Why Good Pitches Don't Get Funded
Just Added

Why Good Pitches Don't Get Funded

By Startup Valley

Overview

A Live Workshop on Clarity, Confidence & Leadership Presence


You can have a solid product, decent traction and a clean deck. And still lose the room before slide one.🚀 What will happen during the evening

Because investors don’t just listen to what you say. They read who you are — from how you enter, stand, pause, breathe, and respond under pressure.

This event is for founders who are tired of carrying everything with logic and numbers only, and want their body and voice to finally work for the deal, not against it.

🤔 Recognize yourself here?

You freeze up when you need to pitch an investor or speak on stage

You never know what to do with your hands or where to look

You say smart things, but you don’t look like a confident CEO — more like someone apologizing for taking time

You’re self-conscious about your accent or voice

As SMM/marketing you push your founder into lives and events, then hate watching the recordings

If you speak for the company, this room is for you.


🎙 About the Speaker

Joe Hudson

Founder, Art of Accomplishment Executive Coach to Founders & Leaders

Joe Hudson is a renowned executive coach who has worked with founders, CEOs, and senior leaders from high-growth startups to Fortune-level companies. He most notably works with Sam Altman and the OpenAI research and computing team, and has high-profile testimonials from folks like Ev Williams (founder of Twitter) to Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga) to Robin Washington (board member of Alphabet and Salesforce), and many more.

His work focuses on what most pitch training ignores: alignment between your thinking, emotions, and body — especially in high-stakes moments like fundraising, negotiations, and public speaking.

Joe doesn’t teach performance or theatrics. He helps leaders remove internal friction so confidence becomes natural, grounded, and credible — even under pressure.

In this session, Joe will work live for 90–120 minutes, breaking down pitching from:

an intellectual perspective - The best strategy for your pitch

an emotional perspective - Understanding emotions to make a better pitch

and a nervous system perspective - How to enjoy the process for better results

You won’t sit and listen passively.

You will:

Watch a real founder pitch live and see how trust is created or broken — moment by moment

Learn how misalignment between mind, emotions, and body silently kills credibility

Get a clear framework for presence that works in investor meetings, negotiations, and on camera

Do short, grounded exercises from your seat — no humiliation, no forced performance

See Hot Seat breakdowns, where founders pitch and receive live feedback from Joe and the room

Finally understand how investors, partners, and teams actually experience you


🔥In the room you’ll see:

founders and presenters across stages, from pre-seed to active raise

CEOs and COOs who lead investor meetings and represent the company externally

SMM / marketing leads who are responsible for putting faces and voices in front of the audience

people who talk to investors regularly and understand how much strong delivery matters

This isn’t a random networking event. It’s a room full of people for whom pitching, negotiating and being in public is part of the job.


📈 Why this matters (beyond the event)

After this workshop, you will:

Stop “asking for permission to exist” in high-stakes rooms

Understand how to regulate yourself when fear or pressure hits

Walk away with a practical presence checklist for pitches and meetings

Feel more grounded on stage, on camera, and in investor conversations

Waste less energy on self-doubt — and more on actually closing

Soft skill? Yes. Direct impact on fundraising, leadership, and trust? Also yes.


🕒 Time

6:00 – 9:00 PM Joe Hudson live session + Hot Seat work: 6:30 – 8:00 PM


Sponsors

👑 AngelList AngelList builds the software investors use to fund world-changing startups. Founders Cafe is our founder community and co-working space on the first floor of HQ. Apply here.

Category: Business, Startups

Good to know

Highlights

  • 3 hours
  • all ages
  • In person
  • Free parking

Refund Policy

Refunds up to 7 days before event

Location

AngelList

90 Gold Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

How do you want to get there?

Organized by

Startup Valley

Followers

--

Events

--

Hosting

--

From $23.18
Jan 20 · 6:00 PM PST