- Eric Migicovsky, the founder of failed startup Pebble, helps entrepreneurs avoid his past mistakes as a partner at startup accelerator Y Combinator.
- He shared one of his learnings as an investor in a blog post, telling founders to begin a pitch with a clear and concise description of what their company does.
- Migicovsky wrote: "If I don't get it, I will have difficulty understanding your entire pitch and unfortunately, forget about you instantly after you are finished."
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Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble, knows how to pitch a company.
He burst onto the tech scene in 2012 after launching what was then the most successful campaign on Kickstarter in history, raising $10.2 million to manufacture the first smartwatch.
Pebble went on to sell 1 million watches. The business started to struggle after Apple, the world's largest technology company, released its long-awaited smartwatch competitor, cutting into Pebble's sales. Migicovsky sold his company in a fire sale to FitBit in 2016.
Now, Migicovsky is helping founders avoid land mines on the path to building a unicorn startup. He became a partner at Y Combinator in 2018 and spends his days finding, funding, and advising entrepreneurs in a familiar position.
The storied startup accelerator has been a springboard for more than 2,000 companies, including Stripe, Airbnb, Cruise Automation, DoorDash, and Pebble, a member of the Y Combinator class of 2011.
On Thursday, Migicovsky shared one of his learnings as a startup founder and investor. He wrote in a blog post on Y Combinator's Startup School website:
"As an investor, one of the biggest problems I have when meeting new founders is that I don't actually understand what their startup does!
"The first thing you absolutely need to do when pitching your company is to clearly and concisely explain what your company does. If I don't get it, I will have difficulty understanding your entire pitch and unfortunately, forget about you instantly after you are finished."
On Thursday, Migicovsky tweeted that he wanted to hear from entrepreneurs about how they describe their companies in one to two sentences. He then responded whether or not their pitches worked.
Here are some of the startup pitches that Migicovsky gave a thumbs up to, replying: "I get it!"
Atlantica
Marketio
Segura
My Lil' HealthBot
Singular
Reverb Media
Gyfted
Welln
You can read all the company pitches that Migicovsky said he didn't get - and his advice to founders on how to fix them - on his tweet thread.
We are Atlantica: We allow people with no coding or design knowledge to build and publish beautiful mobile apps!
- Rafael Camargos Santos (@rafa_atlantica) January 23, 2020We're Marketio: we help users without design skills to buy home decor and furniture that fits with other things inside their homes. https://t.co/ejWwP5CxN6
- Marketio (@marketioai) January 23, 2020We are providing luggage storage service storage around the city .
- kartiksharma (@shreesh84303215) January 23, 2020"We're My Lil' HealthBot: We sell health necessities from autonomous vending machines and your smartphone. https://t.co/Efnnif4jgD"
- My Lil' HealthBot (@MyLilHealthBot) January 23, 2020We are Singular, we make customized skincare adapted to your skin, lifestyle and environment to protect your skin from air-pollution : https://t.co/bseO1DzgVK
- Ness zouaoui (@NessZouaoui) January 23, 2020We're Reverb Media. We let agencies and marketers buy podcast ads, Spotify ads, and more through one super simple dashboard. https://t.co/YbNz70Tu9K
- Jeromy Sonne (@JeromySonne) January 23, 2020We are Gyfted, we're building a platform for users to manage their wishlists from the multiple sites they shop on, centrally & shop gifts for friends.
- gyfted (@gyftedapp) January 23, 2020Welln empowers yoga teachers to create their own events at local homes.
- Welln (@Wellntx) January 23, 2020