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This article was published on March 13, 2011

Listen to startups give elevator pitches to a top VC – in elevators.


Listen to startups give elevator pitches to a top VC – in elevators.

Yesterday we revealed a great opportunity for startups at SXSW, a chance to pitch Albert Wenger of well known VC firm Union Square Ventures. These ‘elevator pitches’ would take place in actual elevators, with each startup having until they reached the top floor to finish.

The first twenty startups that got in touch were contacted and Albert recorded the pitches at various locations in Austin, uploading each one right away. In the end fifteen startups pitched, and you can listen to them all here.

Starting off at The Four Seasons

There were pitches from Wahwah.fm, Meet Gatsby and Appetition.

Wahwah.fm at Four Seasons Hotel Austin by albertwenger

Meet Gatsby at Four Seasons Hotel Austin by albertwenger

Appitition at Four Seasons Hotel Austin by albertwenger

Moving on to the Radisson

We hear from New York Rock Exchange, EventBacker, MeepMe and Bee.tv.

New York Rock Exchange at Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake by albertwenger

EventBacker at Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake by albertwenger

Meep me at Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake by albertwenger

Bee.tv at Radisson Hotel & Suites Austin-Town Lake by albertwenger

At The Hampton Inn

Pitches from Cartomapic and Leetto.

Cartomapic at Hampton inn by albertwenger

Leetto at Hampton Inn (Downtown) by albertwenger

At the Marriott

With Agora, Balloon and InvestorDOJO.

Agora at Courtyard by Marriott Austin Downtown (Convention Center) by albertwenger

Balloon at Marriott Courtyard by albertwenger

Investor dojo at Courtyard by Marriott Austin Downtown (Convention Center) by albertwenger

On to the Hilton:

The final set of pitches came from Seevl, Planzai, Dealery and Soundtrackr.

Seevl at Hilton Austin Hotel by albertwenger

Planzai backup at Hilton Austin Hotel by albertwenger

Dealery backup at Hilton Austin Hotel by albertwenger

Soundtrckr at Hilton Austin Hotel by albertwenger

If you didn’t get to meet Albert Wenger in person, you can still pitch your startup. Just install SoundCloud’s iPhone or Android app (both free), record your elevator pitch (taking no more than the time the elevator takes to get to the top floor), check-in at your current location using the Foursquare integration and add a photo to prove that you really were in an elevator. You then need to mark your recording as ‘private’ and share it with the following email address from the app: pitch@soundsbysouthwest.com.

Selected pitches will be published on The Next Web and listened to by the team at Union Square Ventures. You’ll be informed if yours gets chosen.

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