Bahareh鈥檚 Tips on Pitching to Investors
April 1, 2020
Last month, UAF scientist Bahareh Barati stepped outside of her comfort zone to give a three-minute pitch to possible investors.
鈥淚t was very intimidating at first,鈥 Barati said of the experience. 鈥淚n academia, as a scientist, you are trained to always be humble, to state results based on the hypothesis.鈥
In a business pitch, however, the quiet-spoken researcher said that you have to be confident 鈥 overly confident. You need to talk about your innovation as a 鈥渄isruptive technology,鈥 or a product that can create a new market and value network.
鈥淵our pitch needs to give the potential investors confidence that your innovation is money-making, and not just a science project,鈥 said Barati.
Barati鈥檚 Cerebral Oximetry for Lab Animals device has already proven it is not just a science project. The team, including Barati and her partner Kambiz Pourrezaei, has completed a mini I-Corps course with LA Node, a two-week version of the flagship eight-week I-Corps program, and received Phase I SBIR funding. Barati and team member, Pourrezaei, received a supplement for market analysis conducted by Foresight Science and Technology through the .
鈥淲e received exciting feedback from key opinion leaders and top market players and now it was time to talk to investors,鈥 said Barati.
OIPC鈥檚 Ky Holland suggested pitching at the 2020 Alaska Angel Conference, where angel investors meet and learn about potential investment opportunities, and entrepreneurs can receive up to $200,000 in angel investment.
The AAC is a 12-week program where entrepreneurs give 3-minute and 10-minute pitches to potential investors and on April 23, 2020, the winning investments are announced in Juneau.
鈥淚 find myself giving a short pitch all the time