A few similarities between startup pitching and college applications:
- Be the best at one thing: Just like top applicants to top universities, your startup should be top 1% in a narrowly defined space (reference: David Yi 🤔’s post in the comment)
- Your essay/pitch should reflect who you really are, not what you think others want to hear: For your essay/pitch, tell a genuine personal story. It’s all about storytelling (reference: Dave Lu’s post in the comment)
- The metrics should be there: GPA and AP scores alone won’t get you into top schools; MAUs and retention alone won’t get you the funding. But these do work as minimum requirements. Before talking about big dreams, you gotta cover the basics
- Strong recommendations go a long way: If Reid Hoffman invested early in your company and has put in some good words for your company.. 😀
- Why this institute: Why this university? Why this VC? You need to be able to articulate a clear and compelling reason
- Picking the right people is more art than science: Admissions officers and investors may not follow a strict formula, but when they see the right fit, they know
- (J/K) Money can help your chance: Want to raise $1M? One way might be to invest $2M as an LP in the fund first… 😉