Daily Advice Link -

If you're not bootstrapping a startup, chances are you'll have to secure funding for it. Securing funding can equate to two-minute elevator pitches that can either make or break your chances of clinching that much-needed capital.Imagine yourself working day in and day out for months on end, maybe even years, to perfect your product. You know everything about it, the inside, the outside. Even in your half-awake state, you know how it looks like, what it's all about, what good it brings to your target consumer. You know darn well that when somebody asks you questions, you'll be able to beautifully satisfy everything this person needs to know about your product. You apply for VC funding, and then the big day comes. But for some reason beyond eloquence, you stammer and falter while delivering your pitch. The person you're speaking with at the other end of the line hangs up on you. With sagging shoulders, you admit defeat, wondering to yourself what the heck went wrong.If this scenario sounds familiar, maybe what you need is practice.PitchPhone is the brainchild of the same guy behind DidThis and Addy, Francis Dierick. Last year, Dierick quit his job to focus his attention on startups. PitchPhone is a service that allows you to practice your pitches over the phone in one of two ways: call PitchPhone and answer the question it throws at you or have PitchPhone call you randomly throughout the day to inquire about your startup. Each time, you're given 30 seconds to answer.According to Dierick, while planning to apply with Y Combinator for DidThis, the idea for PitchPhone came to being. He needed a tool to help him practice with his pitches. Initially, he created an iPhone app containing 100 startup questions. Soon, he realized that an app alone couldn't help him develop pitching practice into a habit. As a result, he created the PitchPhone hotline, which has been programmed with 100 tough questions about your startup. PitchPhone currently works within the U.S. only.At the moment, the service is free for the first 1,000 inbound calls. And for $4.99 per month, PitchPhone is available to those who want to automatically receive calls throughout the day. Dierick is working on adding toll-free numbers, international support and improved overall support and voice quality for call recording.If you're ready to practice that pitch, the PitchPhone hotline can be reached at +1 (209) 215-2160.[Via - Bitrix24.de

Labels: startups, tech, weird