Coast Angels, Southern California’s #1 source of early-stage capital. Since the group's founding in 1997, members have invested more than $104 million of their personal capital in more than 160 early-stage ventures, coupled with more than $1 billion from co-investors. More than 270 TCA investors in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara/Westlake and the Inland Empire, mentor and coach the entrepreneurs they fund, serve on their boards, provide them contacts and assist with team building, strategic planning and subsequent fund raising.

Pitching also gets you in front of an audience of hundreds of mover and shakers in Southern California, including venture capital firms, other angel groups and funding sources, the press, and influential opinion-leaders in Southern California, such as investment bankers, accounting firms, law firms, banks and executive recruiters.

Do you qualify? This competition is open to all entrepreneurs who seek investors. It is not limited to companies that are pre-revenue or that are in the information technology or life sciences industries. In addition to investing in companies in these two sectors, we have invested in many others, including consumer branded products, food, beverage and services. Our primary concern is to find investment opportunities that promise quick, significant growth in shareholder value and a plausible exit strategy for liquidity.

Not sure it's for you? Read here our suggestions for delivering great pitches.

Application and selection rules/process:

Step 1 – Please fill out the online application by CLICKING HERE

Step 2 – If your application is approved you may be contacted to participate in a pre-screening conference call.
Step 3 – Twenty-two companies are selected to compete for the 12 finalist positions. You MUST ATTEND the two coaching sessions that will be scheduled.

You must submit online the application on this page; no postal mail, faxes or emails. Also, we do not consider that you have submitted an application when you communicate directly with the competition’s judges, the competition’s organizing committee or members at large of the Tech Coast Angels.

It's free to submit an application but you must be registered to attend the competition. Registration gives you full access to the entire event program.

Judging and winning

Pitches must be up to 90 seconds, including any self-introductions and remarks. During the competition, on the 91st second, your pitch WILL BE CUT OFF. The microphone will be turned off. The judges will ask questions and make comments following your pitch. You will be allowed brief answers.

The competition's judges will score each pitch immediately after their questions.

Scoring is on a 1-10 scale (1-lowest, 10=highest) for each of two critiera: funding opportunity and presentation quality. There will be two winners - Best Presentation and Best Investment Opportunity. The Best Investment Opportunity winner will automatically be invited to a Full Screening by Tech Coast Angels to present their company in a detailed discussion for potential Angel Funding.

Judges are asked to:

1. Suggest improvements candidly but phrasing criticism constructively.
2. Cut in with their comment (or the moderator will!) if a presenter rambles.
3. Be concise and considerate of the other judges.
4. Publicly disagree with other judges in the interest of healthy controversy... Think American Idol!