Portland pitch day: April 22 pitch True Ventures or Funding Universe CrowdPitch (Better yet, pitch both)

Remember that common complaint about startups not having access to investors in Portland? Well, I don’t want to hear anything about that. Not on April 22, at least.

Why? Because it just so happens that on that day, both Funding Universe—a good first-pitch where you’ll be trying to woo the crowd—and True Ventures—an opportunity to woo true investors, pun intended—will be holding sessions that will give you the opportunity to either practice your pitch or to try it out for real.

Funding Universe Portland CrowdPitch

First up, Funding Universe Portland CrowdPitch, a great opportunity for first time presenters to practice their pitches in front of crowd—and get a free lunch.

This event will bring entrepreneurs, innovators, mentors, support providers, and investors together in an informal and energetic setting.

Think ´America Idol´ — selected entrepreneurs will have 4 minutes to pitch their company to both a panel of experts & a live audience, followed immediately by a 3-minute Q&A session with the panel.

A free networking lunch will follow the formal pitch.

The event will be held on April 22 at NedSpace Old Town beginning at noon. To apply to pitch, fill out the pitch form. Interested in attending, assessing the pitches, and putting your funny money where your mouth is? RSVP for Portland CrowdPitch.

True Open Mic Portland

Ready to step up to pitching the real deal? Well, then the open mic opportunity with True Ventures might be more your speed.

True Ventures will host open office hours for entrepreneurs on Thursday, April 22nd from 3:00pm to 5:00pm PDT at Urban Airship [PIE] in the W+K building. Come pitch us your ideas, tell us your stories, ask us for advice, discuss the state of the economy, or just come for a chat. There will be no projectors or executive summaries. Just 7 minutes of you, your idea, and your story.

You may remember True Ventures as the folks who funded Reductive Labs (now Puppet Labs) and Urban Airship.

What say we try for a third Portland company getting funding from them, just to round out the picture? Let’s.

So just show up at PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment) around 3 PM with your well-thought-out and well-practiced pitch. I’d hate to have to sit here and watch you flail.

Or maybe. Just maybe. You could do both? That would be great practice for your upcoming roadshow, wouldn’t it? It would. Think about it.

(Image courtesy Christian Reed – Concert Co-Op. Used under Creative Commons.)

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