Pitch Karaoke

Yes! We are ideally looking for people at the idea to pre-seed stage. The only requirement is that your business idea should be something that can scale beyond Hawaii.

A pitch deck should be about 10 slides and include:

• Problem: What is the problem you’re trying to solve?

• Value Proposition: What is the value of solving that problem?

• Business Model: How is your product going to solve that problem?

• Go-To-Market Plan: How do you plan on reaching your customer?

• Competitive Analysis: Who else is trying to solve this problem?

• Team: Who are you working with?

• Financials: What will it cost to pull this off?

We recommend checking out Guy Kawasaki's Guide or YC Seed Round Pitch Deck Template for more information.

Each participant will have up to 5 minutes to present their pitch.

Yes...well, sort of! We randomly choose a few groups of judges from the crowd during the day of the event. Some of these folks may be coming from the local VCs or Angel Group, others may just be interested community members!

What's important to remember is that the judging the scoring is not the main part of the event. These folks are here to support you, cheer you on, and provide helpful feedback for you to improve your pitch and business idea. What's most important is that you feel supported, you've learned something new, and you had a good time!

We ask judges to think about the following when they hear your pitch:

1. Problem Clarity: Is the problem real, important, and clearly explained? Do we understand why this matters and to whom?

2. Solution Fit: Does the solution directly address the problem? Is the approach thoughtful, logical, and compelling? Why is now the right time for the solution to succeed?

3. Founder Insight: Does the presenter show a deep understanding of the space, customer needs, or lived experience that gives them an edge?

4. Team Composition: Based on the idea pitched, does the presenter have an understanding of the right team to take their idea to the next level?

5. Storytelling & Communication: Was the pitch well-paced, clear, and memorable? Did the presenter connect with the audience and explain ideas accessibly?

6. Potential & Vision: Is there long-term potential to grow, scale, or create significant impact? Did the pitch leave you excited about the future?

We typically aim for 3-6 pitches per event!

You get bragging rights! Nah, but on a serious note, although there is no cash prize for winning Pitch Karaoke, our audience typically includes investors, accelerator program managers, and interested potential co-founders. You are not required to take your Pitch Karaoke business to the next step, but if you want to, all the resources are there. In fact, last year, a few of our Pitch Karaoke presenters went on to join the Blue Startups accelerator program.

For the pitchers, we ask that you pay a discounted ticket rate of $15. This is because...

1. We want to ensure your commitment to the event (we’ve had people flake last minute in the past!)

2. We need to cover the costs affiliated with the event. To note, this event comes with a bento dinner and drinks for each guest, so you can assume that your $15 basically covers the cost of the bento (:

No! There is no actual singing at this event--we named this event Pitch Karaoke because we want to embody the casual and inclusive spirit of a karaoke night with friends!

Yeah! Check out some of these awesome pitches from years past for inspiration:

• Skidattl

• BetAI