First-Time CEO
$5.0+ million raised
"As a first-time founder, pitching your company is incredibly daunting. For me, the Foundation Course boiled the art of the pitch down into concise, consumable parts that I used to raise over $1,800,000 in my seed round."
Param Shah, Founder and CEO
Factory Four
Course Overview
This course is an efficient way to develop the 3 types of business pitches to investors that you need to be successful when raising capital:
1. “Elevator Pitch” (attention grabber/intro)
2. “Read Me Pitch” (investment summary for email)
3. “Listen to Me Pitch” (slide deck for in-person presentation)
By the end of this course, you will have an effective version of each and be able to adapt them to different investor audiences (and as your business changes in the future).
Prerequisite:
The Foundation Course is designed for businesses with customers/revenue. If you are competing in a startup pitch competition, then you should develop a business plan, or at least a business model canvas, before taking this course.
Our Foundation Course does NOT cover how to develop a business plan or business model canvas. It focuses on distilling down to the topics that investors care most about and how to present that information to them in the most effective way.
Value & Results
Compared to a Pitch Coach
If you work through this course and develop your 3 types of business pitches to investors, we are confident you will get more value out of it than an hour with a pitch coach ($100 to $500 per hour).
Opportunity Cost of Your Time
Many CEOs struggle for 6-18 months trying to create just an effective slide deck (Listen-to-me pitch). Check out Kristen's Testimonial.
Our Foundation Course takes you on an efficiently learning journey so you can create the 3 types of business pitches to investors in less than 6 months (many people do it in 6-8 weeks).
Over $80 million Raised
Just the CEOs/entrepreneurs who have volunteered testimonials for our website (late-stage CEOs and early-stage CEOs) have collectively raised over $80 million for their businesses with help from our Foundation Course.
This is a fraction of the over 2,500 of entrepreneurs who have taken our online courses, so the actual amount raised is higher.
Return on Investment
Many CEOs/entrepreneurs have used this course to secure their first commitment from investors. Some have gone on to raise millions for their businesses.
If you do nothing other than use this course to raise your first $25,000 (see Winston Frazer's testimonial below), your return on investment will be over 250 times the cost of this course!
First-Time CEO
Raised $250k+ angel round
“It allowed me to raise my first $25,000 and then continue to raise my angel round.”
Winston Frazer, CEO and Founder
Danae Prosthetics
Comparison
Without this course
Creating the three types of investor pitches above requires communicating 20-25 aspects/concepts about your business that investors care about (different than what your customers care about). You need to learn, organize and distill these concepts in a way that makes sense to investors.
The problem is that other learning resources are fragmented and unorganized. Therefore, many CEOs spend 6-18 months struggling to develop an effective pitch to investors and the opportunity cost of time (both for the CEO and business) is extremely high.
With this course
We take you on a "learning journey" that we believe is the fastest way to create an effective pitch to investors.
You will learn concepts and work through them in the right order so you don't waste time. As you watch video lessons, you will use templates/examples and follow step-by-step instructions to accelerate your learning process.
CEO Challenges
» Challenge #1: You need to communicate effectively with investors.
For each company they invest in, angel groups evaluate 40 companies, and venture capital firms evaluate 100+ companies.
» Challenge #2: Fundraising cannot be delegated or outsourced.
The founder/CEO is the only person who can raise capital for your business.
» Challenge #3: You have a high opportunity cost of time.
The time you spend fundraising is time that you could be spending on improving your product, driving new sales, and/or hiring employees.
» Challenge #4: Your business has an opportunity cost of time.
Many CEOs spend 6-18 months trying to create an effective pitch to investors by trial and error.
What Will You Learn?
(So you can tackle those challenges!)
1. How to communicate effectively with investors and improve the odds of raising capital.
2. How to quickly and efficiently craft the 3 types of business pitches you need.
3. Specific presentation skills for pitching investors.
4. How to "speak the language" of your investor audience.
5. Ways to practice and avoid costly mistakes.
First-Time CEO
$3.0+ million raised
“Pitch Creator is a wonderful resource. It has been meaningful in our $1.0+ million round of investment and presentations we’ve given across the country.”
Carolyn Yarina, CEO and Co-Founder
Sisu Global Health
6-month Online Course License
When you purchase, you will receive a 6-month license to our online Foundation Course. The course consists of 1.5 hours of video lessons plus downloadable e-books, templates, and examples.
Most people take 6-10 weeks to go through the course the first time while getting feedback from a colleague or coach/mentor. However, getting feedback from multiple people will help improve your investor pitch because you will benefit from multiple perspectives. Therefore, you will likely revisit videos lessons and sections of the course multiple times.
How long you work on the course depends on where you are starting from and how much you want to improve.
With a 6-month online course license, after you do a "dry run" and/or a real investor meeting, you can revisit specific topics, as needed.
Late-Stage CEO
$30+ million raised
"Pitch Creator helped me professionalize my investor presentation. I knew my business and industry well but did not know how to communicate it effectively to investors."
Michael Keeler, CEO & Founder
LeaseAccelerator
How is This Course Different?
(from other learning resources out there)
1. Other learning materials concentrate on the slide deck. The Foundation Course improves your odds of getting an investment by teaching you how to develop all 3 types of business pitches to investors, which you will need to be successful.
2. Other learning resources are not curated for learning efficiency. We believe the Foundation Course is the fastest and most efficient way to create an effective pitch to investors.
3. Most other learning resources focus only on startups. Our course can be used by small/traditional companies with defined business models as well as startups looking to disrupt large markets with new business models.
Entrepreneurial Finance Professor
75+ students per year
"I reviewed Pitch Creator’s online Foundation Course and I was floored. This is an amazing course and I currently incorporate it in the curriculum of all of my Entrepreneurial Finance classes both in-person and online!"
Jim Kyung-Soo Liew, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Finance
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
Course Curriculum
The Foundation Course includes:
- 1.5 hours of video instruction designed to help you build your 3 business pitches to investors in the shortest amount of instruction time.
- Downloadable templates, e-books, and examples that you will use to use to be efficient on your learning journey (and you can save for future reference).
- Optional deep dive: a downloadable e-book and example slides for advanced study (when/if you have time).
- Appendix: with recommendations for further study.
The Foundation Course chapters and outline:
5 Modules:
1. Introduction: ~15 minutes of video instruction.
2. "Read Me Pitch" (Investment Summary): Downloadable template and ~45 minutes of video instruction.
3. Basic Presentation Skills: ~10 minutes of video instruction.
4. Listen to Me Pitch (Slide Deck): Downloadable templates, ~30 minutes of video instruction, examples, tips for practicing, and other resources.
5. Elevator Pitch (Summary/Teaser): Downloadable e-book.
Advanced Slide Deck (Optional Deep Dive):
1. Downloadable e-book
2. Example slides and slide decks.
Appendix: Recommended resources and reading for further study.
Video Lesson Previews
▶ Introduction: Lesson 1
▶ Presentation Skills: Lesson 1
Entrepreneurship Professor
Dean of Education
“I purchased the Foundation Course and completed it. Very impressed with the content, flow, and ideas presented.”
Josh Smith, Dean, School of Education
Loyola University Maryland
Your Instructor
Jason Tagler
Jason Tagler has 20 years of experience investing in private companies. Prior to that, as an investment banker, he helped CEOs prepare their pitch to investors for initial public offerings (IPO) or sale transactions (M&A).
Mr. Tagler founded Pitch Creator in 2014 to teach entrepreneurs in the Baltimore area how to communicate with investors and raise capital for their businesses. Since then, Pitch Creator's online courses have been used by entrepreneurs/CEOs, colleges/universities, and incubators/accelerators. Mr. Tagler and Pitch Creator have been featured in Inc Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine Online.
When not traveling for work or teaching, he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and the Colorado mountains with his family.
60-Day, Money-Back Guarantee
If you work through the course and put in the time to get feedback from your mentors/instructors, we are confident you will get more value out of this course than an hour with a pitch coach (usually $100 to $300 per hour or more).
If you do this and do not feel that this course offered at least as much value as an hour with a pitch coach then we will refund your money.
Send us an email at [email protected] within 60 days of purchase and include the following: 1) your feedback (so we can improve) about how this course fell short on delivering value; and 2) your draft "Read Me Pitch" and "Listen to Me Pitch" attached to the email (if you have created them).
Frequently Asked Questions
» Does the Foundation Course compete with the Business Model Canvas?
No, our Foundation Course does not compete with Business Model Canvas (and its many derivatives). The Business Model Canvas is a visual chart for business models and if you have completed one, it is great preparation work for the Investment Summary section of our Foundation Course.
» Does the Foundation Course teach how to create a business plan?
Our Foundation Course does not cover how to develop a business plan (or business model). It focuses on the topics that investors care most about and how to present that information to them in the most effective way.
» How long do I have access to the course?
You will purchase a 6-month online license to our Foundation Course. See details in section above.
» What if I am unhappy with the course?
See our 60-day, money-back guarantee above.